Nehelians painted their skin with semi-permanent ink. It was tradition for Sanctum upper-echelon to use ink as a form of identity. I was required to wear my family symbol underneath my eye, but I often let it fade to near-invisibility. I didn’t like walking around with the equivalent of a name tag on my face. Especially given my status.
Besides, I could think of a thousand better ways to spend two hours than having someone draw all over me.
There was a war to wage, but Ara wouldn’t understand. He was still young. I was five hundred years older than him. He paraded the Eltruan symbol like it was a crown. Technically it was, but it was a crown of thorns.
As we finished our drinks, Garan left the table.
“Where are you going?” asked Uless.
“To take a leak. Do you want to come and hold my dick for me?”
We laughed.
Uless grimaced. “Get lost, you fucking queer.”
Garan grinned, backing away. “Aw, that hurts. Especially coming from y—”
He bumped into a group of women, and their drinks crashed to the floor. I hid my face in my hand, unable to watch the scene that would unfold.
“What’s your problem?!” one of the girls cried.
Garan was red-faced and stuttering. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there!” He tried to help them pick up their spilt drinks, but was too intoxicated and tumbled to the floor as he bent down. Ara and Uless were laughing so hard that they had to rest their heads on the table, and the girls were shouting at Garan as he tried to get up. Some of the other customers were starting to stare.
I slid from my seat and gave the squawking women a smile. No sooner had they seen me (and my ink), they dismissed Garan. My brother used this time to pull him to his feet and shove him toward the restrooms.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “My friend is loaded. Let me buy you another round of drinks to make up for it.”
There were only four of them, so I figured it couldn’t be that expensive. My request was met with nervous giggles.
While I noted their orders, I couldn’t help but notice one girl in particular. She had long, brown hair and green eyes; a tiny waist and broad hips. Her full, pink lips curled into a coy smile as my eyes lingered on her.
“I’d never guess the Regent’s son would come to a place like this.”
“I don’t usually,” I said. “My friends are celebrating. Do you live in Sanctum?”
“I’m a college student from Celca. My name is Talia,” she extended a hand. “You’re Qaira, right?”
Ah, Celca. It was a smaller city outside of Sanctum. For the first time ever, my ink had given me an advantage. Talia would love nothing better than to cling to the arm of an Eltruan, and I was determined to fuck her. Hooray, mutualism.
“Would you like to come with me while I order the drinks?” I asked, taking her hand in my own.
“Sure.”
My prey led me through the crowd, toward the bar.
* * *
Two hours later, I ditched my group to drive Talia to her apartment in Lower Sanctum. I parked my aero-craft in the lot outside, and we spent another half an hour doing malay.
“Be gentle,” she cooed, splaying her arm across my lap.
As I filled a syringe, I stared at her arm. The light from the street lamps cast an eerie glow across her skin, making it look pale and necrotic. Track marks covered the underside of her elbow; little black puncture wounds across yellowed flesh, like a worn pin cushion.
I slipped the needle into a fresh spot, glancing at her face as she leaned her head against the seat. The lights in Sapyr had muted the dark circles under eyes and hid the shadows of her hollow cheeks. Talia was a junkie, and had been one for a while. She was still beautiful, but she looked sick. For a second I wondered what I was doing here.
After her euphoria faded, she grabbed her purse. “You want to come up?”
No, I just spent three hundred usos worth of malay on you for nothing. “Sure.”
I followed Talia to her third-story apartment. She lived in a space that was the equivalent of a studio. Sections of her house were partitioned with beaded curtains to make up for the lack of rooms. The place smelled like flowers, probably from the incense that was burning on her coffee table.
Lower Sanctum was a ghetto. I didn’t like being here; it was a reality check to how my people were forced to live. I paused in the doorway, taking all of this in. I was being delivered a personal message of how bad it had grown through war. Through malay.
Talia slid out of her dress, waiting for me on her bed. I closed the door and approached her, loosening my tie. She straddled me for half an hour, but after only fifteen minutes I knew I wasn’t going to come. Malay made it difficult to orgasm, and she was ruining the mood with her whiny female sex-talk. Every time she mentioned how much she loved my ‘huge cock’ I was jarred from the act.
Again, I wondered what I was doing here.
After we were done, I dressed in silence. This should have made me feel something, but that hollow nothingness was still there. I didn’t know why I even bothered anymore.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“Uh, home? It’s three in the morning.”
She was lying naked on her side behind me. I felt her finger tracing circles on my bicep. “Well, can you at least give me one more hit before you leave?”
Fucking junkie.
“No, you’ve had enough.”
Users didn’t make a habit of sharing their malay; it was too expensive. The fact that she had the nerve to ask for another hit when I’d already wasted an entire syringe on her was appalling. But the only one to blame was me, considering I’d given her some at all.
She tugged on my arm. “Come on, please?”
I shook her off. “I said no.”
I made a quick escape to her door, murmuring a goodbye. As I turned the handle, something shattered over the back of my head. The impact staggered me, and I whirled around in shock. Fragments of her broken bedside lamp lay at my feet. My hair felt wet; I was bleeding.
