by Tammy Walsh
I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked pretty good but I was badly in need of makeup. The events of the day had taken their toll. I moved into the bathroom and applied some face paint. Not too much—just a little eyeliner and powder around the eyes and cheeks as the sales assistant had suggested.
And he was right. The white gold necklace did make the dress pop.
A knock came at the door.
I opened it to find Traes standing with his back half turned to me. His suit was sharp and, I had to say, a little funny. It sported wide shoulder pads that reminded me of the worst fashion insults from the eighties. I guessed it was the latest fashion here in Titanland.
When he turned to me, his eyes glinted, and his smile was to die for. It was just the reaction I was hoping for.
He extended his elbow. I took it. He led us down the stairs.
“You look stunning,” he said.
“You don’t look too bad yourself,” I said.
We climbed into his shuttlecraft and zipped into the night.
“We don’t have to stay long,” Traes said. “Just long enough for me to speak to a few key investors.”
“What’s the matter?” I said in a fake haughty manner. “Are you embarrassed to be seen with your human date?”
He took my hand and kissed it.
“Embarrassed to be seen with the most beautiful female in the empire?” he said. “Yes. A little. They will wonder what you’re doing with me.”
“I’m with you for your money, obviously,” I said.
I chuckled as the door was opened. Traes climbed out first and extended his hand to me.
The facade of the building took my breath away. The style was nothing like anything on Earth. It consisted of blocky sharp angles and was made entirely from metal that caught the light and cast rainbows across the tarmac. Shuttlecraft came in to land at platforms at various levels.
I was pleased to see the other female guests wore similar dresses to mine. I didn’t want to do the whole red carpet thing and stand out too much.
The party was everything Traes told me it would be. Back on Earth, I’d never been to a high-class event before and had nothing to compare it to.
I supposed there were rich people like these on every planet, and in every city, throughout the galaxy. The upper classes who always did well.
The music was provided by a string quartet and drinks were offered on silver trays that looked suspiciously like champagne. It occurred to me that perhaps style and grace had the same fingerprints no matter which species you came from.
While Traes approached the investors he’d come to talk shop with, I got stuck with their wives. The translator strip worked perfectly. I understood every word they muttered in their deep drawling voices but the meaning always flew over my head. I had no idea what these people were talking about.
I kept to myself and focused on sipping from my glass. I glanced over at Traes every few minutes. Sometimes, I was rewarded with a glance back.
“Don’t you think, Bianca?” one of the Titan wives said.
I hadn’t listened to a single word she said. Even if I had, I wouldn’t have understood it. I peered around at the other women present and realized they were waiting expectantly for me to say something too.
Oh shit.
Then I thought back to the words of wisdom Traes had told me in the shuttle on the way there:
“A word of advice,” he said. “If you ever get stuck for conversation with someone, always do the same thing. Laugh.”
“Laugh?” I said. “Laugh about what?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “They’re always trying to come up with something clever and funny to say. If you laugh, it’s like you’re giving them a pat on the back. And it makes you look like you have a good sense of humor too.”
I frowned. It sounded suspiciously like I was being punked.
“Trust me,” he said. “It works like a charm.”
The wives continued to stare at me. I was taking too long to respond. I needed to say something…
I threw my head back and burst into laughter. I shook my head and wiped imaginary tears from my eyes.
“Oh, that’s really good,” I said.
I glanced at the others to see if my performance flew. They shared looks before bursting into laughter themselves in their high pitched, forced voices.
I turned to Traes across the room. I grimaced with a questioning look on my face.
He grinned at me and raised his champagne glass in salute for a job well done.
The rest of the evening passed like that until Traes placed his hand on my bare back and smiled politely at the wives.
“Excuse me, ladies,” he said. “We must be getting home. The little one will be wondering where we are.”
The women nodded their understanding, although I doubted if any of them ever had to worry about getting home in time to tuck their kids in bed. They’d have people to do it for them.
Traes led me out of the function room and onto his shuttlecraft. The moment we were inside, he loosened his tie and melted into his chair.
“How’d it go?” I said.
“They’re interested in funding my new mine,” he said. “And not a minute too soon. If I had to hear one more hunting story…”
I laughed and tucked up close to him.
“You can stop fake laughing now,” he said.
“It’s… hard to stop,” I said.
The entire evening lasted no more than two hours and I’d been fake laughing the entire time.
“My cheeks hurt,” I said.
“That means you should laugh more,” he said.
“You’re a good one to talk, Mr. Grouchy Workaholic Titan,” I said, poking him in the ribs.
“Not anymore,” he said, wrapping his arm around me and holding me close.
We sat there, calm and at peace, as we zipped through the air heading home.
The guards opened the doors for us and we both felt relieved to be back home. We entered the front room and fell into the comfortable armchairs.
Traes flicked his shoes off and wiggled his toes, working some blood into them.
