Stop

The front door was left open, and the cold wind of this newborn winter invaded the large hall, bringing small suggestions of snow.

_Stop, right there, invader! I live to server, and die to please my mistress whims! You do not DARE to try to bribe me again, elf!! I am my mistress…

The gnome maid still didn’t had hight to look him in the face, despite being standing on the second step of the stair. The dagger in her tiny hand was almost comical, but the fire in her eyes was genuine.

And when she spoke the word “elf” it sounded like someone spiting poison.

_You are cheap, that’s what you are! In my way to here, I walked through the Municipal Market and saw a gnome maiden being sold by the price of a pack of six she orcs.

_I am sure you saw that, but the seller was NOT my mistress. Princess Niarra of Cinnabar is in no habit of being robbed by merchants. Or by Dukes, for that matter.

Without realizing it, in his anger, he had manifested an offensive spell. Ready to be discharged, it was glowing in silver flames around his right hand. Would go through the tiny gnome and open a hole in the wood stair behind her, if used.

The maid didn’t showed fear. Challenging him with her posture.

The Moon-Elf Grand Duke stepped back, with the painful sensation of fire burning from his hand back to his chest and guts. As he **** the mutated energy back into his spirit pool.

_That is a misunderstanding. We are both loyal servants of your mistress. I am only…

_You! Are an ungrateful bag of lies, that’s what you are. I just saved your live, and your entire family, creature. What do you suppose would happen if I was not here and you had been able to intrude my mistress privacy without invitation??

_But I must, speak to her. She does not understand…

_Your family was elevated by upala. Now, it is being reduced, by upala. You have no cause to protest, Duke. We are their vassals. Hope one day the fate of your descendants may be reversed for the better.

_That is not the issue! Of course, my family can be taken what was given to us. The Princess can replace us by any other Moon-Elf House, even by a commoner if pleases her. What I am saying is, this is Moon-Elf Land! My people fought Iron-Elves for generations beyond count!! They will not swallow the humiliation of bow their heads to an Iron-Elf overseer…! The Cinnabar Throne risks to have a rebellion if that is not reversed. There are rumours of separatist movements already! We are at the border of this country, mind you.

_You are the one who must mind where you are, elf. Not me. Look around you. Do you see the text sculpted on that column right by your side? Which language is that? See the shield on that wall. Do you recognize it? Is that of an elven house? Is that language, any part of your “Tree”, tell me that.

The high noble hesitated for a moment.

_Do you dare to threat the Cinnabar Throne itself !? In the very house of my mistress, who speaks and legislates with the authority of her brother, the Cinnabar King. As his Trusted.

_No, I came to, do no such thing. I never threatened anyone…

_My mistress will see what you did and what you didn’t when she read this moment in my memories, elf. What else do you whish to say to her, elf?

Defeated, the man left, without another word.

_Poor fellow! His family has ruled the elves in this region for more than 10 generations, and now, by no fault of them, they must fall and endure humiliation. _says Dahniss, the gnome maiden.

_I was under the impression that you hated elves. _says the younger gnome lassie, with a wooden crossbow as large as herself on her shoulder. _He almost killed you, you know. I would not be able to hit him before he discharge that spell, mom.

_Suck back that energy will hurt him terribly, don’t you know? Cause less long lasting damage, but is actually more painful than be hit by the offensive spell.

_Still, you would be dead!

_Probably.

_Why didn’t you call help, mom? The guards…

_There was no need to. Elves are proud and, sometimes, arrogant. They are not stupid. Specially those who hold positions of power and responsibility. Being born from the right parents is not all you need for that in their society. They live 9, 10, 15 thousand years, and cultivate self-control is high in their list of priorities since they learn how to speak. The risk to my life here was minimal. And call the guards would have destroyed his family for good. Ending any chance they may still have to at least remain free people.

_I don’t understand.

_All races in this nation contribute with something, Grazey. They all have weakness and strong qualities, and all of them serve our upala masters in some way. The elves have short lives compared to upala, but extremely long compared to us. They are among the most gifted arcanists on Kallos, as gifted in that area as we are. Sometimes, those excellent gifts make them forget their position, and sometimes our masters need to fix it by placing lineages from the bottom of their hierarchy on the top. Those on the top, bellow. Is not our business to judge those things. Forget this incident.

_Yes, mother.

The gnomes closed the tall door, as snow started to fall.

