Mending

[Pahrak Model ZX]

The Queen of Gravity strode down the dirt road, her scratched iron armor clanking with each step.  Before the gate of Roche castle were five robed individuals—three men, two women—who knelt with their hands behind their backs, each with a knight on either side holding a weapon against their neck.  Dozens of others were gathered along the sides of the road, including the Queens of Light and Land, who watched nervously.

 

Gravity stopped in front of the man who sat in the middle of the line.  With a short nod, she commanded the knights flanking him to step away, and then glared down at him.  He set his face and looked at the ground.

 

“You were the one who organized the rebellion?”

 

He did not answer.

 

“You have lived safely in Roche your entire life.  What do you seek to gain from overthrowing the rule of Queens?”

 

Still, no answer.

 

“…Fine.  Whatever your reasons may be, you have committed treason.”

 

She stepped back and raised one hand to eye level, keeping it flat and palm-up.  The man was lifted to his feet.  He continued to be pulled upward, but his feet remained planted on the ground.  As his body stretched, he grunted, and his arms began to spasm.  Gravity flicked one finger, and the man screamed as his body was pulled even tighter.

 

Light put a hand over her mouth.  She turned to Land, who was watching with a blank expression, and then looked back as Gravity let the prisoner fall.

 

As he began to get back up, Gravity swung her arm out.  His chest became pinned to the ground while his limbs were pulled up, making him shout again.  Gravity slowly clenched her fist, and the man’s limbs gently curled in towards his back, producing cracking sounds that were quickly drowned out by his screams.

 

“Stop it.”

 

Land faced Gravity, who apparently hadn’t heard her.  “Gravity, stop, this is excessive.”

 

Her words failed again to reach.  The man shrieked as his arms popped out of their sockets.

 

“Gravity, enough!”

 

Gravity’s armor came to life and yanked her arm aside, disrupting her concentration and causing the man to go limp.  She gave a bewildered look to Land, who glared through her tears and took a step forward.

 

“What do you hope to accomplish with this?  Don’t you realize what you’re doing?”

 

It took Gravity a moment to reply.  “I…I’m making an example.  People need to know what happens when they go against the Queens.”

 

She looked back to the man and started to raise her arm again.  Land shook her head.  “All you’re doing is giving people more reason to hate you!  You’re acting like a monster!”

 

Gravity froze.

 

“You’re acting like…”

 

Land caught herself before she could finish.  She bit her lip, and then walked to Gravity’s side.  “Gravity…don’t do this.  I’m begging you, please don’t sink to their level.  I know you’re only trying to do what you think is right, but…”

 

She gestured to the man.  He lay face down, his body shaking and an endless series of pained sobs streaming out of him.

 

“How is this possibly right?”

 

Gravity gaped at her, dumbstruck.  Land turned to the knights and ordered, “Take them to the dungeon and make sure they’re restrained.  Station guards, at least ten mages, and send a healer as well.”

 

The knights obeyed, dragging the prisoners off.  Land looked back at Gravity, who remained silent, and then walked into the castle.

 

***

 

Light pushed open the door of the library.  Magic lanterns lined the domed ceiling, and dozens of towering bookcases lined the walls, some jutting out at right angles into the open center area.  At one of the many tables, next to a tall window looking out over the lake, sat the Queen of the Land.

 

“Pardon me.”

 

Land looked over her shoulder, her face tired.  “Oh, Light.  Come in.”

 

The Queen of Light sat in the chair next to her.  “The prisoners have been restrained, and the healer has seen to that man’s injuries.  She says he’ll live.”

 

Land nodded.  “Thank you.”

 

They sat silently for a while.  Land looked up at the window, towards the mountain wall surrounding Roche in the distance.  “Light, do you know how large the world outside Roche is?  The world beyond this region ruled by Queens?”

 

Light followed her gaze.  “Honestly, I have no idea.”

 

“I do.  When I focus, when all is still and I draw upon the deepest recesses of my divine power, then for one brief moment…I can feel the entire world.”

 

Her eyes lit up.

 

“Oh, Light…it’s magnificent.  Out world is larger than anyone thinks, and somehow I just know that it’s filled with wonders even we can’t imagine.  Knowing that, wouldn’t anyone want to see it?  Want to go explore the wide, grand, beautiful world?”

 

Light chuckled.  “It does sound fascinating.  I’m sure anyone would want a closer look.”

 

“I did.  Immediately I did.  But, you see…it passed.”

 

Land turned to look at Light.  “Make no mistake: I still want to see the outside world, to venture into this vast, glorious unknown I’ve had only the slightest taste of.  But I don’t need to.”

 

“You don’t?”

 

“No,” Land said, looking back out the window.  “And do you know why?”

 

Light didn’t say anything.

 

“Because Gravity is enough.  Even in the face of all that wonder, I knew for a fact that as long as I had my Queen of Gravity, I didn’t need to see any of it.”

