by Adria Eustis
“Hey sis, how was work?” Rohn stood wiping his forehead with a towel.
“Great,” she said quietly not wanting to wake her snoozing sister.
“That your uniform?” He pointed at the black dress with a white apron that she'd hung from a coat hook.
“Yeah, I'm working at the Vice's manor.”
“Oh, that guy is loaded, hope he gives good bonuses.”
“Hey Nina did you hear about the murders?” One of the boys asked, Tim, was it? She could never remember their names – Rohn had so many friends all of which looked the same. They were always in their Chen Ninzi uniforms with their hair pulled back into sleek ponytails.
“Yeah, awful.” Nina had seen a lot of death these last few years, but they were the deaths of rebels brought down by The Army for insurgency of the king, or peace breakers done-in for petty reasons, like the Elven man in the square earlier. There'd never been such a horrific crime as five innocent citizens dying at the hand of a wicked murderer. Not here in Nanta, maybe in the big cities, maybe in rough areas in the middle lands, but not up her own street.
“I knew them, my dad went to school with the owner. Nice men, the mechanics, wouldn't hurt a fly. Didn't deserve to die,” said Tim.
“I heard he stabbed them all over thirty times each,” the other boy called from the kitchen with his head under the cold tap.
“How does one guy stab up five grown men?” Tim asked.
“Maybe he didn't do it.” Nina added.
“Handed himself right in, covered in blood,” Rohn said.
“Who just hands themselves in? Just like that,” she asked.
“He did it alright, I was there when he came out, stood right behind that Marshal's car. Guy walks out with his hands up saying 'I did it, I killed them all.' I was there, heard it all,” the other boy said. He was in the room now, raking his finger through the dust on the windowsill.
“Well then, there goes one screwed up individual that we won't have to cross paths with,” Nina said.
“Well you say that,” Tim said, “but a guy like that could just as easily win his way off Dedite's Isle.”
Rohn laughed, “Nah, in six years only twenty people got of that island, one of them went straight back on the week after, only to die his first day back. Twenty people off, and what, something like forty thousand died trying? You’re delusional Tim.”
“I don't really want to hear about that stupid place,” Nina said.
“Don't worry sis, he won't be coming back, and if by some miracle that he does, I won't let him anywhere near you or Eri.”
“Me either,” Tim said with a lingering gaze her way.
The next thing she knew, Rohn had Tim in a headlock. Boy's they'll flirt with any thing that moves. Nina chuckled and lifted Eri up, it was getting dark, perhaps she could get her into bed without waking her. She sat by the little angel's bed as she coughed and spluttered and rolled about, her hair was losing even more of it's colour and her head was still burning up. So much was going on inside Nina's mind and she was so tired that she couldn't really decipher if things had even really happened or not. As her eyelids struggled to stay open, she thought back over the days gone by. All of it tragic and all of it failing to even register true in her system. Perhaps because she didn't want any of it to be true. And on top of every shock and heartbreak, the image of the agonizingly good-looking murderer, was burnt into the blackness every time her eyes closed, only adding to her misery. Why did the one and only time her heart fluttered at the thought of the opposite sex, did it have to be now? And why, especially, did it have to concern someone like him? He went against everything she stood for. She had to be coming down with some mental illness, or maybe she was going delusional in her exhaustion. She'd been awake over thirty hours after all. Nina kissed Eri goodnight, tucked Mr Cuddles, the yellow bunny, under her arm, and headed off to collapse on her own bed. Tomorrow would be a better day, and her intellect would be mended and working properly.
CHAPTER SIX
JANINA
October, Year of the Pearl Acacia
Nina hated cleaning. But she scrubbed the Vice's mansion kitchen cupboards until not a speck of dust or dirt was abolished. As long as she kept her mind focused on the task, she would have to think about other things. The long dress was itchy and annoying and her fingers stung from bleach and rough sponges. This was definitely not where she'd pictured her life going.
