Assassinations headlined. Revolutions smoldering. War without end. Welcome to an optimistic, progressive-era world on the brink of an unfathomable global war rooted in division and rebellion. Six unique women must rise above societal prejudices and find unexpected friendship, unity, and love.
It is 1901, and the Vespa Academy of Sciences is at the forefront of a myth-filled globe teeming with radiant magic, new science, and old religion. The Academy seeks to end every war between the Kindred species, but lofty ideals rarely hold up in an adversarial new class of students. Journey through a school year that will intertwine Vespa's past, present, and future. Armed anarchists, whispered abominations, and incendiary calamities have returned to a fantastical world entering a modern era unlike any other.
Assassinations headlined. Revolutions smoldering. War without end. Welcome to an optimistic, progressive-era world on the brink of an unfathomable global war rooted in division and rebellion. Six unique women must rise above societal prejudices and find unexpected friendship, unity, and love.
It is 1901, and the Vespa Academy of Sciences is at the forefront of a myth-filled globe teeming with radiant magic, new science, and old religion. The Academy seeks to end every war between the Kindred species, but lofty ideals rarely hold up in an adversarial new class of students. Journey through a school year that will intertwine Vespa's past, present, and future. Armed anarchists, whispered abominations, and incendiary calamities have returned to a fantastical world entering a modern era unlike any other.
The Late Morning of Thursday, May 1, 1902 (May Day)
Bernie took two steps up the tower’s spiraling stairs at a time. Each flight of stairs ran parallel to the outside red-bricked wall, turning at every corner. Pausing at a narrow mid-level landing, she caught her breath in her auburn ankle-length skirt. I wish I were in better shape! Narrow glass-paned windows provided a view of the large driveway far below, revealing a panicked staff charging in and out of the castle doors. Most passersby in the driveway were personnel in black and red uniforms brandishing long rifles with bayonets affixed. Are the Carabinieri leaving or arriving? The castle’s walls surrounding the hilltop made it hard to tell.
“Don’t panic!” mused Bernie to herself. “It’s not the end of the world, just the beginning of a new one…” She found herself shaking nonetheless. Will this be the new normal for everyone?
Continuing up the next flight of stairs, Bernie finally heard voices at the top. So they are up here! Huffing, she clutched the metal outside handrail as if her life depended upon it. Bernie looked down to the small atrium far below and realized she had scaled six stories. Not bad for a bookworm! Looking up, all that remained above her was the tower’s loft and roof. She moved slower, finally dragging herself to the sparsely decorated, wooden-floored loft. A short iron ladder in the center went to the roof and ended at an open hatch. Bernie paused to regain her composure, aware of what she was about to witness outside. It will be chaos and panic.
“…part of the port is on fire!” exclaimed a familiar male voice above. “I think one of the warehouses went up. It’s difficult to tell what’s going on west past the Turbella River.”
Bernie marched up to the ladder and started to scale it rung by rung. I need to face the facts. The sea breeze ticked her wavy, strawberry-blonde locks, as did the salty air it brought. Finally, her head exited the high tower, catching sight of the two people above. A short-sleeved young man and woman leaned against the tall, red-white brick crenelations, each scanning the black smoke-filled horizon that dominated. The observing taller man had wavy brown locks and a confident look in his proud stature. Enzo looks like he’s ready to save the city!
Enzo pulled up a small brass spyglass telescope that gleamed in the high sun. “It looks like the Academy is still fine.” He slowly pivoted eastward and eyed the towering hills behind the city. “I believe they’re taking refugees now from the funicular railway. They shut down the gondola lift system.” About a mile eastward stood a massive white and canary-colored hilltop monastery that overlooked the entire coastline. The complex made their opposing high castle look small.
With a grunt, Bernie grabbed the ladder’s final looped exterior side rungs and pulled herself onto the slightly slanted stone roof. The woman with loose black hair before Bernie turned around, squinting her brilliant blue eyes at Bernie. Is Esmeralda surprised to see me? While certainly attractive, there was nothing overly remarkable about Esmeralda. Nonetheless, Bernie thought she always radiated a regal strength. I could use that right now. Esmeralda softened her concerned and pale face, bringing forth a warmth that overpowered the black smoke beyond. Why is she hanging out up here? Bernie pictured the Duchessa hunched over a massive conference table surrounded by murmuring advisors. Maybe she needs perspective?
“Bernie?” asked Esmeralda in a calm voice. “What are you doing up here? You said you would hide underneath a desk until the day ended. This is a far cry from that!”
Bernie shook her head. “It turns out that hiding underneath a thick desk is boring unless the room explodes.” She joined the duo at the crenellations. “Speaking of explosions, how many have we had so far?” The massive city surrounding them had at least five billowing fires, some commingled in the Zena cityscape below. How many have died already?
Enzo lowered his spyglass. “I think nine bombs have detonated. Fortunately, the frequency of them rattling us has slowed down.” He looked at Esmeralda with a deep frown on his handsome face. “Cousin, either the worst is over or–”
“—Or the other shoe has yet to drop,” replied Esmeralda. “If I were a betting woman, I would guess everything has been a distraction. The city’s Carabinieri has either been deployed or is guarding the unattacked critical institutions.” She took the tiny spyglass from her taller cousin and started scanning. “This is no last-minute attack. It’s a well-planned and multi-stage operation with a crescendo at the finale. But where will it be held?”
