by Yoshiyuki Ly
“Well how the hell did you think I was gonna react?” I countered. “You thought I was gonna buy you a drink and ask for a fuck in the stalls? I fell for that when we first met. Look how that turned out.”
“You sound bitter.”
“Bitter? I’m pissed off at you! I can’t have a decent relationship with no one. I can’t go nowhere alone without some wise guy thinkin’ he can fuck me over. I keep talkin’ about it and thinkin’ about it like this shit happened yesterday. I want to forget about it.”
“Sounds like you’re not over me,” she said, haughty. I had no idea if I imagined that pride or not.
“It ain’t you I’m not over,” I replied, taking another drink. “Things were simpler when we were together. Back when Mistress Fury was just Stella, it was fun messin’ with her. That night we went to the apothecary to get some acidic potion to put in her drink was unforgettable. She was on her period, remember? Fucked her right up. That’s the only thing I miss about you. I might’ve forgiven you for what you did. I won’t ever forget the way you made me feel—right before and right after we broke up.”
Nyte leaned closer to my ear. “Let me make this clear,” she whispered in a warning tone. “Your expectations are out of this world. You want someone who will always, always be there for you, like Satya is. People are flawed. People make mistakes. They try to apologize to you and you won’t give them the benefit of the doubt. So unless you want to fuck your nightingale, you’ll be alone. Forever.” I glared at her. She had some nerve giving me a read. Then I saw Mistress Fury chatting to Ser Videl over by the entrance. I barely noticed the song had changed to a slower, more romantic one. “You’re never gonna find your knight-in-shining armor. Once she sees how strict you are, she’ll leave like I did.”
“What the fuck, Nyte?” I shouted, standing up. “Why is your wife talkin’ to her? Why are you grillin’ me like this? Are you bitter? Tryin’ to scheme and make the scorpion hate me before I can even say hello to her?”
Nyte let out a dry laugh. “She’s all yours, Empress,” she said, waving her hand as she walked away.
“I swear you’re both a pair of cunts!” I yelled after her. She laughed again. “I don’t know what the hell I saw in you before… You two belong together—that’s clear as day.”
I growled and went back to my drink. I already saw Mistress Fury giving Ser Videl the special treatment: smiling, getting a little too close, and trying to show her who was in charge down here. Basically stomping all over my street cred with those ridiculous fuck me boots. If I went over there now, I’d look desperate. That fucking bitch! She knew that I had business with Luna’s sister. Sending Nyte over here to distract me so she could get her claws over the paladin first… I couldn’t believe I fell for it.
Then I turned right back around. I got a better look at Ser Videl through the dark club, the crowd. She scowled, trying to move past Mistress Fury, like she wasn’t interested in talking. Nyte’s wife was insistent that they spoke. Ser Videl wasn’t having any of that. She kept it moving. In a weird way, that ended up helping me. Mistress Fury took the approach I thought I would. Now I knew that wouldn’t work. Right when I thought Ser Videl saw me, I looked away. Everyone down in Elysium recognized me by two things: my clothes and my eyes. I knew damn well that she had a pretty good description of me by now. If Luna wasn’t lying to me about how smart her sister was, then Ser Videl would spot me no problem. These clothes wouldn’t fool her. I didn’t want to make things easy for her…
Heavier footsteps approached me this time. Combat boots. She had on all-black when I saw her a few minutes ago. Trying to blend in with us in the heat down here. She smelled of the streets—thick temperature, determined sweat. I heard spikes of annoyance in her strut. Something about her softened once I felt her eyes on me. Maybe she was relieved? I had no idea. I couldn’t sense that edge about her no more. Something kinder instead. Something sweeter. Something unexpected—for her, for me.
“Empress?” she said, standing just behind me. “Is that you?” Oh, she had a twang, too. Hers was…more disciplined. If Nyte’s was red velvet, Ser Videl’s was sugar and spice with a touch of something nice.
“Yeah, it’s me,” I replied. I gestured to the bar stool next to me. “Have a seat, Ser Videl.”
“So you know who I am,” she observed, sitting down.
