by Erme Lander
My shoulder still hurts if I catch it, but appears to be healing cleanly. I pull my clothes on and wait. I’m given a plain coin, half the size of my palm and a dull silver colour. I flick it over, there’s nothing stamped on the other side. I’m dragged along with everyone and men from other dorms join us. There must be about thirty in total when we’re let out of the front door.
My questions about where we’re going are ignored. The men tramp through the streets and I wonder about escaping. Not many guards, and the streets aren’t so well lit here. Maybe I could… I catch the eye of the guard from my first day, he smiles and hefts his crossbow. I quieten my thoughts, I’ve no second chance of running here.
Any comments quieten as we queue up at a door and I notice some trying to straighten clothes and push back hair. I’m prodded inside by the man behind me and shift to stand next to the wall, it looks like untold luxury after the days in the mill. There are hangings on the wall, polished tables and incense burning. I sink into a chair and watch. The other men are shifting, impatient and yet waiting quietly, there’s an expectancy in the air.
A woman appears from behind a curtain. She walks up to a man and kisses him. Murmurs from the other men are muted, respectful. She leads him to a table and they sit. More women appear. Some take their men straight upstairs, others sit and talk or pick up card sets to play games. Not all the women are young, some are older.
The effect on the men I’ve worked alongside is civilising and then the realisation hits – I’m in a whorehouse. Slowly I rise, wondering if I can slide outside, I don’t want to be part of this. I don’t care about the crossbows, maybe they’ll let me go back. Just as I think I can get to the door, I find a hand on my arm.
“Are you Daniel?” An older woman stands in front of me. I nod, trying to see a way out without dying or worse. “Someone would like to see you upstairs. Have you your token?”
Worse than dying? My mouth dries out and I’m left speechless. Sensing my panic, she tucks her hand underneath my arm and steers me towards the stairs. Starved of female company, any comments made by my dorm mates are mild, their attention is for the women in front of them. I’ve no chance of running, it would be noticed. I feel the sweat breaking out under my armpits. What is this unknown woman going to expect of me? I can barely talk to the women of my old world. By the time we’ve reached the top of the stairs I’m nearly rigid with fear.
My escort laughs gently, “Don’t worry, there’s nothing to be frightened of.”
Noises can be heard coming from the other rooms, I’m caught between a desperation that she’s a whore and that it’s not right and a fascination for what could happen if I let it. I feel sick as we walk, suddenly unsure of what I even want and knowing my own body is betraying me. There is a door at the end of the corridor, she gestures and opens it for me.
I remind myself about the diseases that can be caught and shut my eyes, I can’t do this. The decision is agonising. I slide in and take a deep breath to say I don’t want to. The door shuts in my face and I turn to face the bed, my heart in my mouth.
Chapter 8
Talia is lying on the bed, picking at her nails with her knife, her dirty shoes on the clean sheets. My mind races to catch up with what my eyes are seeing. Does she work here? Is she a whore too? I look back at the closed door and my muddled thoughts shriek that there’s no way I’m touching her.
She smirks and cuts through the fuzz in my head, “You look like a Blubber fish.”
“A what?”
“Big mouth.” She gapes at me, opening and closing her own.
The familiar irritation pricks at me for the first time in days, “Does she know you’re here?” I gesture behind me.
“Course, I asked her to keep an eye out for you.” Talia pulls herself up and wipes her nose on her sleeve. “Saw you get caught by Igren’s lot, I knew it wouldn’t be long until you came here. He’s alright is Igren.” She catches my look and qualifies, “If you like that sort of thing.”
“Why are you here?”
“You ain’t from round here. There’ll be a reward for you. Igren’s one of the good ones but he still can’t think past his own nose.” She pulls a face and throws something at me. I nearly fumble the catch as my jumper unravels. I pull it on and nearly miss her next question in the luxury of the warmth from a softer land.
“So, you coming?”
