Making Peace, page 22
Cobblestones clicked under our boots as we picked our way through the crowds of people toward the Cathedral. A faded sign bolted to the side of one building named this street Maiden Lane.
“Maidens,” Sen had told me, “they call them maidens because of the old street signs.” Every structure on this street was a brothel.
The buildings followed no particular design scheme. Each seemed instead to represent different cultures from across the galaxy. The sharp lines and angular features of one building put me in mind of the military structures of the world called Iron Sky, a place I had glimpsed only in reporter log videos on the net. The maidens leaning out of the windows of this place were well-muscled with wide hips and shoulders, and all had serious expressions on their faces, not smiling or giggling like the women in the buildings around them. Right next door was a brothel which called to mind my own homeworld of Garden: all rounded corners and drooping accents representative of the world’s favorite tree, the willow. These girls called out to us with gusto as if to make up for their stoic neighbors.
I pulled down the pointed brim of my hat, glad Sen had convinced me to leave my own clothing from Garden back at home. The rough fabric of the shirt he had lent me scratched at my skin, but the maidens pressing past us in the crush barely gave me a second glance. The men in the crowds who dressed up to my usual level of wealth were being mobbed. They wore huge grins as they made their way through the sea of overly enthusiastic women.
The streets were completely packed, the sensations overwhelming me. Perfumes and illegal pheromones filled the air, alternating between enticing and disgusting. Loud cries came from every direction, calling out prices and obscene invitations. The maidens were easily distinguishable by the wide leather belt each wore across her ribs serving as a bustier. Sen had called the belts “breast collars,” and a maiden’s price range was advertised by the color of the precious metal buckle in the center.
I saw men and women of every race. One of the maidens was a nine-foot-tall giantess; one of the Jotun race. Normal in every way except for her height, she towered over the crowds, surrounded by a group of male suitors. I saw girls from the Fauna race, with animal ears and animal tails, swishing their tails at potential customers. A group of Ghoul men from the wastelands of Earth strode by. They stood about three feet tall and I only noticed them because of their pale skin and bright neon hair.
Some of the more exotic races were represented, including one girl with the scaly lower body of a snake, and another woman with living flowers blooming from her hair. I even saw one of the beastly races from the more savage planets, body covered in soft fur, resting on her haunches and clawed hands, though what someone could get from an experience like that I shuddered to imagine.
A maiden passing us saw me looking around at all the sights with my mouth hanging open. She stopped me with a hand on my arm and cupped both hands over her breasts, grinning at me. “Say when, baby,” she murmured, and her breasts began to swell up under her hands. The gene mod caused her breasts to grow larger, overfilling the leather harness holding them up. I was rooted to the spot and could only watch in in morbid fascination as they inflated, part of my mind wondering if they would actually get too big and pop like balloons. Her breasts bulged out, covering the golden buckle of her leather bustier. At that point, Vapor grabbed hold of me and yanked me along, her face bright red. The maiden shouted some things at Vapor, phrases so obscene they could have peeled paint.
Sen walked ahead of us. His shoulders were relaxed, and he navigated the river of humanity with practiced ease. Two more women approached me as we passed through the streets, apparently hard up enough for clients they’d try their luck with someone dressed in poorer clothing, but Sen caught them and sent them off with flashing hand gestures.
I glanced sheepishly to my right at Vapor and wondered what she made of all this. She didn’t seem surprised or put off. Her eyes flickered around at faces coming toward us in the street, and I belatedly remembered the training the Keepers had been hammering into my head. I could almost hear Ugly’s voice: “You don’t have to see a knife to die by it. Keep your eyes open and assess for threats.” I did my best, but was quickly overwhelmed by the sheer number of people and possible avenues for trouble.
I looked back at Vapor, marveling at how she maintained constant vigilance. She caught me looking and gave me a halfhearted smile, brittle and distracted.
Maybe keeping on constant guard isn’t easy for her either, I thought.
