Golden Queen - Chapter 20
Apr. 8th, 2023 06:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kalinara posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
i_read_whatSo last time, everything got quite exciting. Our heroes made it to Dronon! Veriasse had his first big fight! I think we're in the end game now folks!
So, we're still in the battle aftermath. Veriasse isn't doing too hot. His skin on his face is bright red and burning away. Maggie runs over and calls to Everynne to help, but Everynne's stuck. She's recognized as a Golden Queen now, so she can't be seen to do anything resembling "work".
It makes some sense with the insect society, but I prefer to think Everynne just doesn't want to touch her creepy father figure. Gallen ends up helping instead, using his canteen to pour water on Veriasse's face. Veriasse is conscious, but has broken ribs. Everynne is pretty anxious about the ramifications for herself, since if he fails, she'll die.
I mean, fair. And really, doesn't her situation suck? She's a hyperaged, matrix-educated three year old who hasn't gotten to have anything resembling a normal life, who gets to look forward to either losing and being murdered, or winning and having her mind overwritten by her dead mom/genetic progenitor, and her father figure wants to bang her once that happens.
Honestly, if I were Everynne, this would all be my villain origin story. FUCK this shit.
Veriasse says he needs rest: his nanodocs should heal him in hours. Everynne's mantle tells her that he needs days. She wants to get him somewhere that they can speak in private. She demands that, now that they've won the Right of Charm, to go to the current Queen, Tlitkani.
Unfortunately, Tlitkani has gone off world to facilitate her use of the human omni-mind device. So she's on it now, orbiting the sun. Everynne doesn't hesitate and demands to be taken to the nearest spaceship. The dronon are cooperative, but the other queen does get orders from the "ruling dronon" (How does that work?) to take the Terror from Everynne. Everynne is reluctant as that was plan B, but since it's now accomplished its purpose, she gives it up.
...so um, how does she know the dronon won't use the Terror themselves? Are they somehow prevented from it?
Gallen, not being an idiot, wants to take Veriasse's place in the next battle. But that's a no go, as the dronon wouldn't allow Everynne to take a Lord Protector if her current one dies. Gallen, rather cleverly, points out that they could switch clothes. The dronon need not know. What DO dronon know about human physiology?
Gallen asks Everynne to choose, as its her life in question. As for Veriasse:
"Will you, too, hold with my choice?" Everynne asked Veriasse.
He glared at her. His next words seemed to cost him more than the pain of drawing breath. "Gallen is right. You should have a say in this." By those words alone, Everynne knew he was severely wounded. Veriasse would never relinquish his title if he thought he could still fight.
In the distance, the dronon are dismembering Dinnid's corpse, feeding it to the "royal grubs". That might be Everynne soon. So Everynne considers it. Veriasse is injured, but has nanodocs. He also outweighs Gallen by about thirty kilos.
Damn, how small IS Gallen? I admit, I always tend to imagine Veriasse as Qui-Gon Jinn era Liam Neeson, but still.
Everynne does, we're told, trust Gallen more. He's healthy, strong for his size, and quick.
Maggie is the one who ends up breaking the stalemate, in the opposite way that she means:
Maggie put her arm around Everynne's shoulder. "You can't let Veriasse fight anymore!" she whispered. "It would be murder."
Everynne looked into Maggie's eyes. They were no longer the eyes of that innocent child she'd met on Tihrglas a few days before. Instead, her eyes were filled with wisdom, the kind of knowledge that comes only through pain.
"You love Gallen, don't you?" Everynne said.
"Of course," Maggie answered. And in her mind, Everynne heard Maggie's accusation of a few days before: You took him, just because you could.
Everynne nodded. She had stolen something from Maggie once before. She determined not to do it again. Even if I die, Everynne thought, I will not steal from her again. She turned to face the two men. "I choose Veriasse as my champion."
Ergh. See, this is why I did not like the narrative acting like Maggie owned Gallen. Everynne didn't "steal" Gallen from Maggie. Gallen is a consenting adult who wasn't in a relationship with Maggie. I will never not be annoyed by this.
Gallen is hurt, while Veriasse is touched and relieved. He chooses to rest in a meditative trance as they fly. It's about two hours before they reach the overmind.
After two hours, they swooped low over the omni-mind, and Everynne got her first glimpse of the great machine. It glowed with a soft silver light. Trillions of computer crystals lay upon its surface, reflecting sunlight like a sea of molten glass. Here and there across the planet, vast tachyon communication towers rose above the plains, pointing like metallic daggers to the heavens. Beyond that, there was no hint of the monolithic processors built into the planet's interior, no sign of its power supplies.
It was beautiful.
There are large domes, with green grass and blue water, streams and hills. Everynne gets to see the estates that once belonged to her mother's advisors. She wakes Veriasse up, calling him Father. He was asleep.
They're greeted by forty thousand vanquishers, and a Lord Escort that had a facial tattoo that looks like white worms, named Xim. Veriasse talked of him often, we're told, but not what he said.
The Rite of Examination happens again, and this time, it's thorough.
