by S. J. West
“Not that I know of,” I tell him instead. “But I hope you like this gift just the same.”
I pull out a brown leather belted holster from the blue velvet bag in my hands. I hold it by the sheath and pull out the small silver dagger I retrieved from Levi the last time he and I fought. It may have been foolhardy for me to go to Cirrus to retrieve the first wedding dress Millie made me, but at least I came back with a useful souvenir.
“This dagger is very special,” I tell Lucas. “It was forged by Uncle Brutus a long time ago, and it’s made out of silver that came straight from Heaven.”
Lucas’ eyes grow large in wonder and his mouth forms a little ‘O’ in surprise.
“I want you to always wear it,” I tell him, strapping the belt around his slim hips. “And if anyone ever tries to hurt you, you have our permission to use it on them. Just stab them with it and run as fast as you can away from them. Do you understand?”
Lucas nods. “Yes, Mommy.”
“Having a weapon is a great responsibility,” I tell him. “It’s not a toy. Only use it in defense of yourself or someone else who is in danger. Is that also understood?”
Lucas nods again. “I promise I won’t take it out unless I need to use it.”
I bring Lucas into my arms and hug him tight, silently praying he never has to draw the dagger out of its sheath.
As I stand back up to my feet, I hear Kyna’s lilting laughter in the hallway outside the training room. It makes me smile to hear her so happy, and I know exactly why she is.
During the past two weeks, Brutus has become a mainstay in our home as he slowly started to woo the Princess of Stratus. When the courtship first began, I asked Malcolm why it seemed like Kyna hadn’t been immediately struck by the ‘love at first sight’ soulmate syndrome that I had fallen victim to.
“She’s human,” he answered, like this was explanation enough for the discrepancy.
“I’m human too,” I said at the time, not seeing his response as a clear answer to my question.
“Yes, but you’re also part angel,” Malcolm went on to say. “If a human is lucky enough to meet their soulmate, they don’t sense it right away. Take Jess for example. When she first met Mason, she didn’t exactly feel the earth beneath her feet give way. She was attracted to him, but her love for him wasn’t an immediate reaction. For those of us with angelic traits, like you, you know when you meet your soulmate the instant you see them. Brutus knew the moment he saw Kyna that she was meant for him, but for her, it’s taken a bit longer to feel the connection.”
“Doesn’t seem quite fair,” I admitted.
“Meeting your true soulmate is something that doesn’t happen very often between humans,” Malcolm said. “If every human waited until they met their soulmate, the species might have died out a long time ago. People can love someone just as much without their souls being perfect matches to one another. Look at Daniel and Linn. He loves her just as fiercely as he would have his soulmate. They have a beautiful life together without that particular connection between them.”
As I watch Kyna and Brutus walk hand in hand by the open door, I feel blessed to know I could help them share this time together. I doubt Kyna has had much in her life to be happy about and am thankful that Brutus has been given his chance at love. Desmond and Jered enter my thoughts, and I wonder how long it will take them to find their soulmates. After I complete my God given task, their long mission will also be complete. Perhaps God will see fit to present them with their own soulmates. I hope I get to see them as happy as Brutus is before I die, but know that such a thing might not happen. But I can hope…
Malcolm and I follow Lucas out of the training room holding hands. I see Vala walk towards us down the hall.
“You have visitors,” she tells us. “Barlow and Gladson are here to see you. They said they’re ready to broadcast the video today.”
“I was wondering how much longer it would take,” I say, feeling a sense of relief that the day of reckoning for the cloud cities has finally arrived.
“I think they want to give you the honor of uploading it to the satellites,” Vala tells me.
“Then let’s go.”
Vala leads us to the sitting room where Barlow and Gladson are waiting on us.
“Well, I have to say married life seems to agree with you, Anna,” Gladson tells me when we walk into the room. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look more beautiful. You’re practically glowing with happiness.”
“Thank you,” I say. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this content with my life to tell you the truth.”
“Hopefully,” Barlow joins in, “we can add to it today. Travis has the video ready to broadcast. All we need for you to do is push the button to start this little revolution of ours.”
“Then let’s go, gentleman. I’m ready to bring change to the world.”
We all phase to Travis Stoke’s hideout. I still wasn’t quite sure what part of the world his workshop was located but figured the less I knew the better. Vala and Lucas come with us. It seems that their last trip to Travis’ place was a memorable one allowing them to form a friendship with our brilliant young friend. After the visit, Lucas proclaimed that he wanted to be an engineer when he grew up. Vala said it seemed like Lucas had a natural skill with the things Travis showed him. I was just glad they both made a friend. Neither of them had many opportunities to meet new people since we rarely ever left our home.
I had a feeling Malcolm kept me out of the city of New Orleans because he didn’t want me to have to face the poverty of the down-worlders. I understood his need to keep me inside our happy bubble, but he would have to learn that in order for me to change what was wrong with the world I would have to see what needed to be altered first-hand. I didn’t push him on the issue because I knew we had enough to deal with. I would have to rely on Gladson and Barlow to be the flag bearers of our revolution until I quelled the threat the princes presented.
