For hours, he stayed with the sovereigns, and it was as if they had completely forgotten about what was waiting for them in the morning.
They partied deep into the night, getting drunk and using spells to dispel the drunkenness before repeating the process, over and over again. After all, in a few hours, all of the wine would cease to exist, so what use lay in being frugal?
The foodies among them used the same principle with the food. In particular, it was Elanev, Percy and, surprisingly, Arafell who gorged on feast after feast and used spells to empty their stomachs, and watching them, Daneel was able to laugh and forget everything on his mind.
Alas, when the sun began to peek into the sky at the corner of the horizon, he knew that it was time for the end. They had decided that the Bishop would be sending the message to the Church in the early hours of the morning, as it was neither too late, nor too early for her to lose the war. If they waited longer, they would risk having the Saints use other methods to check upon Angaria.
The raucous atmosphere soon began to turn silent when rays of light streaked through the air, illuminating the continent. Even those Daneel had spoken to only briefly had stayed back to reminisce between themselves, but one by one, they all fell silent. Their gazes all turned in one direction, and they saw the sun come up together.
A few of them kept glancing at Daneel, and these stares were uncomfortable to bear. He knew that they were all waiting for him to make them faint, but he had decided not to do so sneakily like the last time. After a few minutes spent watching the sun rise higher and higher, he turned to them all and nodded. They understood what was going to come, and closed their eyes.
In the case of some, tears leaked down their cheeks to fall on the stone blocks of the center, which had already absorbed so many that they had become a part of it by now. In the case of others, the clutched their loved ones as close as they could, enjoying the last seconds they could spend together.
They all fell, alike, when Daneel gave the order to the system. They disappeared a moment later, but he had already engraved the sight of them lying on the center, their faces filled with hope and fear and grief, deep in his mind.
Then, he turned to the only ones still conscious on all of Angaria. They were his sovereigns, Erin, Drakos, Arafell, and the Emperor, and as he nodded to them, too, they mixed between each other to say their own farewells. Daneel had already finished saying his, so alone, he stood at the prow of the center, gazing out at the empty land that was silent for the first time in a long, long time.
More than anything, it was the silence that spoke about how empty Angaria was. He already missed the sounds of villages coming awake and beginning their morning duties. He already lamented that the fields that were off in the distance were lying uncared for, forgotten in the tumult of everything that had happened so far. He swore for the umpteenth time that he would return it all to its glory, and by now, this wish seemed to have become a very part of his being.
It was heavy, but he was also happy to bear the weight. It was the kind of weight that would stand on one"s head and make him look up no matter how much he was being pulled down, so he appreciated it for what it was and waited for the others to finish.
When they were done, he felt them all turn towards him even though he wasn"t looking in the direction. Turning around, he studied each and every one of their faces. Unlike what he had seen in those of the others who had just left… all of those in front of him radiated confidence, and this made one corner of his lips rise, while his eyes crinkled with unbidden joy.
For one last time, he shouted, "Long live Angaria! Long live the Sovereigns!"
They repeated after him, their voices growing so loud that their throats threatened to go hoa.r.s.e, but they didn"t care.
They kept shouting even after an entire minute pa.s.sed, and Daneel slowly understood that they were waiting for him to cast the spell so that they could go out with their wishes on their lips, and their G.o.dking in their eyes.
He granted their wish, and they crumpled, too.
At the end, only four were left. Tenderly, they set each of the sovereigns who had fainted to the ground. As they walked towards him, the system made these last few individuals disappeared, too, and Daneel"s eyes lingered on the Emperor"s face, who looked to be at the most peace among them all.
He still remembered how they had talked about the future in the night before, when the others had been celebrating. The Emperor had given him just one piece of advice, and Daneel had actually been startled to hear it.
"In my time, when I knew that the end was coming, I worked myself so hard that I ignored everything. Don"t make the same mistake. Sometimes… it"s good to forget the weight on your shoulders. Don"t hesitate to do so when you are with those you trust. And of course, first… find a family that will support you, no matter what. You"re already going with one, but I doubt that it is big enough…"
He was surprised to see the man who had lived his entire life solitarily advise against doing the same thing, and it had impacted him a lot when he saw the Emperor"s voice break towards the end. He guessed that the man was probably remembering all of the wasted opportunities that had been revealed the night before the apocalypse, when the Empress of Torture had come to his chambers… but soon, he saw that it was more than that. The man was also regretting the time he had not spent with his closest followers, his son, and those like Arafell who had truly loved him, and with one more goal in his mind for the Mainland, Daneel had nodded and smiled to show that he would not forget what the man had said.
The five of them didn"t speak even after that found themselves alone. It was almost as if breaking the silence left in the wake of the sovereigns fainting would be an insult to their memory, so they just stood, side by side, as the sun grew brighter and its rays bathed them in its warmth.
That was how Galahad found them. During the night, Daneel had already sent the man the list of precautions using the system, and along with it, he had already proposed a few minor corrections to their plan that had occurred to him in those moments spent in abandon. Like it was said on Earth, he had seen that his mind had worked the best when he completely let his hair down, so he had grabbed each idea that came to him by the throat and had diligently recorded them down, with the intent to discuss whether it was possible to implement them with Galahad.
They had a quick conversation after he arrived, and at its end, Daneel had a broad smile on his face. The others didn"t bother to ask for the reason; they knew that they would find it, soon enough, so they just enjoyed these last few moments of the twilight of their home.
Even when the Bishop arrived, they didn"t bat an eyelid. She knew what awaited her; she looked to Daneel and nodded, and the cage disappeared.
"The war is lost. Everyone is dead! You must avenge us! You must-"
They did turn when the Bishop"s scream echoed over Angaria. Filled with pain and loathing and hate, it made a few raise their eyebrows as they saw her talent in acting.
She ended the message with the sound of a sword cutting through flesh. Gurgling water that she had conjured, she made a sound akin to one gurgling blood…and cut off the connection.
She even had the gall to smile when she was done. Looking at Daneel, she said, "My end is done. I just want to tell you one thing: never underestimate the Mainland. If you do, it"ll swallow you whole."
Daneel merely shook his head and turned away from her. It was obvious that she was trying to retain a modic.u.m of respect by appearing wise, but he wasn"t inclined to give it to her.
Husare arrived alone. Going to the Bishop, she caught her hand and spoke to Daneel"s back.
"Your exit is ready. Alistair is waiting to transport you to our hidden base. Use the Artefact you were given when it is time."
She saw him nod, and disappeared with the Bishop.
After a few seconds, he raised both his hands. On his left and right, his two queens caught ahold of them, and on their left and right, Faxul and Elanev completed the human chain.
Like so, they let the seconds pa.s.s, their minds blank, for the most part.
And like so, they snapped their heads up after a few minutes…and there, the sky opened, and at once, day became night as a colossal mouth filled with darkness gaped open, as if to close its jaws around Angaria and end their saga, once and for all.
While the others stared, open-mouthed, he said one word softly.
"Now."