“Greetings Lady Maddiisa, I didn't get a chance to talk to you at the memorial yesterday, but I wanted express my appreciation for the invitation and ask if you needed any assistance cleaning up.” It had taken Viki ages to think up an excuse to visit.
“Wow thanks, and Maddie is fine. I don't need any help but it's delightful you wanted to visit. Please, do you have time to come in.” She glanced at the plate of fresh Desiree wraps Vicki had secured. Despite her soft personality Maddie had a strong beautiful face, magenta hair, firm chin, and a button nose that was a little too turned up. With dark skin she lacked the classical characteristics of the people from Jiuliing but that wasn’t unusual for a Commanders daughter.
“Yes, thank you, and please call me Viky.” She had read that bringing a gift of food was a custom for people from Jiuliing.
All the suites followed the same floor plan but being ushered into Maddie’s reception room was like stepping into a different world. A fantastic pink world. Walls covered in a variety of glittering arts and crafts featured every variation of the hue. The shelves were stacked with carved crystal figures, the people all simpering and scantily clothed. Personified animal sculptures clustered in abnormal packs, predators and prey together. Meticulous care detailed every wrinkle in Flitters leathery wings, tessellated patterns in Rustepheens multifaceted eyes and bony ridges on Nisayaan’s square gripping tales. Colourful needlework and candlewick cushions overflowed couches. Sleeping in an extravagant rocking crib Maddie’s latest daughter was smothered in layers of magenta wadding. An elderly D’char sat on an arura-coloured quilt playing a counting game with the toddler. They both looked up with bright eyes and gave her warm smiles. Viky thought the girl-child’s name was Llyghaan or something similar. Avoiding an awkward introduction exposing her ignorance Viky turned full circle, taking in the features of the amazing room.
“I love beautiful things; this is my favourite room. I can see you are impressed.” Maddie said, giving herself a little hug.
Impressed, well that was one word for it. Viky was impressed anyone could concentrate amongst so much clutter. Although from what Viky had seen Maddie’s moments of deep thought or deliberation were rare, and focus may have been seldom required. What a waste of time having to dust everything.
“Did you make all of this?” Viky asked as she was invited to lounge.
“Most of the candle work is mine, and most of the carvings have been done by Stephaan, but when mum had a second daughter each of my aunts started making or buying gifts for me. Knowing I would leave and find a life partner among the Commanders, they wanted me to still be able to feel surrounded by reminders of their love.” Maddie relaxed on a couch opposite and ran her fingers over the delicate lines of a pottery pitcher decorating a rosy quart’s inlaid side table. “The pottery is from my aunt Lilliiaan. The doily from Aunt Darlyy and the table was from my sister Elieen.”
“So your mum decided for you, when you were a baby, before you had any say in it yourself, that you would be part of the contribution?”
“She didn't decide for me, my parent was a Commander. It’s a great honour. All second daughters of Commanders are required to become part of the contribution.”
Not in The Rifts they didn't. But Viky didn't know very much about Jiuliing, and at least Maddie had plenty of time to adjust and accept to the idea.
“Will you let your little one be taken from you?” Vicki asked, glancing at the sleeping infant, and wishing she could remember her name.
Maddie tittered, “All children grow up and leave their parents. I will have the next ten rotations with her, maybe a bit longer, I wasn't selected until I was eleven. And really, bonding with a Commander is the best thing for us second daughters. We are given property, a title and status. Everything we need. If I’d have stayed at home, mum would have divided the inheritance between Elieel and myself. We would have each been poorer, could have gone from First Ladies to Second, it's better this way.”
Either Maddie was a superb actor or Jieleen’s information had been incorrect.
“But don’t you miss them?” Viky asked.
“Of course. Terribly at first. But Stephaan has been wonderful. He is so understanding. When I received the news that my parent had died, well that was the worse day of my life. I desperately wanted to go home. To be with my mom, and sister. I mean Gabrieel, Jess and River, even Isobeel in her own way, have been great. But Elieel and I were best friends and I thought I should have been there supporting her, mum, and my brothers.”
Viky thought Maddie was going to cry and didn't know how to change the subject or even if she should. Apart from the D’char humming an uncomfortable silence blossomed between them. Lingering and stretching, each heartbeat making the next more difficult to return from. Stormblast.
