The morning air was exceptionally cool by conventional weather standards for the mid-weeks of Baa'ai. The sun hadn't risen yet, and her husband was already in full attire, straightening his cuffs and collar.
"You remember what to do should anything happen to me?" he asked.
"Tsche, go to the junction," Sanci said.
"Why?"
"Because your friends there will see to our safety."
"Yes." He came to her side of the bed and rested his forehead to hers. She held onto him with a purwl before tilting into a quick kiss.
"Tsche, may nothing happen to you."
"When are you due?"
"Very soon." She ran a hand along her lower belly. This one was smaller than the twins were. Already the amniotic sac had slipped out of the chorion in the second chamber of her womb. Whoever it was, they were floating, bumping against a terribly sensitive cervix. "Might be today, could be tomorrow. I'd give it no more than two days after tonight."
"I don't want you doing any busy work."
"And what, expect the boys to look after me?"
"I'll send for Ashenzsi."
"Nai'ii, I'll be fine. After three hundred fifty-six births, and two hundred twenty-four children, I know what I can and can't handle." She chuckled, because Rollond's brows nearly shot off his forehead.
"That's… a lot. You must've been quite busy with one another."
"A koja's ability to fill and his feeling an orgasm are entirely independent of one another."
"So you're saying it was quick."
"Very." She didn't want to let him go, her arms tightening around his neck and shoulders, as if beckoning him to return to bed, to stay with her — duties be damned. "Keep lingering and you'll be late."
Like a pair of supercharged magnets, the attraction proved difficult to break. "I despise that job," he said.
She sensed it in his voice. Not the disdain, but that he wanted to be by her side. It was evident in his arrhythmic pulse, how he wished he could terminate his secular duties. She knew his driving desire was to be let loose on the open world, and he wanted to take her with him.
But that had to wait.
For how much longer?
"I know you do," she said, lowering her voice to a whisper. Reluctantly, she released him, and he quietly departed.
The remaining hours of dark were for the most part tranquil. She ignored the tumbling flutter in her lower stomach and had almost returned to sleep, when a sense of alarm rustled the feathers of her crest.
She bolted upright and hopped out of the bed to peer through the window. There was nothing out of the ordinary in the darkness beyond the windowpane. Yet her intuition sent distressed tingles to the far ends of her body.
She tied the sash of her nightgown tightly around her waist and without turning on a single light she stepped into Lucein's room. "Good morning, sweet one, it's time to get up." She shook him gently.
"But mama," Lucein groaned and rolled over. "It's not even daylight yet."
"I know, but I need you up this instant." She pulled the cover off of him.
He grumbled and sat up on the edge of his bed.
She ducked into Gnyovante's room. He was already sitting up.
"You're awake," Sanci said, motioning for him to come. It was unusual for him to be up this early. But as far as she could tell, it meant that her suspicions must've been right.
"I've been up since Rollond left. Ma, what's wrong?"
"I don't know, but we're leaving." She peeped out his window.
He went to the closet to get dressed, until she hissed and snapped her fingers at him. No time to change.
Lucein stood doofusly in the dark hallway. His brother took his hand and pulled him to the stairs. "No, wait!" He broke free of Gnyovante's grip and ducked into his room, snatching the Isteryte from under his pillow. Then he raced down the stairs.
New morning light glowed at the brink of the land. The skirt of darkness was lifting, and the secrets of the day were gradually being exposed.
Her instincts were to lift her sons over the fence into the alley, then quietly head down to the neighbor's house at the far end where the alley met the privacy wall that separated the housing community from the rest of Niquang Heights. She helped the boys hop the fence into the neighbor's yard, then up onto the privacy wall.
From atop the wall, it was impossible to know exactly what had happened. But a bright, raging light erupted a few houses down. The whooping, ecstatic sound of several male voices broke the otherwise calm air, as fire drunkenly swayed in the wind.
"Mama, what's happened?" Lucein asked.
Sanci flicked her ear. "Let's keep going."
Now, the mutability of the kyusoakin body was something that originated specifically from Sanci, passed down to Ori- and Dysoas alike. She could take on the form of any Kyuosa, from the ones that rolled in the blackest depths of Dyjian's waters, to those who streaked the sky with their broad wings and bright colors. She could reproduce any ability, from the light-consuming mist of the Jaqobu, to the flesh-rending shriek of the Qyrbura.