For the past two weeks, the other Watchers had been collecting information on the princes for me. It would have been foolhardy for us to simply go in and kill them. We had to consider the political ramifications of depriving each cloud city of their leaders. Lucifer placed them in positions of power that made it almost impossible for me to reach them. We all knew they had to die. It was just a matter of figuring out the best way to go about it. Although their deaths would have ended the threat they represented, a more serious problem would be leaving the cities without rulers.
However, I did make one request.
Seeing Olivia Ravensdale in Stratus made me even more determined to find a way to execute Botis for the murder of her husband. The only problem was Belphagor masquerading himself in the body of Empress Zhin. If I killed Belphagor to retrieve his seal, that would leave Botis in power since he was now wearing the skin of Emperor Rui. It was a no win situation that didn’t seem to have a practical solution.
When we reach Travis’ place, we find him skate dancing around his workshop to some industrial music. After he sees us, he stops dancing and claps his hands twice to lower the volume.
“Sorry!” he calls out, looking a little embarrassed at being caught. “I was just celebrating a little. You don’t know what it took to hack into all the communication satellites needed to transmit this video simultaneously to every cloud city.”
“I appreciate all your hard work,” I tell Travis as we walk over to the holographic display he’s standing in front of. “What do I need to do to get this started?”
Travis turns around to face the controls.
“I have everything set up,” he tells me. “All you have to do is hit this button.”
Travis points to a red button on the display, and I wonder if he made it red so I couldn’t possibly miss it.
I place my hand over the button and hesitate.
Once this door is opened, there’s no going back. The citizens of every cloud city will see the price their life of luxury cost the down-worlders. They’ll no long
er be able to turn a blind eye on what’s going on around them. It’s what I want, but it’s also like throwing cold water on a person who’s been asleep for hundreds of years. The people living in the clouds have literally ignored what was happening to the humans who lived below them. Now, they will have to come to terms with their own complacency. No one likes being forced to face his or her shortcomings, least of all people of privilege.
“Here we go,” I say to those around me, pressing the button.
The display goes completely black.
“Did I break something?” I ask in worry.
“No,” Gladson says, coming to stand beside me. “Just watch.”
“Citizens of Cirrus, Cirro, Stratus, Nimbo, Alto, Virga, and Nacreous,” a voice says, one I immediately recognize as belonging to Gladson. “For far too long you have lived a life of luxury and excess,” he says as the video flashes images of parties where food is plentiful and wine flows freely. More pictures of citizens within each cloud city flashes on the screen. Some of them are enjoying lunch at sidewalk cafes. Some are playing with their children in parks. While others shop for the latest fashions in the posh stores available to them.
“How many of you know exactly where the things you take for granted come from? Do you know the man, woman, or child who provides them for you?”
The video on the screen shows the poor seaside town I visited with Desmond. It’s of a woman sitting inside a ramshackle dwelling, rocking herself back and forth, as she cries and holds a dead child in her arms.
“Do you know whose blood was spilt just so you could have bread on your tables?”
Another video plays showing a man being whipped by an overlord from Nimbo as he harvests wheat from a field. Snippets of videos showing similar abuse by overlords in the other down-worlds, including Cirrus, also play.
“Do you know the price that was paid just so your clothes can be made of the finest silks?”
A factory filled with children working several looms is shown. Some of the kids aren’t much older than Lucas.
“Did you know that those who grow the grapes for the wine you drink and for the food you eat aren’t even able to feed their own families?”
A video of a family sitting in a lean-to shack appears. The mother is giving her children small portions of bread but sits down and takes none for herself because there simply isn't enough to spare.
The screen turns black again, but you can see Gladson’s shadowy figure in the background.
“We’ve all been guilty of forgetting the multitude of less fortunate who live below us,” Gladson’s voice says. “But now is the time to raise your voice and make the rulers of our cities and the overlords who control the down-world listen. We must no longer cower in the complacency of our lives, in the shadows of our wealth, and allow the atrocities occurring in the down-world to continue. Join me,” Gladson says as his figure emerges out of the dark to be plainly seen, “and maybe together we can bring an end to the price being paid by the down-worlders just so we can continue to live in decadence. Rise up…be heard…help me bring forth a new beginning for all of us.”
The screen goes black and I turn to Gladson.
“Well, if you didn’t have a target on your back before you certainly do now,” I tell him, surprised he showed his face in the video so directly.
“Everyone knows my political views anyway,” Gladson says with a nonchalant shrug. “Our movement needed a spokesperson, and I was the best choice.”
“As soon as I’ve completed my mission,” I tell him. “I’ll be standing right beside you.”
“No,” Gladson says with a small shake of his head. “It will be I who stands beside you as your supporter. You’re the real leader of this movement, Anna. When the time comes, you’ll take the reins and lead us where we need to go. I’m simply your placeholder for now.”
“It won’t be too much longer,” I promise him. “But as it is, I don’t think you should go back to Cirrus anytime soon.”
“Agreed,” Gladson says. “Even if Levi doesn’t try to kill me, some of the overlords in the video might. No one wants their dirty laundry made public.”
