“That’s because it never happened,” Leonardo said to the minions drily.
“Ah ah ah, doesn’t matter. Paint it,” the minion said waggling a gloved hand above his clipboard. “Look, we’re not here to quibble with you about who was born and who wasn’t, we’re here to enforce Cipher’s wishes.” There were two of them, a girl with short, buzzed hair and a man with chin length hair. A Keith Urban look-alike. Both of them wore white jackets over crisp white collared shirts and black pants that were tucked into knee high boots. Like some kind of police force, Kate thought.
“I’ll finish that right up . . . when I have time,” Leonardo told them.
The girl made a disapproving noise with her mouth. “Remember the last time you dragged your feet, Leonardo? With the cerulium mine machinery? We don’t want to see an angry Cipher, do we?”
“You do remember that, don’t you?” the male minion pitched in.
“Now look—”
“No, you look, Leonardo Da Vinci,” the girl said, her lips curling back when she spat out his name, “It will do you well to remember whose power reigns here, and who will suffer most because of your insubordination. Cipher has his pets. Cipher has the power to destroy souls, and if you don’t believe that, he will show you. Beginning with your precious Beatrice.”
“She’s not mine,” Leonardo said, offhandedly, his shoulders sagging ever so slightly. “I hardly care for her. She’s an acquaintance. We’ve drifted apart since coming here.”
“That’s correct, she’s not yours. At all,” the male minion answered with a smile. “And she never will be. Cipher will make sure of that. But how well do you want to see her completely destroyed? Whether her soul survives or perishes hangs in the balance. And remember, dear friend, that it always will. This is why you came to Chthonos, this is why you’ll remain and do as Cipher demands.”
So that’s why he was here, Kate thought. She expected Leonardo to lash out, to take up arms, throw a chair at them . . . something—the set of his jaw and the flashing light in his eyes cried for as much. But he merely nodded.
“Good,” the girl said, clicking her tongue. “You have until the Holy Menace Geyser goes off again to finish. Per Cipher’s wishes.”
“Do you not tire of serving his whims?” Leonardo asked quietly in that soft accent, his head bowed, his eyes focused on some distant object just beyond the walls of his hovel. “Do you not wish to answer to your own desires?”
Kate tensed, waiting for a backhand or some kind of violence from the minions.
They laughed. “These are our desires.”
“Of course. Your bodies, borrowed; your souls trapped forever in a pre-Earth limbo; your wills crushed into eternal submission. You will never know what it means to be human, even with all your pretenses, your games of dress up in human skin.”
The girl slapped Leonardo with a loud crack. A drop of red trickled from the corner of his mouth. Kate watched wide-eyed as he wiped it clean with the back of his hand.
“Never say that word to us again,” the girl hissed.
“Which one? Human?” Leonardo asked. From the way he said it, Kate could tell that he knew which word she had meant.
In a flash, the girl minion sprang upon Leonardo, her feet planted on his chest as he fell to the hard floor. She curled atop him like a beast, her hands pummeling his face in a blur, a shrill screech coming from her. Kate covered her mouth with her hand, biting back a cry of shock. Her heart thudded against her ribs and she clenched her teeth around her breath, holding onto it, frightened of being caught by these human-dressed monsters.
Leonardo didn’t fight back. His head whipped from side to side, flopping like a dandelion in a windstorm.
“Enough, Juliastus,” the male minion said, stepping forward, a sardonic grin plastered on his face. “You can’t kill him—it turns into pointless torture.” The minion put a booted foot against Juliastus’ hip and pushed her off of Leonardo.
She jumped to her feet, wiped her knuckles off on her black pants and tossed her head like a bull. Leonardo groaned, working his jaw back into place. He sat up slowly and glowered at the minions.
“He’ll remember it Petrovnos. Next time we conduct duty-call, he will submit to Cipher’s wishes,” Juliastus said.