But transformation while pregnant was risky. She had never done it with any of her previous pregnancies, and what effect it would have on the fetus was unknown. Given the circumstances, the need to escape far outweighed the potential risks because four lives were in jeopardy, and, as terrible as it sounded, she was willing to forfeit one.
She didn't stop to regard the faces of her children as her skin shifted like hot resin. Her body stretched and her torso narrowed; her neck became slender; and her arms and legs thickenend and stretched. Her feathers became smoky plumes blacker than night, choking out the pre-light of dawn.
Sanci knelt, and the two boys knew exactly what she wanted. Lucein hopped onto her between her neck and shoulders, and Gnyovante got on behind him. They leaned forward and hugged themselves to their mother's body. Feeling they were secure, she rose, and within three strides she bolted down the street at speeds that would put cheetahs to shame.
It didn't take long for her to reach the transit at the other side of Niquang Heights. The station where there would be the least danger.
The boys dismounted, and within seconds she was back to her usual self.
"Whoa, mom!" Gnyovante said.
"You can do that!?" Excitement marked Lucein's voice. He hopped in place.
"That was cool! What else can you do?" Gnyovante hugged her.
"Can we do that?" Lucein hugged her, too.
The transit was devoid of people this early in the morning. Most of the lights were off, save for the ones at the platforms and other navigational points.
"I don't think you can," she said, carefully striding onto the platform, a boy on each leg.
"Why not?" Lucein asked.
"Because you are not a kyusoa."
"We're at least part, aren't we?"
"Lucein, there are rules that govern the hybridization of the intellectual ones. Yes, you are part kyusoa, you are even somewhat uunan. But the majority of what you are is Xei, and you will do the things of a Xei, you will have the voice of a Xei. The ability to change your body is not yours."
The train heading to the junction arrived. They entered an empty car. Sanci took her seat and the boys huddled close to her.
What a crazy morning.
In the heart of the metropolis was a building that stood higher than all the others. It was a slender thing and looked like a fin-less squid at the top. There all the Rynaelts gathered in a spacious conference room. The seats were arranged in a semi-circle around a central judicatures podium, at which the Rynaelts with the pressing issues of the meeting would plead their cause before their peers.
There were 61 ranked Rynaelts, of which, Rollond was the 61st. Not the most influential of ranks, but his was the swing-vote. Whether left or right, he was allowed a measure of independence, more than the 60 Rynaelts gathered with him.
He wasn't exactly listening to the issues being pressed. Most of it being the usual banter that con
cerned most city-states: the prevalence of crime; areas of the city that needed remodeling; the rearranging, closing, and opening of districts; city expansion; what to do about Ashui-hilo.
He cast his vote where it seemed to work best, not always in the favor of either political side, but for what was in the best interest of the city, to his knowledge.
Then there was his fellow Rynaelt who sat some seats away from him. A woman, busty, with a rounded butt and narrow waist. She occasionally looked his way, trying to catch his attention, but he deliberately ignored her.
Her name was Cittevnei.
At the time the issue-bearers declared a brief recess, Rollond immediately rose from his position in the center of the back row and ducked into the restroom.
The urinals were immaculate. He aimed down and a little to the left to splash the rim just as he was finishing. He buttoned his trousers with a chuckle. That'll give the janitor some menial task to perform.
No sooner had he fitted the top button through the loop did a voice sound from the other side of the room.
"I swear, I have such love for these unisex bathrooms." Cittevnei forced the depth in her voice. She wanted to sound sultry, and he knew precisely why. It was evident the moment he took the position of Rynaelt.
He stared ahead at the wall and narrowed his eyes.
"It's a perfect opportunity, you know." She put her hand on his shoulder and rounded his side, coming to loop her arms around his neck.
"Opportunity?" he said, feigning interest.
"You know what I want." She drew her finger along his chin. "In exchange, the power of a third-rank could be allied to you."
"No," he said, pushing her arms off of his shoulders. He stepped away and started for the exit.
