by A. L. Tyler
Rollin’s stern expression never changed through the introductions. He carefully put down his hand of cards. “So, you’re Daray’s last stand. I must say, you don’t live up to the stories.” The table went silent, and after realizing his faux-pas, Rollin started speaking again. “It’s just that there’s these…stories, that’s all. Where I come from, you’re a living legend for the life you’ve led. You’re a politician, right? The only human-raised politician on the Council?”
Lena gave Devin a hesitant sideways glance. For someone who she didn’t know, he knew a lot about her; there were a few human-born Silenti on the Council, but to her knowledge she was the only human-raised one. There weren’t many people who willingly or consciously made that distinction. She smiled, trying to bring back the airy atmosphere that had existed before she came into the room. “I guess so.”
“Tell me then, do you have any desire to help our cause? The rest of the human-born Silenti?”
Rollin was trying to stare her down. She turned to face him and held his gaze. “Absolutely. I believe everyone has a right to be fairly represented, and I hope someday—“
“Someday. You see now, that’s the problem. Are we some sort of hobby to you? From what I’ve heard, you come and go here as you please, just like the rest of them. You have your fun and then you go back up to your rich life, and you don’t give a damn what happens to us in between. You claim you care, but this house was built by slave labor and you still live in it. You have access to enough money to change the lives of every person at this table, but you don’t do it. You eat the food we cook, wear the clothes we wash, and sleep in the beds we make. Seems to me you enjoy this system more than anyone else at this table. You’re just like the rest of them, asking our friendship on the promise of a ‘someday.’”
Lena stared at him for a moment. “That’s not true!” She stammered. “There’s work being done on your behalf…”
“No?!” Rollin shot up from his seat, almost toppling Tab from his stool in the process. “Let me ask you this, then. You just came from the Council briefing?”
Lena nodded.
“Was there any mention at all about the fifty-two people who were put out of their home last spring when the Corbett household was dissolved on a whim? Did anyone ask, or even care, what happened to us and where we went? Because I can tell you the most of us are starving with nowhere to go and no past. Some of them can’t even get government aid from this country because we don’t have birth records to prove citizenship. We’re starving in the streets, and it’ll be a cold day in hell when the Council decides to do a damn thing about it! You claim you’re like us, but I’d bet my life that that particular fate is something you’ve never had to worry about.”
Lena stared at him. He stared back. The tension was so thick Lena thought she could feel the air pulsing around her, but then she realized it was her own heartbeat. Rollin looked like he was ready to jump across the table and attack her for everything that she represented in his eyes. And then a new voice joined the fray.
“Lena, what the hell are you doing down here? What’s going on?” Lena looked over at the laundry room door. Griffin had just come in through the side entrance, and she hated to admit that she was happy to see him. A second man, about Griffin’s height and weight, with dark hair and Griffin’s nose, was standing just behind him looking bewildered. They were both wearing long coats, suggesting the weather was starting to turn again. Griffin and Rollin had locked eyes.
“I want you out of this house.” Griffin said. His tone was serious, and his eyes were filled with a pointed hatred as he stared at Rollin.
Lena didn’t know why, but she felt compelled to speak on Rollin’s behalf. “It’s okay, Griffin, you don’t need to—“
“Shut up, Lena, you don’t know anything about this. Get out. I want you gone by tomorrow morning.” He didn’t blink. Neither did Rollin. After a tense few seconds, Rollin left the room, roughly pushing past Griffin. Lena heard him go into the servants’ quarters, and then he left through the side entrance, slamming the door as he went. Griffin turned to Lena. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“I’m not leaving.” Lena stayed in her chair. She wasn’t afraid of him—Rollin’s point was starting to hit home. She wasn’t like them at all; she didn’t have to leave when Griffin told her to. Had her mother been anyone else, though, she would have followed his orders like anyone else.
“We have a meeting tomorrow morning.” Griffin said coolly.