I ordered another drink. “Sure do,” I told her. “I know a scorpion when I see one. Heard you’ve been lookin’ for me. Well, here I am.” Heat wave after heat wave drifted through me from her. Out of the corner of my eye, her face was unreadable. The bartender brought over the gin and tonic. “You drink?”
“No, I don’t,” she said. To-the-point. “Sorry.” Concise. I liked that.
“You ain’t gotta be sorry,” I answered. “It’s a bad habit. I oughtta stop. Kinda hard to these days.” Now, if she didn’t need something from me, I’d think she was rude, staring at me like that without a word. “You wanna get straight to business? Or do you wanna sit and have a chat first? I’m up for whatever.”
She took a deep breath and said, “First, I want to know if my sister is safe. Is she at your headquarters?”
“At Vassago, yeah,” I replied. The alcohol finally started to kick in. Such a pleasant feeling. “Luna’s a sweet girl. She helps teach history classes for the little ones. All the kids love her. She’s been a big help.”
Ser Videl looked disappointed. “I take it she doesn’t want to leave,” she guessed. “Luna loves history. When she was younger, she dreamed about being a teacher. With the status we have in Eden, she isn’t allowed to do that. She’s…happy here, isn’t she?”
“Sounds about right,” I said. Seeing her sadness brought me down. I couldn’t show it. “You could’ve just showed up. I would’ve let you in to see her. You didn’t have to go ‘round trying to find me outside.”
“But—everyone told me that you don’t let outsiders into your headquarters. Otherwise I would have.”
“Mmm, that’s true,” I allowed. “Definitely not a scorpion, neither. Then again, your sister’s one.”
“And Elysium isn’t exactly friendly toward us scorpions, as you call us. What’s different this time? You didn’t have to take my sister in. Why did you let her stay with you?”
She didn’t know about Kurtz. She didn’t know that the man nearly raped her sister. Ser Videl knew where I was almost all the time, but she had no clue about this? That made no sense to me. Wherever her information came from, it was seriously shit. Since she didn’t know, it wasn’t my place to tell her. If Luna wanted her to know, then she’d fill her in. If she didn’t, then Satya and I could keep a secret.
“This ain’t no place for a teenage girl to be by herself, Ser Videl,” I answered. “Luna needed a place to stay. I couldn’t send her back onto the streets. What kinda person would I be if I did that?” Her gaze quieted a little more. Quietly, gently, she looked at me with a feeling I couldn’t describe. Just like when I looked at her picture for the first time, I felt comforted all over again. “We can go back now if you wanna see her. She might be asleep by this hour. I planned on waitin’ for my Lady Nightingale to finish performin’ before I went home. I’ll make an exception for you if it’s urgent.”
Her stare trailed down to my neck. She kept her eyes there. I watched her pupils widen as she took in my shoulders from her periphery. She watched me breathe, watched my pulse through my skin. When she looked in my eyes again, she held her hand out.
“Will you dance with me first, Empress?” she asked. My breath hitched in surprise. No one dared to be this forward with me. I’d always hoped someone would. I didn’t know what her intentions were, and yet… “I know. I’m surprising myself by asking this. We’ve only just met. But I believe you when you say my sister’s all right. I want to thank you. This is the best I can come up with for right now.”
I stared at her in disbelief. This woman was too fucking perfect. Smart, resourceful, determined, influential up in her part of the
city, and she had a pair? There was no way this was real.
“…is that a no?” she wondered, still holding her hand out to me.
“Just as a thank you?” I asked, brow raised.
Ser Videl smiled like in her picture. “For now,” she said. Her voice deepened just enough to make me hold back a reaction. She saw enough. She saw just enough to feel me and shed a little more light over her meaning: “I can make it more than that if you’d like. If you’d allow it.”
I laughed softly. “Ser Videl, you’re attractin’ attention,” I pointed out. It was true—people stared, whispering; trying to figure out what this was all about. “I’m the Empress of this place. You don’t just ask me to dance like this. Especially when you don’t know me. You ain’t from here. I’ll give you that much. But you’ve gotta know some kinda rules from guessin’.”