I paused at the base of the steps leading up to the Red Cathedral. I looked up and nearly fell over backward trying to see the top of it. The painted figures carved into the stone archway surrounding the massive doors seemed to be doing normal things, from eating and drinking to reading books. In sharp contrast to these tasteful statues were the silk banners, mostly red and all depicting a number of activities a maiden might engage in during the course of her workday, hanging from various points all over the Cathedral and fluttering in the wind. Some of the statues were entirely obscured by the banners, only their incredibly detailed toes poking out underneath.
The front doors were made of dark rosewood. They were carved in a rounded slope and met at a peak, and stood wide open and inviting. Overlapping waves of carved marble ringed the doorway like stone ripples. The original design was no doubt beautiful, but painted a garish red and fronting such a building as this, the unintended resemblance made me blush, which was about the last thing I wanted to do while walking into a whorehouse. I pulled my hat lower and stuck close to Sen.
With a few hand gestures, Sen forestalled the scantily clad girls standing around in the entrance hall who would otherwise have pounced on us. Instead they greeted him with smiles. Sen took a raven-haired girl aside and had to speak directly in her ear to be heard over the roar of the crowd. The raven-haired girl laughed and pointed toward one of the side doors leading off into the wings.
Sen turned and put his arms around both of our shoulders, pulling Vapor and myself inches from his face. He spoke loudly but was barely audible. “I want you two to stay here with Janel. She’ll watch to see that no one marks you. I’m going to ask the shift leader about Ina.”
Catching most of what he said, Vapor and I nodded. Sen released us and disappeared into the crowds like a fish slipping back into the water. The raven-haired girl who I guessed to be Janel took our hands and led us over to a side alcove. She said something I didn’t catch, then posted herself a few feet away where she could still greet customers.
Vapor and I spread out a bit in the safety of the alcove. I had opened my mouth to say something to Vapor when I noticed a woman walking toward us, her eyes fastened on me. She wore a simple white cotton blouse with a billowing red skirt, and had anklets on each bare foot. Long curly blonde hair falling to her waist and creamy mocha skin marked her as a native of the planet.
The blonde woman approached, her posture confident and in control. She stopped about a foot from me. My mouth went dry and I looked to Vapor for some support. Vapor glanced pointedly away, her mouth a firm line. I was on my own.
I looked back into the blonde woman’s eyes, and she smiled at me. Not the practiced smile to make men melt, but a genuine smile, which caught me off guard. She leaned in just a bit to be heard. “You’re Sen’s friend, right?” She spoke easily over the crowd as if she did this all day… which, in retrospect, she did.
I thought about her question. Were Sen and I friends? It had been a rocky start, but he’d opened up to me and we’d even bonded during our recent talks. Deciding I was his friend, I nodded.
The blonde woman smiled again and held out her hand, which I shook. “I’m Venna,” she said. “Sen doesn’t bring anyone home. I had thought maybe he was having trouble out there with people. Thank you for looking out for him. He’s talked about you the last few times he’s been here.”
Venna’s easy manner encouraged me to lower my guard, and I glanced over at Vapor to get her reaction. Her face was red as if she were blushing but much darker, and I could see her teeth grinding. I didn’t have to be a nano-mage like she was to sense the waves of anger rolling off her. I thought I’d better say something, but I had no idea what.
“Um, yeah. He’s been great. I’m new here, so he’s been teaching me. We’re definitely getting along much better now.”
She nodded at my explanation. “He’s mentioned that,” Venna said. “You’re the writer, right? He said you were a bit soft, but you’re coming along nicely.” She leaned in closer, her hair falling forward over her shoulder and brushing my arm. I could hear Vapor’s teeth grinding now.
Venna smiled at me, another real smile which spread right into her eyes. “My brother doesn’t do well with people outside of this district. Most people look down on him the way they look down on the rest of us. But I’m so glad he’s got a friend. I worry about him being so isolated.”
