Chapter Twenty-Seven

I rummaged around in my new room in search of my snack stash, then groaned when I pulled out an empty box. Gone. All gone. I didn’t want to leave my room while in the middle of reading, but I was hungry . Frustrated, I tossed off my pajamas and got dressed, pulled my hair into a messy bun, then stalked out of my room and down the hall.

Our new HQ was a high-rise apartment building, with all living quarters above ground. The main floor lobby was connected to a mall that was part of our building, providing us with access to whatever shopping we might want to do. My target, though, was the food court.

Our labs and training areas were all still underground, but the rest of it all was ‘meant to simulate real living conditions.’ Plus, the mall was popular and gave us some interaction with civilians. For those of us that wanted that, anyway.

I’d been keeping to myself…and, admittedly, that was likely one of the reasons for my increasing boredom.

After getting off the elevator, I started to wander toward the food court, when a familiar voice caught my attention, “What… Elara ? What are you doing here?”

“Hmm?” I glanced over my shoulder to find Rel, Aldiner, and Ciheri. They were dressed casually, and Rel had a few shopping bags on one arm. “Oh, hey! You guys here shopping?”

To my surprise, Rel stalked straight toward me and suddenly leaned down to hug me. “Elara, we were so worried… Where have you been ?”

Considering where we were, I was thankful he kept his voice to a whisper…even if it sent tingles down my spine.

“I’m under house arrest ,” I answered quietly, hoping that my tone would convey the gravity of where we were. “I was just about to get breakfast. Want to join me?”

“Breakfast? It’s five in the afternoon.” Rel straightened to his full height and gave me a concerned frown. “Just what—”

“I’ve been in my apartment reading all day.” I made a show of stretching my arms over my head. “If you wanna talk, join me. Of course, you don’t have to eat anything if you don’t like human food.”

I started walking, and the three of them promptly followed. They were much more concerned that I’d expected. Ciheri’s expression made me think of a worried puppy, and even Aldiner had a look of concern to him. Hell, he wasn’t even flashing a bazillion lights everywhere, for once. Does Zafir only report to Jysel?

“House arrest?” Rel murmured. “Why? Did you run into an altercation after leaving?”

“Nope.” I glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. “I think we both know who you can ask.”

“I see. Then by ‘house arrest’…this is all…” Rel murmured quietly. “You are alright? When you stopped coming by, I thought perhaps… I might have offended you.”

“I’m quite fine and you didn’t offend me. At the rate things are going, it’s going to be a while before I can take you up on the offer for a drink, though.” I shook my head, watching as Rel released a sigh of relief. Then, I gave him a pointed look. “How are you holding up?”

Rel grimaced. “Ah…yes. I’m sure you saw her address.”

“Not until after I was off duty, but yes I eventually saw it.” I nodded, but he shot me a puzzled look. “What?”

“Then…you stopping by and offering me assistance…” Rel tilted his head faintly. “Ah. That was not out of pity? You were simply…being nice?”

“Welcome to what we’ve been dealing with for weeks.” Aldiner threw his hands into the air and rolled his eyes. “You know, he can be really dumb for an elder. I guess some people just—”

Ciheri glared up at Aldiner. “Stop it! You were just as worried!”

“…right.” I raised an eyebrow at the pair, then looked at Rel. “I wouldn’t say I was ‘just being nice.’ I do enjoy your company, and it would’ve been pretty asshole-ish of me to not offer to help.”

“Hmmm…how strange…” Rel murmured, before hurrying to follow me around a corner and toward the food court. “To answer your question…I am doing fine. I’ve known since the founding of the V’shir how she views my endeavors.”

“I can’t claim to understand how any of what she said is acceptable.” I shot him a sidelong glance. “If you’re not busy, how about you regale me with the details while we eat. While I eat? You didn’t say if you’ll be joining me, come to think of it.”

“We’d be happy to.” Rel glanced back at Aldiner and Ciheri, who appeared to be arguing in Syldran. Then, he looked back to me. “What did you have in mind?”

