The Eden Chronicles Boxset

by S. K Munt

  ‘So be better than all of them, and prove that your family name is as worthy now as it was six hundred years ago. Besides, it’s one copy of the most valuable secret in the world- and the other is in the last place you’ll ever think to look for it- and with someone who will benefit even more than you will, by revealing it.’ I said quickly. ‘If you don’t share it, I will have it mailed to the newspaper, but if you do, you’ll not only prove what that skeleton of yours is made of, compared to your father’s, but you’ll earn my trust and the nation’s respect.’

  ‘I… I don’t think I can go behind his back like that!’

  ‘You will be acting regent, so it won’t be behind his back but as your duty! And you will be so worshipped for curing this problem- with Martya’s name credited for it, of course: you have to say that she left this for you to find- that he won’t be able to touch you.’ I stepped closer into him, feeling nervous for the first time for I knew that as strong as a man could be, his parents opinion of them and his people’s would always count more than his own. ‘Karol please- I know this is scary but take it from a girl who lost her God-given right to be a mother yesterday for your pleasure… things can be scarier.’ I swallowed hard as I prepared myself to twist the key into the lock and seal my fate. ‘Do this- save the world from hunger and if you do… and if in five years from now, Lindy’s family is alive and well and this cure in effect… I will show you my gratitude.’

  Karol’s thick eyelashes lifted. ‘What?’

  ‘When I’m released at twenty-one, whether it as Kohén’s used whore or a free woman who he no longer has need for… prove me right in trusting you and I will come to you before I leave, willingly.’

  ‘You’ll…’ he pushed his dark hair off his forehead. ‘You’ll lie with me? Willingly?’

  ‘It will be my pleasure,’ I whispered, ‘and my promise.’

  He frowned at me, but his eyes were practically misting over from the sudden humidity wafting off his countenance. ‘You think if you get out of here unmolested, Kohén won’t want you for himself?’

  ‘He can’t have me for himself,’ I said coldly, remembering Emmerly wearing only a sheet, and he wearing her lip-gloss. ‘Law states that the future queen or duchess must be fertile, and I will not be. Kohén has big dreams for us, but you and I both know that that is one thing that will not change.’

  And as he gave his virginity to someone else, I will do the same if I can!

  ‘Is that the reason why he can’t have you?’ Karol asked slowly. ‘Or is the fact that he had someone else last night the reason?’

  I returned his gaze steadily. ‘You Barachiel men have the right to dictate who I can give myself to and when… but with Kohén’s graciousness, I get to say why. It will be for true love, or because I know that it is the only option. True love doesn’t turn to a whore, and I’m fairly certain that the only thing that will motivate a man like you to do the right thing by me for the next five years to follow through on your promises, is the promise that I will come to your chamber.’

  ‘But if you give your virginity to me, you won’t be eligible to be married until you’re thirty!’

  ‘I won’t want to be married if I leave here without Kohén’s love, and he’s already lost mine so…’ I swallowed back tears, knowing that was true- how could I ever love anyone now that I’d known a boy like Kohén? Not even Kohl would compare. ‘So I will lie with you.’

  Karol took my arm and pulled me to him, widening his knees to let me in. ‘Do it now!’

  Something cold kissed the base of my spine. ‘What?!’

  ‘We already know that you’re going to break his heart for breaking yours already, and I suffer from impatience as he does… so do it now!’ He stroked my piggy tail. ‘Take off that dress, celebrate this with me and I will give you my word that Lindy and her family will be safe and that this cure will be shared for the benefit of the world.’

  ‘No,’ I said, shaking my arm loose.

  ‘Why? If Kohén gets to you first-’

  ‘He promised me that he would not!’ I hissed, trying to sound angry so he wouldn’t hear my fear. ‘And he’s proven himself honest so far, even if it’s broken my heart to watch him seek out other options! I gave him my word to stay and to be faithful to him, not just when I moved in here and signed that contract, but several times since- to my best friend! I won’t betray him for you, the nation or myself so do not ask it of me Karol.’ I poked his chest. ‘Besides, what sort of idiot hands over her chips before the hand has been dealt? If I slept with you now the only threat I’d have left is to tell everyone who will listen that your father murdered Martya five years from now-’

  ‘You don’t know if that is true!’ Karol looked white again, and his knees released me reflexively. ‘She said it could have been an empty threat, and the people who attended the scene said it had been an accident, and father hasn’t used that room for years!’

