Alysium

by Tiffany Pelletier

  Glancing at Ranelle's bedroll on the other side of the cookstove, he scowled. He was pretty sure Abree had set them up that way on purpose. He sighed, hoping the cold water might at least stimulate cuddling in front of the fire before bed. As he continued to stare at her bedroll, he noticed her new pile of clothing sitting on top. Next to it was the new towel she’d also taken from the supplies.

  Getting to his feet, he grabbed her towel and clothing, as well as his own, and walked to the back of the room. As he reached the bend where the alcove was set inside the back wall, he heard the pitter-patter of water on stone.

  “You forgot your towel and new clothes,” he said, bending over to place the pile next to her old clothes that were discarded on the floor.

  As Gideon stood back up, the curtain that shielded the alcove slowly slid to the side.

  “Your turn?” Ranelle said quietly from within, the darkness of the cove shielding her from his view.

  “If you're all done,” he said slowly, mesmerized by the dark outline of her figure. He grabbed her towel and held it out, unfolded.

  Slowly, she stepped from the shower right into her outstretched towel as Gideon wrapped it around to her back. He pulled her into his chest to help warm her. “How was it?”

  “Refreshing,” she whispered, shaking, the ebony hair that hung unevenly just above her shoulders was still dripping.

  “I bet it was,” he said with a smile as he rubbed her arms and shoulders, trying to help warm them.

  Ranelle pressed her face to Gideon’s chest, heating her nose against his tunic. After a moment, she stepped back slowly, wrapping her towel around herself more appropriately.

  “Have fun,” she said with a wink.

  “I, unlike you it seems, hate cold water. I’ll enjoy this far less than you did.”

  Ranelle grinned while he slid past her into the alcove.

  “Try to enjoy!” she said, sliding the curtain closed behind him. As she began to get dressed in the shadows to the side of the alcove, the curtain moved slightly as Gideon threw out his dirty clothing into a heap. There were a few quick moments of silence, then a loud gasp from within the alcove, followed by several hurried expletives.

  Ranelle giggled silently as choice words continued to roll through the curtain. When she’d finished dressing, she reveled in the warmth that her new leathers provided her; the soft hide on the inside felt blissful against her chilled skin.

  After Gideon had finished washing up, Ranelle passed his towel into the dark alcove, just able to make out the outline of his muscular form in the darkness.

  “See,” she chirped, “that wasn't so bad, was it?”

  “Terribly cold,” he said, shaking his head, “but definitely refreshing.”

  Ranelle stared at him for a moment, observing his exposed skin when he wasn't looking. The sight of his strong arms bare of clothing was rare. Ashbourne was always very cold. Almost everyone wore long, insulated sleeves as a result.

  “I've never had leathers or clothes this fine before,” she said, tearing her gaze from Gideon’s attractive form, hugging her new jacket to her chest.

  “I know,” he said thoughtfully, pulling on a long sleeve shirt and admiring it.

  Ranelle glanced at the others on their bedrolls. She watched as they laughed and joked, their minds at ease and their bellies full. When she turned back to Gideon, he was now fully clothed and had both of their old clothing piled into his arms.

  “What do you want to do with our old stuff? Should we leave it behind in case someone happens upon the supply station?”

  “Burn them,” said Ranelle after quick consideration.

  “Burn...” repeated Gideon slowly, his eyes narrowing.

  “Yeah, let’s all make a fresh new start,” she said brightly, approaching him with outstretched hands. As she reached him, she grasped his elbows as he held the tattered garments. Her smile radiated from ear-to-ear.

  Gideon gazed at her, seeing the reflection of the faraway pyrus firelight in her eyes. It danced, swaying back and forth, intensifying the gold of her irises.

  “Alright,” he said, as if in a trance, a smile spreading across his lips.

  Ranelle returned the smile, taking the clothes from him, she turned back to join the others.

  “Why’s your hair wet?” Lara squeaked as she caught sight of Ranelle's black hair glistening.

  “Fall into the latrine?” Abree said, hopefully.