Bernie bit her lip in deep thought. “This mysterious group has enough people to launch a full strike.” Could any of my friends be in danger around the city? She felt her stomach churn while her mind cycled through friendly faces. “What about the Academy? Could it be next?!” Bernie looked back at the stoic monastery across from them and gasped. No! No! No!
“I have considered that,” replied Esmeralda as if she were discussing a sizable lunch menu. “We are mobilizing the reinforcements who just arrived from the capital, but it will take time to get them there. Every road throughout the Zena is now a warzone or packed with civilians fleeing to the fringes.” She dropped the spyglass and looked back at Bernie with a nod.
Enzo shook his dark brown locks. “You’re not worried in the slightest are you, Esmeralda? Is it because of our odd little team up there?” He put a hand on his perfectly pointed chin. “No offense, but I’m still not convinced they’re a solid squad. You would be better off rushing Calli and Major to reinforce the Academy with the local royal guard. They all have decades of combined experience and could teach any weapons course in one day!”
“There’s more to strength than just firepower,” countered Esmeralda while returning the telescope to her cousin with a smirk. “Remember what my team did at the hunting palace! I’ve hammered them into a single alloyed and still-molten sword for eight months. All that remains is to plunge them into the cooling waters and pull them out as something more.”
The Evening of Monday, September 2, 1901 (Eight Months Earlier)
Viatrix Corna counted the lifts currently moving past her thick lenses. Six gondola lifts were in operation, the continuous system in constant motion across the La Verde river beneath them. She observed the sprawling coastal city of Zena growing smaller as they ascended. The bullwheel at the base of the operation was now a distant marvel still logged in her mind, as was the diesel engine that powered it. Viatrix frowned as she realized this was the first time she had ridden in a gondola cabin as a student. She searched her heart for joy but found none. Why couldn’t I have done this alone? Why did it have to be with these five?
She had entered a powder keg situation due to cold logistics and warm courtesy. Lucky me. The other currently operating gondolas ahead of them were loaded with the last dregs of the female student body. At the same time, the lower platform terminal still held almost all of the male student corps waiting to be lifted. Viatrix considered it a logical process, except for the glaring fact that this gondola would end up with a few unlucky female souls who wanted to be left alone. And some of those have excellent reasons, unlike me. I should have hitched a ride with the boys. She felt her mechanical watch slowly tick away.
Viatrix observed the shafts of light that shot through the glass windows, painting all the occupants in orange lighting. The scene was fit for a photograph, and her fingers itched for the box camera in her luggage arriving elsewhere. The windows muffled a dull rumble outside, making the interior surprisingly quiet. What’s that thumping above? The five other occupants had squeezed into the compartment with Viatrix, but she kept her distance as best she could. Across from her, the resident Selkie was starting to breathe heavily and already reeked like a boozehound. Next to Viatrix, the tall Abraxas’ pupils were too large inside her orange irises.
Kicking her booted legs back and forth on the oversized bench, Viatrix briefly met eyes with the Selkie woman. A mischievous smile had crept onto the gray-skinned woman’s chubby face, who was enjoying the sight of a little dwarf. It’s a stupid sweaty seal. Viatrix fought to maintain her composure, warning off the dark-eyed Selkie with a cutting stare. It’s not my fault that I don’t fit in here. She tried not to focus on the slouching Elf, who looked far more miserable than anyone else. She’s clipped. Viatrix was sure that the sad woman was muttering to herself in the quietest voice possible, each slight mouth movement interspersed with erratic breathing.
“Aren’t you a little young for this, girl?” spoke the Damned Selkie in a silly-throated accent as she flexed her enormous neck muscles.
A part of Viatrix wanted to pull out her boot knife immediately and start carving up the sweaty blustering Selkie, but she thought better of it. Never provoke a Selkie. That’s what the wise and fully intact say. Viatrix knew that the Selkie was the only one of her race–male or female–at the Academy this year. Still, Viatrix couldn’t miss a free verbal shot when she had one. The bully needs boundaries. Viatrix aloofly ignored the woman to blunt the attack for several seconds, drinking in the awkwardness.
Finally, Viatrix stared back at her. “I was born for this.” I always wanted to say something conceited like that. “Speaking of which,” she said as slowly as possible, “it’s the one semester ‘Selkie Wonder’ coming to the Academy. We need to take bets on how long you last…” She let her voice trail off to slather on the gambling omen.
The Selkie clenched her thick, heavy hands, flexing her biceps inside her comically fitting short white blouse. “I think that–” she said both eagerly and hastily. Eyie thin h’at.
“Mhmm!” exclaimed the tall Abraxas sitting next to Viatrix, her radiant orange irises illuminating like the setting sun itself. She proudly surveyed the cabin like a queen holding court.
Viatrix knew what was coming. Kindred Wars, here we go. She knew little about Abraxases but was aware of their feelings towards elves: good, clean, old-fashioned hate. Viatrix quickly examined the horned young woman sitting next to her. Clothed in a long black dress with modest mutton sleeves, the Abraxas was suited for travel but ready for the regal abasement of a peasant with simmering rage to spare. The temple-sided horns aren’t perfect for combat, curving back and down like that. Nonetheless, Viatrix thought she had never seen such a striking female figure. What a goddess with that honey skin and wavy hair.
