Sir Javon arrived just after lunch and was brought to the room by B33. The Clothing Master had arrived that morning and fabrics were spread out all over the room as each child chose what they wanted. Discussions had abounded all morning and no final decisions had been made.
Removing his hat as he greeted her, Sir Javon bent over her hand as he had before once Alel remembered to offer it, as was expected. She was glad when he released her fingers. She found the imprint of his lips against her skin disarming.
Today, he wore a deep maroon vest beneath a rich white tailcoat that matched his top hat and his shoes. Black trousers were thinly striped in the same maroon as the vest. His hair was combed and his jaw slightly stubbled. His left hand rested on a cane. Alel stared at it curiously. He hadn’t had one the last time he had come. Unless he had set it aside and she had not noticed it.
He noticed her appraisal. “Useful thing, depending on the need,” he said to her and lifted it. A touch of his thumb caused the top to spring open, revealing a timepiece unlike any she had seen before. “I had appointments this morning. This kept me apprised of the time so I was not late for any of them. However, my afternoon is clear, so I am yours.”
Alel lifted her eyes from the pretty inset of gold leaves twining over the back of the watch. His blue eyes were sincere and she thought, kind. The sentiment confused her. Kind was not a word one associated with a man. Nor was she sure his last words were not some sort of innuendo.
“Sir Jax tells me you are a very talented artist. The children and I are hoping you can lend your eye and make their rooms special for each of them.”
His eyes sought the children. He examined them and she let him, watching for his reaction. He was difficult to read. His face was pleasant to look upon but his features remained mostly impassive. Sir Jax had a tendency for facial tics to portray his emotions. Alel saw none of that on Sir Javon’s face. She wondered how he had gotten the scars. It wasn’t the sort of thing one would ask.
“Would you introduce us, Alel?”
She liked the melodic trill of his voice around her name. Like the note of a song. The children offered him their hands as she said each of their names. Sir Javon bent over each of the girls’ fingers as he had hers, and lightly grasped the boys.
Euro, the last to be introduced, tightened his fingers before Sir Javon could let go. “Come and see! We’ve never had rooms before! Or beds!”
Sir Javon followed him willingly, examining the room quietly while Alel watched. “Which part is your favorite?” he asked the child.
“Oh, the window, certainly!” Euro scrambled up on the stool that had remained once his area had been built. “Alel assures me we will go outside soon, but I am ever so eager to know what it is like!”
“You have never gone outside?” He half turned away from the boy, regarding the other children, his gaze contemplative.
“Sir Jax saw no reason to allow it,” Alum offered primly.
“I am under the impression all children enjoy playing outdoors.” Before any answer could be given, he braced an arm on the sill beside Euro and matched the direction of his gaze with the boys. “What is it out there that appeals to you the most?”
“The trees! I want to climb one.”
Nodding, Sir Javon stood quietly, seemingly content to do nothing but join in the watching of the branches swaying in the breeze. Several minutes passed before he spoke. “Do you like surprises, Euro? I’ve the most wonderful idea for you.”
“I’ve not had many surprises. Alel was one and she is wonderful, so I think I do.”
Sir Javon placed a hand on Euro’s shoulder for a few seconds and left the window. “Who would like to show me their room next?”
One-by-one, the children led them into their spaces. He listened to what they had to say and asked simple questions about their likes. He gave nothing away of his ideas for each of them, and none seemed overly worried about it. Alel was unsure whether to press or not. Like Euro, they seemed content to allow him to surprise them.
When the last had been seen, Sir Javon wandered the room, looking at the various animals and gadgets and robotics settled about. “What do you intend to do with the rest of the area?” he asked her.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” Alel admitted.
“Shelves upon the walls, a sitting and a play area perhaps?” He walked to the stretch of wall shared by Euro’s space. “It is odd there is only one window in this room. A door could be set here and more windows along the sides.” He gave her a questioning lift of his brow.
“The ground drops off there,” Alel pointed out. It could be seen from the window, dipping down into a valley lush with the trees that drew Euro’s attention.
“Not an unfeasible obstacle. Where do you wish the bird cage to go?”
Alel had not yet left the house. She had not wanted to admit fear, but it was there nonetheless. Wandering about in strange locations was dangerous. “I haven’t decided,” she answered, rather than telling him the truth.
“We can look now!” Euro exclaimed, rushing to her and taking one of her hands in both of his. “Please, Alel, please can we go outside?”
She wanted to deny him. Facing her fear in front of Sir Javon was not appealing. But, with the children with her, she thought it would be all right. B33 rolled to her. “I will accompany you as well, Miss.”
Smiling, Alel rubbed her hand over B33’s smooth head. “Of course you will. You are my guardian, aren’t you?”
“We are all your guardians, Miss,” B33 responded.
“And I yours,” Alel countered, gathering Alum close to her. As the self-appointed leader Alum looked as unsure as Alel felt about the excursion.
B33 led the way through halls she had not yet traversed to a set of paned doors that he opened with a flourish. If he had been able to smile, Alel thought he would have been as he moved aside and bowed as she passed through.
