Chapter 254: Alliance
The Fjord’s weather had no patience for gradual transitions. Yesterday the sky had been a clear, undivided blue from horizon to horizon; today it sat low and grey with a wind that smelled of ocean, and the thunder arrived before the rain. Ashes held her hair down against the gusts and stepped through Tilly’s door.
A fat pigeon was perched on Tilly’s shoulder.
“Maggie?”
“Goo!” The pigeon’s head came up — bright eyes, instant recognition — and she launched herself toward the doorway, wings opening wide. Ashes caught her with one palm, a gentle interception. “Turn into your human form. We need to talk properly.”
“Woo — goo.” With an aggrieved ruffle of feathers, Maggie dropped to the floor and shed her bird-shape. She crossed her arms. “Do you have something against pigeons?”
“A bird that talks is just wrong,” Ashes said, and pulled her upright by the arm. “When did you get back?”
“Just a moment ago. I almost got caught by the storm — my wing nearly gave out.” She patted her chest. “Thank the sky I reached Sleeping Island before the rain started.”
“You flew back as a pigeon?” Ashes tapped her on the forehead. “Why not a swallow? It’s three times faster.”
Maggie’s eyes went wide with the particular expression of someone who has just remembered something obvious they had no excuse to forget. “Oh. I forgot. Goo.”
Tilly set down her letter and smiled. “You’ve done well, and I already know the news from that side. Go find Lotus or Molly for now — I need to think through my reply, and I’ll call for you when it’s ready.”
“Good, goo!” Maggie saluted with both hands and hopped out of the room.
When the door had closed behind her, Ashes crossed the room and sat beside Tilly on the woven mat. Between them on the floor, a map of the terrain surrounding Border Town lay unrolled.
“What does Roland Wimbledon want?” Ashes asked.
“Here.” Tilly passed her the letter.
It was not long. Ashes read it straight through, then read it again. Her frown deepened. “He chose Sylvie? He knows what she can do — does he simply not care if we identify him?”
“I don’t know.” Tilly’s tone was measured, speculative. “My description of their abilities may not have been detailed enough for him to understand what Sylvie specifically could discover. Or perhaps he doesn’t care whether we confirm his identity — this could be a gesture of sincerity, a signal that he’s willing to operate without pretense.” She paused. “There is also the third possibility.”
“That he actually is your older brother,” Ashes finished, “and therefore has nothing to hide.”
“The least likely of the three.” Tilly gave a short, self-deprecating laugh. “Who knows better than I what kind of person my brother was? He would never have chosen to stand against the Church for the sake of witches. From childhood to the day he left for Border Town, his greatest talent was retreat — every difficulty, every conflict, met with the same response. When Father sent him away, he didn’t even come to say goodbye. No protest, not even a symbolic one.”
Ashes raised an eyebrow. “So. Regardless of which possibility is true — Sylvie being chosen is useful for us. We don’t need an excuse to send her; he’s asked for her himself. But the others—” She set the letter down carefully. “You genuinely want to send Lotus?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because Lotus is one of Sleeping Island’s most capable witches. Without her, new construction stalls. Terrain modification, structural repair, the expansion of the undeveloped regions — we’re using less than thirty percent of the island’s area. There’s an enormous amount left to build.” Ashes counted on her fingers. “Honey, too — the fish soups we eat every day exist because of her. And yes, Candle and Evelyn are less critical, but—” She hesitated. “If you have to send anyone, couldn’t it be just those two? The ones who aren’t essential?”
Tilly’s expression changed. It was the palace look — not anger exactly, but the particular gravity that came when she had been patient long enough and felt it necessary to draw a line.
“What is useful and what isn’t are not categories I want applied to our sisters,” Tilly said. “Each one of those witches came to Sleeping Island seeking a home. If we sort them by utility and send the ones we can spare, we’ve become exactly the kind of organization that treats people as instruments. That is not what Sleeping Island is.”
Ashes opened her mouth, then closed it.
“I’m sorry,” she said, shifting her address. “Your Majesty. I was only thinking of practical—”
“I know what you were thinking.” Tilly sighed, and the sternness passed. “And some of it is reasonable. But consider: Roland, with more than a hundred witches on Sleeping Island to choose from, selected those five. Including two you’ve called useless. Either he chose carelessly — which I doubt — or he saw something in Evelyn and Candle that we haven’t recognized. This exchange could tell us which.” She paused. “Every witch on this island deserves to be treated as a person, not evaluated as a resource. Never speak that way again.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Quietly.
Lightning split the sky outside. The thunder that followed it was immediate and enormous, rolling across the water and up into the room. With it came the rain — sparse at first, then all at once, a sudden wall of sound that softened the view through the windows to a grey smear. Ashes stood, crossed to close the shutters against the spray.
When she turned back, Tilly had swayed slightly. Her complexion was wan.
“Were you up all night?”
