The crowd cheered and threw confetti into the air, startling Dwale, who scuttled beneath Privet’s cloak.
Setsuna jumped up atop the ring and raised her hands. “Please, gentlemen, I know I am really, really cute, but the fact is, I’m already engaged, so please don’t fall in love with me. I’ve got a really busy day planned and it would ruin my schedule if I had to turn away a slew of suitors.”
The cheering died down, the crowd looking at each other in confusion.
Privet covered his face with his hand and groaned.
“And this gate will remain open permanently?” Ju’kat marveled.
Setsuna breathed on her manicured fingernails and polished them up against her black leather corset. “It’ll require regular charging from me, but as long as I’m around, yes, it is permanent.”
“I feel like you don’t know what the word permanent means,” Privet observed.
“And…if you don’t mind. When can we expect the first payment?” Jukat asked expectantly.
“Oh that.”
Setsuna appeared next to him and gave a wooden crate a swift kick with her stylish, black thigh-high boot, spilling gold coins out onto the cobblestone.
“I trust this is sufficient for now?”
Ju’kat’s eyes went wide with lust. “Oh, your queen is…most generous.”
“It’s easy to be generous with other people’s money,” she mumbled.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.”
“Oh nothing, just pondering the finer points of morality.”
While the Ronesians gathered up the coins, and fought off a few opportunistic children, a fortune teller rowed up to the edge of the canal and held her hands out to them.
“Strangers from distant lands, may I read your fate for you? Chert can show your fortune, your future children, your future spouse.”
Setsuna playfully tapped her elbow into his ribs. “Whaddya say, Privet? Shall we see what our kids will look like?”
“Nah, let’s just make our report back to Wysteria.”
“Why? They’ll know the gate is working when they see water rushing out the other end.”
The fortune teller ran her claws along Privet’s sleeve. “He’s a serious one, isn’t he?”
Setsuna scratched her pointed ear. “He’s just grumpy because he got woken up early this morning.”
“That’s because you came into my bunkroom,” he responded through gritted teeth.
“I was bringing you breakfast.”
“You tried to slip in underneath my sheets.”
“I was trying to bring you breakfast in an unusual way.”
“A crazy way.”
“A quirky and endearing way.”
The fortune teller turned to Dwale and clucked her tongue. “Are they always like this?”
He nodded shyly. “I’m afraid so. My brother never did like pushy women.”
Setsuna’s mouth fell open. “Wait, he doesn’t?”
“Surely that has been made plain to you.”
Setsuna pointed a green fingernail at the fortune teller. “Okay, you, leave...”
She moved her finger to Privet. “You, go get me some custard.”
“Yes, your pushiness.”
She then set her hand atop Dwale’s head. “And you, are going to tell me all about what kind of woman your brother likes.”
“I’ll do the best I can.”
“Tell her nothing, Dwale!” Privet insisted out as he signaled over a boat that was selling sweets.
“I’m sorry, brother, but I cannot ignore an order from my matron, you know that.”
“She’s not your matron!”
“But she did buy me.”
“To set you free.”
Dwale covered his mouth in realization. “Oh yes. I keep forgetting.”
Setsuna shook her head, causing her oversized pigtails to flop about. “No, this time it’s okay, tell your matron everything you know about his preferences.”
Dwale furrowed his brow. “My freedom is contingent upon your whim?”
She patted him on the head. “Now you are learning how women think, Dwale.”
“I see. It is most complicated.”
“You have no idea.”
A few minutes later, Privet returned with a custard cup and tossed it to her.
“Time to celebrate,” she announced, cramming a bite into her mouth.
“What are we doing tonight? Another expensive candlelight dinner at a fancy restaurant?”
Dwale covered his belly. “I’m still stuffed from last night.”
“Nope, tonight I’m going to cook you both a nice home cooked meal.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“Come, I’ll show you.”
Setsuna pulled her finger through the air, opening it like a zipper.
“Can’t we just take a gondola like normal people?”
“Come on, silly. Normal is overrated.”
Setsuna threw her shoulder into Privet, pushing him through the gate. He stumbled out into crisp mountain air, a layer of frost clinging to the sweet-smelling pine trees.
As Dwale fell though, Privet covered his eyes and looked to the west. The city was just a little maze of canals in the distance, the long aqueducts trailing into it like streamers.
Dwale stood up and drew his cloak in tightly around him. “I’m never going to get used to that.”
“Yeah, me neither.”
“Welcome home, boys,” came a voice from behind.
Privet turned around, and found that he was standing on a pleasant little mountain path, leading up to a stately manor nestled in amid the cool mountain dale. Bunches of trees nestled up against its strong stone walls, as if comforted by its presence. A little spring bubbled up through a stone well to one side, trickling down the etched rock and feeding into a crisp mountain stream below, teeming with trout.
Setsuna stood proudly at the carved mahogany doorway and gave an overly dramatic bow, bidding them to enter.
Inside was a well-furnished living room. Cozy fur rugs lay before a warm, crackling fireplace. Carved oaken chairs were padded with soft pelts. Crystal lanterns hung from rungs along the walls, bathing the room in friendly light. This place was different than the hotels where they had been staying. It felt like a real home.