“My parentals died in a cave-in, last Months of Shifts.” Vicki blurted. Moss and mould. Why had she said that?
“Oh Viky, I am so terribly sorry. I didn't know.”
Maddie rose from the couch and spontaneously smothered her with a firm hug.
“Nobody knows,” Viky stiffed. “I shouldn't have said anything, I don't want people feeling sorry for me. Please keep it to yourself.”
“Of course, I understand. Sometimes it is hard to talk about losing people you love. But now you have confided in me, know that anytime you need to talk about anything, I’ll be here for you. I understand you.”
What a disturbing thought, Viky didn’t understand herself most days.
Maddie didn’t return to her own couch and Viky was forced to shuffle over as the other woman remained in her personal space. Maddie regarded her eyes of chestnut brown. Ernest eyes. Could they be hiding secrets?
“Anything?”
“Absolutely.”
“Have you heard Isabella's body chains are missing?” She cringed at the bold statement; would Maddie be offended?
“Yes, it's terrible isn't it. They were so beautiful, and Isobeel looked just like a real Princess when she wore them. It makes me feel very insecure about all my beautiful things. I have had two of Stephaan’s carvings stolen, one last Bright Storms, just after Llyghaan was born and the other this Solace Winds, it was devastating. Of course, he made me replacements. But body chains are extremely rare. Isobeel’s family will only have the one. They were in the family from before the Great War you know, and the skills used to make them are no longer available. It's just heartbreaking.”
Maddie paused, looking for a reply.
“I never saw them; what were they like? We don’t use excessive body decoration in the Rifts.”
“That's right I forgot your people don't use jewellery.”
“That's not exactly true, we don't use a lot of jewellery, but I have this ring.”
Viky displayed her substantial double finger ring. The design was subtle, and she doubted Maddie would recognize the raised pictogram of a whip.
“Yes, that's ah, very nice, it's quite um, chunky, isn't it? Is it made of metal?”
“It’s onyx.”
Maddie returned a blank look.
“Onyx is a type of stone, I wear this all the time, it shows I’m bonded. I couldn’t wear it during the months of Shifts and Arch’s if it were metal could I?”
“Oh, yes of course. Pardeel, had metal rings, her parent works at the Armoury and has made them for her, but she doesn’t wear them all the time. I have a double one too. But it’s not metal.” Maddie rose and went to an elaborate object Viky hadn’t noticed before. Now it was drawn to her attention she realized it was a box with many little drawers. Selecting an object from one of the drawers Maddie returned to the couch.
“This one here of mine is double, and look it opens you could hide something inside.”
Maddie pushed a tiny clasp and the top section snapped open.
“That could be useful.” Vicky acknowledged.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
“I don’t know about useful, a bit small, and the band is too large for any of my fingers, except my thumb and its bad luck to wear a ring on your thumbs. It was given to me by my aunt RosenLee and she said wearing it a lady could always be prepared.”
“Prepared for what?”
“I don't know, I should have asked her that I guess.” Maddie giggled.
Viky thought it wouldn’t be long until she had the annoying titter mastered.
“Does your ring open?” Maddie asked.
“No, but it does have other practical applications.”
“Oh, what does it do?”
Viki eyed Maddie sceptically, trying to figure out if she was being sarcastic or just stupid.
“It's part of our tradition. Isobeel’s body chains are traditional, but I don't know much about the people from Hunnaal. What do you think has happened to them?” Viky was pleased to get the conversation back on track.
“Poor Isobeel, I guess they chains have been stolen. Like my statues. A couple of my friends from Jiuliing had personal items stolen last rotation. Nothing as valuable as Isobeel's body chains but items of sentimental value can be just as devastating to lose as expensive ones.”
Viky nodded; she would have hated to lose her manuscripts. They represented a significant financial investment, but her mother and she had copied and translated them together. The only possessions her sister had permitted her to bring from home. A single tangible connection reminding her of lost parentals and her former life.
“How do you think the thief did it? There are nine of us, all coming and going and eight of you have babies or young children that keep you up all night. Somebody must have seen something.”
“I don't know Viky. I've thought about it, and thought about it, and I just can't imagine how anybody could do such a terrible thing. And whoever has taken it would have to not give themselves away afterwards or look guilty. I find it hard to even think about the theft and not feel guilty, and I didn't have anything to do with it.”