“Where?” I start as she opens the shutters and blows the lamp out. “Why’d you do that?”
A sigh in the dark, “You need your night vision nob. Unless you want to stay with Igren. Good food, nice beds. I can get Betha back up here if you want to stay. May as well enjoy what’s on offer.”
The comments bite. I’ve spent days taking crap from the men and dealing with it, five minutes with Talia and I’m back to the familiar feeling of not measuring up. “I’m not a nob. Stop calling me that. I’m not as clever as you are here, but just you wait. If you were in my world, the shoe would be on the different foot all right.”
“Shoe on a different foot?” There’s complete incomprehension in her voice.
I wrestle my frustration down and say, “I’m not stupid. I’ve taken exams, I’ve got qualifications, they’re just not useful here.”
“Egg Sams? I have eggs when I can find the nests.” She sounds wistful in the dark and I suppress the urge to groan. Why is talking to Talia always so difficult? She’s not stupid, none of the men in the mill were either. It’s just a different level of intelligence, they’ve not had the book learning I’ve had. Frankly though, I think Talia delights in outsmarting me, she’s always pulling the conversation in the opposite direction to the way I expect. Heavy footsteps and laughter come down the corridor and I’m reminded why I don’t want to stay.
I fumble my way to the window, feeling for the frame and say, “Just get me out of here.”
The climb is frankly terrifying in the dark. There’s a slight ledge below the windows for our toes. I lean into the wall and see Talia’s outline inching sideways, hooking her hands into gaps left by broken bricks. We sidle past lit windows, hearing the grunts and laughter of my dorm mates with their companions. I barely breathe all the way across to the next building, trying not to think about how vulnerable we are. My arms are shaking by the time Talia grabs my wrist to drag me through a broken window.
Talia can barely see more than I can, and I snatch for her hand as we stumble over blocks and detritus. She pauses at the broken door, peering out to check for the guards and hushes me when I ask if we’re safe. My mind is full of crossbows and how easy it is to aim them, remembering how my guard had hefted his with a grin. One figure is in the light at the junction, we wait until he turns to casually wave at his friend. Hearts thumping, we move through the dark shadows in the other direction. Once on the next street and out of sight, we dart into the back alleys.
Talia leads me and this time I trust her – she knows what she’s doing. At her insistence, I try not to look at the lights hanging at the intersections. She stops several times to cough, hacking her guts up and spitting. My own lungs ache in sympathy, it’s a cough I’ve heard echoed throughout the factory. I’m blind as she pushes me through a doorway, my shoulder brushes against the door frame. She lights a candle and I shade my eyes, the flame throws wavering shadows onto the wall. Shielding it from the breeze, she motions me down the staircase and I recognise her hiding place.
I sag in relief as she tucks the candle into a cranny, “Can they find us? Will they look for me?”
“Course they’ll be looking. You’ll have been marked. Here, let’s have a look.” She spins me around and pulls at the neck of my jumper to look at my back before I can stop her. “Nice.” Choking, I wrestle her hands off using several words I wouldn’t have dreamt of using a week before.
“Ooh, been mixing with the hard men have we?” I catch a half smile from her in the candlelight and feel oddly pleased. Her expression turns serious. “We’ve missed the meeting, he won’t bother again.”
“What meeting?” I can see Talia bite back a remark. “Yeah alright, I’m a nob. But if you don’t tell me anything...”
She suddenly grins and her face lights up. She’s still not pretty, she’s not got enough teeth and is far too skinny, but there’s genuine amusement there. “We need to get up behind the wall, to the nob’s part and get you back in there.”
“I’ve told you, I’m not from there.”
She sniffs, “They’ll know what to do with you.” I sigh and it turns into a yawn, maybe they will. Someone must know how to get me back home.
We settle down for the night and I find I’m missing the company from the dorm. Despite the warmth of my jumper, the chill still slides its way into my bones. I hunch myself up and slide my hands between my legs, squeezing them to keep the warmth in. More for the sake of talking, I tell Talia in the dark about the men refusing to rebel in fear of the consequences and she agrees to an extent.
