by L. K. Rigel
She turned away to look at something, anything, to give them some privacy just as Edmund walked his horse around to her side of the carriage. He swung a leg over and slid to the ground, handing off the reins to a stable groom. Her face felt warm, and it wasn’t from the wine at lunch.
“This is well met,” Edmund said. “I’d rather ride back to the citadel with you – with you lovely ladies instead of on a sweaty horse.”
Great gods, to be that horse.
Jannes moved to the other seat with Counselor. They pretended not to notice their thighs touching. Edmund got in beside Mal and draped his arm behind her over the back of the seat, oblivious to the varying states of arousal all about him.
“Let’s have the top up,” he said. He spoke in pleasantries until the top was sealed and the carriage was moving. “I’ve heard from Harold,” he told Counselor. “Hibernia received the power cells. They’ve begun work.”
“An airship for Allel at last!” Counselor accidentally smiled at Jannes. They were failing miserably at pretending they weren’t attracted to each other.
“What about the hives?” Mal wondered how Allel could consider getting an airship when the bees were so fragile, but she also wanted to rescue Counselor by giving her something to talk about.
“The Tesla units won’t hurt the hives,” Counselor said.
“Tesla?”
“We’ve made another discovery in the tunnels.”
Mal stiffened at the mention of the place where she’d spotted the Scrolls of Scylla, but Counselor didn’t mention her involvement.
“There’s a huge vault down there, a repository of old-world clean-energy technology. The people called it Tesla. Electricity generated by the tides and power cells energized by solar wind.”
“And you’ve made it work,” Mal said. It sounded like magic. “That’s why you haven’t had power outages.”
“The hospital, hydroponics, and the streetcars run on power from the turbines,” Edmund said. “This carriage has a power cell from Tesla.”
A feeling of dread stirred in the back of Mal’s mind. “Garrick will try to take it,” she said. “He claims the charter on all energy production.”
“That’s why we haven’t announced the finding,” Edmund said. “We need to test it on a large scale, so we’ve hidden Tesla in plain sight. The official story is our surge in power is the result of conservation measures.”
“That’s what the Team of Inquiry reported.” More evidence that a TOI finding could be compromised.
At the gate where the road split off to the east and into the trees, Mal said. “Does that go through the forest?” She’d love to look for the colored lights she had seen from the Blackbird.
“Yes, it does,” Edmund said. He buzzed the driver. “Let’s have the top down again. The people would like to get another look at you.” Mal got the impression that Jannes did not approve – and the very clear impression that Edmund didn’t want to talk about the forest.
They passed through the gate, and as the driver slowed to maneuver around the pedestrians, a streetcar went by on embedded rails.
“It’s all connected to a dedicated grid.” Edmund pointed out another streetcar going the opposite direction. “We deploy streetcars throughout Allel, north to the vineyards, and south to the farms. Counselor should show you the turbines. I’ll bet you’ve never been under the ocean before.”
He was like a puppy with a toy. “Sister Marin thinks your work is amazing.”
And so do I.
“Sister Marin pleaded our case. Red City won’t interfere with Tesla, and they’ll keep Garrick out of the loop. He won’t be able to claim it for a while yet.”
Despite his confidence, Mal’s anxiety increased. Garrick was sure to learn about Tesla. Edmund was brilliant and good, but Garrick was ruthless. And far from good.
The driver navigated up the packed boulevard called Citizens Way. Courtiers and travelers headed for the citadel stopped to wave as they recognized the carriage, making it even slower going. On both sides of the street, vendors sold wares from semi-permanent tents and make-shift stalls. Two young men sold I Shit On Garrick shirts.
Next to the shirt table, a khaki-colored tent displayed hemp pants and tunics. A sign made of cardboard and crayon announced: 60% OFF TODAY ONLY!!