  ‘Very interesting points!’ I hissed. ‘Shall I go downstairs and discuss it with the other girls in the harem to see what they think? Or shall I just wait and bring it up at the next town meeting in front of Shep?’

  He blanched, but the light in his eyes remained on. ‘You haven’t told anyone this?’

  ‘Outside of you, no! Why would I? If I was wrong, discussing it could be seen as slander against the crown, and that could get whoever I told banished as well as me!’

  ‘That’s… right.’ He blinked, looking dazed.

  ‘It was in the guidelines, along with the picture of the woman being held by her ankles.’ I said sassily. ‘Besides, I wanted to know if that room was true before I breathed a word of warning. By the way- that’s to be mentioned in harem training from now on, and a full tour of the vicinity needs to become standard from here out- because it’s just icky and immoral to surprise us with whips and chains!’

  Karol gave me a speculative look. ‘Would you like to write down your increasing list of demands?’

  ‘No!’ I said brightly. ‘I trust you to remember all three of them, by the rewards offered for each if nothing else.’ I ticked off my fingers ‘One: Take Lindy to safety in exchange for the formula. Two: Share the formula or know it will be forwarded to the King of Rabia in exchange for safe passage out and three, keep Lindy safe and include the dungeon training in our syllabus, and if you do- I’ll come to you in gratitude when I am released.’

  Karol’s eyes narrowed to slits. ‘And we thought Martya was the clever one!’

  ‘No one thought a damned thing about me aside from my ugliness until I showed up in that swan dress,’ I growled. ‘Now I’m TELLING you what to think and you’d better listen Karol. I don’t know if your father killed Martya and I really don’t want to believe it’s true. But the threat is enough to blacken his name, the formula is enough to save the country to your credit, and the offer to come to your chamber hopefully appeals to the darker side of your nature enough for you to give the good in you focus enough to function for the next five years and leave me alone. So think very carefully before you try and haggle me down, because after what I went through last night I am already at rock bottom, got it? I’ll start slinging mud from hereon out!’

  Karol stared at me for a long moment but then finally shrugged and said: ‘Fine.’

  I blinked, breathing heavily from having given him what-for. ‘What?’

  ‘I was testing your loyalty to Kohén, and the worth of your word,’ he explained calmly, turning away. ‘Now I’m satisfied, so go seek out your friend and tell her to- very quietly- have her and her children’s family’s things packed for departure tomorrow morning. And while you’re doing that, I’ll let mother know who I’m taking with me.’ He closed the book on his desk and when I saw the title Gone With The Wind, my eyes almost popped out of their sockets. ‘And by the way, I need you to attend the judgement with me this afternoon after services.’

  ‘With you?’ I asked. ‘Why?’

  ‘So you understand why those cameras are there- and so you’re
close enough for me to grab you by one of those fetching piggy-tails if you try to scamper off.’

  ‘Okay…’ I stared at his back, still feeling off-balance. ‘That’s it…?’

  ‘Unless you’d like to kiss me farewell,’ he said, glancing back at me and smiling cheekily when I screwed up my face. ‘By the way, if you pass any of my family on the way out, let them know that I summoned you to alert Lindy please, or Kohén will have me by the throat too tightly for me to be allowed to leave.’

  ‘Yes, your highness,’ I said, turning to open the door. ‘And, um… thank you.’

  ‘Thank me? You may have just saved the world.’ My face heated up and then he said: ‘Larkin?’

  I glanced back at him. ‘Yes?’

  ‘You were meant to be here. I know that at times, our traditions may seem… cruel, but there are worst alternatives to being the object of two princes’ affection, you know.’

  ‘Objects of erection is more like it,’ I muttered, and Karol smiled a beautiful, bright smile that made him look Kohén’s age. Not that there was much telling the difference between their ages now that the twins had shot up so.

  ‘You amuse me a great deal,’ he said. ‘What are you going to do if I fall in love with you and try to prevent you from leaving?’