The Abraxas lightly snorted through her aquiline nose. ”Has anyone else realized who is sitting amongst us? Seriously?” She stared across right at the Selkie and then back to the clipped Elf directly in front of her.
“Um,” mumbled the Selkie as she wiped her armpits for the fifth time, “a sweaty Selkie like me? First time seeing one of us, your Honorable Dryness? I’m not used to this heat.”
Viatrix suppressed a chuckle at the honorific. Wit? In a Selkie? The title felt perfect for the unsoiled Abraxas. Maybe this Selkie isn’t so bad after all.
The Honorable Dryness rolled her orange eyes and flicked back her lengthy hair, catching a few small strands in her curving horns. “Dear Selkie, have you never seen one before? Or are you that ignorant regarding what is next to you?”
A weak croak of surprise leaked from the Selkie. “She’s not human. That means…” Her dark, small eyes went wide with wonder as she slowly and painfully examined the Elf.
“That she’s an Elf,” said Viatrix dispassionately. “Congratulations.” She felt ready to say more but didn’t want to fight a war on two fronts against unknown Kindred. Play it cool.
“Mhmm!” said the Abraxas once more, her dark pupils larger against the orange irises. “I consider myself open-minded, but this is a bridge too far. An accursed Elf? At a prestigious Academy? Have the humans lost their minds in this fair land, or did they not know?”
Viatrix stifled a freckled cringe and looked at the blue-eyed human woman sitting far across diagonally from her. As far as she knew, Duchessa Esmeralda Vespa’s demeanor was always well-tempered, but cracks were starting to show in it. Rapid blinking. Bent posture. She’s mad. Very mad. Viatrix didn’t know Esmeralda personally, but the Duchessa was a prominent local leader. And the Abraxas doesn’t have a clue, at least for now.
“Alya,” murmured the partially obscured red-eyed Abraxas, “don’t rush to judgment.” The small one was undoubtedly a little sister. And less authoritative.
“Sister, have you forgotten the stories? Do you remember what the Elves did to us?” Alya grimaced and looked up at the ceiling supported by joists branching out from parallel girders.
“Pardon my Emira,” said Esmeralda as she pivoted her torso into the aisle. “Vespa Academy is open to all species, despite the distasteful legacy of any of their ancestors.”
Viatrix found herself holding her breath. Lungs flat, belly out. Slowly she started her breathing exercises to calm herself. Her knife felt heavy in her boot. Like any good leader, Esmeralda’s words were comforting but misleading to serve a specific purpose. All races? What a pleasant lie. More like a gaggle of Kindred emirate princesses.
Viatrix mentally checked off all non-Kindred persons who never received admittance to Vespa Academy. If you don’t look like a human, strut like a human, and live like a human, then you will be treated less than a human. Viatrix wondered if the drunk Selkie realized that she had barely passed the test. Probably not.
Alya looked down at Esmeralda with a still surprisingly confused expression. “Signora, how can you speak so certainly about this? Is this not your first semester at the Academy?”
“It is.” Esmeralda stood up and straightened out her lovely dress.
Viatrix knew what Esmeralda was doing. The dress spoke cold power and authority, while the humanity of her face radiated warmth. A vicious combination that many yield to.
“Forgive me,” said Alya as she perfectly bowed while seated. “Am I correct in assuming that you are Duchessa Vespa?”
Esmeralda went in for the kill. “That is correct, Alya. But you can address me by my given name. We are about to be classmates, after all.” She turned her face to the Elf, who returned the briefest of side glances. “All I ask is that you extend a modicum of courtesy to every one of your classmates. That’s not too much, is it?”
Viatrix calmly watched as everyone recoiled in one way or another as the gondola smoothly glided into the receiving terminal. She wanted to laugh aloud for the first time, but her reflexes were too wired to spring into action. Not now. Not now. Then she saw the Elf’s transformation occur. It started with little motions, like her lips ceasing to move and her hands becoming still. The Elf’s severely slouched shoulders pulled back, thrusting her chest out beneath her threadbare gray robe and huge feet. Viatrix blinked as the woman rose, reopening her tightly-goggled eyes to witness a true Elf towering over everyone else. Tall people!
Alya jumped to her feet in retaliation but came in a head shorter than the Elf. Orange eyes bored into dark gray irises. “It is not unreasonable, but…” The Abraxas tenderly brought out her right hand and barely stroked the Elf’s dyed brown bangs, pulling them aside to show the sadly clipped ears that Viatrix already knew the Elf had. “I have so many questions regarding you, Listless One.”
Finally, Viatrix saw the gray eyes flash up. “Do you now?” mouthed the Elf so gently that she couldn’t hear it. Alya dropped the trembling hand like she had been slapped and sharply turned away from Viatrix. Oh, Theophany, full of Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries! What in the HELL was that?
Viatrix’s reaction speed kicked in when the Selkie drunkenly surged forward into the aisle with a heavy breath. She ripped her too-short legs onto the bench and stood on top of it, her hand brushing her knife with every single finger. Woah there. Viatrix hadn’t consciously realized what she had done, but she saw the Selkie’s lidded wide eyes narrow even more at the sight of her boot knife. Shame washed over Viatrix as she realized that she had almost stabbed someone for deciding to stand up. Ugh. Poor poise, even if it is a Selkie. Both of the Abraxas sisters and Esmeralda slid out of the opposite door.
