◀ Prev • [ All parts ] • [ Glossary ] • Next ▶

Chapter 14: The Order

Part 1

The light in her room pulsed, quickening as Kelron thrust his way to the edge. He was going for broke this time. Their Bodyanchor Artwork coiled between and through their bodies, wound in a tight knot. The energy spun in a wild pinwheel, colours chasing each other, surging faster then slowing, timed with the heaving of their lungs.

The physicality of him was there, sure enough, but June also felt the unique patterning and frequencies in his two red crystals. Combined with her two blues, they flashed and bloomed, coating the walls and ceiling in shifting rubies, sapphires and jade.

Junelight memorized these frequencies best she could, amid crashing waves of delicious, sliding pleasure. Near the end she let herself enjoy it fully, though her neck was rather crammed into the headboard. Kelron was nothing if not enthusiastic. She braced harder with her shoulder blades and rocked into him, focusing on the encompassing, primal feel of his body.

Rocks became slams, then crazy flutters grew and redoubled. They gathered and swelled, faster, multiplying still further until there were so many they exploded into chains of clenching, sweet release. She cried out as the dazzling colours all lost their hue to a temporary white. At some point he had come too, she could feel that much, but had missed the exact moment.

Oh well.

Then he was out of her and off of her, and curious to know if he was going to be staying at all, wherein she explained her early start in the morning and the terrible need to sleep solitary. Maybe she’d see him tomorrow night. He hoped so.

When he was gone, she cycled her anti-conception Artwork, let it do its thing, then slept like a baby. The romp had done her well; she woke the next day feeling quite refreshed and thus committed to the idea of round two in the evening. If she needed the extra energy today, she was definitely going to need it tomorrow.

The first order of business was to check in on the communal stone. The previous day she had seeded it with some complex, self-sustaining probes. They took some time to grow, relying on the passive deep cycles flowing between towns to fuel their stealthy bloom. It was busy inside the stone temple, and it took her longer than she would have liked to be able to move undetected within the mindtether. But the probes were doing fine. They’d reach the ideal state in about a week, but they’d be useable when she needed them tomorrow evening.

Her second chore was hopefully going to be a little easier. After grabbing a meal at the feasting hall, she sent a shard to Vik, telling xim she was going to go take a look at the damage to the bridge. Xe was happy enough to hear that, and she walked the forty or so minutes down the winding road to the site.

Repairs were well underway—new beams were being fitted and most signs of the destruction had been cleared away. It was a full two days away from being done. She chatted with the foreman for a while, making appearances, then made her way back.

As soon as the first bend in the road shielded her from the workers, she slipped into the woods and waited. After ten minutes, Mossalea appeared from a tree above and dropped down, quiet as a whisper.

She said, “Follow me.”

They wound through the forest, more or less back in the direction of Wood Ribbon South, until they came upon a contingent of about fifteen Falsesparkers, all armed to the teeth. Many stood as she and Mossa entered their little circle. A short one drew back a hooded cloak, and Junelight found herself face to face with Bettine of All All-bit-tel.

“Head of Spark. We meet again, though I thought I was meeting the battalion marshal,” said Junelight, after inclining her head.

“I am she, as it were,” said Bettine. “Slight reassignment, I couldn’t resist being early to the party.”

“Might as well, being the guest of honour and all.”

Bettine smiled and gave a series of rapid little nods. “You look ridiculous,” she remarked, scanning June’s Culdurian garb up and down.

“Just trying to fit in,” June said, hoping that she had quashed any trace of irony from her voice.

Bettine kept smiling for a moment, then all joviality fell from her face. She said, “Status.”

“It’s all set.”

“And your outlier?”

“I’ll isolate her tomorrow and get what I need after,” said June. “She’s hiding something and my sense is that it’s related to our mark.”

“We could probably extract her tonight. Would they miss her?”

“Yes, I think they would. Too risky.”

“Afterwards then.” Bettine put her hands on her hips. The butt of her little blaster stuck out of her cloak at an angle, polished to a gleam. She licked her lips, nodded once, then spat. “Our advance teams will be arriving and getting into position tonight. The rest tomorrow, trickling in over the course of the day. Then all teams ready by sundown. Did you get a good look at the tree farm?”

“Yes,” said June. “They’re young trees. Thin canopy.”

“Shit. Okay. We’ll have to funnel any runners instead of choking the whole town off. Do they seem like a skittish bunch?”

“Not especially. I predict a fairly fast submission. They’ve probably never even experienced a serious global downcycle.”

Bettine stared back at her, one eyebrow raised, impatient.

“Sorry,” Junelight said. “When I squeeze them off of their bloodlight supply, most will likely be too uncomfortable to run, let alone resist.”

“Ah. Delightful. And they don’t suspect a thing?”

“I’m sleeping with their chief of security, actually.”

Bettine barked back a laugh, twisted around to look at the rest of the Falseparkers, then rounded back, shaking her head and grinning like a maniac. “We are well met, Madame witch. Well met indeed.”

◀ Prev • [ All parts ] • [ Glossary ] • Next ▶