The Toils (Book Two)

I. Black Sky

The moon had risen high into the sky, as eight people congregated on the porch of a rather gorgeous log-clad Lakehouse, though the thick atmosphere above them refused to permit the light to shine through.
With a slight inch of swagger, a heavy-set woman, aged roughly 73, pushed open the door and stepped over the threshold.
"Thanks, Harreina", a small man gruffed behind her, latching a flaming torch to the wall as he passed the stairwell to the second floor, and took a seat in the wide living room.
Crackling merrily, a fireplace filled the room with warmth and light, beckoning the others inside. 
Harreina sat next to Toff, followed rapidly by Thatcher and Magnus, Ruataupare and Rena, and lastly Eldore Greene and Colonel Lobard Hibbert.
With dark brown eyes, Thatcher surveyed the faces sitting around her, waiting for someone to speak. She was older now; her umber skin etched permanently with wrinkles formed owing to frowning with worry.
Her black hair curled tightly across her scalp, starkly contrasting to Magnus next to her.
Youthful though she was, not even Magnus had escaped the rapid aging effect that the prior two years had taken on the gaggle of people sitting in the living room. Her long flowing hair had grown much darker, now that she wasn't working outside all day every day.
Magnus's fingers interlocked with Renas next to her, clenching a little as Eldore spoke, breaking the silence.
"Thank you all for coming".
It wasn't much, but Thatcher sighed a little, relieved that she wasn't the one that had to speak first.
He continued - "I know we've all had it hard, recently, so I appreciate you all making the effort to be here tonight", he paused for a breath, taking a cigar from his pocket.
Strutting over to the fireplace, Eldore could feel the eyes watching his every step as he waved the tip of his cigar over the flames.
He chuffed on it a few times, pulled a strand of tobacco from his lips, and went on - "we've got work to do. Even in Zedeylia, crops are dying".
"We knew that would happen", Rena pointed out loosely.
"We hoped it wouldn't though", Thatcher looked over Magnus and replied.
"But it has", Eldore pushed through, "and so placing your hopes in Zedeylia alone is a bum idea".
"Shit", Thatcher shook her head, rubbing her tired eyes.
"Exactly", Eldore spoke with the cigar between his teeth, his mustache more yellowed than Thatcher had ever seen it. "And so, we need to establish a way forward".
"While we're thinking of that, can we also figure out how to get water flowing in Gossfordshire again?", Thatcher interjected. 
"What's wrong with the water?", Magnus looked to Thatcher and asked. 
"The earthquakes have cracked almost every functioning water-well we had", Thatcher furrowed her brow, enhancing those wrinkles a little more. 
"So drink from the river", Ruataupare hissed without making eye contact.
"Believe it or not, ma'am, we've been doing that, and people keep getting sick", Thatcher cut back.
"Right, crops failing everywhere, no water in Gossfordshire", Harreina chopped in, "anything else?".
"No", Thatcher addressed Harreina directly, "everything's been largely okay on our end".
There were murmurs of agreement throughout the room.
"Any skirmishes south?", Magnus asked, casting her eye between Harreina and Eldore.
"A few deaths, none on our side", Eldore replied.
Harreina hesitated, but broke her tense demeanor rather quickly - "we've had reports, from a regiment, sent south to keep the border clear, of noises in the Alps".
"What kind of noises?", Ruataupare asked seriously. 
"A little like thunder...", Harreina trailed off.
"You don't think it's anything to do with the sky, do you?", Thatcher asked.
"How can it be? That's coming from the north", Rena observed.
"You never know", Thatcher shrugged.
"No", Harreina answered the original question, "the noises are localized. Some men heard it, the others didn't".
"So what're we doing about it, then?", Thatcher resisted the urge to roll her eyes. 
"We're keeping up patrols, but...", Harreina grimaced, hoping someone else would talk. 
All of them knew this was a momentous meeting, and no one wanted to be the idiot to suggest a dumb idea.
"Is there a way to tackle this all at once?", Ruataupare threw out, more of a suggestion than a question. 
"Explain", Eldore beckoned, blowing a stream of smoke from his nostrils, leaning against his cane.
"I hate the fact that I'm even bringing this up", Ruataupare swallowed, "but, two years ago, Thatcher wanted to bring the Settlers fleeing violence North, and negotiate with Waikato for land that the Settlers could occupy".
The room held their breath, all thinking the same thing.
"That's ridiculous", Lobard laughed cruelly.
"Yeah I thought the same thing", Ruataupare threw a dark glance at Thatcher, "I said it would be possible if she could find a way of differentiating between Settled folk and Settler folk, a goal I'm assuming she still hasn't made headway on".
"I haven't, no", Thatcher gave in and allowed her eyes to roll.
"What relevance does any of this hold?", Harreina leaned forward.
"What if, and just hear me out, what if we cleared out Cold Country, rehoused the Settlers, erased the Settled, and expanded the borders of Rebury and Zedeylia southwards", Ruataupare licked her lips. "The reality is, we could deal with two problems in one, clear the Settled, grow the food".
Eldore cocked his head, contemplating this scenario in his mind - "it's a fine idea, but Cold County is called Cold Country for a reason".
"I acknowledge that, but it's not as if the snow sees the border and says 'whoops, guess it's cold now', is it?", Ruataupare drooped her eyes sarcastically. 
Everyone let those words linger for a moment, taking them in. 
"Okay", Harreina nodded, "that could work".
"I disagree", Lobard spoke aloud, "if this plan was viable, we'd've gotten rid of this threat years ago".
"We haven't had a concrete goal in mind other than repel and kill", Toff replied, "this is something more, right?".
"We take a vote", Harreina stood, "all those in favor of rehousing the Settlers to take Cold Country for use as farmland?".
Toff, Harreina, Thatcher, Magnus, Ruataupare, and Rena raised their hands, leaving Lobard and Eldore the odd ones out. 
"Motion passed", Harreina sat.
"Fine, but it's only Zedeylia shifting borders, if you move back any more you'll merely be backing up onto the Alps", Eldore sniffed, tossing the butt for his cigar into the open fireplace.
"Indeed, for now, it's late, and I'm tired", Harreina yawned, "there're beds upstairs for all of you, we'll reconvene here in the morning and sort plans for this little... endeavor".
No one spoke, all stood, yawning.
As everyone moved to the staircase in unison, Thatcher spotted Ruataupare making for the back door. Thatcher followed her closely into the chilly midnight air.