“Well then, Leonardo, get to work. The Holy Menace’s next eruption comes quickly, does it not?” Petrovnos said with a laugh. They strolled out casually, not waiting to hear Leonardo’s answer, their dark mood now lighthearted. Kate actually heard Juliastus laugh mirthfully as the door slid shut behind them.
Kate wanted to burst out of the glass cabinet and rush to Leonardo’s side where he remained on the floor, breathing heavily. But she waited. Finally, when it was clear the minions weren’t coming back, she opened the cabinet door in a slow silent motion and crawled out, one limb at a time. By then, Leonardo was on his hands and knees, preparing to stand, moving as slowly as a sloth.
Kate reached him and began assisting him to his feet. “Why did you provoke them?” Kate asked, anguish in her voice.
Leonardo grunted as he moved to cold fire. He sank into the black wood chair, still wiping away rivulets of blood running from cuts across his cheeks and mouth. “I wanted you to see and know how dangerous they are. They appear to be calm and friendly, but they wait for opportunities to unleash their demonic nature. Ah thank you, young girl. Now bring me, if you will, the angel ice.”
Kate got it off the mantel over the fire, took it to the man and sat down in the chair facing him.
Leonardo held onto the angel ice with both hands, closed his eyes, and took several deep breaths. Soon the flow of blood from his wounds stopped and the puffiness around his eyes and mouth began to diminish. Kate watched, her mouth gaping open.
With a great inhalation, Leonardo began speaking, his eyelids still lowered. “Kate, there is no night here. This planet is tidally locked with the dim sun it circles. But I have worked out a lunar calendar and an hourly clock based on solar days. It is technically afternoon, and every day after the performances at the grand theater, Cipher brings his best performers back to his palace and encourages them to compete with each other for his approval. So then, it is time.”
“What time? You want me to go without you?” she asked in disbelief.
He opened his eyes and regarded her gravely. “You didn’t come all this way to fail, young girl. You must do this on your own. You have your guide. If ever you fear, just look to it. Though it now appears to sleep, it is aware.”
Kate ran a fingertip along the metal wing of the dragonfly ring where it had turned to metal on her finger. She frowned, afraid of what lay ahead. One part of her had been convinced this was all a dream. Just, much worse than anything she’d encountered with Will. But now. Now she wasn’t sure of anything. She felt swallowed up in some kind of horrifying nightmare. Something evil. Something she might have expected to encounter in a painting done by Hieronymus Bosch or Dali.
“Just do as we planned. I’ve outfitted you as best as I can,” he said. Kate looked up at him. By now he was totally recovered. For the first time since encountering the man, she noticed the godly, ancient timelessness in his eyes and it gave her chills. It was like looking at the exposed face of an eons-old granite cliff.
“Thank you,” she said, unsure of how to proceed. She stood and headed for the door. She pushed it open and a burst of heat gusted over her face and blew her hair across her face. She’d forgotten how hot it was outside Leonardo’s hovel.
“And Kate, young girl,” his voice came from behind her.
She turned and found that he’d closed the distance between them. “Yes?” She hoped he would volunteer to come. Change his mind. That he was going to tell her he had her back and would until she got off the cursed planet.
“Kate,” he repeated. “When you make it out of here and get back home, if you could—” he hesitated.
“What?”
“If you can, find a way to get the rest of us out of here. People leave and
never send reinforcements. I’m not quite sure why. I’ve never left myself—I don’t know what happens to them.”
She nodded, thinking that what he asked was probably impossible. “I will. I promise.”
“Thank you. Now, Godspeed,” he gave her shoulder a squeeze and pushed her gently out onto the street. “You have just a short time until the cerulium miners head out. Don’t get caught.”
Kate looked down at her non-descript outfit, something Leonardo had pulled out of a tinted glass chest. It had once belonged to Beatrice, he’d said, and it would keep Kate from standing out. Of course, the backpack she still wore didn’t help. But there was no way Kate was leaving that. It was heavier than it had been when she started the journey, but tucked away beneath rolls of clothing, it contained the way out.
