by Leyland, L J
‘Well, well, well. Is that my wife I see?’
Iris bolted for the door but was met with a wall of Parrots.
‘Now, that’s no way to greet your husband. Don’t you remember your vow to love, honour, and obey me? You always needed a little persuasion to obey. Perhaps you’ll need retraining. We can work on that back at the Complex. And what’s this?’
He approached Noah with a particularly sour expression. ‘My own assistant? You think you’re so clever. You always did. You thought you were cleverer than I was but a dog always has to obey its master. In the end, you always have to obey your superiors. And therefore, I thank you for doing my bidding, dog. I thank you for delivering me not just one prize, but all the prizes I ever dreamed of.’
‘I’ve delivered you nothing. I’d never work for you,’ said Noah.
‘Oh, but you have. It’s thanks to you that I’ve captured all your little friends here. It’s thanks to you that I have discovered your plot. See? The dog always obeys.’
‘What –?’ began Noah but the Mayor walked out of the shack.
‘Take them,’ he called over his shoulder and the Parrots moved in.
Chapter Thirty-one
There was straw in my mouth. I could feel it stuck to the blood on my lips. I could feel it stuck to my tear-stained face. A hand stroked my hair gently and I opened my eyes. I was lying face down on a cold hard surface which had been scattered with straw.
‘She’s waking,’ a gentle voice said.
Pain signals fired in every area of my body. I didn’t know where I hurt most. My hands moved gently to my ribs and I felt that the willow plaster was still in place. I think my head hurt most of all. I tentatively took the straw from my mouth and it came out covered in blood. My lip was split.
I rolled over onto my back and opened my eyes. Two blonde heads peered down at me. ‘There you are,’ I whispered to Edie and Aiden.
They were two angels appearing in a dream. I was too disoriented and weary to act out the joy I felt. All I could do was lie there. They each nestled into one of my arms and we lay together whilst I tried to get the world to stop spinning.
‘We’re in the Complex. In the dungeon,’ said Aiden.
‘I know,’ I said calmly.
‘There was a rat in the corner but Edie killed it with her boot.’
‘Good for you, Edie. You’ve stopped being so scared.’
‘No, but I did it anyway,’ she replied.
‘Matthias’s grandma is dead,’ said Aiden.
I didn’t speak for a while as I let this sink in. ‘How?’ I asked eventually, still feeling too woozy to summon a proper reaction.
‘Heart attack. Just dropped dead when the Parrots came for us.’
Edie’s hot tears dropped onto my face and trickled down my cheek as if they were my own. ‘She was really nice to us,’ she whispered.
‘All right now, there’s nothing you could’ve done,’ I soothed. My voice was raspy, my throat sore. I wondered how much I had screamed when they were beating me. ‘Have they done anything to you?’ I asked. I sat up to get a better look at them. It felt as though all my bones creaked. They were as pale as lilies but had no bruises or cuts.
‘No, just locked us up down here. I think they knew you’d come to find us.’
‘Of course,’ I replied. ‘I’m so sorry.’
Aiden shrugged. ‘It has to be done, Maida. We passed others on the way to this cell. You should see what they do to people. That boy’s Blueblood family …’
‘Are they alive?’ I asked.
Aiden shrugged again and said, ‘I guess you could say that.’
How had he become so blasé about death and violence? Had I bred that in him? Or was it naturally in all Brigadus people?
‘We need to get out. Did you hear where they put the others?’ I asked.
‘Yes. We heard Matthias and Grimmy get walked past here and go further down the corridor. Grimmy was crying. I’ve never heard a grown man cry before.’
‘And Matthias?’
‘He was asking which one of them killed his parents after the first rebellion failed. He sounded like he was going to murder them.’
‘That’s about right,’ I murmured. ‘And Noah?’
‘In with his family, we think. They are in a high-security cell. The Mayor thinks they are more of a danger than us. Thinks that they are planning a Blueblood coup. He just thinks that you and Matthias are the hired killers, not the plotters. They’re going to make a big show of humiliating them at the coronation ceremony. We’ve heard from the Parrots that they are building a huge gallows on the green outside the Complex. Enough for six people at once.’
