Page 6 of Tears of Tungsten
Scorched Grass
Selene
Returning to New Washington felt surreal. I’d only been away for less than half a year, but I’d already changed so much. I didn’t know how I’d feel about my family and my home now that I was back.
As our shuttle descended from the sky, I caught my first glimpse of the city. It had been snowing and a green-tinged powdery substance covered most of the buildings. With a pang of melancholy, I remembered one of my mother’s most outlandish stories. She’d said that before the war with the Sun-Dwellers, the snow had been white, as bright and pure as our hopes for the future. It had turned blue-green when Gaia had awakened and the priestesses had started to use her magic to fix everything that had gone wrong.
I’d have liked to think their efforts had paid off, but after what I’d seen at Tartarus Base, I couldn’t cling to that naive illusion any longer.
“You’ll be fine, Selene,”Sphinx murmured at the back of my mind.“Yes, things are bad now, but you’re on your way to improving them.”
Her words drew a small smile out of me. I wanted to thank her but refrained. I’d been forced to leave her behind at the academy and my mind could barely sustain a one-sided conversation. Sphinx had pledged that she’d monitor me silently and wouldn’t interfere unless I absolutely needed her to. She must’ve felt some encouragement was necessary, and she’d been right.
The simple two sentences gave me a bad headache, but they also cheered me up. Sphinx was right. I was Acting Pilot Renard now, and while it might not have seemed like much, it was still a step forward, a change. I’d keep pushing, forcing them to acknowledge the problem that existed in our society.
As that decision settled in my heart, the shuttle dropped me in the landing bay next to The Great Temple of Gaia. Unlike most constructions created by The Grand Judiciary, this temple—like every other similar structure in the world—was crafted entirely out of wood. According to my mother, the trees had just grown there with no input whatsoever from human priestesses. That, I believed with no issue. I’d seen what Gaia’s power could do with my own eyes. Creating a shelter for her servants was an easy task.
The pilot of the shuttle opened the gate without notifying me we’d landed. The seatbelt undid itself on its own, and I took this as my cue that it was time to disembark. I didn’t know the man, and I had no interested in fixing that. The faster we went our separate ways, the better.
It didn’t take me long to change my mind about that.
When I emerged from the shuttle, my mother was already waiting for me on the tarmac. As a rule, she was perfectly composed, honoring her service to Gaia through a state of serenity and respect. But today, there was no sign of that calm.
She rushed toward me with uncharacteristic enthusiasm and enveloped me in a warm hug. “Selene!” she sobbed as she held me close to her chest. “Oh, Gaia, I can’t believe it. I can’t believe you’re back.”
I couldn’t believe it either. After so many months spent around hostile people, my mother’s affection made my heart clench painfully in my chest. My fellow Chimera Warriors loved me, but their affection for me was different and we’d had so many ups and downs. My mother’s presence was so familiar, so steadying.
I hugged her back just as fiercely. “Hello, Mother. I’ve missed you.”
“Of course you have, dear. Oh, I’m so glad The Grand Judiciary abandoned that nonsense about you being a chimera pilot.”
Just like that, the illusion I’d accidentally weaved around myself dissipated. Sphinx hissed in anger.“What did she just say?”
She sounded disbelieving, and I completely empathized. I also couldn’t repeat the question, because Sphinx’s outburst made a very real spike of pain course through me.
Sphinx must have noticed because she retreated so quickly I almost fell over. My mother’s embrace helped me stay upright. I’d have been grateful had she not decided to add, “You belong here, with your family, not with metallic monsters.”
I broke away from her, already tasting dread in my mouth. As I struggled to recover my composure, I noticed my mother was alone on the landing strip. Why hadn’t I seen that when I’d first arrived?
It was time to get some answers. “Mother? Where is everyone? Why didn’t Louise and Father come to see me?”
I’d actually expected other priestesses of Gaia to be here too since they’d always liked me. But I wasn’t arrogant enough to think their lives rotated around me. Maybe they were busy terra-forming and that was why they hadn’t come. My father could also be away since he didn’t live in New Washington. Like the priestesses, he had his duties. But even so, it seemed unlikely that my mother would go anywhere at all with no entourage and no guards. Between that and Louise’s conspicuous absence, I had a bad feeling. “Is something wrong?”
My mother’s smile melted away like flesh when faced with Tartarus fire. “Louise’s mother felt it was inappropriate for you to meet with her daughter again,” she said carefully. “And your father is away on business. He’s not very happy about what’s been going on either.”
What the fuck was she talking about? If anything, I’d expected my father to be proud of me. I’d participated in the Grand Tartarus Tournament. I hadn’t won or gotten any significant prize, but it still counted. I’d reached the final stage and I would’ve had a real chance if not for the attack on August. “I don’t understand,” I said, befuddled. “Why are they angry? What have I done that is so inappropriate and foul?”
My mother met my eyes, and something in her gaze unsettled me. “There have been some rumors, about you starting a certain relationship with the members of your unit.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Mother, you’re the one who encouraged me to sleep with Prince Brendan. Have you forgotten?”
Her expression twisted into a grimace of irritation. “I haven’t forgotten, but I also remember I didn’t tell you to sell yourself to three-quarters of the academy. Having a sexuality doesn’t mean you get to throw yourself at every man within your reach like some kind of whore.”
What? Where had that come from? Granted, polyamorous relationships weren’t the norm on Terra, but we didn’t follow a strict set of rules either. Since The Grand Judiciary Procreation Control act, women were no longer in danger of having unwanted pregnancies. Most people followed their sexual impulses, scratched their itch, and returned to their lives as if nothing had happened.
Then again, Terran men and women lived in segregated communities, divided by gender. I was entirely different, simply because I shared a room with my lovers.
Whatever. This was stupid and I didn’t have time for such nonsense. I hadn’t come here to listen to a lecture.
