Chapter One

 

“Shhhh, look there. See? He’s the one!” Lidia pointed out the bay window, half hidden by the velvet curtain that separated their world from the outside. “Ah, isn’t he… just… ravishing?”     

“Him? With the big nose?”

“His nose is not big. It’s just very prominent and regal.”

“I believe they call that big.”

Lidia glared at her twin, who stood at the other side of the window, and raised her hands dramatically. “Oh hush! I shouldn’t ask the opinion of someone who obviously has no taste.” She returned to the window and placed her hand on the glass where she let out a love struck sigh. “Do not worry, my love. Your nose is as majestic as the rest of you, for the Sacred Twelve must have truly carved you in their image!”

Of that, Lidia’s sister, Lucy, thought was highly doubtful. The groom-to-be in question had arrived, and although he was a stocky sort of fellow, the kind their family liked for good breeding, his facial features seemed too close and set in a brutish scowl. However, it seemed from the beginning, when the two locked eyes, Lidia and Albert were smitten with each other. Their affection, at least in Lidia’s case (which was usually a fickle thing), did not change over the course of their two-year engagement.

Lucy, who had been away at a private academy on the southern isle of Galliard, never met Albert personally. She was gone from the family manor for four years, under strict tutelage, and had only communicated with her fraternal twin via letter. From the letters, which had gushed with adoration for her future husband, Lucy expected the man to be somewhat like the boys Lidia used to fawn over incessantly. She stifled her surprise when the man, the opposite of her sister’s usual favor, lumbered out of the steam coach and strolled along the cobblestone walkway that led to the family manor.

Lidia giggled and danced away from the curtain. Her skirts fluttered as she twirled in circles. “I’m getting married this week! Finally! After two years of waiting, and waiting, and wa~iting, I will finally be Mrs. Albert Martin!” She stopped, dizzied, and smiled goofily at her sister. “Lucy, please tell me you will stay for the wedding?”

It was a question Lidia had posed to Lucy all season, from the moment she came back from the academy. She was scheduled to return in the middle of Evermore, but her sister’s wedding was at its end. “I already told you that I couldn’t. My zeppelin leaves in two days. You know how far Galliard is and how few transports there are that go that way. If I don’t make this one, I will be here until next season, and I cannot fall behind.” And I cannot stay. Not in this place, she thought but could not utter those things aloud.

A bone of contention, that was, and it was evident in the way Lidia suddenly set her shoulders, all good humor gone. “That is so like you, Lucille. You are far more engrossed in your studies than you are with family.” Lucy opened her mouth in a retort, but her sister continued. “You have been away for four years, and you’re so quick to leave before you even step foot on the property. Four years, Lucy! Does it even really matter to you that your only sister, your twin is getting married this week? All I have asked of you, all I want, is to have my sister beside me as I am wedded to the love of my life! And what do you do? You bolt. Like always. You leave. Like always.” She jabbed a finger in her direction, eyes watery. “I feel like I’m the only one who is happy that we are together again.” And then, as was in her nature, Lidia turned in a flourish of petticoats and skirts, and stormed out of the room. Her twin stood there slack-jawed for a moment, unable to process how that conversation could have gone any worse so quickly.

Lucy sighed. “I give up.”

Lucy sighed again, and despite her twenty and three years of living, she felt like she had aged fifty. She had to admit though, in some ways, her sister was right. It took effort, an exhausting amount, to stay in one place for long. Lidia batted her pretty lashes, lived the pampered life, and indulged in all the pleasantries around her; on the other hand, Lucy liked to roam. She liked to be free… needed it like plants needed sunlight. She hated feeling trapped, as she always felt when she lived in New Glasia. Galliard gave her the opportunity to travel, and although it was just another cage in a way, it was better than the family manor. At least at the academy she could stay outside all she wanted and not have to wear the finery a lady of her station had to wear in New Glasia.       

However, her sister was getting married. That was another valid point. Was it so selfish of her to get away from this place at the first chance she could? She knew it was though she hated to admit it. Four years of freedom versus a week of her family…

Of course she was happy they were together again, but…

Of all the arguments they’ve had, why was it that this one had to count the most?     

“Ah, she did it again,” Lucy hid her face in her hands and groaned. “Damn it.”

______________________________________________________________________________________

 

Meal time at the Talbot family manor could only be described in one way: tense. The dining room was large, walls a light pastel with two chandeliers. The windows that noon were closed, lace curtains drawn. There were no family portraits, no grand show of familial ties anywhere in the manor, really. The décor was left simple, made the room seem massive, and the central, long table sat at least twenty-four chairs – seven of which were occupied.       

