LILLY

“…The seed, pushed into the ground, buried and drowned emerges strong as she emerges, arms stretched out reaching for the glory of the sun.” The Itara, Miredel Psalms 27

Chapter 5

Riverlands Province was the shithole of Lo Irant. The majority of the land was once untamed wilderness. Beautiful, mountainous forests stretched down the entire continent, guiding the Gran Deavo River into the sea. However, centuries of timber cutting, mining and more recently, the introduction of chemical and refining plants, had made a wasteland of the area. The land was dotted with run-down, underdeveloped towns, populated by mostly under caste Irantis. Any self respecting Vistany lady would rather drop dead than suffer the indignity of being seen there, but it had been a little more than two weeks since Lilly first stepped foot into the Riverlands and she was looking less and less out of place by the day.

It was morning in the little mining town deep in the heart of Lindbow County, Riverlands. The run-down motel was still open even though the main highway had shifted nearly ten miles north. It was cheap so Lilly forced herself to find a sort of rustic charm in the moldy, cockroach-infested shit box she was calling home those last few days. It was all she could do to keep from going insane. She opened the box of jewelry sitting on the table by the bed. It was almost empty.

Money had never mattered to Lilly before. She never cared about how expensive her fashions were or how big her dowry was going to be, unlike most other girls her age did. Now, however, the subject of coin and cost had become the focus of everything. She was running out of valuable things to sell and by the end of the month she would be flat broke. The thought of what was going to happen to her once her money ran out was too overwhelming. She rifled through the box for something to sell. She wanted to escape the reality of her situation, even if just for a moment, but the weight of the jewelry box kept her grounded in it. Her options were running out.

The one piece that would get her enough coin to last the year was far too special for her to part with. She carefully removed the false bottom of the small wooden box and took the piece out.

The necklace was beautiful, delicate High Born jewelry her father had sent back from Opree. It was made from the starfire stones he got while on a mission in Kyrant. She remembered how beautiful it looked when she wore it for her debut, but she remembered the pain of her father’s absence for yet another important milestone even more. In Opree, he was important, not a General but close. Colonel? Maybe? Lilly could never grasp rank structure. For her entire life, he had been away in a far-off land, coming home for a few months at a time in between what seemed like an endless war. Eventually he stopped coming home at all, leaving Lilly alone with her mother, Regina. The divorce drove Regina to seek comfort at the bottom of a bottle and in the arms of various men. For a while, Lilly begged in vain for her father to take her back to New Empire with him. Since then, he faded into nothing more than a ghost who once in awhile sent her extravagantly beautiful gifts and maybe a letter or two.

She held up the necklace again, giving it another look over. There was a time she would rather cut off one of her own limbs then part with it. That was when the necklace belonged to the future Mrs. Silas Blackwell. Now she wasn’t the future Mrs. anything. It was still beautiful, it just carried too much of her past in it and she needed the money to create a new future.

The walk into town took nearly an hour and the late summer air was cool, which made for a pleasant trip. To call Parlow a town would be like calling a cockroach a house pet. Towns in the Southlands had rows of beautiful shops lining the main street and a large pavilion surrounded by perfectly manicured grass for festivals. Parlow had a gravel road, a bar, a gas station that doubled as the market and a mineral exchange station. It was crappy even by mining town standards, for now however, it was home.

Vance looked out the window of his bar and saw the scrawny girl walking into town. It was a sight he had become used to in the last week or so. She wasn’t the first girl to come into the town like that. Three or four times a year another wayward Vistany girl would wander into the town, stay a few days, maybe even a few weeks, then pass on through. This one was different, though, and not just because she wasn’t a wretched, spoiled bitch like the others. She had a type of toughness, a fire in her belly that appealed to Vance. On her third or fourth night in town, Kyle, one of his regulars, tried to get a handful of what was under the sweet young thing’s dress and he ended up with a broken thumb, a broken nose and a gash on the side of his head that would be a lifelong reminder that looks can be deceiving. The girl had just said her daddy was a soldier and went right back to drinking her beer.