Was Maddie going to cry again? She was only just holding herself together. Interesting that she didn’t take the chains and yet felt guilty. What was she guilty of?
“I can't think what anyone would do with the body chains, or your statues for that matter, after they had stolen them. I keep the statue you gave to me when I bonded Jeileen on display in our reception room. But you couldn't show anybody what you had stolen, so what is the point of having it? What would you do with it?” There wasn’t much point in having a statue just to look at anyway, but Viky thought it best not to go there.
“I never thought of that, it's horrible to think of beautiful things just shoved in some forgotten corner, with no one to appreciate them.”
“I guess they could be sold, how would you go about doing that?”
Maddie frowned. “I don't know, I have never sold anything in my life.”
“Tushii was telling me something of a black market in some cities. We don't have them at The Rifts, do you have them in Jiuliing?”
Maddie looked confused; her forehead puckered. “We have markets, and the food market can be a little claustrophobic and crowded but I wouldn't describe them as black. They are the opposite, very colourful, and noisy. Of course, my family and aunts only went to the better markets. Except for my aunt Mirabeella, she loved to shop at the markets where the people of the Crafts and Trades purchased goods. She said it was because they offered better value for sequin, but we all knew it was because uncle Agfaar had a little bit of problem betting on Wildwing fights.”
“Couldn't your aunt stop him?”
“I guess she could have, but it wasn't a problem when he wasn't losing.”
Viky shrugged. What did they expect? People wouldn't risk running an illegal gambling pit without the prospect of making significant sequin. Another thought took hold.
“This Uncle, Agraar, what would have happened if he went through all your aunts sequin? Would she stop being a Lady?”
“I, I don’t really know.” Maddie gave the question careful thought before continuing. “When aunt RosenLee’s first born son decided he wanted to become a Commander I know all my aunts and mom chipped in to purchase him a fractal. That way it wasn't a burden on the individual family. I guess that's the advantage of being part of a sisterhood, if anyone got into trouble, financially or otherwise, everybody else in the sisterhood would help.”
Maddie beamed, pleased with the answer and herself. Viky had once believed that was how communities worked. She was older now, and wiser.
Viky would have liked to get out the notes she had taken from talking to Commander Dereniik. She’d run out of questions and didn't know where to take the conversation and wasn't sure if she could stomach anymore empty clichés. She was saved by the infant in the crib demanding Maddie's attention.
Viky made sure to include a few comments appreciating the baby's beauty. All babies looked alike, but this one at least was a mix of Maddie and Stephaan. Same chestnut-brown eyes and a thin sprinkling of short, super soft, fine pink hair, but blue-black skin like Stephaan instead of Maddie’s warmer tone.
Maddie began a lengthy description of the baby's virtues and then without drawing breath launched into a blow-by-blow description of her latest labour and birth. It was a lot more information than Viky wanted, and nothing to do with the missing body chains.
By the time Viky made her escape she had a nightmarish amount of information about childbirth and no more clues. She couldn't eliminate Maddie from her pool of suspects, and she had wasted a whole afternoon that would have been better spent in the library.
***
The cold marble was unyielding and in Dereniik’s opinion not a good substance for bench construction. Wood was preferable, still not soft, but lacking the chill factor that seeped into his bones and cramped the muscles in thin thighs. Dereniik squashed the rising guilt seeking to overpower fragile self-esteem. It wasn't wrong to have spent yesterday refreshing his knowledge of Xianees. Dai had not considered it a waste of time, warmed up to him and the topic, and seemed to enjoy the excuse to use their native tongue again. There was no logical reason for remorse.
Close to a topside entrance a slight breeze stirred the luminescent bryophyte, creating mottled patterned shadows that moved with an elegant flow across the floor. Dereniik had decided to take advantage of the unexpected reversal of his health and make it outside. With a Bright Storm raging he had been warned by city guards not to venture beyond the Parapet. It wasn’t an issue; the panic attack had rooted him inside before reaching the circular loadstone rolling door.
Dereniik blinked until vertigo passed, and he could release the vice like grip he had needed to remain stable. Wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. A few more heartbeats to compose himself, and he would return to his suite.
Unnoticed, he watched people pass. Falling back into the habits Detectives use to gathering intel. So much could be told by the way people moved and acted when they thought they were unobserved.
The confident swagger of newly graduated commanders, a lifetime of expectation before them, the future looking assured. This group were over-confident, wore violet cowls and short vest-like jackets embroidered at the edges.
