Tales of Avalon: The Maid and the Falcon

✧ Chapter 24: Lessons ✧

Lily sat quietly, engrossed in the book in front of her.  It was the political theory book her tutor had suggested, but it was very dry with few examples.  Under most circumstances, she would not have paid close attention to it, but now she studied it keenly, not even sure what she was looking for.

"You quoted Altheus earlier.  Throw that away; he might have been right but it's not useful practically."  The ambassador's words echoed in her ears.  "Politics, in the end, comes down to a fight between what people stand to gain and what they stand to lose.  Government is just a way people try to increase what they gain and decrease what they lose."  Lily scrutinized the pages, searching for a passage that related to what the ambassador told her.

Ah.  Lily's lips formed the words on the page, murmuring to herself.  "The principle of punishment is to maintain legitimacy of the government.  A group composed of the weak, banding together against the strong, must at all costs remain clearly legitimate to all parties involved, or the entire coalition is dissolved."  She closed her eyes, leaning back in the chair, thinking back to her secret lessons.  "Your Highness, punishment exists to make it easier to make the decision between gain and loss.  Breaking into a home carries some gain, but the punishment for it should outweigh the gain the robber would get.  If punishments are too severe, though, the entire nation will decide that they have more to lose from this government than from overthrowing it, and they will revolt."  There had been a moment of bitter silence before he spoke again.  "That's what happened to my father."

Punishment to keep the appearance of legitimacy, or punishment to influence people.  Two different ideas of government.  One focusing on appearance, one on motivation.  Who was right?

"Lily?"

Lily jumped and looked to her side, her face breaking into a strained smile.  "Mother!  You surprised me."  She closed the book neatly on the bookmark and set it aside.  "What brings you here?"

"Lily... we have to find a solution."

"A solution?  To what?"

The Queen bent her head with a sigh.  "To... Penny.  More specifically, to the Champion's duties."

"Mother!"  Lily stood, tears filling her eyes.  "We can't just replace Penny!"  A forgotten pain stabbed into her chest.  Why did she have to bring that up now?  Lily had almost escaped the hurt, burying it in study; now it resurfaced, sharp as ever.

"Oh, Lily..."  The Queen embraced her with a sigh.  "I know we can't.  But we can't just wait, either.  The hydras in the Witch's Cradle are roaming further every time we check.  Lake Mena has been stirring again, and the watchers say the Pitch Caves are restless.  Neithe has been active and there's rumor that the Shadowed Wastes are spreading."  The Queen released Lily and shook her head slowly.  "We can't wait any longer, Lily.  Something must be done."

Lily's hands shook and her mouth felt dry.  "I can try to–"

"No!"  The Queen's voice ripped through the air.  "Lily, no.  I'm not losing another daughter.  You're not trained to be a Champion.  Even Penny would have struggled in the Pitch Caves.  I am not going to be alone.  Don't be foolhardy."

Lily stared down at her hands.  "I'm not stupid, Mother.  I was going to say that I could try to persuade the Hands to help.  I'm sure they knew that Penny and I were... close.  They might listen to me."  I know, Mother.  I know I can't do Penny's job.  Lily had never felt so inadequate.

"Are you sure?"  The Queen sighed and turned to look out the window.  "I think some of them blame me for... for what happened to Penny, and for arresting the sylphs."  Her voice sank to a whisper.  "I'm not sure they're wrong."

"No.  No, Mother, of course they're wrong.  It wasn't your fault; you did what you could."  Lily shook her head, her heart sinking.  Would they ever actually listen to me?  I'm not as strong as Penny was.  They listened to her because she was strong, but I'm not.  All I have is Mother.  "They... they won't hold a grudge against me, and they're still Hands, right?"

"Lily... I haven't been able to even find any Hands."

Lily's heart dropped.  "Wh...  I don't....  What?"

"I've tried.  They've vanished."

"The Hands... vanished?"  Lily's hands tingled with shock.  "That can't be right."

"They're gone.  The headquarters are emptied.  The uniforms are gone, the place swept clean.  Forensics couldn't find a trace.  Member lists are missing.  Everything vanished."  The Queen groaned, sat down, and buried her head in her hands.  "The Pitch Caves are stirring and we don't even have the Hands left.  Lily... what am I meant to do?  How can we get the Hands back if they don't mean to be found?"

"I...."  Lily's mind reeled.  Mother has no solution.  If Mother has no solution, what can I possibly do?  "Can we even get the Hands back?"

"If we have no Hands..." the Queen gestured at the book Lily had been reading.  "If we have no Hands left, what happens to our people?  Can we not even protect Avalon anymore?"

Lily's mind tumbled, struggling with despair.  She remembered her sister talking about her one foray into the Pitch Caves, and the haunted look that came over Penny's face when she talked about the creatures sleeping inside.  "They're so big, Lily.  They don't even fit in the cave, but there's so much room around them when you get to it.  Things speed up and slow down randomly.  I've seen pebbles that I kicked up fall up or sideways.  Lights don't work, but it doesn't matter because everything glows black down there anyway.  Magic doesn't work, or it works too much."  Lily could see Penny shivering.  "Good thing they're still asleep."  Lily had never learned what "they" looked like, but from Penny's desperate refusal to talk about it, they couldn't have been pleasant.  If the Pitch Caves really were stirring....

Suddenly Lily gasped.  Motivation vs appearance.  Of course.  They didn't need appearance right now.  They just needed strength.

"Mother."

The Queen looked up with a radiant smile.  "Oh, Lily, thank you, I knew you would."

Lily blinked, bewildered, but shook her head.  "Mother, we don't need the Hands."

The Queen's smile faltered.  "Lily, what... what are you saying?  Of course we need them."

"We need strong people, but the Hands can't be the only capable people around.  We just need people willing to hunt monsters, right?"

After a moment of silence, the Queen nodded.  "I see."

"What if we set up a sponsored group to hunt monsters?  The payment could be that they keep the monster's materials.  Even hydra bone is valuable."

"We can't have people carelessly entering the Witch's Cradle, Lily."

Lily nodded.  "I know it's not a perfect plan.  We'd have to work out the details later.  But if we can't contact the Hands, we have to at least find something to fill in the gaps for now.  And there will probably be Hands among the hunters we sponsor, even if we can't tell."

The Queen sighed.  "Well, it's not a bad plan, all things considered.  I'll have to discuss the details with my advisors, but it should be possible."  She stood and walked to the door, seeming preoccupied.  Lily paused as the Queen left.  She always says goodbye.  Did I do something wrong?  But no, clearly the Queen was already considering how to best protect Avalon.

Lily returned to her book, scouring it for differences to ask the ambassador about later.  She was already finding his advice valuable, and she found herself looking forward to their next meeting.