Since then she had been there almost every day, getting a free meal and a couple of beers. As a separatist, the thought of corrupting the daughter of a vile Iranti loyalist solider made him smile at first, but eventually he just enjoyed her company. For Vance, people always trumped politics.

The girl would talk a lot, never about who she was or where she was from, but Vance had her pegged within first week. He could tell by her accent, but she wasn’t a ruined girl, like the others. She wasn’t the spoiled princess who got mad at mommy and daddy and spited them by running off to the Riverlands. He wished he would have waited a day or two before calling Camden, but no taking it back now, the man was on his way.

“The girl, you said she was good, not like the last one, no?” the well-dressed woman at the bar asked Vance. Obviously Oprian Simple was not her first language. Vance pegged her for an outcaste or refugee, as Oprian Simple was the only language legally allowed to be spoken in the Empire.

She was one of Camden’s, beautiful, exotic, high-end. Vance would call him whenever a new lost little girl made her way to Parlow. It was a part of their arrangement. Vance would collect a handsome finder’s fee, and Camden would collect the girl.

“No, not like the last one. This one is definitely Vistany, beautiful, a little skinny, but young and I can almost guarantee she is untouched. I’d bet good coin on that.” Vance said.

A moment later, Lilly burst through the door of the bar cussing up a storm of obscenities that would make a Shadow blush. Camden’s associate balked at the girls display, hoping that this wasn’t the same girl Vance was talking about.

“Two hundred coin! They offered me two hundred coin for this!” Lilly yelled as she took the necklace out of her pocket. “I bet you it’s worth five thousand, at least!”

Vance had a beer on the bar waiting for her before she even sat down.

“I told those assholes to shove it.” Lilly told the woman, for a brief moment forgetting all her manners.

The years of etiquette classes came back to her, causing Lilly embarrassment over the bit of composure lost to her anger. She always seemed to have that problem. She took a deep breath and started to address the strange woman again.

“I’m sorry, that was incredibly rude of me. Not used to seeing anyone else in this place before lunch.”

She then turned back to Vance. “But, seriously? Can you believe this shit? Because I sure as hell can’t! Vance, can I get some eggs please? Ooh and bacon if you got it.”

“Sorry Kiddo, but breakfast ended an hour ago.”

Lilly pouted silently for a moment. The bar advertised the best breakfast in the county, it was hand-painted on the window, right under the sign that said “A Free Lo Irant,” but whatever time Lilly showed up, breakfast had ended the hour before.

“Just give me whatever, then.” She slumped down in the barstool.

Vance came over with a plate of leftovers and then inspected the necklace Lilly had just been flailing about.

“Nice, kid, this looks like it’s High Born.” Vance wanted to make sure Camden’s associate heard him.

“Oh? Let me see! Very pretty, darling! Is yours?” The woman pushed Lilly’s hand out of the way to grab the necklace from Vance.

“Yes.” Lilly snatched it back from her. “I tried to sell it, but not for what they offered me.”

Lilly was unsure why this woman was speaking to her, or why she felt obliged to tell her these things. She looked and dressed Vistany, wearing very expensive-looking Oprian fashions.

Lilly couldn’t figure out why she would be in this dump. The woman grabbed her by the chin and turned her head like she was inspecting a piece of livestock. It reminded Lilly of what her Aunt Miriam used to do when she was a little girl.

“Lovely, you are very beautiful.” She said, releasing Lilly’s chin from the grasp of her cold, bony fingers.

“Thanks,” Lilly replied. She was beginning to have doubts about this woman who was stroking her face like it was a fine garment.

“I don’t have time for chit-chatty talk, I am very busy woman. My name is Elana Visky. I am a designer. I come out here to find gemstones for my new line. It looks as though you are girl in need of money, selling such pretty things. It’s demeaning to Vistany girl like you.” The woman pulled her chair closer to Lilly’s as she delivered her pitch. “I always need girls to put on the dress, take some pictures and put in the books. I pay you well! You live in the best district in Skylands City and work for me. Sound good?”

