Salvage ~ V1: Nuts and Bolts (Steampunk/ Gaslamp Romantasy ~ FxM, MxM)

Chapter 5: Things You Should Know

There wasn't much to the Essyl Village square, only the government house on one end with a few small shops and one public house along its sides. The other end opened onto a meadow that served as the fairgrounds.

In the center of the square stood three looming statues; one commemorating an army captain from Essyl who had been killed in the Great War, one for all the casualties of the Five Nations, and one for the losses of the Derician people.

Here, all the people of Essyl gathered on the morning of Unity Day.

The squadron of soldiers who had come with Mistress Amelys gave a parade around the square, joined by some retired soldiers of the village who donned their uniforms again for the occasion.

The village officials laid wreaths at the statues and ceremonial anthems were sung.

Prayers were offered to the gods for the souls of the fallen, and for future prosperity.

Many speeches were made in reaffirmation of the Union and of Caedra's commitments to Derician reconstruction and to the refugees who had sheltered here after the war. Two generations had passed since that war, though, and most of the descendants of those refugees only tenuously considered themselves Derician anymore, so thorough had Caedra's welcome been.

Things were different in Valesk.

Kazia's home country had also taken in large numbers of refugees, but while most Valeskans welcomed them, a few of the six noble houses were decidedly opposed, and had been working since to eject the Dericians.

One of those houses now had a king on the throne.

His inclinations were still limited by majority vote of the Noble Council, but Halany found his ways to squeeze the Dericians of Valesk, ways that became increasingly disturbing.

Tensions were rising between Valesk and the other four nations of the Union.

Kazia wondered if Valesk even celebrated Unity Day anymore. What sort of speech would a man like Halany Goskatha give if he were even to put on a pretense?

Kazia and Amelys stood together at the back of the crowd under the spreading branches of an ancient maple tree. Amelys had come alone to collect her, and upon reaching the square again they found that it would take some doing to navigate the crowd to reach the public house, where Amelys and her entourage had taken rooms. They would have to meet up with the others later.

As the ceremonies neared their close, the people sang a slow, haunting elegy, and many wept openly.

Despite some hesitance given her ordeal the night before, Kazia had taken an extra dose of her usual tincture, so the passions of the crowd weren't too overwhelming. Her greatest discomfort at the moment was her clothing.

She had dressed properly for the occasion and found that in five years of farm life, in a warmer climate than she'd come from, she'd become disused to a high collar, corset, and heavy skirt with all its ruffles down the back, all in the black favored by the Alchemists. Her heeled boots were a bit tight as well.

Perhaps Madame Brandra had been right about country food.

As the song ended, the Mayor took to the platform before the statues. At the last fading notes, he raised both arms and clasped his hands together over his head.

"All together!" he cried out.

"All together!" the crowd responded in unison, then broke into a joyful military marching song as they dispersed toward the fairground.

"Shall we to the fair, or to the inn?" Amelys asked.

"Perhaps they will find us in the fairground?" Kazia suggested. "I'll admit I am in no hurry to see Lord Meratha again so soon. What must he think of me after yesterday?"