  I smiled sweetly. ‘Probably kill you like I would Kohén.’

  He laughed. ‘I thought so. Good thing that I’m cold-hearted, huh?’

  ‘You’d be cold either way,’ I teased and closed the door between us, wondering if he knew how deadly serious- and well-trained in the art of self-defence- I had been thanks to his thoughtful request that I be encouraged to be the most fascinating little whore that I could be! As I passed the dining room table again I removed the serrated bread-knife that I had taken from it on my way in from the gold clasp at the back of my gown, put it back beside Elijah’s place-setting and then walked off with hips swaying.

  I didn’t like Karol, but I was glad that I hadn’t needed to use it all the same!

  3.

  The Shepherd services were as entertaining for me as they’d always been. I adored Shep, who was a tiny little old man with a long white beard braided with silver, and I loved watching him tell stories because he got so excited about God that he’d jump up and wave his arms, caught up in the thrill of his own tale. It was better than attending a play, especially that day when he was so excited over the statue.

  On that Sunday, we learned about the horrific times that followed after Miguel left Eden, and how the Native American people that he left behind began to fight one another for land- only to lose it to white settlers who came through and all but wiped the ancient races off the face of the earth. Karma was the moral to the story, and though we weren’t supposed to recycle old theological terms like that, it did seem as though God had charged the universe with that sort of power. What you sent out, you got back, threefold, only in this case, the punishment did not fit the crime. For all the anguish some of Miguel’s tribeswomen had given Satan- they’d loved the land and had deserved to keep it, so it was sort of poetic that the Barachiel family in charge of the land now had Native American blood in their blue veins.

  The other people in Eden had always gotten as caught up in the Sunday service as I had, but I would have had to be made of stone not to notice that things were off that day. At first, I was just aware that I was the recipient of odd looks and that didn’t surprise me too much. Karol saved me a seat beside him on the marble steps beneath his father’s throne, and with a hostile look in his eye; Kohén had sat on the other side of me, but closer. The Given girls were obviously looking at me with interest because of that- and at Emmerly who’d sat next to Kohén and made a show of admiring her bangle right through service, but it wasn’t just the girls I’d grown up with who kept shooting me little looks, but the queen and the king too.

  It must be the outfit- the make up, the curls… you’re not yourself today and they’re wondering who you will be from hereon out. Or maybe they’re just waiting for you to either start bragging about the statue, or to claim Kohén’s knee back from Emmerly’s grasp. Just ignore them and be attentive to Shep- no one in this room has the right to know what’s on your mind OR in your heart!

  Service ended and though a few people stood to shake Shep’s hand, a sort of strange, thick tension swirled about the room in the absence of his irenic voice and it made the back of my neck feel sweaty. I made no move to rise, but leaned down and tapped Kohl on the shoulder, who turned to smile blandly at me.

  ‘Are you staying for the judgement?’ I asked.

  ‘Yes,’ he said, frowning a little. ‘I’m not looking forward to it, but I have not seen one in many years and I suppose I must.’

  ‘Come sit by me then,’ I said moving aside and nudging Karol along with my hip so he’d get the hint. ‘Karol wants me to stay for it too.’

  ‘I know,’ Kohl said quickly, moving to sit beside me- but he did not look at me and I frowned slightly, wondering what was going on. I wasn’t going to be judged, was I? ‘Hey Karol… what was that thing about the…’ Kohl turned away to make conversation with his older brother and I sat there, staring behind his back to the hem of the king’s faux-bejewelled golden robe and biting my lip, feeling stung. Was this the same boy who’d handed me a jar of fireflies the night before, or had they twin-switched again? I wanted to turn to Kohén and ask him if I’d done something to anger Kohl, but then I thought on it and my stomach filled with anxious acid. The letter I’d left him! Had he found it already? No! I would die if he had, and if this was his reaction to it. I’d counted on him being back in Pacifica before he read it! Oh no! Maybe this judgement WAS for me! My legs filled with nervous energy and tensed, prepared to flee, but a soothing feeling swept down my back.

  ‘Stay, Larkin,’ Karol whispered softly, leaning behind Kohl to address me and causing my nostrils to flare for his heady, absolutely masculine scent of musk, incense and sunlight. ‘You’ll be fine.’

