by S. J. West
“Good,” Jered says, satisfied with Barlow’s withdrawal from flirtation. “I’m glad we've come to a mutual understanding.”
I hear the rattle of another cart on the tracks in the tunnel. The young man Barlow instructed to bring the EMP runs into the teleporter room breathing heavily from the exertion.
“Here you go, Barlow,” Jake says, handing Barlow a slim black box.
Jake looks in my direction and bows to me at the waist, “Hello, Empress Annalisse.”
I smile. “Hello, Jake.”
He grins, looking a little shy at my use of his name so casually.
Barlow slides the lid of the metal box up. In its interior, lies a small silver disk as thin as a wafer. Embedded in its center is a glossy black button.
“It’s pretty simple to turn on,” Barlow tells me. “All you have to do is press the black button. Just make sure you do it somewhere that doesn’t have any electrical devices within ten feet of you, unless you purposely want to ruin them forever.”
He slides the box's lid back down and hands it to me.
“I hope it works for you,” Barlow says.
“Me too. Thank you, Barlow.”
“We’ll need to use your teleporter two more times,” Jered tells Barlow. “We’ll do what we did this time and come down here the back way.”
“I’ll leave Jake here to help you,” Barlow says. “He can get you wherever you need to go.”
Jered gives Barlow the coordinates of our first destination.
“Where are we going first?” I ask Jered, as we stand beside one another on the teleport pad.
“Dublin, Ireland. Desmond lives there.”
“Ireland is part of the Stratus controlled lands, right?”
“Yes,” Jered says, a hitch of hesitation in his voice. “I feel like I should warn you before we get there that the down-world in other parts of the world aren’t like they are here, Anna.”
“How are they different?”
“They’re not nearly as wealthy.”
Considering what I saw in New Orleans, I have to ask, “How in the world can they have less? What I saw in New Orleans was disgraceful.”
“It gets worse,” Jered says. “There are rulers who care even less for their down-worlders. Catherine might have seemed selfish and a bit tyrannical, but she was more generous than most of the royal families.”
“Are the two of you ready?” Barlow asks us.
“Yes,” Jered says.
“As ready as I can be,” I reply.
“Safe travels to you both then,” Barlow says before activating the teleporter and sending us on our way.
Jered's words worry me. I’ve always known the down-world was in dire straits, but I never knew just how desperate those living in it were in need of the basic necessities. It makes me even more determined to change things for the better. And I have no doubt in my mind that I will make it happen.
Chapter 4
Dense fog envelopes us upon our arrival. The air all around is so thick with mist I feel as though I just stepped into the center of a cloud. If Jered wasn’t standing right beside me, I feel sure we would have lost sight of one another. The loud screech of seagulls in the distance lets me know we must be near a coast line.
“Why is this fog so thick?” I ask him.
“It’s not entirely fog,” Jered says, looking over at me like he thought I would already know what we’re standing in.
“Then, what is it?”
“Camouflage mostly,” he says. “Each cloud city is hidden from the down-worlder’s view by an artificially produced cloud mass.”
“I wasn’t aware of that,” I admit.
I did know Dublin was centered beneath the cloud city of Stratus, but had no idea the cities below were encased in such an annoyingly heavy amount of murkiness.
“How is it made?” I ask.
“The water vapor given off by the propulsion system beneath the cloud cities produces it. From a distance, it looks like a large pillar of clouds stretching from the ground to the underside of the cities. It helps perpetuate the illusion that the cloud cities are completely surrounded by clouds. When you live in one, you’re prevented from seeing the poverty below you. But, this fog is unusually thick. Mostly because it’s early in the morning and the natural mist rolling in from the ocean is accentuating the affect. In a little while, it’ll dissipate somewhat, at least enough to see through. The city normally just looks like it’s surrounded by a thin haze.”
“Where is Desmond’s place?”
Jered turns around, and I see that we’re actually standing in front of some brick steps leading up to somewhere beyond the white mass around us.
“Why don’t you use the EMP before we go in?” Jered suggests.
I pull the disk from its box and depress the little black button.
“I didn’t feel anything,” I say. “How will we know it worked?”
Jered shrugs. “I guess we won’t until you kiss someone again. Come on, let’s go see if Desmond is up yet.”
I follow Jered up the few steps which lead to a rather nondescript blue painted door with a small peep window near the top. Jered raps his knuckles against its center to announce to the occupant inside that he has visitors. We wait a minute but no one readily comes to the door. Jered knocks again.
“Hold onto your horses,” I hear a man with a distinct Irish brogue grumble from the interior. “I’m comin’!”
The door is quickly yanked inward, and I see Desmond again for only the second time in my life.
He’s handsome with shoulder length, wavy brown hair and a day’s growth of a beard on his face. I assume we just woke him up because he’s only wearing a thin, blue cotton bathrobe cinched in at the waist and a pair of black pajama pants. His initial irritation is soon replaced with surprise. When his gaze settles on me, the surprise transforms into unexpected joy.
“Well,” he says, running a hand through his hair, “I definitely didn’t expect to see the two of you on my doorstep this morning.”
