Between

Episode 36

Episode 36

The palaces of New Allimiss and Upper Shard were as different as their kingdoms. Shard was little more than a fortress to protect the Overseer and display his trophies. On Heartcore, things were much more pleasant and welcoming. There were banquet halls, theaters, and ballrooms. It was a place for celebration, for togetherness, and for discussions. In a guest quarters within the palace, a room decorated in a lavish fashion with items of eclectic but largely medieval origin, a very strange sight drifted back and forth.

It was a mermaid, or at least what could be seen of its general form would suggest it. On her upper body she wore armor with a suspiciously fresh polish. She wore a helmet with gold detailing and a plume of horsehair, and a silver mail skirt covered her emerald tail.

"Steady..." she said to herself shakily. "Steady. You've spoken to the queen before. You've taken orders directly... Is that a scratch?"

She held her gauntlet up to see the gleaming scrape across the palm.

"I thought I'd buffed them all out. Oh, blast it, I—"

"Guardian Medea?"

The mermaid turned to the doorway. Queen Kintalla stood there, flanked by two of her gold-armored personal guard. Medea hastily bowed, clenching her marred fist tightly rather than risk showing the flaw in her uniform.

"Queen Kintalla, it is an immeasurable honor to be brought before you for a private council. Serving you has been the single greatest honor I have ever had the good fortune to have bestowed upon me. Your good and honorable—" she rambled.

Kintalla raised her hand. "Please. You've made your feelings quite clear."

She dismissed her guards. They shut the door behind them leaving queen and mermaid alone in the room together.

"Medea, let me begin by saying I am pleased by your performance of late. We have faced a variety of unexpected trials recently, and though you and the other guardians have not been able to overcome these challenges, you have served with the grace and decorum I've come to expect from my people."

"I assure you, Queen. I will not fail again."

"Dear Medea. I do not feel as though you've failed at all. Your role, the role of all my forces, is to follow my orders. And you have all done so, to the best of your abilities. My role is to foresee difficulties and provide the equipment and training necessary to prepare you for those orders. It is in this capacity that I have failed. I suspect there will be some changes to our training and equipment to adapt for these new elements, but that is not the reason for this visit. At least, not directly. I have called you here because I require your aid."

"I shall offer any service I can provide to you, fair Queen. You need but to ask."

"There is an individual with some connection to Shard, someone I believe is known by the name of Philo. If I have been correctly informed, the two of you have met on multiple occasions."

Medea lowered her head. "We have met, My Queen."

"Describe him."

"He is a human. Not yet of middle age for his kind, and of average height. He is fair skinned, lean of build."

"His disposition?"

"At first blush he seemed quite pleasant. He was fresh to The Between upon our first meeting and not yet fully aware of the ways of our world. We met only briefly, as he was in the process of being 'fetched' by the Shard fetchers. I spent somewhat more time with him when he made an appearance here in New Allimiss some time later." Again she hung her head. "I was unaware of his intentions at that time, and I fear his subsequent successful acquisition of some of our former sleepers may be in large part due to the tour of our city that I provided."