Mr. Hartley (Alternate Places Book 1)

by P. S. Power

  Claire got in touch first, with some news that surprised Zack a lot. Upon hearing his stance the Demons had simply and gracefully bowed out, even to the point of allowing the rest of the agreement to go forward without them, unimpeded. To his mind, this meant that they probably saw some trap in the agreement as it stood, or at least thought it wouldn't serve them to be a part of it.

  Lisa called with other surprising news. Mariposa of the Dawn, from the Alfric, refused to allow the dissolution of their 'marriage' without fair hearing in their courts. Which Valerie told him probably meant that by the laws of her people they were married and no mere treaty or lack of one would stop that or alter the fact once stated publicly.

  This seemed an interesting and possibly terrifying wrinkle. He didn't even know what an Alfric was. Zack could only hope they weren't worse monsters than Demons. Hilda piped up with the answer instantly when he asked the room.

  “You do know them. The Alfric are the food court people. Merri runs the kitchen at the Chinese food place. She's the one that put on extra vegetable dishes since you started eating there... She's cute, too. I think you'll like her. You should at least meet her and see what she has to say first. She isn't unreasonable, so if she won't say you aren't married, it must be important to her for some reason.”

  Valerie for some reason, agreed with this, that he should at least meet with her before casting her aside. Oddly, her reason had nothing to do with treaties or bargains. According to the Succubus, it just would be cruel to do that without even giving her a chance.

  Something came to Zack then, as Valerie sat there next to him on the sofa. She hadn't hit him with waves of sex all night long. Instead she'd held herself locked down tight the whole time, being no more alluring than, oh, a playboy centerfold taking a provocative pose while nude.

  He asked about this, and she looked a little uncomfortable at his mention of it.

  “We Alede can control our abilities. It just takes energy that has to be replaced. I'll have to feed soon, but I didn't want to leave you alone. Still, you do have Hilda. That should be fine. She's reliable and trustworthy. She can keep the herbs coming on time I think. Right, Hilda?” The tone seemed patronizing to him.

  The large woman just nodded. Zack felt a little annoyed on her behalf, not saying anything out loud, but still feeling bothered. He told Valerie on the Shadow level that she should treat Hilda as an equal, not as some half-brutish child. She wasn't that and if they were all going to be friends it was important not to act that way.

  “So you take energy from people when you have sex with them?” He asked politely, instead of calling her on how she'd treated Hilda openly.

  Their mechanism of feeding turned out to be more complicated than he thought. They didn't drain energy. That turned out to be old Church propaganda vilifying them for their sexual nature. They actually helped create, and then harvested, sexual energy from their partners. Energy that happened when anyone had sex. It normally just floated out into space, unused. True, because of their abilities they increased the amount of pleasure – and therefore energy – resulting, but it still didn't drain the person any more than really good sex did.

  “Well, don't tire yourself to exhaustion because of me. Go and find someone to have sex with if you need to. I can't do it right now, for a handful of reasons. Hilda would probably find it troubling, since when you open up fully you kind of drive her away. Though I don't know that you have to open up fully to feed, do you?”

  She bobbed her head side to side, not yes or no. “Not really, but like Vampires, the older we get the better we get and the better our control. If you ever want to ruin all other sex for yourself, you should have sex with Patty. Talk about good. I can't really feed without opening up enough that I think poor Hilda would be turned off. We could probably do it without feeding though. We should try that sometime.” Valerie smiled devilishly, possibly expecting a blush or strong response from the large girl.

  Instead she just looked at her, shrugged and said, “Okay. But not today, I have to be ready to make the herbs on time. I also need to get food. I haven't eaten for hours. Zack and Troy don't have much food here. I can make it a little longer, but it's going to get hard soon to maintain control without enough food...”

  Zack knew, because Hilda's Shadow told him every time the Alede were around, how hard she had to work not to get angry at them, even now that they took pains to lock themselves down around her. It had been much worse before, she let him know. More than once she'd almost torn into one or another of the Succubi and had to physically distance herself from the Incubi altogether to stop herself from attacking them.

  Betty had fallen asleep on Zack's bed at about six in the morning and it seemed unfair to wake her just to go get food for Hilda. Troy also slept.

  Zack decided that he should be all right if they both went right after his next dose of tea. After all, it had been 24 hours and he hadn't died. He could even, theoretically, sleep now. Worse come to worse, he could even go and brew the tea himself, he assured them. Admittedly it did seem more fun when they did it for him... Zack smiled and tried to wink, but the action made his eye hurt for some reason.

  Valerie waited, got him the herbs and left shortly after that, trying to hide how anxious and edgy she obviously felt. Hilda seemed reluctant to leave until he pointed out to her again that she had three whole hours, and could do a lot in that time if she wished. Eat, go shopping, get clothes and a shower or even get in touch with Merle so that he'd know that Zack hadn't stolen his only girl Trolleinkein away.

  That last one convinced her eventually and she too hurried away, looking over her shoulder at him with a worried look on her way out the door. He faked a smile and waved his hand at them, trying to tell her to move along.

