by S. K Munt
Satan save me now from this fucking HELL of an existence! But hey, it sounds like he’d be all for this even if Karol were a black Yankee lesbian, so Margaret Mitchell would be proud of the leader of the new southeast, at least...
‘That sounds um, like quite the celebration…’ I took another sip of my wine then changed my mind and downed the whole thing knowing that I wasn’t going to survive this night sober. In fact, I wasn’t going to survive another few minutes of rubbing shoulders with the rich and titled, not knowing that they all assumed that they were entitled to rub more than shoulders with me once Kohén had had a poke.
Then I caught Maryah glaring at me from a few feet away from where she was conversing with a dark-skinned girl in a clingy gold netted gown, and I knew that I was in trouble though why, I couldn’t imagine. I had to find the birthday boy, tell him that I was sick after all and was going upstairs. And then, I had to take this dream-killing dress off, and lock my dormer door tight to keep out the monsters that liked it so much.
‘It will be. And of course, dear Larkin… if you score highly enough in your preliminaries next year and prove that you have what it takes to back your plans, I’ll give you the first one hundred acres of land for free, as a token of my appreciation. Yael will be lucky indeed, to have such an accomplished serving its flag.’
‘Bargain,’ I said lightly, while thinking: But do me a favour and get relocated into a six-foot deep plot of your own first! Oh God, I hoped his on had been cut from better cloth!
‘You haven’t spoken to Atticus Hartley about this yet, have you?’ Elbert asked, and I didn’t look back at him as I plotted my escape.
‘Who?’
‘The Pacifican general?’
‘Why on earth would I discuss raising cotton with a man who is responsible for the Corps?’ I asked as I scanned the room, preparing myself to plead the need to use the lavatory as soon as I’d found Kohén.
‘No reason, I suppose. But I know that he is looking for a means to climb the ranks…’ Elbert went on, and I stopped listening, choosing to plot Karol’s death for luring me into this predicament under the pretence of realising my ambitions. Karol wasn’t helpful- he was a depraved son of a bitch and when he smiled at me over the ‘Queen’ of Yael’s shoulder, I looked away knowing that if he saw the hate in my eyes, I’d be put to death for conspiring to murder someone with traces of Nephilim blood.
‘Larkin, is it?’ a melodic voice chimed suddenly, and I turned to see the dark-haired Companion from earlier come to stand beside us while smiling enigmatically at me. She extended her hand. ‘I’m sorry for interrupting you both, but I have to leave soon and before I leave, I simply have to tell you how divine your dress is. I’m Siria, by the way, of Tariel.’
I’d never been so happy to see a prostitute before in my life. ‘Thank you,’ I said, inching toward her. ‘It was made by Lindy Trevasse, a good friend of mine.’
‘Is she an Artisan designer?’ Siria asked.
‘No,’ I said, ‘she’s a Blue Collar- and part of the housekeeping staff here in Eden. But she has always served us a seamstress, and sewed every single Given gown you see here tonight.’
‘That’s quite impressive,’ King Elbert remarked, but he was staring at Syria’s chest, which was even fuller than mine- and very obviously ‘plumped’ by the new procedure available to those who could afford it. Excess fat was syphoned from women’s ‘excess’ areas, and then injected into their chests, making them appear both fuller and slimmer for a few years before it had to be repeated.
‘It is. Does she sell them privately?’ Siria asked. ‘I have a few social events on my calendar this year- ones I am to attend off-duty, and I’d very much like a gown like yours to wear.’
I smiled at Siria, understanding that the reason why she had to go soon, was because someone had booked her company. That was another element of serving as a Companion that had to be taken under consideration. If you attended an event, you had to decide in advance if you were going to find customers, or to make contacts. Anyone who attended an Arcadian event in the white-silk toga was silently advertising that they were on duty and available to be taken home, but girls like us who had dressed as stipulated on the invitations, were not to be approached. In our cases, our dresses were white and non the toga style to make it clear that we weren’t old enough to be solicited at all yet or approached by a man looking to court us, and if we’d donned golden gowns, that would be saying that we were there as escorts to the crown and off-limits to anyone but him, which was why Emmerly, Resonah, Rosina and every other girl who belonged to the royal harem was there in a golden version of their usual dress- a one-sleeved toga with a golden floral broach on one shoulder, which matched the belt clasped around their waists. Free Companions, on the other hand, wore the white one, and those who were out to dance not make money were wearing whatever they wanted to in whatever colour they chose to.
