Chapter 12: An Iron-bound Living Quarters

"Excellent work, my companions! The Headmistress will engrave your names upon the University’s steps for your dedication.”

Nothing but grumbling came in response from the deckhands who slumped past me. The broad shoulders of the naturally stocky bumped me as they slid sideways down the narrow hallway to their living quarters. Scrawny fellows who looked like they had lived off nothing but lard rations their whole lives kept their sunken eyes fixed on the ladders they climbed to reach the rows of living quarters stacked above. Nobody glanced up from their bandaged, frostbitten limbs.

"Oh, and no sneaking off to peek at those ivory structures in the dead of night. Just focus on the reigning in your barely contained excitement."

I was answered by hundreds of iron-bound doors slamming shut.

Scanning the narrow, iron-plated hallway for several minutes, there was no sign of anyone slipping out to the deck where we had strapped down our salvaged ivory. Tempted to check on the salvage, I assured myself that the birdmen were probably too busy trembling inside their ivory structures to leave. "I am sure they’ll keep themselves comfortable stuffed inside their statues and the like until we return to—what the hell are you doing here?" I took a deep breath and called out into the hallway to anyone who might have been listening. "Goodness, what are you doing here, Miss Foreman? Oh, it’s a pleasure you take such an interest in my field research." I slammed and locked my iron-bound door before turning on the tiny birdman.

Ludger hummed and nodded to itself as it scanned one of my many unfinished letters. The letters overflowed from atop the battered crate shoved against the far end of my living quarters. The ones that had needed corrections the second I was about to send them by carrier crow were crumbled into balls of parchment and tossed. Discarded parchment littered the floor: stained by soot the thrumming gas lamp routinely coated everything in this "room” with. It didn’t take long to discover how Ludger had gotten in because the porthole in the far wall clinked against the airship’s steel hull as it swung with the oncoming wind. Despite what Odi had said about flying, I could already picture Ludger soaring from the deck before knocking open the porthole to barrel into my living quarters. In my shock, my mind wrestled with whether I should be enthused or disturbed that my tiny birdman might be capable of discerning my location, or living quarters in this case, by scent. Upon hearing my yell, the creature slowly pivoted upon my pillow, which doubled as the desk’s seat, and cocked its head to the side.

"Have you considered what would happen if someone saw you? You'd be shot on sight. The Foreman would stop this airship to have the ivory we brought aboard picked apart. They might even start questioning my word as the only person on this airship who had attended the University! Is that what you want?"

Ludger shook its head and tore its gaze from the letters.

"And I don’t recall addressing these to you." I snatched the letters before Ludger could stick its face into them again. I clutched them to my chest and narrowed my eyes at the intruder. Who knew how much of the writing Ludger could understand? That said, the creature practically had its face glued to my letter, and its interest in humans, including their languages, far exceeded Odi’s. "You know, some consider reading other people's letters to be the epitome of nosiness."

Ludger nodded, but the creature narrowed its eyes inquisitively.

Unable to recall being scrutinized like this since my days learning under the Headmistress, Ludger and I narrowed our eyes at each other for several minutes. Finally, I blushed under the pressure and stammered. "What did I do wrong?"

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Ludger instantly pointed out the letter it had been reading, in which I had documented the exploits I predicted I would have at the birdman palace, among the bunch I clutched and waved their talon overhead as Odi had done while satirizing my swordplay.

"You're saying I know plenty about being nosy? Well, that's completely different. It’s my job to document anything of worth that might be peeking above the dying lands we soar over. Not to mention that it is my purpose in life to unveil every mystery that is keeping your kind from being adored by the world… by which I mean the Empire. Oh, and moving on to exhibit three, I recall a certain birdman inviting me to dinner in their own home. Would you call being sat down in an armchair to feast on frozen shark ‘nosy behavior?’" I nodded to myself as I reexamined my arguments only to frown when Ludger tugged down the hem of their hood until only their eyes peeked through the porthole at the stars above the stretch of clouds.

"What's that look for?" I offered a small smile to soften my words. Shutting the porthole, I ushered Ludger from my desk.

The creature joined me as we sat on the sleeping bag that spanned the floor.

"You knew I only wanted kinship. Is it so wrong that you stepped in thinking the rest of your kind would’ve turned me into mincemeat? Still, you feel like you aren't going to be forgiven for helping me. I know. Yet, to fulfill what you were born to do, you're going to end up butting heads with someone. Sometimes, even your family. I should know. If I hadn't gone against... ‘her’ word, I never would’ve traveled to the Floating Isles and met you."

Ludger’s wide eyes whipped from the porthole they were still staring out of to me. The creature pointed frantically at my letters.

"Yes, my family and I have had a bit of a disagreement, and it might have gone on for longer than average. But even if your kind refuses to see the noble service you have fulfilled, it doesn't matter." I placed the letters behind me, far from Ludger’s reach, and gripped the creature's shoulders. "If they truly love you, they’ll come around. If not… well, you'll see how fortunate you were to stick by your choice. You would’ve gone on peering wistfully through your portals at a world of snow and ice where all that changes in hundreds of years is an airship that landed only to leave the next day. Your palace would’ve remained lifeless without anyone to cultivate the magic within. The palace was always waiting for your help, and because you chose to take the first step while the rest of your kind did nothing but shuffle aimlessly, you will be able to put your talents to good use. If those… ‘egg trees’ behave like trees, they will tower hundreds of feet high when they take to Freylor’s soil.” I held the porthole open for Ludger to return to the deck as I reexamined the letter I had written before setting out for the palace. "Then, the Headmistress will come around to me again." I glanced down from the letter to find Ludger preening itself as it made a nest out of my sleeping bag. "Well, go on. Ask your family and see how impossible it’ll be for them to disapprove of our sacred mission to restore birdmen to their former glory and further the Empire’s goal to culture a dying world." With a flourish, I raised a finger skyward, but rather than being emboldened in our mission, Ludger shuffled away from the porthole and clutched my sleeve.

The creature stared at me as if fearing the lifeline it gripped might slip away at any second. Though, it occasionally glanced at my letter with a curious glint in its eye.

"I see you know enough about writing to make for an effective snoop, don't you?" I shook my head while wondering whether this was something to be praised or scolded for. "Yes, I have been writing to the Headmistress for some time, so you could say no one in the Empire is closer to her. Well, seeing how she is the councilwoman we’re going to be introducing you to, you’d better be prepared before you two start chatting over drinks." Beaming absentmindedly at the cobwebs between the ceiling’s iron beams, I dreamily envisioned my long-awaited return to the University. There, the Headmistress would sign my public record all about birdmen and how they most certainly exist which should take a novel’s-worth of writing. "Seeing how I can't have you clinging to me during the entire flight back to Freylor, I shall regale my time at the Ufra Plomb University where I studied among their best and brightest to become their finest student! You shall see from my humble beginnings how my formative years at the University allowed me to thrive: just as your new home in the empire will allow you to spread your wings, my little magical prodigy. Ultimately, it was there that my purpose in life dawned upon me. While the Headmistress is a tad cross with me now, you will see that she recognized my potential from the very beginning.”

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