Chapter 63

Sybelien was used to waking up in someone’s embrace but this morning was different. The arm wrapped around her waist did not belong to her girlfriend and her head was resting on a patently unfeminine chest. For a little while longer, Sybelien listened to the unfamiliar heartbeat before she opened her eyes and looked up at his face.

“Good morning,” Jabbit greeted her. “I hope you slept well.”

“Don’t you know?”

“No - I decided to stay out of your mind.”

“That’s very generous of you.”

“You really think so?”

“No.”

“So, did you sleep well?”

“I don’t know,” she answered. “I can’t remember my dreams.”

“How do you feel now that you’re awake?”

“I’m embarrassed to be naked.”

“You didn’t jump up and ran away,” Jabbit stated, “So it can’t be too bad.”

“I’m not trying to run away because I remember the door is closed,” Sybelien replied. “And that’s not the worst. When I remember what happened last night, I wish I could sink into the ground out of shame. So, you can see I’m still a bit shy although you did your best to corrupt me.”

“Maybe I’m not good at corrupting people,” Jabbit pondered.

“No, boss,” Sybelien comforted him. “You are very good at it but with me, you have to fight an uphill battle.”

“Would you explain that, please?” Jabbit asked.

“I was four-years-old, starved and sick, when Jorsha found me. With his help, and the help of a few of his friends, I slowly recovered. One of his friends was Inandrey Danjala. At that time, Inandrey was not the Queen of Whores she is today. She was just a poor, young whore. Not even twenty seasons old but she already had two little girls - the younger one the same age as me. When Jorsha was busy, he would take me to the whorehouse where Inandrey worked. There, she looked after her two little girls and me whenever she wasn’t busy herself. Because of her beauty, Inandrey was in high demand so most of the time we had to take care of each other with no supervision. We spent the time working the streets of Katerra. Ansa, the poor but pretty one, and me, the pitiable tiny girl with the mangled face - we were damn good as cadgers.”

“What is a cadger?” Jabbit asked.

“A beggar, a thief, a cheat,” Sybelien answered “Cadgers prey on anyone in any way they can. They are the human version of rats and cockroaches.”

“Rats and cockroaches don’t grow up into predators.”

“True, and even at the age of five, Eva already was a predator. Predators aren’t good as cadgers, though. So Eva’s job was to rescue us when something went wrong but mostly to chase off our competition and protect us from those too big for us to handle. We were the first of Jorsha’s Moppets and the best he ever had. But Moppets don’t last; they grow up ... usually. Ansa was twelve when she realized her beauty was even easier to sell at the new whorehouse her mother had bought than on the streets of Katerra. She didn’t tell us about her planned career change and Eva killed her first customer as Ansa foolishly took him to the room they shared. Inandrey gave her daughters separate chambers afterward and even I got my own room at the Banyan Dream. However, Ansa was finally successful in selling her virginity and became a whore. Eva left Katerra, joined the Forsaken Army and became a mercenary. Only I stayed a Moppet. I often sat on the windowsill of Ansa’s chamber and watched her at work. I watched and felt nothing. I knew I’d never grow up and watching and feeling nothing would be all I’d ever do.”

Sybelien paused and looked into his eyes. “Then you came along. Suddenly, I have a woman’s body and I feel the things I never thought I would. Nevertheless, inside I’m still the little girl who never grew up.”

Jabbit returned her gaze and smiled. “I like your story,” he stated. “Of all the people I know, you are the best. You bury the lies so deeply within the truth, I have to listen very carefully to detect them.”

“I didn’t lie,” Sybelien protested.

“You watched Ansa with her customers,” Jabbit dismissed her objection. “You watched because you liked to watch and that is not ‘feeling nothing’. You liked to watch even when your immature body couldn’t share your mind’s excitement and you still like to watch, but now with the body of a woman, agreeing with your mind’s arousal.”

“When I didn’t grow up like everyone else, I became ashamed of my body,” Sybelien mumbled, hiding her face in his chest. “At first, mere curiosity was the reason I secretly watched others. I wanted to see the things they did; the things I’d never do. You are right; I lied when I told you I felt nothing. I liked what I saw. But I didn’t lie when I told you inside I’m still the little girl who never grew up. The little girl who is ashamed of her body. The shy little girl who knew that all she’d ever do is watch.”

“I hope this little girl will always be a part of you,” Jabbit mused while he combed her blonde tresses with his fingers. “I wouldn’t know how to return her.”

There was a knock on the door.

“You have to get up now,” Anseyla shouted. “It’s late in the morning already. Sybil’s coronation is scheduled for noon and there is a lot we have to do to get her ready.”

“You don’t have to talk through the door,” Jabbit replied. “Just come inside.”

Sybelien raised her head off Jabbit’s chest and wordlessly stared at him.

“You lied to me,” Sybelien accused as Anseyla entered the chapel.

“I told you the door is closed; I never said it was locked,” Jabbit defended himself.

Anseyla looked at the pair lying on the rumpled bedstead. For a moment she seemed confused but then she laughed.

“Did you threaten to run away from him?”

Sybelien let her head fall back on Jabbit’s chest. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Anseyla sat down next to them and kissed her on the cheek. “Aww, my poor snuggle bunny,” she cooed. “Did the big, bad man do horrible things to you last night?”

