Elysium's Love Triangle (18 page)

So far I’ve only gotten rather salty beef.  I eat the last of it, thinking that my uncle was just trying to freak me out.  Then I realise that there are platters of bugs being passed around the table.  The first one consists of centipedes and locusts. They are still alive.  I smile at the girl serving it to me and tell her
that I’ve
dined enough for the moment.

The next course is bear claws and lice.  Again I confess myself quite full.

Riley is eating heartily.  He is telling the judges stories about the ‘awful’ outside world.  They look down on murderers and make sex out to be a sinful thing.  They punish all sins except greed.  They tend to reward people for that by giving them great jobs and more stuff.

One of the more stout men asks what a ‘job’ is and Riley laughs.  He is so glad to be back here, where things make sense, he says.

I notice that there is a lot
of ‘liquid fear’
being passed around.  I try some but it is far too bitter for my taste.  The men around me seem to love it.  They take turns showing off and seeing who can drink the most without taking a breath.

After this they begin to pass around something they call ‘human-flesh-blend’.  I don’t even have to ask to know
that
the name is probably literal.  Nausea overtakes me when judge four, beside me, drinks it.

Note to self.  Stay away from any unidentified drinks here.

I try not to show my disgust.  My survival hinges on these people believing that I am Ethereal.  She would surely be able to handle all of this.

Judge four is the one I talk to most.  He is, as I suspected, my grandfather.  The honour I have bestowed upon the family is beyond his wildest dreams, he tells me.  Riley had already done wonders for it.  I just came along and made it better.

I don’t answer this. 

My grandmother left him when her son Jamie died.  That whole incident sent her over the edge a bit.  I remember this now.

He tells me that he has four other wives.  They look after him but not like she did.  Y
ou would not believe the detail
he goes into to elaborate this point.

I am beginning to think that he has drank a little too much human flesh blend and politely put it on the other side of the table. 

Unfortunately my grandfather, with his ramblings about his wives, has managed to change the subject at the table to sex.  One of the judges asks Riley about ‘fornicating’ with a temptress.  What is it like?  Are they wild or just like the girls here?

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.  The ‘temptress’ Riley is being asked about here is my very own Mom.

To my horror my uncle begins to answer the question.

There is no polite way
to put my hands over my ears.
I turn away and talk loudly to the girl serving
me
about everything and anything.

A man,
to my right
,
declares that he would just love to fornicate with a temptress some day if it wasn’t so shameful.  He has to make do with his two sisters.

I find myself smiling again.  Smiling works well when you hear something like this, it doesn’t betray your shock.

His sisters?  Oh dear.

These are my people now.  I have to get used to their ways
in order to
avoid giving myself away.

My lie will have to be maintained until I get away. 

I still can’t believe that I have gotten away with it for this long.

I’ve gotten away with it or I am her truly.

I am being silly.  Of course I am not her.

The meal ends and I am happily entertained by a little boy who sings songs about a divided nation.  Then a teenage girl sings us a song about flowers and green fields.  They are both dressed in white robes now.  No part of the skin on
t
he
i
r arms or legs is showing.

They l
et me dress how I like.  I am wearing
the shortest dress the ‘clothes-man’ would make me.  It is black
,
and he encrusted lovely golden jewels onto it.  He was all full of apologies, saying
that
he would make me a nicer one the next time.  He seemed worried about the quality.  I thanked him and assured him that I was delighted with the dress, as I was truly.  He grinned, bashful, and admitted that I was a lot less fierce than he had been prepared for.

A ‘professional’ entertainer entertains me now by telling me, and everyone else, a story about how he cut down a ‘betrayer’ limb from limb before the awful man could destroy the blessings upon the land.

I thank him, trying to keep my smile intact
.

A lot of th
e people here are not shocked by
the entertainer’s tale
.  I’ve got a
feeling
that
a lot of them have stories to tell like this, about how good they are at cutting people down in the name of belief.  Stories seem to be part of their culture.  I wouldn’t be surprised if I am asked to share one or two before long.

Then th
e trumpets sound and a tall girl,
who looks about my age
,
steps forward.  Her
long
black hair is
in
a ponytail
. Her skin is pale and clear of blemishes.  M
y first impression of her is that she is very neat.

She has an announcement to m
ake.

It is, apparently, time for me to take a husband. 

Now I can’t even hide my shock. 

A husband?  I wonder if I heard right. 

Judge Four nods
.  Sixteen is rather late to leave it to get married, he comments.  Still
,
it is better late than never.

I swallow.  What age do these people get married at?

Our ponytail girl reveals that they have ten of their best boys prepared for marriage to me.  I can choose one of them.  If I so please I can have two.

I can take all ten if I think
that
they are good enough, she tells me.

Wow.  The people around here sure do like to have a lot of partners. 

They are all expecting me to go through with this.  Ethereal would.  I know by their faces.

I can’t be disloyal to Daniel. 

I’m too young to get married to anyone!