“Now that we see eye-to-eye,” said the Selkie to both Viatrix and the Elf, “how about we introduce ourselves? I’m Kirsi.”
“Viatrix,” she said, sticking out her gloved hand. “Don’t worry. I can handle the sweat. Do you have a clan name?” I need to do some research on you and your questionable family.
“Takala,” Kirsi replied while giving Viatrix’s smaller hand a firm handshake that involved most of her upper body muscles tensing.
Viatrix secured her feet on the bench and stalwartly rode the beastly handshake. You shake like my father. Every muscle in her little body hung on for dear life as she channeled all of her dwarven strength into the ensuing arm wrestle, causing Kirsi to clench her teeth like she was having a seizure.
The Selkie quickly let go and pivoted to the Elf. “So… what’s your name?” Kirsi asked as newfound sweat ran down her gray face.
“My name is…” said the Elf almost absentmindedly with a bottomless look. Viatrix wasn’t sure if she would complete the sentence due to the prolonged pause. “… you can call me Zabel. It’s nice to meet you, Kirsi and Viatrix.”
Viatrix found herself quickly looking outside of the gondola’s single-paned window. Vespa Academy of Sciences complex stood stalwart outside, its Dwarven and Human master craftsmanship evident for all to see. Many first-time arriving students were gawking at the sight, their jaws slack and eyes wide. Wait until they see the library inside. She was eager to attend congregation services with her father and brother. Hopefully, they have repaired the Ascension of the Theophany quadratura in the cathedral.
There was no way around what had just happened, however. Viatrix knew an impending disaster when she saw one. All of us in the cabin are young women, but we put an equally young Duchessa on edge. She found herself shaking her head at the situation. What happens when a Dwarf, an Elf, a Selkie, and an Abraxas walk into a Zena bar together? We’ll figure out the punchline soon enough.
The Evening of Monday, September 2, 1901 (Kam’s Recounting)
Kamilia Ruszo thought riding on the gondola lift was a grand evening arrival. In her first school year, she did what every lame Vespa Academy girl did: ride IN the gondola, staring out the windows and taking in the sights. But I’ve changed since then. Now, as a sophomore, she went where no one else dared to go: the grip arm on the cabin’s roof directly beneath the stretching cable. It was peculiar, precarious, and downright perilous. In many ways, Kam considered it to be representative of her life at the moment, especially regarding her last school year at the Academy. I’ve got a second chance–best live it up.
Unfortunately, one of the last people Kam wanted to see that year was in the cabin under her. The Duchessa. Lucky me. Also beneath her were five other young women who had just boarded from both sides, the final females of the 1901 class sent to the Academy. Judging from their lack of uniforms and juvenile postures, Kam strongly suspected that every one of them was a freshman. I never saw any of them last year. She did consider them to be a distinctive bunch, however. Only the dreaded Duchessa was a human, while the other five were Kindred of various species: Abraxas, Dwarf, Elf, and Selkie. What a crew!
Kam looked down at the lower landing platform in the city of Zena, taking in the sights in the orange light setting. The vast city sprawled across the hilly coastline and was a marvel at any time of the day. I wish I could have spent more time there before going up. Nonetheless, Kam knew she would have more opportunities to return to the city on the weekends. And perhaps other days when I’m not supposed to be wandering off. She let out a little chuckle and smoothed out her poofy dark gray riding trousers tucked into her knee-high black boots. Above that was a white shirtwaist blouse that fit her lithe body poorly.
“Riding high, indeed,” she muttered as the wind carried away her speech.
The cabin beneath her shook a little, forcing Kam to clutch the metal grip arm with her left hand. Woah. Her pale and calloused right hand held onto her only unattached personal item: a long wooden cane with a brass head. A sudden gust of wind stripped Kam of her cresting bowler hat, causing it to take flight like a bird in the sky. Damn it! Two years in a row! Now annoyed, Kam turned her focus back to the passengers within the metal hull and the glass windows. Are they talking now? Kam almost wished she had crammed herself into the cabin, but there was little room left for a long-legged girl like herself. I’d still have my hat, though.
Bringing a black bang-covered ear to the dark metal roof, Kam strained to hear beyond the ambient noise of conveyance and breezes. Nothing! She almost struck the metal cabin with her cane but realized it would give away her position. No one needs to know that I’m up here. Kam considered the riders below a powder keg waiting for a single spark, especially considering a pretend human was avoiding discovery. We all want to pretend to be human from time to time. She absentmindedly wiggled her toes in her boots, guessing how long the Elf’s shoddy disguise would last. It won’t last long unless everyone else pretends not to notice.
Deeply unsatisfied, Kam sat back up and looked at her destination: Vespa Academy of Sciences. What an odd, mysterious place. Kam had gawked the first time she had seen it last year, but the artful wonder was now gone. Instead, Kam now saw a spring-loaded trap in the guise of a pale and sprawling former monastery complex under dark roofs. The entire nearing Academy stood tall on an even more elevated outcrop, beckoning Kam like an abusive mother with outstretched arms as the gondola system reached its upper landing destination. Sometimes the only choice is to walk into an ambush. Kam chuckled to herself and stretched in her tight blouse, letting the wild wind stroke her body.