"I used to wonder what kept me from you. Then I found out what it was. It's that paercoulett of yours, isn't it?"
He stopped.
"To think I'm second-rate to some beast. Not anymore, though. Not after this morning."
"What are you saying?"
"Oh, I'm not saying anything. I just know it's a matter of time before you come crawling to me."
He clenched his fists, and bit back the fury in his stomach. That heated anger soon became a cold, anxious tremble. His hearts stopped. Cittevnei knew about Sanci and his boys —
No!
He stepped out of the bathroom, his hearts thrashing arrhythmicaly. Before the other Rynaelts gathered, he took a position at the fore of the crescent-like rows. "Superior, forgive me. There is something urgent I must see to. I request your explicit permission to dismiss myself."
"Who will see to your station?"
"If you would give Zazie the transcripts, I'll add my vote Adtve Dy'gaeci first thing in the morning."
"No!" Cittevnei's voice broke the amicable calm of the air. "As the third-ranking officer, I deny Sir Alekzandyr his request for dismissal." She took her seat.
His hearts thrashed furiously. "Excuse me, my lady, but I'm certain you know the state of emergency —"
"I don't care how bad things must be. Sit your candy-ass down and see to it that you preform your duty as Rynaelt."
He sat down as told.
Finally the other officials gathered within the conference chamber. What issues were being raised Rollond had met with sheer apathy. His concentration was shot. He rubbed his temples, sat back. His mind raced back to his home at Niquang Heights.
What evil could have transpired there? Nevermind that. Did Sanci get away safely with the boys? But of course she did, he reasoned. Ever since their departure from the Ankuseth Estate, she proved herself a crafty creature. Though he had wanted her to relax, especially with the third child being so close to birth.
"Now to this issue of the PTNA and the Kyusoakin broadcasts." The voice of the first-ranking Rynaelt pierced through Rollond's thoughts. "Alekzandyr, do you have an explanation as to why you sanctioned this program?"
"Sir." He stood. "Being that we are so close to one of the largest Kyusoakin Communes on Dyjian, I saw fit to show the nature and mannerisms of them as a people through broadcasting on the PTNA's network."
"M'hm." The first-ranked Rynaelt took notes. "You may take your seat, Alekzandyr. As for the rest of us, I want a classic show of colors as to whether or not this show should continue in consideration of the sex scandal."
Quiet swept over the Rynaelts. In a matter of minutes, the votes were in. Rollond sank in his seat. Their decree passed him by without a sound. There was just the race of his hearts.
Sanci —
The boys —
His house — Wait. Nevermind. Damn the house.
Caution before conflict, he told himself, clenching his fist. How he wanted to sock Cittevnei until her head sprung off her neck. He glowered.
"This conference is adjourned." The first-ranking Rynaelt stood and saluted his contemporaries.
Rollond's skin rippled. Cittevnei's crooked gaze turned his stomach to ice, yet his skin was darkened with sweltering fury.
He was careful not to storm into the lobby of his office. Zazie tapped away at the glossy, flat-panel desk. She never looked up.
"Sorry to hear about the discontinuance."
"That's the least of my worries," Rollond said, slipping his arms into the sleeves of his coat and reaching for his helmet.
"Sir, where are you going? There's still a number of articles left for you to consider and —"
"Zazie, please!" His muscles almost bulged through his clothes, he was exceptionally tense.
"Sir," she said in a hushed voice. "If you hate this job that much, why do you keep coming back?"
"Because the world I dream of and the world I live in aren't the same. It's my compelling urge to fix that, especially for my boys, regardless of how…" He gagged, unable to muster the iron-clad persona he'd worn for nearly 273 years. "How futile it all seems."
He didn't stop to look at her, though he knew it was the most open he'd ever been with Zazie. He imagined her sitting at her desk, returning to her usual business of micromanaging his scheduled affairs.
With that he stepped onto the landing deck attached to his suite, mounted his air katt, and departed for the Junction.
Activity had picked up in the Junction since he'd last visited. Dubba's was somewhere in the center of the Junction, and the sound of music from within thrummed onto the sidewalk. The parking lot was saturated with the wobble of dubstep.
The moment he gripped the handle of one of the main doors, the other steadily opened.
