by Megan Derr
"What's wrong pretty?" Lucid asked.
"This is an Earth sapphire," Elton replied, still holding tightly to Myer's hand, completely uncaring that he was probably hurting Myer. "Only eight such Earth sapphires exist in this size, clarity, and cut, and they were all part of a necklace—a choker—called the Star of the Empire. Its crowing piece was a sapphire twice the size of this one. He could only have this sapphire if he took it from the Star of the Empire."
The idea that someone had destroyed that necklace made him want to cry. That choker had been a masterpiece of its time, and it was irreplaceable now.
"You're mistaken," Myer said coldly.
"No!" Elton said, turning angry again. "I was the reigning expert on Earth gems, before—" He choked the words off. "I know Earth gems. I know them better than anyone. I've spent my life studying them. I was Jeweler Troisieme on Mars, and my specialty is Earth gems! Only ten thousand still exist in all of the IG, and only three thousand are in stand-alone pieces; the rest of them are in pieces like the Star of the Empire. I know all of them, and where they should be. You should not have that sapphire. You—you destroyed the Star of the Empire." He roughly let go of Myer's hand and curled his own hands into fists, trembling.
Myer regarded him coldly. "Even if that were true, there is no way I was responsible for destroying that necklace. I'm the Jeweler Premier for Bangkok! I would never do such a thing!"
"But as our Jeweler Premier, you should have recognized that sapphire, or had it thoroughly examined before purchasing it," Baxter said, voice even more frigid than Myer's. "It is more than a little suspicious that you never realized what it was and now deny it, without even showing a bit of concern."
"Why would you believe him over me!" Myer demanded, face turning red with anger now. "I would know such a gem if I saw it; there is no way this is a sapphire from the Star of the Empire."
"I don't believe you," Lucid said.
"Why do you believe him?" Myer demanded again.
"Because he is good enough to correctly identify every jewel put in front of him," Baxter answered, "including the Jewels of Bangkok."
Myer stopped at that, clearly startled, but before Elton could figure out what was happening this time, the door slid open and Cadence stepped inside, looking more ominous than he had even back in the museum.
For a moment, it looked as though Myer would do something violent, but then he only slumped and went along quietly as Cadence secured him and led him away.
Elton stared miserably at the jewels upon the table. If Myer had destroyed the Star of the Empire, what else had he stolen and destroyed? The list of stolen and missing pieces was a long one; he wanted to cry at the thought of someone breaking them down just so the individual gems could be reset and sold without the trouble that came with selling a hot stolen item.
A hand settled on the small of his back, startling him, and he looked up into Baxter's face, surprised by the concern on the pretty features. "Are you alright, pretty?"
"Stop calling me that," Elton said, but he wasn't able to inject the words with real ire. "It's well beyond ridiculous that the two of you call me that."
Fingers touched his face, and he turned from Baxter to stare at Lucid, who said, "But you are pretty. Stunning, in fact. You've eyes like nothing we've ever seen."
"They're barely peridot-green," Elton replied flatly. "Hardly remarkable." Nothing at all like the twin sets of aquamarine currently wreaking havoc with his lungs. "What do you want from me?" he asked. "Haven't I caused enough trouble today?"
The twins laughed. "Oh, pretty. This is Bangkok. There's always a problem, if not a hundred." Baxter moved his hand up and down, then back and forth, across Elton's back, and Elton tried not to let it affect him. "We are sorry, again, that we were so rude before. People come every term, by the tens, the hundreds, claiming to be able to tell us apart—"
"—but they always lie and cheat their way through it, and eventually we catch them out," Lucid finished.
It was, Elton caught himself thinking, sort of cute how they did that. "Through what?" he asked. He tried not to shiver as Lucid's hand slid down his back then, too, and tangled at the small of his back with Baxter's fingers.
Strange, so very strange, being trapped between them this way. He felt as though he were the diamond being thoroughly examined.
"Telling us apart," Lucid replied.
Baxter said, "No one can—except you."