Within a few minutes, the cabin reached the upper station, detaching from its scaling line and coming to a standstill that opened the doors. Kam went prone and crawled to the front, peeking out at the scene transpiring. A horde of female students circulated in the courtyard ahead, clucking like a pack of hens, unaware of the cat overlooking them. What a bunch of idiots. Looking beyond, Kam examined the immense cathedral and the tall, pale yellow, windowed complex walls surrounding the flanks. And here come the new arrivals. The very young Duchessa shot out first in her green day suit from the left side, her pleasant and humoring human demeanor just minutes before gone. Uh-oh, that’s an awful sign!
Kam ducked back down and hid quickly, retreating to her central riding spot. I’m not ready to say hello just yet. The horned Abraxas sisters audibly exited from the left in pursuit of the Duchessa, but Kam couldn’t see them. Instead, Kam turned her attention to the right door directly beneath and watched as the massive Elf ducked out of the cabin. The woman’s long brown bangs raised to almost the top of the gondola, her distant gray eyes gazing about. Holding her breath, Kam started sweating and desperately trying to figure out how to exit her position gracefully. Just say: ‘Hi, how’s it going there?’ She gulped.
Fortunately, the colossal elvish woman quickly decided to move on. She’s one scary-looking creature. Slowly exhaling, Kam watched as the little blonde Dwarf girl with goggles and the sweat-soaked gray-skinned Selkie woman exited without incident. That’s all of them. Kam watched as the three Kindred women started chatting casually with one another, adopting the same general mannerisms of the greater courtyard. Something went down in that cabin. What exactly made the Duchessa so mad? Kam had seen maternal disappointment from the younger woman before, but nothing like this. It must have been one of the other girls.
Tactfully, Kam grabbed her cane and backed up in a shimmying crawl. She lowered her long legs off the gondola’s back, gracefully dropping down onto the stone landing platform with barely a sound. No one in the courtyard turned to greet her, which was as relieving as it was embarrassing. Kam stood up and strode toward the masses like the seventh occupant, bobbing as she went. Time to make a new friend and pick up where I left off. I’m going to crack this Academy like a nut this year. She tapped her cane on the gravel and smirked.
The Evening of Monday, September 2, 1901 (Zabel’s Recounting)
Zabel Lusine had spent every last ounce of volition boarding the gondola lift. And now she could read the cabin like the palm of her hand. The five contrasting faces before her ranged from indifference to outright hostility. Don’t look. Don’t look. Worst yet, she had somehow ended up in the middle of all of them. To her right sat a female Selkie, and to her left was a young Human woman. A female Abraxas was positioned directly across from Zabel, the woman’s dark and curving horns adding a little head height with their large singular loops. Zabel realized that–even hunched over–she was dramatically taller than any of the occupants.
Unfortunately, Zabel soon realized that her tall counterpart scrutinized her very closely. She watched the Abraxas’s feet with her well-practiced peripheral vision, hoping the intense gaze would pass. Black leather knee boots. Two-inch heels. Well-traveled. The brightest orange eyes crept over her from head to toe, like a painter brushing a portrait. Zabel felt like a slave at the flesh market being prepared for auction by an assessor. And the assessor isn’t pleased. She kept her eyes on her own pitiful sandals, letting the painful seconds creep by like sand grains falling in a narrow hourglass. Play dead. People always get bored with cadavers.
The Human next to her chatted with the other shorter Abraxas with far softer red eyes. Zabel felt a strong rapport between the two chatting women, which did not exist in the rest of the cabin. No one else is talking. No one. The Human’s demeanor was unbearably pleasant, her voice like a warm, gentle shower in the morning. Listening to the speech rhythms, Zabel felt the young Abraxas almost trying to match her human companion’s tone. Except she has a slight accent. A Qadir native? Her big sister isn’t even trying to be engaged because she knows. But how much?
Zabel flinched slightly when the Dwarf across from her smacked her boots into the base of the bench. She noticed that the girl’s feet couldn’t even reach the ground, which amused the lackadaisical Selkie beside her. Suggestive provoking. Measured reaction. A new tension swelled in the room between the two as they locked eyes. They don’t like each other. No, it’s something more profound than that. Something almost primal. Zabel realized that the Abraxas across from her also had a revulsion for the gray-skinned woman. Is it the alcohol and the sweat? Or just the rebellious spirit that sneers at authority? It was getting difficult to breathe.
The Selkie finally opened her mouth with a slight smack that reeked of derision. “Aren’t you a little young for this, girl?” she snapped to the Dwarf while flexing her neck with a mighty creak.
Zabel tilted her head. She thought her voice was so strange, like ice scraping ice in the dead of night. A stranger in a strange land, lashing out because it’s the only thing that can make her comfortable. A pregnant pause followed, making Zabel shift uncomfortably. She knew that the tension in the room was loosened, but only to allow enough slack in the line for whiplash. Here comes the boom.
“I was born for this,” said the Dwarf in a factual tone tinged with conceit. “Speaking of which, it’s the one semester ‘Selkie Wonder’ coming to the academy. We need to take bets on how long you last…”
Heart aflutter, Zabel clutched her gray robe. She knows who she is. And knows what I am but is happy to ignore it. Zabel summoned every ounce of strength left to stay slouched in the decaying charade, fear of the unknown lending her a second wind. Her ear tips ached in places that no longer existed when the Abraxas finally turned her eyes back to her. Just stop!