Yonathael's spine, as much as it held him upright, slowed him almost to a crawl. Guilt crept along Rollond's skin, like an army of gnats marching towards his nostrils. He held the door open as Yonathael stepped out.
"Ah, I was expecting you," Yonathael said. The narrow-eyed grin was genuine. "Perhaps not this instant, but some time today, maybe tomorrow, whenever you'd have realized your bed was turned to ash. Of course your bedfellow is a whole different story."
"Sanci's alive?" Rollond carefully reached around Yonathael's back and steadied him.
"More than just her. Though I will admit, it is a rather incestuous situation in my eyes." Yonathael pointed in a direction down the sidewalk, arced his arm around Rollond's shoulders and they started that way.
"What do you mean?"
"I had a hand in making Sanci. I created her nature, and she's very much like a daughter to me. And now, for the first time in her long life she's managed to find a unique love. Most notably with the half-Taa, half-man that descended from my flesh. It's like my son and my daughter had sex and my grandchildren are genetically viable."
"When you put it that way…"
"Oh but no one whose lived on Dyjian for very long talks about family ties. After the first batch, the lines get outrageously obscure." They went quietly down several blocks. Then he said: "I think it's only fair, though. I did have sex with one of her direct daughters. Ashenzsi's proof of that."
Rollond shuddered. "This gets increasingly weird."
"
Hmnh." Yonathael smiled. "This is it here." He pointed at a three-story building. The sign mounted at the top over the entrance read:
Sunburn
Bar, Grill, Novelties & Oddities
Rollond stopped. He read it several times. "Novelties and oddities?"
"Oh yes," Yonathael chuckled. "Not everyone is into xenophilia, but the curiosity and wonder runs rampant. Especially after that 'sex scandal'."
So Ielase and Rah'ii made ripples in the ocean. Rollond wondered what else was possible. The door slid open and he carefully helped Yonathael in.
The first floor was a restaurant and tele bar. The way to the upper floor was guarded by a slender, towering creature that, as Rollond stared at it, he couldn't tell whether it was a him or a her. For that matter, the longer he looked, the more the figure switched between both and maintained the appearance of neither.
Then his head hurt.
Yonathael lead him behind the counter. With a nod to the tall, definitely male xeirelle behind the counter, they slipped by into the back of the establishment and descended a stairwell into the basement.
"This is your chielde," Yonathael said as they approached the opaque bubble. It wasn't as large as the one in the back of Dubba's. In fact, it was about the size of an exercise ball, just a little bigger. "Given your circumstances and the fact that you're not a whole xei, we decided it'd be better for you to have your own set-up."
Rollond ran his hand along the resistant surface. It was like touching a ball of mist, and where he slid his hand along the surface, whatever it was composed of made swirling, milky trails after him.
"Whenever you're ready, simply imagine how it feels to return home."
Home: a thought that hadn't crossed his mind; a place he hadn't established since he departed Alekzandrya when he was 26. In the years since he'd learned that he needed to chase the wind, wherever it blew.
At the same time, his only anchors were Sanci and the pair of boys. Maybe that was the defining sentiment of a concept like a place called home.
A yearning took residence within him. An emotion that he had ignored, a sensation he barely noticed. While he tried to define the sensation, the milky swirls of the chielde's mist separated like a curtain. The sphere swelled until it was as high as the basement ceiling, and the shift happened before Rollond could realize that he stood there with his hand on nothing.
The scent of fresh dirt, like after a downpour, filled the air. On the horizon was a structure, and leading to it was a paved sandstone walkway.
About three-quarters down the road his knees buckled. Rollond had only knelt when Lucein came running up to him.
"Papa!" The boy threw himself into his father's arms. "I was worried I'd never see you again."
"Nonsense!" He kissed his boy's forehead. "It'd take more than some punks to get rid of me." He glanced over Lucein's shoulder.
Gnyovante stood in the entrance. His expression was devoid of emotion, like usual. Except that those eyes of his, like brushed steel, reflected silent approval.
Rollond hoisted Lucein up onto his shoulder and strode over to his other son.
"About time you showed up," Gnyovante said. "I thought I'd have to look after mom."
"You're still too young for that."