Elton shrugged. "It's just a matter of details. Telling a Cela from an Earth isn't that hard if you just pay attention to the details. They… sparkle differently."
"Mm," Baxter murmured. "I think you do not appreciate how special you are."
Memories flooded Elton at his words. Special. Ha.
He heard that first phone call all over again, of his father being arrested for scamming clients on what kind of jewels they were getting. He remembered his realization that the consultations he had been doing for the authorities over the past few months had all been to help convict his father.
Getting the call that his father and mother were dead and by his father's hand.
The shame. The humiliation. Finding his reputation in tatters because of things his father had done. Losing the shop, the boutique. Losing everything to fix his father's mistakes, to pay for his father's crimes. Selling everything else to leave Mars forever, to start a new life two quadrants away.
Then they had come here to Bangkok to enjoy a vacation and try to learn to be happy again, and leave their ruined old lives behind forever.
"I'm not special," he said bitterly. "Not even close. What do you want with me?"
"Dinner," Lucid said quietly, gently running fingers through Elton's hair. "Have dinner with us."
"Who are you?" Elton asked, feeling tired, and only then did something they had just said a few minutes before come back to him and the full force of the words strike him. "Jewels!" he burst out. "You-you're the-the owners. That Lana talked about. She said everyone calls you the Jewels of Bangkok. She said you were brothers; she didn't say you were twins—" He cut the words off, feeling horribly stupid. Lana was right; it really was silly how oblivious he was to everything.
Baxter and Lucid smiled, though, so fucking pretty and perfect and—he did not know what, just that they made him happy and miserable all once.
"Come have dinner," Lucid said again, taking Elton's hand and holding tightly when Elton tried to pull away. Then Lucid tugged him close and curled his fingers into the hair at the nape of Elton's neck.
Elton jerked in surprise as Lucid kissed him, and tried to pull away—but only wound up yelping as a mouth brushed along the back of his neck, just to the side of the fingers buried in his hair. Then Lucid took his mouth again, and Elton could only think that the few times he had tried to venture from his workshop for such things had never been anything like this. In the end, he had always returned, humiliated and dejected by his inability to do more than try to smile shyly or attract men who were nothing but trouble.
He had always watched Lana in awe and envy as she interacted with people, flirted and played and argued as if it was the easiest thing in the world, before he finally slunk off to the back again to work with the gems that were the only thing that made sense to him.
He moaned, startling himself with it, because he had never made a sound like that before.
Lucid finally broke the kiss, but Elton had scarcely caught his breath before he was turned and Baxter took his turn plundering Elton's mouth.
And he moaned again, or maybe whimpered. Twins. Kissing him. There was no way he—shy, quiet, boring, disgraced, nobody—was being kissed by the Jewels of Bangkok. They owned Bangkok! One of the most notorious planets in the IG!
All dreams come true in Bangkok he suddenly recalled the slogan. Except even his wildest dreams never went this far. He had not known this was a possibility.
Two pairs of hands tangled at his hips, two unmistakably hard cocks grinded against him, and he was dizzy on the scent of dar
k, spicy Bangkok rum, the way it blended into the scent of a tart, sweet Vrill wine.
Elton fumbled for something to grip, and his fingers tangled in costly Parthon silk. He whimpered again as the twins only grew more fevered in their kissing, touching, and he tried to figure out again how this was happening, what he had eaten or drunk that was causing such dreams—
Then a sudden burst of light on the twins' in-lenses startled all three of them.
Baxter grimaced. "Go ahead to dinner," he told them. "I'll take care of this latest problem, then make certain we're left alone the rest of the night. It'll take them that long, at least, to put together what in the stars is going on with the jewel thefts."
Lucid nodded. "Very well, but clear us until late morning."
"Of course," Baxter said, then leaned forward and caught Lucid's mouth in a kiss that was anything but brotherly.