“Mhmm!” loudly mused the Horned Accuser, interrupting the Selkie mid-boast. Zabel felt indignation enter the Abraxas as fast as it left the Selkie. The Accuser now had the entire cabin in on her conversation, as she had wanted. Her orange eyes cut into Zabel like knives, but then she roughly pulled them out to focus on her audience. “Has anyone else realized who is sitting amongst us? Seriously?” The Abraxas stared down the now silenced Selkie.
Zabel found herself fully turning her head to see the profusely sweating Selkie respond. “Um, a sweaty Selkie like me? First time seeing one of us, your Honorable Dryness? I’m not used to this warm climate.”
“Dear Selkie,” said the Accuser as she jostled back her perfect black wavy locks, “have you never seen one before? Or are you that ignorant regarding what is next to you?”
Zabel felt now a second person in the gondola cabin bore into her with a look. She quickly shifted her eyes to her sandals, counting the damaged broad straps interwoven over embarrassingly long feet. The Selkie’s old sandals are even in better shape.
The Selkie moaned. “She’s not human. That means…” The strange ice-on-ice voice quit shifting like an arctic iceberg breaking away from the greater shelf.
Green eyes coolly shot forth from the Dwarf’s goggles. “That she’s an Elf. Congratulations.” Zabel felt the Dwarf’s attention pass from the Selkie to her but left as fast as it came. Nonetheless, her heart was now in her throat, pounding as if it would split from her chest.
“Mhmm!” ruptured the Accuser, her orange fire flickering again. “I like to consider myself open-minded, but this is a bridge too far. An accursed elf? At a prestigious academy? Have the humans lost their minds in this fair land, or did they not know?”
Zabel almost winced when the Abraxas clicked her tongue, but another motion caught her attention. The Human woman beside her had shifted in her seat and joined the conversation. Shifting slightly to the left, Zabel side-eyed the raven-haired young woman in the green dress. It appeared to her that the Human’s soft rain-like demeanor had vacated the cabin, leaving something much more severe behind. Blue-blooded. Entitled. Authoritative. The woman had now started tapping the toe of her brand new slipper like a dancer to an unseen tune, ready to insert herself. The Abraxas has crossed the line.
“Alya,” said the smaller red-eyed Abraxis, “don’t rush to judgment.” The younger girl had seen the posture of the Human and was worried about blowback.
“Sister,” said Alya the Accuser, “have you forgotten the stories? Do you remember what the elves did to us?” The orange eyes finally left Zabel and cut into the ceiling of the gondola, trying to search the darkening sky above.
“Pardon my Emira,” said the Human sternly as she leaned into the aisle next to Zabel, “Vespa Academy is open to all species, despite the distasteful legacy of any of their ancestors.”
Alya looked at the Human woman like a flanked and confused general. “Signora, how can you speak so certainly about this? Is this not your first semester at the Academy?” Zabel felt the overwhelmingly judgemental tone.
“It is.” Esmeralda jerked into the aisle, pushing off her toes like a ballerina and coming to a parade rest like a soldier.
Zabel could tell that the gondola lift was now close to the upper terminal. Her slouched chest hurt, but the greater pain came from her heart. I have to stand. I have to stand. She was willing to stand for me. Once upon a time she would have cried, but she had no tears to shed. The yawning abyss was too all-consuming for that. I’m just a husk waiting to be blown away.
Alya awkwardly bowed while still seated, her threaded horns approaching Zabel. “Forgive me. Am I correct in assuming that you are Duchessa Vespa?”
“That is correct, Alya,” Esmeralda said precisely. “But you can address me by my given name. We are about to be classmates, after all. All I ask is that you extend a modicum of courtesy to every one of your classmates.” Zabel felt her not unkind glare as she emphasized the statement. “That’s not too much, is it?”
Zabel realized Alya was examining her pair of nice boots with a pained face. NOW. STAND UP, YOU LIFELESS HUSK. The thoughts rushed over Zabel, lifting her like a gangly marionette. She felt her shoulders pull back as her head rose to a commanding height far above any woman in the cabin. Alya raised her beautiful head from looking at the floor, her orange eyes a mixture of shock and awe. Everyone else was also gaping at her, their emotions commingling like threads woven into a chaotic, yet brilliant, tapestry. Zabel instinctively kept her eyes looking down and away from everyone, even Esmeralda, who stood beside her.
Then it happened. Alya arose like a burning phoenix from the ashes and stood beside Zabel. “It is not unreasonable, but…” Curiosity radiated from her like a bright electric lighthouse beneath a starless midnight sky. She carefully drew out her manicured fingers and touched Zabel’s brown bangs.
Zabel had had enough. Another woman in the cabin might have pushed the Abraxas away, perhaps even slapped her. The Selkie certainly would. But Zabel wasn’t just any other Kindred woman. She knew she wasn’t even just any other Elf. I am stone under pounding water. I do NOT cringe before my inferiors. Zabel realized that she had won the battle with the Abraxas. This touch is but a desperate, hungry lunge before a dignified retreat.
Alya lifted Zabel’s bang to reveal her clipped left ear. “I have so many questions regarding you, Listless One.”
LIKE WHAT YOU SEE? LIKE THE PAIN AND THE SORROW? WILL IT HELP YOU SLEEP TONIGHT KNOWING THAT I HAVE SACRIFICED MORE THAN YOU EVER WILL? LET ME HELP YOU LOOK DEEPER. DEEP AS YOU DARE GO, SILLY LITTLE GIRL.