Euro darted past her and danced about on the patch of green lawn edging a semi-circle of varied decorative stones laid out like a welcome mat to the outside. To the sides, large iron flowers rose taller than even Sir Javon. Metal bees and butterflies clung to the thick stems.
Uncertain, Alel walked to the very edge of the stone half circle and stopped. The house was not a square. To her left and to her right sections of it were spread out in no particularly symmetrical shape. The partition to the left was on land as flat as that spread out in front of her, but the structure to her right sat atop grounds that sloped down and away, in gentle and sharp waves.
“This way!” B33 sang out and rolled onto the lawn and straight ahead.
Alel could not hold back the soft gasp that escaped when her feet first sank into the grass. She had never in her life walked upon anything so soft. Even through her shoes she could feel the springy give of the blades.
A bird flew low past her cheek, singing to her in welcome. Alel recognized the pink, multi-color feathered bird that visited her in her room often. She lifted her hand after it, laughing when it flitted back to perch on her extended finger. “Lead the way to your new home,” she directed. She had learned over the days and its consistent visits the bird seemed to understand her. Not wanting to pin it on programming, she had decided it was because she gave the bird attention and they had become friends.
The children appeared just as awed as she at the surroundings. Euro ran ahead several times and Alel called him back, afraid she would lose him in the vastness of green around them. Sir Javon walked quietly close by and several times she forgot he was there.
They followed the bird through a maze of tall trees, swaying flowers and formations of water and rocks. Everything was beautiful and there was too much to look on at once.
Eventually, the trees widened and opened into a large clear area. The bird sat singing on a low branch and Alel looked around, a smile taking over her face as she realized it was perfect. “Here,” she said to Sir Javon. “This will be where the birdcage goes.” Dropping her eyes from the wide cover of sky
above them, she cautiously met the blue eyes fixed on her. He was too watchful, too intent.
“It must open. Sir Jax says you will form the lines that hold the glass, but they must not be trapped. He wants them to be but I wish for them to come and go as they please.”
There were many scents in the air she did not recognize. The sun was warm on her skin. The wind blew a strand of her hair over her cheek, startling her and reminding Alel of her last fateful day. She winced as memories flooded through her mind, pain and darkness making her dizzy. A strong hand cupped her right arm where the plate of metal had replaced skin.
“Are you all right, Alel?”
There was no menace in his voice, no hint of desperation in his tone, no sense of threat at all. Lost in the hazy grayness between memory and reality, she felt something unlike anything she had known before. She heard the ticking of her heart as though it had just begun to beat. Safety. She felt safe with his hand on her arm and his voice near her ear.
It would not do. Alel knew she could not afford the luxury of trusting anyone. Not here on the White Streets, within Sir Jax’s home, with a stranger she barely knew.
She heard her mother’s voice, and remnants of a tale she had been told at her bedside as she had drifted off to sleep rose to the surface. ‘My heart knew kindness before I did and accepted it as its own. A difficult thing to trust, and powerful too. Despite my troubles, when I was near your father I somehow always knew I was safe.’
The tale had gone on and become exaggerated and outlandish. She had thought. Before she had learned she lived upon a floating continent and the Blood Lines were real.
Blue eyes far too close to her own broke through the haze. They were as clear as the cloudless sky above them and just as expansive. She imagined they would be easy to get lost in if she decided not to look away.
The strand of hair forgotten, Alel pulled back and sought out the green of the trees. Why was Sir Javon so close? It would be best to not allow it again. Except, she had not allowed it in the first place.
Chapter 12
The Taste of Freedom
“Did Sir Javon frighten you?” Alum asked her later when Sir Javon was gone and they were all back in the large room.
“What do you mean?” Alel had thought she had hidden her reaction well. She had kept away from him after and said only what was necessary, doing her best to appear relaxed. Apparently she had failed. Had he noticed as well?
“Did something happen? We thought you were going to fall, but he held you up. Was there something he did wrong?”
Alel wrapped a strand of her hair hanging over her shoulder around her finger. “No. I am... unused to having a man so close.”
“What about your father?” Bery asked.
“I did not know my father.”
“I remember mine,” Bery told her. “But you must not tell Sir Jax.” There was a clear warning in her request, as well as a hint of fear.
“What would he do?” Had Sir Jax done something to make the children fear him?
“He would take her away,” Alum stated stiffly.
“Why would he do such a thing? Would memories not prove you have human characteristics? Isn’t that what he wants?”
“No. We are not human to him.” Alum was vehement. She picked up a bolt of fabric, setting it next to another. “You won’t tell, will you?”
She wasn’t looking at her, but Alel could see it mattered to the girl a great deal what her answer would be. “I will not. We are on the same side.” She tried to convey as much assurance as she could into her words, but the tight press of the girl’s lips made it difficult to tell if she believed her.
Carrying the two bolts to the table A76 had set up quickly for them; nothing more than a flat piece of wood over two high stools, Alum placed her choices in the section with her name taped at the top.
