69 The Road to Riviera (1/2)

As Valery promised, the transport was fast.

Fast enough that Li could hear the wind whipping against the metal shell of their carriage, beating out hollow dents. The ride was relatively smooth, too, undulating up and down, but far less than it would on horseback. In fact, the feeling was entirely different – it was more like feeling the rocking atop a moving boat.

Despite Li and the two girls all sitting in the passenger row, it didn't feel crowded at all. He figured it could seat five people if it came down to it, and besides, he had nothing to complain about as he had a nice windowside seat. Sylvie had decided to sacrifice her comfort and insist on Jeanne getting the other windowside seat as it was the hero's big day, among other reasons.

Despite the dull grey armor layering the outside, the inside of the carriage was surprisingly comfortable. The seats were made of velvety red cushioning and the walls were fashioned from polished and varnished elderwood, a pale bark pleasant to the eye and supernaturally durable, inscribed with both decorative and practical runes.

”Splendid!” said Sylvie, her eyes twinkling with curiosity. Her hands glided across the carriage walls, feeling the smooth wood. Elderwood was not native to Riviera – it only grew in Montagne, where the cold forced only the hardiest of trees to survive. She leaned forward, her face almost pressing against the hardened see-through glass separating passengers from the driver. ”Say, Valery, how do the elves create such glass? It feels as if it were fashioned of wood, and yet it still retains its clarity.”

”A hardening process in their Greatforges that is too much a secret for me, a lowly driver, to know,” said Valery as he cocked his head. ”Though I must say, this is the bottom of the barrel that the Republic sends us. Their true machines of burden are far more impressive than these. In fact, they not need even yoke beasts to their service at all.”

”Yes, their steam cores seem to allow for miraculous feats.” Sylvie nodded as she leaned back again, resting her chin atop the back of her hands. ”I have been to Montagne only once, and there, I see Elvish golems performing extraordinary feats of strength in the shafts without need for food or sleep.” She sighed. ”If only the duchess had not limited trade so heavily with the republic, perhaps we would see more progress here.”

”Oh, but the duchess has given us peace, hasn't she?” said Jeanne. Her hands were clasped together and resting at her lap. ”I cannot think of a sweeter gift for the people. I have not seen war with my own two eyes, but I have heard much of how the common folk suffer the most under it.”

Valery laughed. Li eyed him, wondering if he would leak the truth, as surely, he, as part of Alexei's group, knew the true course of history and how bloody and brutal the duchess's ascension had been.

”Every coin, no matter how golden or lustrous it be, has two sides,” said Valery as he whipped his reins. ”The duchy manages peace within its borders, and yet its secession from the Republic does call into question how much it lost in terms of industry and innovation. Even the very art of rune-carving that we rely upon so much from day to day is an Elven innovation.”

He nodded. ”And the Elves, though they certainly hold many special wares to their name, are quite the prickly and proud people. It is likely humans would have never stood upon equal grounds with them in the Republic.”

”Oh? You've seen elves?” said Sylvie.

”The nature of my job requires me to be well-traveled.” Valery paused. ”Ah, you two are very young, so you may not know them personally. I know it is quite rude to ask such elegant ladies as yourselves, but how many summers have you passed, if I may inquire?”

”We aren't too sure,” said Sylvie. ”We were orphans and born during the chaos right before the secession, so we don't have any records to our name. I should say we are near twenty?”

She squeezed Jeanne's hand, and the hero gave Sylvie an appreciative smile.

”Indeed, the years leading up to the secession were…interesting times,” said Valery. Though the vampire did not face them, Li could tell by the way he stiffened that he was frowning. ”Records lost or burned. Nonhumans hunted and driven north or into forestlands.”

He shook his head and regained his composure, and yet his tone seemed to hold hints of mockery underneath.

”But twenty? Then you two are little more than pups. Children born during or after the secession, children of the sun, as the duchy would say you are, and what would children of the sun know of the elves in the dark and wintry north? Of all the inhumans blessed not by the light of life?”

”A shame, as their ways and wares have always seemed interesting to me,” said Sylvie. Her eyes had narrowed, picking up Valery's sensitivity to the topic, but she chose to ignore it. ”Strange, though, you seem not much older than us, and you speak of us like children.”

Valery laughed. ”Forgive me, sometimes I believe myself far older than I am. Likely because my co-workers at Black Securities are all so elderly, and I must tell you now that the old never manage to go a day without reminding you how old they are.”