Brother? “Oh, you’re the one he mentioned, his older sister.” It clicked for me. I just hadn’t imagined his sister was a maiden. Which means his mother…
“Right. I’ve taken care of him since… well, since he didn’t have anyone to take care of him. It hasn’t always been easy for us, but we’ve made it work.” Venna leaned back against the stone wall of the alcove and gave me some breathing room. The leather straps running around her ribcage creaked under her white cotton shirt. A bright platinum buckle glinted at me from inside the wide-open cut of her blouse, marking her as one of the higher ranked maidens in her organization. Venna looked out into the crowds, speaking up so I could still hear her. “He comes back here every few days, but he always seemed so lonely before.”
I was afraid to even glance at Vapor. “Every few days? I’m sure it’s not that often, right?”
Venna shook her head. “Yes, it is. Like clockwork. Sen checks on all the girls and makes sure everyone is safe. He knocks heads that need to be knocked, repairs furniture, and brings medicine for the sick. His salary isn’t much, but it does help those who get put out of work for a while from an injury or sickness.”
The grinding sound coming from my left stopped abruptly. “You mean he’s here to work and help out?” I asked.
Venna nodded absently, then caught my meaning and blinked at me. After a moment, she burst out laughing. I let her laugh herself out, confusion written in my expression. She finally collected herself. “Sen? No way. He doesn’t partake here.”
I blushed at her frankness. “Well, I hadn’t really considered…”
Venna waved her hand to cut off my scrambling. “Oh, sure you had. He comes here all the time. What else would he be doing, right?” She laughed again. “No, Sen isn’t into that sort of thing. At least, he’s never shown any interest in anyone here. Or anywhere in the district, because I’ve asked around.” Her face turned more serious, and a little sad. “Sen distances himself from people. He sees all of us here as victims and can’t bring himself to connect. Even the girls who want him for themselves, not as a customer, he can’t connect with them. Or he refuses to. I don’t know.”
Venna looked miserable for a moment, her eyes staring off into the crowds. Just before I worked up the nerve to try to comfort her, she slipped back into her smile and turned to me again. “That’s why I’m so glad he’s got a friend like you, Bel.” She turned to Vapor. “And yes, like you. No need to be jealous, I promise.”
Vapor huffed and looked away, her arms crossed.
Venna smirked and turned back to me. “Anyway, thanks for taking care of Sen. Stop by some time, I’d be happy to return the favor.” She bumped her hip against mine and laughed at my immediate blush. She turned and walked off into the crowds, waving goodbye over her shoulder.
“Oh, Venna, wait!” I called.
She stopped and turned with a curious expression on her face, then cocked one hip at me. “Already?” she asked with a laugh.
I blushed. “Thanks for the cleaning tip,” I said. “Sen told me you taught him. For, you know, blood.”
Venna looked surprised and then gave me a sad smile. With that, she turned away again and disappeared into the crush of people heading into the main room.
Vapor stepped in beside me and uncrossed her arms. I felt her elbow jab me in the side. “Damn Bel, be cool.”
“I thought I was completely cool. It was just an unusual experience, that’s all. Besides, at least I wasn’t going nuclear like someone in here.”
She puffed up her cheeks, angry. “Pretty girls scare you, huh? Don’t tell me you’re just like Sen?”
“Not at all, I was just surprised. I’m not used to women being so forward.”
“Just shrinking violets, right? ‘Oh Bel, your novels are so amazing, I swooned with every scene! Teach me to love like on pages 42, 75, and 181!’”
I coughed lightly into my fist. “Something like that. And how do you know the pages for the love scenes in My Mech, My Love?” I had written it recently and guessed, since those would be about right for where I had placed those scenes.
Vapor froze in the middle of a mock-swoon. The sudden stricken look on her face told me I’d nailed the page numbers.
“I, uhh, that is...” Vapor slowly stood back up, her face covered by her hair. We stood like that for a minute, watching the crowds.
Vapor sighed. “So why do you think Sen acts so perverted and outrageous? If he’s never... you know.”
“Maybe it’s all he knows. Look at his male role models here. Would you want to be the outcast?”