‘She’s not a market stall-holder, but she probably would sell privately on commission,’ I said, moving away from Elbert. ‘If you’d like to come with me, I can get you an introduction.’
‘That would be wonderful!’
I glanced over my shoulder and smiled at the king I was happily leaving behind. ‘Thank you for your time, your highness.’
‘Thank me later,’ he said, smiling a sleazy smile. ‘I plan on dancing with you before you retire.’
Then three cheers for early retirement!
‘Of course,’ I said, then turned away and tugged on Siria’s arm whispering: ‘I will GIVE you this dress if you walk really, really fast.’
She laughed. ‘I thought it looked like you were drowning a little under all of his sweat and drool.’
I glanced at her, then almost jumped out of my skin when a ball of fire suddenly flew up in the air beside her; a juggler, who gave me a cheeky wink when he saw how I flinched. ‘You interrupted us on purpose?’
‘I did. Unfortunately, I’ve had the honour of one of his dances before, and it wasn’t pleasant... though I did mean what I said about your gown, and would love either an introduction to your seamstress or her contact details.’
‘Excuse me…’ a tall man in an ill-fitting suit stepped before us as I was crossing the room and to my horror, pulled me into his arms without asking first, which was only acceptable to do to the on-duty whores. ‘Larkin, is it?’
‘Unhand me!’ I cried, pulling out of his arms and shoving him off. ‘I’m only fifteen and I belong to the prince!’
His eyes widened. ‘But-’
‘There’s no buts! Go find someone else to fuck for your spare change for the next five years, because apparently, I’ll only accept land as payment!’ I sobbed, and then reached for Siria’s arm and pulled her after me, knowing that I had handled that badly but not caring about the way people were gasping around us.
‘Wow!’ Siria exclaimed, and then giggled, squeezing my hand as I hurried her across the room. ‘You’re no wallflower, are you?’
‘Flowers in here are only good for pressing between sheets,’ I growled. ‘Cactuses may be hostile, but they have at least a chance of penetrating this life, even if it is to end up in a desert alone.’
‘Ahh… so you’d take banishment over the life I live?’ She asked, and I was about to turn to her and apologize,
‘I’m sorry. I’m just…’ I went to say: “a little overwhelmed,” but suddenly I was completely overwhelmed to see Kohén on the dance floor with Emmerly in his arms. I’d given them a blessing to dance of course, but that had been three songs ago and yet there they were still- his hands resting on her curvy hips, while her arms were draped around his neck. That was a typical dance hold for a slow song of course, but it was the little things that bothered me- the way she’d stretched her fingertips to toy with the hair on the nape of his neck, and the way I could tell that the smile on his face was not only real, but intimate. They seemed oblivious to everyone around them- even the balls of fire circling the Artisan on the side of the dance floor who ha
d almost everybody else’s attention in the room, and when Kohén oh so slowly slid his hands up from her hips to glide them over Emmerly’s bare lower back, a wave of jealousy hit me so hard that it knocked the wind out of me.
Oh… Satan help me… I’ll KILL her if she kisses him in front of me!
‘What’s wrong? Larkin?’ I’d already forgotten the name of the woman who was suddenly tugging on my hand, and when I saw Kohl tap Kelia on the shoulder beside us, as though to ask her to dance, my jealousy increased. ‘Are you okay?’
I wasn’t okay, and that was probably obvious because my feet had stopped moving, keeping me rooted to the spot. I pressed my hand to my stomach to keep my champagne down, and commanded myself to move but before I could, the room exploded and suddenly the chaos inside me was everywhere in the form of shattering glass and flames that were falling like stars. I screamed, Kohén spun, saw me, and his eyes widened with shock. He called out my name as a second explosion rang through the room, but before I could pull the shrieking Companion at my side back to her feet from her crouched position, or run to Kohén, another pair of arms grabbed me and pulled me away from the massive fireball which suddenly descended before my eyes, landing where I had been standing only a few seconds before.