Zabel brought her abyss-filled eyes to meet the ceaseless orange irises. “Do you now?” she whispered, her lips stiffly throbbing to the words. DO YOU NOW, PRECOCIOUS CHILD?
Alya dropped her hand as if a venomous snake had just bit it, trying to hide the tremble that ran through her rapidly blinking eyes. Zabel’s falling bangs brushed her ear as the Dwarf and the Selkie stood together. Shellshocked, Alya broke away from Zabel as quickly as possible, spinning toward Esmeralda and Dina. A glorious surge pulsed through Zabel, filling her tall husk with something eerily murky yet satisfactory. OH, YOU DRANK DEEP FROM THE WELL… BUT FULFILLMENT IS NOT FOR YOU. Zabel fought against the roaring voice echoing in her head, quieting it with her will. Silence. Silence.
“Let’s get going,” said Esmeralda. “I’ve had enough of this scene.” The Human left as the gondola door opened automatically. Both Abraxas sisters quickly followed, but Alya stopped before the door as if frozen in time.
The Selkie looked at both Zabel and the Dwarf, who was now oddly standing on the bench. “Now that we see eye-to-eye, how about we introduce ourselves? I’m Kirsi.”
“Viatrix,” said the Dwarf. She stuck out her gloved hand to the Selkie. “Don’t worry. I can handle the sweat. Do you have a clan name?”
“Takala,” said Krisi the Selkie as they engaged in a violent handshake almost as intense as the standoff that had just occurred. Zabel watched as the two made almost comically contorted faces. They are testing each other yet again.
“So…” said Kirsi as she disengaged from the rapturous handshake and faced Zabel. “What’s your name?”
“My name is…” said Zabel as she relaxed, “… you can call me Zabel. it’s nice to meet you, Kirsi and Viatrix.” It really is.
And suddenly, Zabel realized that she had arrived at the first home she had ever had. Not just a locale with a strange roof over her head amid leering strangers but a place that welcomed her for who she was. I am now a student. And I am something MORE. It was a strange feeling that throbbed a deep pain and hummed a joyful tune simultaneously. She thought it was so concrete that she could walk on it. Run on it. A solitary tear flowed down from her left eye. She swallowed so deeply it felt like choking.
Fresh air surged into the cabin from the open gondola doors, luring her to hunch and duck outside to look at the Vespa Academy of Sciences complex. Zabel couldn’t believe the sight. Female students scurried to and fro, eagerly talking with one another, their male counterparts still yet to unload. Excitement surrounded the beautiful, never-ending buildings, their bright walls and dark roofs flowing onward into the unseen distance beyond the cathedral.
Zabel felt life in abundance, not individual walking biographies, but the breath of the living. She put her hand on her slight belly. Zoe. I will name them Zoe.
Spoilers: Well the year is over. Time to close it and open the next one with a bang and a review of the best new book of 2023. That honor goes to Raymond W. Wilkinson’s To End Every War. It's a complex superb Dark Academia Feminist Fantasy novel about a group of women who represent different species in their world and are united for the common cause of building peace and stopping war between the various people and nations.
In 1901, Vespa Academy is the most prestigious and well respected university. Students all over their world attend alongside classmates and faculty of different species. There are Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Fairies, Selkies, Giants, Abraxas, Kitsunes, and Centaurs, to name a few. Many of the countries in which they come from are at war with each other and they all have a shared history of domination and oppression.
During her first year at the Academy, Esmeralda, the Human Duchessa of Vespa is determined to do something about it. She arranges for four women from different species to be roommates to open up potential friendships and communication and to put an end to the various wars that surround them. After all, if people fear what they don't understand, then understanding is what needs to happen.
Besides Esmeralda, the potential roommates are: Viatrix Corna, a scholarly and devout Dwarf whose parents are professors at the Academy, Zabel Lusine, a quiet and mysterious Elf who is hiding various secrets from her past, Kirsi Takala, a wild Selkie (a water creature like a siren) who is struggling with her addictions, and Alya Panosyan, a serious minded and stern Abraxas (half person half-bull) who has spent much of her life fighting and isn't quite ready to lay down her weapons. Other characters also become important to this newly made quintet like Kamilla “Kam” Ruszo, a saucy Human/Fairy hybrid sophomore who is on academic probation, Bernie, Esmeralda’s loyal assistant, Violeta AKA Doppel, a look alike and spy for Esmeralda, Dina, Alya’s more reserved sister, Erna, a bullying Giant and Warden, and Snow, a naive Centaur. Through their tumultuous first academic year, these women study, attend classes, fall in love, learn things about their families and their world, suffer great loss, achieve mighty victories, and cultivate a deep friendship that changes all of them.
To End Every War is a strange combination of Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, and Mary McCarthy’s The Group. It is an Epic Fantasy with amazing world building and wide sweeping plots. It is also a first rate Women's Fiction novel in which each character experiences personal struggles, challenges, and conflicts that changes their outlook and strengthens their bond with each other.
Each character is masterfully explored as individuals and as a group. Not in some time have I read a novel about such a memorable team of friends and thought, “I wish that I could be one of them.” The lead seven characters: Esmeralda, Viatrix, Zabel, Kirsi, Alya, Kam, and Bernie are rich and vibrant in a way that transcends genres and makes these women relatable and identifiable to their modern day Readers. There is not a weak link in the chain.