I have no idea what to do.

Riley speaks for me, “I think you should show the boys to our Ethereal.  Each boy will be given a chance, in turn, to proclaim their love.  Then she will choose.”

There is nothing that can be done about it.  The ten boys begin making their pledges in turn.

The first claims
that he would
kill the second for me.  The second vows
that
he would kill the first one
twice
for me.  The third says he will cut off the limbs of the other nine and drink them in my honour should I pick him.  He has blue eyes, they remind me of Daniel.

The fourth boy, whose hair is shockingly long, demonstrates just how well he can dance.  Number five can raise a barn in just four days and has gained much honour for his family by this. 

Six has genuinely killed a hundred people.  He ate the bones of a hundred and two.

Number seven has suspiciously disappeared.

Number eight would rather die than see me with any of the others.  On second thoughts he’d rather see
them
die.  He has a fork and he will stick it through their eyes!  His love for me will survive ten deaths, ten!

He has yellow eyes with specks of blue in them.  They are rather fascinating.  If only he didn’t seem to prone to radical violence. 

Number nine is the first one to catch my attention.  I recognise him.

Cairo.  My lovely enemy from earlier.  His eyes are glowing silver now.  I wonder how I ever thought they were grey.   He claims that he
’s always known that I’d come as a teenage girl
, he told them and no one would believe it!  He’s been prepared for years, real prophesising that is.  He can pleasure girls better than any of the other boys standing here.  It says so on the pleasure scale on the wall, all I need do is look.

Indeed there is a pleasure scale on the wall.  He can pleasure girls, apparently, better than any other boy here except for one they just call
‘
Metador
’
.  Cairo thinks it’s ridiculous that Metador is still on the wall, he’s been dead two years.

The girl with the ponytail speaks cheekily.  Yes, but he’s not dead in their memories.  An astounding amount of women giggle at this.

I am amazed at my people.  I really am.

Number ten is too busy trying to stop a fight between boy-one and boy-two to make any declaration.  They are using sharpened cow bone and forks as weapons respectively. 

“I don’t know how I could choose between such worthy suitors.”  I say.

I am just buying time until I can figure out what to do.  There is no way I can possibly take a husband.

Something tells me
that
it would be a major
insult to these boys not to so
.

The father of our ponytailed girl makes a loud comment about women being afraid of commitment. 
This gets a few laughs.  Then he begs me to find his daughter
a match.  Honestly, he wants to get her off his hands.  There is laughter across many of the tables at this.  One man shouts out that he knows that feeling.

I solve this problem by using my
name to marry her to number ten
, who she has been gazing at the whole time he’s been trying to stop the fight.  It is unexpected to both of them that this should be my will
,
but they more than graciously accept it.

They are both absolutely delighted, I can tell.  The smile she gives me is so sweet it would break a child’s heart.  He looks like all his Christmases have just come at once.

I am glad that I could do this for them.  It wouldn’t do to have either of them ending up with their siblings I think.  Her Dad gives me a hug.

I use this time to try to figure out a plan.

The whole of my people are looking at me now.  I heard
a story earlier about a man who got eaten
for cheating on his marriage vow
s.  They take marriage
quite seriously here.

People are still cheering for the two teenagers I just matched. A lot of people are wishing them well.

While this is happening a small man with white hair walks up to our table.  He speaks to Riley in hushed tones.  This is not meant for everyone’s ears.

I listen.  My curiosity is still a fault of mine.

The m
an tells Riley that the Weaklings
have found out about the weapon that can kill him.

Riley is absolutely livid.  He asks the man
how
‘the weaklings
’ found out about the weapon.

The man doesn’t know that yet.  A few of the lesser known people in the plantation could be double agents, he thinks.

I look down at Greg.  He is shaking the hands of the new couple.

They are working on finding the betrayer.  It won’t take them long.  He promises Riley this.

Riley says it would be better for the person had he never been born.

I can feel the fear in my bones.  No doubt they will find out the truth eventually.

I suddenly realise that
there is only one way to keep
my friend safe.

I stand up, my voice is urgent, “The boy I choose as my husband is Greg Harshaw.”

I surprised a lot of people with my announcement.  They were all expecting me to pick from ‘the best ten’ that they put before me.  There is a bit of confusion initially.  This is followed by the loudest cheering I’ve
ever
heard in my life.  The round of applause comes after.

It takes me a few minutes to be able to look at Greg.

He is astounded.  The boy hasn’t moved from his table, so shocked is he.

The boy beside him is urging him to walk up to me.

He does eventually, only m
eeting my gaze when he’s still half way across the room.  This is when he smiles.  It’s not his usual smile of mischievousness. 

This smile tells of his pure happiness in this moment.

My heart just sinks.  This would be such a perfect moment if things were different.

They aren’t though. 

I think Greg suspects this.  The people are still cheering when
he arrives up on the platform
.

We stand
beside each other, smiling.  This is so that the Cezers won’t suspect that something is wrong.