Chapter Eleven #2
That bastard could kill her.
No, Slay refused to let that terror take root. Rowena had survived that gauntlet before; she would again. She had to live to get her revenge and help to set her people free, alongside the rest of the resistance.
Focus on what you can fix.
At this juncture that wasn’t a hell of a lot. Slay tried not to brood, though he got precious little sleep and felt like shit from the constant, erratic wakefulness and the disturbing dreams. Apparently his brain had a lot of ideas of how the meeting between those two might go.
When he reported to the workshop, she still wasn’t back, and with every moment that she stayed gone, his bad feeling got worse.
If only he could do something, but he didn’t have her connections, couldn’t read the resistance cipher, and nobody was talking to him.
Period. Nearly at the end of his tether when he finally finished his shift, Slay swallowed another swirl of bootless fury.
But as he emerged from the workshop, Kani was waiting for him. “What happened to Rowena?” the girl asked.
“She got taken,” he said, seeing no point in lying to the kid.
Kani’s eyes widened. “Do they think she did something bad? Is there somewhere worse than here?”
Tycho Vega’s private suite.
Aloud, he said, “You’d know better than me. I’m new here.”
“I heard there’s a hole where they dump our bodies,” she said. “But people also say they feed the dead to the great furnace and use the ashes as fertilizer in the mushroom farms.”
Fucking hell.
Slay hoped Kani was wrong because otherwise, wasn’t that indirect cannibalism? If the people become mushroom food and then the mushrooms become people food? Just thinking about it made his head hurt.
“Well, she didn’t go there—the hole or the furnace.” I hope that’s true. “The guards took her up, somebody important wanted to talk to her.”
Hearing who had summoned Ro might make Kani pee her pants. The Golgoth people seemed to view Tycho Vega as a deity or a devil, depending on who he asked.
Best to leave that detail out.
“She must be scared.” Kani bit her lip and bounced on her toes, like she was hesitant about the next suggestion. “I was wondering if you want to meet my brother?”
The offer surprised Slay since the kid had been frightened of him before. Maybe I proved myself harmless?
“Sure, sounds good.” It wasn’t like he had anything else to do, and he wondered if this sudden invitation had anything to do with the resistance. They couldn’t contact him overtly, so this might be an overture.
Kani said, “He works at the gaming house. He doesn’t like it when I visit him there, but it should be fine since you’re with me.”
Because I’m an adult? That was his best guess anyway.
Mildly curious, he followed Kani until they came to a building smaller than the comfort house but similar in style.
It sat across the plaza, offering one-stop convenience for a night of leisure.
Most of the workers couldn’t afford such luxuries unless they had enterprises on the side or were reporting to the guards for perks.
In some cases, it seemed to be both, from what he’d seen since his capture.
Kani circled around to the side and slipped in through a concealed entrance, beckoning to Slay in urgent motions. “We can’t get caught! There’s a fee—”
“I thought there was no money here,” he cut in.
She shot him a dirty look. “There’s not. You pay in value. Some people bring shrooms, others offer food. I hear they trade in secrets as well, but my brother says I need to be careful or curiosity will get me in trouble.” Sighing, she added, “I never get to do anything but work.”
Sensible words, likely accurate, but they had to be hard for a kid to hear. When Kani called the ‘all clear’, he followed the girl swiftly.
Inside, the gaming house resembled the comfort house, cleaner than the rest of the undercity and decorated with bright furnishings.
The art, carpets, paintings, and furniture had probably been smuggled in because no assigned housing had ambiance like this.
They stood in a private room with a concealed entrance, likely used for secret meetings.
In the distance, he heard dice being rolled, wheels spinning, and the shuffle of cards, along with the soft cadence of people talking. With hardly a pause, Kani rushed toward the other doorway, guiding him through a series of confusing hallways.
At last they came to offices behind the gaming area. Her brother must work in admin, Slay guessed. But when Kani rang the bell outside the curtain, a familiar voice called, “Enter!”
Soon, Slay confirmed visually. Chantisse was waiting for them inside, along with a young man he didn’t know. Must be Kani’s brother.
“You did well,” Chantisse added.
The girl straightened her shoulders, losing her downtrodden air. “Thank you. He didn’t give me a hard time.”
“You’re resistance,” he guessed. “I didn’t see either of you at the meeting.”
“There’s a reason for that. I’m Nolen, Kani’s brother.
She told me you saved her from being injured recently.
I appreciate you looking out for her.” The young Gol might be sixteen, maybe twenty factoring in the likelihood that he was small due to lack of nutrition.
Nolen was embarrassingly earnest, like he wanted to hug Slay for helping Kani.
Uneasily, Slay rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s fine. Anybody would’ve…” He didn’t complete the thought because the statement didn’t ring true in the undercity. In fact, it was weirder when people stuck their neck out.
But hell, that was no way to live.
“Were you followed?” Chantisse asked Kani.
The girl shook her head. “I was extremely careful.”
“I would’ve clocked it if she didn’t,” Slay put in.
“Excellent. My sources tell me that Rowena’s in the upper city…and I have contacts there as well. We can use that.”
“How do you figure?” Little as Slay liked being separated from Ro, maybe some good could come of this.
Chantisse outlined her plan.