To illustrate the interconnectivity of the characters, Wilkinson inserts some clever narrative approaches. Incidents are repeated across chapters so each of the main female characters have different interactions and responses to the same events.
One incident involves Esmeralda, the four future roommates, and Bernie meeting each other on the gondola that takes them to the Academy. They have some serious disagreements and a burst of magic caused by an unwilling Zabel stops their infighting.
Another incident occurs during a school gathering when the protagonists are faced with various personal, familial, and political complications. It culminates in an assassination attempt and the discovery of a betrayal and a potential conspiracy.
These events are recalled by each character giving her own perspective based on her personality, experience, and biases. Their encounters reflect different emotions such as defensive, rational, anxious, irate, worried, curious, self-absorbed, preoccupied, confused or hopeful among others. It's rather like having several eyewitnesses giving their own accounts of the same event. You probably would have several different versions that describe the basic facts of the event but pepper it with their own assumptions and feelings about it.
Say a two-car collision is seen by five people (including the two drivers). All will agree that two cars hit each other and the street that the collision occurred but there will be five different versions of who hit who, the amount of damage, the trauma that occurred, and the emotional impact.
The character’s different perspectives of the same events develops them as representatives of their separate homogeneous communities, students involved in a wider diverse community, and women who are questioning their societal roles, life goals, and separate identities.
The world building is detailed and sneakily subversive. Like many other fantasy works, To End Every War, has a map to provide visual information about the world. It's beautifully illustrated and looks very familiar. The outline depicts some recognizable features such as a large country in the east that covers almost that entire half, a chain of islands and a large peninsula to the north, and a boot shaped nation in the south. Yes, it's actually a refurbished map of Europe. That and the fact that the years are organized similar to how they are in the western world, during the school year of 1901-1902, suggest that To End Every War is not set on a completely new fantasy world, but an alternate version of Earth. Perhaps the time and place setting and the theme of countries in constant war is also a reflection of our history, specifically during the World Wars. Maybe the union of the female characters to work out their issues with communication and discussion rather than weapons and declarations echoes the real life formation of organizations like the League of Nations and United Nations.
It is also very important to note the academic setting of the book. It's no coincidence that the opening features several women leaving their individual countries to encounter each other on their way to college. Going to college is not just an educational experience as students use their studies and major to prepare for their chosen career and life trajectory. It is a social experience as they leave home, taste independence, meet other students and staff that are different from them sometimes for the first time, and become involved in important causes that they become passionate towards.
In this new environment the characters have to spend a lot of time together, talking to each other, fighting, learning, and gaining a wider understanding. In meeting other people, the characters look at their old worlds and countries with less affection and unwavering loyalty. They recognize the flaws within their nations and how they contributed to the constant state of war that they have been in for generations. They also become aware of those who benefit and profit from the species’s division. They realize that in the various conflicts, their nations failed to unite against a real enemy that might be larger, hidden, and more powerful.
This is a wide sweeping Epic Fantasy with strong themes of developing connections across borders, obtaining knowledge and wisdom through learning and education, and achieving peace and strength through unity. To End Every War is also a strong Feminist novel about the importance of creating and developing a foundation of sisterhood. Vespa Academy is co-educational and there are plenty of male characters. In fact, many are paired off in the end (and the male characters are just as well written as the females). But this is definitely a woman's book. The female characters are the stars and are rich with nuances, development, and good writing. They embrace leadership opportunities within their species and culture and are individualized by their personal journeys.
The main characters have their previous world views shaken. In fact, what stands out is not the epicness of political infighting, magical quests, secret conspiracies, and sweeping battles. It's the individual journeys and internal changes that make the book. This is not an Epic Fantasy novel that happens to star female characters. It's a Woman's Fiction novel that happens to have an Epic Fantasy setting. Characters use magic and fight with weapons, but they also fall in love, attend class, fight with family members, and rely on each other for physical, mental, and emotional support.
As they go through these experiences, each character develops and changes. Esmeralda, an idealist, learns how to be an effective leader and future ruler for all people not just her own. Viatrix discovers some heartbreaking revelations about her family and the Dwarves in general that alters her once arrogant worldview. Alya learns that strength can be found in peace and to trust those she thought were her enemies. Kirsi makes an effort to get off of her self-destructive path and gains a more positive forward thinking outlook. Zabel reveals her troubled background and accepts assistance from her friends. Kam learns to reconcile and gain closure with the two halves of her heritage. Bernie steps out of Esmeralda's shadow and makes her own voice heard.
There are wonderful moments as the characters interact with each other strengthening their emotional ties. Viatrix is asked to be Kirsi’s minder, a task in which she is first unprepared but then results in a deeper understanding between the two. Alya and Zabel’s people are sworn enemies, but Alya helps Zabel through a mental breakdown. Kam uses her skills of sneaking around forbidden areas like the Academy’s Dark Library to find important information that will aid Esmeralda and the others. Esmeralda is very protective towards the other women. Bernie is the chronicler of this account and capture her friend's voices and actions out of love and friendship. The main characters in To End Every War are wonderfully written as striking individuals that form into a perfectly working team.
To End Every War combines the immense world building of an Epic Fantasy and the intimacy and emotional core of a Woman's Fiction novel to create a masterpiece that combines both worlds and creates a new one.