Chapter 17 The King Beneath #2
Elena watched him leave. She turned back to me. “So. Tell me everything.” She looked me up and down. “What’s your story? Everyone here has one, so don’t try to tell me it’s nothing.”
I couldn’t explain if I tried, but I felt I could inherently trust Elena. She had an aura of confidence and kindness to her; like she knew exactly who she was and would accept anyone for exactly who they were.
“Wait.” She stopped me. “Walk and talk. We have a lot of shopping to do.”
So, we did. Elena took me through the cobbled tunnels of the district, which she confirmed was called the Crossroads of the Dead. Because of its location at the juncture between the catacombs housing the bones of Lutesse’s long dead and the rest of the sprawling underground city.
The invisible city was enormous, the tunnels stretching across most of the southern side of the Sequana, spanning nearly three hundred kilometres of streets, tunnels, huge open spaces and individual residences.
There were some places where even this magical community dared not venture, because they had either caved in or were flooded by the tributaries leading back to the Sequana.
But for the most part, Beneath Lutesse sustained itself with a thriving business district, various art galleries, restaurants, cafes, dance studios and theatres.
There were enough connections to the surface city to ensure that there was plenty of food, water and resources.
Various caves lent themselves excellently to the brewing and distilling of various liquors and fine wines.
There was even that democratically elected city government that oversaw the day-to-day operations of the city and its several thousand citizens of all ages.
I had grown tired of talking about myself and instead began asking Elena all kinds of questions, about the city, about the magic wielders who inhabited it, about her past and how she came to be here, how she met Ciaran. Elena was generous in all her answers.
“I was born here in Lutesse,” she explained when I asked about her story.
“I came from a middle-class family—but my mother died when I was quite young, and my father was always spending all his money on drinking and gambling. When I began to realize there was something different about me, I knew I had to hide it or face not only my father’s wrath but Scion’s.
My gift is tied to my dancing. I never had any formal training—we didn’t have the money for it with my father gambling it away—but I could…
make strange things happen… when I got into the flow.
I left home when I turned sixteen and started dancing in cabarets around Lutesse.
Then the war came and there was no work.
I lived on the streets for a bit. Those were some dark times.
I had a steady job dancing at Montmartre when I met Ciaran.
He saw me for what I was right away. He showed me the City Beneath, and I’ve been here ever since. ”
I was stunned by her story. I didn’t know what to say, so I blurted out the first thing I could think of. “So… you’re not a ballet dancer, then?”
Elena chuckled. “No. Not a ballet dancer. There’s a studio down near the Room of Cubes that teaches some great classes in the kind of dancing I do. We will go sometime. I will bring you as soon as you’re settled. You’ll go crazy for it. And they will all love you too.”
We wandered a bit farther, moving out of the Crossroads of the Dead and into the liminal space between it and the next district.
People passed us on bicycles, even the occasional scooter.
I was struck by how eerily similar it was to the city above; it was like Lutesse’s dark twin—her mirror image deep beneath the roots of the city proper.
Eventually we came upon a cluster of boutique stores.
This area, the fashion district of Beneath, was jokingly called the Boutique of Psychosis.
When I asked why, Elena said she had no idea.
There were five or six clothing stores in the square, all built into the limestone walls.
We browsed them all, trying things on, building a wardrobe that would suit my day-to-day needs.
In the end I was able to pick out enough clothes to get me through, making sure I had all the basics covered. I was used to a spartan wardrobe from my days as a poor student living in the dormitories of the opera’s ballet school.
My heart squeezed in longing as we entered the dress shop.
My salary as a chorus dancer had been modest, but I had invested more of it than was probably wise in the sparkling dresses I loved to wear.
They were all gone now. I would never see them again.
I didn’t have very many possessions, but I would miss those dresses dearly.
Now, I didn’t think it was practical to buy anything like that.
I was about to leave the store, but Elena insisted that I try some things on.
I stood in the mirror of the fitting rooms, wearing an exquisite black beaded dress. It looked like it had been painted on my body, hugging every curve and hollow, the beads catching the cozy light of the shop interior.
