The Harvest of Souls

CHAPTER 21

"I'll find something to do. You don't need to worry."

"Well, then I will follow my course to Asturias. Everything is already organized, and Fernanda is waiting for me. I was just waiting for you to arrive."

"You wanted to confirm that I really came, right?" Richard said coldly.

"I wanted to confirm that you are safe," Charlotte lied.

"Humph," Richard let out a silent laugh. "Want to stay at the Manor? I can talk to Vaughan to arrange it," Richard said.

"Don't worry; I'll stay in Ástur, it's more practical to resolve any pending issues," Charlotte took a deep breath and stood up. "Well, I'm leaving. Wait here, Fernanda will arrange for someone to pick you up and allocate you to some apartment."

Richard had his head down again. Charlotte walked around the table, thought about putting her hand on Richard's shoulder, but aborted the mission midway, then headed toward the only door of the Royal Cabinet.

As she passed through the doors, she took her communicator and called Fernanda; as she continued down a long corridor, windowless and filled with statues, paintings, and doors, two agents accompanied her.

"Fernanda, is the Vidde for Asturias already prepared? Did we get an uninterrupted line? It will be faster than the plane, I believe, and more comfortable. I'm exhausted," Charlotte held the MC with her left hand and massaged her forehead with her right hand.

On the other side of the line Fernanda replied:

"Yes, everything is ready. Are you sure we will go without a committee this time?"

"Excellent. This time it will be just you and me, no one else. It will be more practical than putting the Royal Plane in the air to Asturias. We will use the Vidde. Please ask someone to provide a room for Richard. I want someone accompanying him every second, without him knowing, obviously. Get someone from Rouge. I think it's better. I'm going to my apartment, organize some things, and then we're off, shall we?" Charlotte waited for Fernanda's answer. "Great," said the Queen turning of her MC.

She walked quickly, reaching the end of the corridor. With a wave, the double doors opened, revealing a continuity of the gallery and another adjacent hall; she then turned right and continued quickly for almost 100 meters. There was no one else but her and the two agents following her. All the royal employees were probably too busy at the moment, locked in their offices, rereading reports, and making contacts. At the end of the hall, Charlotte turned to the two men beside her.

"Thanks, guys. I'll be on my own from now on."

The two men bowed and headed in the opposite direction as Charlotte opened the double doors at the end of the corridor, revealing an elevator already waiting for her.

Fernanda typed into her MC, sending a message to let Charlotte know the transport was ready as she crossed part of the ground floor of The Crystal, which connected all eight towers and was a multitude of windowless corridors and rooms. Since no vital department occupied the first floor and it was filled mainly with conference rooms, meeting rooms, building support, and a part reserved for the most sensitive departments of the IIA, all corridors were empty at that time. She followed the same path Charlotte had taken a few minutes before, entering the hall leading to the elevator connected to the Royal Apartment. Fernanda went to the elevator next door, as the queens were for exclusive use, and then waving her hand, demanded a cabin.

Before entering the elevator, Fernanda felt a shiver run down her spine, and a strange noise echoed down the hall. She looked back and saw nothing. She then got into the elevator and said: 'Vidde train station.' The doors closed, and Fernanda was in doubt if she had seen a figure passing through the corridor.

"This situation is making me paranoid," she said aloud, kneeling on the elevator floor beside her suitcase and opening a small external compartment.

Fernanda took a small pill and swallowed it without water. Being the right-hand of the Supersovereign Queen required a certain level of emotional control and stress that could only be achieved with medicine. The elevator descended for a moment until it stopped almost imperceptibly. The doors opened, revealing a completely dark room. Fernanda raised her hands as she exited the elevator, causing the lights to turn on, showing what was inside that space: a rectangular room with some seats that resembled an airport. She made her way to the first row of seats, right in front of a wide tube of a transparent material that could easily have accommodated a medium-sized car. As he sat down in the armchair, a loud thud echoed throughout the room. Fernanda got up scared, her heart racing, and then she realized: it was just the elevator door closing abruptly.

"Fucking hell!" She screamed alone in the room; some tears came out of the sides of her eyes.

She sat back down, shaking with nervousness, and then decided to take another pill. This time she took the entire pack and put it inside her purse. She realized that the next few days would be intense; her senses were all alert. Over the transparent tube, some words appeared on the white wall: 'Viddwagon approaching.' Fernanda looked up and then to the glass tube to see a sizeable metallic capsule, enter the tube and stop right in the center of the station. Previously invisible doors in the tube appeared, opening upwards, while a wide door in the metal tube also opened, revealing a compartment with four seats.

The Vidde consists of a network of tubes that interconnect the entire globe, crossing land and sea. The capsules, called Viddwagon, are entirely customizable, serving from 4 to 9,000 passengers, depending on the quantity and manner of docking. The Viddwagon quickly reaches three thousand kilometers per hour, moving through a system of magnets.

Fernanda took her MC and said: "Charlotte," As soon as the sovereign's face appeared on the screen, the door to the elevator beside which Fernanda had exited opened, and Charlotte left through it.

"Oh, I was about to call you. The social elevator door is in trouble. It made the biggest noise when closing, I got a huge fright," Fernanda spoke, clearly stunned. "I'll call someone to fix it."

"Excellent! By the way, before that, arrange a place for us to sleep in Astur? I need to sleep. I think I'll sleep during the journey," Charlotte spoke in a tired voice.

"Of course, I'll arrange it," said Fernanda opening the way for Charlotte to enter the Viddwagon. "I'm also exhausted. I think I'll rest during the journey too."

Inside the Viddwagon, there was no noise, and the acceleration was so gradual that it was not even possible to perceive it and feel that the speed was already surpassing two thousand kilometers per hour. Both Fernanda and Charlotte soon fell asleep, and the trip of just over three hours passed in the blink of an eye.