Folio Two, Page Thirty-Six (svegra mos bietkron tal-pirh)
I bowed my head. My cheeks flushed with shame. “No, she does not.”
She lifted one of her tentacles and touched the back of my head. I shuddered and couldn’t help but think how she went to the bathroom. Did the urine run down them? Did she have to squat?
“It is probably best that your family remain unaware of your connection for the time being. You have liberty to travel where you like in the house, although you must stay away from the locked doors and the place where we do our business. I have tokens for you, Eràsis Niksubvya. You may stand.”
I scrambled to my feet and avoided staring at her tentacles. Instead, I looked at the tattoos lacing up her arms in the traditional sinuous style and the sheer clothing over her breasts. She must have worn something baggy to meetings. The tentacles would have just scared people.
An attendant came up behind her with a towel and scrubbed her long, loose dreadlocks, while another approached with a large box.
The woman took it in her arms and opened it with two of the tentacles. I saw two short swords, each about the length of three-quarters of an adult arm. “Take one of them and feel it. You will have no shame in it — they are gifts from my family to yours, made in your honor. The blades are made of a super strong titanium alloy. Only the best for the child of a new goddess.”
I picked out one of the short swords and unsheathed it. The blade was lighter than most, and I adored the feel of it in my hand. “My mother was Salus, Adviser Nitannyi.”
“Trust a child not to watch the news.” She smiled at me. “She answered a woman’s prayer. You’re too young to know how these things go, but I suggest paying attention. The world is yours, but only if you take it, child.”
When I put the sword back, Akarsi held her breath. “Thank you. What may I call you?”
“Matriarch Fædeim. I am pleased that you like the gift.”
She smiled and set the present on the floor in front of me. I lifted it up. The box made my arms sag, but I could manage it in front of her. The Matriarch of one of the other families on our street had given my cousin Kobeis several headdresses for when she married as a similar token. It meant that the family wanted to solidify its connections with mine, possibly through marriage but also politically.
The Matriarch beckoned the first servant to come forward again. This time, she carried a tray with several color-coded shot glasses, each labeled in immaculate handwriting beneath its section. They looked like the liquid in the endrai bottle Nikis kept in her office, but each of them smelled very pleasant.
“Your Progressive Movement wants to tighten the restrictions on these mood-enhancing drugs,” the Matriarch said, “but we are not so strict in this family. We would like your opinion on a new taste we have developed — happy with a tinge of bitterness, sorrowful with a hint of malice, or ecstatic. You may make a choice. The portion size has been tailored to your biometrics.”
I looked at the servant and wondered what her name was or if she had a family. She still wore the gyena, so she had not yet married. I wondered if the family made her happy or if she just worked here to support her family someplace else. Did they give her mood-enhancing drugs to keep her quiet and docile?
The servant lowered the tray to my level. My fingers danced in front of each of them. I knew that I didn’t want to taste sorrow — it would have only worsened my feelings — but I now wish that I had. Instead, I touched the one labeled ecstatic and lifted it from the tray to my lips.
It tasted synthetic, but they had flavored it with citric acid and some sweeteners to take away the bite. It surged down my throat. I couldn’t wait to taste the results.
When the effect started, it burst through my body like a flower and hummed just beneath my skin. I felt like I had felt that first night when I saw the ksibja players on the stage. The notes stretched out into infinity and silent music hummed through the air. Everything dissolved into components. I stood outside of myself watching the blood beat through my veins, pumping more and more of the drug into my brain where it flamed through my receptors. I wanted more.
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