Isle of Wysteria: The Monolith Crumbles (32 page)

Setsuna leaned forward and hugged him back. “You remind me so much of Sawyn sometimes, you know that?”

Without thinking, she placed a kiss on his forehead. “She had a hard life, too.”

She looked over at Privet, who looked like he might pass out.

“Well, don’t just stand there, Tamarack. Say something.”

He shook his head. “I…I don’t know what to think. Nobody has ever done something like this for us before.”

Setsuna shrugged happily. “Say thank you.”

Privet’s eyes softened, and her looked at her tenderly. “Thank you.”

Setsuna bubbled over with joy, and she pulled him in, the three of them hugging for what felt like hours. She held Privet tight, taking in the wonderful scent of him, the exquisite sensation of his touch, and for the first time since they met, he hugged her back just as tightly.

I win, Athel. He’s mine.

* * *

Thump. Thump. Thump.

With a steady and practiced rhythm, Solanum Forsythia banged the back of her head against the wall of her room.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Cut off from the link and the forest, here in this knot, all was peaceful and silent. Maddeningly silent, and yet a reprieve from a lifetime of screaming. A thousand thousand voices all speaking at once. All of them hers, and yet none of them hers. She giggled at the thought of it. The very concept of “hers” was a curious oddity to her. She was the forest, and the forest was her. All their emotions living in a single body. Only now, no new voices appeared, only the thunderous squabble of the old ones, and the sound of her breathing, and the steady rhythm of her head.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Tearing away a strip from her silken bed sheets, she twisted the delicate fabric, tying a knot in the center, then laced it with another, creating a small doll shape.

“I hereby give you the name of Tim and elevate you to the rank of lieutenant commander. Your duty will be to watch the southlands,” she commanded in her mother’s voice as she set the doll down amid the others. Like soldiers, they were arrayed in their squads of ten and their divisions of fifty.

She flicked her fist before her open palm, as if she were testing a riding crop. “Now, I need you all to listen up, especially you, Shane. Don’t think I didn’t see you sleeping during morning reveille. Now, conch-snails are known to be sneaky. Sneaky they are. It makes sense, after all, they hide in their shells. Deception. Misdirection. It is buried in the very fabric of their design. In a way, they can’t help themselves, but don’t you dare waste your tears on them. They hide the truth from us; you must protect that truth.”

Solanum paused, as if listening to the dolls. Her pretty face twisted into disgust. “And what would you know about it, Kalia? I should flog you for using that tone with me.”

Cruelly, Solanum swatted one of the dolls, sending it crashing against the wall.

Throwing her head back, Solanum laughed, louder and louder, until the chandelier rattled from the volume of it. Just when it seemed to peter off, it rose up again, even louder than before, and even the wood of the knot reacted to it.

“Oh my gosh, that is so funny,” she said, wiping a tear from her face. “You are very funny, Nariko, I didn’t know how funny you could be.”

She curled up into the fetal position and began rocking back and forth. “Dolls can’t be flogged. They have to be spanked instead.”

There was a soft knock at the door, and Solanum scrambled, gathering up her army and hiding the soldiers. Some she hid under her bum, others she stuffed in her armpits. As the door swung open, she noticed the one she had thrown, and hid it in her mouth.

The nurse looked on in disappointment as she noticed the dilapidated state of the room. The contents of breakfast ground into a paste and smeared along the walls in strange and disturbing patterns. The tapestries torn down and crammed into the barred windows to prevent light from entering.

“You’ve torn up your bedsheets again,” the nurse complained.

“Nuu eye diduht,” Solanum answered, her mouth full of cloth.

The nurse snapped her fingers and a pair of men scuttled in to clean up, followed by High-Priest Oleander, her face a mixture of regret and doubt.

“It is with the greatest reservation that I come here,” Oleander began, taking care to step around an overturned bedpan.

“Your forest has need of you.”

Solanum spat out her soldier and smiled menacingly.

* * *

Ryin sat dejectedly on the edge of the zoo cages, looking down at the herd of trazelle as they pranced around happily in the fading evening light. Absentmindedly, he broke off a piece of bread and tossed it to one of them, pleased that the morsel hit the animal in the head before it bent down and happily lapped it up.

