Rings Read online

  * * *

  “Dad.”

  David’s head hurt. He was so tired. He’d swallowed the emergency day’s worth of meds out of his wallet, dry, and they were a lump in his throat even after an hour’s sleep. “Wuh.”

  “Dad, wake up. I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep them from bringing you home after everybody’s up in the - nonmorning. Dad.”

  He rubbed his eye and looked blearily at Celia. “What - d’you need?”

  “Did you think of anything else to tell me?”

  “No,” he apologized wretchedly. “Don’t, don’t know how to steer.”

  “Can you tell me if I can trust Shula’s brother Meer?”

  “Who?”

  “Shula has brothers and sisters. One of them is named Meer. He had a - he had an idea but I don’t know -”

  David wrenched his attention into line. Shula had brothers and sisters, that fit. Meer. Meer was -

  “Didn’t lie to you,” he said. Pulled from nowhere. Knew.

  “He didn’t?”

  “He didn’t,” agreed David. “All true. But I don’t know if he - wants good things? For you?”

  “I don’t know either. But it - it helps. Anything else?”

  David thought -

  “Maureen’s home again.”

  Celia exhaled. “Oh good. She’s safe?”

  “Biologically.”

  “…Huh?”

  “I don’t know,” said David. “She’s - she’s biologically safe, that’s what I have.”

  “…Okay. Is there anything else?”

  Think. Think. Any shred of anything could be the difference -

  His head felt like it was going to burst open. His eyelids were so heavy.

  “I don’t have anything else,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” Celia said softly back. “Go back to sleep. Love you, Dad.”

  “Love you too,” he croaked, and he fell back onto the soft thing he was sleeping on.

  Celia slipped out of the room.

  Before David fell back asleep he knew she was going to slide under a blanket beside Shula. He knew no details, but that one was chilling enough. He shivered, just a little, in spite of the warmth of the room.

  In the morning an alien thing came to bring him home and he did not know if he had done enough. He couldn’t steer. He didn’t know.

  * * *

  Shula’s favorite servants, black-eyed, one shaped like a man and one like a woman, served breakfast in the morning. Celia thanked them hoarsely and ate. It was oatmeal and Canadian bacon and fruit salad, fairly well-calculated comfort food for Celia’s tastes. Celia allowed herself to be comforted as best she could. She wondered what plakti ate when they were alone. What would grow on a starless planet?

  Shula and Meer were happy enough with the human food and the servants weren’t eating with them - they’d left altogether after setting down the plates and asking if Shula needed anything else. Shula and her brother talked about family that she had not had a chance to fully catch up with at the party; they were almost cordial compared to their previous meeting. Celia was mostly quiet, but she leaned in to Shula’s hand when Shula touched her shoulder or petted her hair.

  It felt good and she loved her and why couldn’t that be it, why couldn’t they be shopping for new notebooks and pencils for senior year and kicking each other’s shoes in the aisles? Getting brunch and wishing Islam would liberalize faster. Applying to colleges. Celia wondered if any of her schools would let her take classes by correspondence from another planet.

  Shula kissed her, tasting like cinnamon, and got up, probably to go to the bathroom or something, leaving Celia and Meer alone.

  Meer cast a furtive look at the door. Celia shivered.

  “You will not get another chance,” Meer said under his breath.

  Didn’t lie to you.

  Had Shula lied, technically, had she ever -

  Celia yanked the ring off her left hand and slapped it into his waiting palm and took the identical one he gave her and put it on the same finger. Then she took a huge spoonful of oatmeal in the hopes that the not-quite-chewing demanded by the substance would cover her facial expression. The ring had disappeared by some sleight of hand. Or real magic. Celia was suddenly aware that she’d never gotten a complete list of what-all growing up on the starless planet would allow. She only suspected that the fire was part of the package.

  Shula returned a leisurely few minutes later and reassumed her seat at the head of the table (Celia at her right, Meer at her left). The rest of breakfast elapsed. The servants came back to clear away the plates. Shula started talking about how she wanted Celia to see all the best parts of the starless planet, there were museums and shows and architectural marvels -

  “Oh, sweetie,” said Shula. “Can I have a turn with the ring? Once a day is the best schedule for switching.”

  She was going to take it right now? Celia had thought it might be weeks, months even, she could have had time to come up with a story - Meer hadn’t warned her -

  Celia offered Shula her hand.

  Shula took the ring. “It doesn’t matter which finger you have these on,” she remarked, “if it ever bothers you not to have an engagement ring you can use one that we aren’t swapping back and forth all the time.”

  Shula put the ring on.

  Meer was making an obviously heroic effort not to vibrate out of his chair. He’d said Shula would notice. How long would it take? Was he going to stay at her estate until she did?

  Shula poured herself a glass of the water that was still on the table. It had cucumber slices in it. She sipped.

  Was she not going to notice? Meer couldn’t very well announce to everyone that he’d -

  That Celia had -

  Celia poured herself some water too and gulped it.

  “Meer,” said Shula.

  “…Mm?” he replied.

  “I know we’ve never really gotten along, but this takes it too far.”

  “Pardon?”

  Shula’s eyes snapped up from her glass to her brother’s face. “I don’t know what’s worse. That you wanted me to die, or that you thought I’d roll over and do it just like that.”