“You have to get that one, Seraphina. You have to. It’s perfect. Your tits look amazing.” Elena stood behind me, wolf whistling.
I crinkled my nose. “I don’t know. When am I ever going to wear this? It’s too fancy,” I said, but I couldn’t help swaying my hips a little, listening to the satisfying swoosh of the beaded fringe at the bottom.
“If you’re going to be here for a while, you are going to need something to wear when we go out dancing.
” Elena was pouting—pleading for me to agree to get the dress.
“Plus, Ciaran is going to drop dead when he sees you in that. I mean, he could barely stop staring at you today wearing his ratty old shirt, so…”
My face must have turned a thousand shades of crimson, and my stomach fluttered uncontrollably as she said it.
Though I didn’t want to admit it was the reason I agreed to buy the dress…
I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a factor.
It was the most expensive thing we bought, and Elena forced me to get a pair of high-heeled shoes to go with it.
I was sure it was well outside of whatever budget Ciaran had asked Elena to stick to, but she just scoffed.
“Don’t worry. He will agree, this dress is well worth the investment.”
I blushed furiously.
We strolled casually back in the direction of the crossroads after we finished shopping.
“Let’s get lunch, I’m starving,” Elena drawled.
We stopped into a bistro and ate and chatted some more.
I found myself able to open up to Elena.
She had been so warm and vulnerable with me that it was easy to reciprocate.
It happened so rarely, but she was one of those people who you meet once and feel as if you’ve known a lifetime.
Elena told me about her duties here in the city. She was another member of the city council. In the Lutesse above us, women were not even allowed to vote in elections, let alone run for office. Elena cringed when I mentioned the fact.
“We run a much more egalitarian society Beneath Lutesse, Seraphina. I assure you. I was floored when I arrived as well.”
She told me that she oversaw the ministry of the arts. In this city that favoured such pursuits, this was an important position. I was no longer intimidated by her, as I’d been when we first met, but I was impressed.
When we were finished eating, my face crumpled.
“Elena, I really wish I could pay, but I don’t have anything here. My purse, my bank information, it’s all up there. I left everything behind.” I pointed above our heads. “I can’t keep letting you pay for things…”
“First of all—” Elena cleared her throat, “—please don’t apologize for what was done to you.
This time has been very difficult for you, and we want to help.
We’ve all been there. In one way or another.
So don’t worry,” she began, “and secondly, I haven’t paid for anything today, it’s all King Ciaran, so take it up with him.
” She flashed me a smile, showing a row of perfect gleaming white teeth set against the warm brown of her skin.
“Okay. I will.” I narrowed my eyes on her. “But I’m not a charity case. I want to earn my keep here. I want to help in whatever way I can. Against what’s happening with Scion…” I trailed off.
“Oh, I know. I have no doubt you’ll fit in just fine. But let us help you in the meantime. We help each other here. We don’t leave our community out to rot,” Elena insisted.
This was not the first time in my life that I had been alone.
When my father died, I had to start from scratch, on my own, as a ballerina in an unknown city.
While Madame Giselle had allowed me a spot to train in the opera’s ballet school, I had to figure out the rest for myself.
Where to live, how to pay for my rent, my groceries, everything.
No one had tried to help me then. It had been an extremely lonely time, until I found Carlotta and Maren.
The way that Ciaran and now Elena were helping me was not something I was accustomed to.
I felt like a burden, but they had both insisted I accept their help.
The sense of community that I felt here, Beneath Lutesse, was unprecedented.
I thought about it all the way back to Ciaran’s.
Elena knew the spells and enchantments to get inside the trap door. She dropped the bags she was carrying and let out a low whistle.
“Goddess, it is close quarters in here.” She looked around. “I hope you don’t mind being on top of each other.”
I felt a blush creep up my neck. “Oh, it’s fine. I’m just happy to have somewhere to stay, honestly.”
“Well, if you ever feel like you need some girl time, you know who to call. Ciaran is a broody boy, he’ll exhaust you soon enough with his ways,” Elena teased.