An Untitled Novel

The familiar abyss, the infinite darkness and echoes of voices, filled his senses. The voices, however, were muffled; angry and incomprehensible. He’d been here before, he knew it, he just couldn’t remember when. The abyss seemed to notice his presence and, shedding its neutrality, began crushing him. He pulled out his handgun, a pointless attempt to ward it off, but it continued its egress as if he weren’t even there. He pulled the trigger, but it felt stuck, and when he did manage to press it no shot rang out.

He screamed as it eviscerated him.

Basil awoke to his screaming, the bone chilling fear evaporating like the sweat that covered him. He grabbed his watch off the nightstand next to him, indicating he’d been asleep for less than an hour. Sighing, he got out of bed and made his way to the door of his Arkepello apartment; the plan of warm salty air and the low hum of the ocean providing better dreams had become a failed experiment. If nothing else, another drink at the Arkepellian hotel bar would calm his nerves.

Basil returned Commander Barker’s nod as he passed, the new commander talking with recruits over drinks. Barker looked on with a hint of curiosity, but Basil kept moving, making his way to the counter before ordering a glass of grain spirits infused with sour berries. The intensely bitter and sour concoction sure to overload his senses and, in doing so, clear his head.

“Hi” greeted a middle aged woman, tapping Basil on the shoulder. “Hey” Basil replied, unsure what was intended from the conversation, before moving his empty cups to free the space next to him. “I’m Fiadh, Cicero’s wife.” Basil extended his hand to shake hers. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Basil. I was hoping to talk to you, and if it’s alright, I was hoping to do so somewhere other than here. I finally got Cicero to watch our children, and I’d rather not spend my few moments of peace in a place like this.”

Basil gestured to the exit, following her as they stepped out of the building. “How are your kids holding up after everything?” Fiadh gave a tired expression. “They’re okay. Just cabin fever, really. Cicero got me out before everything went down. But we haven’t told them the truth about what really happened: that the Crown is in temporary exile or that our house went up when the district was torched.” Basil paused, the inside of the Arkepello hotel transitioning to cool night air and darkened streets as stark a contrast as the change in conversation. “Shit, Cicero’s never mentioned your house, if you need-”

Fiadh cut Basil off. “That’s sweet, but no, we’ll be alright. I wanted to talk to you to thank you. This is what, the third time Cicero’s misguided idea of duty would have gotten him killed? Had you not gotten him out of the mess he jumped headfirst into, that is. My children can grow up with a father, and I’ve still got Cicero making it home every night. That’s the most important thing to worry about and, I figure, warrants an in person thank you. The Crown is regrouping, and we’ll be in a much better position than so many other people of the capital. We’ll be fine.”

Basil returned a smile and a nod, unsure of how else to respond. The street fell silent for some time, illuminated only by windowlight, the moon, and its reflection on the ocean. Fiadh broke the silence again. “Besides, I’ve heard all sorts of stories of you. I kinda needed an excuse to see you in the flesh.” Fiadh paused, before offering a smile. “You’re a little more boring than you’re made out to be.” Basil shrugged, returning the smile before the street fell silent again. “It’s a nice night out” Basil said, breaking the awkward silence. “You think you could convince Cicero to retire?” Fiadh asked in a tone that sounded only half joking. “Huh?” Basil replied, unsure of what to make of the sudden change in the conversation.

Fiadh continued in a tone that hinted at rehearsal. “You too. Half of the men in there are about to become your soldiers, aren’t they? Is this really what you want? The Elthrice are gone; settle down here on the Arkepello, you and us could be neighbors. We could all put politics and wars behind us and spend some time here without looking over our shoulders. Let the kingdoms sort themselves out and settle down, maybe you could even get some more sun so you stop looking so Loqualian.”

Basil laughed. “If you’re going to pitch retirement to Cicero, I wouldn’t recommend including me being your guy’s neighbor as part of the pitch. I tend to piss Cicero off a lot.” Fiadh nodded. “You do, but I think he’s got a lot more respect for you than he lets be known, even to himself. He was always calling you naive and complaining about your lack of respect for the Crown. But you actually succeed sometimes. As much as it pisses him off, I think he’s still rooting for you. Besides, if he’s not feeling like he has the weight of a government on his shoulders, he won’t have a reason to be annoyed by you anymore.”

“The Elthrice aren’t gone, at least not yet. They’ve already shown they’re not done coming back, and it really doesn’t matter if I retire to the Arkepello, only for them to come back and take it over.” Basil felt a more somber expression wash over his face as he replied. “Besides, the Redcap government is really on his shoulders, isn’t it? They put Matilda on the throne, but she’s barely an adult, and it was assumed Locklan would take that place, so she was hardly even educated on it. She’s survived so far, but without Cicero’s lifetime of experience I’m not sure things would go as smoothly as they have been. Relatively speaking.”

“If the government would collapse without him, then perhaps it’s a sign it should.” Fiadh looked a little hesitant in her reply, despite speaking confidently. Basil failed to stifle laughter. “How in the world did you and Cicero wind up together?” Fiadh sighed.

“I’ve known Cicero for a long time, but we’ve always had different views on the crown. It never mattered until one of his old army buddies turned out to be that bastard the old king.” Fiadh shrugged, sounding less hesitant. “Maybe there’s some irony in it all. That I outlived the bastard and and made sure Cicero’s good nature wasn’t overtaken by the dirtiness of running a country.” Basil nodded, unsure how else to respond. Fiadh paused before continuing, her tone softening. “I’ve come to like Matilda. She’s not at fault for what her family has done. But even still, the crown is a broken organization. Leave it alone; if it needs to fall apart to build something new, then let it. Maybe that makes me a bad person. But you speak as if you don’t have a choice in what you do, but you do, even if you deny it.”

Basil shook his head. “I need the Crown here with an army if the Elthrice come back. You know how it would have gone last time had the largest army on the continent not been there to help in the fight. Besides, it’s not my job to decide which governments get deposed and which don’t.” Fiadh sighed and began “But you did when you-” before pausing again. “I’m sorry to dump this all on you. I really should be going.”

Fiadh turned and left, leaving Basil to stand alone in the street. The bluish light of the moon and stars danced on the ocean, floating in an abyss.