“So?” Lena met his gaze. She suddenly realized that Devin still had his arm around her shoulders. She hoped Griffin could tell how disgusted she with what had just transpired.
Griffin stared at Lena for a moment longer, and then decided to move on. He was too tired to deal with her now. He looked over at Pete. “Show my guest to the Alarid’s room; they’ll be expecting him.”
Pete got up and walked silently from the room, and the dark haired man followed him without a word. Griffin threw Lena another annoyed look before stalking out; Lena dreaded the conversation they would inevitably be having the next day. Everyone remaining in the room was completely silent.
“I’m sorry.” Lena murmured.
“I think I’ll call it a night.” Tab avoided Lena’s gaze and went back to the servants’ quarters.
There was another minute of silence. Devin finally looked over at Lena. “I don’t know what he was talking about. That was pretty damn legendary, if you ask me.”
There was an audible sigh of relief, but no one was laughing. Phil looked over at Devin. “So, are we still playing?”
“Sure.” Devin collected the cards from around the table and shuffled them. As he dealt the cards out, he looked over at Lena. “Have you ever played poker before?”
“Yeah.”
They played a few rounds before Lena found her way up to the fourth floor. She alerted Mrs. Corbett to her presence, as she had done every night to be sure she wasn’t mistaken for a servant and attacked, and collapsed into the her cot. She didn’t sleep well that night.
“You can have your mother back now.” Lena had waited outside the Council hall on the fifth floor to talk to Griffin. They were expected to be seated inside, ready to begin, in ten minutes—this way she wouldn’t get pulled into any long lectures about how she was supposed to be acting. She was bleary from the fight the night before, but found herself surprisingly alert given how little sleep she’d gotten.
“How’s she doing?” Griffin was looking about as tired as Lena felt.
“They’re okay. I mean, your mom is crazy, there’s no way of sugar-coating that fact, but the kid looks like he’ll be crawling any day now.”
“Healthy?” Griffin asked.
“How am I supposed to know?” Lena rolled her eyes. “She won’t take him to a doctor and I don’t have a clue.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” He walked away and took his place next to Master Daray in the Council hall. Lena followed him in and her place next to Howard. All four of them were sitting toward the front of the room that day because Daray, Howard, and Griffin were going to have to speak about how and why Griffin had ended up incarcerated in New York.
A moderator called the meeting to order and asked Griffin to explain what had happened. His testimony was backed up by Howard and Daray, and his cousin, Nicolas Alarid. Nicolas was going to be giving his exposition for Council approval at the end of the present Council term. Things appeared to be going well until someone asked Griffin what he had been so desperate to get into the country, and he replied that Daray had sent him to India to collect some Silenti relics from an archaeologist there. Howard’s translation of the events suddenly stopped. People were standing up, yelling, and through the commotion the moderator finally got everyone to calm down.
Lena leaned over and whispered. “What’s happening?”
Howard glanced over at her before fixing his eyes on Griffin and the moderator at the front of the room. They’re upset because he doesn’t know what he was bring
ing back. Master Astley is now making the point that Daray was put under house arrest to prevent his further dabbling in dangerous Silenti artifacts—he could have found the portal, for all anyone knew, and Griffin would have brought it back to him without ever knowing. It’s a grave transgression if those relics are found to be anything but ordinary.
Griffin was excused back to his seat, and Daray was called to speak.
Howard started his commentary again. He’s saying the relics were just collector’s pieces, nothing special, and that they were so insignificant he didn’t even think the Council would care. He could have had them delivered, but as Griffin was going anyways, he thought it would be easier and safer to have them picked up. Howard gazed around behind him. Okay, Master Astley is saying that as Griffin is a member of the Daray house, and he’s proved himself not trustworthy, he should have the same restrictions placed on him that you, your mother, and your grandfather have…Master Perry is saying that it’s a stupid idea, as the only reason we have such restrictions is for your own safety and to prevent Daray from actively seeking and opening the portal. He’s making the point that any person here could try to find the portal and bring it here, Griffin is no exception…Master Astley is getting very upset, Master Alarid is asking why we even bother with such a trivial issue, he’s out of prison now and the relics look fairly innocuous.