“Hm. If this is all he knows...” She gasped and grabbed me roughly by the elbow. “By all the Saints, Bel, does Sen think his weird behavior is normal?”
We stood struck with horror as we considered that possibility.
Of course, Sen chose that moment to appear from out of the crowd and slip into our alcove. “The shift manager says Ina’s contract was purchased by the Second House, which means she’s likely at one of four other brothels. That should narrow down the search quite a bit.” He looked at Vapor. “Hey, you okay?”
Vapor gazed back at Sen with a completely blank expression on her face. I was afraid she was going to freeze up, her mind still trying to fit itself around this new image of him. All at once she released my elbow and broke into a huge smile, grabbed Sen’s arm, and pressed herself against his side. “I’m just happy to learn more about you, is all.”
Sen looked confused as hell. He glanced at me for an answer, but I was intensely busy studying a flower arrangement I had just noticed.
Sen grinned but his body remained stiff. “Uhh, sure. What’s up with this?”
Vapor looked up at Sen, appearing slightly annoyed. “What? I’m holding your arm. Is there some law against it? You got a problem?” Sen shook his head and Vapor’s smile returned. “Good. Want to go get some lunch?”
“Well... Yeah, I guess. Sure.”
Sen led us out of the district, the two of them walking arm in arm and me trailing behind, shaking my head.
CHAPTER 31
I DROPPED OFF Sen and Vapor in the common room, leaving them to what sounded like a friendly argument over how many shoes a person might actually need. I had tuned them out during the last half of our walk, my mind on other things. My mind had been turning to other things quite often recently, I realized. I was headed toward my room, but I stopped when I saw Ugly coming out of Shield’s room with the usual book of Valkyrie scriptures under his arm. He headed in the other direction without noticing me. Seized by a sudden impulse, I opened Shield’s door quietly and slipped inside.
Shield’s bed lay against the far wall, sideways under a large window. She lay under the covers, propped up on a couple of soft pillows, with her arms resting at her sides outside the blankets. Ugly had left her curtains open and the sky outside was bright and clear, so the room was flooded with warmth. Sunlight gleamed in Shield’s dark brown hair, and her natural highlights sparkled. It looked as though Vapor had been in to wash and brush Shield’s hair recently. Shield’s skin still had a healthy tinge since the daily sunlight prevented her from getting a pallid look. She looked so healthy and peaceful that she might have been sleeping except for the way the sunlight failed to reflect from her open, sightless eyes. These were fixed on a random point in one corner of her room, looking away from the door and away from me.
I stood for a while, taking in the sight of the person whom I’d grown to trust more than anyone else on the planet. She was dressed in her long cotton nightgown, buttoned up to her throat, and covered up to her waist with a quilt. I sighed and dragged a wooden chair from the desk over to the bedside and seated myself. My hands clasped each other, opened, clasped again, opened, wiped their palms on my pantlegs, clasped again. I sighed again, the sound echoing off the bare walls she hadn’t decorated since we’d moved in, so unlike her own meticulously arranged bedroom back at headquarters. Shield’s chest was rising and falling but I couldn’t hear her breathing, not one sound audible in the room apart from my own repeated sighing. I couldn’t take the silence and I stood up, walked to the foot of her bed, and looked out the window.
I watched a drunk man stagger down the street, going door to door and knocking to ask for change. When he’d approached five different buildings I decided I’d better find something to say.
“Had a weird experience today. Turns out Sen isn’t so bad. He was raised pretty rough, and he has weird ideas about what people should say to each other. But turns out he’s been doing some good, too.” I checked, but there wasn’t any visible response. I went back to watching the drunk man, who’d moved on to his seventh building.
“We’ve got some leads, too. The girl we’ve been tracking, Ina, must be at one of a few places. Sen knows where they are. Of course he does, right?” I smiled to myself for a moment, then remembered she wouldn’t see it. I felt my smile fall off my face. “Anyway. It shouldn’t be long until we have a result of some kind.