***
The streets alternated between a maze and a grid, as though several different people had planned it. That, or the same person with a fractured mind. A chill skittered along Kate’s arms as she pressed forward through the oven-like heat. He said go toward the statue, she thought, wondering how she’d get there through the maze. It was fine when the layout made sense, but as soon as Kate could see the path plainly before her, the road came to a T and the new street she was forced down turned into a winding, meandering thing that curved around on itself.
Dirty buildings made of that blue, glittery stone with gray, lifeless windows stared blankly out at an ash-covered city. Shadows from the stagnant sun crawled along the curving street Kate hurried through, desperate to stay out of sight. Leonardo had said the miners would be heading out soon. How long did she have before they piled out of their hovels?
Kate stayed in the shadows as much as possible, even though she knew that looked more suspicious and would invite question more than being nonchalant. She couldn’t bring herself to stroll down the middle of the street in front of God and everyone like she had nothing to hide. She had something to hide. She was about to outsmart Cipher. She was about to steal one of his trophies.
There was an alleyway ahead, the first alleyway Kate had seen in this place. Everything else was a street. This one was different. It could be the way into the center of the city where the drunk-on-its-own-glory statue towered.
A door opened ahead in the building whose feet she all but hugged. Voices spilled out into the street and soon a fistful of bodies followed, dressed in the standard-issue ragged clothing. These people wore something different—hardhats with glowing stones in them. Miners.
Kate’s first instinct was to run. Her feet itched, her fingers twitched, but she sucked in through her teeth and kept her pace normal. The miners were between her and the alley. The nearby doorways were too shallow. There was no other cover. Their voices halted as they noticed her. Eyes flickered in curiosity as their gazes swept over her figure. It was like she could hear their thoughts, “Clothes are right. Nothing special there. But her face, her eyes, she doesn’t look like one of us. And what’s this, a backpack? Fishy . . .”
Kate stared into their eyes—men, all of them, no, wait, there was a woman, just one. Blue, gray, and brown eyes glittered at her as though they knew what she was. Knew who she was. Were they a threat? Would they stop her? Were they like minions?
Her heart was a kick drum as they drew closer. Could they hear it? She briefly thought of running, but she noticed their lips moving, and soon she heard their whispers, “Save us. Come back for us. Go with God, girl. Finish your mission . . . finish, but come back . . . save us, we’re prisoners here . . . no . . . stay strong, stay strong . . . he will try to trick you . . . he will lie to you . . . don’t let his charm deceive you, come back for us, save us . . .”
Their faces never changed. The look in their eyes frightened her, though they did nothing but pass by benignly, without raising a finger. Beyond that was their whispers.
Kate’s heart continued on drumming a German industrial beat, pounding a hole in her ribs, as they passed. Her head turned; their heads turned, and soon they were gone and she’d come to a halt without even realizing it.
She was standing in the alleyway, staring up at the ridiculously indulgent statue. Beneath it there was the huge white palace with a thousand thin spires shooting out of the onion-like domes up toward the dim sun.
“Someone has a God complex,” she muttered, finding her feet again and beginning to walk toward the palace.
27: Grand Performance
Kate strode through a grandiose entryway guarded by two huge men holding deadly-looking maces. One of them stopped her by blocking her path with the enormous weapon.
“Who are you?” he asked, his voice a deep rasp.
Kate swallowed and looked up at him. “I request an audience with Cipher.”
“What is your performance type?”
“Uh. Music. I sing and play the guitar. Er lute. Whatever,” she said.
“You may pass. There are guards near Cipher. Watch your step,” he said, his big black eyebrows furling as his eyes narrowed.
“Certainly,” Kate said, trying to imitate his speech.
She backed away and then turned at a safe distance. She could barely control her pace as she strolled down a wide corridor lined with black-mirrored tiles and extravagant Renaissance style paintings upon the walls—all of them featuring the same handsome man with blond wavy hair—and through a set of double doors which opened into a cathedral-like chamber. She stopped just inside the doors that were opened by two more large men and then closed behind her with an ominous boom.