“That’s better,” he said. “I don’t know why they have to make everything so uncomfortable when you go to these high-class events.”
“To remind everybody to be miserable, I suppose,” I said.
Traes chuckled.
“True enough,” he said.
He checked no one was watching and quickly pecked me on the cheek.
“Back so soon?” Waev said.
Oops.
Had he witnessed the kiss? If he had, and it’d shocked him, it didn’t show.
“You know me,” Traes said. “A real partygoer.”
Waev extended a tray with two steaming cups of tea.
“How’s Cleb?” Traes said, slurping from his cup.
“A bit quiet,” Waev said. “We played with him and put him to bed about twenty minutes ago. He should be fast asleep by now.”
“Did he say anything about earlier?” I said, tapping the side of the teacup with my fingernail.
“Nothing,” Waev said. “Perhaps it’s for the best. There are all kinds of dangerous people out in the world. There’s no need to invite them into your home in the form of bad memories and nightmares.”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Traes said. “He’s bounced back from worse.”
That was true. But the human soul could only take so much tragedy. Especially a little boy.
My stomach churned at the idea it was caused by me.
“I’m going to go check on him,” I said.
“He’ll be fine,” Traes said. “Stay here and vegetate with me and celebrate the end of another forced social party.”
I set the teacup to one side.
“I really should check on him,” I said.
“Do you need company?” Traes said, not moving a single muscle to get out of the chair.
“Would you help if I asked?” I said.
He chuckled and waved his hand.
“See you soon,” he said.
I carried my heels in two crooked fingers as I ascended the stairs. I’d become well accustomed to the layout of the house by now. I turned a corner without needing to think but still needed to count down the number of bedroom doors before I came to a stop outside Cleb’s room.
I was about to knock, then thought better of it. I didn’t want to wake him if he was already sleeping soundly.
I pressed my ear to the door to see if I could hear him breathing. Unlikely, I thought, with the door as thick as it was. I press my hand to the handle and began to ease it down.
That’s when I heard a muffling sound.
Was he having a nightmare? Was he dreaming about what happened today?
I felt terrible. The least I could do was calm him while he suffered the nightmares I’d unleashed upon him.
I opened the door slowly to ensure there was no unnecessary squeak that might disturb him.
I squinted against a blinding light that flashed in my face. I blocked it with a hand and stepped to one side. Now I was cloaked in semi-darkness, I noticed a lamp had fallen off its side table and landed on the floor. What should have been soft yellow light dampened by its lampshade was harsh light glaring out the top of the lampshade.
My eyes adjusted and immediately snapped in the direction of the figure lit by a silhouette of light.
My blood froze in my veins.
Within the nightmarish glow stood the figure of Asshole. He had Cleb clutched in his arms, a hand wrapped firmly over his muffling mouth.
If he wanted to, he could snap his neck with a single jolt of his arm, or any number of other awful things.
“No!” I said. “Please! Don’t hurt him!”
I raised my hands in supplication.
“Shut the door,” Asshole said.
I did as he said. I couldn’t take the risk of Cleb getting hurt.
“It’s me you want,” I said. “Leave him out of this—”
“Now listen to me, girly,” Asshole said. “You gave me the slip once already. It won’t happen again. Not if you want to keep your little lord in one piece. You’re both coming with me.”
Traes
My muscles relaxed and my body unfurled, melting into the sofa’s soft upholstery. I was pleased with how the evening had gone. I had learned there was still great interest in mining. Managing to confirm interest from two of the wealthiest Titans in the empire meant the new mine was as good as built. All it took now was time.
But that wasn’t all I learned.
I also learned the reason the investors were so interested in funding my new mine. They heard rumors the Changelings had altered their usual attacking process.
They’d stopped raiding.
They didn’t have the capability to overrun our military, so they liked to drop down unannounced to one of our planets and kill, steal, and abduct anything not nailed down.
Our government demanded the Titans be returned immediately. They were met, as always, with silence. The Changelings never gave back anything they stole. It was part of their culture, their code of dishonor, and our leaders were much too soft with them.
With so little resistance, why stop?
So, the Changelings didn’t.
But now they were becoming more of a problem. They were attacking in force, destroying a military unit here and there, before retreating to attack again another day.
War was coming, the investors said. And when it did, the empire would need ore and other materials.
My stomach clenched, knowing the devastation battle would have on the people. Yes, it was good for business, but I much preferred peace. It was always the poor that suffered most during wartime.
My entire face yawned. I suddenly felt very tired. I glanced at the clock and found it was past midnight.
Bianca must have found Cleb awake in his room or else suffering a nightmare. She would talk with him, reassure him, and ease him back to sleep.
A raging storm of anger and more than a little fear set my teeth on edge when I thought about what happened to them in town today. A mysterious stranger had attempted to kidnap them.