Desmond continues to look at me, and I can see his elation falter somewhat after his own words sink in.
“What’s wrong?” He asks, coming to the conclusion on his own that we wouldn’t be there unless something wasn’t right.
“As astute as ever, I see,” Jered teases. “May we come in, Desmond?”
Desmond opens the door wider. “Of course. Sorry. Finding the two of you here has knocked me for a bit of a loop.”
Jered and I walk into Desmond’s home, and he closes and locks the door behind us.
Desmond’s residence isn’t exactly small but neither is it large in proportion. The interior is narrow with a small, sparsely furnished sitting area to the right of the foyer and a set of black painted stairs which go up one level but also down one level.
“Why don’t we go to the kitchen,” Desmond suggests. “You can tell me what’s going on while I make some coffee. I’m completely useless until I’ve had at least one cup to wake me up this early in the morning.”
Jered turns to me. “When was the last time you ate?”
“Last night at supper,” I tell him as my memories quickly backtrack through the events of the night before.
Right after we ate the sandwiches Malcolm prepared for us to eat, Lucas crawled onto my lap and promptly fell asleep. After we put him to bed, Malcolm and I played chess in his study since I lost our bet that I could cook a decent meal. I stop the memories there because I don’t want to relive what happened next in that room. The heartache I felt when I told Malcolm I was letting him go is still too fresh. I skip ahead to a happier memory when I was in Malcolm’s workshop, and he practically slung the door off its hinges to find me and declare his true feelings. It was the first time he appeared to me just like Desmond and Jered always have, glowing with their devotion.
“Come on then,” Desmond says to me with a small grin. “I can scramble eggs as good as any master chef. It’ll fix you up right as rain.”
“
Honestly, I’m not very hungry,” I admit.
“You need to eat,” Jered says, sounding strangely similar to my papa in that moment. “You need to keep your strength up. We have no way of knowing what Levi has in store for us. You need to be ready for anything.”
Reluctantly, I nod. I know he’s right but maintaining an appetite when my stomach is in so many knots is impossible. All I can think about is Malcolm and Lucas, not to mention my papa, Millie, and Vala. They’re all in the hands of a maniac, and there’s nothing I can do to get them back safely except give Levi what he wants.
We follow Desmond down the stairs to the lower level of his home.
The kitchen is the only room on this level. There isn’t much in the way of appliances except for an old, black wood burning iron stove, a small unpainted table with four chairs around it, and a small sink in the middle of some cabinetry on the outer wall. There is only one door which seems to lead outside to an alley way. Double lines of thin rope hang from wall to wall on one side of the room and are dotted with Desmond’s laundry. While Jered and I sit down at the table, Desmond snatches two pairs of underwear hanging from the line and quickly stuffs them into a drawer. I wonder if he thinks I didn’t see him do it and have to smile at his show of modesty.
“So tell me what’s happened,” Desmond says, grabbing what looks to me like a small silver pitcher.
As Jered tells Desmond what’s happened so far and why we’re here, I watch Desmond make his coffee. He pulls out a silver basket sitting on a metal stem attached to a flat base. He takes the lid off the basket and reaches for a small, white porcelain container on the counter and scoops out tablespoons of coffee grounds from it, dumping them into the basket. He takes the container to the sink and fills it with water then puts the contraption back inside the silver pitcher. After he places it on the stove, he sits down at the table with us and listens to the rest of what Jered has to say.
Desmond sits back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest after Jered is finished with his story.
“Well,” Desmond says, “I can’t say I like it much, but I don’t think we have any choice in the matter. They’re not worth sacrificing our friends for. Maybe this is the way it was always meant to be. Since Anna can kill the princes, it does seem like the perfect time for a good old fashioned fight. They’ll finally be put out of their misery once and for all.”
“So you don’t think I should just try to kill them all while they’re in stasis?” I ask Desmond.
Desmond shakes his head and grins. “What fun would that be? And I don’t think you’re the type of person to kill just for killing’s sake.”
“If I’m only meant to take the seals from them and return them to Heaven, it might be the easiest way. I could be saving the lives of millions instead of just a handful.”
“But you would lose yourself in the process,” Desmond says with such certainty it’s like he knows me as well as I do. “I don’t think you’re someone who can kill without being provoked into it. Unless you’re telling me in a subtle way that you’re truly a sociopath, and I just don’t know it.”
I let out a small laugh. “No, I can assure you I’m nothing like Levi. I would much rather kill them in a fair fight, if I have to kill them at all.”
Desmond chuckles. “That’s what I thought, lass.”
Desmond looks over at the pot making his coffee. Dark brown water is now percolating up into the glass bubble on the lid. He stands from his chair, takes the pot from the stove and brings it over to the table. After grabbing three cups from a top cupboard, he sets them down in front of us and pours us each a cup of coffee.
“Do you happen to have any sugar?” I ask, never having acquired a taste for black coffee without something sweet added in to it.
“You might as well have asked if I had any gold spun from straw lying around the house,” Desmond says with a good natured grin. “Sugar is a precious commodity down here. As it is, I have to dry out my coffee grounds after I make a pot so I can reuse them a few times.”