  I began to tremble. Anyone who’d ever said those words to me had been proven wrong after! I turned to look at him to get a reading on his face, but saw that the duchess was staring at me with an indecipherable but steady focus, and goose bumps ran down my arms. I did NOT feel fine.

  ‘Did you enjoy your statue, Larkin?’ she asked, and anyone in the immediate vicinity quieted.

  I smiled tightly and clasped my hands together, leaning them against my chest. ‘There is no girl in Arcadia, luckier than I, so thank you, your highness.’ I included King Elijah in on my smile. ‘And to you, your majesty.’

  ‘I tend to agree,’ the duchess said, but the king reached over and playfully tugged on one of my piggy tails.

  ‘Look at you,’ he said, his hands curled around the golden vines of his armrests. ‘So grown up since the last time she saw you…’ his face tightened on his smile, and my stomach lurched. She? She WHO?

  There was a stirring at the other end of the room then and I turned to look with everyone else, feeling my pulse thumping in my temples. A woman was being led into the room with her wrists bound together by green vines, and I was so relieved that it wasn’t my mother or sister or Martya that I almost slid down the marble step as my fever broke into a proper sweat. I didn’t know the woman at all, but she was middle-aged and wearing the white A-line dress with the blue denim Peter Pan collar that most of the women in her caste wore to official services, but her hair was out and in brown shambles, and her eyes looked so red that for a moment, I feared that she was a dark Nephilim.

  ‘Your majesty…’ the words fell to pieces as she voiced them and fell to her knees in tandem, but Coaxley whispered something to her and pulled her back to her feet as Shep turned to take her in as well. ‘Shepherd-’

  ‘Abbey-Linn Culkin?’ Shep asked, his voice soft, but his eyes harder than I’d ever seen them before.

  ‘Yes…’ she gasped, bowing her head to cry harder. ‘Please… you have to hear me out!’

  ‘That is precisely our intention,’ S
hep said, and he turned to look at us all. I read the question in his eyes and settled, trying to keep my emotions off my face and around me, I saw other people do the same. There was no gavel and no cry of ‘order,’ and there had never been need of one before. People in Arcadia did not speak out of turn unless they were important or incredibly arrogant- like Martya and I. And now that I was the only one out of the two of us still standing, I intended to curtail my tongue.

  ‘Is her accuser here?’ King Elijah asked, and another woman stepped forward from behind Coaxley, fisting a chef’s hat in her hands and looking nervous.

  ‘Yes, your highness,’ she said. ‘I am Tera, and I witnessed the crime.’

  All of the attention moved to her and I heard Abbey-Linn cry harder as soon as the word ‘crime’ had been uttered. ‘Good. Then please, tell us all what you believe you saw Mrs Culkin do.’

  Tera looked down at her hat, and I wondered if anyone else in the room was impressed to see how pretty and young the chef was, with her delicate features and haircut trendily short like a blade above her shoulders. She had to be married to be a citizen of Arcadia, or merely an apprentice. Either way, seeing a female chef in such a stylish uniform was an exciting thing to behold! Those positions almost always went to men!

  ‘It was Saturday night, sire, and I was here as a caterer for your ball,’ Tera said in a low voice, keeping her eyes on her hat. ‘After the explosion, we were evacuated and so, I took a moment to retreat to the garden and to have a, um…’

  ‘You were smoking?’ Elijah asked, his voice kind, and a few people exchanged incredulous looks. A woman who smoked tobacco?! She must have earned a LOT of money to afford that! ‘Do not be afraid to state it, Miss Marron.

  ‘Yes your highness. I only do it in times of stress, and I was quite shaken up by the fire so I moved away from the main house-’

  ‘To light a smaller fire of your own?’ the duchess joked and to my horror, a snort escaped my nose. The duchess looked at me and for the briefest moment, I felt some sort of connection to her as well as an appreciation for her comic timing, but then Tera kept talking, the duchess looked away and the moment was gone. I lowered my head and fiddled with the edge of the king’s robe, and he caught me tapping one of the fake rubies and smiled a strange smile. Embarrassed, I turned back ahead and cupped my hands in my knees.