_I am not supposed to tell you this, doctor, and I could be in trouble for it. Your sister is not the only one missing. Tennent Lucienne is missing too. She has been the person in command of our military forces since the Fall, so, you understand why this is a sensible matter!

Outside the office the snow is falling heavy, and a tempest is spreading through the skies from the east. Inside, temperature remains unaffected, but the strong winds caressing the vigilance tower start singing through the panoramic window. Despite the translucent material being able to endure the vacuum of space and the hit of magnetic projectiles.

_Natives?

_Hardly plausible, no. The locals are hulkish brutes, almost three meters tall, weight a ton, stupid noisy creatures. Look a lot like orcs from classic medieval fantasy videogames. We exaggerate their importance as treat, a bit, in the public reports. Between you and me, if they didn’t used rustic artisanal clothes and metallic weapons we would not consider them sentient beings at all. There is still debate about if they are able to speak or not.

_Metallurgy is a quite sophisticated activity.

_Yeah, well, maybe. Still, our people was coming back from a inspection in the farms. A tempest caught them by surprise, we didn’t saw it coming. They had to stop, but they where in reach to a shelter. A fortified camp, build for that sort of situation. We know they reached the camp, your sister, the Finances Secretary, was part of the group. We examined the cameras, and listened to the people who did not disappeared that night.

_What they said?

_No one saw or listened any sign of invasion. The electric fences were on, the doors locked, and the vigilance drones activated, didn’t used any ammo. By all that, seems clear that who took your sister and the others knew our protocols, security codes, and defences. Has to be an inside job.

_Inside? You mean, people from Pelican City?

_People who have infiltrated our military structure. For months we have been facing sabotage. Small things, but serious enough to cost the live of many soldiers.

_Who?

_We have some possible suspects. The most likely is a Democratist cell at the core of the city. They are one of the most organized groups outside govern structure. Their leader was one of the 10 oldest people in Pelican when this was a Scientific Ship. Now, she is by far the oldest. They are pushing for elections and the elaboration of a constitution since the ship failed to return to our Universe for the first time. Before that, they were a “Collective of Art and Culture”. After the fall they recovered some supplies and must have build an improvised manual printing machine. We have been finding their zines, spreading political propaganda.

_But you think that is enough evidence to hold this people responsible…

_No. I am not the person responsible for this investigation, anyway. You used to be in the military, special forces. You must know how those things work. Information about the investigation is strictly controlled for the moment.

The lights blinked for a moment.

_Our power grid is not as trustworthy as it used to be. Because of the demands of Construction Sector. Engineering is building some walls and extra layers of isolation for urban areas, in case winter becomes harsher than what our projections suggest it should be. Those large construction machines drink a lot of energy.

_How long until we get information?

_Internal Security is hunting the people, military intelligence too. Honestly? Unless we step in a lucky clue, the most likely is that we will need to wait. The next move belongs to the Democratists. They have our people, your sister, the Tennent, a few others. That’s significant coin for a bargain. They will want to exchange those hostages for something. Possibly people from their groups, arrested by sabotage attempts.

_How long?

_Usually, I would say days, couple weeks tops. Keep prisoners in a place like Pelican City is a delicate matter. Specially now. If winter becomes harsh enough to **** a mass relocation down to the core of our former ship, move hostages in secret would be a logistic nightmare for any group of gorilla fighters. Too much variables. On the other hand, as I told you, their leader is old. Over one thousand years old. She was one of the first to benefit from biological immortality treatments, back in the days when it was experimental. People like her deal with time in their own way. They are mor… patient, than we are.

_And we have to wait for their next move.

_Unfortunately, there is little we can do before that. Rest assured: we are doing everything we can. This people will NOT escape unpunished, but our priority right now is not to make justice. Our priority is to get our people back. If necessary, the High Council is ready to negotiate and make concessions. Once our people is back, safely, we will see.

_You will find no objection from me! Whatever this people want or believe, they have gone too far. If we must kill every single one of them, to survive as a specie on this planet. The sooner we get that job done, the better.

_Last thing we need right now is a civil war.

_As I said. You will get no argument from me in that subject, Bob! Thank you for the update. Don’t worry, this conversation stays between you and me.

_I trust you, man. I know does not help much to say “don’t worry”, but, as a matter of fact. You sister is way too valuable for this people. They will do everything in their power to keep her safe. Is not much, but is the one good things about this situation.

_Thanks again! I need to…

_Yeah, me too. Time doesn’t stop for anyone, in this damn planet! Anything emerges, I let you know.