Valkyria by Ink Blood Page A

decreased even though we walked rather
a long way and were one deck below here, which appears to be three
decks below the engine itself, you must have six. It is basic
engineering logic, Miss Anastasia.”
    Irving chuckled loudly as his sister
gave a snort of dissatisfaction and took a sip from the wine that
had been poured before they arrived.
    ‘ It seems you are well
versed in the art of engines, my boy,” said Irving. “Am I to assume
the reason your little airship in our hangar bay is there because
you are the creator and not the pilot?”
    “ Yes, sir. I and Charles
here are the designers and builders of the Seadawn.”
    “ The Seadawn? So you have
already named it. Perhaps that is why it is still in a fixable
condition. Maybe if you had not named it, might you both have been
gone from this world?”
    “ Mr Irving,” said Nate,
interrupting the man. “I must ask this. Why exactly were the you
and the Alexandria Empire here? Not that I do not accept the aid
you provided us by firing upon them. I am just confused.
    For you see, we lost a lot of friends
when our boat went under and I would like to know why they
died.”
    A rather tall gentleman in black and
white dress resembling a penguin brought a covered platter to their
table and placed it in the middle. Behind him stood three more men
dressed the same, only they were younger. One at a time he turned
to them, took the platter from their hands and placed it on the
table.
    Finally, after placing a platter of
vegetables, one of bread and butter, and one of fruits, the butler
opened the sealed platter to reveal a meat roll of beef that looked
tender and smelled like a dream to Nate. After all, he had only
eaten rice and sunflower seeds for the past few weeks.
    “ Let us begin,” said Irving
before continuing. “As far your rather forward and yet appropriate
question, perhaps you could first tell me your name. You have named
you friend here, Mr Charles, but have not yet introduced
yourself.”
    He was right. Nate hadn’t even said his
own name yet and was asking such private questions. How could he
have been rude?
    “ I apologize, Mr Irving. My
name is Nate. It is a pleasure to make your
acquaintance.”
    “ And yours, Mr Nate. Now
then, we caught wind of communications between the Trident; the
Alexandria Empire ship you just witnessed the demise of, and a
number of scout vessels that were sailing the seas. They said they
had found ‘the ship with the miniature airship’ and were relaying
its position.”
    Irving took a slice of beef and placed
it carefully on his plate with his knife and fork like a true man
of stature.
    “ It appeared they had been
watching your progress for quite some time and had decided to take
their chances. They planned to either steal your prototype or
destroy it so that it could not be used against the Alexandria
Empire.
    For you see, in recent weeks the
Alexandria Empire has been amassing its forces and tightening its
borders even more than usual. I fear something is coming that many
hoped would never come again.”
    “ What do you
mean?”
    Mr Irving cut a chunk of red meat and
put it slowly into his mouth, wiping his lips with a napkin before
swallowing and looking straight at Nate’s eyes.
    “ Well, my dear boy. If they
were using one of your shipmates; a man named Lyle, to gather
information then they are using their underhanded tactics and
hidden spies again.
    The Alexandria Empire only ever does
this when preparing for one thing. War.”
    *~*~*
    15
    SERAN
    The journey to the Ringlands passed far
too slowly. The boat was filth ridden and chugged along as if it
were a dog trying to tear its chain from the ground to run free in
the sun.
    It had rocked and rolled along the
waves, throwing Seran about in his little cabin. The cabin
consisted of nothing more than a metal fold away bed and an iron
shelf on the walls. The walls themselves were equally as dull with
nothing but the bare steel to look upon.
    When he finally arrived