The Four Chimes

Chapter 11 - LERA

I looked over at Ari. "Because he loved me."

"Yes. Because he loved you."

I don't think I had ever seen him cry before. He never so much as frowned around me. It felt strange. Maybe he had changed more than I thought.

"Listen," I said, blushing. "I hate to ruin this moment. But I'm out. You can try and find out about your dad, but I'm not going to risk my life for him."

"It's about more than Minister Hotan," said Paile. "It's about Lhartaon."

"I honestly don't give a fuck about Lhartaon. Call me unpatriotic, but who gives a shit what happens up there? I mean, it's interesting and all. The struggle for power. The measures people will take to get what they want. But it doesn't affect us. Never has, never will."

"This is different," said Tanta. "This isn't just another king. We don't know who's in charge of all this."

"Right now, 'all this' is a few conspiracy theories you shoved together."

"Please? Lera? At least hear us out," said Ari.

"Fine. I'll go to whatever planning sessions you have. I'll listen. I won't agree--"

"You might find--"

"--but I will listen. That's all you're getting out of me. And I get to eat some of your food."

"Deal."

"Sounds good. So are we going to your place or are we sitting in this bar until we grow old and rot?"

"We're going. Now."

Tsano pulled me aside. "You can't be serious. Ari I trust, but Paile and Tanta... I know nothing about them. You know nothing about them."

"So I'll find things out about them."

"I... I just want you to be safe. Okay?"

"Okay. I will."

"I'll see you when you get home." Tsano hugged me tightly. "Bye."

"Bye," I said as Tsano walked out of the bar, looking back before she stepped out onto the sidewalk.

I turned back to the rest of the group. "Well? What are we waiting for?"

As we left Rhoes Derassitu, the streets were packed with people. Smoke covered the air with a thick blanket that made the sky gray. As we walked to the seaside road, the wind from the ocean blew most of the smoke away. But there was still a scent of smoke that we couldn't get off our clothes. The ocean sparkled in the moonlight, extending off to the horizon.

"So, should we take the ferry?" asked Kurie.

"Sure thing. I'm tired."

"It's a bit of a walk. But we'll be able to catch it just in time."

"Did you seriously memorize the ferry schedules?" asked Ari.

"No. Why would I ever do that?"

Ari stared at Kurie.

"Fine. Maybe I did. But it's so easy once you know the time intervals between each ferry."

"Nerd."

"Loser."

We walked to the small pier just as the ferry was arriving.

"Hey! Let's make a run for it," said Kurie.

We ran to the pier, as if it were a race. With the cold, salty ocean wind blowing in my face, and the moonlight reflecting off the sea-sprayed street, it was actually kind of fun. Even Paile was smiling, or at least I thought he was. I couldn't really make it out in the darkness.

"That'll be one vos," said a man at the front of the line. I gave him my last tali, and he used a hot-bladed tali cutter to cut the tali into eight equal pieces. He took one and gave me seven back. "Thank you. Next!"

As I walked onto the ferry, I realized how tired I was. It seemed strange that just today was her grand opening. Their grand opening. Was Tsano mad at me? God, I was going to come home and she would be sitting at the folding table and she would tell me how much she hated me for abandoning her, and I mean, she should hate me for abandoning her. God, I'm such a bad friend. And to think I left her to go to this fucking party planning meeting. She was going to leave. Go back to Sjanti and leave me here just like I left her, and--

"Hey. Lera. You good?" Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Ari. He squeezed himself next to me. This ferry was really crowded. I was surprised it didn't sink from all the people on it.

"Yeah. I'm... I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

"Well, I am."

"If there's ever anything wrong, you can tell me."

"I know."

"Remember when you told me that if I ever wanted to come with you to carve something with our conduits, you would be there?"

"Yeah." I looked off at the steam pipe spewing gallons of steam into the midnight sky. What if I got off the ship right now? Jumped off and swam to the shore? Don't be stupid. You made the choice to leave Tsano, and now you're going to have to deal with it.

"Lera. Lera?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm taking you up on your offer. Let's carve something with our conduits. Right now."

"Where?"

"On the seats of this ferry." Ari chuckled. "Kurie would be pissed if he found out. As if we were desecrating a national monument."

"I'm adding that to my bucket list."

"Didn't you already do that?"

"City monument. Not nearly as cool."

"So. What should we write?"

"Remember what you said?"

"'So what should we write?'"

"You know what I meant."

"You have to be more specific."

I lowered my voice to mimic Ari's warm baritone. "'I'm a Hotan. We get back up.'"

"I do not sound like that."

"You do."

"So what are you going to write?"

"I'm a Taxas. We get back up."

"You stole my catchphrase."

"You said it once. Plus, theft is the greatest form of flattery."

"I'm pretty sure the saying goes 'imitation is the greatest form of flattery."

"Well, my saying's better."

"So. Shall we?"

"Cochia," we said in unison, as we pointed our conduits at the wooden ferry seats and carved our sayings in.

"Nice job," I said, my scrawly script paling in comparison to Ari's neat, narrow print.

"Yours isn't half bad either."

"No wonder why we did this all the time in school. I forgot how fun it was."

"It is fun."

"I'm surprised more people aren't picking up vandalizing."

"Yeah. Now let's book it before Kurie sees what I wrote and throws me off this boat."

"Good idea."

I looked back at what we wrote. I'm a Taxas. We get bulk up. God, I needed to write neater. But I couldn't help feeling more at ease as I left my masterpiece behind. Tsano would be there when I got home. She would always be there. Smiling as she always did.

"Hey! Lera! This is our stop!"

"One second!"

I ran down the stairs from the top deck to the boarding strip. Walking onto the pier, I saw Ari, Kurie, Paile, and Tanta waiting for me.

Paile smiled; this time I knew he was. "So, now that we're all here... Let's get down to business."