 

The shine in her eyes quickly faded.  “…But…now, with all that’s happened since War’s attack…now…”

 

She put a hand over her face, and her voice became very small.  “I feel like I don’t even have her anymore…”

 

Light hugged Land’s shoulders as she began to cry, and patiently waited until she was finished.  She pulled back and said, “I’ve heard about War attacking, but can I ask what happened after that?”

 

Land started drying her tears.  “Once I was back, Gravity became adamant that Roche needed to be secluded and our military needed to be enhanced.  She could always be overprotective, but this was beyond anything she had ever done before.  At first…it was nice.”

 

Light nodded.  “It must’ve been after what you’d gone through.”

 

“It was a lot for my new body to take in—it took a few lifetimes to figure out how to deal with the trauma, and I felt safer knowing that Gravity was doing everything possible to protect me.  Even at my worst, all she had to do was hold me close and all my worries just went away.”

 

She smiled for a moment, before looking down at the table.  “But, eventually, I was willing to start moving on.  I didn’t want that incident to define me—to define us—for the rest of time.  Gravity, though, wasn’t ready to let it go.”

 

Land fidgeted.  “I let things stay the way they were.  It was safe, for the both of us.  I love her dearly, I love just being with her, but she…to protect me, she runs Roche all on her own, and she refuses to tell me anything she thinks might upset me.  And it turns out she expects just about everything to upset me.”

 

Looking back out the window, she said, “I’ve managed to hear enough from my servants.  A lot of our people aren’t happy.  War’s incursion was meant to psychologically cripple Roche for generations, and it’s working.  She’s even managed to kick up this strife between me and Gravity.”

 

She shook her head.  “No, maybe that’s just me blaming her.”

 

Light took Land’s hand.  “Don’t say that—it sounds to me like all this stems from the wounds she dealt to the two of you.  It’s not your fault.”

 

“You’re right.”

 

“And I know that it isn’t Gravity’s either.  War just twisted Gravity’s love for you into something awful.  She’s still a good person, and I’ve never doubted that.”

 

Land smiled a few tears.  “Thank you.  I was worried everyone but me had given up on her.”

 

“I can tell you that even after the way she’s been acting, a lot of people still see you two as the closest thing we have to Goddesses of Love.  Her reputation isn’t beyond saving.”

 

Land took a moment to breathe.  “I don’t want to be kept in the dark.  I know it might be difficult, but that just means that Gravity is going through all that pain on her own.  I’m ready to share that pain with her now.  She’s just so stubborn, and I don’t know if I can bring her out of that without hurting her even more.”

 

Light put a hand on her shoulder.  “I’m sure you’ll find a way that works.  It’ll probably be hard, but the love you two share is unlike anything else in this world.  I believe in it.”

 

The door opened.  Gravity cautiously stepped in, looking more than a little confused.

 

“Um…Land.  I was hoping you’d be here.”

 

Light turned to Land, who nodded.  She stood up and left, smiling at Gravity on the way out, and quietly shut the door.

 

Land stood up.  “We really need to have a discussion.”

 

Gravity nodded sluggishly.  “I’m…sorry for what happened earlier.  You shouldn’t have had to see that.”

 

“You’re apologizing that I saw it, not that you did it?”

 

Gravity bit her lip.

 

“You got carried away, Gravity.  You’ve been getting carried away a lot, probably more than I know.  This isn’t…”

 

She reorganized her thoughts.  “I know you just want to protect me, and I love you all the more for that.  But your methods aren’t working any more.  For either of us.”

 

Gravity looked at the floor.  “I’m not sure what you mean.”

 

“My gosh, Gravity!  You need to stop withholding information from me.  You need to stop doing your best to keep me out of the loop, and leaving me ignorant about what’s going on in our queendom.  We’re supposed to rule together, aren’t we?”

 

“I don’t want to overwhelm you, Land.”

 

“So it’s overwhelming you, then?”

 

Gravity mumbled.  Land crossed the floor, grabbing her wife by the shoulders.  “Gravity, did you really think I wouldn’t see how much you’re hurting?  And can’t you see that I’m hurting despite your best efforts?  Back then, after War killed me, I needed to be sheltered, and it means so much to me that you didn’t think twice to take on such a burden.  But dear, how long has it been?”

 

“478 years, 10 months, 8…” The numbers were rattled off before Gravity even realized what she was doing.  She averted her eyes, embarrassed.

 

Land touched Gravity’s cheek.  “Can you look at me?”

 

Gravity complied.

 

“I’ve had time to heal, dear.  You gave me that time.  Now I want to give you a chance to heal, but you have to give me that power.  Please.”

 

She gave a distant smile.  “I want to go back to the way things were, when the two of us ruled Roche as equals.  When I could catch you when you made a bad step, and you could enlighten me when I was being too naïve, and we were so in love that each second seemed like a perfect eternity.  Maybe it won’t be exactly the same after all that’s happened.  But maybe, if we try, it could be even better.”

 

Gravity closed her eyes.  “…Land…”

 

She put her forehead against Land’s and sobbed.  Land rubbed her shoulders, whispering, “It’s alright, dear.  We’ll be alright.”