Page 23 of Alliance
I kept my smile intact but stared down at the blue carpet. Her words stung, but the colorful home was comforting in a nostalgic way. After my day with Fásach, I had forgotten that I was ever anyone but my originator. We were one and the same. I let the carpet carry me into memories of cyan Caribbean waters and summer rain, thick white clouds coasting through bright cerulean skies…
Auntie filled a bag with dolls and food, then held it out to me.
“Did Fásach steal you?”
I blinked, hugging the bag to my chest. “Why would he steal me?”
“I’ve heard the talk. Human dolls are priceless. And that nursery Hauwuh’s second parthenogenitor worked at was destroyed last night. Poor woman’s beside herself. He was on shift—”
“The nursery is gone?” I interjected with wide eyes.
Was Master gone as well? Were all units of my model destroyed except for this one?
“Never mind the nursery. If Fásach didn’t steal you, hecertainlydidn’t buy you. Sowhois gettingwhatfrom him?”
“Who–what, nothing!” I dropped the bag, hands open in surrender. “We bumped into each other on the road–”
“You were left unattended on aroad?What idiot owns you that would leave you in the slums by yourself?”
I took a deep breath, held it, then let it tumble from my lungs like Fásach had done in the market. Picking up the bag and hugging it once more, I met Auntie’s eyes.
“I own myself,” I said proudly, fishing into my oversized pockets. I withdrew one of the little lumps of palladium I’d been able to scavenge from the Pulpit. “See? I bought my own clothes with this.”
Auntie paused and looked me in the eye for the first time. [Inspection] I stood with my chin up and held out the palladium. Her bracelets clacked up and down her long forearm as she picked it up.
“Then you escap–”
“The guild bought her,” Fásach said, glancing between us. He stood in the door, two small bags slung over one shoulder. When our eyes met, he looked away first. “She’s a caregiving model. Novak’s planning on taking in more orphans from the lab.”
Auntie snatched her hand away, slipping the palladium into her pocket.
“Human dolls aren’t on the market yet.”
Fás shrugged, his ears sloping to the sides with disinterest. “Novak has connections. And since I’m also a mammal, he thought I was a good cosigner.”
The krkyrn snorted, spewing pollen into the air once more with suspicion. I opened my mouth to speak, but Fásach shot me a glare. I recognized commanding looks very well, so I pressed my lips together and waited with my eyes on the carpet.
“I’ll have to tell Hauwuh over tea,” Auntie decided.
Fásach winced. “When is that?”
“Tomorrow, of course. I have the girls today, don’t I?”
My partner sighed, a lopsided smile growing across his mouth, exposing one of his thick, pearly fangs. “Alright, Auntie. You can tell her tomorrow.”
The elderly woman nodded once as if she’d made up her mind and no amount of begging could sway her, but when Fásach rubbed his forehead against her cheek and chirruped, the feelers on her chin curled up.
Then she batted him away. “Enough.”
“What will you do without us?” Fásach teased.
“Return home,” she murmured with affection. “My rest is long, long overdue.”
Auntie sighed, looking through me as if I didn’t exist, imagining something wistful and precious.
I wished I knew what was precious to her. Such an exacting woman must have found only the most perfect memories to be worthy of that soft expression.
I craved moments like that. Moments that were mine rather than Rosy’s. I had decades of life within me, but no one believed that life was mine to lay claim on.