It didn’t. A voice resonating from the pit of her stomach pleaded with her to run.

“Thank you for your offer, but I don’t really think so, I don’t even know you.”

The woman shook head in agreement. “I apologize, of course you wouldn’t just go with some stranger in a bar. That would be dangerous.” She cackled a screeching forced laugh that made Lilly’s skin crawl.“That offer sounded too good to be true. Vance, you didn’t say the girl was so smart. No, darling, I don’t want you to be afraid. How about I buy your necklace for five thousand coin, as I absolutely love it.” She fanned the wad of hundred coin paper notes in front of an enchanted Lilly. “Then we take a trip in my luxury transport to Skylands City, so you can see my studio and meet my girls. If you still don’t like it, just give me five hundred for the trip and the rest is yours to do as you will. This way you won’t be stranded in some strange city without money. Vance knows I’m good to my word, right Vance?”

Vance didn’t answer Elana. He just gave a tight, forced smile.

The sparkly silver etchings in the paper notes called on her to accept the money. She did need it, badly and there was absolutely no obligation. A few moments of quiet deliberation and she decided to take the money now then just pay her the five hundred when they got to Opree. She didn’t want to be Elana’s doll, but she didn’t want to be broke either.

“Fine, I just need to run back and get a few things.” She slinked around Elana towards the door.

“I’ll be waiting right here darling.” She clasped her hands and she let out a brief squeak of excitement. Camden would be getting another girl tonight and would be pleased with her.

With one foot already out the door, Lilly stopped to pull Vance aside. Fishing through her bag, she pulled out the box of jewelry and handed it to him.

“I wanted to thank you for helping me so much. You were the best. I know you said you have a daughter and well, I thought, maybe she would like these. My father gave me most of these and I would feel so special every time he did. I’m sure your little girl will feel the same. You were the first person to be nice to me since I left home and never called in my tab. Thank you, Vance.” Lilly gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Vance looked in the box at the glittering treasures inside. If love were coin, someone loved this girl very much. The other girls that came through Parlow would fly out of his bar, never paying him notice, even when he gave them free food and beer while he waited for Camden to come get them. He looked up at Lilly and he saw a spunky little girl, not much unlike his own. There was no way he could send her out with Elana now, whatever the consequences. He sighed, his conscience still wrestling with common sense.

“Kid, listen to me.” He whispered. “Do not go with this woman. She is a snake, works for a man who sells young girls to wealthy creeps in Opree. Whatever you did, it’s not worth this life. You’re a good girl Lilly and you don’t deserve this. Go home.”

She could tell by Vance’s tone that he was afraid of this woman or at least the man he worked for. Her eyes fell on money still in Elana’s hand. This was so unfair. She was so close to it. Still cursing her better judgment, she flashed Elana an uneasy smile and casually walked out of the bar.

Elana sat at the bar impatiently drumming her cold, bony fingers on the rim of her glass.

Chapter 6

Lilly couldn’t believe she was on the same road she was on two weeks ago, heading in the direction she came from. Retracing her steps, no matter how far wouldn’t change anything but walking back forced her to remember what had happened before:

Two weeks earlier:

It was the evening of Lilly’s engagement dinner. Her grandfather had made the arrangements almost a month before, but now it was to be official. Lilly beamed in her bright blue dress. The skirt was so big, her slight frame was nearly swallowed whole, but she felt like an Oprian High Born Princess. As she was putting on the finishing touches of her ensemble, her mother walked in. Lilly could tell she was drunk just by looking at her.

Regina had been drinking, a lot. This was her daughter’s big day and everything was all about Lilly Rae. The woman took another sip of her cocktail. It was mostly pure grain alcohol at this point, but to her it still tasted like water.

There was a jealous hatred of her daughter that had been building up inside Regina way before Silas Blackwell came into the picture, but that was the last insult she would endure. For over a year, Silas Blackwell was her lover. At twenty-nine he was young, handsome and successful. Just a month after Lilly’s debut, he made an offer of marriage. Pig.

