The Gem Lords

The Sapphire City - Part 1

   Their room, in fact a whole suite of rooms, was huge, and could have comfortably accommodated fifty people in the kind of luxury normally to be found in a nobleman's mansion.

     The main sitting room was the size of a dance floor, with a huge open space in the centre facing the outer wall, which was a single long window opening out onto a balcony on which a good sized garden had been planted, including a croquet lawn and a swimming pool. Other rooms included a gymnasium, a games room, a library the size of the first room of Lexandria's library, a nursery and an indoor swimming pool, and that was before they came to the bedroom which could have accommodated an entire Agglemonian orgy.

     "We could get lost in here!" cried Thomas in astonishment. "All this, for just two people? I bet this place is hundreds of years old and never been used before."

     "They have no sense of proportion," agreed Lirenna, a small smile of amusement on her lips. "They have so much that it ceases to mean anything. Where's the accomplishment in creating a place like this if you can do it with a single thought?"

     "Doesn't stop us from enjoying it, though. Lenny, when I said I was tired, I just wanted to get away from them for a while. The truth is, I'm not tired at all."

     She smiled back. "Neither am I."

     "Want to take another look at that bedroom?"

     She smiled wider, and they began the long walk across the immense, plush carpet towards the giant, arched doorway.

☆☆☆

     The Gem Lords evidently enjoyed warm nights and the sheets stuck uncomfortably to their sweaty skins, so they ended up kicking them off, and when they finally exhausted themselves they slept on the bare mattress.

     They were woken at dawn by a soft, apologetic cough and Lirenna opened her eyes a crack, thinking it was Thomas. She gave a start of alarm when she saw a man standing beside the bed. A man dressed in a houseman's uniform.

     "Tom!" she cried, gathering blankets around herself, and she had to repeat the cry several times before her husband returned to full consciousness. "Whassit?" he mumbled. Lirenna grabbed his arm and shook it, then pointed at the houseman.

     "I apologise for alarming you," he said in a soft, cultured voice. "I merely wished to inquire what you wanted for breakfast.

     Thomas made an instinctive grab for his clothes, but stopped himself when he realised he'd only make himself look ridiculous. A consideration that didn't bother his wife, who was pulling on her underclothes under the sheets. "Where we come from," he explained, "we usually summon breakfast when we've had a chance to dress."

     "I again apologise," said the houseman, frowning a little as if he had no idea what he'd done to offend. "If you would like me to return later...?"

     "No, no, that's okay," said Thomas, beginning to smile in amusement. "I'll have eggs and bacon, with some fried bread. Lenny?"

     "Just bread and honey for me," she said, meeting the houseman's eyes defiantly, as if daring him to comment as she reached for her top

.
     The houseman nodded and marched out of the room, leaving Thomas chuckling behind him while Lirenna glared at him furiously. "I'm glad you found that funny!" she growled. "That man saw me with no clothes on!"

     "That doesn't seem to mean anything around here," said Thomas, however. "You saw those fliers yesterday. We could walk out of here as naked as the day we were born and no-one would lift an eyebrow."

     "It means something to me," said the demi shae, climbing out of bed to finish dressing. "How did he get in here, anyway? Did he just walk in without knocking?"

     Thomas thought for a moment before answering. "No," he said, looking amazed. "He's not a real person at all. He's made of magic spells. Every room has one. A magically created maitre'd who sees to the needs of the guests. Tak created him himself shortly after he'd finished creating the palace."

     Lirenna stared at him in amazement, then grinned in relief. "So my modesty's safe after all," she said. "That makes me feel better."

     "Modesty's not a concept that has much meaning here," said Thomas. "In fact, it's likely to make you stand out."

     "Then I'll stand out. I wonder how long breakfast'll take?"

     "It should be ready now. It's created by magic spells as well."

     Indeed, the maitre'd was already returning, carrying a tray on which were two plates of food and two folded napkins, and as he entered the bed vanished, to be replaced by a large table with two thronelike chairs. On the table were two crystal glasses, a jug of fruit juice, two sets of silver cutlery and a vase of cut orchid flowers. The maitre'd placed their breakfasts on the table, bowed to them and then left the room, walking with the same stately gait with which he'd entered.

     "Looks like we eat here," said Thomas, sitting on one of the chairs and filling his glass from the jug. Lirenna sat opposite him and they began eating.

     They weren't disturbed again until they left their suite of rooms, whereupon they found a servant waiting for them in the corridor outside. A real human being this time. "Lord Ruby sends his regards," he said. "and asks that you join him up on the landing platform. May I show you the way?"

     "Thanks, but I know the way," said Thomas, leading Lirenna along the wide corridor.

     The servant followed a pace behind them. "Excuse me for asking," he said, "but there's a lot of excited speculation in the city. People are saying that you're to become the new Lord Sapphire."

     "That's not true," said Thomas firmly. "I have his memories, yes, and I hope to use them to finish his work, but I won't be becoming him. I'm Thomas Gown, this is Lirenna, my wife, and that's the way it's going to stay."

     "The people will be saddened to hear that, sir. Lord Sapphire was very popular. Very well loved."

     "Did Lord Ruby tell you to say that?" asked Lirenna sharply.

     The servant apologised profusely, looking deeply hurt, and hurried away, disappearing around a bend in the corridor.

     "He's going to spend the whole day working on you," Lirenna told Thomas.

     "I know," replied Thomas, "but you've got nothing to worry about. There's nothing in the world that could make me become a rak."

     "Not even the end of the world?"

     "The world's not going to end," he assured her. "We'll think of something. Some other way."

     She smiled, reassured, and slipped her arm in his, snuggling up against him as they walked.

     Barl was waiting for them up on the platform, and the two wizards were struck again by just how huge the palace was. You could have built a large town up here! thought Thomas as he looked around in awe. It had to be at least five hundred yards across, if not larger. It was large enough that the nearest edge, over a hundred yards away, looked uncannily like the horizon, as if they were standing on the ground, with the sapphire petals ringing the field like a cloudless blue sky. What was the purpose of those petals, anyway? Were they purely decorative? Tak's memories said yes. They existed solely to be seen from a distance, to make the colossal tower look like a single cut flower in a tall, narrow vase. The scale on which the Gem Lords thought astonished him. Whenever they made something, they made it big, almost as if they just couldn't help themselves.