A radiant Hatronesian women flew up, her golden hair shimmering. “Would you care for some papaya juice, ambassador?”

“No, thank you.”

As she flew off, another took her place, her white wings fluttering behind her. “It will be dark soon; can I get you a jacket?”

“I’m fine.”

As she departed, Ryin scratched at the scruff on his chin and looked out wearily at the setting sun.

“You want some taffy?” a voice asked.

“Oh, Maltua’s teeth, no more sweets!” Ryin barked, dropping his face into his hands.

“Good, more for me.”

Ryin looked over as Ellie sat down on the wall next to him. With a pocketknife, she tried to saw off a piece of taffy, but the gooey chunk broke off and fell down, striking an animal on the backside.

“I suppose you are here to make fun of me?” Ryin accused.

“Nah, that would be no challenge,” Ellie chuckled, sawing off a new piece and tossing it into her mouth.

“You knew, didn’t you?”

“Knew what?” she asked with a full mouth, tugging on her pigtails in exaggerated innocence.

“You knew that the people here don’t reproduce the way the rest of us do.”

“Well, not everyone. I mean, I hear Diades just kind of split in half into two people.”

“You know what I mean,” he insisted, scrutinizing her intently.

Ellie’s freckled cheeks turned red as she tried to hold it in, but it burst out anyway. “Pffft, yes I totally knew!”

“Ugh! And you let me make a fool out of myself?”

She slapped her knees. “Yes! It was hilarious!”

He dropped his head in shame.

“The way you swaggered around, women dripping off you like you were the king of the world. I mean, they don’t even kiss here. They barely hold hands. Oh, that is a memory I’m going to cherish for the rest of my life.”

“Well, I’m glad my pain brings you joy.”

“Oh, it does,” she affirmed, hacking at a new chunk as best she could. “It does indeed.”

She laughed for a bit, but Ryin’s sullen mood quickly drained the mirth out of her.

“Oh come on, Colenat, you’ve got to admit it’s pretty funny. A few pretty girls pay attention to you and you practically lose your mind. It’s really not that big of a deal.”

He threw another bit of bread, bouncing it off an animal’s snout. “Believe me, where I come from, it’s a very big deal. My Uncle Jasin, he had two wives and a mistress by the time he was my age.”

“Sounds like a lot of work.”

“Is everything a joke to you?”

“No, just funny things.”

She tried to chop another bit of taffy off, but her knife got wedged in.

“You need a sharper knife for that,” he observed.

“I can do this,” she grunted, pulling the blade free.

Ryin rolled his eyes and put his hand out. “Here, let me see it.”

“Why? It’s just some cheap little knife from the cafeteria.”

“Just let me see it.”

Reluctantly she handed the pocketknife over. He examined the metal clinically, then ran his fingers along the spine. “The steel is too low quality to hold a proper edge.”

“Oh, like you know.”

Ryin cocked an eyebrow at her. “Actually, I do.”

The tattoos on his arms glowed brightly, the light moving through his fingers and into the metal. Little lines traced all over the blade, and it slowly shifted color and texture.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m strengthening the steel and removing the impurities,” Ryin explained, his eyes closed.

When the metal faded, he pulled out his whetstone and got to work. Ellie watched curiously as he worked the blade into a fine razors’ edge.

“Here, it should work better for you now,” he said, handing it back.

Ellie looked it over. Instead of the flat metal sheen it had before, it now had a beautiful marbled pattern, like an elaborate fingerprint. “Neat.”

“Careful not to cut yourself,” Ryin said, tossing another piece of bread away. “It’s extremely sharp.”

“I think I can manage,” she said drolly. She cut off another piece of taffy, and this time it effortlessly sliced through. “Wow, who knew you weren’t totally useless?”

Ryin threw another piece of bread and turned away from her. “You’ve given me your tour-- just go away please.”

She pursed her lips in irritation. “You know, I figured you navy guys would have thicker skin than this. One little thing goes wrong and you pout like a little kid.”

Ryin chuckled regretfully. “Do you know why I joined the navy? It wasn’t because I wanted to see the world and it wasn’t because I love sailing. I wanted to get rich. I wanted money, and it seemed like a good shortcut.”