“It happened a long time ago when the factories were smaller and there were more owners. It’s always been used as a threat to keep the workers in check. A lot of people starved, that’s why some of us won’t work for them. We don’t like being kept in one place with no options.” I hear her voice becoming thoughtful in the dark. “Still, that was years ago. The guards only shoot enough to keep the rest behaving, they can’t afford to lose them. In theory…” Her voice trails off.
“What?”
“Nothing. Go to sleep.” Her voice has become sharp again. I shake my head, it’s not my problem, I only need to get home. I don’t need the problems of this troubled world as well as my own.
In the morning Talia stuffs a canvas bag into my arms and leads me downhill in a different direction to the brothel and Igren’s factory. I’ve insisted that she takes us to where she found me. I don’t care that she’s not pleased and thinks I’m interfering with her plans – it’s my way home we’re looking for.
It’s good to be out in the air, stretching my legs instead of the warm noisy factory, even if the air is damp and grey. I stride next to her, shoulders back and nearly whistling my happiness. Talia gives me several sideways glances and I can see her biting her tongue. We stop at an unremarkable intersection and she waves her hand towards the middle.
“S’here.” She’s not being helpful.
I sigh and ask, “Where was I exactly?”
Talia glowers and points to a window, “There.” I move to lean against the wall, trying to remember the exact sequence of events. It’s no use, I could have been anywhere in this city. I turn and run my hands over the wall. Nothing.
I speak out loud, thinking it might help us both, “I couldn’t grasp the rift until I had my arm around the girl’s waist and she pulled me in. It’s like a void between our two worlds, a place where we weren’t supposed to be. Everything was tight, I couldn’t breathe.” I paused remembering, “She slid out of my arms before I came through. She was the same size as you.” I look over to see Talia stood with her arms wrapped around her waist, hugging herself as though cold.
“Here.” I reach out to show her how I’d been pulled through and she twists out of my arms, her face glancing up at mine and for an instant I see the girl from the rift. I stop, stunned by the fear in her face.
“Come on nob. Nothing to be found.” The sneer is back in her voice as she walks away and I automatically follow, thinking furiously. That look, now I’m sure that girl was Talia but why wouldn’t she take me back? Why is she so adamant that only these nobs can help me? She found me again after I’d been taken by Igren, had she found a higher bidder? I watch her back as she stalks in front. Her clothes are wrong, I’m sure it was blue jeans the girl had been wearing, and baggy over her skinny legs. The hair’s wrong too, it’s to long. Nobody can grow their hair that quickly. My head aches and I resolve to keep an eye on Talia, wary for any betrayal.
I get left by a wall. I lean, surveying the quiet streets and try to project the same confidence the men at the factory had. Inside I’m a mass of worry as Talia saunters up to a man, not much different to the one who tried to kill me on the first evening. He wraps a boozy arm around her and whispers in her ear. I find myself straining to hear, knowing I’ve no chance. She coyly slaps him away, a side to her I’ve not seen before and I realise she’s flirting to get information. The man keeps trying to grope her and despite everything, by the time she walks back in my direction, I’m fuming for her.
“What the hell was he doing to you?”
“It’s fine, Martie hasn’t been able to get it up for years.” Her voice is careless. I’m spluttering my indignation, it doesn’t matter if he can or not. A horrifying thought occurs – how does she know? My thoughts must be obvious and she laughs at my face.
“What’s worse, him having a grope or your bum pals back at Igren’s? That bloke who was protecting you, he’d have had you in a second if he’d wanted to. Anyway, I’ve got a name and a place.” She tucks her hand into my elbow to pull me along and I realise I’m embarrassing her in front of her contact.
“Talia?” She grunts in reply, still frowning. “How old are you?”
Her face is a picture as she turns, “Does it matter?”