  About an hour after that, a soft knock came from the front of the house. He almost didn't hear the noise, it came low on the door, and was soft and tentative, almost like someone knocking that didn't want to bother anyone so they could just go away. He could see a strange being on the other side of the door, brightly shining. Not on fire like a Djinn, more like the gentle light of dawn coming over the hills.

  He called out, asking for a moment, and slowly moved that way. His muscles had stiffened in the last day, and even with fresh pain medicine in him, it hurt to move too much.

  When he opened the door a small woman stood on the other side. She had brilliant red hair hanging down her back unbound. There were also fantastic green eyes that in a Human wouldn't exist without contacts, which was striking. She was standing about four feet high, even counting the fluff of hair on top of her head which must have added an inch... In many ways she felt similar to Hilda as odd as it seemed. Both of them were very nearly perfectly formed women, but looked off scale. Hilda at a distance looked like she simply stood a good bit closer. This woman standing close seemed perfect, but as if she stood about thirty feet away.

  “Hello... are you Mariposa Of The Dawn?” He asked her gently.

  “Aye, I am that. Would you be Mr. Hartley?” The voice that came out of her seemed very small and soft. Almost a whisper really. The kind of voice that could easily be lost if a person did not pay attention.

  “Yes. Please... call me Zack. Um...Come in please.” He tried to smile reassuringly. She seemed to bring out the desire to protect in him. It was, he decided, her tentative nature, instead of her size that left Zack feeling that way.

  She looked around carefully and stepped inside very delicately. It felt like she appraised the situation but didn't seem to judge. He asked her to sit, and then eased himself on to the other side of the sofa, turning to the side so that he could see her, with her taking a similar position facing him.

  He waited, to see if she would speak. After a few minutes it seemed clear that she was waiting for him to speak first, her head bowed a little, not making eye contact. Realizing she wouldn't say anything until he did, he finally tried to come up with something to say.

  “So, it seems that by the laws of your
people, somehow, we're really married? Even though we haven't met and the bargain that others assigned to me is without merit? Can you tell me why this is? I'm not necessarily saying that we can't make something work here, I simply wish to understand, so that I know what I should do...” There, he thought, that's about as kind as could be managed under the circumstances.

  She nodded and looked up at him.

  “My King said I was married to you, and that I would, in years to come, have a task I must perform for you... I'm not allowed to say what it is now, but it's truly important and something that you and many others will suffer without, including my own people. He also told me that the prophesy said that I'd come to love you and that you'd love me in return... The heart of the matter is that I cannot divorce you, as my people don't have that, nor do we have annulment. The king said it was so. So it is. If you send me away, we'll still be married, I simply won't be where I need to be when the time comes and others will suffer. Prophesy isn't perfect, but I'd not try the King on this, if it's up to me.”

  He looked at her and watched as her shining Shadow self, even less a true Shadow than most peoples, since it glowed so brightly, looked him in the eye and said, I speak truth, always and forever. Please do not send me away... That ends badly...

  “Well, you know, I'm not even thinking about sex except as a word right now, and I mean that literally, by the way, in order to keep old memories away. I need to deal with those and will, but it won't be much fun that way for a while, maybe a long while. I also have, by that treaty or bargain or whatever it's called, seven others that could potentially make a claim identical to your own in the coming hours or days. On top of that, well, this place is no palace, I don't know if you'd actually want to stay here, but this is what I have for now.”

  He wanted to shrug, but instead said to her on the Shadow level, Are you certain of what you want?

  She nodded to him in response on the surface level as if she'd heard him clearly.

  “Yes. I'm certain. Even if I must share you with others. My own King has a thousand wives and concubines after all. Eight or nine is not so many for a great man. And while your abode may be simple now, it serves, with good roof and walls. The rest of the home is for the wives to exploit and bring to beauty. It's well known that your station has recently changed greatly and that you soon shall have plenty. If you don't... well, I too am hard working and have value. We'll not want, regardless of what the future brings us.”

  He spread his hands, then stopped the gesture as it pulled painfully on his back, especially on the left hand side. Instead he looked at the small woman with her shining Shadow and radiant hair for a few moments. He tried to consider everything as fairly and honestly as possible.

  If he sent her away, she said there would be trouble. Not from her, but possibly from her King? That seemed important to her. Zack knew that he didn't have enough information to know if that threat had power behind it or not. He also needed to find out about what she thought she needed to do for him in the future. Right now she seemed pretty closed mouthed on that due to orders from above.

  She seemed sincere in what she told him, as if this all really mattered to her and not for little reasons either.

  He also remembered Riley saying that the Alfric knew his true nature. Since Riley had also suggested this whole mess, this may have been his actual agenda. To put Zack in a position to get information later. It was hard to know if the strange being really had an agenda at all. The Tricksters did stuff, he'd seen Riley around, talking to people or whispering in the back of a room, guiding things. But for some reason they never just told you what they wanted. At least that's what he'd heard from the others on the topic. Maybe they'd just tell you what they needed you to do if they thought you'd listen?