"And if you died?"
"You know I'm not very good at dying."
The boy grinned, stepped aside. "Ma's waiting for you."
Now, the structure was a mix of shapes. Not entirely kyusoakin in design, but not quite human-contemporary either. He put Lucein down and peered around the corner of the living room into the spacious kitchen. It had a fully stocked island bar. He wandered across the living room into a backyard grotto.
He went back in, mounted the spiraling stair and ascended to the second floor. Out of all eight rooms, she wasn't in any of them. He climbed to the third floor.
The whole third floor was a dedicated master bedroom. It was bigger than anything he'd lived in out of his life so far. Lucein jogged up to the uutalaysi and climbed in, sprawling over his mother's backside.
Elation brightened Sanci's face as Rollond got into the ysi with her. She pressed her forehead to his, purwling, touched his nose with her own, and then kissed him.
He drew breath to speak.
She shushed him, her finger to his lips, and pushed until he sat back on his knees. The train of her tail covered her, and she was naked underneath. She struck a note, softly, and held it.
Then a piercing — albeit small — cry ascended from somewhere underneath her train until the voice of this stranger held a high-pitched tone similar to hers.
He hadn't noticed before, but somewhere around her breasts, a small patch in her train was split. There was a shimmering copper down, and off-white flesh just beneath. He parted her feathers and picked up his newborn —
Kyusoa.
The down was all along its back to the tip of its tail. It stared at Rollond with big, bright metallic eyes in varying shades of blue — fractured-looking, like a broken mirror.
Rollond's hearts skipped several beats. This shouldn't have surprised him. Sanci dominated this one. Save for the blue of its eyes, the newborn didn't reflect any traits of its father.
"Are you a boy or a girl?" Rollond asked.
The kyusoa flicked its trisail ears. It made a confused look, as if to say: I don't know. Then it perked its ears and cocked its head at him: Who are you?
Rollond glared at it: What do you mean 'who am I'? Who are you?
The kyusoa's expression worsened: I don't know! It wriggled in Rollond's grip, struggling to get free. With no avail, it lay back its ears and whined.
Rollond chortled. "Tensten!" he announced, tossing the newborn kyusoa up and catching it in both his hands. "That's who you are."
Tensten squealed. It liked that.
Rollond tossed it up a few more times. Then caught it and cradled it to his bosom. "You'll be our nijuan," he said.
There wasn't a clear distinction between male and female kyusoas immediately after birth. Hence Nijuan and Goji were ambiguous titles, meaning 'Playful Thing' and 'Bossy One'.
He put his nijuan down. Tensten, with its butt high in the air, crawled to Sanci's breasts. He latched onto one of her six teats, sucked, and went straight to sleep.
Peace swept over the household for the remainder of the day, and all that night. Rollond lay half-awake. He expected Lucein to be wedged somewhere between him and Sanci, like the boy did when he had nightmares. He found the boy sprawled at his left, and beside him, on Lucein's left, was Gnyovante. His twin was an intuitive sleeper, and Rollond knew sudden movements would awaken him.
But Sanci was on Rollond's right, and being half-in his right mind, he gradually turned over so as to not disturb the twins, gently squeezed one of her breasts and thought he'd give her tit a good nip.
That is, until he noticed a bright pair of fractured, variant-blue eyes staring at him. By then his mouth was open, his lips hovering over his wife's teat.
Tensten released the one it suckled and held the nipple towards Rollond: Hungry?
His face flushed. What on Dyiij's purplish Dyjian was he doing sneaking food from an infant? For certain, he wasn't very good at it. He glanced at Lucein and Gnyovante. The twins were nuzzled together.
Oh, but why not?
He took his nijuan's offer and gave one of her teats a small, sharp bite.
At once her palm flattened to his face and she pushed him off. "Not for you," she muttered.
A broad, cheeky grin surfaced on Tensten's face. The nijuan returned to sucking, grinning at his father the same as someone would if stricken by laughter.
Rollond was officially weaned.
Transcendence.
Dyinaacvas, the 4th day in the month of Doryil;
Regarding Ashenzsi;
Summer of the 697th year of the Second Epoch of Dyjian.
The Kingdom of Ecstasy Page 13