“Don’t you count the years? Every winter or summer or something?”
“Winter?”
“As the seasons change.” Her face is still crinkled. “Hot weather, cold weather, more rain, sunshine?”
“It doesn’t change. It’s always like this.”
Fog, mist and a cold dampness that seeps into everything. I feel my spirits sink. “So the whole island’s like this?”
She brightens, “Up on the hill it’s different. The nobs blocked it off.”
“Why?” I haven’t had much information about this world, anything might help.
She shrugs, “They keeps the best stuff up there. They have the space to grow green stuff for meat to eat. They give us stuff down here, we give them stuff back.”
“What sort of stuff?”
She mimics my face, “What were you making at the factory?”
“You mean the wool comes from up the hill?”
She rolls her eyes at my slowness and saunters in front, making it clear she’s bored with the conversation. “Better come with me nob.” I sigh at Talia’s inability to use my name as she continues, “Can’t go up to the hill empty handed, even with you to give back. Gotta find something.”
I don’t want to go up the hill, I want to go home and I’m still not sure I trust her. What can these nobs do to help? My stomach rumbles, no breakfast was offered this morning, and seeing Talia’s thin arms, I didn’t like to ask. Visions of cereal, porridge and toast dripping with butter run through my mind as I walk.
I follow her to another part of Narith, more rundown and only the occasional person to be seen in the distance. The quiet intensifies, I find myself breathing lightly, trying to hear through the silence. This city is enormous, the amount of people it must have once held. I try to imagine the streets bustling and jump at the crack of wings from a pigeon-like bird. It even affects Talia, she hunches over and stays to the sides of the streets, not wanting to be seen. She darts into an alleyway, levers a few bricks out of a wall and pulls out a handful of rags. Glancing around, she shoves the bricks back into the hole and walks swiftly out, stuffing the rags into the bag I carry.
Walking up the hill I get more of a sense of the size of the city. The bay is hidden in the mist below and I wonder if it ever lifts. As we climb, the sun shines through stronger until we finally reach an open area before a long building. Talia looks up and counts the blank windows to arrive at a small archway down some steps.
“We’re stopping here. Martie says he meets his contact every morning after ten day. We’ve gotta get in to meet him.” She points up at the building in front of us and I realise it’s not just a building, it’s a wall snaking its way along the contours of the hill. This is where the nobs live. Windows and doors have been filled in, the wall is the height of the buildings down by the doc
ks. I crane my neck and see a figure walking past along the top.
Talia whisks me into the shelter of the archway. There’s a wide gap across the top with iron spikes showing in front of the door. We stop underneath them as she bangs on it. I take a step back to get out of the way of the portcullis and she drags me back into line with the peep hole that’s just opened. I stand, feeling vulnerable with the weight of the iron balancing above me. A whispered conversation through the peep hole and Talia rummages through the bag I carry to pass something through. The peep hole slams shut and she stares intently at the wood. I shift from foot to foot, waiting and eventually the door opens for us.
I duck through and we enter a small room. A brazier is smoking gently in the corner, coals glowing. Dice and cards are set up for an interrupted game of patience. I feel more like a loose end than ever as Talia is passed something and told directions. Both doors leading to and from this room are heavily barred and an efficient looking crossbow leans next to the man talking.
Talia grabs my hand to walk me into the corridor, her eyes are everywhere and I presume she’s storing any information she can to sell. Strings of electric lights show the way through the corridors. It’s almost dreamlike in the quiet, there are no windows and the walls, when we pass through doorways, are thick like a fortress. Disorientated, I let Talia lead with the feeling we are walking through the wall, not along it, heading up at every intersection. We get stopped by the few people we meet. Talia shows her token to them, they point out directions and we are left to continue walking.
Finally we come to a winding staircase and Talia glowers at me, “Keep your mouth shut.” I sigh as she turns to walk up the stairs, I do little else around her other than follow and be told not to talk.