“The women willingly give them up?” Crying babies were a normal thing on the Black Streets. It was later, when they reached the age of five that life became dangerous for them and they faced enslavement.
“I don’t believe they do,” Sinda answered. “I have seen mothers cry as their child was taken from them. It is tragic. Unfortunately, it is not tolerated to wallow in self-pity for any reason, so they mourn for their lost children silently.”
“But they get them back when the child is older?” Alel would never give up her own child. She had been given five, and even after the short time she had been with them, the loss of Euro had been unbearable.
“Not necessarily. The man chooses the children he will take into his household. While records are kept, of course, I have heard most men don’t bother to look. They are focused on appearance and behavior, not gene pools.”
“How has the world become so horrible?” Alel mused.
“The Lost Books speak of an end.” Sinda waved an arm out to encompass the surroundings. “Of everything. A return of one called the Defender, who will bring back peace and harmony. They say he will be a Relic, but most think the sentiment only a legend.”
“I’m going to spend some time reading this afternoon,” Alel said. “I have a Relic book that was given to me. I tire of being the one with the least amount of information. Going forward I don’t want to find myself lacking knowledge if it could further our cause.”
The carriage stopped in front of Melliah’s building. She thanked the footman who helped her down.
A man came out of her front door, his expression angry and impatient. “Where have you been! I have been waiting for over an hour!” He grabbed Melliah’s arm roughly, yanking her toward him so hard she slammed into his chest. “You knew I was coming this morning and yet you dare to make me wait?”
Alel did not hesitate. She rose, hastily accepting the arm offered as she jumped to the ground and rushed forward, pulling Melliah away from the man. “You will take care, Sir!” she warned.
Fury darkened his eyes and his eyebrows drew in so tightly they almost touched. He raised his hand to strike her. Alel lifted her arm, stopping it before he could, surprised at the strength she hadn’t known she possessed. She wondered if the metal plate had anything to do with it.
It fueled her courage. “If you dare strike me, I will make you sorry,” she warned. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see several had paused to observe. “Let all hear me,” she said loudly. “Violence is never acceptable, no matter who you are.”
“I will see you off these streets,” the man hissed so only she could hear. “You won’t know when, or how, but I will see to the end of you, Relic.”
Chapter 29
Experience is an Unfortunate Teacher
It was the perfect moment for the bird to swoop in and perch on her shoulder, peering at the man with unblinking eyes. Several clicks sounded.
“What is that thing doing?” the man demanded, jerking back out of her grasp.
“Recording you and taking your picture,” Alel retorted, leaning in. “Documentation. Of your sins.”
Her explanation had far more of an effect than she expected. Fear widened his eyes and he stepped back, clearing his throat nervously. “I thought Sir Jax was gone?”
Satisfaction curled Alel’s lips. “His creations help me now.”
Melliah touched her arm. “Do you mind waiting if I gather some things? I think my welcome has expired in this town.”
“Of course we will wait.” Alel offered a finger and the bird chirped its tinny melody as it took it. “Perhaps you should run along,” Alel chided the man. “You don’t belong here any longer.”
He stared at her. Alel paid him no mind, letting him determine how he would handle her challenge. Refusing left things unpredictable. Conceding gave her the victory. The bird continued to sing to her and she stroked the metal feathers even though she knew it could not feel the caress.
“Can I go with you?”
Alel looked up at the question. A woman had come near. Beneath her top hat and under the carefully styled hair, most of the left side of her face was a dark shade of purple. Alel highly suspected the bruise continued beneath the high white collar of her blouse.
At her side was a child, a girl who looked no more than five or six. One eye was swollen, her lip was cut and she held one arm close to her side.
Sinda came close. “She is brave enough to ask,” she whispered. “Save this one.”
Alel smiled at the little girl. “I know my own children will be very excited to meet you.” She indicated the carriage. “We would be honored to have you both join us.”
Tears filled gold eyes, but none fell as the woman led her little girl forward. The child made no sound and did not look up. She limped. Alel touched her hand to her thigh. It still ached sometimes, but she had managed to tame the leg into obeying.
Motioning to two of the footman, Alel asked them to go inside and help Melliah. It was time to go. She was finished with the White Streets for the day and its constant reminders of oppression.
Sinda sat in the back with the new members of the group. Melliah’s things were loaded and they were soon on their way back.
“You’re lost in it, aren’t you?” Melliah asked quietly from the passenger seat. The carriage vibrated from its trek over the gravel outside of the White Street arches. One of the perch bars creaked from a loose screw. The leather of the wheel was rough beneath her palms.
“I look around and I see so many, Melliah. Suffering. I do not know how to bear it. I have never had to face such strong emotions before. I lived a relatively quiet life on the Black Streets. Until my death, my greatest worry was in staying hidden. I have known hunger and thirst and loss, but in reality, I was blessed with the life I had.”
“Compassion grows with pain. Experience is an unfortunate teacher in some things.”
“How do you learn to bear it, Melliah?”
