Lifeblood

The river ran backwards on the day the Queen vanished.

The people of Porto Vera noticed immediately, of course.

How could they not? The River Valas, as it was called in the ancient tongue, ran straight through the city like a spiderweb, splitting off into a thousand canals that criss-crossed the many districts of regal Porto Vera.

The entire city relied upon that water in much the same way that other cities relied upon paved carriageways and footpaths; the larger waterways transported goods to and from the market-quays, while the smaller canals were used by daily commuters, sailing their sleek gondolas about the city. This was to say nothing of the intricate network of ancient aqueducts which directed the purest and most mineral-rich drinking water to each residence, as well as feeding the famed leisure gardens that could be found throughout the city.

All of it led back to the snow-capped mountains that loomed high above Porto Vera, where the source of the crystal-clear water was hidden.

The River Valas was the beating heart of the city, and when the water stopped flowing through the waterways like blood through veins, and instead began draining it… oh yes, the people noticed.

What they didn’t notice - at least not at first - was the coinciding disappearance of the Queen, though this was by design. There was panic enough; far better to keep the people in the dark about their missing monarch.

It would be three days later that Aloysius Grove would learn of the Queen’s disappearance, and he would only uncover this secret while investigating another mystery. A mystery that, on the surface, seemed entirely disconnected to the fate of Queen Delacourte.

-

Water trickled across the pavement, following the cracks and divots in the stone and pooling at the points where it had been worn down the most. The water stemmed from the soaked and tattered clothing of the dead body that Aloysius’s colleagues had just fished from the bottom of the now-drained canal.

The body was putrid. It had been down there for at least a week, Aloysius guessed. Over the last three days, ever since the water receded, it had been lying in mud.

As for how it got down there, it didn’t take him too long to figure that part out.

For one thing, the iron chain that looped around the waist of the dead man, fastening him to the concrete block to which the other end of the chain had been bolted to… well, that was a pretty clear giveaway that this wasn’t an accident.

Aloysius was largely unfazed by the homicide. As a detective inspector, this was far from the first time he’d fished a body out of a canal.

For such a beautiful and erudite city, Porto Vera was no stranger to crime. Killings like this were quite common, even if they were a little stupid. Given that the water from the River Valas was so pure and crystal clear, it was pretty easy to spot a body lingering beneath the surface. There were a hundred better ways to dispose of a corpse, and Aloysius had sure seen some creative solutions in his time.

That said, there was something different about this one. Something that caught Aloysius’s eye and, try as he might, he could not pull his attention away from. Something so mesmerising…

“Sparkly.” muttered one of the officers who had hauled the body out of the canal. His name was Tarkle, and he had been first on the scene.

The other two officers nodded thoughtfully, rubbing their chins.

“What does it mean, inspector?” Tackle turned to Aloysius, waiting on his superior’s verdict.

Aloysius didn’t answer, and instead let his gaze wander over the jet black, quartz-like crystals that covered parts of the body like a second skin. They shimmered in the evening light, refracting the amber rays of the sinking sun into a mirage of colour.

Aloysius knelt down next to the body, flinching ever so slightly as the smell of dead flesh, week-old and waterlogged, assailed his senses. Hardened as he was, he could never get used to that stench.

Gently, he ran a finger along the surface of the skin, finding it to be crusty and brittle. Adding a bit of pressure, he felt the crystallised skin crack where he pressed down. It reminded him of candied sugar - a rather unappealing comparison, as the stench of rotting flesh continued to make his eyes water. He picked off a shard of it and quickly stuffed it into a glass vial he procured from the inside of his large tan cloak.

He decided he’d seen enough. Rising to his feet and letting go of the breath he’d been holding, he motioned for one of the other officers to approach.

“Must’ve been down there at least a week.” said Tarkle, reaching the same conclusion Aloysius had. “Means it was down there before the Ebb.”

The Ebb. That’s what the people had taken to calling it, the reverse in flow of the city’s waterways. Aloysius thought it was a bit of a silly name, but he had always been more of a logical thinker than a creative one, so he had no better name for it.

“Alright, let’s get cleaned up here.” Aloysius ordered. “Get him on his way to the chapel, and tell the priests there to begin the funerary rites but don’t clean those crystals off. Might need to see it again later.”

The other three officers murmured in the affirmative, and Aloysius turned on his heel to leave.

It was then that he caught sight of where he actually was in the city.