Displayed at the front of the room, they did look innocuous. There was a small wood chest, maybe only twelve inches long, a large book, and a shard of a mirror. Lena wasn’t sure how they had managed to get them back from customs, but she was willing to bet the government didn’t know they were missing.
Master Mason is siding with Master Astley, as if the habit is allowed to continue it allows Daray a means of searching for the portal without Council knowledge. There was a loud sound from the back of the room, and several people spun around in shock. Master Alarid had slammed his fist down on the desk. Okay, Master Alarid is now making the point that the portal belongs to Daray anyways, as it had belonged to his ancestors, and he finds it ridiculous that the Council has restricted religious belief and practice so definitely. Master Astley is…using expletives, and is generally unhappy with Master Alarid’s position, because the Council has not restricted religious practice. It has restricted the use of possible unknown biological weaponry…
And the use of the word ‘weaponry’ started a whole new debate. Lena looked around her and saw people rolling their eyes and sighing heavily. Apparently this debate had happened a few times before. It went on until lunch break was announced by the moderator, and everyone filed down to the dining room, where the debate continued.
“I can’t believe this. I can’t believe we’re wasting time on this again.” Greg Mason sat down next to Lena and Howard. “Can’t we just, for once, know the issues, sit down, and take a vote on whether or not we think punishment or restrictions are in order?”
Howard gave him an almost sarcastic look of disapproval. “Now, Greg…This was all new for Lena, wasn’t it?”
Lena nodded. “Parts of it, anyway.”
“Yeah…I bet you never thought Council was so…chaotic.” Greg grumbled.
“Uncivilized? Yeah, it was getting a little hot in there. I’d never have guessed that everyone was toning it down so much when they were outside that room.” Lena looked around the dining room, surprised to see everyone so instantly calm as the food was brought out. A plate landed in front of Lena, and she looked around and saw Devin. He winked. Lena started looking for the note, and found it in the napkin that was wrapped around her silverware.
Don’t eat the soup.
Cards tonight 10:00 p.m.
Lena’s eyes shot to the people sitting across the table from her. They were all sitting at the smaller, round tables because it created a “sense of equality” more so than the large head table that was used for dinners. Other than Howard and Greg, her only other table mates were Masters Abbott, his heir, Perry, and some guy whose name she couldn’t remember, but who she remembered hanging around her grandfather a lot during the last Council. She looked back at the note, careful not to think too loudly about what it said. A lot of things could have happened to that soup.
Greg didn’t seem too interested in his soup, which was good, but Howard already had a spoonful en route to his mouth. Lena caught his arm as inconspicuously as she could and shook her head when he looked over at her. He put the spoon down and pushed his soup away. He didn’t want to know what was wrong with it, but he was certainly glad that Lena had friends in the kitchen.
*****
CHAPTER 3
“Mrs. Corbett?”
After the evening meeting that day, Lena went to collect her belongings from the room on the fourth floor. Griffin had told her there was a small guest room elsewhere on the floor that wasn’t being used, and though she hadn’t found it yet, she was determined not to spend another night in the same room with Mrs. Corbett and her son. It was too…unnerving. Lena had stayed awake at night, afraid that if she fell asleep Mrs. Corbett would forget who she was and she would awake to find the woman standing over her with a knife, or worse, having done something to Darius.
“Mrs. Corbett?” Lena cautiously walked into the room. Mrs. Corbett was sitting on her bed, calmly reading a book. When she didn’t see Darius, she walked over to the crib; it was a little early to be putting him down…
It was empty. “Mrs. Corbett, where’s your son?”
She looked up from her book, confused. “How should I know?”