“You feel it, and then you put it aside.” Melliah gripped Alel’s arm. Alel met the strong golden eyes. “It isn’t easy, Alel, but you are using yours for good, not evil. That is why you are different. I don’t know if it is because you are Relic, or if it is simply who you are, but you have taken what life has handed you and you are changing this world.”
Melliah pointed her thumb behind them. “That little girl’s future is why you cannot let yourself get discouraged, please. I know in my soul you can accomplish great things if you let yourself be led by what drives you. Your heart is filled with purpose.”
“Melliah... you do realize I have no idea what I am doing?” The statement was wracked with her frustration. The bird took flight as the dome of the birdcage came into view. Alel watched it soar through the air to enter the scrolled curves. If only it were so easy for her.
While the woman and the child ate, Alel learned their names were Lim and Evee. The child had been with the family for less than a year and had stopped speaking after only a month. “She would let me hold her from the beginning,” Lim said. “And she would cry silent tears. For so long, I have been helpless to stop the abuse. I have waited, and I have prayed and prayed for help. And now, it has come.”
More pain. It had to stop.
“You will be safe here,” Alel told her. “Both of you.”
Later, when she was alone in her room after everyone had gone to bed, Alel cried, curled into herself in a feeble attempt to ease the horrible torment of human suffering. Lim had prayed and it had worked, and so Alel prayed, sure her words meant nothing, but if The Lost Books were real, and so was the Relic man meant to come back and save mankind from themselves, was it not possible someone was listening?
Gasping for breath from the flood of tears, Alel sat up and turned on her light, reaching for the Relic book she had yet to touch. Alel had been taught to read for the sole purpose of being able to buy bread if she ever needed to. Those that could not read relied on others to supply food for them to eat. It served her well now.
The pages began much like one of her mother’s stories. A man was born, different than any other, and he was feared for it. Chapter after chapter, his feats were incredible, miraculous, and often unbelievable. He was different less because of his appearance, as in the past green eyes and red hair were more common, but because of his heartfelt compassion for people and their souls.
Alel’s tears were long gone. She wanted to know why the state of one’s soul was important. One was born, they lived, and they died. Sir Jax had given her more than one life, but beyond that, what could there possibly be?
The last story was the most difficult to believe. It talked about life after death. A perfect one, with no pain or sorrow. One of peace and harmony. One that never ended, if one chose love and forgiveness. A fairy tale. The entire book was a work of fiction.
Setting the book aside, Alel pulled the necklace from beneath her night dress, running the small bird back and forth on its chain. Had B33 known the book was not real? Sliding down beneath her covers, Alel closed her eyes, thinking of everything she had just read... and wishing it were true.
Chapter 30
Matters of the Heart
Melliah and Sinda were wonderful companions, and though Lim was silent and stayed in the background, Alel could tell she wanted desperately to be a part of the growing friendships.
The children took quickly to all of the new faces and accepted Evee into their fold with the gracefulness of those who understood the pain of neglect and rejection. Even after a few days had passed, the girl had not spoken, but she watched and played tentatively with the others. She also seemed fascinated by the birds, chasing them and holding out her hand constantly to see if one would come to her.
A few more men came over the next few days, more inquisitive than serious. They frowned over the women and children surrounding Alel, making it easy for her to conclude they would not accept the lifestyle she aspired to have.
A woman came to visit as well, introducing herself as Tiah and announcing she had refused to be owned any longer and had left the place she had been forced to call home and walked all the way to Sir Jax’s estate.
Alel invited her in and asked B33 if a room was available for her. B33 took them to one; another storage room for Sir Jax’s parts. She sent him off to see about furnishings and the women began to clear the mess.
“I suppose I just needed someone else to be brave first,” Tiah mused, holding up a small metal leg and grimacing at it. “Also, I felt I should warn you... the man you upset, um when Melliah chose to leave, he has um, rallied some friends and means to make an attempt on your life.”
“Oh, this is not good,” Melliah pronounced. She went to the doorway and called out for B33. “Alel,” she said when she turned back. “We need to make sure you are protected at all times. It is possible Sir Jax may still have a hand involved somewhere. You may not be safe here.”
“Then none of us are safe here,” Sinda added, tossing a handful of cogs into a box. “Alel is not the only one in danger. By standing with her, all of us are now a threat. Your life was threatened when I was sent with you, do you remember? More than one man wants your death.”
It was not a happy thought, but there was nothing Alel could do to change her actions now. Lifting a container of small parts she set it outside the door to be taken away. “I think we are still safe here. There are too many mechanical beings watching out for us for any harm to come. However, when B33 comes back, I will ask him to increase our vigilance.”
A line from the Relic book came back to Alel. “In danger, I am there, if only you whisper to me, and I will answer in your spirit.” Such pretty words that offered hope and a strange sense of comfort. An impossible sentiment, but the words had stuck after she had read them, thinking how wonderful it would be to have such power at one’s disposal.
Alel ran her finger over the gold necklace, realizing in a way, Javon had provided her with just such a thing. More realistic than a whisper. Something real.