“What the fuck?!” I screamed. “You crazy, junkie whore!”
“You think you can just fuck me and walk out of here without giving me anything in return?!” she shouted back.
“I already gave you a hit! I didn’t realize you were a fucking prostitute!”
Her eyes were wild. The distant gaze in them made me realize that she wasn’t all there. “I want your stash. All of it.”
“Yeah, like that’s happening.”
“I’ll scream from the rooftops that the Regent’s son is an addict,” she said, smiling.
I closed her door, locking it.
Talia saw the look on my face, and then her smile faded. Somewhere in her malay-deluded mind she had realized that I wasn’t a person to fuck with. But it was too late now.
As I advanced on her she tried to run, but her apartment was too small and there was nowhere to flee. I backhanded her and she fell, smacking her head against the wall. Blood trickled down the corners of her mouth, and she looked up at me in terrified confusion. Before she could scream, I wrapped my hands around her neck and squeezed.
She thrashed, trying to claw at my face. I didn’t let up.
“I’m more than just the Regent’s son, you stupid bitch. Guess you’re going to find that out the hard way.”
As if my statement was ataractic, Talia stopped fighting. She stared up at me with a glazed look in her eyes as I ripped the last threads of life from her. The glazed look became a distant stare, and then I let go. She fell sideways on the floor.
I sank to the edge of her bed and put my face in my hands. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I was supposed to fuck Talia, and make it home before three o’clock. Now what?
I was seen leaving Sapyr with her. They would believe me if I told them all I did was drive her home, but I didn’t want the hassle. With a sigh, I left her apartment and opened the door to my craft, grabbing my stash. Making sure no one was around to see me,
I ran back inside.
It looked like Talia was going to get what she’d asked for.
I pumped her with more than the lethal dose, propping her body up against the wall. I left the needle in her arm. Although forensics could have found evidence of murder, there wasn’t going to be an investigation. She was a junkie, and Sanctum authorities had better things to do with their time than carry out an in depth investigation of an overdose. They probably saw twenty of these a day.
I knelt in front of her and wiped a strand of hair away from her cold, bluing face. “Was it worth it?” I whispered.
After I cleaned up the shattered lamp, I made sure to take the spare key I’d found stashed above one of her kitchen cabinets and locked the door.
I got in my craft and started the ignition, but then everything sank in. Anger and despair coalesced and I punched the steering wheel three times, denting it. My knuckles bled, and the outer pain numbed the inner. I left Talia’s apartment and flew home.
Soon, the spires of Eroqam crept over Upper Sanctum’s horizon. The curtains rose again, concluding this brief intermission to the evident façade of Sanctum’s Savior.
IV
THE SCHOLAR
THE NEXT MORNING BEGAN LIKE EVERY OTHER.
My alarm clock blared and I knocked it to the floor trying to press the snooze button.
The obnoxious sound continued, now just out of reach. I’d barely gotten more than three hours of sleep. I could have used the extra fifteen minutes, but I was forced to get out of bed and grab the fucking thing. The moment I set it back on my nightstand, my glassy, red eyes rose to the door.
Waking up was probably the worst part of my day. Perhaps I would feel differently if I ever got any sleep, but I was stupid and often reluctant to go to bed on time. I didn’t like the idea of another day’s end; I didn’t like knowing I’d have to go to work in the morning.
My eye was twitching, and there was an icy tremor shuddering up and down my arm. I reached for my case, opening it up. I filled another syringe, trying to stave off the memories of what had happened several hours ago. The image of Talia’s body circled through my thoughts, her empty, green eyes staring at nothing as she lay on the floor of her apartment. Through my bedroom window, newborn light left an eerie glow that I felt across my back. For some reason, I knew that today would be different.
I slipped the needle into my arm and closed my eyes.
After my shower, I dressed into a suit and headed for the dining room. Epa, our maid, would have already laid out our breakfast. My sister found me along the way.
“No one has told you yet, but…” she began.
The last time she began a sentence like that, my father had snuck out of his room in the middle of the night and built a castle out of condiments from our refrigerator. I braced myself.
“The scholar has moved in with us.”
I froze, looking at her. “What?”
Tae’s gaze wandered to the end of the hall, settling on the dining room. I followed her stare. “Dad said the Eye of Akul hired a scholar to be your new advisor.”
An advisor? Since when did I have an advisor? “And who is he?”
Tae smiled, like what I said was funny. “Go and see for yourself. In the dining room.”
Pastries, juice and tea lay across the table, while Epa stacked dishes on a tray beside it. This was all very ordinary scenery, except there was a woman sitting at the head of the table, in my seat.
I lingered in the doorway, staring at her. My surprise gave way to confusion, which then gave way to anger when I thought about the Eye of Akul going behind my back and hiring an advisor. A woman advisor.
I had nothing against women, but there weren’t very many in the Sanctum forces. My job wasn’t for the faint of heart. Was this some kind of sick joke?
“Who are you?” I asked.