“There’s this restaurant on the other side of the food court that serves human food from different planets. They’ve got private rooms and automated table delivery. That should work. We’ve got an arrangement where they turn off the in-room surveillance when military members request a private room.” I motioned for him to follow me, and a few minutes later, the four of us were settled in a dim lounge room. Rel gave me a faint nod after I’d sat down, indicating he’d disabled anything that might be listening in. “I can catch you up on my problems quick enough. My teammates were poisoned at noon while I was on patrol, and they’ve been in medical isolation undergoing treatment since. Being down to one combatant—aside from the human guards—paired with the warning I received from Casair regarding an impending attack…our bosses decided to move HQ. That said, I had already been assigned house arrest because they want me on hand to deal with my teammates—if they get attacked again, or if they lose to their feral while weakened. Zafir doesn’t want them tranquilized, so I’m their only reliable way to subdue them.”

“Someone wants to kill the Resonance survivors?” Rel murmured.

I nodded. “Inside job—and currently under investigation. Zafir and I are the only ones in the clear and allowed to leave our rooms right now. The guards you see everywhere are from the investigation team, not the Resonance Project.”

Rel sighed and walked over, taking a seat beside me—so close his hip was up against mine. He leaned back, resting his head against the top of the upholstered backrest and rubbed his temples. “…and this has all been reported?”

“Mhm.” I eyed him as his glow swirled to an orangey red. “I take it you weren’t informed…”

“That utter imbecile excludes me a great deal,” Rel answered flatly. “He thinks he can avoid taking me down with him if things go poorly. As we’re twins, we’ve always been held accountable for each other’s actions. Originally, she was trying her damnedest to treat Jysel and I…as a package deal. However, after he killed our father several years ago, she decided it would be easier to sell us separately. Of course, the price she’s set is much too high for any of the queens or their clans to pay. She doesn’t understand any form of trade—that is what one of her other Lun’ithero is for.”

“Her…what?” I raised an eyebrow.

“…I sometimes forget you aren’t acquainted with our language.” Rel gave me an apologetic look. “I believe the closest human word is ‘husband,’ but it is a poor translation. A Lun’ithero is, essentially…ah…”

“A breeding male. It’s what she’s trying to sell Rel and Jysel as,” Aldiner interjected flatly. “More specifically, it refers to a breeding male who is descended from a queen. It’s theorized that the necessary genes to become a queen are hereditary.”

“But that was debunked…” Ciheri added quietly, earning an odd look from Rel. “Um…the clan I belonged to was heavily focused on research. Our queen wanted to discover what makes queens the way they are, why there aren’t queens of other sexes, and why we haven’t been able to artificially create queens.

“They determined that the genetics aren’t hereditary, but were ordered to keep that knowledge to themselves because it ‘hurts business’ and contradicts millennia of beliefs…”

Rel released a soft sigh. “Yes…many of the queens can become testy when their beliefs are challenged. It’s a shame they let such things get in the way of progress…though, perhaps I can’t say much since my mother is the cause for much of the current state of stagnation.”

“So, even the Syldrari don’t quite understand what makes a queen a queen?” I murmured as I stirred my straw in my drink.

“You could say that. There are some theories that queens were created, and other documents imply that we once had full control over the phenomenon. If either is true, that knowledge was lost.” Rel shook his head slightly before shifting his gaze to me curiously. “You asked me to ‘regale’ you. What, exactly, is it you want to know?”

“I want to know why it’s an acceptable practice to sell off one’s children in your culture,” I answered flatly, giving him an unamused look. “Listening to her talk about you and Jysel made me want to torture and kill her as slowly as possible, and in the most humiliating way I could think of. Granted, my fuse may be a little too short to keep from just chopping her head off and mounting it on—”

“Keep that up and all three of us are going to want to kiss you,” Aldiner interrupted slyly. “Though, if you can get away with doing that— please do ?”

“Uh…oh.” I flushed, realizing I’d gone off on a bit of a tangent—and that all three of them were glowing some variety of pink to reddish-pink.