If she had known that Lilly would have stolen the affections of every man in her life, she would have smashed the little bitch’s head into the rocks when her ex-husband brought her home from the war. She should have rejected the bastard offspring between her husband and some Kyre witch, but back then she wanted a baby of her own so desperately and she had already miscarried four times.

For the first few years it was as if Lilly Rae was her own natural born child. Her ex-husband had her forge a birth certificate so the child could carry their name and have rights as Vistany. At the time Regina didn’t care. After so many years of her husband away at war, they were finally a happy family.

When her marriage fell apart, Lilly and she went to live with Regina’s father. It didn’t take him long to favor Lilly over her as well. Regina was disgusted. The one joy she got now, other than from the bottle, was keeping her ex away from his precious Lilly Rae.

Now the girl was standing there, the forever-happy Lilly Rae Mason, apple of everyone’s eye, gearing to tear out Regina’s heart yet again. Not this time. This girl had everything in the world and was ungrateful for what Regina had sacrificed for her.

The girl would no longer find sanctuary in the lies built around her and the wealth and privilege illegally afforded to her with falsified documents. She took another sip of her drink, a smug half smile cracking from the corner of her mouth.

The girl’s tears didn’t move Regina to mercy. They made her smile a bit more. Lilly Rae begged her not to make her leave, agreeing to break the engagement with Silas, if it meant that much to her. The Southlands and the Plantation was all she‘d ever known.

“Momma, please don’t do this to me. I promise, I will do whatever you want. I’m sorry about Silas, I didn’t know you hated him so badly. I won’t marry him if you don’t want me to. Just don’t send me away like this. Momma, please!” Lilly sobbed as Regina packed up the girl’s things.

“Don’t ever call me mother again! How dare you? I cannot allow my father’s wealth go to a mixed-blood daughter of a Kyre whore witch. You have left me with no choice. Are you happy now? I’m sitting here on what was supposed to be one of the happiest days of my daughter’s life, packing her things, sending her off into the darkness, just to save her name from ruin. How do you think I feel? You were always so selfish, thinking about yourself all of the time.” Regina spat her words with an acid tongue.

The hardest part for Lilly was taking off her beautiful blue dress while her mother barked more venomous insults at her. Her heart broke into a million pieces as she stepped out of the pile of satin and tulle. Lilly felt little of anything after that moment. She barely remembered leaving out the backdoor as the party inside went on without her.

After coming to terms with what her life had become, Parlow, despite not having been the best place in the world, had started to feel like a place she possibly belonged. She didn’t even have Parlow anymore. Another world, crumbled to bits. She missed the comfortable feeling of knowing where she was, but there was something very unfamiliar about this place despite her knowing the way. She couldn’t put her finger on it, whether it was the taste or feel of the air. The ground didn’t feel right under her feet and the gravity was throwing her balance off. Unfortunately, there was no base to compare. After hours of wandering the old highway in the blistering heat, everything familiar seemed to escape her to the point where she didn’t know if she was crazy or not. She couldn’t remember her body feeling clumsy, dull and heavy, but she couldn’t remember it not being that way. Her thoughts were linear and logical, every dot connected, but life still did not make any sense. She was Lillian Rayne Mason according to her birth certificate and Lilly Rae according to her grandfather and she was going somewhere far away but that’s all that was certain at that point. Although she feared that if she clung too tightly to that truth, it too would crumble away with the rest of her world.

Finally succumbing to the brutality of the sun, Lilly Rae fell to the ground, hard, as if gravity had decided to spite her for some egregious past transgression. It happened too quickly for her to be positive but for a moment, however brief, there was something familiar about the feel of the dirt between her fingers as she struggled to peel her clumsy, dull and heavy frame from off the road. She probed her fingers deeper in to the mix of pebbles, dirt and clay. Even after the feeling went away, she continued to claw at the ground. The fall left a layer of dust on her face, which made her deep violet eyes seem wild and unnatural. The aftershocks of pain moved through her body like tiny bursts of electricity. For a moment everything felt right, sadly that feeling faded along with the pain and she continued on her journey.

