Gateway to Druidia

Book 1: Envy’s Tale

Chapter 82

In a city the size of the Thropes’, one expects certain things. Street performers. Paperboys. Muggers lurking down the alleys. Maybe a hot dog cart.

I didn’t see any of those. In fact, I didn’t even see any people. The place was completely deserted. I wandered the streets for over an hour without seeing or running into anyone. It was downright eerie.

I was careful to keep track of where I was, always keeping the Blossum Clan’s household in sight. I didn’t particularly want to return there, but I HAD developed a certain fondness for knowing where I was going to sleep that night. So I knew that I hadn’t gone far when I heard sobbing. Pausing, I looked around, following the sound. There, sitting on one of the banisters that lined the edge of the wooden platform, was a small girl, facing down into the abyss below, her back to me, the torchlight gleaming off her waist-length, snow-white hair.

None of my business, I told myself firmly. NONE of my business. Keep moving, Envy.

But I went over to her anyway, because apparently, I’m like that.

“Hey,” I said gently, laying a hand on her shoulder. “You okay?”

She jumped, spinning to face me, surprise evident on her face. She hastily wiped away her tears.

“Envy?” she asked in surprise. “What are you doing out here?”

I blinked, recognizing her face. “Jazz? What happened to your hair?” Her hair had been brown, and significantly shorter, when I’d seen her previously.

“Oh. I, um, changed it,” she said self-consciously, running a hand through it. “Hair, I can actually do.”

I nodded. Most cosmetic changes reverted to normal when the Lifeweaver stopped concentrating, because the body knows what it’s supposed to look like. Hair, being dead, stayed the way it was put.

“You like it?” she asked.

I reached out and tussled it, smiling. It was gorgeous on her, really, and it felt like silk. “It looks beautiful,” I told the little girl honestly.

She smiled. “Thanks. I, um, tried to make it look like yours.”

“Mine?” I asked, surprised. I ran a hand through the stringy, colorless mess that grew out of my own head. “Yours looks a lot better than mine.”

She shook her head. “Nah-uh.”

I rolled my eyes. It wasn’t worth the argument. I hopped up onto the banister and swung my legs over, sitting next to her. “Why were you crying?”

Jazz looked down at the ground…not that the ground could actually be seen from where we were.

Finally, she replied. “Crocus was teasing me about my eyes again.”

I grimaced. “Yeah, well, Crocus is a dork.”

She sniggered. “Yeah. I know.” Her smile faded. “But he’s right. I’ll never get it right. And it’s the only way I’ll ever get to leave the city.”

I tilted my head. “How does that work?”

Jazz frowned, eyes on her feet as she kicked absently at the balcony beneath her. “Thrope Twinbloods have normal Lifeweaving powers, instead of Formshifting. The Council’s been using us to infiltrate the Life Temple for generations. I could go to work as a spy…but only if I can hide that I’m a Twinblood.”

“Like Anima,” I realized.

Jazz brightened. “You know Anima?” she asked eagerly. “She’s my sister! How is she?”

I clenched my teeth. Suddenly, my former teacher’s actions made a lot more sense. She was one of them.

“She’s just fine,” I growled, irritation in my voice. I hastily swallowed it. “And you can’t leave the city, otherwise?”

She nodded. “I can’t Formshift. I’d be useless on a raiding party. And no one but spies and raiders are allowed to leave, because the Council’s afraid that someone’ll reveal where the village is.”

I nodded, understanding.

“I just want to go,” she said sadly. “See the world. Actually go to visit some of the places that the raiding parties tell all those stories about.”

I squinted. “How far do the raiders actually go?”

“Not far, but they hear stories, and they bring them back,” Jasmine replied. “There’s just so much to see, and I’m absolutely stuck here. I want to see the Life temple. I want to see the Great Wastes. I want to see the Eastern Spire. I want to see EVERYTHING.”

“Well,” I said. “I’d give you some pointers, but I’m not planning on staying long, myself.”

Jazz turned bright eyes on me. “You’d help? Really?”

I shrugged. “Sure, why not. I have some time to kill while I find a way out of here. Hey,” I said slyly. “Maybe you can help me. How can I get down from this village?”

Jazz considered. “I dunno what you’re expecting…there’s no ladders or anything. No stairs. The raiding parties come and go by platform.”

“Platform?” I inquired.

Jazz nodded. There’s these big, flat wooden platforms, with railings all around, and ropes attached with handles. They have a team of fliers all grab the handles and fly it down to the ground, and then back up.” She made a face. “I think the up is probably harder than the down. They always have more fliers bring the platforms back up than brought them down.”

I made a face. If the only way down was to have flying Thropes carry me, I was pretty much screwed.

“But...if you help me…if I can manage to hide my eyes,” Jazz was saying, becoming more and more excited, “Then maybe I can help you escape! You could hide in my trunk, when they bring me down! And then you and I could explore the world, together!”

My eyebrows shot up. Was it possible? Would that actually work?

“Maybe,” I allowed. “Just maybe. I’ll need to think about it, find out all the ways it might go wrong, so we can address those before they happen. But I think that might-”

“Jasmine?”

Both of us jumped that time. I nearly fell off the balcony.

In retrospect, it probably wasn’t the wisest place to sit.

Standing behind us was a male child about Jazz’s age. His hair was short, blonde, and scruffy, his clothes much finer than hers.

“Zerk,” she muttered. “What do you want?”

“What are you doing out here?” he said accusingly. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

“Run off and tell, then,” Jazz spat. “And while you’re at it, you can explain why you were out here to catch me. You’re not supposed to be out this late, either. Especially on a meeting night.”

“Meeting night?” I asked.

“Who’s she?” Zerk asked suspiciously, eyeing me.

“Yes, a meeting night,” Jazz said to me, speaking very slowly, as though I were a five-year-old. “Remember the meeting tonight? It’s why I said you could come out.” She shifted her attention to the boy. “My cousin Bluebell,” she said, jerking her head towards me. “Unmentionable. I figured it would be okay to take her out for a while. You know, just to walk around, get some fresh air. Since there’s no one around.”

“Unmentionables don’t get to leave the clanhouses,” Zerk said haughtily. “You’re gonna be in SO much trouble.”

“I notice you never care about the rules unless they’re on your side, Zircon Jewel Clan” Jazz complained. “Am I s’posed to believe that YOU didn’t sneak out just to spy on the meeting?”

Zerk was silent at that.

Jazz sighed. “Well, come on, then. Let’s see what the grownups are saying that’s so important.”

Zircon blinked. “You’ll spy too?”

“Why not?”

He looked up at me. “And what about that? Can we trust it to keep its mouth shut, or will it go chasin’ the first dragonfly it sees?”

“She’ll behave,” Jasmine replied. “Lead the way.”

With the occasional suspicious glance back at us, Zerk began to lead us through the streets.

“Act like you lack wits,” Jazz whispered to me, when Zerk wasn’t looking. “He thinks you’re an Unmentionable. Sorry, but it’s all I could think of…everyone knows everyone here, so it’s the only way…”

“What’s an Unmentionable?” I muttered.

“One who was born an idiot,” she replied softly. “It happens to every Clan. I actually do have an Unmentionable cousin named Bluebell. But Unmentionables aren’t allowed in public…they’re an embarrassment to their Clans…so no one’s the wiser that you aren’t her.”

I nodded, understanding. “So why are we going to the meeting? Why didn’t we just let him go on?”

“Rose called this meeting,” Jazz replied. “I’m pretty sure it involves you, somehow, so I’m pretty sure you’ll want to know what they’re saying.”

I sighed.

“I must be the main character,” I muttered. “Everything’s always about me.”