Rel cleared his throat. “Anyway, to answer your question… The practice is only common among queens. Traditionally, clans are led by queens and they believe that keeping their bloodlines pure is the best way to produce more queens. They avoid inbreeding by marrying their offspring off to other queens and descendants of queens.

“Jysel and I are the highest worth of her male children, as we are the eldest and I have my own queenless clan—a rarity among Syldrari. Were I to be married off, the queen would pay my mother a value that reflects my status and the size of Clan V’shir. The clan would then become hers to do with as she wished, and I would only remain in charge of it if she permitted me to.

“Mother has yet to have any Iri children. Thus far, her Lun’ itheroi—that is the plural term—have only given her Lun’iri such as myself, and Sol’iri. Sol’iri are more valuable than the males…but…”

Aldiner shrugged and spoke up when Rel went silent, “Those of us that aren’t queen-spawn live more or less like humans do—except we’re culturally driven to try and make ourselves appealing to queens. ‘Marry up’ and all that—humans marry up for money and status, Syldrari marry up for status and the hope of more status. Second to queens are whoever can ‘bless’ their partner with a queen.”

“Not quite right…but accurate enough,” Rel remarked dryly, earning a questioning glance from me. “I believe I’ve mentioned before that our culture is heavily focused on the arts and sciences. If we take queens and those uncontrollably obsessed with them out of the equation, the highest status members of our society are those with beautiful and complex minds.”

“Who catch the eye of a queen or a dozen, and get put in a cage to try and breed a queen with that kind of mind,” Aldiner countered flatly.

“You know he’s right.” Ciheri peered over his crossed arms at Rel, who sighed heavily. Next, Ciheri turned his attention to his menu, then glanced at me. “Um…I’ve never had human food. We order from this? What should I get?”

“Elara’s clearly been eating here—let’s make her order.” Aldiner linked his hands behind his head and leaned back in his seat, shooting me a grin.

“Yes, let’s,” Rel agreed, much to my surprise. He gave me a mischievous look and leaned a little closer. “Can ‘Ms. House Arrest’ have a drink, or…”

“Sadly, no, but I can think of something you might like,” I answered dryly, picking up the data pad that acted as my menu. I swiftly moved down the list. Clam chowder for our appetizer, grilled steak and lobster for the entree, and molten chocolate lava cakes for dessert. I paused over the drink menu then glanced up at Rel—he was still a little close, but I decided to ignore that fact. “Are those two old enough to drink?”

“Yes. They’re not much younger than me…not that anyone would be able to tell from their behavior,” Rel answered, shooting Aldiner and Ciheri an amused look.

“Okay, that will go good with the entree…oh, and this with dessert.” I finished placing our order and swiped my card to pay before Rel could see the total. “I’m guessing Syldrari hold their alcohol better than humans do, but these will taste good at least.”

“How’s your stock of ludrán holding up?” Rel teased, a knowing smile spreading across his face when I shot him a disgruntled look. “Ceyoh told me she’d sold more to you, and given the rate you’ve been demolishing your stores thus far, she’s concerned by your absence as well.”

“All gone, but I can’t exactly get more—and I’m not permitted to give anyone my room number. So, deliveries are out.”

“And with you and Zafir being the only ones allowed out of your rooms… I take it you can’t send Sarah to play fetch?” Rel murmured. He shot me a frown when I sighed and slumped back in my seat. “What is it?”

“Sarah’s one of the ones who were poisoned. Though she’s not on a team, she is a survivor of the Incident. It just didn’t ‘give her powers’ like it did for us,” I muttered irritably, doing finger quotes as I talked.

“Interesting…so she too may be…” Rel murmured curiously.

I nodded. “Yeah, that’s my theory. Everyone who was poisoned was confirmed to be experiencing cellular dissonance prior. Zafir didn’t say outright that Sarah was in the same boat, but his choice of words implies it.”

“Cellular whatsit?” Aldiner narrowed his eyes.

“I will explain when we’re at home.” Rel shook his head at Aldiner, then glanced to me. “We’ve been making weekly trips to this mall for a while. I’ll see if I can bring you some ludrán when next we visit.”