  Ranelle ignored Abree. “Our team leader rigged up the spring into a shower,” Ranelle said with a smile, watching Lara’s eyebrows pop.

  “A shower?” she said, jumping to her feet.

  “I wouldn't say no to one...” Abree piped up, attempting not to seem too excited.

  “Then why don't you two head back and each get one before bed,” Gideon suggested.

  The two girls looked at each other briefly before getting to their feet.

  “We've also decided to burn our mining clothes...to start fresh. If you want to, leave them by the cookstove when you're finished,” Ranelle added as she plopped down on her bedroll.

  Charlie cleared his throat loudly, obviously feeling left out.

  “You're last, I guess,” said Ranelle playfully, turning her bottom lip out into a pout. Charlie furrowed his brow, unsure of how to take her jesting.

  “That's okay,” said Gideon to Charlie with a wink, “at least the fire will be stoked and hot by the time you get done.”

  “Yeah, I guess,” said Charlie gloomily, apparently ignorant to the meaning behind Gideon’s words.

  As the three of them sat talking in front of their makeshift fireplace, Charlie finally started to relax, resulting in a better mood by the time the girls returned.

  “How was it?” he asked with a hopeful look on his face.

  “Nice and relaxing,” said Abree, stretching her arms as if she’d just had an excellent massage.

  “Oh, my turn!” said Charlie as he grabbed his new clothes and towel and sprinted for the alcove before Lara could warn him of the water temperature.

  The others all stifled their laughter as they sat upon their bedrolls, patiently waiting. A moment later, a shriek came from the shower alcove.

  “Not…funny,” came a whiny voice.

  The group erupted with laughter, even Lara, albeit her laughter ended quicker than the rest as she got to her feet. “I forgot my old clothes,” she said as she retreated back to the alcove.

  “I think there's something there,” said Ranelle quietly, watching Lara disappear to the back of the room.

  “Really wouldn't surprise me,” said Abree grumpily.

  Gideon chose not to answer. Instead, he used Lara and Charlie's absence to his advantage as he stood up. Approaching Lara's bedroll, he scooped it up into his arms, laying it neatly next to Charlie's. Then, he pulled Ranelle's bedroll next to his and sat back down on his own.

  Abree watched with narrow eyes, her nose wrinkled as if there was a terrible smell in the air. Ranelle, who pretended not to notice, smiled from ear-to-ear as she sat down on her bedroll to relax.

  A moment later, Lara returned from the alcove with a much happier looking Charlie. His face significantly brightened when he realized that Lara's bedroll had been moved next to his. He practically glowed as he went to sit on his bed, dropping his old clothes into a pile on the stone floor by the pyrus stove on his way past.

  Lara deposited her old clothing as well, then returned to her new spot next to Charlie, her eyes bright and focused on him.

  Ranelle watched, her heart feeling light. Her happiness faded, however, as she cautioned a glance in Abree's direction. The girl was icy as usual, concentrating hard on the swaying flames of the burning pyrus. She instantly felt a pang of guilt, seeing the girl was obviously lonely. However, the moment was fleeting. She wanted to help the others as much as she could, but beyond tending her wound, Ranelle cared nothing for Abree.

  Feeling the heat from the fire grow, she focused instead on the stove as Gideon stoked the
flames, blowing on the pyrus gently, feeding its color and intensity.

  “Should be hot enough,” he said, backing away from the stove and kneeling in front of it instead.

  First, Ranelle reached for her old clothing which included her mother's overshirt, tattered boots, plus her own mining pants and recycled underclothes. She stopped before handing them to Gideon, feeling a mixture of excitement and sadness. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she passed the items over and watched as he set them on top of the burn ring; the boots first, followed by the clothing piled on top.

  For a few seconds, the items were captivated in the firelight. Then, slowly the items took the flames as they traveled up the boot leathers, eventually reaching the cloth on top. As the pile became fully engulfed, each item burned a different color. Ranelle watched as the soles of the boots bubbled, eventually melting. It took only a few minutes until each piece was burned beyond recognition.