“What is this?” Privet asked as he and his brother stepped through.
“You like it? I bought it myself.”
Privet looked out the window, surprised to see a stunning view of the mountain waterfall at the other end of the dale.
“You bought this?”
Setsuna appeared in the center of the room and spun around happily. “Well, I did sign a contract with Queen Hazel promising to never engage in piracy again. This seemed like a nice place to retire to.”
Privet ran his fingers over the elegant bookcase. “I can’t believe you did this. It’s so…responsible.”
She placed her hands on her hips. “Well, what did you think I did with all the money I got from the federal reserve?”
“I dunno. I figured you would have gambled it all away by now.”
“Pffft. Gambling is for idiots who don’t understand math. Real estate is where it’s at. Come here, let me show you around.”
She proudly led them through the bedrooms and study. Dwale couldn’t believe how soft the beds looked, and half the games in the lounge he had never heard of before. Despite his feeling that such diversions were for women only, he found himself wanting to try each of them.
Privet could barely believe his eyes when she showed them the shower room, with real hot water heated by the fire crystals running along one wall. In the navy he had developed a real taste for hot showers, but had consigned himself to cold buckets again after returning to Wysteria. Now, he found hi
mself anxious to have one again as soon as possible.
Setsuna lead them into the lavish kitchen, the smell of fresh herbs filling the air from the bed in the windowsill. She clasped her hands together and jumped up and down. “So, do you like it?”
“It’s wonderful,” Dwale praised.
“It really is,” Privet had to admit.
Setsuna clapped her hands. “Oh, I’m so glad you like it…because it’s yours.”
Both their heads snapped towards her. “Ours?”
“Yes, yours and his. The title and deed are in both your names. This house, and the ten acres surrounding it belong to you. Since it’s a proprietary ownership, you don’t have to pay taxes or anything. It’s yours for all time.”
Privet’s eyes were as big as saucers. “Are you kidding?”
The humor left her face. “If you knew how much I paid for this place, you wouldn’t ask me that.”
Privet was so shocked, he didn’t know what to say.
“Oh, and here’s the best part,” she gushed, pulling the paperwork out of a cabinet. “Since you are landowners here on Ronesia now, that also makes you citizens as well.”
She pulled out a pair of identification cards and thrust them into their stunned hands.
Dwale held up the card with his name on it. He could hardly believe his eyes. “Citizens?”
“Yep, you can vote, work, buy things, legal status and protection, jury duty, the whole shebang.”
Privet and Dwale looked at each other, their eyes swimming.
With a sweet smile, Setsuna thrust her hand out. “Welcome to being a real person. You are property no more.”
Privet had to steady himself against a chair to keep himself from falling over. “You did this…for us?”
“Well, yeah,” she said sincerely. “You’re family.”
Dwale was so overwhelmed he didn’t know how to feel. He reached out and touched the marble counter, running his fingers along it as if he feared it would disappear.
“This…is my house?” he said softly. “I’ve…never owned anything before.”
Setsuna spun around on one toe. “Welcome to the bright world of property rights.”
Dwale reached up and touched his cheek, and found tears there. He turned to her, a little concerned. “I…I don’t understand. I’m not sad, but I am crying.”
He wiped the tears away. “Why? Is there something wrong with me?”
His reaction was so innocent, so sincere, Setsuna found herself tearing up as well. “No…no, there is nothing wrong with you, Dwale. You’ve just had a very hard life, and it’s finally getting better.”
Dwale moved to drop to his knee in thanks, but caught himself, and instead just ran up and hugged her about the waist.
“Thank you so much,” he burst out. Then he completely lost control, weeping and sobbing, his whole frame trembling with joy. “You are the best person I’ve ever met. You’re like an angel.”
Setsuna leaned forward and hugged him back. “You remind me so much of Sawyn sometimes, you know that?”
Without thinking, she placed a kiss on his forehead. “She had a hard life, too.”
She looked over at Privet, who looked like he might pass out.
“Well, don’t just stand there, Tamarack. Say something.”
He shook his head. “I…I don’t know what to think. Nobody has ever done something like this for us before.”
Setsuna shrugged happily. “Say thank you.”
Privet’s eyes softened, and her looked at her tenderly. “Thank you.”
Setsuna bubbled over with joy, and she pulled him in, the three of them hugging for what felt like hours. She held Privet tight, taking in the wonderful scent of him, the exquisite sensation of his touch, and for the first time since they met, he hugged her back just as tightly.
I win, Athel. He’s mine.
* * *
Thump. Thump. Thump.
With a steady and practiced rhythm, Solanum Forsythia banged the back of her head against the wall of her room.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Cut off from the link and the forest, here in this knot, all was peaceful and silent. Maddeningly silent, and yet a reprieve from a lifetime of screaming. A thousand thousand voices all speaking at once. All of them hers, and yet none of them hers. She giggled at the thought of it. The very concept of “hers” was a curious oddity to her. She was the forest, and the forest was her. All their emotions living in a single body. Only now, no new voices appeared, only the thunderous squabble of the old ones, and the sound of her breathing, and the steady rhythm of her head.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Tearing away a strip from her silken bed sheets, she twisted the delicate fabric, tying a knot in the center, then laced it with another, creating a small doll shape.