Below the sign, an old woman held a child on her lap. A young woman beside her got up and hurried into the tent, but the crone’s piercing stare fixed on Mal as the carriage rolled by. Her eyes were covered by white membranes. Mal was certain it was the Ptery she had seen on her first visit to Allel. The cartoon eye on the side of the tent had been replaced with an eye of Horus advertising the Ptery’s services.
Mal felt strange, like something was tugging at her gut. The old woman was probing her, searching for her soul. “Could we go faster?” Her heart raced with fury at the violation. Of course the Ptery knew what she was doing.
“Are you unwell, my lady?” Day One asked from the driver’s perch.
“Can I do anything for you?” Day Two joined in.
They couldn’t save her from grabbers and prodders and murderers. The sense of security built up over the last month started to slip away.
Edmund called to the driver. “Forget the public steps and drive around to the back.”
For once, the LOTHs were useful. Mal focused on their worrying questions. The Ptery’s psychic grasp weakened and failed. She wished she hadn’t alarmed everyone. “I’m fine. The sun seems hot suddenly.”
Edmund put his hand on hers – and removed it immediately. “Pardon me, my lady.”
But she didn’t mind.
At the citadel’s private back entrance, he jumped out to help Counselor down then held his hand out to Mal. Her hand was small in his, yet she was sure he trembled when she touched him. He didn’t look at her, but he steadied her with his other hand on her back. Maybe it was she who trembled.
Counselor must have done some research. That night the Allel Players put on Much Ado About Nothing, the play Mal liked so much. To the delight of the playgoers, Edmund joined her and Counselor for the performance. They took their seats in the king’s box accompanied by a spontaneous round of: to the brood queen, rah!
Then: to King Edmund, rah!
Edmund raised his eyebrows comically and tilted his head toward Counselor, and the crowd yelled a rah for her.
At the interval when the house lights came on Counselor said, “Mallory, could I borrow your ladies?” She held the curtain aside for the Nights to leave and sent a meaningful look Jannes’ way.
He didn’t respond.
Counselor crossed her eyes and gestured toward the exit, but Jannes pretended not to see. A war played out over his face between wanting to please Counselor and needing to keep to his post. Poor Counselor. Duty won; Jannes turned away – though Mal could see it was painful to him. He stoically surveyed the audience below, looking for potential plots.
“Sting me!” Counselor said, and none too quiet.
Jannes looked up, a miserable expression on his face, but she had disappeared through the curtain.
Mal had a fabulous thought: Jannes and Counselor were like Benedick and Beatrice in the play. She would play the part of Don Pedro in real life and bring her friends together.
Her friends?
Yes. She did think of Counselor as a friend. By Asherah, she felt no guilt.
Edmund absently nodded to a woman the next box over who’d been trying to make eye contact with Mal all evening. The citizen did seem vaguely familiar. That was it – the Citizen. Claire’s mother, Lady Drahan. Mal thought of Saskia’s description of her mother, desperate for attention from high places.
Edmund glanced from the curtain Counselor and gone through to Jannes who had taken a position as far from them as possible. He seemed distracted or disconnected.
“Thank you, my lord,” Mal said, “for giving me Jannes this month. It must be hard to do without him. I have no intention of breaking my contract, if that is your concern.
”
“No doubt your ladies kept you chaste. Jannes has kept you alive.”
“Alive?” It took a minute for his meaning to sink in. There was no doubt Garrick hated her, and he’d murdered his own sister. But Mal had assumed he still cared about Red City’s favor. “Garrick wouldn’t dare. He’ll want his suspension lifted.”
“Garrick will be careful of Red City. He’ll give every appearance of respecting the tribunal’s ruling. That doesn’t mean he won’t send assassins to strike you down in another jurisdiction.”
Assassins. Great gods. All this time, she’d worried what Garrick might do to Edmund, and Edmund had been worried about protecting her.
Edmund’s smile was grim. “There’s a reason the other cities left us alone in the bid for your contract.”
So that was it. To Edmund she was merely a bargain. Above all things, he looked out for his city’s interests. And she should be grateful for the contract.