Albert and his parents sat on one side, Lucy, Lidia, their mother, Lady Talbot sat on the other side, and Sir Talbot sat at its head as patriarch. A handsome man with a permanent frown and square jaw, Sir Talbot looked younger than he was. The gray at his temples and the deepening of crows’ feet gave away his age but not by much, for even his posture was straight, shoulders set in their ways. Lady Talbot was Lidia when she grew older. Her golden hair was up and beaded like an angel’s halo, and her face, dimpled and laugh-lined, was pale and nearly translucent due to her ailment. It was always said that the Talbot couple looked unearthly – for who could lead a business as Eric Talbot could and still look the way he did decades ago? Or for that matter, his wife, who was rumored to not have much time left – yet there she was, with family, delicately eating whatever was on her plate. If anyone was created in the image of the Sacred Twelve, it surely had to be Eric and Mary Talbot, the public said.

However, there was one thing Lucy knew that the public didn’t, but she was sworn to secrecy.

The conversation was light at most. Lucy could tell from the way her sister spoke in clipped answers that she was still very much upset with her, and there was really no way to assuage that unless she stayed. Not even the shining presence of her love brought her out from under her dark cloud, and Albert seemed to notice with increasing alarm. The poor groom-to-be must have thought his fiancée was having second thoughts after so long an engagement, and he tried his best not to show his anxiety. He answered Sir Talbot’s questions studiously and every so often glanced to see if Lidia gave him some approval, but the girl would not, still very enthralled in her black mood. Bless him for marrying my sister, Lucy thought idly. She will surely have him jumping through fire for her.

“So I have heard you will be taking over Desmond Transports at the end of next season.”

Albert looked at his father, who nodded, and said to Sir Talbot, “Yes, my lord. Lord Desmond was my tutor, and Godfather. Since he has no heirs to name, and his nephews aren’t but toddlers, he chose to hand over the business to me.” And it was then, when he smiled, that Lucy saw one of the reasons why Lidia fell in love with him. It was almost infectious. “I am grateful, very grateful, that he gave such a responsibility to me.” He looked over to Lidia, whose eyes lifted just a little. “Our children’s children will see no poverty while the Martins live.”

Lidia, still in a foul mood, lightened up a little and added – just for him, “And fine children they will be.”

Albert’s eyes lit up like gemstones, satisfied with that, and looked on over to Lucy. “Excuse my being frank, but I was told by your sister that you will not be attending our wedding because of the last transport?”

Lucy tried very hard not to scowl at her sister, who raised her eyes just a little more. “Yes. Unfortunately, Galliard is a ways away.”

Albert flashed a smile again. “Well, being that I actually just came from Galliard to finalize some business trades, my zeppelin is still in New Glasia until after the wedding. If you wish, it can give you safe passage back to Galliard. …And the Lady Marguerite is the fastest zeppelin Desmond Transports owns, so you might even arrive a day before your scheduled time.” Lidia clapped her hands together, surely wanting to kiss her betrothed then and there.

Lucy, on the other hand, felt her mouth open only to spurt out, “What?”

“Do not be rude, Lucille.” Lady Talbot interjected, her tone suddenly very happy. “I believe your brother-in-law has just offered you a means of transportation for after the wedding.”       

It must have taken all the energy Lidia had to stop herself from bouncing in her seat. “I suppose that takes care of that problem.”

“No,” Lucy said; her voice lifted in pitch. “No. I…”

“She will leave in the middle of the week, as she is supposed to.” Sir Talbot said then, quiet and final.

“Papa!” Lidia nearly stood up in outrage. “Why?”

“It is your sister’s choice. She wishes to leave, so she will leave.” He looked at Lucy then, as if she had never been in the room to begin with. “Is that not what you want, Daughter?”

The Martins looked a tad surprised. Lord Martin cleared his throat, “I can vouch for my son and his godfather. There are no better zeppelins out there.” He leveled his gaze, a dull brown, onto Lucy. “Perhaps, you are afraid of flying…?”

“No,” Lucy said once more, this time a little more evenly. She did not look at her father, but she felt his burning stare at her side. Pressured, she could only gaze down at her food, which had grown slightly cold; she had not touched a piece. “Forgive me, it is just I had thought I was to leave in the middle of the week. It’s still a bit of a surprise. I don’t know what to say…”

Albert mistook her hesitance for humbleness; he went on to say what times the zeppelins would leave afterward. He would not ride with her, as he would still be in New Glasia with Lidia, but he continued on to explain that the Lady Marguerite was the safest out there, the jewel of the sky. Lucy nodded dimly, but she had fallen back into her own thoughts. She looked over at her father, who looked right back. There was no apology there, no sympathy… not even the semblance of joy, and Lucy knew she wasn’t going to ever find it there.

“…Please say you will reconsider? I am sure your sister will miss you terribly if you were not there with her.”

Trapped, something she didn’t want to feel. Trapped, something that was becoming too often an occurrence.

“I will consider your offer,” Lucy said at length.