“I said, I don’t want to talk about it,” Sybelien answered, grumbling.

“Don’t I get a kiss as well?” Jabbit asked.

Anseyla looked him in the eyes and raised a brow. “You think you deserve a kiss for cheating on my sister and ravishing my girlfriend?”

The morning sun rose and shone through the opening in the chapel’s ceiling as he answered.

“Reaching for the impossible is my reason to become a god.”

Anseyla blinked, blinded by Jabbit’s figure bathed in light. “You really don’t play fair,” she stated, suppressing the laughter in her voice.

“No, he doesn’t,” Sybelien agreed. “Now kiss him before he decides a kiss is not enough.”

“As you command, my Empress,” Anseyla replied.

She kissed Jabbit and her hand joined his in combing through Sybelien’s tresses.

“That’s enough now,” Sybelien complained as the kiss went on. “You’re tearing my hair out.”

Anseyla ended the kiss and sighed.

Jabbit smiled at her. “You need to learn patience for your wish to come true.”

“Patience and a pact with an evil god?” Anseyla asked.

“You’re already committed to the pact,” Jabbit answered. “Now you only need patience.”

Sybelien frowned. “What are you two talking about?”

Anseyla grinned at her. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Fine,” Sybelien declared and sat up. “I hope you brought me something to dress because I won’t leave here wearing the white gown. I’ll never, ever wear anything white again.”

Anseyla pouted. “I thought we’d both wear white tonight after you announce me as your consort at your coronation.”

Sybelien glowered at her girlfriend. “You may wear whatever you like after I publically announce you to be the thorn in my side but I’ll never wear a white gift wrap again.”

Anseyla shyly lowered her eyes. “Would you like me to wear white for you?” She asked, quietly and with fluttering lashes.

“I’m warning you, Ansa,” Sybelien growled.

“Alright, I get it,” Anseyla replied. “No more white for you. Does it mean you prefer walking naked back into town?”

“Ansa!” Sybelien screamed.

“Come on, I’m just kidding,” Anseyla placated. “Of course I brought new clothes for you. They are in the carriage at the edge of the copse so your walk of shame will be short.”

Sybelien groaned. “You’re a pest and I shouldn’t even like you.”

“You just cheated on me with my sister’s lover and yet still I love you,” Anseyla countered as she took Sybelien’s hands and they helped each other to stand up.

“I think you two are a perfect match,” Jabbit voiced his opinion.

Sybelien snorted. “Of course you think so, boss. We’re a perfect match at your disposal. However - will you come with us to the White Citadel?”

“No,” Jabbit answered. “I promised I wouldn’t partake in your coronation ceremony.”

“It wasn’t me who asked you to stay away,” Sybelien said. “Without you, I wouldn’t be crowned today and I know that damn well.”

“Which means she’s blaming you for her misery,” Anseyla clarified. “She doesn’t want you hiding in the shadows but standing in the light and publically take the blame.”

Jabbit calmly looked at Sybelien. “I gave my word I’d stay in the background and I’ll keep my word. The same as I’ll keep the promises I’ve made to every one of you. I’ll go and watch your coronation from a place where no one can see me.”

Sybelien smiled at him. “I could lend you my necklace so you could make yourself invisible.”

Anseyla, in contrast, regarded Jabbit with a rather leery look. “I can feel the hairs on the back of my neck straighten up whenever I hear you say something which sounds so deliberately strange.”

“You’ll stand at her side at the coronation. Now help her to get ready,” Jabbit replied as he rose from the bedstead and picked up his clothes. “I’ll go and take a swim in the Ewu to freshen up.”

Then he kissed them both goodbye and left the chapel.

“If there is one thing our god is really bad at, it’s easing the mind of his worried believers,” Anseyla groused when he was gone.

“You only talk for yourself,” Sybelien commented with a grin. “I feel pretty appeased this morning.”

“Really?” Anseyla asked with an imperious expression on her face. “Your nipples look sore and it seems something leaked out of you and then it dried on your thighs. I can tell because whatever it was, it left a crust on your skin. I’m truly relieved to know you feel appeased. I don’t even need to wonder why I’ve never noticed this expression on you before.”

Sybelien blushed and looked down at her feet. “Thank you. Now I feel like my old self again.”

All through the morning dozens of town criers, decked out in imperial uniforms, marched through Katerra and announced the coronation of Sybelien Rossano’Shenta as Empress of Aloria. The gates of the White Citadel were opened for the people and long before noon, the throne hall was filled to capacity with more than two thousand citizens, wanting to witness the coronation. Those not early and quick enough to claim a place in the throne hall were waiting in the yard and all along the roads to the Citadel. Ten thousands of Katerrans cheered as a carriage with two dozen mounted guards, wearing the imperial coat of arms, drove by.

Anseyla smiled and waved at the crowd as they passed but Sybelien didn’t even look outside the cabin.

“They came for you and they cheer for you, Sybil,” Anseyla stated. “The least you could do is smile for them rather than hide your face and sulk.”

“They don’t cheer for me,” Sybelien muttered. “They cheer for the end of their poverty and the return of Aloria’s glorious past. I can’t give them either. Without you and the pompous escort you arranged for us, I’d have made myself invisible and snuck into the fortress. I don’t enjoy any of this. I only want this day to be over.”