“By now our parents know about what happened to us at school,” I babbled to change the subject. I was sure that I had just hurt Sean’s feelings. “They must be scared.”
Sean, blinking rapidly, averted his eyes. “Ah, yeah, but at most someone at the school has called the police and the campus is being locked down. There’s no hurry to get back. We can stay here as long as we want to. Time moves differently here.”
Though I was worried about what Mom and Dad would think when they heard the news about what happened at school, my immediate concern was Sean. My feelings about him had me unsettled and restless. I needed some distraction. The apartment was closing in on me. “Let’s get out of here and go exploring. We’re not locked in, are we?”
“Let’s find out.”
Sean walked toward the door. One of footmen sprang forward and pulled it open. Sean stepped out into the hall and looked around before coming back.
“We’re free to leave, but we need to clean up before we go out.” Sean looked down at his torn and bloody clothes. “My blood is all over both of us and everybody here thinks we stink.”
“I thought that was just another of Sylvan’s insults meant to bring us down a peg or two.”
“He was being sincere. To them we really do smell like petroleum. When I returned to the surface from my stay at the House of Picard, the air smelled chemical to me. The inside of my car smelled so bad that I had to drive with the windows open.”
I bent down and sniffed my shoulder. “My shirt smells like fabric softener. Someone should have told me to pack a carryon for this little trip.”
Sean laughed. “If this place is like the House of Picard, then there’s a closet full of clothes just waiting for you in your bedroom. Believe me, they would rather we didn’t wear our stinking human clothes. And they don’t believe in bare flesh.”
“Do they have a thing for modesty?”
“No, it’s more like they’re really sensitive to each other’s feelings. Keeping their skin covered keeps their emotions private. You must have noticed by now that you can pick up on strong emotions from someone who’s standing close to you. And these people do like dressing well.”
“Now we have something in common.” Clothing was a form of distraction that I enjoyed. “What kind of clothes do they have for us? Unisex one-size-fits-all shirts and pants?”
“Maybe just unisex.” Sean laughed and led me from the living room into the bedroom. “Nothing’s too good for a Sworn Asset. Feast your eyes.”
My bed was a massive affair with a carved marble headboard even taller than Sean. Long curtains embellished with gold and silver threads trailed down from the ceiling to the floor all around it. At least fifteen pillows and bolsters decorated the bed itself. Several chairs sat near a long sofa, which had also been lavishly outfitted with cushions and pillows. The bathroom had been outfitted with a rain shower and the bathtub large enough to hold six. A chandelier of enormous diamonds sparkled prisms across the ceiling. A vast mirror framed in gold and precious gems hung over two sinks.
“Very pretty,” I said once I regained the power of speech.
“They don’t really understand sleep, so they think we need a bed fit for a sultan. The bathroom is supposed to encourage us to wash away our stink. And they hate our fashions. Come here and check out your dressing room,” Sean said, opening the door. “You ought to be able to throw together a little something from this.”
My dressing room was bigger than my entire bedroom at home. Many closet bars held countless tunics, trousers, robes, and vests in a dizzying array of reds, pinks, and violets, all hung on padded hangers. When I touched the tunics, they were as soft as kittens and the finest silk. One wall was dedicated to shoes and sandals that were decorated in gold and silver thread and gems. Another wall consisted of many small drawers with glass fronts displaying a collection of jewelry that left me dumbfounded.
Sean was smiling. “It’s like a high-end jewelry store in here.”
I opened one of the little drawers and touched a stunning diamond bib necklace where it lay nestled on a velvety pad. “The czars of old Russia didn’t have jewelry like this. Did you get a collection like this at the House of Picard?”
“Yeah, but it was styled differently. I guess men don’t quite wear the same things women do.”
Barely listening, I pulled open one velvet-lined drawer after the other, looking at all the different necklaces, bracelets, earrings, tiaras, and hair accessories. Never had I seen such exquisite work, and I knew good work, because Mom had inherited and purchased a lot of fine jewelry over the years. I could always tell the difference between fake and genuine with just a touch. And these were the finest stones available.