They were in one of the northern districts, right at the foothills of the mountains from which the River Valas flowed. Looking up, he could just barely see the mountains themselves, lit up in gold by the final light of the day.

Anything below that, however, was obscured by one of the largest buildings in all of Porto Vera. It stood five stories tall, and unlike the more intricate and artful designs of just about any other building in Porto Vera, this one was squat and solid. Utilitarian.

It was called the Intake Station.

The Intake Station was where the water from the River Valas was collected, moderated, and redirected in all the directions it needed to go, feeding the rest of the city. It held a vast reservoir of that water, even now after the River Valas began flowing in reverse, three days ago. It was one of the most important systems in the city, and was administered by its own special branch of the government.

“Officer Tarkle, the Intake Station.” Aloysius started with a frown. “Remind me what goes on there?”

“Oh, uh. Mostly just sending the water where it needs to go, sir. A bit of science here and there, I’m also told.”

Aloysius nodded thoughtfully. A bit of science.

“I’ll need the name of the station director if possible, Officer Tarkle. See if there’s any operators who’ve been reported missing too.”

Officer Tarkle frowned, stepping away from the dead body and approaching Aloysius.

“You think our victim worked there, sir?” he asked.

“I think the location of the body is not a coincidence.” Aloysius said, his tone slow and carefully considered. “Nor its state of being.”

“Do you think it’s connected to the Ebb?” Officer Tarkle pressed, clearly hopeful that this simple, run-of-the-mill homicide case was about to become something more.

“No time for speculation yet, officer. There’s more work to be done before we come around to that.” Aloysius said calmly, waving his colleague down.

Before Officer Tarkle could apologise, the clattering sound of bootsteps on cobblestone echoed from a nearby alleyway and a moment later, two figures emerged from the shadows.

They were dressed in tall black cloaks, and leered at Aloysius and his officers with a level of superiority and haughtiness that could only mean one thing.

“Inspector Grove. A moment of your time.” One of them said, his words dripping like honey. He was the taller of the two, and had thick dark hair that reached down to his shoulders. The second man, shorter and with a trimmed moustache, stared at Aloysius the way a wolf would to a sheep.

Aloysius nodded, watching both men cautiously.

“Officer Tarkle, you remember my orders.” He said over his shoulder to his colleague. “To the chapel with him, and tell the priests what I need them to do.”

“Yes, sir.” Officer Tarkle replied, turning back and helping the other two officers load the body onto a cart. As the cart trundled away, Aloysius now stood alone, flanked by the two mysterious figures.

“How can I help you, gentlemen?”

“We’re here on business.” Said the tall one.

“Official business.” added the shorter one, holding out a small piece of polished metal the size of a card. Upon it was a heraldic crest, a red eagle clutching a black fish. The sigil of the Royal Family.

Aloysius eyed it warily.

“I’m on a case, sirs.”

“That’s not your concern any more, inspector.” Said the tall one.

“We’ve got a task for you that’s far more important.” said the other, continuing the trend of finishing one another’s sentences.

“You hold a Royal Commission Seal. Whatever the task is, you’ve clearly been seen fit to carry it out, not me.” Aloysius pointed out, and he was right. The seal they had flashed before meant that the Queen herself had given them a task, and it was of grave importance that it be carried out swiftly and effectively.

“Oh don’t worry, there’s one for you too.” said the first man, reaching into his pocket to retrieve another of the small metal objects. He tossed it towards Aloysius, who caught it in one hand.

“You’ve been recruited.” the short man sneered.

Looking down at it, Aloysius inspected the seal closely. The filigree, the detail on the eagle’s outstretched wings and the claws that clutched the black fish… it was legitimate.

While he showed no outward sign of it, Aloysius felt his heart grow cold. Holding one of these meant great power; the ability to act above the law and without impunity, so long as the task was completed. Yet this was not something he wanted.

Aloysius exhaled slowly, casting his gaze to the now-setting sun. In just a few minutes, it would be gone entirely.

“I accept.” He said finally, knowing he had no choice either way.

“What does the Queen want of me?”

The two men looked at each other, and Aloysius felt a shift in their demeanour. Before, they were sly, cocky, and conceited. Now, he felt an air of unease.

“The Queen…” the first man started before trailing off, looking to his companion and silently encouraging him to do as he had before and finish the sentence.

“...has vanished.”