“I assumed you wouldn’t let me into your headquarters,” she reminded me. “Then you told me you would have. I guessed you wouldn’t dance with me if I asked. I’m asking you in the hopes that you’ll make another exception for me.” She stared down at my neck again, breathing harder. When she moved her eyes back to mine, hers darkened, sharpened in deep, lustful focus. “Or is that too much to ask?”
“You’re smooth,” I complimented. “You’re real smooth, Ser Videl.”
“Videl. Call me Videl.”
I smiled and said, “Videl it is.” She smiled with me, warming me to my core. I couldn’t stop it.
This promise of adventure—I hadn’t felt it properly in years. Women for me have come and gone, literally. The beginnings were never like this. They hadn’t looked at me with such controlled, respectful want. Like a gentleman. Like a knight—a true paladin. They hadn’t held their hand out to me, not giving a damn about everyone staring at us. They hadn’t asked me to dance as Satya sang such a haunting, romantic song about uncertain longing.
And then she spoke again: “I’m assuming another rule is that I don’t get to learn your real name.”
That was way more than anyone else had managed to do.
I leaned in to whisper in her ear, “The name’s Raj. You’re not allowed to tell no one. Promise me.”
“I won’t betray your trust. I swear that on my honor. I really like your name. It suits you, all the power you have. Tell me whenever I have permission to call you that. I’d like to earn it.”
She guided me over to the dance floor. The crowd parted to make room for us. They whispered to each other as we passed by; they saw how entranced I was, no matter how hard I fought to hide it. I watched the seriousness turn over as shadows across Videl’s beautiful face. Serious, but soft, somehow—she had a perfect balance of the two almost all the time. Couples slow-danced together to Satya’s song. Before I knew it, Videl and I were one of them. I breathed in the plain smell of the soap she’d used earlier. She didn’t need that fancy cologne Nyte had on to move me like this. Videl’s short-sleeved jacket, this close, smelled like the fresh fruits the merchants sold outside of Vassago.
“Empress,” she whispered. “I heard the stories about what a kind, giving woman you are. Almost everyone I spoke to in Elysium promised me that you’re one of a kind. That you deserve your throne. You deserve my gratitude, too.”
“You really do trust me, don’t you?” I asked. “You ain’t even seen her yet. And you believe me anyway.”
Videl brought both of our hands to my face. “It’s your eyes,” she said softly. “I see the truth in them. The way they’re shaped, the color, and even how thick your lashes are—they tell me all I need to know. I’m trained to spot liars. But you…the work you do, you have to live in the light. I couldn’t doubt you. Not if I tried.”
“You can’t be real,” I finally said. Videl made an amused sound. “What are you, a con-artist? Some bard in disguise tryin’ to get information outta me? Your Holy Knights Thirteen sent you to spy?”
“I’m only a paladin, Empress. I’m a sister who’s concerned about her only family left in this world. I’m the type of person who goes with what feels right, no matter what. If it doesn’t feel right…I won’t care at all. I won’t do it. I refuse to live my life in fear. I was conditioned not to.”
“Well now you’ve gotta tell me more,” I replied. “You sure do sound like a work of art.”
“I can tell you plenty of stories about me,” said Videl, pulling away as the song ended. “For now, I’d like to see Luna. If that’s fine with you.”
“Yeah, all right,” I answered. I wished this moment didn’t have to end. But she was realistic. She knew what she wanted. I had to respect that about her. “Let’s head over there.” Before she turned away, I held her hand a little tighter. “Videl, really—how is it that you trust me this much already? Is it seriously from a bunch of stories about how nice I am?”
Videl smiled, touching the locket around my neck. “You have Luna’s necklace,” she said. “It’s not something a grown woman would steal and wear as a trophy. My sister let you have it. I know she did.”
I’d forgotten I had this thing on. That was why she kept staring at my neck. As we left the place and went to Vassago, I got paranoid all over again. What if all of that actually was only a thank you? Did I imagine the lust in her eyes not too long ago? She didn’t flirt with me or nothing as we walked through the dark, empty streets. I thought she’d have more words for me.