In the master bedroom she helped another maid change the silk bedsheets on the mahogany four poster bed. The dresser across the room was full of luxury lotions and potions and a set of antique silver combs, things that she wished were on her dresser at home, instead of the plastic hair brush and home-made creams. On the walls down the hallways hung hundreds of framed pictures. As she made her way to the tenth bedroom to change she passed an image that made her blood boil.
There in a fancy golden frame, sat King Dederick on his throne. Was that a red wallpaper behind him, or the fiery pits of Hell burning up? His mocking stare cut through her like a knife. Nina couldn't believe she was working for advocates of the cruel king. Calls himself bringer of peace and justice, more like taker of souls, batterer of spirits, ruiner of worlds. The only thing true about him is his love for the war goddess. She gritted her teeth and looked around, if there hadn't been another maid at the end of the hall dusting the chandeliers, Nina would have taken the picture from the wall and stamped on his monstrous face.
Full of adrenaline, she figured she'd broken a world record speed for changing the next five beds so fast. It was almost three, she could finally get out of here. Thinking about having to come back the next day, and spend hours doing something she despised, was draining, but then she'd remember why she was there, and her willpower would sour once more. She was in one of the fifteen bathrooms to empty the bin. Grimacing she poured its contents into the bin-bag, there was something stuck at the bottom, reaching in, she felt a sharp edge against her finger. Crap. Blood poured out of her fingertip, eyes wide, she peered closely inside. Who leaves a razor blade just like that at the bottom of a waste bin? She gripped the bottom of her throbbing finger and headed out of the door for help. In and out of doors she went, wrapping her finger in her black dress sleeve.
“Sadie!” She called, finally finding a familiar face, “I need a bandage.”
Sadie sighed and dropped a basket of laundry to the floor. “Let's have a look.”
“I hope I won't catch something from this,” Nina said.
“Don't be daft, downstairs, the little room by the piano room, go get yourself a bandage, and then off home with ya. Don't want ya bleeding on awt – I'll get the blame for that no doubt. Go on off with ya.”
Nina pushed open the unmarked door, it really was a little room, more of a larder but instead of food there were shelves that went on way over her head containing hundreds of tiny glass bottles. There were plasters, bandages, syringes, pills for pain relief, antiseptics. A small hospital stockroom. Much expected that a family so fancy would have supplies for any emergency, maybe they'd even have Orunip.
As she washed her hand in the teeny metal sink in the corner, her pulse raced. No Nina, you can't think like that. But her eyes wandered around the labels, searching for that one word. Her wound wasn't so bad after all once the blood was washed away and she studied the small cut. Only a plaster would be needed. She was about to push open the door and leave but instead she turned back and hurriedly sifted through the bottles. A minute later she held a container full of pills in her trembling hand. Orunip, Orunipeum, dosage: two pills per day. She fumbled with the lid and poured out a handful of round orange pills, spilling some on the floor as she did. A thud outside made her jump and she stuffed what she could into the pocket in her apron and put the bottle back exactly as she found it. Quickly she left the room and darted for the staff room to collect her bag and get out of there as soon as she could. All she could hear was her own chest hammering in her ears. She was a sinner worthy of an entire life in the slamm
er now, in the eyes of the king's merciless law. People had gone down for worse things than being a thief. She tried not to think about the story of the twelve year old boy who was locked up for life for naming one of the pigs on his dad's farm Dederick. If they had a fair ruler, and fair laws, she'd only get a minor punishment for this crime, the judge would have understood that she had no choice, that she did it out of desperation. No matter what, no one could find out about this. She clutched her apron tight to her body as she walked, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, down the path towards liberation. Once she was five minutes down the street, her terror settled down and she could hear the wind once more.
~
Back at home gave Eri one pill, which sent the child right to sleep with a smile on her face.
“We have enough to last fourteen days, it's all they had left at the pharmacists for now,” she told Rohn.
“How long does it take to work?”
