Page 27 of Tattle Tail
“One too many humans-are-so-weird jokes growing up.”
A scratched and foggy screen embedded in the table woke slowly to life. Peaceable scrolled through the menu before deciding on a plate of noodles and green vegetables. That sounded good, so Joseph selected the same.
“Human anatomy is odd, though,” she said.
“Odd is relative.”
“But how do you keep your balance without a tail? You should fall forward, but you don’t. It’s unnatural.”
He’d heard it all before. Humans and their freakish adaptability. Humans and their inferior sight, sense of smell, or hearing. Humans and their tragic lack of natural defenses. No claws. No fangs.
“You know, humans are considered lucky among spacers. We’re survivors,” he said, even though he didn’t believe humans were luckier than anyone else. “If there’s an accident on the ship, stick to the human. They always make it out alive, they say.”
“That’s confirmation bias. You don’t meet unlucky humans. They die.”
Joseph chuckled at her dry delivery. She sounded like her normal acerbic self, which he much preferred than to the quietly sobbing Peaceable he held earlier in the evening.
When their meals arrived, he steered the conversation well away from her parents. “So, what’s up with all the clocks?” he asked.
“They are interesting.” She cut her noodles into small pieces, which was odd, but okay. He wasn’t one to judge. “Mechanically, they are primitive machines operated with nothing more than the tension from cogs and springs, but they are precise.”
“Cogs and springs wear out, though.” He twirled his noodles around a fork, the sauce splattering the table.
“Even before mechanical time keeping devices, every civilization had a way of measuring time. Sundials. Stone monoliths to track celestial bodies. It is constant on every planet, and it happens early in a civilization’s development. And time is an abstract concept. You can see shadows grow and light move, the sun rise and set, but you cannot see an hour or a month.” She took a bite, hastily swallowing before she continued to speak. “There is an ancient solar calendar on Talmar called the Thirteen Towers. Only some of the towers remain, but they mark the position of the solstice and equinox.”
He said nothing, letting her geek out about ancient solar calendars and primitive clocks.
“I am talking too much. Apologies. I find the subject fascinating,” she said, her ears pulling down as if in shame.
“Have you seen the Thirteen Towers? That sounds like it’d be something wild to see,” he said.
“I have no memories of Talmar. I was very young when my parents left.”
Rather than tell Peaceable how beautiful her home world was or how he enjoyed the Talmar seaside on his one vacation there, he said, “I’ve never been to Earth.”
The conversation spun to places they wanted to visit, more interesting trivia about ancient clocks, and they forgot about the absolute disaster of meeting her parents.
Chapter 8
Joseph
“Oh, wow,” he said.
They agreed to meet at the hotel, an old country estate given new life as a charming, if aging, hotel. The size of the place stunned him when he arrived. It was a sprawling heap of honey-colored stone against the snowy grounds. Joseph didn’t know much about traditional Corravian architecture, but he recognized that the house had once been a sparkling jewel. Time and neglect wore it down, but it still possessed a warm charm.
Even in winter, the house was inviting. Lights glowed brightly, and visitors were greeted with a roaring fire in the foyer’s fireplace. Festive decorations covered nearly every surface. He could see why Marigold picked this location for the gala.
Peaceable met him in the foyer, sweeping down the stairs in a dress that made him wish he could speak intelligently about clothing. She smoothed down the front of her dress. The navy-blue silk that shimmered and flowed like liquid crossed over her chest to form a snug bodice. The full skirt spilled onto the floor, the fabric whispering as she moved.
“You look…wow,” he repeated.
“It is too much,” she said, twisting to display the dramatic plunge at the back of the gown. Her stripes were…
Wow.
“No, I think it’s the right amount.”
“Can you fasten this?” Reaching behind her, she held up two ends of a necklace.