Inside the room, she was surrounded by a crowd of performers and entertainers who congregated around the fringe of the chamber, each caught up in their own rehearsing. Kate looked around with wide eyes as her heart raced against time. Cool crepuscular rays poured through stained glass panels that were interspersed with arched ribs that buttressed the domed ceiling. An exquisite chandelier hung from the center. It glowed brilliantly with a glaring white light, spilling across alabaster marbled floors and pillars that marched staunchly around the periphery of the circular room. Between the pillars and the outer walls musicians plucked strings, actors recited soliloquies, jugglers tossed dangerous objects while riding unicycles, and fire-eaters loomed nearby tossing brands in the air before swallowing them. Kate stretched onto her toes searching the crowd for Will, hoping to spot him so they could leave without interacting with Cipher.
She took a few steps forward to get a view around the enormous pillars. As Kate’s eyes drifted over the rehearsing entertainers, a man stood in the center of the chamber, playing an intricate, haunting tune on a violin. His bow danced and bounced along the strings while his foot tapped out the tempo. Kate studied him for just a moment and then her eyes fell on the trophy of the palace. There, in the center of the room, against the far wall, she spied Cipher lounging in a gem-encrusted throne. That must be what the miners toil away for—precious stones, Kate thought. Though why, she couldn’t say. It wasn’t like Cipher competed with the economies of foreign nations or the people of his city or anything.
When her eyes fell upon Cipher, Kate’s mouth was all but glued shut as she studied him, the fallen angel and thief of souls. His beauty stilled the heart and shook the foundations of Kate’s understanding of the physical world. How could something so evil be so beautiful?
With one blink of his dark-lashed eyes, reason fled and thoughts scattered like a sand-painting in the path of a hurricane. Kate floundered in a sea of awe at the sight of him. A languorous smile played on lips carved from the finest stone. He sat with one black-clad leg draped over the arm of his throne, his long fingers templed and touching his mouth in bemusement. Suddenly he tossed his fine, wavy blond hair with the flick of his chin and stood in one movement.
“Stop, stop, oh, but stop. It’s passable: for a beginner.” He waved his hand and sent the violinist away. The player bowed, tucked his instrument beneath an arm and walked toward Kate and the doors behind her, shaking his head in regret. Cipher rubbed his chin and searched the remaining entertain
ers. “Who’s next? Come now, don’t be shy.”
The demon looked around the room for a volunteer. No one stepped forward. Cipher grinned.
“Don’t all rush at once to worship your god, please,” he clapped his hands and strutted back and forth on the dais in front of his throne. He scrutinized the seething mass of nervous performers. There was something magnanimous in his expression, but underneath it, a calculated malevolence. Kate shrank before him, concerned that he would see her and she’d have to do something—perform or speak to him, she didn’t know which would be worse.
“Wait, wait, there’s a new presence in our crowd. An uninvited guest.” He sniffed as though catching her odor, his eyes scanning the faces around her. “Yes, a woman. She wears the flesh of Earth.” A gasp riffled through the ranks. Heads turned, voices conversed, wondering aloud whom it could be. A fire-eater at Kate’s elbow turned and looked at her. He was stripped to the waist and tattoos covered his muscular chest and arms.
“Shit,” Kate muttered, steeling herself for the discovery. Cipher obviously had the power to detect her and she still hadn’t found Will. Was he even here? Leonardo seemed to think he would be—having been an actor before dying.
Cipher unexpectedly strode down the stairs, moving with the grace of a puma. His black boots clicked across the tile floors and his cream silk shirt and black cape fluttered behind him like clouds across a full moon.
He’s coming for me, Kate realized. But would he find her? Maybe, maybe there was someone else here. Maybe he wasn’t smelling her. Maybe he wasn’t as clever as he pretended to be. She lowered her head and tried to shrink into the crowd.
A Boat Made of Bone (The Chthonic Saga) Page 32
