Chapter 11 In Which I Learn Applicable Construction Techniques
In Which I Learn Applicable Construction Techniques
My dreams were full of blinding blue magic, sheets that rained from the sky and settled in the dust like fitted carpets. They left me groggy and bewildered, dazed so that my eyes hurt before I even opened them.
I logged into the morning meeting three minutes late to the middle of an argument between Jeff and Levi.
“If we keep giving away free work, no one will hire us for anything,” Levi said.
“If we don’t give away free work, we’ll never meet any potential clients anyway, Levi,” Jeff said.
“We don’t have a strong enough reputation.
And if this faerie deal falls through, we are fucked like a bowl of mashed potatoes.
Speaking of, thanks for showing up, Miri.
” He added the last bit having seen my name pop up onscreen, I supposed.
“Hi, Jeff,” I said. I went on mute.
“Jeff, we need to start going after smaller clients,” Levi said. I stared at Corey’s and Matt’s initials on the screen. “That’s the only way for us to build credibility.”
“We need prestige. We need more big names.”
“We keep losing to other banks on the big names!” Levi snapped. I wondered if he was in the office today or at home; if other people on the floor could hear him as he shouted into the phone. “We don’t need more big names. We need any names.”
I wondered if my job was at risk. The thought had a laugh bubbling up in my throat, a hysterical keening giggle. Was I really going to lose the Princeling’s bargain because of my manager’s incompetence?
And the other thought, always underneath, begging me to examine it—was being trapped in Faerie the worst thing in the world?
Yes, I reminded myself. I miss my friends. I miss my family. I miss paying a quarter of my salary for a gym membership I never use.
I shoved that back down and refocused on Jeff and Levi.
“If you have these relationships, Jeff, start using them!” Levi said. I held my breath. People didn’t talk to our boss like that, generally.
“If you think you can find a better job elsewhere, Levi, you’re welcome to leave,” Jeff said. “People leave. You need to do what’s best for you. I personally couldn’t care less.”
No one spoke. I wanted so badly to be in the office, to be able to look over and see Levi’s face, or Corey’s reaction.
I stared at the screen, mostly black, except for the bubbles where their initials indicated their presence on the line.
And surprisingly, there was a bubble on the screen I hadn’t seen before.
“Thank you for that feedback,” Levi said. “In other HR news, everyone, say hi to Kayla. She’s an internal transfer, provisionally on our team so, you know, test her out. Give her a go. Hop on that ride.” He chuckled. “We can always get rid of her.”
“Are there any client issues to discuss?” Jeff asked, having not said hi to Kayla. “Miri, you’re on the ground. What’s going on with the client?”
I pondered for a moment.
“Seems pretty quiet here,” I said.
“I’m sending you to the client site today,” he said while I was talking.
I’m on client site, I thought.
“The Princeling will take you to the factory construction site so you can look around. That way, when our investors go, we can give them a sense of what to expect.”
“Oh, okay.” I hoped he heard bland indifference in my voice, and not immense irritation at the fact that he felt he could move me around like a pawn on a chessboard.
“So, bye,” Jeff said. Was he hanging up, or just telling me to get off the line? I stared at the screen, my hand on the mouse.
“Miri, you can hang up,” Jeff added. “We have some other stuff to talk about.”
I exited the meeting, feeling anxious.
The Gray Knight opened the bedroom door behind me, like she’d been listening in. Which she probably was.
I stood up and turned toward the door. “So everyone except me knew that I would be going to the construction site today,” I said flatly. Doctor Kitten hopped onto the desk and pawed at my hand, as if to say Chill out, homie.
“I do not control what Jeff shares with you,” the Gray Knight said, shuffling the papers in her hands.
“You control what you share with me.”
She looked up at this. It was hard to read the sharp angles of her expression, but she seemed almost surprised.
“Indeed,” she said. “Well, I will share that these are papers. They will help our Builder design our factory.” She flapped the papers about.
Then she made a weird twisting gesture and they disappeared.
She looked me up and down, appraising. Her eyes lingered on my bare throat.
“And I will share that you may wish to ask the Princeling about Roman today, Lady of the True Dreams.”
I frowned. Was this a trap or a hint? Who, or what, was Roman?
“We should get you some new clothes,” she added, before I could ask for clarification. Now she was staring somewhere around my navel, with a slight curve to her lips that I would’ve called a leer on a human. On the Gray Knight, it was probably disdain.
