Scales and Swords ✓

34: Cyr

I groaned awake to the sun's unforgiving light and with it its heat. I tossed and turned recounting the events of the night before. Brise was paraded back to the tree houses, with her catch, by the hairy men who dominated the second level. And I happened to be her sister so I was given the same treatment. There was a feast. Everyone from all levels came to celebrate Brise and I. We ate and drank and partied all night at the community hall. Of course I didn't drink, but I couldn't say the same for Brise. By the time the event ended she was about as good as asleep and I had to drag her back to our house. Lucky for me she wasn't very heavy.

I finally got up to the thought of Philip and the guys still in their cells. I hoped they ate, I hoped they were alright. I showered and prepared breakfast which I made from our share of food that we had received last night. Brise was still fast asleep when I went to wake her. I let her rest and left a note on the table beside her food. When I stepped out I was met with an unexpected visitor.

"Xon?"

Xon stood before me, a fisted hand raised, as though he were just about to knock. He quickly hid his hand and stepped back, avoiding my eyes.

"December," he drawled. "uh, sorry, I was just hoping to speak with Vanut."

I closed the door behind me and stepped out. "She's still asleep, drank too much last night. Is it urgent, I can wake her?"

"No," he said immediately. "Don't wake her."

"well I feel that it's pretty important, considering you had to come all the way here to tell her. I can take the message."

He shook his head. "no, uh, no, I just wanted to congratulate her on making hunting crew."

A sly smile stretched across my face. "you already did, last night. Anyway I was actually hoping to speak to you."

"Oh what about?" He seemed relieved by the change of topic.

"the prisoners you caught yesterday, I was just wondering if they ate. I kind of felt guilty thinking about how we partied all night last night and they were locked away in their cells."

"don't worry about them, we feed everyone even our prisoners. But they're no longer prisoners so you can rest assured, they're alright."

"what happened to them? did you take care of them?" I said slowly.

"no," he said coolly, "turns out they're deserters. Two of them are actually vuruks. They'll be staying here."

I hid my relief behind my skepticism. "but how can you be so sure?"

"I had help." He squinted at me. "You're quite curious, aren't ya?"

"I just think what Tobias has built is really beautiful and brave of him. Vanut and I never really had a home after our parents died, always on the road, always on the run. I'd hate to see this place be torn down." As I said it I knew I meant it, which made it harder to lie.

Xon nodded, his expression unreadable. "I see we all want the same thing."

"well I'll get going now, the maintenance crew awaits. You gonna wait here for Vanut?"

"no," he coughed. "I told you what I wanted to tell her, didn't I?"

With a smirk I said, "right?" and started across the bridge, Xon in tow. Just as I reached the administration building, Philip, Lucius and Rowan stepped out its doors. Philip's face brightened immediately, I shook my head slightly, eyeing Xon behind me.

"There they are." Xon stepped forward and beckoned the guys over. "December, this is Marigold, Orion and Dave."

I shook hands with the named, my expressions dull. "Nice to meet all of you."

"So December, you're quite strange looking," Philip beamed.

On the surface I smiled, but I was storming on the inside. "Uh, that's, wow, are you always this direct?"

Rowan pulled Philip into a head lock, grinning. "Sorry my friend can be such an oaf, all the time."

I cringed and regarded Lucius. "So Dave, you play the buzuki. You any good?"

Lucius brought his buzuki forward and strummed a tune. A short and lively tune, that truly impressed me.

I applauded. "That was beautiful. One of these days, I'm gonna have to take lessons from you."

Lucius nodded.

"Wow, you're nothing like your sister," Xon said.

"Different dads." I shrugged.

"You have a sister?" Philip quizzed.

I groaned on the inside. "Yeah. You ask a lot of questions Marigold. What an odd name you have there, where did you get it?"

Philip's eyes narrowed but before he could retort, Xon said, "where's Rapio, your tour guide?"

"What tour guide? We've been wandering around all this time," Rowan said.

Xon sighed.

Just then, a scream pierced the air. It came with a girl swinging from a vine headed in our direction.

"Get out of the way!!" she shouted. We dispersed promptly. She dropped from the vine and landed where we stood a moment ago. "All right whose ready for this tour?!"

Philip mouthed something that looked like, "what the fart."

The girl, with a big grin on her face, bounced on her heels, looking back and forth at us. Her eyes stood out the most, one brown, the other blue. Frizzy sandy blond hair framed her round child-like face. She reminded me of Sybil.

"Rapio," Xon grunted. "Where were you?! You were supposed to tour them an hour ago!"

Her eyes expanded as she gasped. "Sorry! I'm right on it!"

We parted ways there, Rapio took Lucius, Rowan and Philip for a tour and I made my way to the maintenance crew's building. I wasn't as crazy-I mean fearless as Brise to hunt so I figured I'd help with what I was actually good at, building. Plus, I figured I should put my strength to some good use.

After meeting the crew and going over the ins and outs of the job, I was excused for lunch. I rushed over to the orphanage, hoping to find Nareem. But instead, I barged in to the kids having lunch. A florial girl who looked about as old as me, beckoned me over, saying, "Oh thank goodness, just who I've been waiting for." She then made me go around serving the children their meals. Nareem wasn't there so I didn't have much reason to stay but I couldn't exactly object, so I just went with it. Just before lunch could end, the florial girl served me a bowl of food and made me eat. She didn't force me to, but I found it so difficult to decline.

"You're a new face?" she said. "I'm Uta."

"Uh, yeah my sister and I just got here yesterday. December, that's my name."

"Wait you're the sister of the girl who killed that giant hog," she beamed. She was a pretty girl, her lashes like blades of grass, her stringy hair tied down her back, her eyes a glistening jade, her smile contagious. She held a hand over her protruding stomach and regarded me.

"Yeah, that's right." I nodded. "So, uh, how long have you been volunteering at the orphanage?"

She shrugged. "For a while now. I've grown onto the kids."

I nodded and downed a spoon of the hot savory mushroom soup that warmed me up instantly. "This is really good, how come you're not eating?"

She chuckled. "Thanks for asking. But, I don't want to waste good food. Food doesn't stay down long when you're pregnant. Especially when the baby is half-"

"Babe!" the voice of a man called. The kitchen door clicked open and a towering man with reptilian eyes and a forked tongue walked through the doors. I flinched and Uta chuckled at me.

"Don't worry, he isn't as scary as he looks," she whispered.

I gulped, my eyes following the man. But when he planted a kiss on Uta's cheek and rubbed a hand over her tummy I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be scared, concerned or relieved. Though all that didn't matter when he said, "sorry babe, Cyr kept me from coming sooner."