When we got to my bandits’ humble abode, Videl seemed tense all of a sudden. Luna had mentioned that the two of them had been arguing a lot. They must’ve both been worried about what the other would think or say once they met up again. I had Videl follow me upstairs to the bedrooms. Something had overtaken her. Deep-seated worry, anxiety—silent as the landing was as we made our way across the floorboards. She glanced at the pictures of my gang hanging along the walls. Every time she saw one with me in it, she calmed down a little more. Such a small thing from her affected me—too much.
“This is her room,” I said, stopping in front of the door. Videl stared at it expectantly. Still frightened. “Before I unlock this door, I’ve gotta know one thing—do you plan on forcin’ her to go back to Eden? You know she’s happy here. Are you gonna tell her she ain’t got no choice?”
Videl was slow to look at me. “If this is what she wants, I won’t stop her,” she vowed. “I couldn’t keep her happy at home. She got into trouble because of me. I don’t want a repeat of that—or worse.”
That was good enough for me. I unlocked the door. Luna was fast asleep on the other side of the moonlit room. The silks draped over her open window rustled in the faint breeze. Videl walked into the room, footsteps uncertain. Once she stood next to Luna, watching her sister breathe, her nerves slowly left. She had her true confirmation that Luna was all right. That she could trust me—that both of them could. I might’ve still felt weird about earlier, but this sight made everything feel real. I didn’t see Videl as the impossible charmer who could talk her way between any woman’s legs—not anymore. I saw her as someone with regrets. Someone who’d failed, in her eyes, and let her family fall apart. Watching her then helped me learn that she was flawed. But she made up for it. She got down here right away, holding her sister again; whispering apologies and getting emotional for me to see.
The one thing I held against people were their imperfections. I didn’t accept failure from my bandits. I hated dealing with drama from the women who claimed they wanted me. Videl wasn’t perfect. She was real. For the first time in my life, that didn’t worry me. It didn’t put me off. It reassured me that I wasn’t a fool for feeling this way about her so soon.
Still, it was a good idea not to tell her. Not just yet. I wanted to get to know her. She had so much depth.
I went to my office and sat down behind my desk. All across the surface, I had my files on Kurtz Rubrum. The Lord of the Garden of Eden. The Lord Scrooge who funded my enemies’ projects. The Lord Everything to the folks up in Eden who wished they had a bunch of poor bastards to worship them. Two days. I had two days
to tell him my decision. He’d find some way to make me pay for this. I couldn’t let that stop me. Putting Luna, and now Videl, in the middle of this wasn’t an option. Their gratitude made me want to sacrifice for them.
Chapter Four
Nyctophobia
(Videl)
Holding my sister again felt like a dream.
From how soon I found out about what happened, I didn’t have the time to mourn my failure. The days I’d spent searching every part of Elysium for her, for the Empress, had gone by quickly in my determination. Listening to Luna sleep as I held her, lying down with her—it finally felt like time slowed down, for me to be absorbed in these night hours and think. About the Empress’ kindness. Raj’s kindness. I stared at the open door of the bedroom. I didn’t feel the need to close it, to lock it shut. My sister was safe here. The thought filled me with such comfort. I floated in that haze as I replayed the night’s events in my mind. For a time, I worried that I’d made the wrong moves. Said the wrong things. That the Empress—that Raj—had only flattered me, humored me.
Once I’d seen my sister’s locket around Raj’s neck, something inside of me changed. That was when I’d had my first assurance that Vespair was right about her. Such unexpected trust to find in another…after I’d spent my whole life relying on myself—it stirred so much in me. I didn’t understand any of it. I’d acted on it without stopping to think. I had no room for regrets. After all, Raj was stunning in her compassion. She was beautiful in her torrents of emotions—from what I’d heard from Vespair, at least. Those emotions were what helped Vespair track Raj down with her powers as a dark knight, to read the shadows of another’s heart and follow their every movement. I’d thought about becoming a dark knight. My mentor had warned me that I first had to find someone I wanted to protect, to serve. Otherwise, as a true paladin at heart, I wouldn’t have been able to hone anything.
I hadn’t predicted anything like this would happen. Yet it felt so right. The thought of going against this path in front of me only brought me pain. The thought of following it made me uncertain, but that uncertainty challenged me in a good way. Instead of sleeping, I spent the hours making up my mind about what to do—how to approach this new experience while staying true to myself.