“Oh, I’d appreciate it.” I smiled at him. “Don’t feel the need to go out of your way, though. I’m not sure if I’d be able to get it past security right now. They’ve got Zafir scanning anything that comes into or goes out of the building right now—consumable or not. They’ve even got him scanning uniforms and weapons in case the offender moves to topical toxins.”

“To be going to such great lengths…it must be a human,” Rel remarked with disdain, then he paused and glanced at me. “You know, whenever I make a comment that could be construed as an insult to humans, I feel as though I should apologize to you. Yet…”

“Don’t apologize for speaking the truth.” I laughed. “Now, why does that information lead you to believe this person is human?”

“Because a Syldrari would have succeeded already,” Ciheri offered quietly, looking to be deep in thought. “We’re raised to never underestimate an opponent or target. Hunting or otherwise. If a Syldrari wanted to use poison to kill you and your team members—they would have used something that can take down a Syldrari or one of our most difficult to hunt creatures.”

“We’re efficient,” Rel mused.

“… so , if Jysel wanted me dead…” I suggested.

“Yes, you would be already.” Rel nodded, chuckling. “Humans have a saying…ah, I believe it’s, ‘his bark is bigger than his bite?’ You frustrate my brother because you fall outside the parameters he is used to dealing with, and falling outside those parameters in the way you do rattles his resolve to an extent. You…are very easily someone we could grow very attached to, and as he has sworn off such attachments…”

“Okay, so I challenge his way of thinking just by existing. I can get that. But, if he’s so… him …why is it he’s so driven to save these captured queens?” I raised an eyebrow, and this time Rel laughed outright.

“Because he still dreams of being the aloof hero who saves a queen that is deserving of her power. I would offer you some books of Syldrari fairytales so you could better understand his…admittedly simple and potentially childish motivations. However, they haven’t been translated into the human languages.”

Aldiner grinned and leaned forward. “We could read them to her. I’m sure you could translate on the fly.”

“I could, or I could preserve what little is left of Jysel’s dignity for him to destroy himself,” Rel suggested, his lips pulling into an amused smile. “Now then, why don’t we find a more pleasant topic for discussion while we still have some time together? Perhaps I can show you some of our visual and aural arts while we wait—I have my data pad with me today.”

“Oh! I think the capitol’s virtual museum tour may be live now as well,” Ciheri spoke up excitedly. “Since we can’t take her to see Syldra and its museums herself, that may be a good place to start!”

“Ah yes…they have some new art exhibits opening, right?” Rel murmured as he pulled out a rather different looking data pad and allowed it to hover in front of him. Next, he placed a half sphere thing on the table. “There we are. New art exhibits, as well as additions to the archaeology district.”

“…did you just say archaeology district ?” I stared at Rel in disbelief.

“Hmm? Yes, of course.” Rel gave me a briefly puzzled glance, then a look of realization crossed his face. “Ah, being such an old species and liking our things to be a certain way…’the museum’ is a city adjacent to the capitol. It, arguably, is the most defended place on Syldra. We…take the arts rather seriously. The capitol would fall sooner than the museum would.”

“That’s…” I tilted my head, trying to imagine such a thing. As if reading my mind Rel tapped something and the sphere projected what had to be ‘the museum.’ I stared in disbelief at the incredibly alien, albeit beautiful, submerged city. “I…sure, let’s start on the archaeology district.”

“Oh?” Rel raised an eyebrow at me. “A connoisseur of the ancient?”

“When I was still holed up in my cell, the way I learned about humans was by consuming books about ancient humans and their mythos,” I offered, adjusting a little in my seat so I could more easily lean forward to examine the projection. “I think learning about the past is important with any culture and especially species. We can learn from the past, and I’m sure different species erred in vastly different ways throughout their recorded histories.”

“Then we can save the art and music for some other time.” Rel gave me a small smile. “I certainly can’t argue with your observation, and I wouldn’t dream of keeping you from learning more about our culture—past or present. I can only hope that I will be able to answer other questions so candidly…soon.”

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