“I hereby give you the name of Tim and elevate you to the rank of lieutenant commander. Your duty will be to watch the southlands,” she commanded in her mother’s voice as she set the doll down amid the others. Like soldiers, they were arrayed in their squads of ten and their divisions of fifty.
She flicked her fist before her open palm, as if she were testing a riding crop. “Now, I need you all to listen up, especially you, Shane. Don’t think I didn’t see you sleeping during morning reveille. Now, conch-snails are known to be sneaky. Sneaky they are. It makes sense, after all, they hide in their shells. Deception. Misdirection. It is buried in the very fabric of their design. In a way, they can’t help themselves, but don’t you dare waste your tears on them. They hide the truth from us; you must protect that truth.”
Solanum paused, as if listening to the dolls. Her pretty face twisted into disgust. “And what would you know about it, Kalia? I should flog you for using that tone with me.”
Cruelly, Solanum swatted one of the dolls, sending it crashing against the wall.
Throwing her head back, Solanum laughed, louder and louder, until the chandelier rattled from the volume of it. Just when it seemed to peter off, it rose up again, even louder than before, and even the wood of the knot reacted to it.
“Oh my gosh, that is so funny,” she said, wiping a tear from her face. “You are very funny, Nariko, I didn’t know how funny you could be.”
She curled up into the fetal position and began rocking back and forth. “Dolls can’t be flogged. They have to be spanked instead.”
There was a soft knock at the door, and Solanum scrambled, gathering up her army and hiding the soldiers. Some she hid under her bum, others she stuffed in her armpits. As the door swung open, she noticed the one she had thrown, and hid it in her mouth.
The nurse looked on in disappointment as she noticed the dilapidated state of the room. The contents of breakfast ground into a paste and smeared along the walls in strange and disturbing patterns. The tapestries torn down and crammed into the barred windows to prevent light from entering.
“You’ve torn up your bedsheets again,” the nurse complained.
“Nuu eye diduht,” Solanum answered, her mouth full of cloth.
The nurse snapped her fingers and a pair of men scuttled in to clean up, followed by High-Priest Oleander, her face a mixture of regret and doubt.
“It is with the greatest reservation that I come here,” Oleander began, taking care to step around an overturned bedpan.
“Your forest has need of you.”
Solanum spat out her soldier and smiled menacingly.
* * *
Ryin sat dejectedly on the edge of the zoo cages, looking down at the herd of trazelle as they pranced around happily in the fading evening light. Absentmindedly, he broke off a piece of bread and tossed it to one of them, pleased that the morsel hit the animal in the head before it bent down and happily lapped it up.
A radiant Hatronesian women flew up, her golden hair shimmering. “Would you care for some papa
ya juice, ambassador?”
“No, thank you.”
As she flew off, another took her place, her white wings fluttering behind her. “It will be dark soon; can I get you a jacket?”
“I’m fine.”
As she departed, Ryin scratched at the scruff on his chin and looked out wearily at the setting sun.
“You want some taffy?” a voice asked.
“Oh, Maltua’s teeth, no more sweets!” Ryin barked, dropping his face into his hands.
“Good, more for me.”
Ryin looked over as Ellie sat down on the wall next to him. With a pocketknife, she tried to saw off a piece of taffy, but the gooey chunk broke off and fell down, striking an animal on the backside.
“I suppose you are here to make fun of me?” Ryin accused.
“Nah, that would be no challenge,” Ellie chuckled, sawing off a new piece and tossing it into her mouth.
“You knew, didn’t you?”
“Knew what?” she asked with a full mouth, tugging on her pigtails in exaggerated innocence.
“You knew that the people here don’t reproduce the way the rest of us do.”
“Well, not everyone. I mean, I hear Diades just kind of split in half into two people.”
“You know what I mean,” he insisted, scrutinizing her intently.
Ellie’s freckled cheeks turned red as she tried to hold it in, but it burst out anyway. “Pffft, yes I totally knew!”
“Ugh! And you let me make a fool out of myself?”
She slapped her knees. “Yes! It was hilarious!”
He dropped his head in shame.
“The way you swaggered around, women dripping off you like you were the king of the world. I mean, they don’t even kiss here. They barely hold hands. Oh, that is a memory I’m going to cherish for the rest of my life.”
“Well, I’m glad my pain brings you joy.”
“Oh, it does,” she affirmed, hacking at a new chunk as best she could. “It does indeed.”
She laughed for a bit, but Ryin’s sullen mood quickly drained the mirth out of her.
“Oh come on, Colenat, you’ve got to admit it’s pretty funny. A few pretty girls pay attention to you and you practically lose your mind. It’s really not that big of a deal.”
Isle of Wysteria: The Monolith Crumbles Page 29