She looked at me, and my confusion returned. Her eyes were pale violet, shimmering in the overhead light. There were no red rings around them. She wasn’t Nehel.
But she wasn’t an angel, either.
Tae stood beside me, smiling at the woman. I tilted my head toward her. “Tae, go and get our father.”
“But he’s sleeping,” she whispered.
“Then wake him up!” I hissed. Did I really have to point out that this was more important than my father’s beauty rest?
Tae frowned and slipped away. The woman and I were left studying each other. I noticed other discrepancies in her appearance; tiny details of her face that were different than ours. Her ears were round while ours were triangular. She had a little nose and huge eyes, with straight black hair that hung to the small of her back. She looked unnatural, like a doll.
More than a minute passed. She said nothing, her expression a mask of stoicism.
“Who are you?” I asked again, needing to break the silence.
Instead of answering my question, she gestured to the empty chair beside her. “Are you going to sit? Or are you going to just stand there and stare at me like an idiot all morning?”
I bristled, about to give her a piece of my mind, but my father and sister returned.
“Good morning, son!” Qalam almost shouted. “I told Epa to order the cala muffins you—”
“Who is that?” I interrupted, pointing at the woman.
My father looked at her, blinking. Then his face filled with revelation. “Oh, yes. That’s the scholar.”
Was I the only one who found this situation completely weird? “What’s a scholar? What is she?”
“Qaira,” the woman said, and I stiffened at the sound of my name on her tongue. She was gesturing to the empty seat again. “Please.”
My lip curled. “I’m not doing anything until I know what’s going on.”
“Well that’s a shame, because I’m not telling you anything until you sit.”
She was treating me like a dog. I’d been in her presence for less than ten minutes and I already couldn’t stand her. No, this wouldn’t do.
But for now I wanted answers, specifically what she was and where she came from. Since the angels’ arrival I’d known we weren’t the only ones in the cosmos, yet….
I sat, glaring at her.
She looked at the pastries. “Are you going to eat?”
“No.”
“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
“Who are you?!” I shouted.
Her smile faded. “My name is Leid Koseling. I’ve been assigned by your council to advise you in your war against the Archaeans.”
“That didn’t tell me a fucking thing.”
“Language!” my father cried.
“Leave us!” I shouted.
My sister dragged our father off.
Leid poured herself a cup of tea and grabbed a pastry, placing it on her plate. I watched her with a measure of indignation. She had already made herself right at home.
“What are you?” I said.
“I’m a scholar.”
“And what’s a scholar?”
“You wouldn’t know. We haven’t been here for a long time.”
“Then how does the council know about you?”
She looked at the breakfast tray. “Eat something and then I’ll tell you.”
“I’m not hungry.”
Leid smiled. “Eat anyway.”
Cursing under my breath, I grabbed a muffin and threw it on my plate. She stared at me until I was forced to take a bite. It slid down my throat like tree bark. I felt humiliated, but I needed answers.
“Scholars are only employed by those fortunate enough to know about us,” Leid continued. “With that said, the members of your council haven’t told you everything.”
“So when are you going to tell me something I don’t know?” I glanced at my watch. “I’m late for work.”
Leid stood, grabbing her long white coat. “We can talk more on the way, then.”
I blanched. “Excuse me?”
“I’ve been hired as your advisor, Qaira. I go ever
ywhere you do until our contract expires.”
What. The. Fuck. “No, I refuse.”
She sighed. “Please don’t make this any harder than it already is.”
“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?”
“It means you’re an obnoxious prick, but a job is a job. Trust me, I don’t want to be here either.”
My eyes widened, but all I did was laugh. Without another word I left the dining room, storming toward the port. I could hear Leid’s heels clicking close behind.
The Eye of Akul would answer for this.
* * *
It was going to rain.
Sanctum’s clouds were a deep gray, and fog blanketed the ground like a sheet would a corpse. Only the tallest buildings were visible. The weather made my drive even more complicated.
Leid said nothing on the way to Parliament, staring out the passenger seat window. I kept glancing at her, wondering if this was all a dream. I was expecting to wake up at any moment, but it never happened. The most appalling thing about this was that everyone seemed absolutely fine with some strange alien female just showing up and surgically attaching herself to my hip.
“Sanctum looks different than how I remember,” Leid mentioned.
I didn’t respond.
“Your market place is in ruins,” she continued, despite my blatant reluctance to speak to her. “Was that a recent Archaean attack? I haven’t been officially briefed yet because I arrived late last n—”
“I’m not talking to you until I find out what’s going on,” I interjected. “So you might as well just shut your mouth and sit there.”
“Your hostility is impressive.”
“Says the woman who called me an obnoxious prick.”
“That wasn’t hostility,” Leid said, smiling. “That was honesty.”
I wondered how much trouble I’d get into if I opened the passenger-side door and kicked her out of my craft in mid-air. “How do you know our language?”
She was looking out the window again. “I know all languages.”
I raised a brow. “All languages?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know Archaean?”
“Do I need to tell you the definition of all?”
The Antithesis- The Complete Pentalogy Page 25