Godmothers’ silken skirts and slippers rustling. Bells on the hems of skirt tinkling. With lifetimes of scheming behind them they hurried past to implement future machinations. If they'd seen him, bowing would have been required, but they didn’t, and Dereniik was grateful. An unexpected itch under his skin lessened as they hurried on their way.
A couple of ever present D’char. Silently going about their work, easily ignored, complacent, compliant. What did they really think of their servitude? The meaninglessness of their short lives?
Dereniik felt Kyd's presence, and an anxiety he didn't know he had been holding faded. It had been a couple of days since they had last met and although the man was in minimal discomfort it was obvious his limited health was failing. As the most reserved of Dereniik’s former teammates it was their mutual experiences that bound them together more than personal compatibility. It hadn’t been the big moments, busting a human trafficking ring, taking down corrupt Commanders, or identifying serial killers that had forged the friendship, but the small gestures, private jokes, and mutual respect for each other’s very different skills. An accumulation of small moments forging an acquaintance into genuine friendship.
Kyd’s response to trauma had been to hide from everybody, understandable since he couldn't speak anymore. Dereniik didn't like it, but there was nothing he could do, except respect his only surviving teammate wishes.
“Well met my friend.” Dereniik pitched his voice low, making it easier for Kyd to understand. “I was wondering if you were still around.”
‘Not, dead, yet.’ With labour-intensive strokes, glyphs were traced on Dereniik’s forearm.
“Good on you, I have no intention of breaking my perfect record of not dying either. Orator informs me some of the Healers have bet sequin on how long I can last.”
An impression of pleasure crossed Dereniik’s mind.
By mutual unspoken consent the subject of health would now be studiously avoided. The slow and steady dousing of life tactfully ignored. It reminded Dereniik of the well-known and unavoidable nauseous feelings before you vomited. Knowing further unpleasantness was to follow, but no actions on your part could forestall the inevitable.
A group of women bustled past carrying baskets of yarn and all talking at the same time.
‘Seen, interesting, woman?’ Kyd scripted on his arm.
“The young woman waiting?”
‘Yes. Same, last, nine-day.’
“Curious. She looks anxious, wonder what she's up to?”
Standing taunt, feigning interest in the mosaic decorating a section of wall, the young lady in question waited until the women with the baskets of yarn passed. Frowning, she checked up and down the broadway, and failed to note Dereniik motionless in the shadows. Alert, with furtive glances, she slipped into the enclave opposite his current position with every appearance of knowing she didn't belong.
Orator had encouraged him to seek out conundrums to solved. This one didn't look complicated and wasn't the sort of intellectual activity he wanted to investigate. Over the last five rotations Dereniik had on occasion met most of the team living in that enclave and been introduced to many of their life partners. The men had graduated a few rotations before him and were assigned to the capitals Education sector. The woman visiting was too young to have been bonded to any of the men and too old to have been a daughter. It wasn't always easy to tell, but he would have put her age at about eleven or twelve.
Dereniik’s heart twisted inside of him, he looked away. There was no denying this sort of thing happened. Perhaps it was just a quick visit, but as the time stretched out and she didn't reappear, Dereniik gave up on that vague thought and accepted the inevitable.
‘Sad,’ Kyd scripted.
“Yes, lots of unpleasantness for all involved.”
‘You, tell?”
“I have not been re-commissioned, couldn’t make it all the way to Directive Committee chambers even if I wanted to.”
‘I’m, surprised,” Kyd replied.
Dereniik nodded. “I still believe in the value of keeping the law. It’s not my job anymore, and beyond my capabilities to enforce it. But have you heard of any investigation that we could be involved with? Some small puzzle that needs solving. Something that we could do together that requires the skills we have mastered over the rotations?”
‘Can’t, draw.’
“You were always more than just an artist my friend.”
Was that how he saw himself? Kyd had never wanted to be a Commander. Never wanted to be a Deputized Operative. His passion had been creating art. An ability to accurately recreate a person's face or object of interest with charcoal or ink had made him a useful team member. Dereniik had been feeling sorry for himself, mourning his losses. But the five rotations he had served had been fulfilling and satisfying. Kyd had lost everything as well, but never had the life he wanted.
“I am so sorry my friend.” Dereniik whispered. “I really am."