  As the clothing disappeared within the flames, Ranelle felt her heart racing, the excitement of what they were doing coursed through her veins. Their actions would have resulted in severe and cruel punishment in Ashbourne. It was illegal to waste resources, and all clothing items were required to be recycled for future generations.

  Next, Gideon took his own, less-tattered clothes and plopped them on top of the fire ring as well. One by one, each pile of mining clothes was placed onto the stove. Each pair of boots and clothing burned until it fell into the dish of burning pyrus, which Gideon had to scrape clean, refill, and relight several times. After all the clothing was burned, the group collectively relaxed, snacking on rations and warming by the fire.

  Eventually, long after Gideon had stopped stirring the pyrus, it began to die down, turning a piercing azure. The teenagers crept into their bedrolls, becoming lumps around the failing firelight.

  Ranelle watched Lara and Charlie turn in towards each other inside their bedrolls, talking in whispers except for an occasional giggle. Gideon smiled and turned inside his bedroll towards Ranelle. She did the same as they both came to rest their heads close to one another. Ranelle gazed into his eyes and watched as his hand reached for her brow, brushing a few loose strands of hair from her face.

  “You're beautiful,” he whispered, his eyes drooping slightly.

  “I'm not,” she uttered.

  “You are to me,” he whispered again, followed by a long animalistic yawn.

  Ranelle smiled. “You could have anyone,” she said, barely audible.

  Gideon smiled, and his eyes drooped lazily before slowly popping open again.

  “I know,” he said pompously as he reached for her, pulling her bedroll right up next to his. Ranelle giggled.

  “Shh,” spat Abree, obviously irritated with all of the after-hours noise.

  They ignored her.

  Gideon reached his arms into Ranelle’s bedroll, pulling her even closer, reaching his arms around her back to hold her close to him.

  She giggled, planting a kiss on his chin.

  “Goodnight,” he whispered into her ear.

  Gideon’s musky smell filled her nose, which was admittedly more pleasant now after his shower, but it brought the same feeling.

  Safety.

  She felt safe with him. She smiled to herself in the near darkness. As if Gideon could sense her smiling, he gave her a gentle squeeze before relaxing, his breathing slowing as he fell asleep.

  Ranelle laid still and quiet, willing him to feel as comfortable with her as she was with him. She started to count his breaths. Fifty...sixty...seventy. She watched him sleep until the pyrus had all but died down, and she could no longer keep her eyelids ajar.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Late the next morning, the teenagers all woke to find Gideon already up, packing their supplies.

  “We leaving?” asked Abree groggily.

  “We can stay here until the supplies are gone, then try to find our way out of here, or we can explore and come back if we hit a dead end,” he explained.

  “Where are we exploring to?” asked Charlie, who was stretching out his tired muscles and wiping the sleep from his eyes.

  “There's only one way to go,” Ranelle replied, “deeper into the mine.”

  “But, won't it eventually just end?” Lara asked, sitting up and pushing her blanket to the side.

  “It may,” replied Gideon as he stopped to look at the group, “but don't you want to find out?”

  “You mean you’re doing this because you're curious?” asked Abree, sounding thoroughly unimpressed.

  “If we get to the end and it just stops, then we will turn back toward Ashbourne. We can't just stay here in this supply station until we rot.” Gideon's last word echoed in the quiet of the room. The rest of them grew uneasy, casting anxious looks at each other.

  “We get your point,” Charlie piped up, which was unusual for him as he was usually the least opinionated of their bunch.

  “Perfect!” said Gideon happily, dropping his satchel to the stone floor with a thud. “Ranelle, why don't you pack any medical supplies and herbs we might need. Lara and Abree, you can pack the food while Charlie fills up the water bladders.”

  “And you?” Abree asked pointedly, her eyebrows lifting as her hands snapped to her hips.

  “I'm getting the weaponry. I don’t know what we’ll face on our way, but these weapons are down here for a reason,” he replied, walking off without waiting to see if his explanation satisfied her.

  Abree huffed indignantly but chose not to respond.