“I do appreciate that you took a chance on me.” It was like being called settlement trash or wildling droppings all over again – and by Edmund. She had Imperial blood in her veins, but that was meaningless beside his opinion of her.
The box curtain swung open, and Counselor came back with the Nights and a teacart of wine and cakes.
As Mal turned away to hide her face, Edmund touched her bracelet and leaned close. “I meant no disrespect.” The words were nice, but the warm rumble of his voice and the kindness in his tone were nicer. Thank Asherah, quarantine was nearly at an end.
Counselor’s Earbob
To celebrate the end of Mallory’s quarantine, Counselor had arranged another evening on the turret deck overlooking the bay. In addition to the usual courtiers and bureaucrats, she’d invited the Beekeeper, the woman who ran the vineyard, the couple who ran the south croplands, and the director and actors from last night’s play.
Again she wore her honeybee earbobs, and they bounced madly as she welcomed Steve and Dix.
The cheerfulness was almost unbearable. Every time the lift doors opened, the guests strained their necks, hoping to see Mallory. When it turned out to be someone less-exalted, they’d smile at him with sympathetic encouragement.
They had the good grace not to leer, but only just.
It was dehumanizing, this pantomime. Garrick had called it the getting of ensouled heirs. So cold. So matter-of-fact. So justifiably cynical. Edmund was more at ease with the Empani. But then, that’s what Empanii were all about. And besides, this exercise was not for his comfort.
The doors to the turret lift opened again, and this time a hush fell over the gathering. The guest of honor was absolutely stunning. He sensed the swell of pride and gratitude among his fellow Allels. This was their brood queen, and she was marvelous in their eyes.
She wore a simple sheath of sparkling orange-red material that clung to her breasts and fell loosely to her ankles. Her arms and shoulders were bare.
He pictured her crawling to him across the stage during the Rites, naked, her slender fingers, nails red as pomegranate seeds, clasping his feet, then his thighs. He had the urge to run his hands over her shoulders now, just to feel the muscle tone beneath her soft skin.
Her only visible tat was the band of roses, but he knew about the talon. Who in the Concord Cities didn’t? Surprising how glad he was that Garrick’s mark – any man’s mark – was out of sight. He liked seeing her one piece of jewelry, the gold bracelet from Allel.
She had set her hair free of its braided cage. It was an ornament too, shimmering white and gold and hovering about her like mist coming in off the Pacific. Surely some god had given her that hair.
Counselor placed them at opposite ends of the long table, and there was no lack of conversation in between. No one spoke directly of the tribunal or her contract with Garrick, but they didn’t shy away from inferences. Steve made a lame joke about the fact that Garrick’s kings were always named Garrick, and she laughed.
Steve lifted his glass. “Beesboom bad!”
“Beesboom bad!” Mallory joined everyone in the toast, and from the look on her face, she had learned exactly what the saying meant. We shibbing hate Garrick.
Over the past month it had been good to see the terror of Garrick diminish from her. At the Rites he had decided only she would do to breed his heirs, and he still believed he had been right. He didn’t have feelings for her. He understood and supported the ban on personal involvement. Look at what was happening to Harold, that silly, lovestruck fool. It was madness to fall for a chalice.
Still, there had to be a way to act somewhere between mad love and kabuki theater. He liked her. There was no transgression in that.
Talk shifted back and forth between Garrick’s deficits and Allel’s marvels. The last bit of sun melted into the horizon and slipped over the side of the world. While the quintet played a crisp and pulsating rondo, the crescent moon hung in the evening sky above Mallory’s head. She talked with Counselor, their faces illuminated by candlelight.
Everybody toasted the gods and told each other they were the luckiest people in the world to be eating food grown in their own country and drinking wine made in their own oak barrels, talking under the stars beside the Pacific Ocean.
“Don’t become complacent now.” Counselor stood up. “You’ve all eaten more than any human being should. Let’s dance!”