Crash! The gigantic chandelier hit the ground hard and exploded, and all of the blood in my body rushed to my head. ‘Oh my God!’ I cried, aware that I was being carried back from the danger and fast but not soon enough to soothe anything. ‘What…?!’
‘It’s Kohl, actually,’ the boy carrying me retorted as he hauled me and my feathers through one of the glass doors and out onto the dewy grass of the common. ‘But God works!’ He whirled away from the people stampeding out the doors, deposited me on the low bough of a tree, said: ‘Stay RIGHT there, little bird, I’ll be back!’ before turning away and forcing his way through the throng of people. I screamed after him to come back, but the third-born prince of Arcadia was gone from sight in a heartbeat, and so I sobbed and clung tightly to the trunk of the tree, hoping this birthday would not prove to be the last for either twin, even if it meant my freedom.
30.
The guests went collectively hysterical at first, screaming that they’d seen people killed, and that we’d been attacked by either a band of pirates or dark Nephilim returned to smite the royal line of the pure, but Karol emerged within minutes with his mother and father in tow and a smile on his face, followed by Kohl with Kelia on his arm, and called out that Prince Kohén and many of the other guests had gone through the foyer and would join us outside momentarily.
Then Karol announced that the fire was out, no one had been seriously injured and that the staff were already moving the alcohol and band outside, so that the party could recommence on the lawn until the mess inside was cleaned up. He then said that if we could give them an hour to straighten it all out, there was no reason why the ball couldn’t end exactly where it had started.
Then King Elijah stepped forward to quash the rumours that we had been attacked. Evidently, one of the fire juggler’s balls had connected with the chandelier, which would have been fine if the chandelier had been the electric sort. But apparently, each little lamp sat on a tiny kerosene reservoir (the chandelier pre-dated the invention of Arcadian solar panels as did many parts of Eden) and they had to be lit carefully each time the light was used, to ensure that the kerosene didn’t leak or splash.
But the impact of the stray ball had caused several of the reservoirs to shatter and flare up, and then the glass had exploded, and each successive explosion had set off another, until the entire installation had been ripped from the ceiling by the power of the blaze. The king slapped Kohl’s back after he informed us of this, and asked that we give his third-born son a round of applause, because Kohl had used his Nephilim ability to make it rain on the fire, putting it out within seconds of it beginning and had also pulled several people to safety immediately following the crash, saving three companions and the duchess of Tariel.
Three Companions- Siria, Kelia and I. I was a virgin in a pure white gown perched high on my prince-appointed pedestal, but when the king motioned to me, everyone turned and gave me a: ‘You lucky little whore’ look, which froze my blood. I was about to climb up into the highest boughs and nest there until everyone lost interest, but Kohén and the people he’d escorted outside rounded the corner then and the ball guests forgot me and flocked to cluck over him. I sat on my bough, closed my eyes and thanked God for sparing Kohén’s life… so that I could live to wring his neck for drafting me into this ridiculous existence!
‘Aloha,’ a voice said to my knees and I opened my eyes to see Kohl’s grinning up at me. His hair was damp, he had a smudge of ash on his cheek and a few glass fragments sparkling on the shoulders of his suit, but he still looked incredible.
‘Say what?’
‘It’s an ancient Hawaiian expression,’ Kohl said, leaning on the branch beside my legs. ‘It means hello and goodbye.’
‘You’re leaving?’ I asked, and he laughed.
‘No,’ he said. ‘It means both… at different times. I just said hello. If I said it while walking away, it would be a goodbye.’
‘Ah,’ I said and then said: ‘Well, shit.’
Kohl quirked up an eyebrow. ‘Pardon?’
‘It’s an old American expression…’ I said, extending my hand to him, and he took it and helped me down to the ground. ‘It means, I think I just almost got pulverised by a falling, flaming chandelier.’