‘Why only six?’
‘Well … that’s how many there are in his family.’
‘But why not us, too?’
Aiden shrugged again. I was beginning to worry about this little gesture he had adopted. How could he be so casual and just accept things with a resigned little shrug? I’d been determined to raise them differently to how I raised myself. I had tried to protect them from bad things so that they would not have to develop the hard shell, the armour that most Brigadus people had. But maybe I’d failed him.
‘They’ve been really nice to us, the Parrots. Apart from being locked up in here, of course.’
‘Nice?’ I asked.
‘Yeah. Brought us nice food. Didn’t touch us, didn’t even say anything bad to us. Maida, I don’t think they are going to kill us. The Parrots are all frightened of us.’
‘Frightened? Why?’
Aiden shrugged again. I hoped against hope that this little display of apathy was just the product of his current circumstance and not something permanent. I stood up to stretch the pain from my limbs and to test the door for any weaknesses. There were none. It was a solid wooden slab. Just as I was using one of my wooden hair pins to jiggle the lock, there were footsteps on the other side. I sprung back as the door opened. A beautiful woman with hair as blonde as butter glowed in the blackness of the cell. She smiled beatifically.
‘Children, please follow me.’
Chapter Thirty-two
First of all, I objected to being called a child. Secondly, the sound of her high heels clipping against the stone floor made my head pound. Thirdly, the way her tight skirt made her walk in a ridiculous wiggle offended me. After spending thirty seconds with her, I’d already made up my mind to hate her.
‘Why is your hair like that?’ asked Edie.
‘Like what, child?’ Her voice was as light and cheerful as a summer breeze.
‘Two colours. Blonde at the bottom but brown near your roots?’
The women tittered nervously, ‘No, no, this is natural. It’s all blonde, darling.’ She pouffed up her hair with a delicate hand.
‘No, it’s not, I can see –’
‘No. You’re mistaken, it’s all this colour. It’s natural,’ she said through gritted teeth, then added under her breath, ‘If this godforsaken place wasn’t so backwards. Doesn’t even have a salon …’
‘Your accent’s weird,’ said Aiden bluntly.
The woman laughed nervously again and said, ‘Nearly there.’
She steered us around a corner and we stopped in front of a large frosted glass door. She pushed the door open and hot steam came pouring out. Oh God, what were they going to do, boil us alive? I jumped backwards and grabbed Edie and Aiden’s hands, ready to bolt and drag them along.
‘Whoa, children. It’s the bath house. I know you Brigadus people aren’t very fond of bathing but I didn’t expect you to be so adverse to a little soap and water.’ She giggled at her own joke. I contemplated punching her.
‘Well, go on in, before all the steam escapes.’
She ushered us in and followed us, closing the door behind us. ‘Hot baths to the left. Plunge pool to the right. Steam and sauna straight ahead. Soaps, oils, and foams in the glass bottles. Isn’t this lovely?’ she sighed. ‘I bet you’ve never had anything like this before. You’re very
lucky.’
I picked up a crystal bottle and uncorked it. The deep purple oil smelled of lavender, but it had a chemical undertone. The oils I made from Edie’s flowers were much nicer and less artificial in colour.
None of us undressed. We stared at her, arms folded, unsure what to do. I was wary in case it was a trick.
‘Well, goodness, do I have to undress you all, too?’ She giggled but looked apprehensive, as though afraid we were devoid of brains. I could tell that she didn’t want to touch us for fear of infection. Or perhaps she was afraid that we would bite.
‘Try it and you’ll get thrown in the pool headfirst,’ said Edie.
I howled with laughter – my little mouse sister roaring like a lion! When did she become so brave? Probably when I abandoned her to go on a stupid adventure to the Highlands.
The woman’s pleasant smile cracked and she looked genuinely frightened. ‘Well, now … that’s not very helpful. I’ll leave you to bathe alone then. I’ll be back in half an hour. Make yourselves clean and presentable. I trust you know how to use soap?’ she finished viciously and slipped from the room. I heard the lock click from the outside.