“Mm.” A yawn, nearly suppressed. “The books from the ruins all use the same script. I’ve found consistent patterns in the grammar — given enough time, I can translate the full set.”
“Given enough time,” Ashes repeated. “Which you’ll certainly have, once the Church stops breathing down your neck. There is no reason to wreck your health over it.”
“I know. But I have a feeling.” Tilly’s gaze moved to the window, to the rain. “When I look at what we found in those ruins, I feel uneasy in a way I can’t properly name. I want to understand it before whatever caused that feeling catches up with us.” She shook herself slightly. “The witches who travel to Border Town will carry one of the books with them when they go.”
“If you can’t read it, the Witch Cooperation Association is even less likely to.”
“We take our chances.” Tilly laced her fingers. “The association’s origins are in the Sea Wind Region, practically adjacent to the eastern forest where ruins have also been found. If anyone on the mainland has encountered this script, it’s them. And if we establish that both ruins used the same writing system, it confirms they were built by the same people — which itself tells us something.”
“Understood.”
“Also — I’m not ignoring what you said about Lotus.” Tilly met her eyes. “It’s true that the island’s construction will suffer if she’s gone too long. I’ve already negotiated with the Crescent Moon Bay Caravan — they’ll begin bringing settlers over from the mainland next spring. Lotus needs to be back before that work begins. So before winter, she returns.”
The tightness in Ashes’s chest eased. “That’s manageable.”
“There’s one more thing.” Tilly’s expression shifted into something that walked the edge of mischief. “I intend to lead a group of combat witches to Border Town myself during the Months of Demons — to help defend against the demonic beast attacks. It would be a good opportunity to see for myself what kind of lord this man is.” The smile sharpened. “Would you like to come?”
Ashes looked at her for a long moment.
“Of course,” she said at last, and did not bother hiding the resignation. “Your Majesty.”
Chapter 254 Alliance
The Fjord’s weather was very strange, yesterday had been a sunny, cloudless day, with an endlessly blue sky. But the sky was gloomy today, the wind was blowing and the thunder rolling, looking like a massive rainstorm was imminent.
Ashes held down her hair to prevent it from fluttering about wildly in the wind then stepped into Tilly’s home only to discover that there was a fat pigeon sitting on Tilly’s shoulder.
“Maggie?”
“Goo!” The pigeon raised its head, its eyes turned bright, it opened its wings and immediately threw itself at the doorway, only to gently be blocked by Ashes hand, “Turn into your human form so that we can talk.”
“Woo… Goo,” With fluttering wings, Maggie landed on the floor, shedding her feathers to reveal her original appearance. She opened her mouth and unhappily asked, “Do you have a hatred for pigeons?
“I’ve always felt that a bird that can speak is way too strange,” Ashes said laughingly and pulled up the girl that was sitting up from the ground, “At what time have you come back?”
“Just a moment ago, I was afraid that I would get caught up by the storm, my wing almost ended up broken,” she patted her chest. “Fortunately, I was able to reach Sleeping Island before the rain began falling.”
“Did you fly back… like this?” Ashes tapped her on the forehead, “Why didn’t you just turn into a swallow wouldn’t that have been much faster?”
“Oh…” Maggie’s eyes became wide, as if she had suddenly only just realized something, “I forgot, goo.”
Tilly couldn’t help but laugh, she then put down the letter in her hand and said, “I’m putting you through a lot of trouble. I already know about the news from that area, so for now, you can should go and look for Lotus or Molly and play with them, I will think about a good reply and notify you later.”
“Good, goo!” Maggie saluted and then hopped as she left the room.
“What did Roland Wimbledon have to say?” Waiting until the both of them were the only one left in the room, Ashes went over to Tilly and sat beside her on the woven mat. There, on the ground in front of them a map was spread out. Looking closely, she discovered that it depicted the terrain surrounding Border Town.
“This is his letter,” Tilly handed her a piece of paper, “I have to say, the witches he picked are indeed… quite special…”
Ashes quickly finished reading the letter given to her, unable to keep the frown on her forehead she asked “He actually chose Sylvie? Does he simply do not care about exposing his identity?”
“I don’t know,” Tilly said, not expressing her opinion, “Perhaps my summary about their abilities was too vague, so he was unable to do an in-depth investigation? Or it could be that he simply does not care if his identity is exposed to us, and might be trying to show his sincerity in cooperating? Of course, there is still another possibility…”
“He really could be your older brother,” Ashes finished her sentence, “And because of this he doesn’t care at all about Sylvie’s ability.”
“But this possibility is next to nothing,” she laughed at herself, “Who would know better than I the kind of person my older brother is? If he was indeed Roland Wimbledon, he would never chose to go against the Church in order to protect the witches. From young to old, the thing he has always been best at was with escaping. No matter what challenges or difficulties he was facing … Even when the king sent him to Border Town, he never went over to meet with “father” or tried raising any form of protest, even if it would only be a symbolic one.”
