The Chronicles of Nir

21 | A Grand Entrance

A few hours later, the party met in the foyer. Eri wore all black: breeches and a silk waistcoat embroidered with gold thread. Tallon wore cream-hued pantaloons and a matching vest over a lavender shirt. Both men looked stunning. Thaddeus had selected the outfits, and despite his own tastes (he wore a prune-colored velvet coat and breeches with orange stockings) he had an eye for fashion.

This was doubly proven when Maisie descended the stairs. Tallon gaped, and Thaddeus's face nearly matched his shirt.

Maisie's red hair was done in an elaborate twist, with loose curls framing her face, her skin glowed with health, and the lightest makeup enhanced a natural beauty that months of rough living had long disguised. She wore a gown of cornflower-blue silk that showed off her figure and perfectly matched her eyes.

"Well..." Thaddeus dabbed at his brow with a kerchief and swallowed. "If we're all ready, let's be on our way."

He extended his arm to Maisie and led her outside. Tallon followed, guiding Eri, and together they climbed into a waiting coach, which would take them to the highest level of the city and to the airship docks.

Inside the coach, Maisie sat nearest the window, which provided a grand view of the city, while Thaddeus sat across from her, pointing out the various landmarks while explaining the history of each location.

Tallon and Eri sat on the other side, but neither cared that he missed the view. Eri couldn't see anything, and thus the point was moot, and Tallon's only interest was to recover Ben.

The temperature cooled as they ascended the circular street around the tower, and up, up, up they rode until they reached the base of a magnificent structure that reached into the clouds. One could crane their neck all the way back and not catch a glimpse of the lowest spire in the sky. Lights—natural and magical—hung suspended in the air around the tower.

Dirigibles hovered overhead, casting huge shadows in the afternoon sky that stretched to the horizon.

Extended columns protruded from a circular tower on seven sides—the eighth serving as an entrance to the tower itself—with platforms and a pulley system.

From their position, the party could see the very river they'd followed to reach Ardensfall, and the lower city in the distance.

"How are we supposed to get up there?" Maisie asked breathlessly, clinging to Thaddeus's arm as she trembled. She didn't fear heights as a general rule, but the tower stretching far into the heavens gave her vertigo.

Grinning, Thaddeus pointed to the columns. "It is quite easy, my dear. We shall go straight to the platform, and the operators will press a button that will send us all the way to the top where our airship awaits."

Tallon cocked his head and stared in awe. "How does it work though? I can't imagine people would pull these all day. They'd break their backs."

"Of course people don't pull the ropes by hand!" Thaddeus laughed. "That would be rather primitive indeed! No, no, this is gnomish technology. They install the machinery and maintain it themselves. For a steep fee, they rent the platforms in various cities, and take the party to their intended destinations. It's quite genius really."

Tallon nodded. He'd always been fascinated by the different technologies around the world, and though he'd been on an airship once, he'd never actually stopped to see gnomish inventions and machinery in action. "Well, I suppose we should stand in line."

"In line!" Thaddeus barked a laugh and whipped a gold-embossed card from his breast pocket. "How plebeian. No, my dear, we are Lady Trinnian's guests, and as such shall suffer no such indignity."