Lena ran to the bathroom, but he wasn’t in there. She ran to the closet, checked under the bed, and checked everywhere else she could think to look as Mrs. Corbett watched her disdainfully. Finally, she spoke up.
“Don’t you know where he is?” Mrs. Corbett asked calmly.
“No, I don’t!” Lena said anxiously.
She paused. “That’s good. I prefer it that way. Now, what are you looking for?”
Lena stared at her for a moment, then ran back out into the hallway and across to the other side of the house, where she frantically pounded on Griffin’s bedroom door. He didn’t answer, and she tried to decide whether or not she should just go in.
Griffin!
What?!
She pounded on the door again, and a minute later he answered the door in a bath robe. Apparently, he had been in the shower.
“What?!” He snapped again.
“Your…Darius is gone.” Lena said quickly. “I was just in your mom’s room and I can’t find him, and she’s gone crazy Griffin, it’s like she doesn’t even care! She’s gone totally—“
Griffin looked annoyed; she was overreacting. “Okay, calm down. I took him. No one’s supposed to know where he is, because that’s the point.”
Lena stopped. “What?”
Griffin turned and walked back into his room. He left the door open like he expected her to follow him, but she wasn’t sure if it was appropriate. He gestured for her to follow him and she stepped inside and closed the door, knowing full well that she would get a load of paperwork if Howard ever found out. Griffin’s room was larger than hers, and she wasn’t sure why, but it evoked a slight sense of jealousy in her. It was done up with a dull red color palette, except the molding and curtains which were a deep bronze. Griffin walked back into the bathroom and closed the door. Lena sat down in a sitting area next to the windows and tried not to feel unnerved by the fact that she was hanging out in Griffin’s bedroom.
I took him because she clearly wasn’t going to be able to take care of him much longer. He’s been placed with a family until he’s of age to take his place in the Council. Assuming, of course, that they agree to hold the position for him. The door opened, and Griffin came out again, dressed in his nightclothes. “Though it is nice to see you concerned for him. I distinctly remember you being entirely against their moving in here to begin with. Grown a little attached?”
Lena sighed, lightly touching the velvet curtains. “Just…concerned. You checked out th
e family?”
“He’ll be fine.” Griffin walked over and sat in the chair across from Lena. “Unless you want to keep him?”
Lena looked out the window. Griffin’s room had a good view of the mountains, and it was a completely cloudless night. The stars and crescent moon were spectacular. She cast her eyes back at Griffin. “No. I’m glad he found a good family.”
Griffin sat back in his chair and studied the view out the window. “Have you found your room yet?”
“Of course.” Lena lied, standing up and starting toward the door; it was a little intimidating to be on Griffin’s turf. It gave him a psychological advantage that she didn’t want him to have.
Griffin got up and started walking behind her. “I’ll show you where it is.”
Lena turned around when she got to the door. Griffin was smirking; she hadn’t seen him do that in a while. “Good trip?”
“Yeah. It was good…until the end.”
“I bet. You make any new…friends…in jail?” She jabbed.
Griffin put his hand on the door, stopping Lena from opening it. “It seems you made some while I was gone.”
Lena’s eyebrows raised. “Those are old friends.”
“More than friends, if you ask me.”
“No one asked you.” Lena crossed her arms and raised her chin a little. Griffin’s expression soured slightly. “You’re wrong. And you didn’t have to go all spastic last night, because I had it under control.”
“Rollin is trouble. I’ve already spoken to some of the other families about him. And you didn’t have it under control; he was the one who caused all the trouble after my father died. He’s the reason we had to disband the whole household.”
Lena stared at him for a moment. There wasn’t any hint of a lie in his eyes—he had known Rollin far before that night in the kitchen. Lena hated to acknowledge the fact that he might know more about it than she did; she still didn’t agree with what he had done, especially given the fact that Lena felt Rollin had made several valid points. She had found herself unable to stop thinking about how passionate he had been.