Elton whimpered again, but before he could say or do anything, Baxter broke away from Lucid and kissed him, and oh god, tasting Lucid in Baxter's mouth—
He drew a sharp, shuddering breath as Baxter broke the kiss. "See you soon, pretty. Luce."
"My name isn't pretty," Elton said, though he had a sense the words were futile.
Lucid smiled. "No, but pretty is an endearment. Come on, pretty, dinner awaits."
Elton tried to protest, but he just could not get the words out. So he followed alongside Lucid, silent and anxious but still semi-hard, and he just knew this whole crazy thing was a mistake. But Baxter and Lucid wanted to have dinner with him, and unless he was mistaken, whatever had just happened seemed to say they wanted a lot more than dinner.
Things like this did not happen to him. He was not the sort for it. But…
It was so very pleasant a change from all the terrible events of the last two and a half terms. He had expected nothing but trouble when he had realized the Last Empress had been stolen, and trouble had seemed to be what they had gotten—
And perhaps this was just a different kind of trouble, and the smart thing would be to run away now while he could. He should runaway. He would.
But he wanted to see how much longer the dream lasted before it turned into a nightmare, no matter how stupid a decision that was to make.
He almost panicked and fled after all, when they entered an elaborate dining room made of glass and gold and crystals, and it seemed like every pair of eyes in the place fell upon them. He was painfully aware of the sudden lull in conversation. Such silences would always be deafening to him.
"Relax, pretty," Lucid murmured in his ear, then tilted his face up and kissed him softly. "They'll be whispering about you with envy for the rest of the night, at least."
"I don't want any more whispers," Elton said before he thought, voice strained. "I've had enough whispers to last a lifetime."
Lucid kissed him again. "Then ignore them. Don't look at anyone but me."
Elton did look at him. He could not help it. "I don't understand any of this."
"Mm," Lucid murmured. "That's okay, pretty. We didn't think you existed. We're as stunned as you."
"I doubt that," Elton muttered, making Lucid chuckle and kiss him again before they resumed walking, making straight for the hexagon-shaped stage in the middle of the like-shaped room. It was hig enough that there was clearly a room or something beneath it, to judge by the door that slid open as they approached.
"There's nothing special about me," he said as they entered the room. "Why am I here?"
"Because you see two people, not one," Lucid said. "Amongst other things."
So it was all about his talent, in the end. It always was, though. He tried not to feel disappointed, though, because this was by far the best thing his talent had ever brought him. He should not care that was the only reason the twins wanted him—he should be grateful there was a reason they wanted him, as beautiful and powerful and wealthy as they were. They owned Bangkok; they could literally have whoever they wanted.
That they even knew he existed was remarkable enough, and they were inviting him to dinner. It sounded like a good start to his new life. He should be thrilled.
He was thrilled, he told himself. He had never be as bright and charming and vivacious as his sister. He had definitely never been as comfortably powerful and stunning as Baxter and Lucid. He had never be anything except the quiet little jeweler who spotted fakes and created the sparkling masterpieces that made other people shine.
Except maybe for just this one night, when not one, but two living Jewels kissed him and dragged him to dinner and made him feel like a precious stone instead of a forgotten bit of gravel.
Lucid turned then and smiled at him. Elton tried to smile back, determined not to waste this one night of his, because he did not see how it could ever last longer than that, for one reason or another.
"This way, pretty," Lucid said and pulled him across the room, which had to cost as much as Elton's old house four times over. It was obviously a private dining room, in the space beneath the hexagon stage, the walls made of some sort of high-quality glass. It was also the type of glass that they could see out, but no one could see in.
The room was beautiful, like being caught inside a diamond. Glass, clear and colored, comprised almost everything, with only touches of white wood and pastel-rainbow fabrics for the furniture. "Do you like it, pretty?" Lucid asked.
"It's beautiful," Elton said.
Lucid smiled. "It's one of our favorites, of the public dining rooms, anyway. Have you been to Black Dragon Tower before?"