Aiden shrugged and took off his boots. ‘Hot bath,’ he grunted and disappeared behind a ceramic wall that separated each bath from the other.
‘Maida? Why do you think they are being so nice to us?’ asked Edie as she unlaced her boots.
‘I’m not sure,’ I replied. ‘Perhaps it’s a plan. You know, divide and conquer? Suck up to us so that we’ll implicate the Bluebloods?’
‘But I don’t think they’re being nice to Grimmy and Matthias; we heard them screaming from their cells before they brought you in. If it were to split us into townsfolk and Bluebloods, surely they would be nice to them, too?’
I grunted – she had a point. I was beginning to feel incredibly hot and sweaty as the steam closed in on me. I had originally planned to shun the baths and stay dirty just to spite the woman. But I doubted that I could cope with sitting in full outdoor wear in the stifling heat and humidity. Plus my aching bones were beginning to yearn for hot water.
I gave in and shook off my boots. I was beginning to lose my left big toenail; it was blackened from where a Parrot had stamped on it. Edie slipped off to one of the baths and I found a mirror that was frosted with steam. Wiping away the fog, my bruises were revealed to me. Legs, arms, and neck were a join-the-dots puzzle of small bruises. I gingerly pulled off my willow-bark cast from my ribs to reveal a huge bruise the colour of rancid steak – green, grey, and brown. My bottom lip was split in two and I had a black eye. I looked an absolute nightmare. I tried pulling the knots and burrs out of my waist-length hair but gave up in frustration when I pulled a clump out. Perhaps it would have to be cut off. It had never been cut before. I was too weary to cry.
I slunk to the bath and lowered my body in inch by inch. It was a tonic. My muscles relaxed. The water was scorching hot and made my skin feel prickly but it was delicious. I realised how tensely I had been holding my shoulders for the past week. They had been hunched up around my ears, carrying the weight of our quest on them. Just let go, I told myself and I slid under the water. Bliss. The water blocked out all sounds, all thoughts and all emotions. For the first time in weeks, there was nothing in my head. I felt nothing apart from the sensation of the water pressing gently against my battered body. My hair floated around me in a seaweed cloud. When my lungs started to burn, I reluctantly returned to the surface to face the rushing return of all my worries.
After we had each had our own alone time, we put on our undergarments and spent the next twenty minutes enjoying ourselves. I played with every single foam, oil, and soap that I could. I created a foam mountain by pouring an entire bottle of pink liquid down the plughole and turning on the tap. We watched with glee as the clouds of bubbles erupted over the sides of the bath and spread like a conquering army across the tiled floor. Edie emerged from the foam cloud like a snowman and we played hide and seek in it.
We slicked the floor with oil and had a sliding competition, seeing who could slide the farthest on our stomachs across the slippery tiles. Aiden won but I still maintain that the length of his run-up was illegal. We pushed each other in the plunge pool and threw enough water on the steam room coals to fog up the entire island. My lungs and ribs hurt so much but not through pain; through laughter. For a moment, we forgot all of our troubles. We were laughing so much that we didn’t hear the door slam.
‘What on earth are you doing? Do you have no respect? Of course not, look at you. Get in these robes now. How on earth can I explain this mess to the Mayor? Why are all the people on this godforsaken island so destructive? No wonder everyone in the Metropole hates you.’
She spun quickly on her dainty high heels as if to march out of the door. Her ankle snapped to the side and her legs went opposite ways to each other. She skidded along the oiled floor and crashed into the ceramic wall. There was silence for a moment as we all stopped to comprehend what had happened.
‘Oops …’ said Aiden.
It was such an inappropriately understated word that we burst into laughter again. The woman’s red face contrasted horribly with the custard colour of her hair. How had I ever once thought she was beautiful? Her face was contorted with disgust and rage.
‘Get into those robes now,’ she hissed as she pulled herself up, using the wall for support. ‘And follow me.’ She stalked from the room and we slunk after her.
