Dream of a Vast Blue Cavern

Chapter 10: Iskalon's Sacrifice: Stasia

“But who will protect the people, after all of the Icers are gone? This sounds like a trick, Larc.” Stasia sat on a hard rock ledge in a tiny cave. Flats, displaced by their impromptu meeting, clung to the diamond spires of her crown. The walls were dusty with cavewebs and old snakeskins. The cave was an old ore-sorting room near the Outer Tunnels. The rest of the survivors had been convened in a vast cavern opened up centuries ago by the extensive mining of a vein of zirc.

 Why was Larc pushing so hard for surrender? Stasia could not turn over the people, especially the humans, to a lifetime of slavery. Better that they die than live like cababar. But could she make that decision for the people? She did not have time, and she was torn with indecision. Death or slavery?

 “I don't know how to explain it, Stas. He sounded sincere. And he did let our people go. I think he truly wants to end the bloodshed, but at a price to us. ‘If she and the Icers surrender, I will stop pursuing your people.’ He called you—” she glanced around the room nervously “—the Dreamer Princess. And he wants the Icers to return to the lake, I believe he does, but there was something odd about that. He was holding something back.” Larc sat beside her on the ledge. Across the tiny cave, Casser and Glace were perched on small boulders. Kiner stood by the entrance keeping lookout, listening quietly to the conversation.

 “Imagine that—a Flame, lying,” Stasia said with a sneer. “I wouldn't have thought.” Was she to be a trophy? The Fire King had killed all of her sisters, did he just want to finish the job? Or was it the connection with her Flame mother? Did he think she posed a threat to Chraun?

 “We haven't much time, even if the Flame truly plans to give us ten hours,” Casser said calmly. “It took you most of that to reach us, Larc. Stasia, you will need to make a decision before they find us.”

 A flat dropped onto her shoulder and she flicked it onto the wall, annoyed. It clung there and scuttled toward a juicy spider. “Well. You are my advisors, how do you advise?”

 Glace spoke up, his tone hurried, as if he feared being interrupted. “Your Majesty, I advise that you do not put yourself into the hands of the Flames. They have killed your sisters and your father; what will stop them from simply killing you? This entire thing must be a ruse, to separate you from your army, and the Icers from the people. The people of Iskalon need the protection of the Icers, and we are sure to be enslaved if we surrender, no matter what this General says. And I for one would rather die in combat, fighting for Iskalon, than live while you walk into a trap.”

 “What your Captain says makes sense,” Casser said, brushing cobwebs out of his hair. “However, we seem to be lost either way. They will rout us from these tunnels in time. We can stand our ground, and die with honor, or we can take our chances on the mercy of the Flames. We may be surprised; having known one kind Flame, I can accept that they are not all monsters.”

 “Yes,” Larc said. “The General did not seem like a monster. Ruthless, focused, determined, but not evil. I advise you to surrender, Stasia. I cannot say why. I will go by your side as you do, if that is your choice. I will take my chances on their mercy, if it will end the killing.”

 “Flames enjoy hunting,” Kiner spoke up, not turning from his vigil. “If all they wanted was our deaths, they would have killed us and continued pursuing you through the tunnels, not offered a chance of peaceful surrender.”

 An idea crept in. Stasia tried to deny it, but the more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that it was the only way to give the Flames what they wanted and save a remnant of Iskalon. It would be a sacrifice, but it was one that had to be made.

 “I have come to a decision,” she said out loud. “There is a third option that no one has mentioned. Assemble the people, I will make an announcement.”

 Larc and Kiner saluted almost in unison and hurried from the room to obey. Casser stared at her with searching eyes, and she stared back defiantly. She had offered him the Crown, after they’d escaped the attack in the Burial Chamber. Once again, he’d refused her. If he had taken it, he could have ordered her to surrender or not and she would have to obey. As it was, he would have to obey her. He gave a little shake of his head that could have meant anything and left without saluting.

 Glace stood, but instead of leaving, he drew closer, meeting her in the center of the tiny room. “What are you planning, Stasia?”

 He sounded worried. Stasia looked at his strong, scarred face, and realized suddenly what her decision meant. That understanding seemed to bring home all the loss she had suffered in the war. Her whole family was gone, and now she would not even have Glace—Glace, the man who had been by her side as long as she could remember. His absence would be like a missing limb. And for his part—he would have to overcome all of his training and forge a new identity.

 She stepped toward him and reached out a hand to touch one of his. “I wish you could protect me from this, as much as you do,” she said. “But we both know you can’t.”

 He surprised her by taking her hand in his huge one, lifting it, and kissing it. “I have a right to know if you will live or die.”

 “Only the Ancestors know that, Glace,” she said as gently as she could.

 He leaned over, put both hands on her hips, lifted her until her face was level with his, and kissed her full on the mouth. His lips were big and cool and they made hers tingle, a sensation that crept over her whole body until she thought she would explode from the pleasure. She was not aware of time passing—an eternity could have gone by and she would not have noticed—until he set her on the ground again. Her skin was hollow in the absence of his touch.

 “I’ve been wanting to do that for years,” he said.

 Then he knelt. “I’m sorry, Majesty. That was not proper.”

 Stasia glared at him. He gave her a kiss that made her float without T'Jas and then called her Majesty? “If you ever call me anything but Stasia again I will—“

 She cut off, her throat choking on the words. She was going to say, “send you away and never see you again,” but it was too close to what she was about to command, and she would likely never see him again. So instead she leaned over and gently grasped his mop of sandy hair, pulled his head back so that he was looking her in the eyes, and kissed him.

 They were still kissing when Casser came to announce that the people had assembled to hear Stasia speak.

Hi Readers, if you're still with me, thanks so much for reading this far! Sorry for the hiatus, I was in Thailand for three weeks and didn't post any chapters at all. I am back now and plan to try to post daily. Thanks again for sticking with the story this far! Selah