“Bery, tell me about your father,” Alel prompted. “What was he like?”
“He was very tall and when he laughed, you couldn’t help but laugh too. I so loved his hugs. It was like being wrapped in a warm blanket on a cold day.”
Alel decided Sir Javon had been right. A sitting area was a must. Settling on couches and chairs to talk would make all of them more comfortable, and make the room more like a home. “He sounds wonderful. What else do you remember?”
“Not much. He was crying I think the day I died. I can’t recall why. My hand was buried in his and he was holding it too tightly. I’ve tried a thousand times to remember what was happening, but I can’t.”
Shivering as she thought of her own memory sparked by nothing more than her hair in the wind, Alel pulled the girl close, hoping to ward off any lingering unrest that might be lurking. “Perhaps it is better you do not. You have happy memories. Hold those close.”
Bery lifted her head, her chin resting on Alel’s chest. “But I wonder sometimes if he is still alive. What if he is out there, looking for me?”
“Would he want you if he found you now?” Alum demanded. “You aren’t what he knows anymore.” Her words were firm and insistent and heavy with admonition. “None of us are the same, Bery.”
Alel heard a distinct sniffle as Bery pressed her face into her, and not long after felt the dampness of tears. Her heart swelled as they became more proof against Sir Jax’s belief. Machines did not cry. Humans did.
Alum had touched on a valid question. Where were all of the children’s parents’? If they could be returned to where they belonged, would they be wanted and accepted? Without asking, she could not guess if they had known happiness.
Squeezing Bery gently, Alel placed a kiss upon the dark, springy hair on the girl’s head. “Come now, let us finish picking our fabrics so we can get them sent off for new clothing. It will be exciting to see what comes back, won’t it?”
Copper held up the edge of a gold swatch. “Do you think this color is too obvious for me? I like the sheen of it.”
“I think it will be beautiful, as you are. What about this dark green? It would make your eyes look incredible.”
Over the next few days, fabrics were chosen and sent off, pallets were stuffed for the beds, and A76 fashioned furniture for a sitting area as well as a table with enough chairs for all of them in another for crafts or drawing.
They took more treks into the outdoors to explore the grounds and choose places for homes for the other animals, spending time in each spot while Copper sketched out different imaginings. It was easy enough to pack a picnic to take and for more proof of the children’s humanity to become apparent as they ate just as she did, all of them.
Only once did they venture too close to the outlying boundaries. Wheeled carts with cameras for eyes and spindly arms had shot out to stop them, stating tinny warnings for them to stay back. Alel had not missed the guns attached to the flat sections on either side of the cameras mounted at the center. Had they been placed there to keep her confined, or to keep others out?
The sight of them only added to her mistrust of Sir Jax. She found herself continually waiting for him to seek her out and disclose his actual agenda. She rarely found herself in his company. At times, they would cross paths in the kitchen, but he was generally preoccupied and gave her nothing more than a cursory greeting as he brewed tea and carried it away when it was finished.
For Alel, having a taste of freedom gave her a sense of apprehension she did not care for. She adored the company of the children, the independence allowing her to come and go on the grounds as she wished, and the opportunity to create for no other reason than pleasure. Yet still, she waited for it to end.
Things began to arrive all at once. Boxes of clothing, books for the shelves, and pieces for the birdcage. The kitchen counter and table filled quickly. Boxes were stacked along the hallway and machines were assigned to help A76 begin assembly of the structure for the winged creatures.
Excitement was rampant. Alum could not seem to stop smiling as she donned a new dress of blue and white. Copper spun circles in her gold skirt, laughing as
it swirled around her. Euro danced around in new shoes, and Dys grinned at himself as he practicing a flourish with his top hat.
Content to let them bask in their happiness, Alel joined the crew starting construction on the cage, awed by the towering arch of white iron already standing. A line rose and dipped and swirled within the arch, creating a visually stunning display that ended in a wave jutting out of one side. A76 explained it would overlap the next piece, which had a simpler design to allow the eye a rest before the pattern began again in the next arch.
Alel was not expecting Sir Javon himself to arrive with yet more, but he found her there watching the tall sides go up and come together.
“Have I done justice to your vision?”
“It is incredible, Sir Javon. Your creation has far exceeded what my own mind could have come up with.”
“Perhaps. Where are your young charges today?”
“Enjoying new clothing and the discovery of books and toys. The household has been receiving packages all day. I do not believe they have ever been given anything before but what Sir Jax deemed for them at their beginning.” After she had said it, she thought perhaps she should not have. He was one of Sir Jax’s clients, after all.
“I have brought pieces for their rooms. If it would be better to wait, I can return at another time.”
She gave him her attention then. In the light, the scar on his face was stark in contrast against the color of his skin. He wore no hat and today his face was clean shaven. He was more casually dressed than she had seen him before, with no overcoat. A beige shirt under a lightweight burnt orange vest over white slacks and brown shoes. The textures were what she had come to expect; complex but sophisticated. A cog dangled from a chain around the third button up of his vest, the rest of the chain curving along his side until it disappeared into a pocket.
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