Chereads / The Moon Enslaves the Stars / Chapter 58 - Napolanva

Chapter 58 - Napolanva

The owner of the tavern had warned Talia to wait to open the parchment hidden in her dress until she was completely alone and had a way to quickly dispose of the contents.

That meant she could not open it in the carriage unless she meant to eat the paper and besides, it felt as though it was sewn between the inner and outer lining of the dress. It would need to be removed carefully once the dress was off.

There was probably a reason for it. No doubt it contained something that could cause a good deal of trouble for the tavern owner and creating physical distance between herself and an unsigned treasonous document was likely a wise decision on Krisna's

For Talia, however, it meant a great deal of effort. She kept her posture incredibly stiff so as not to tear or wrinkle the hidden parchment, and she had to make sure not to sweat or allow any moisture to come into contact with the fabric, else the ink would likely bleed and cause the document to be illegible.

As the hot coals in her footwarmer cooled and the carriage rattled roughly down the road, Talia, for the first time in a great while, felt again a sense of destiny and purpose.

Vezda had new allies. The word beat in her head like a drum. Allies... who were these allies? Try as she might, she could not think of a likely candidate. The Blackside Islands had refused any further talks with them after Oleg had canceled her engagement. Their King would not soon forget the insult.

There was the Kingdom of Tartos in the far east, whom they had sent messengers to, but none had ever returned. Tartos was a powerful and mysterious kingdom that did not fear Unaria but also had little to gain from aligning itself with a tiny country like Vezda which had no resources and a decimated army.

What country would ally with Vezda-- especially now that they had lost the war and remained a kingdom in name only? Both she and Ora had tried desperately to forge alliances for years. Who was this ally?

Perhaps the woman meant that there were allies right here in Unaria. Perhaps there were members of the Emperor's own court who wanted to see him fall and were sympathetic to the plight of Vezda.

What would she be required to do? She would do anything to aid her people! Learning that Ora had used her marriage to free Vezdans enslaved in Unaria made Talia feel ashamed of herself.

Ora was a wise and far-seeing woman, her every move had been calculated to serve the citizens of Vezda. In fact, Talia was only beginning to learn what she had accomplished in her short time as one of the Emperor's wives. There was likely more to the story, though she wouldn't learn about it from Ilya or Prince Mikhail.

Her sister had been, like herself, a captive of Unaria, but had somehow managed to free thousands of slaves and inspire loyalty and devotion in her followers. Talia, on the other hand, had spent most of her captivity laying in bed waiting to die, and the rest of it mooning about hoping her enemy might fall in love with her so that she wouldn't feel so alone.

Well, that would end now. She ran her hand reverently over the concealed parchment in her bodice and smiled to herself. It was as if Ora herself had sent a message direct from the hallowed halls of Alulia, reminding her of her duty to Vezda.

By the time the carriage stopped, her back was already sore from sitting so straight and her toes and fingers had gone numb.

Talia lowered the window and looked around but was disappointed that no matter which direction she looked in, she could only see snow-covered trees glowing in the moonlight. They had not yet reached Napolanva.

Ilya noticed her lean out the window and rode back to speak with her.

"We're stopped as We've just met up with the escorts from our troops in Napolvana," he answered her unasked question. "It will be a short stop. We've just built a fire and will wait long enough for it to burn down so that we have fresh coals for your footwarmer, Princess."

"How much farther is it to Napolvana?" she demanded.

"Only a few hours at most," Ilya assured her. "And then you will be able to rest for several days, Princess."

"I do not require fresh coals. My fingers and toes are fine," she lied. "Please do not linger here on my account. I would far rather travel on now and arrive sooner!"

"If the Princess insists!" Ilya grinned, agreeing quickly.

Talia closed the window and sat back against the carriage cushions to rub her hands together.

She was very cold indeed, but she desperately wanted to know the contents of the letter which she could not read until she removed her clothing. The sooner they arrived at Napolvana, the sooner the next part of her life could begin.

Hours later, Talia was stiff, half-frozen, sore and tired to her very bones, when the carriage stopped again. She reached with numb and shaking fingers for the window, and with great effort, opened it.

The moon had long since begun its descent, and in the dim grey light of early morning, she could see the tall buildings and thatched roof huts of a small but prosperous village.

So this was Napolvaya! it was full of soldiers wearing the colors of Bludston, even at such an early hour of morning.

Ilya approached quickly after they stopped and she leaned back to wait for him to unlatch the stairs. Taking his hand to step down from the carriage, she moved slowly so as not to stumble.

"Your hands are freezing, Princess," Ilya realized, his voice sounding nervous.

"It is nothing. As soon as I can get inside somewhere, they shall warm right up," she assured him.

"Yes... right this way," Ilya said, placing another hand beneath her arm as he guided her toward a freshly swept walkway.

"Are my things here? My clothing and necessities? Were they brought from Pirchburg?" she asked. "I should like to bathe and change my clothes."

"Yes. Yes, of course. Our Prince has an estate in Napolanva where the men have their beds, but it is rather barren and not staffed at all appropriately, so I have taken the liberty of securing a room here at the main inn. You shall have a bath immediately, and someone to assist you with--"

"I should like to be alone," she interrupted quickly. "I'm very tired, you see."

"As you wish, Princess," he agreed, but frowned as if he didn't like the idea.

He led her to the steps of a lodge constructed of splint timbers and brought her inside where it was quite warm. The immediate feeling of heat against her cold skin strangely made her feel like shivering, and she fought her own body to remain still. Ilya would notice and perhaps be concerned, sending a doctor or someone to sit with her when she desperately wanted to be alone.

He left her at the door to her room and she graciously bid him "good night", but corrected herself to say "good morning" before entering.

A wooden bath tub had been placed near the fire and had recently been filled as she could see the steam still rising from the water within. An empty metal bucket sat beside it, and her baggage from Pirchburg had been placed beside the bed.

Talia moved the chair from the side table to rest against the door know, securing against anyone entering without her knowledge, and quickly reached to unlace her dress. Her numb fingers struggled to untie the back and she wished for the dagger she had earlier thrown at Ilya.

It took her so long to remove the gown that the water in the bath had probably become too cold to bathe in.

Standing in her underbindings, Talia carefully turned the dress inside out and spread it on the table.

Her fingers throbbed painfully and she felt like screaming in frustration when she realized that she had nothing sharp to rip the stitches out with and using her fingers as they were- numb at the tips and smarting in pain beneath that-- would be too clumsy.

The message was certainly important, she could think of an explanation for a ripped dress later, she decided, and gripping the front and back of the fabric, she yanked and heard the fabric rip.

At last she held in her hand the small square of parchment that would give her the answers and the meaning she'd so desperately desired.

She quickly opened the paper and saw that there was only one line written on it:

Number 27, Road of the Setting Sun, East River District,Torobirk

The parchment contained only an address, no answers at all. Talia frowned and read it several times, commiting it to memory. Of course it was only an address! If she'd written down too much important information, the person she'd sent it to would be too likely to keep the paper, as it would be difficult to remember, but anyone could remember a simple address. Surely, she could find an excuse to visit the capitol, and there she would learn about Vezda's new allies.

Determined and with a new goal set, Talia ripped the parchment into small pieces and cast them into the fire.