Kohl chuckled. ‘I’m familiar with the term, and aware that there are several stronger ones that someone might use after almost being crushed by a chandelier- so I commend you for going with that one, for it shows restraint and impeccable breeding.’
‘A high compliment from a prince,’ I said.
‘Not really- your upbringing was much more refined than mine was.’
‘Then I commend you for saying Aloha instead of: ‘Fuck did you see that shit?’ I joked, and he almost fell about laughing. ‘It shows an incredible amount of restraint.’ I paused and placed my hand on his shoulder. ‘And for what it’s worth Kohl, I would have traded my upbringing for yours, if I could have. It wasn’t fair that our positions were reversed like that so that I was raised with your family in your place.’
‘Please… don’t be so generous,’ he said, resting his hand on my shoulder to mirror the awkward stance. ‘I got off easy.’
‘That’s why I would have traded!’ I cried, and he laughed again. ‘I mean… fuck this ‘three cheers for saving the whore’ and falling chandelier shit!’
Kohl fell into me laughing and then said, ‘Ahh to hell with it!’ and pulled me into his arms for a bear hug. ‘I’ve been wanting to do this for years Larkin…’ he squeezed me again and I yipped but squeezed back, relaxing into the hold because I’d been wanting to hug him for years too. ‘And now I remember why!’ He pulled back and tweaked the end of my nose. ‘I need to apologize for how we met tonight. That was madness! I’d come here hoping to surprise you and-’
‘Well, you shocked the heck out of me, so mission accomplished,’ I said, giving him a little shove but softening it with a smile. ‘But you don’t have to apologize for kissing me- I kissed you, remember?’
‘Remember?’ Kohl jiggled his eyebrows. ‘I went and wrote every detail of it down after, so I’d never forget! You’re lucky I’m a better writer than I am an artist too, or there would be some naughty pictures of you framed for posterity.’
I slapped his shoulder playfully. ‘Ha ha.’
‘I’m not joking, and I’m not sorry,’ he pulled me back into his arms and hugged me again, and I saw Kelia giving us a funny look from where she still lingered at Maryah’s side. ‘But it’s lovely to meet you at last.’
I sighed and rested my head on his shoulder, inhaling his scent and smiling when I caught a whiff of coconut. ‘You smell like the ocean,’ I said.
Kohl pulled back and smoothed my hair. ‘And you smell as heavenly as you look.’ He li
fted my chin and studied me with wide blue eyes that were the identical shade of his twin’s, but a touch clearer. ‘I can’t believe it. The way Kohén described you…’
‘Let me guess?’ I said, turning away to hide my flush, and pointing to the roof. ‘You expected to find me squatting up there, scaring off evil spirits?’
‘No,’ Kohl said, following me around the wide trunk of the tree so that I didn’t have much of a sojourn from his thorough gaze. ‘I expected, well, a skinny little girl with white hair. Yours is gold and silver and white and platinum…’ he lifted a few strands and examined them, then let them fall and smiled at me. ‘And I expected you to be chalk-white, not tanned, but I suppose body-painting is a quick procedure now-’
‘I’m not painted, or tinted,’ I said, crossing my arms across my cleavage. ‘Or plumped or whatever else he accused me of earlier.’ I shrugged at Kohl’s confused expression. ‘What? I grew up. But I can’t blame Kohén for not noticing- I only noticed a little while ago, and it seemed like we both had a growth spurt while he was away.’ I pushed off the tree. ‘You don’t look a thing like the scraggly little pirate I saw in the newspaper all of those years ago either, you know.’
Kohl followed me. ‘I out-grew the eye patch when I was like, eleven,’ he said. ‘Well, sometimes I wear it for awhile to make sure the problem doesn’t come back but no, I’ve got near to perfect vision now.’
‘And you wear your hair much shorter than your brother does, which made the shock of seeing him today that much more startling,’ I said. ‘And I have to say, I’m relieved that he kept his a bit longer and scruffier, or I’d never be able to tell you apart.’
‘We do look alike…’
I smiled at him as he fell in step with me. I wasn’t sure why, but we’d started walking away from the castle, and towards the centre of the common. ‘You do. One might even say: identical.’