“I knew the Hallorans were stingy with their down-worlders,” I say, “but is Stratus really worse than Cirrus?”
“You heard about the ‘accident’ right?” Desmond asks me.
“Yes,” I say. “Auggie had to come for the double funeral of the emperor and empress of Stratus. It was a tragedy unheard of among the royals.”
“It wasn’t an accident,” Desmond informs me. “I don’t have any proof, but I can tell you that Lorcan Halloran orchestrated his parents’ untimely demise so he could assume the throne before they changed the law.”
“Changed the law?” I ask. “Which law?”
“That only a male heir can ascend to the throne. They wanted to make it so that the eldest child would be the one to take control. I think they both knew Lorcan is off his blooming rocker.”
“Too bad they weren’t able to do it before they died,” I say. “His older sister is definitely more stable than Lorcan is. The few times I’ve met her I always felt comfortable around her.”
“Kyna Halloran is a rare jewel,” Desmond agrees. “How she came from the loins of that family is beyond me. Though, most everyone assumes her mother had an affair with the general of their army. He has the same flaming red hair and green eyes as she does. Plus, she's never displayed the same greed and selfishness of her parents or her brother. Speaking of Kyna,” Desmond looks over at Jered, “have you been to see Brutus yet?”
Jered shakes his head. “No, not yet. You’re the first one we came to see. Why do you ask?”
Desmond holds up an index finger and tilts it as if telling us to wait just a moment. He runs up the stairs to the second level and returns posthaste with a small tin box.
He hands the box to Jered and says, “Give this to Brutus and tell him he owes me one.”
Jered flips the lid of the box open and looks inside. “A neural memo?”
“It’s the last message Kyna sent thanking me for what I’m doing down here.”
Jered still looks puzzled. “And why would Brutus need such a thing?”
“Because our friend thinks he’s found his soul mate.”
“His soul mate?” I ask, finding this bit of news interesting. “How does he know? When did he see her?”
“He saw her at your coronation,” Desmond says while he walks to the back door and opens it. He reaches down beside it, and I hear the rattle of a chain and the distinctive creak of something metallic being opened. Desmond soon brings in a basket containing a few perishable items of food. I assume he’s left them out to keep them cold since I see no evidence of a preserver in his home. Among the items in the basket are a dozen eggs with tan shells.
“Did Kyna see Brutus?” Jered asks, sounding intrigued by this new development as well.
Desmond shakes his head. “No. He was going to introduce himself at the reception, but since we weren’t able to attend, he missed his opportunity.”
“I’ll make sure he gets to meet her,” I tell them. “When we have time, I’ll introduce them myself. I owe all of you so much. It’s the least I can do for him.”
“You don’t owe us anything,” Jered tells me. “I think I can speak for us all when I say we’ve felt honored to look after your family for all this time. There were probably things we could have handled better in the last thousand years, but overall I think we did what needed to be done.”
“Still,” I say, “I would love for all of you to find happiness, and if Brutus thinks Kyna is his soul mate, then there’s nothing that I wouldn’t do to bring the two of them together.” I watch Desmond as he grabs a bowl from a cabinet. “Have you found anyone special yet, Desmond?”
“No one that would be soul mate material,” he tells me, grabbing an egg out of the basket and cracking it against the counter top before splitting it apart and dumping the contents into the bowl. “But I have high hopes she’ll be showing up any minute now.”
I can’t help but smile at the note of enthusiasm in Desmond’s voic
e.
“And why do you think that?” I have to ask.
Desmond glances in my direction. “Because you’re here, lass. Our long vigil is finally almost over. All we have to do now is help you retrieve the seals and our vows will be fulfilled.”
“What about Daniel?” I ask. “Is he still waiting to meet the woman of his dreams?”
“Daniel’s been married for about eight years now,” Jered tells me. “He has four children.”
“Four?” I ask in astonishment. “So he met his soul mate?”
Jered shakes his head. “No, he said Linn wasn’t his soul mate, but he loves her all the same. Not everyone is lucky enough to find their soul mate. Sometimes people just fall in love and live out content lives with the person they’ve chosen. I feel sure when everything has been handled, Daniel will ask to become human to live out the rest of his life with Linn naturally.”
“Have you thought about doing what Daniel did?” I ask Jered.
I hear Desmond chuckle.
“Jered is a hopeless romantic,” Desmond says as he turns around to face us while whipping the eggs in the bowl with a fork. “He’ll stay here another thousand years if it takes that long for him to find his one true love.”
I look back at Jered and see a heightened hue of color dapple his cheeks.
“I just want to experience that kind of love,” Jered says in his own defense. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”
I place my hand over the one Jered has resting on the table.
“I don’t blame you,” I tell him. “I can’t even compare the feelings I have for Malcolm to anything I’ve ever experienced before. You should wait if that’s what your heart is telling you to do. I’m sure she’s out there or, at the very least, will be born soon.”
A small smile graces Jered’s face at my understanding words.
I look back at Desmond. “And what about you? What are your plans when this is all over?”
Desmond shrugs his shoulders. “I haven’t made up my mind yet.”
“You’ve had a thousand years to decide,” Jered teases amiably.