  Zack would need to research some things it seemed.

  “Well... you know, if this was a book, or movie, I'd probably get all defensive, distrust you expecting a trap, and cause no end of trouble by doing that. Life isn't like that though.... I guess, if it makes you happy and keeps you from being in trouble, there's no reason you can't be here. I have to admit this whole 'marriage' thing seems odd to me. It's like someone is playing a joke on me or trying to trick me into something. Still, that doesn't mean that you're the one doing it, so why should you suffer for it? I'm game if you are, I guess.”

  He held out his hand to her as well as he could, intending to shake. Instead she held his hand and looked up at him, pleased. Scooting closer to where he sat, so she wouldn't have to stretch out awkwardly to do so. She didn't let go of his hand for a long time.

  He asked her questions and tried to remember the answers. After a few minutes an idea hit him and he asked her if she could bring him some paper. She found an empty notebook Valerie had left under the one with the information from the 'agreement', they were both yellow legal pads. Without needing to be asked, the small woman found him a pen and some extra pillows to put on his lap so he could write without too much discomfort. Then she asked if he'd like anything to eat or drink.

  He shook his head gently and started to thank her, catching, for the first time, an angry flash beginning to form on her face.

  “This is why I need to write things down. Your people, the Alfric, you don't like being thanked. I need to know things like that. Um, I'd like to propose an agreement just between you and I right now... Please don't get mad or offended if I accidentally do thank you for something. I'll try to phrase things differently, but it's kind of the way we do things here and it doesn't mean much to us, certainly nothing negative. Is that all right?”

  She nodded and smiled up at him.

  “Wisdom already. Yes, we need to be tolerant, being from different cultures and all. I'll do my part in this, I give my word.” She reached out and touched his arm.

  He wrote her full name at the top and started asking questions again.

  When he got to her age, she paused for a moment before speaking. It seemed that something about this question bothered her.

  “Well, aye, I suppose you should know that. Your age is greater than my own... Still, please don't be angry...”

  He held his breath. He couldn't tell her age at all. She looked young, perhaps too young? Did he just accept a child bride? His tension level began to rise sharply. He wouldn't harm a child. If this had been a set up like that...

  “I have forty-three years by your reckoning. Still, I've reached full growth and won't change much over the passing of years... This form is the one I seem to have settled on, for good or ill. I can change my hair or use make-up like Human women do, if it offends you or you desire something different from me...” Her voice went soft again, barely audible. He tried to lean closer to hear her but his ribs protested too much.

  He expressed his relief, since he'd feared her too young, as in a child by Human standards, and that her age didn't matter past that to him. After all, he had no problem with Claire and she had nearly three hundred years on him, right?

  "Um... How old do you think I am?"

  The small lady looked at him shyly, and then away, with a tiny smile.

  "I know not exactly, but you are truly ancient, that I can tell. Greater age than mine own King and he is nearly as old as any of us. Only the most wise are older. True, you sat between for that time, but is that not a sign of your greatness? No one does that." She seemed pleased by that though, as if it were a good thing, rather than making him uncomfortably old for her. Maybe she liked older men?

  He made a note of that and found out that her kind didn't track the day of birth, just the season. Every spring, when she'd been born, the count simply increased by one. He made notes on all of this.

  They talked for a long while, until Hilda finally came back with her arms loaded with bags of groceries, carried easily. Her face lit up when she realized who sat next to Zack on the Sofa.

  “Merri! You came! Have you two had a chance to discuss things? What have you decided, if anything? Wait here!” She moved deftly to the kitchen, dro
pped the bags with heavy thumps and came back quickly. Sitting on the floor, next to the upturned cardboard box Troy used as a coffee table, she waited, looking anxiously from one to another.

  “Oh, Hilda, love, he said I could stay and that he wouldn't cast me out! It's so wonderful! I was so scared when I came. What if he was foul to me or beat me for my presumption? Instead he's been kind and good and honest with me. Me, a stranger to him that others forced upon him against the strictures and rules of his own people. And then, then he gets pen and paper and makes note of my whims and cares... No man of the people, my people, would have thought of that, or, truth be told, expect themselves to be the one to learn the ways of others of lower station, like a mere wife.”

  Hilda nodded with much enthusiasm. They went on like this for a few minutes, making Zack's every action seem like some kind of wonder. He mentioned that he really hadn't done anything yet, but they wouldn't hear it. Hilda jumped up suddenly.

  “Oh! It's time to make up his medicine. I nearly forgot. Come with me, Merri? We can keep talking while I make the tea stuff and unpack the food.” Hilda walked into the other room while still talking. “Have you heard of how Zack saved my brother? Come and I'll tell you about it!”

  Merri looked up at him, as if to ask if she had permission, literally looking a little panicked, not knowing what to do and not wanting to offend. “Mr. Hartley, may I go and help in the kitchen? I won't be long...” She said so softly that he almost didn't hear her.

  “Merri... If you're going to hang around here, we need to get some things straight right now, or everyone will overwhelm you, I think.” He held out his hand toward her again, which she took tentatively this time.