“Where will you stay?” I ask.
“He’ll be bunking down with my people for a while,” Barlow says. “He has a place with us for as long as he wants.”
I look at Gladson’s right hand. “What about your personal transporter? They’ll be able to track you with it.”
“Which is where our brilliant engineer here comes in,” Gladson says, looking over at Travis. “He’ll be removing it from me today so I can go into exile. But, I have people stationed in all the cloud cities to watch for any new supporters. Hopefully, people will demand change, and I won’t have to stay hidden for very long.”
“I think we should run this video at noon every day until something positive is done,” I tell them. “People have short memories. We might even need to make more videos and let them hear from real down-worlders about the conditions they live in.”
“It might be hard to find down-worlders who would come out and speak directly against their overlords,” Gladson says.
“If we have to,” Barlow says, “we can just use my people in their place. They can act out the parts. It’s only a small lie to protect those who can’t protect themselves.”
“It sounds like you have it all figured out then,” I say, wishing I could do more to help bring about reform in the way the down-worlders are treated. “As soon as I gain complete control over Cirrus, we can show the other cloud cities what they should be doing to change things. It will take some time to bring them up to speed with our technology, but I think most of them are up for the challenge. In the end, it should help production of almost everything down here. The more we prosper, the more likely the other cloud cities will follow our lead.”
Malcolm and I soon return back home with Lucas and Vala, leaving Gladson and the Stokes to handle what needs to be done for the beginning of our restructuring of the down-world.
Since it’s lunchtime, we all head to the kitchen. We find Jered sitting at the table with Luna in his arms. Since Lucifer gave her to me, Luna has grown to almost twice her size. I knew it wouldn’t be too much longer before she was a full-grown hellhound and wondered what people would think of me having such a pet. As soon as I returned to Cirrus to take back control, I planned to change the law that forbade people from having real animals as pets. Such a disconnect with nature simply wasn’t healthy.
“I saw the video while I was in Cirro,” Jered tells us. “It caused quite an uproar.”
“Good,” I say sitting down at the table with him while Malcolm goes to see if Millie needs help preparing lunch. “That’s the sort of reaction we wanted to provoke.”
“I guess we’ll see what happens,” Jered says absently as he strokes Luna’s fur.
“What’s on your mind?” I ask him, sensing he’s not here just to have lunch with us or chitchat about the uprising I hope the video instigates.
“I think I might have a way for you to take care of Botis and still get what you need from Belphagor,” Jered says unexpectedly.
I sit up straighter in my chair at this news.
“How?” I ask eagerly.
“I think we should exploit Belphagor’s weakness,” he says, as Malcolm comes to stand near the table to listen to Jered’s proposal. “He’s always been the most cowardly of the princes and not particularly smart. Since we know they can give you the seals voluntarily, I say we make a deal with him.”
“What kind of deal?” Malcolm asks stiffly, already sounding skeptical about such a plan before Jered can even explain his intentions.
“Botis obviously knows that you want to do away with him,” Jered tells me, glancing in Lucas’ direction. It’s obvious he didn’t want to say ‘kill’ in front of my son. We hadn’t really told Lucas what was going on. We didn’t want to frighten him, and he was simply too young to fully understand the ramifications of the situation. “Botis has surrounded him
self with so many guards that it’s almost impossible to get to him. Even if you did, you would end up having witnesses. Belphagor is the only one who can get him alone and have it not look suspicious.”
“Why would he help us?” I ask.
“Because he wants to be sole ruler of Cirro. It’s why he took over Empress Zhin’s body. Rui was practically dead, and the people of Cirro wanted Zhin to assume power. It was a perfect situation for him. He would have had sole rule over Cirro and not have to deal with a spouse or a child. Now, with Botis inhabiting Rui’s body, he has to relinquish power to someone he considers lower in rank than him. I have a feeling if we go to him with this offer he’ll accept.”
“And what if he double crosses us?” Malcolm asks. “What if Anna gets rid of Botis, but Belphagor doesn’t live up to his end of the bargain and decides to keep the seal?”
“Then I’ll take it from him,” I say.
“I think Belphagor will agree,” Jered says more to Malcolm than me. “You know he’s always been the weakest link among the princes. If he can save his own skin and gain more power without much effort, I don’t see any reason why he would refuse.”
“What about Lucifer?” I ask. “He won’t be happy with Belphagor if he helps us.”
“I suppose that’s a risk Belphagor will have to take. It’s either face Lucifer or you. If he has any sense at all, he won’t choose to go against you.”
I look up at Malcolm. “I think we should at least try it. We won’t be losing much and could possibly gain everything. I would like to be able to keep my promise to Olivia and take care of the person who harmed her husband.”
Malcolm sighs heavily. “I don’t like making deals with someone who isn’t trustworthy. But, it does sound like our best way to deal with both of them.”
“So, should I set up a meeting between Anna and Belphagor?” Jered asks.
Malcolm nods. “Yes. Set it up for tomorrow in the desert. I don’t want that thing in my home, and we’re not going to step foot inside Cirro until a firm deal is made.”