“Oh, I’m good,” I said, choosing with immense dignity not to eye her up in return.
She raised an eyebrow. “Your goodness has nothing to do with your clothing,” she said, and brought her two hands together in a motion like twisting a cap off a jar.
I felt a slithering sensation along my skin—it drew in from my wrists and ankles, an uncomfortable tingle on the sensitive underside of my arms. The sensation continued inexorably upward, a brief vise grip at my elbow, a pressure on the wing of my collarbone.
Behind it came a soothing softness. When I looked down, my old clothes were on the floor in a heap and I wore a tunic and leggings like hers, only green instead of gray.
“I like green,” she opined.
“‘I’m good’ is a human way of saying ‘no thank you,’” I said. “Just, you know, for future reference.”
She inclined her head but didn’t answer.
With a sigh, I patted Doctor Kitten on the head, checked his food and water, and followed her out of the room. “Does Roman have anything to do with my leaving Faerie?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said. She turned left down the hallway, which meant we were going out toward the river. I hadn’t been that way yet.
“Why didn’t you lead with that?” I burst out, exasperated.
“A person must divine some truths for themself.”
I glared at her, but if she noticed, she didn’t say anything.
We passed the turnoff to the cafeteria and continued along the hallway.
It remained identical to the hallway outside my room, except for the names burned onto the doors.
Elsie the Eviscerator, Tomlischai, Emeris the Expunger, Ophelia the Organized, and so on.
Was it better to be expunged or eviscerated? Probably expunged.
A few Fae passed us in the hallway. I recognized one or two of the faces from the big class the other night. I waved to them, and they raised their eyebrows at me in return.
Did she mean Romans? Like, ancient Romans? Or modern Romans? Was there a Roman road out of Faerie that would pop me out in Italy?
When we left the Court, the sunless blue sky greeted us. We stood at the top of a hill, and below us a wide, slow blue river wended its way off into the horizon. On the other side of the river were low gray cliffs, topped with tangles of trees.
The Princeling, the Crone, and the knights Red and Blue sat on four horses by the entrance. Two more waited: Sparkles, and the Gray Knight’s silver horse.
“Does it rain here?” I asked.
“Sometimes,” the Gray Knight said. “When it needs to.” She hoisted me onto Sparkles, her thumbs fitted into the dent of flesh at my waist. The saddle appeared underneath me as I settled onto Sparkles’s back.
I looked over at the other two knights. I hadn’t ever paid much attention to them. They sat astride matching yellow horses and didn’t look at me.
“Let us depart,” the Princeling said, and in unison, the horses started down the path.
We didn’t speak on the way down the hill.
When the ground steadied out beneath us, we turned to the right—I would’ve called it north, if we were still in New York and this was the Hudson.
But the topology was slightly different here, and the air full of magic.
Who knew where we actually were, or what cardinal direction we faced?
The Princeling fell back, letting the Red Knight take the lead, and waited until I’d ridden up next to him.
“Good morning,” he said, only the barest hint of mockery in his tone. “How are you? Did you sleep well? Did you have interesting dreams?”
I absorbed this for a half second. “I dreamed about blue magic,” I said, unable to keep the irritation from my voice. “But, my lord, what do you know about Romans?” I asked.
“Roman’s what?” He seemed a bit befuddled.
“The Gray Knight told me to ask you about Romans.” I glanced back at her. Maybe it was a prank. Did pranks count as lying in Faerie?
“My lady, I do not know much of Roman. I can tell you only that his father helped construct the First Ways into our realm, and that he knows more of our tunnels and pathways than any other. If you fulfill the terms of our bargain, I shall commission him to hunt a safe path back to the mortal realm for you, if such a thing can be found.”
I facepalmed myself so hard that my ring made a dull thwack against my forehead.
“Roman is a dude?” But the Princeling’s gaze had caught on my hand.
“Where did you get that ring?” the Princeling asked, leaning toward me with the most intensity I’d ever seen in his eyes.
“What?” I glanced down at my ring. Dull, boring, gold. “My mom gave it to me. Her mom gave it to her. It’s a family heirloom.”
“May I,” he said, holding out his hand.
Clearly, he may.
I twisted the ring off my finger and dropped it into his palm. He closed his fingers around the ring, and sparks of green danced off his nails. I stared, mesmerized, until Sparkles took a particularly uneven step and I almost fell off my horse.
“What’s wrong with my ring?” I asked, uncomfortable. My finger felt too light without it.