Elton laughed, the idea was so absurd. Even before his family had fallen into disgrace, they had not made enough money to afford to spend any amount of time in Black Dragon Tower. If he had been able to recreate the lost crown jewels of Earth, that probably would have put his family into the top tier of IG society, but it would have taken him years to complete the entire set.
"Of course not," he finally said.
"That's a pity," Lucid replied, "but you'll be seeing plenty of it from now on."
Elton frowned at that, but didn not ask what Lucid meant. Instead, he tried to bring the conversation back to something he could handle. "So will you be able to find the Last Empress?"
"Yes," Lucid replied. "We're already finding a great deal of suspicious activity on Myer that we never noticed before—and probably never would have, if not for you, pretty. We think he must still have the necklace near to hand. Cadence will keep us updated." He looped an arm around Elton's shoulders and pulled him close.
Elton was constantly startled by the touching. No one had ever really touched him except for Lana and their mother. Someone like Lucid or Baxter touching was more than a little disconcerting, and he had no idea how to handle it.
"Do you think he would have broken down the Last Empress, pretty?"
"Yes," Elton said, feeling cold at the very thought. "As the Last Empress, those gems are priceless—impossible to sell, even on the black market. Some items are simply too well known, too hot, for anyone to take the risk. Broken down, though, the individual gems could be sold for ridiculous sums to private dealers and some of the seedier jewelers willing to play with fire. No one would ever notice the extra jewels floating around, not if people were careful not to let it be known they were Earth gems. It was pure chance I saw his ring at all. If not for that…" He shrugged and grimaced. "The Start of the Empire is probably gone forever now, scattered across the IG. It would take a lifetime to track down all the gems again, even pretending for a moment there was enough money to buy them back."
Lucid sat them down and poured out three glasses of a wine that was a deep, deep purple in color. Tredad ice wine, Elton realized. Costly, but what had he expected? Lucid handed one of the crystal glasses to him and sipped his own. He looked curious as he asked, "But say we could find and buy back all the gems. Could you restore the Star of the Empire?"
Elton hesitated.
"Don't be shy," Lucid said. "I suspect you could restore it. You said you were Jeweler Troisieme for Mars. No o
ne gets that far with mediocre abilities. I remember when we obtained the Last Empress, someone told us a Mars jewel expert had been granted license to create official replicas. We'd discussed bidding for them once the set was complete, but we never heard anything further about it. Was that you?"
"It was me," Elton said flatly. "Not anymore. The license will lapse at the end of this term."
"That seems a pity," Lucid said. "I'm sorry, pretty."
"Stop calling me that."
Lucid smiled over the rim of his wine glass. "Would you prefer 'lovely'?"
Elton scowled, making Lucid laugh, but before he could say anything the door opened, and Baxter slipped inside. "Luce. Pretty." He crossed the room and joined them, sitting on Elton's other side, putting him between the twins. Baxter murmured a quiet thanks as he accepted the wine glass Lucid held out to him. He kissed Elton's cheek then asked, "Have I missed anything?"
"We were just discussing his restoring the Star of the Empire. There are probably other pieces that will need his skills as well, hmm?"
"I—there are better jewelers than me," Elton said. "I’m not a jeweler anymore, anyway. That was the deal." No matter how much it hurt to leave it all behind, a chance at a fresh start was infinitely more precious.
"This is Bangkok, pretty," Baxter said. "We make our own rules."
"Even Bangkok has to obey the strictures of the IG," Elton replied. "I was the Jeweler Troisieme. I was a professional jeweler. I used to own a jewelry store. Now I am none of those things and own nothing save a little house in Kreska."
"Alright," Lucid said quietly. "So what do you do now that are you are retired from the jewelry business?"
"Right now I'm simply trying to enjoy my vacation before I begin settling into my new home," Elton replied. "That's all."
Lucid sipped his wine then set it aside and removed the cover from one of the myriad dishes upon the table. Selecting a stuffed mushroom, he bit into it then said, "We'll have to see you get a proper housewarming gift, then." He shared a look and a smile with his brother.