“You know that this is platinum,” Sean said, holding up a braided necklace.
I shut the little drawers and looked around my dressing room. I felt like a little girl in some sort of fairyland of dress up. I touched the braided necklace. “Yes, it is. You know, I could be persuaded to wear some of this. Shall we change and take a stroll around the palace?”
“I’m game,” Sean said with a smile. “That will give your maids something to do. They’re probably tired of just standing there at attention.”
“How do I know that any of these clothes will fit me?” I asked, not quite ready to accept all this largesse. This was spoiling on a basis even a girl like me found impressive.
“All of it will fit you. They’ve been watching us for years and were expecting you. I wouldn’t be surprised if our shamans didn’t occasionally inspect our bedrooms and I’m one hundred percent sure they hacked our computers and phones. As Sylvan and Naomi are fond of saying, they do have a big investment in their creations.”
I froze. “You know, every so often my room felt different to me. I couldn’t explain it. You know that feeling of getting the creeps? It felt like the air had changed.”
“I’ve felt it too.” Sean pulled out an exquisite diamond and emerald necklace and handed it to me. “I think it’s because you and I are very sensitive to magnetism. We can feel Original People. Wear this.”
I took the bib necklace. My mind flooded with questions about why he had chosen this piece. I wanted to ask him, but we were walking toward the door and the footmen and maids were present. “I hope it’s not considered gauche to wear colored stones during the day.”
“How could it? There’s no day or night here.”
“I’ll come and get you when I’m ready.”
“It’s a date.”
“Is it?” I asked shyly. “Is that what this is?”
“As you wish, my lady,” Sean said on his way out. “We’re living the fantasy.”
I shut the door quickly and leaned against it, my face burning with embarrassment. Why had I asked whether it was a date? I had just met Sean at school that morning. I barely knew him and now it seemed as if I was throwing myself at his feet. What would he think of me? As I looked across my living room, a space the size of a basketball court, I grew anxious. Who was I in this strange world? I wished Sean would come back. It was ridiculous because I had just met him, but already I felt a bond.
The maids helped me undress. As my clothes came off and the scent of my skin wafted into the air, I could smell the petroleum from my cosmetics, a caustic odor that was sharp in my nose. I could see the strain it put on my maids. A large dark smear of Sean’s blood still darkened my torso from where I had lain on him in the vice principal’s office. Another trailed down my arm from my own wound. Even some of my hair was stiffened with gore. The memory of those terrible minutes weakened my knees. The sound of the bathtub filling roared in my ears.
“You may take my clothes to be washed.” I hoped the bath could soak away some of that horror. I recalled the tear in the sleeve of my tee shirt made by the glass dagger. “And can someone fix the sleeve?”
“As you wish, my lady.”
One of the maids quickly gathered my clothes and raced out the door while the other helped me slip on a feathery light robe as soft as a whisper.
“What’s your name?” I asked the maid, who was Judah’s cousin.
“Discards aren’t called by names, my lady.”
Baffled, I stared at her. “The last person you served must have called you something.”
“She called this one Circle, my lady.”
“So your name is Circle?”
“That is what her ladyship called this one, my lady.”
“Why did she call you Circle?”
“Her ladyship called this one Circle because this one was standing on a circular tile the first time she saw this one, my lady.”
“And you’re okay with being called Circle?”
“This one serves, my lady.”
I had more questions, but I didn’t want to be rude. The loss of status must have stung her deeply and I felt sure I was the salt in her wounds. “Okay, fine, Circle. Sean and I are going to take a walk. I’ll need you to select an outfit that matches that diamond necklace on the counter. That closet is totally overwhelming me. And I’ll need my hair done like the other ladies. And I’d like one of those hair ornaments. Can you find one that matches the necklace?”
“As you wish, my lady,” Circle said, her eyes downcast and her hands folded in front of her body.
I waited for Circle to direct me to a chair the way the staff did in the spas that Mom, Riley, and I frequented. The silence drew on awkwardly until I realized that this young woman wasn’t going to say a word.
“What should I do?” I asked.
“That’s not for this one to say, my lady.”