“What are you thinking of with such a smile, Alel?” Melliah spun in front of Alel, lifting a brow, a mischievous gleam dancing over her face. “I have seen such a glimmer many times... you are thinking of someone special, aren’t you?”
Embarrassed, Alel turned to clear shelf, using a nearby half-filled crate and adding to it.
“Oh, do tell!” Sinda exclaimed, abandoning the area she was clearing to peer at Alel from the side Melliah did not occupy. “I relish a good love story!”
“There is no love,” Alel declared quickly. Sinda joining in had reminded her of what Sinda had overheard. Alel’s doubts had not been appeased by Javon’s assurance he had not made an offer. Doubt still hid in the shadows to taunt her.
“But there could be, yes?” Melliah teased.
“No,” Alel denied. “You cannot trust a man, not in this world, not anymore. Hasn’t that message been made loud and clear?”
Both Sinda and Melliah sobered. Behind her, agreement was all over Lim’s face. Tiah had a hand over her heart and looked near tears.
“I wish I had something to say to argue against such a statement,” Melliah said softly. She went back to stacking larger pieces of metal on top of each other to be carried out.
B33 rolled in. “I have help coming ladies. Alel, you have a caller. It is Sir Javon. Where would you like to receive him?”
Alel breathed in deeply through her nose. What timing! Had she pressed an eye on the necklace and not realized? Glancing around at her circle of new friends, Alel thought for a moment, biting her lip in contemplation. “Send him in here,” she answered finally. Sinda seeing the man and confirming his denial would do much to harden her heart against him. She refused to trust a liar.
Javon smiled when he entered and looked around at the assembly. “Your number grows,” he said approvingly.
Sinda wound an arm through Alel’s, tugging her close and leaning in to whisper “That isn’t him... he was not the man I was going to be sold to.”
The words burst in Alel’s chest. He had not lied. It was suddenly difficult to take a breath and her cheeks burned. She swallowed hard and didn’t realize she was squeezing the arm wound through hers until Sinda laughed and pulled to get free. “Are you sure it’s not love?” she whispered as she moved away.
“May I help?” Javon asked, looking around.
Alel cleared her throat, thankful when Melliah came to her rescue and swooped in to snag Javon’s attention. “Where did you get your scars, Javon? I have long wondered. I do hope it is not inappropriate of me to ask?”
Javon smiled and lifted a box to take out to the hall. “I’m sure it is, but I will answer anyway.” Coming back in, he hefted another box. Alel could see several robots in the hallway, scurrying to take away what was already there.
“They are a sign, a reminder of things unseen happening that are important.”
“Which tells us nothing,” Sinda murmured, propping a hand on her hip. “A sign of what exactly? And for who?”
Javon ran a finger down one scar, not needing a mirror to find it. Alel wondered if he knew there location so well because he had repeated the same movement so many times before.
“It is for me, to know every morning when I look in the mirror, there are great things at stake.” His eyes sought hers and he held them. “And they are for another, who will know who I am when their eyes fall upon me. When that happens, it will be time.”
“Goodness, you are one for riddles aren’t you?” Tiah mocked, not unkindly. “Time for what?”
“Freedom.”
Tasks abandoned, they all stared at Javon. How scars and freedom had anything to do with each other was an answer he didn’t seem willing to give. His vagueness was indication he would not reveal all.
Javon lifted a stack of metal, handing it to a waiting robot. “I actually came to suggest another woman I thought suitable for your friendship.”
“Will you tell us her name or only give us clues?” Tiah baited with a flutter of lashes
.
Unperturbed, Javon continued. “Charlotte. She approached me in secret at an... event I attended hoping to gain information. She told me things I did not know were happening, and her connections could be very useful in the future.”
“What connections?” Alel asked.
Javon straightened and looked at Sinda.
Alel could not read the direction of his thoughts, but could tell he watched Sinda for a reason.
“She has been running an underground operation. One taking children from the Rearing places and sending them outside of the White and Black streets.”
Sinda blinked several times and her jaw tightened and her back tensed. Alel darted her eyes back and forth between the two. What did Javon know and what was Sinda not telling her? It had to be about a child. Remembering how much Sinda had told her about what happened to the children, Alel pondered the possibility Sinda had spoken from personal experience. But how would Javon have known such a thing?
He broke the contact, coming to her and taking her hand. His eyes swept over her face. “Your bruise is fading,” he said softly. “You realize there are only days left before you choose?”
Why did his closeness have to feel so exhilarating and terrifying? His shoulders were so broad, his eyes so captivating. She licked dry lips and stepped back, clearing her throat as she pulled her hand free.
“I will seek Charlotte out. Do any of you know her?” she asked the other women.
“I do,” Melliah responded. “I can have B33 send a message if you like?”
Alel nodded. “It’s probably a good idea to prepare a few more rooms to have available. Sir Jax’s estate has proved to be excellent for refuge.”
“An excellent observation.” Javon said it, his mind fixed on some thought. “One that has given me an idea.” He brushed a finger down her cheek. “I need to go. I will see very soon, Alel.” There was a promise in his eyes just as breathtaking as his earlier closeness.
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