Whereas earlier she had been terrified, now Everynne felt some sense of calm. She controlled her breathing. Xim called for the Rite of Examination, flew down and stalked around her. Unlike Dinnid, he was thorough. He used his whiplike sensors, grasped her dress and pulled it up to examine her skin.
Xim tasted her scent thoroughly and stopped at the back of her neck, his sensor brushing against her small scar.
"What is this strange substance?" the vanquisher asked, rubbing at the body paint.
"It is a perfumed soap that our Golden uses to clean her skin," Veriasse said evenly. "Do you not like the scent? We find it quite pleasing."
Xim rubbed at the paint. "What is this mark?" Behind Everynne, she heard Maggie gasp.
"It is the mark of a Tharrin," Veriasse said reasonably. "A coloration variance similar to that found on our nipples. It is common to some of our Goldens." Everynne was not surprised that Veriasse had chosen to lie. The burn would heal in a few days, but it would be difficult to explain its presence now.
It works. On one level, I like the deception, on another, it seems pretty fucking anti-climactic. Why can't they explain any scar or blemish like that? Did Everynne really need her isolating upbringing to keep her from injury or scar if they can just lie?
We get to see the queen too:
They did not have far to go. A field of grass lay a hundred yards beyond, ringed with countless dronon. stood on the far side, proud and tall, whip sensors waving above the crowd. She wore the mantle of Semarritte on her head, a silver headdress with long flowing rows of medallions. Everynne looked at the mantle, the icon she had sought across light-years. To win it would mean her death. To lose it would mean her death.
Royal larvae huddled under Tlitkani's legs. Xim circled her in the air, then landed in front of her protectively, raised his battle arms high and crossed them. He shouted, "Veriasse, Lord Escort of the Golden Everynne. I have watched your battle with Dinnid. I come now to kill a worthy opponent!"
So the fight starts. It's again, quite fun to read. Hard to recap. Xim uses acid and gets the upper hand. Veriasse calls to Everynne, who opens the bottle of Hope from Cyanesse and sprinkles it on the ground. It helps.
But it definitely seems like Veriasse is outmatched here. His leg is injured, and he calls for her. She calls back. Then she shouts at him to "watch out!"
But it was too late. The dronon vanquisher dropped to the ground, simultaneously chopping with his battle arms. One huge serrated arm crashed down on Veriasse's head, slicing him nearly in half. The other fell at an angle, chopping him across the belly.
Xim picked up the mangled corpse, held it overhead and paraded with it a few steps, then tossed it to the ground. All across the great arena, the vanquishers fell silent as Xim turned his attention to Everynne.
The chapter ends here.
Sorry Veriasse. When I was a kid and didn't appreciate how creepy you were, you were my favorite character. Now, eh...
Still, this is a pretty fucking big problem and a very big cliffhanger indeed.
So, we're still in the battle aftermath. Veriasse isn't doing too hot. His skin on his face is bright red and burning away. Maggie runs over and calls to Everynne to help, but Everynne's stuck. She's recognized as a Golden Queen now, so she can't be seen to do anything resembling "work".
It makes some sense with the insect society, but I prefer to think Everynne just doesn't want to touch her creepy father figure. Gallen ends up helping instead, using his canteen to pour water on Veriasse's face. Veriasse is conscious, but has broken ribs. Everynne is pretty anxious about the ramifications for herself, since if he fails, she'll die.
I mean, fair. And really, doesn't her situation suck? She's a hyperaged, matrix-educated three year old who hasn't gotten to have anything resembling a normal life, who gets to look forward to either losing and being murdered, or winning and having her mind overwritten by her dead mom/genetic progenitor, and her father figure wants to bang her once that happens.
Honestly, if I were Everynne, this would all be my villain origin story. FUCK this shit.
Veriasse says he needs rest: his nanodocs should heal him in hours. Everynne's mantle tells her that he needs days. She wants to get him somewhere that they can speak in private. She demands that, now that they've won the Right of Charm, to go to the current Queen, Tlitkani.
Unfortunately, Tlitkani has gone off world to facilitate her use of the human omni-mind device. So she's on it now, orbiting the sun. Everynne doesn't hesitate and demands to be taken to the nearest spaceship. The dronon are cooperative, but the other queen does get orders from the "ruling dronon" (How does that work?) to take the Terror from Everynne. Everynne is reluctant as that was plan B, but since it's now accomplished its purpose, she gives it up.
...so um, how does she know the dronon won't use the Terror themselves? Are they somehow prevented from it?
Gallen, not being an idiot, wants to take Veriasse's place in the next battle. But that's a no go, as the dronon wouldn't allow Everynne to take a Lord Protector if her current one dies. Gallen, rather cleverly, points out that they could switch clothes. The dronon need not know. What DO dronon know about human physiology?
Gallen asks Everynne to choose, as its her life in question. As for Veriasse:
"Will you, too, hold with my choice?" Everynne asked Veriasse.
He glared at her. His next words seemed to cost him more than the pain of drawing breath. "Gallen is right. You should have a say in this." By those words alone, Everynne knew he was severely wounded. Veriasse would never relinquish his title if he thought he could still fight.