Ashes raised one eyebrow, “In short, him taking the initiative to pick Sylvie is a good thing for us. In that way we don’t need to think of an excuse to send him an additional witch, but those other witches… don’t tell me that you really want to agree to send them to him?”
“Why not?”
“Lotus is one of Sleeping Island’s most talented witches. If she is gone, who will build new mud houses or restore our old ones? If you want to create something, or transformation the island’s terrain, not having her ability to remodel the terrain would prove extremely inconvenient. After all, we are currently using less than 30% of Sleeping Islands terrain, there are still many places which can be transformed,” as she said this she raised one finger.
“There is also Honey, she can order the osprey to catch fish for everyone, the reason we can enjoy a variety of delicious fish soups every day is to her credit. As for Candle and Evelyn, sending them away, wouldn’t be such a big problem… In case you cannot refuse his request, can’t we just exchange those two witches for others who aren’t as useful?”
“What is useful, what is useless? By sending them to Border Town, I hope to obtain a new ally, rather than abandon our sisters,” Tilly’s expression turned grave, “No matter what kind of ability they have, by choosing to come to Sleeping Island, all of the witches have become our sisters. If we want to turn Sleeping Island into the home for witches, how could we afford to filter the already small number of witches according to whether their abilities are useful or not?”
Ashes had already seen her exposing this kind of expression during their time in the palace – it was the expression the 5th Princess would show whenever she was outraged, seeing this, Ashes couldn’t help but change her manner of address, “I’m sorry… Your Majesty, I just –“
Tilly sighed and then started unhurriedly, “Moreover, it’s hard to measure the ability of everyone according to some kind of standard. From among the more than one hundred witches, Roland has selected those five witches. Even including Candle and Evelyn, two that you have regarded as useless.
“Can you be really be certain that they are useless? Perhaps through this exchange, we will be able to figure out whether he choose the two by accident, or if he had seen something within them that we were just unable to recognize.” She paused, “No matter what, we are already such a small number of witches, every witch deserves to be fought for. They aren’t tools to we use to build a new home. Instead, we are all comrades holding the same goal in our sights, so you must never speak such words.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Ashes responded in a meek voice.
At this moment, lightning broke through the clouds, straight over the sea. As if it were a decree given by the Gods, it was immediately followed with an ear-splitting rolling of thunder. And together with the echo of the explosions, the rain also began to fall over Sleeping Island. At first, it fell sparse, but it then quickly turned into a hubbub. And the dense rain soon covered the outside scenery with a layer of fog and rain, even sometimes overshadowing the conversation between the two.
Ashes got up and closed the window, in order to keep the rain from drifting into the room. When she turned turning around, she saw Tilly sway twice, showing a somewhat wan and sallow expression on her face.
“Were you staying up all night?”
“Well,” Tilly called yawn. “All the books we brought back from the ruins were written in the same language. Moreover, I already found some common points, as long as I have enough time, I am sure that I can translate all of them.”
“Yeah, with enough time… now after getting rid of the nagging Church, there will certainly be sufficient time for you, you don’t need to study it all through the night.” Ashes knit her brow, “It could have a tremendous impact on your body.”
“Rest assured, I am a witch, my body won’t collapse so quickly.” The 5th Princess took a deep breath, “Moreover, I have a vague premonition – seeing the scene within the ruins gave me an uneasy feeling, so we have to decipher the content of these books as soon as possible… Oh, by the way, this time
when the witches leave for Border Town, they will also bring one of the books along with them.”
“If even you cannot read it, the possibility that the witches from the Witch Cooperation Association will know it is even worse.”
“Well we will just have to take a chance,” Tilly said, “I heard that there have been ancient ruins found in the eastern forest. Furthermore, the origin of the Witch Cooperation Association is located in the Sea Wind Region, which is almost right next to the forest, we can’t say for sure whether some of them haven’t already seen this language. And if we can prove that they used the same language, it should mean that all those remains are from the same group of people.”
“Yes, I got it,” Ashes agreed.
“Also, it’s not the case that I blame you for your previous words, some of the words you said are reasonable – but that isn’t related to the part about the significance of their abilities.” Tilly reached out with her hand to stop Ashes from speaking, “I have reached an agreement with the chamber of commerce of the Crescent Moon Bay Caravan. They will start to migrate some ordinary people over to Sleeping Island by next spring. So if Lotus leaves for too long, it would affect the follow-up construction of the island, so before the winter comes I will have them all return to the Fjord.”
Hearing Tilly’s words Ashes said in relief, “Then everything should be fine.”
“But in order to avoid any kind of misunderstanding, I will lead several combat witches over to Border Town and help them to resist the attacks of the demonic beasts during the Months of Demons.” Tilly exposed a sly smile, “When that time comes, are you willing to go together with me?”
Ashes froze for a moment, but in the end had no other option than helplessly replied, “Of course, Your Majesty.”