“According to my book, anything from three weeks to six months. And like I said before, the disease might just say, 'actually no – screw off medicine'”
“Crossed fingers,” Rohn said, “and my toes too.”
“I really don't want to but I said I'd go out with Velle for a bit today.” She sighed and slunk to the floor in the doorway.
“Well don't go then.”
“I feel like I should – she leant us the money for those pills.” Her constant lies were sending guilt writhing up her spine, but she was in far too deep now to stop.
“Well, I don't mind staying home tonight. You should go and have some fun for once, you've been stuck inside for weeks.”
“Meh.”
“You know what mum would say?”
“Gotta open your window in the storm to let the sunshine in after.”
“Something like that.”
“Something.”
~
Nina sat at her dressing table, her eyeliner wasn't going right at all. Why can I never get it even? She wiped the last twenty minutes of false beauty off, and replaced it with a slick of brun-rose lip gloss. She didn't have to look good for anybody, who cared what people thought? Besides, this blind date was probably a boring idiot like all the rest that Velle had tried to set her up with. Climbing into her pastel yellow maxi-dress, she wondered if it would stand out too much. She flung a grey jacket over the top of it, just in case, and headed off to meet Velle.
CHAPTER SEVEN
JANINA
October, Year of the Pearl Acacia
Taking short steps towards the fairground, the sound of carousel magic reminded her of good times - riding the pretty faux horses with her mother as a child. But the wailing of the people on the waltzers tuned her into the screams that filled the air at the protest rally where her parents were cruelly taken from her by The Army. She scraped a hand through her hair and looked around, pushing back the bad memories and hoping to gain new happier ones. It was nice to be in a place were loud chatter was aloud and wasn't a sin. Fairgrounds held licenses that permitted them allowing screams and cheers, but only during a few hours in the evening.
Easily spotted in her purple ensemble, Velle was sitting on a wall, with her long-time boyfriend Ian clinging on to her arm like she might fly away any second. She'd been pondering what her date would look like, and she was kind of on spot. There was nothing enticing about him at first glance, maybe he'd be interesting at least. His coily brown hair hung clumsily over his clean shaven face.
“Daryn, Nina, Nina, Daryn,” Velle said.
Daryn's large ears turned red and he pulled at the collar of his grey shirt.
“Hey,” they both said.
He smiled at her, but her soul did not glow like she'd hoped it would. How long would that clumsy kiss with Benji behind the bicycle shed when she was eleven years old, be her last kiss for? So far every offering that Velle had presented her with, failed to light a spark.
The travelling fairground visited four times a year, but it was never the same as she'd remembered it first being. There were no game stalls anymore – fairground games were banned since King Dederick lost at Hook a Duck some time in his childhood and served his own justice by having them all blown up when he became king. Nina imagined there being a mountain of dead plastic ducks somewhere out in the desert. Of course all the other games had to go to. If you wanted to win teddy-bears now you had to find an indoors arcade since they seemed to have been spared. But the rides were still here like before, and she could taste the sweet candy-floss in the air, and smell the popcorn outside the cinema tent.
“Let's watch a movie?” Nina suggested, hoping it would get her out of having to make conversation with her heavy breathing date.
“Movies schmovies, I want to ride the ferris wheel,” Vella said. And so that's where they ended up. Strapped in tight against Daryn, she could smell his perspiration. Did these things always move this slow? In awkward silence, they were trust up high into the wind.
“So er, what you into?” Daryn asked.
“Jewels, jewellery making, that sort of thing.”
He nodded, “I like fishing.”
“Great. My aunt was a fishmonger.”
“Nice.”
“Yeah.”
“I'm a wizard.”
“You're a wizard Daryn?” Who the hell says wizard? Sorcerer maybe, occultist maybe, Diviner yeah. Wizard? Meh. She was rapidly losing faith in his personality being interesting.
“Yeah.”
“Well what kind?”
“Dono.”
“I see. How lovely.”
“Well, I'm not allowed to practise am I. But I've applied for Diviner's Academy in Prille, got through two stages to get it so far.”