My skin was picking up her growing anxiety. I guessed it was the way I framed my question, so I tried again. “I would like my hair put up so it doesn’t get wet in the bath. Where should I sit for you to do my hair?”
“Wherever your ladyship wishes, my lady,” Circle said. Then she didn’t move.
“Where did the last lady you served sit when you did her hair?” I asked, realizing that Circle was either unwilling or unable to suggest anything.
“Her ladyship sat on the seat in the middle of the bathroom, my lady.”
“Then that’s where I’ll sit.”
As I made myself comfortable, I could see Circle slowly picking up a brush. The robe slipped from my shoulders and my skin came alive and felt as if it were pulsing from a heartbeat, but not my heartbeat. It was Circle’s. I felt both her racing heart and shallow breathing.
“Circle, have you ever served a Sworn Asset before?
“Your ladyship is my first.”
“Are you afraid because you heard I’m a missusan?”
“It is not for this one to acknowledge, my lady.”
I felt the tightness of her throat, how her fear made it almost impossible for her to get the words out. I couldn’t bear the fact that someone found me so terrifying that she could hardly breathe. “Will you be my maid for the rest of my life or yours?”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Then you had better get used to touching me.” I held out my hand. “Touch me. Touch my hand.”
I felt Circle’s stomach flip over as if it were my own. Circle took a step toward me, moving as if she couldn’t bend her knees. I felt her tight-muscled fear all over my exposed skin. I locked my eyes on Circle’s and willed her to come forward. She did, her entire body quaking like an oak in the wind. I took her hand and felt her uneven pulse as I walked my fingers over her palm.
“It doesn’t hurt, does it?” I asked.
“It doesn’t, my lady,” Circle said, her voice breathless with fear.
“I didn’t ask to be a missusan, but since I am one, I’m learning to control that power so that I don’t hurt people. I’m not a mean person. And neither is Sean. I’m sorry you were made a Discard.”
“As you say, my lady.”
I felt Circle’s heart jump at the mention of Sean’s name. “Sean might be a Sworn Enemy of this Great House, but I promise you that he doesn’t mean to hurt us.”
“As you say, my lady,” she said as she picked up a brush and began on my hair.
Though her voice lacked conviction, I could sense that her fear had diminished. “Circle, what have you been told about me?”
“The housekeeper said that this one would be in your ladyship’s service until His and Her Majesty have made a decision about the breach in the Treaty.”
I had almost forgotten about that. “I’ve heard about the lowborn staff. Will I be meeting them?”
“The lowborn staff stay hidden so their lack of refinement doesn’t offend our eyes, my lady.”
Circle spoke those words as if they were self-evident. She knelt down near the tub and appeared to be studying a line of temperature-sensitive stones. Then she stepped away, folded her hands together in front of herself, and looked to the tile floor. I took that to mean that the water was ready. I dropped the robe to the floor and lowered myself into the tub. The mineral-heavy water swirled around me, tingling and effervescent, like a carbonated hot tub. As I lay back in the water, I felt the morning’s tension being massaged away by millions of tiny bubbles. I lay back for a deliciously long soak and felt rather than saw or heard the other maid come into the bathroom.
“Circle, what is the name of the maid who just came in here?” I asked without opening my eyes.
“My lady, the fallen have lost the privilege of being addressed by names,” Circle replied, her voice slightly high with tension.
“Oh, that’s right. My bad.” I opened my eyes to see the maid. “Does she have a preference for what I call her?”
“For the fallen preference is irrelevant, my lady.”
Of course it was, I thought. “What did the last person she served call her?”
“Your ladyship is her first assignment. She is newly Discarded.”
That meant she was mine to name, like a puppy. She stood several inches taller than Circle and had yellow eyes, like a hawk. I extended my senses toward her and felt her racing heart and shallow breathing, though not as clearly as before. I guessed the water had a dampening effect. I thought how strange and sad it was to be in a world where everyone was afraid of me. After I made sure the blood was out of my hair and off my skin, I stood up and lifted my arms so the maids could wrap a towel around me. I didn’t know whether that was proper protocol, but it was what I had seen on television.