  His mind focusing on the task at hand, Gideon advanced on the wooden cupboards, taking stock of what remained after each teenager had taken what they needed.

  There were stacks of sheathed knives and daggers of various shapes and sizes, as well as other weapons Gideon hadn’t seen before. Unsure of what they might need, he inspected the weaponry he was familiar with.

  There were two medium-sized bows with matching quivers of arrows. Gideon had seen a bow before; it was hanging on the wall in his house. It had always seemed like a strange and clumsy weapon to him. The arrowhead was far too large to kill any of the rodents in Alysium. When he was little, his governess had told him stories of giant river monsters. They would drag their smooth bellies up and onto the riverbank, swallowing small children when their parents weren’t looking. Perhaps the arrowheads had been used on those creatures. Somehow, he doubted they would face river monsters in the tunnels ahead.

  Gideon then observed several axes, which made him grin. There wasn't a miner in Ashbourne afraid to handle an ax, no matter the size or shape. Finding the familiar weapons made him feel more prepared for any obstacles they might face. Probing the weapon cabinet one final time, he pulled out a large rectangle of thick leather that had straps sewn on to each of the four corners as well as the middle. On the back of the thick hide, there was a strap large enough to fit down over a man's shoulders. Immediately knowing what the odd garment was for, Gideon was relieved to find a solution to his current problem. He’d been preoccupied with figuring out how to carry the vast collection of weapons.

  He laid the square of leather onto the ground, each strap extended outward as he piled the weapons neatly on top of the hide. Then, wrapping the straps across the top, middle, and bottom of the pile, he tied them firmly around the throng, securing the bundle. Next, he rolled it over, pulling the pack up and over his shoulders so that the strap on the back of the leather came down across his chest, with the pack of weapons situated comfortably across his backside. He grabbed the satchels where he’d stashed the daggers and knives and returned to the group.

  The others ogled as he approached.

  “Do you really think we’ll need all of those?” asked Charlie, returning from the alcove with full water bladders banging against his hip.

  “These weapons are here for a reason...I'd rather not get caught without them in a pinch.”

  Charlie nodded, although his expression remained unsure as he took the water bladders from his shoulders and set th
em carefully onto the stone floor.

  “I'll help Lara finish up with the food, I guess,” said Charlie, gazing over at the girl as she loaded supplies into several small packages.

  “Good idea,” said Gideon dismissively, his eyes scanning the station for anything else they might need.

  Charlie tried not to grin as he walked to join Lara, finding her very appreciative of his assistance.

  “Good thing, I'd probably be doing this forever on my own,” said the skinny girl as she piled mushrooms and roots into the satchel she’d been working on. Charlie beamed as he retrieved the bag, holding it open so Lara could load it easier.

  Abree, who was supposed to be helping Lara, stood off to the side checking her bandages, not bothering herself to lift a finger. Still, it took only a short time to pack the remaining supplies.

  When Gideon was confident the job was done, he turned just as Ranelle appeared next to him with the finished medicine bundles in hand.

  “All done?” she asked, eying the armory he carried with him.

  “Absolutely,” Gideon replied, a smirk slowly spreading across his face, “how about you?”

  “I think so,” she replied.

  “Is it a good haul?” he asked, looking down at the bundles expectantly.

  “I'd say so...I wouldn’t have minded a bit more sole just in case, but overall, I think we should be good with what we’ve got. I have some harbringer and sole from station one to add to what I found here,” Ranelle explained. When she finished, her face fell.

  “What's wrong?” Gideon asked.

  “It's just–I found more than what I expected.”

  “More is good, right?” he asked with a bemused expression.

  “Well...along with the herbs we have in Ashbourne, I found one that grows in Cinder and one from Stillshade. But there were three others I couldn't identify.”

  “And that worries you?”

  “Gideon,” Ranelle said pointedly, “I know the name of every plant or herb that grows in Alysium. I know what they look like and what they’re used for. These aren't from home. They don't grow anywhere.” Ranelle's eyebrows were raised, her eyes wide. Gideon could feel her anxiety.