She opened her mouth to tease him some more, but then changed her mind. “And how did that work out for you?”

“Actually, I did get rich.”

She blinked. “What, really?”

“Yeah, why?”

Ellie scooted in closer. “Nothing, it’s just…unexpected. You don’t really dress like a rich guy.”

“Yeah, well, when I got my fortune, I thought everything would change. I thought I’d finally made it. That women would finally pay attention to me.”

He broke off a piece of bread, but couldn’t find the heart to throw it. “But nothing changed.”

“Nothing?”

“Wysterians treat their men like crap, and all the navy women I went out with were only interested in what I could buy for them. They didn’t care two licks about me. Half of them didn’t even bother to learn my name.”

Ellie scooted back away. “I see.”

“So, when I got here, I felt like I could try again. See if they would like me without knowing I had money. And when it seemed like they did, it just felt incredible.”

She leaned forward. “This might sound a bit harsh…”

“Everything you say is harsh.”

“Okay, but you’re being kind of one-sided, don’t you think?

“How so?”

“Well, you chafe at women just trying to get something out of you, but wasn’t that exactly what you were planning with Layla?”

Ryin sniffed. “You know what’s funny? I know you won’t believe me, but it really wasn’t about that. Not really.”

“You’re right, I don’t believe you.”

“No, I think it was more about feeling like I had value for once. Like I meant something. Where I come from, what makes a man a man is his skill at the forge, and how many wives he has, and I don’t have either.”

She swing her legs. “I guess I know what that feels like.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, I mean, it would probably feel like being a woman but being treated like a kid.”

Ryin snickered. “Okay, I’ll give you that one.”

“Thanks.”

“Even on the Dreadnaught I felt that way,” he admitted. “My shipmates were accomplished war heroes, princesses, guild heirs, accomplished sorcerers, and I was just the regular guy.”

He set the bread down. “There was nothing special about me, and I guess I thought that if I got a girlfriend or two, or three…maybe four…”

“You’re spoiling the moment.”

“Right, well, like I said, I thought it would make me feel like I belonged for once. I guess I just wanted to feel special.”

She leaned back and kicked her feet up. Below, the animals looked on, waiting for more food. “You know, you remind me a lot of my brother.”

“Do I?”

“Yeah, he’s always worried about that kind of stuff. I think it’s a guy thing.”

“A guy thing, huh?”

“Yeah, guys always feel like they have to earn their place at the table. A woman earns her place at the table just by becoming old enough to bear children, but guys have to do something big to earn it. Learn a trade, win a war, pass a trial, it’s different for each island, but it all amounts to basically the same thing.”

“You aren’t a real person until you earn it,” he whispered.

“Yup. And that’s rough, I admit it. But guys don’t realize that we girls have it tough, too.”

“Oh yeah? What plagues you, oh honored table sitter?”

Ellie adjusted her seating and tugged at the hem of the oversized robes she wore. “Girls worry that we aren’t worthy to be at the table in the first place.”

Ryin took a second to look her over. “You know, I have a sister like you.”

“Do you?”

“Yeah, Jeni isn’t like me, she’s a prodigy at the forge. Grandfather’s favorite student. The best our family has produced in three generations.”

Ryin scooped up the loaf and tossed it down to the trazelle below. “Everything always came easy for her. She’s the kind of person that can just pick up an instrument and be great the first time she tries it. Not just with music but with everything. Yet, you listen to her, and all she ever does is complain about her faults. Talking to her, you’d think she’s scum. She refuses to see her own worth.”

Ellie rocked back on her haunches. “A prodigy huh? Well, I’m honored to be placed in such esteemed company as her.”

“You beat me, didn’t you?”

“I thought you said you let me win.”

“Drop it.”

Ellie sliced off a piece of taffy and tossed it into the air, catching it in her mouth. “So, you couldn’t compete with your sister, so you dropped out and ran away to the navy, huh?”

This surprised him. “Did Hanner tell you?”

She held up her pocketknife and admired it. “I can see it all over you. Like my brother, you’re a runner. When things get hard, you make for the exit, then you beat yourself up over it.”

She folded up the knife and put it back in her pack. “But you know what I always thought?”