Closing the door behind her, she turned on her heel to spot Ruataupare staring at her, the feathers in her cloak ruffling slightly in the wind.
"Thanks", Thatcher blurted out.
"I didn't do it for you", Ruataupare hissed, "I did it because we're all going to starve in a month's time if we can't get food moving".
"Either way".
"No, Thatcher, this isn't about you, this isn't about what you want, you absolute ass", Ruataupare pulled a lock of black hair from her face, "I haven't spoken to you in two years, you think the first thing I'm gonna do is lick your ass and say 'thanks for the idea, it's a good one'"?.
"I just-".
"I know what you want, and I'm not giving it to you, I'm not gonna come to you and celebrate you". 
"Ruataupare-".
"No, I don't want to speak to you, I just don't".
"Are you ever gonna stop being such a-", Thatcher broke off, not wanting to finish the sentence. 
"A what?", Ruataupare bobbed her head a little, beckoning Thatcher to continue.
Thatcher glowered at Ruataupare sniffling in the chilly night air.
"I don't wanna say it, I've finally got you to talk to me, after nearly two years, I don't want to ruin it by insulting you", Thatcher followed up. 
Ruataupare rubbed her bare arms under her cloak - "you ever reflect on why that happened?".
"I'm sorry", Thatcher hissed, it was obvious she was being facetious, "I'm sorry I did what I thought was best to save lives".
"Oh pull the other one, Thatcher, you took the easy way!".
"Easy?! You think it was easy giving up the vision I had for the future?".
"Your vision? What about mine - no, ours".
"Ours?! Ha!", Thatcher mocked mirthlessly. "You refused to see eye-to-eye with me when it counted, on The Settlers, on Ritty, and now you wanna talk about our vision?!".
"I took you in!", Ruataupare threw back. "When you needed me - I was there for you, but when I needed you, you passed the buck to fucking Ritty".
Thatcher winced, she'd never heard Ruataupare curse before. It sounded more foreign than the Maori she spoke.
"If you can't see reason on this", Thatcher sighed, "then I don't know what else to say to you".
"Fine, leave me alone, then", Ruataupare turned her back and looked over the lake. 
From behind her, she could hear the back door close as Thatcher vanished inside.
Silently, she mocked Thatcher, lipping the last sentence Thatcher had spoken.