How did he think he was going to get away with it?
The clock ticked and made a soft bong noise. It was now past one in the morning. Time flew when you were groggy with sleep.
I collected my shoes and socks and headed toward the stairs.
“Would you care for a nightcap, sir?” Waev said.
“No, thank you,” I said. “Get yourself to bed. There’s no need for you to be up this late.”
Waev bowed and took his leave. I never knew the man to sleep when I was awake. He lived his life entirely according to mine. He was a marvel. For years, he’d catered to my every whim, and yet I knew so little about him or his past.
When he first arrived, he admitted he had little experience as a servant but he promised me I would never find a more trustworthy and loyal Titan.
He was right.
I gave him the chance to serve, and I hadn’t regretted it once. He was more than just an employee—in truth, all the servants were—he was a close friend. And now that Bianca and Cleb had joined us, the final pieces had slipped into place, and we were now a family.
Before, I was a man obsessed with work. I built a mining empire second to none in the galaxy. But I had no one to share it with. Now, I had someone special—two people. Cleb and Bianca.
Just thinking about her brought a smile to my face. She did admirably well tonight, laughing at every passing comment that made no sense. It took time to attune to the muffling grumbling tone of the upper classes. Eventually, she would get used to it, and then she would wish she couldn’t understand what they were saying.
It was always nonsense and idiocy. The opinions of people who never saw the world from any viewpoint other than their own.
I headed upstairs and decided to take a short diversion past Cleb’s room. I wanted to check to make sure he was okay and if Bianca needed any help.
For too long, I’d ignored Cleb’s needs, ignored the fact he needed a parental figure in his life. Well, now he had two. He would always have someone to care and look out for him.
I approached Cleb’s bedroom door. It was closed. I leaned my ear against it and listened for the voices I thought I’d hear inside. Soft and gentle words of support.
But I couldn’t hear their voices. Maybe they’d finished discussing what happened today and she brushed his hair, helping him slip into dreamland.
I turned to leave them to it when I noticed a bright light shining through the gap under the door. It fanned across the carpet, fading into darkness.
The lights in the rooms were all soft balls of yellow. There shouldn’t have been such a bright light in the room.
Intrigued but unconcerned, I gently knocked on the door with my knuckle. When no response came, I knocked a little louder. I thought I would hear footsteps approach the door from the other side and for shadows to appear in the light as Bianca stood on the other side.
But that didn’t happen.
No one approached and no one opened the door.
I depressed the handle and pushed the door open. The door’s bottom edge made a tearing sound as it passed over the carpet.
The lamp lay on the floor beside the side table that had been shunted aside when the window had been forced open. Cleb’s blankets lay tossed aside, the bed empty.
Cleb was gone, and so was Bianca.
The police officer flipped his notepad shut and tucked it in his pocket. I was in a daze. Waev had placed a blanket over my shoulders and a steaming cup of something hot between my hands. I hadn’t taken a single sip and didn’t even notice it there.
I was taken aback by how shiny the officer’s buttons were on his uniform. He clicked his electronic pen and it joined the notepad. It recorded everything he wrote and was automatically added to the police files. Every active police officer had access to the inform
ation instantly.
I’d just told him everything that’d occurred, from the incident in town to the social event and finally what happened just a few minutes ago upstairs when I found Cleb’s bedroom empty.
Upon discovering both Cleb and Girl gone, I had yelled so loud I woke the entire house up. It wasn’t even a real word, but a sound. During our funeral rites, we often sang sad mournful music, no more than noises, that resonated and passed along the emotions of how we felt.
My cry had been full of pain and heart-wrenching anguish. The servants had come running. Waev placed his hands on my back as I folded and crumpled to the floor on my knees.
I knew what’d happened the moment I saw that lamp.
“Wake the guards!” I’d bellowed. “Have them search the grounds! They can’t be far!”
The guards dispersed, beginning their search outside, checking every inch of my land. The drones zoomed overhead, lights blinking, scanning the terrain for any sign of Bianca or Cleb, or their captors.
So far, they had found nothing. Only then, once they’d completed their search outdoors, had they turned inward and checked the house.
By then, the police had arrived.
“When something like this happens to someone of your station, it’s because they want a ransom,” the police officer said. “In case the call comes, we’ve set up a team in one of the other rooms so we can trace them. I assure you no effort will be spared to locate your loved ones.”
I didn’t respond. I was catatonic.
“I have a question to ask, and it might seem a little unsettling,” the police officer said.
My ears perked up. I wondered what he could ask me that he hadn’t already.
The officer ran a hand through his short hair and scratched underneath his hat.
“This new governess you hired,” he said. “Has she been with you for long?”
“A few weeks,” I said.
The officer nodded as if he thought that might be the case.
“Why do you ask?” I said.
“Do you consider her to be someone worthy of trust?” he said.