She led us to a room which had been hastily set up like a beauty parlour. She plonked me in front of a mirror and tore viciously at my hair. Payback for our laughter.
‘Why are you doing this?’ I asked, as the comb teeth bit my scalp.
‘To make you look pretty of course. As pretty as I can anyway …’ Her face was sour.
‘But why?’
‘You’re going to meet a very important guest.’
I eyed her suspiciously. ‘Who? The Mayor? I’d rather not.’
‘No, not the Mayor but you’d be lucky to meet him as well.’
‘Then who? A Metropolite? You’re from the Metropole, aren’t you? I can tell by your accent and your ridiculous shoes.’
‘They’re not ridiculous, they are Hervé François. The designer? No? Of course not, why would someone like you know anything about fashion? I mean, look at you.’
She brushed her artificial hair back with a red-taloned claw. She thought she had scored a point and regained her superiority from the mere fact that she knew a man’s name. Big deal. I could name all the men in Brigadus for her but it wouldn’t make me any better a person. But perhaps they attach great significance to things like that in the Metropole.
‘I thought all Metropolites had to wear the uniform? Like those crappy utilitarian overalls they send us. No-one wears them here you know. Just a waste of time and effort.’
She squirmed and tried her little false giggle to dispel her discomfort. ‘Well, I don’t have to wear those, of course. I’m an Official. Everyone else does though. And I must say, they greatly enjoy not having to wear their own tatty clothes. They’ve never been happier to be lifted of the burden of finding new fashionable clothes every day. It can get very stressful, making sure you look presentable. That’s why they’re all so grateful to us for releasing them of that burden.’
‘Hallelujah! I am released!’ I cried, throwing my gown to the floor.
‘Get this back on,’ she hissed, wrestling me back into it. I’m sure she thought I was mad.
‘You really think they had no bigger worries than what to wear each day? Yeah, I’m sure being on trend was their greatest daily burden. So kind of you to relieve people of their identity. It can be such a bore being an individual.’
‘They like it,’ she said through gritted teeth.
She grabbed my face and began attacking it with concealer and powder.
‘You’ll have a job covering up that black eye. Nasty, isn’t it?’
‘It’s fine,’ she said, but she looked very
uncomfortable.
‘So I’m to be presented to the Metropolites, am I?’
‘No, I didn’t say that.’
‘Then who am I meeting?’
‘She’s … well, she’s … You’ll see when you get there. Now be quiet and let me finish.’
She spent the next ten minutes concealing my cuts and bruises and highlighting my cheeks with pink.
I was shocked to see a perfectly smooth face look back out from the mirror at me. ‘Wow,’ I muttered.
‘See?’ she said, a smug little smile playing on her red lips. ‘Now put on the clothes laid out for you whilst I sort out your brother and sister. Honestly, do you ever cut his hair? Metropole men never wear it below their ears. It’s just so thirty years ago.’
I shed my robe and saw that a red shirt dress with white embroidered lapels had been laid out for me. A pair of black patent pumps with little red bows on them rested next to the dress. There was a white headband affixed with a red ribbon next to the shoes. I’d look like a frilly schoolgirl if I put that on.
‘Oh no, I don’t do dresses. And I certainly don’t do ribbons. Where are my normal clothes?’
‘They’ve been taken to be washed. God knows they needed it. There’s nothing else to wear so put that on or meet your guest naked.’
‘Fine,’ I said.
She relaxed, surprised that I had given in so easily. She smiled at me. ‘Good girl.’
‘I’ll go naked,’ I said.
‘No. You. Will. Not!’ She stomped over to me and began physically wrestling me into the clothes. She was unbelievably strong. Her cold hands slapped mine away as I grabbed the fabric, intending to tear it. ‘Why can’t you follow instructions?’
We wrestled comically for a minute or two before Edie called across the room, ‘Just wear it, Maida. It’s not that bad. Please.’
I gave in and put the hideous dress on. The patent leather was so stiff compared to my normal calf’s leather boots.