In the distance, the dronon are dismembering Dinnid's corpse, feeding it to the "royal grubs". That might be Everynne soon. So Everynne considers it. Veriasse is injured, but has nanodocs. He also outweighs Gallen by about thirty kilos.
Damn, how small IS Gallen? I admit, I always tend to imagine Veriasse as Qui-Gon Jinn era Liam Neeson, but still.
Everynne does, we're told, trust Gallen more. He's healthy, strong for his size, and quick.
Maggie is the one who ends up breaking the stalemate, in the opposite way that she means:
Maggie put her arm around Everynne's shoulder. "You can't let Veriasse fight anymore!" she whispered. "It would be murder."
Everynne looked into Maggie's eyes. They were no longer the eyes of that innocent child she'd met on Tihrglas a few days before. Instead, her eyes were filled with wisdom, the kind of knowledge that comes only through pain.
"You love Gallen, don't you?" Everynne said.
"Of course," Maggie answered. And in her mind, Everynne heard Maggie's accusation of a few days before: You took him, just because you could.
Everynne nodded. She had stolen something from Maggie once before. She determined not to do it again. Even if I die, Everynne thought, I will not steal from her again. She turned to face the two men. "I choose Veriasse as my champion."
Ergh. See, this is why I did not like the narrative acting like Maggie owned Gallen. Everynne didn't "steal" Gallen from Maggie. Gallen is a consenting adult who wasn't in a relationship with Maggie. I will never not be annoyed by this.
Gallen is hurt, while Veriasse is touched and relieved. He chooses to rest in a meditative trance as they fly. It's about two hours before they reach the overmind.
After two hours, they swooped low over the omni-mind, and Everynne got her first glimpse of the great machine. It glowed with a soft silver light. Trillions of computer crystals lay upon its surface, reflecting sunlight like a sea of molten glass. Here and there across the planet, vast tachyon communication towers rose above the plains, pointing like metallic daggers to the heavens. Beyond that, there was no hint of the monolithic processors built into the planet's interior, no sign of its power supplies.
It was beautiful.
There are large domes, with green grass and blue water, streams and hills. Everynne gets to see the estates that once belonged to her mother's advisors. She wakes Veriasse up, calling him Father. He was asleep.
They're greeted by forty thousand vanquishers, and a Lord Escort that had a facial tattoo that looks like white worms, named Xim. Veriasse talked of him often, we're told, but not what he said.
The Rite of Examination happens again, and this time, it's thorough.
Whereas earlier she had been terrified, now Everynne felt some sense of calm. She controlled her breathing. Xim called for the Rite of Examination, flew down and stalked around her. Unlike Dinnid, he was thorough. He used his whiplike sensors, grasped her dress and pulled it up to examine her skin.
Xim tasted her scent thoroughly and stopped at the back of her neck, his sensor brushing against her small scar.
"What is this strange substance?" the vanquisher asked, rubbing at the body paint.
"It is a perfumed soap that our Golden uses to clean her skin," Veriasse said evenly. "Do you not like the scent? We find it quite pleasing."
Xim rubbed at the paint. "What is this mark?" Behind Everynne, she heard Maggie gasp.
"It is the mark of a Tharrin," Veriasse said reasonably. "A coloration variance similar to that found on our nipples. It is common to some of our Goldens." Everynne was not surprised that Veriasse had chosen to lie. The burn would heal in a few days, but it would be difficult to explain its presence now.
It works. On one level, I like the deception, on another, it seems pretty fucking anti-climactic. Why can't they explain any scar or blemish like that? Did Everynne really need her isolating upbringing to keep her from injury or scar if they can just lie?
We get to see the queen too:
They did not have far to go. A field of grass lay a hundred yards beyond, ringed with countless dronon. stood on the far side, proud and tall, whip sensors waving above the crowd. She wore the mantle of Semarritte on her head, a silver headdress with long flowing rows of medallions. Everynne looked at the mantle, the icon she had sought across light-years. To win it would mean her death. To lose it would mean her death.
Royal larvae huddled under Tlitkani's legs. Xim circled her in the air, then landed in front of her protectively, raised his battle arms high and crossed them. He shouted, "Veriasse, Lord Escort of the Golden Everynne. I have watched your battle with Dinnid. I come now to kill a worthy opponent!"
So the fight starts. It's again, quite fun to read. Hard to recap. Xim uses acid and gets the upper hand. Veriasse calls to Everynne, who opens the bottle of Hope from Cyanesse and sprinkles it on the ground. It helps.
But it definitely seems like Veriasse is outmatched here. His leg is injured, and he calls for her. She calls back. Then she shouts at him to "watch out!"
But it was too late. The dronon vanquisher dropped to the ground, simultaneously chopping with his battle arms. One huge serrated arm crashed down on Veriasse's head, slicing him nearly in half. The other fell at an angle, chopping him across the belly.
Xim picked up the mangled corpse, held it overhead and paraded with it a few steps, then tossed it to the ground. All across the great arena, the vanquishers fell silent as Xim turned his attention to Everynne.
The chapter ends here.
Sorry Veriasse. When I was a kid and didn't appreciate how creepy you were, you were my favorite character. Now, eh...
Still, this is a pretty fucking big problem and a very big cliffhanger indeed.