“Why bother?”
“Eh?”
“Why bother, you know that school only teaches you to fight in The Army right? You know only some people are granted licenses to practise for public relations. And that's so so rare. You'll either end up a soldier or leave with absolutely useless new talents.”
“I wanna be a Peace Bringer.”
The colour drained from her hands as she squeezed them against the safety bar. The end of this ride could not come soon enough. Why was fate dealing her so many jokers? There was not a chance in hell she'd date any one associated with her parent's killer. Why would he even want to join The Army? Is the water where he lives tainted with some brain washing chemical?
“I feel sick, I want to go home.”
As soon as she could, Nina leapt from the ride, Velle and her boyfriend were going around the loop once more. Daryn slumped out after her.
“Something I said?” His voice only poisoned the oxygen around her.
~
Reaching the gates of the fairground, she turned to see if he'd finally stopped following her. Phew. He's gone. Velle would call her later on, demanding to know why this one wasn't suitable. At least she'd have a good excuse this time, “he didn't excite me,” was getting old. On the walk back home, Nina took a detour to pass the motor garage by the woods, curiosity was getting the better of her.
~
The scene was eerily silent, and all closed up. She ran her fingers across deep scratches on the metal doors. What the hell did he use to get in? Twigs crunched under her feet as she inspected a broken window around the side. Inside it reeked of strong cleaning fluid and not a trace was left of the bloodied picture that was instilled in her mind. It was tragic what had happened to those poor people, but why on Etath was she there? Staring blankly into the same space that the sinner had emerged from. For the first time she admitted to her self - he was breathtaking. Why does evil wear a beautiful disguise? Why is everything so confusing? She laughed out-loud, how silly she was being. That boy was worthy of none of her thoughts. Time to go home and carry on fixing her life.
~
Home was in the distance, the small dilapidated house that was the clam to her family of pearls. But something was different. Why was there a viridian and gold vehicle right outside? Her phone vibrated
in her pocket, that'd be Velle, angry that she left.
Pulling it out, she almost stopped breathing, “don't come home – they're looking for you”, it was a message from Rohn.
Her jaw dropped, her eyes flicked back to the house. The front door was open and a soldier stood on her welcome mat. He wasn't welcome – no – get lost. Quickly she spun and headed away from the house, only to come face to face with an Oculus. It blinked at her with a transparent eyelid, she dropped her phone to the floor, hearing it's case shatter on the edge of the curb. Her arms flew to protect her face, as the pink beam blinded her, she'd always wondered what it felt like to be paralysed by Zimir, now she knew. Her limbs gave up on her, were they even there anymore? When her vision came back around moments later, she was slumped against a garden fence, a soldier was walking towards her, Rohn was behind him, screaming, another soldier holding him back. No, don't fight Rohn, don't fight. This is my fault.
“Janina Ambrose, you are being seized for thievery. Thievery is a sin, a sin which we have clear evidence of you committing.” Her deadened arms were pulled behind her back and handcuffed. “In the name of King Dederick Oros the First, I sentence you to life imprisonment.”
Everything seemed to be spinning as she was hoisted to her numbed feet. The toes of her white shoes were grated in the gravel as he dragged her across the street and tossed her head first into the back of the car. Her eyes were rolling back and forth, desperation was setting in. Work damn you work, I need to look towards Rohn. The soldier was still muttering pre-written garbage about redeeming one's soul and sacrifices to gods. She caught words here and there, but refused to believe it was even happening. Rohn's voice was gone, he'd calmed down, seen sense, one of them needed to be at home to care for Eri.
The car doors slammed shut as she gave up trying to make her eyes go where she wanted them to, she let her face fall into the leather seat. Blackness. Hopefully the car would crash into a tree and explode. Because life was officially over. It was only now that she came to realise - they probably had a camera in that room. Her teeth bit into the seat as both sides of her mouth came close to meeting her ears, her tears felt like they surged from her heart instead of her eyes.