After a while the walking didn’t bother her. She ignored the pebbles in her shoes and even the vengeful sun, which seemed to focus its entire wrath on her aching shoulders. It was several more hours before the burden of her nagging thirst and the oppressive weight of her knapsack overtook her. There was no way in nine hells Lilly Rae would be walking any more today. She tossed the heavy canvas sack on the ground, stuck her chest out, showed a little leg and waited.

It didn’t take very long before she saw a transport tanker make its way over the horizon. She imagined the fat, stinky driver that was inside. She concluded that he was going to have crazy stories and be boisterous, loud and possibly a little too touchy. Just like the ones in the radio picture shows her grandfather used to take her to. To her disappointment, the under caste woman that inhabited the tanker’s cabin was albeit plenty salty and grizzled, was clean, quiet and offered no amusement whatsoever. After only a few hours of silence in the cab, Lilly Rae felt safe enough to drift asleep as they chased the sun that dipped just below the horizon.

The bright lights of the transport hub parking lot pierced her eyelids. The rattling hum of the engine that had previously lulled her to sleep jarred her awake as it idled. Her body ached in the cold and she suddenly remembered that she had to pee. It always seemed it took her body extra long to get used to moving. Her muscles generally were too weak and tight to listen to her brain. Most of the time they preferred to do nothing and frequently vocalized their objections to doing anything but.

The bathroom was dimly lit and the last of the working fluorescent lights were in their death throes, flickering on and off. It was relatively clean in the sense there were no dead hookers, exposed hypodermic needles or shit artistically decorating the tile walls. Having to pee that badly rendered silly standards like hygiene or not being stabbed by a casteless drifter rather trivial.

Her reflection in the mirror was smoky. It was made of that unbreakable safety mirror stuff they put in prisons and crazy houses. It made her aware of how pale she was, even for an Iranti girl from the Southlands. Her hair was not even really that blonde, like other Irantis. It was more of a dull golden copper that masked the better part of her face in unmanageable spirals of frizz. The hazy faded image seemed more recognizable than it did in any normal mirror. Maybe she belonged in a crazy house or prison. Every mirror should leave a little something to the imagination. Regina’s words repeated in her mind. Seeing every oversized pore bursting with refuse and puss started to become too stressful. Although being only fifteen, she swore she could see lines that were beginning to form around her mouth and eyes and they were a countdown of her own mortality.

The transport driver was sitting at the counter. The woman gestured to Lilly and made room by the empty seat next to her. The waitress was a young under caste woman with missing a tooth, yet she had a beautiful smile and carried herself like a High Born. Her uniform had “Evelyn” neatly embroidered in soft pink. Lilly ordered the pancakes and was eager to finally have a decent breakfast. Despite being dry and a little overdone, they brought that small feeling of being connected to her world the way only dirt, pain and pancakes can and that made them the best pancakes she’d had in a while.

Bits and pieces of bacon stuck in the syrup and Lilly poked them with her fork, arranging them into a smiley face, but the bits just sunk down in the sweet sticky syrup into a frown. Sad bacon, Lilly thought and continued poking to the beat of heels clicking across the diner floor behind her.

“This is my lovely girl!” A pair of cold bony hands wrapped around Lilly, startling her. She remembered that voice, but was too shocked to speak. Elana was standing behind her with two bodyguards. Her claws gripping Lilly tight.

“I was worried sick over you. Naughty girl! Running away like that, you make your papa and I so worried.” The woman was deceptively strong and Lilly struggled unable to get out of Elana’s grasp. “It’s time for you to go home with you sisters. My little minchka noodle.”

Nobody in the crowded diner looked up from their food as Elana and the men dragged the kicking and screaming girl out the door. The waitress quietly cleared the plate of half-eaten breakfast off of the table, erasing any evidence of Lilly having been there at all.

Next Chapter: CYRUS (cont)