While the servants cleared away the tables and chairs, Edmund checked with the quintet to see if they knew any waltzes. He watched Jannes follow Mallory to the edge of the deck, apparently saying something clever. Her laugh sparkled. Edmund was glad when Counselor broke them up and took Jannes off on an errand.
Mallory picked something up from the deck and examined it then slipped the object into a pocket. Hilarious. They had pockets even in their flimsiest dresses.
From behind him, Counselor’s arms slid around his waist. “You and Mallory must lead the first dance.”
The quintet struck up the waltz he’d asked for. Good. He was going to get close enough to find out what was in that pocket.
Mallory was in amazing shape. He had tried not to think too much about that these past several weeks; otherwise, it was too excruciating being near her. She tilted her head back to look at him. Her loose hair was fantastic, but what he liked best were her eyes. He didn’t get to see them that often; she was always wearing those sunglasses.
Ah, that’s what the pockets were for!
“I wish . . .” Her voice trailed off, and she put her head on his chest. His heart raced a little, enough that she must notice.
“You wish?” He lifted her chin so he could see her eyes again. At first glance, she wasn’t the most beautiful breeder in the queue, but he’d liked the curiosity in those eyes from the beginning. They had been so large and full of wonder in her bald head. Then they’d talked at the Rites of May, and her intelligence was undeniable, shining through in her eyes.
He’d seen it again here in Allel as she watched people and explored the city with avid curiosity. He was glad he’d won her.
“What is it that you wish, Mallory?” He found the pocket in her dress. The object was there with the sunglasses and something else – he’d swear it was a rock.
“I wish I were prettier for you.”
Great gods, she meant it. “I don’t.”
Her eyes widened a little, and then she burst into laughter. Sting me. He’d meant she was pretty enough for him. More than pretty.
“What’s this?” Counselor danced by with Jannes. For a man of no family or connections, he was sure enough with the steps. “Mallory, my gallant brother has almost all the virtues but not, I fear, a sense of humor.”
He palmed the object in Mallory’s pocket.
“But he does, Counselor,” she said. “At least, I hope that was a joke. But wait. You’ve lost one of your earbobs.” She stepped away to examine Counselor, and he slipped the object into his pocket.
“Oh, dear.” Counselor unhooked the lone honeybee. “I guess I’ll have to throw
this one away then.”
“That’s a shame.” He hoped that sounded gallant.
“Would you let me have it?” Mallory held out her hand, not giving Counselor much choice in the matter.
“Of course, if you like.”
“Then I give it to Jannes.” Mallory secured the honeybee in one of Jannes’ braids. “Thank you for taking such good care of me this month and keeping me safe. I hope this ornament will give you pleasure.”
Shibbit. Edmund didn’t want her giving any other man pleasure. She and Jannes had been pretty friendly earlier at the turret wall, watching the moonlight on the bay and all.
They don’t have feelings, he reminded himself. Emotion is trained out of them. And though notorious sexual hedonists, when under contract they abstained from all but their contracted partner.
But he didn’t want her to deny other men because of a contract. He wanted her to deny them because she didn’t want them. What the shib was that about?
She stepped away with the air of going about her work. She sure seemed pleased with herself. “My lord, I will be happy to receive you in half an hour.”
He responded to the formulaic words with his own. “My lady, I and my city are grateful.”
She had a definite bounce in her step, going to the lift with her ladies. Not pretty enough? She was gorgeous. But that’s not why he had wanted her. It was her intelligence, not her beauty. It was her independence.
Her settlement origins were a feature, not a flaw. She had no loyalty to any other Concord city. Beesboom, straight; she detested Garrick. She was Allel’s perfect chalice.
It wasn’t because of the way he felt when he was with her, as if she thought every decision he made was the best one, and everything he said was clear and wise. Or because when she looked at him, she lit up with happiness and desire, as if no other man on earth could ever satisfy her.
Did she look at Jannes the same way?
Counselor kissed his cheek. She and Jannes both had that blasted conspiratorial twinkle in their eyes. Jannes didn’t seem to mind what was about to happen.