  Meer dropped the pretense. “I’d like to see you try to get it back now. I have it secreted away in layers of -”

  “I don’t care if you flung it into the black hole,” said Shula sweetly. “Spanish rings are cheap. Someone will happily learn the language and package up everything they’ve acquired into a new one for Celia if she’d care to pick it up.”

  “Spanish rings -”

  “I’m not stupid, Meer. Why would you still be here? Why would you loiter at my estate? Brotherly affection? I swapped the rings around on her fingers in her sleep. Celia’s still wearing it. Touch her and I’ll blank you.”

  “You wouldn’t.”

  “Wouldn’t I?” snapped Shula. “You just tried to kill us both! Slowly, sure, but don’t pretend you had plans to spend the first two immortalities you managed to buy on me and her once you were king. You tried to murder me, and worse, you would have gotten Celia too. Celia can’t even shapeshift and you were going to make her grow old inside of a century!”

  “They’ll never believe -”

  “You didn’t even notice that Lyne isn’t wearing the other end of my chat ring anymore. I gave it to Mother and told her I was concerned,” said Shula. “Mother’s been listening to this entire conversation. Perhaps she has Father with her, too. Or any of our little brothers and sisters who’ll be fascinated to know what you think of the ties that bind.”

  Meer twitched.

  “Get out of that chair and I will destroy you,” Shula hissed.

  “Shula,” whispered Celia.

  “This is not the time,” Shula said in a voice that brooked no argument. “We will talk later. So what’s your move, Meer?”

  Meer sat very still. Shula waited.

  “I surrender,” Meer said softly.

  “Lyne. Cait. Escort my brother to our parents to see what they’ll make of him,” Shula said. Her servants drifted into the room on cue. Lyne turned his chair around; then each one took one of his elbows and marched him away.

  “Shula,” Celia tried to say. Nothing came out.

  Slowly, Shula turned in her chair towards her. She adjusted a ring on her finger.

  “I don’t know what he told you,” Shula said. “I’m hoping that he just conditioned you with a few layers of memory wipes and assertions. I’m not sure when he would have had time. But I’m hoping, as awful as it would be for that to have happened in my own home. Because Celia, I don’t know what I’d do if you, you of all people, were intentionally colluding with Meer to get me killed. I don’t have the words. It wasn’t like that, was it, Celia?”

  Celia’s blood was ice and she didn’t seem to be able to blink, to look away from that hurt, uncertain look in Shula’s eyes. I tried to kill her. Shula no I didn’t mean. Oh God I literally tried to kill her. Oh God I’m horrible.

  “Are you missing any time, sweetie?” Shula asked softly. “It hadn’t come up before but plakti magic can erase memories, if you’re close enough, and if you’re not using the same magic defensively - which you can’t. I wouldn’t have let him near you, not ever, you’re safe with me.”

  “I,” said Celia.

  “You must be so confused. It can do that if it’s handled badly and I wouldn’t expect him to be a virtuoso… I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to fend him off. You look dizzy. Do you want to go lie down?”

  “Yes,” said Celia fervently, “please.”

  And they went back to bed, and snuggled up together on top of the covers, and Celia tried to breathe.

  She’d never forgive me she shouldn’t forgive me oh God oh G
od she can’t even dump me she’s staked everything on me she’s stuck with me forever

  “Oh sweetie,” sighed Shula. “You’re shaking.”

  “Sorry. Sorry I just. I don’t know.”

  “We can put off the grand tour of the planet, if you like.”

  “Yes please.”

  “All right. Do let me know when you feel ready. There are so many things I want to show you. Nobody I’d rather show them to. My Celia.”

  She can erase memories too. Tell her to back up a day, two, forget all about -

  No, then she’d know. She’d know I did it on purpose. She can’t even dump me.

  I just have to make it up to her on my own that’s all what does she need a queen okay I can do that if I have to -

  * * *

  The alien thing didn’t bother erasing David’s memory.

  What was he going to do, tell someone?

  He told Joe he’d been over at a friend’s. Joe didn’t check.

  And then David sat at his kitchen table with a bowl of cereal and tried to steer.

  * * *

  “Mother and Father have shut Meer up somewhere quite inaccessible. You don’t have to worry about him any more,” Shula said, at dinner.

  “Oh. Good.”

  “I gave a ballpark estimate of the wedding date in five years. It’s a long engagement but royal weddings take such a long time to plan and I thought you might like the option to go to college first. You can, you know. We can move in together easy as pie now we’re both legally eighteen - I have loads of money even apart from Mom and Dad if they blow their tops, there’s been plakti on Earth collecting local currency for ages. You won’t have to sleep on your dad’s couch.”

  “That sounds great. Thank you.”

  “You can ask Lyne and Cait for whatever you like for dinner, I’m going to be at Mother and Father’s. Although you could come with me, if you’re feeling up to it?”

  “Of course I’ll come with you.”

  Shula smiled. She leaned over the table for a kiss. Celia kissed her back, of course, of course. “I love you,” Shula murmured.

  “I love you too,” Celia said.

  “Do you want to wear white?” asked Shula.

  “I don’t know, are you planning to marry a virgin?” Celia asked.

  Shula laughed. “It hasn’t really meant that even on Earth for years. But to answer your question - it wouldn’t be my first choice.”

  “Yes to white,” says Celia. “Yes to whatever you want, I’m sure you’ve been thinking about the wedding longer than I have.”

  “You’ve got that right,” laughed Shula. “C’mere.” And she kissed her again.

  Celia kissed her back.

 

 

  Hannah Blume, Rings

 

 

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