Page 14 of Palaces and other Prisons
Ul waved at the food with his three long tentacle fingers and then at him as if inviting him to eat something.
There was a metal plate in front of him, and a knife and spoon, as well as a three-pronged fork. All of which could be used as weapons if he were stupid enough to try something.
His guard stood close behind him, even though he had no desire to attack Ul. Yesterday, he hadn’t paid attention to the dark blue freckles on the king’s face that traced a path over his ear and then down his neck, disappearing into the top of his tunic. He had the same dark freckles on his arms, except they formed rings about the size of Dawson’s palm.
Ul spoke, and after a few seconds, it became clear that the king was speaking to him and expected an answer.
Dawson froze mid-buttering his bread…this time it was actually butter. Was he doing it wrong? Was he supposed to eat the food in a particular order?
“I’m sorry? I don’t know what I’m doing, and I don’t know what you’re saying, so I’m very confused at the moment.”
Confused, but not scared. No one had tried to rough them up or push them around. Perhaps they wanted answers about why the platform was on the island. He wasn’t sure how to explain that in any language. He wasn’t a scientist. He wasn’t smart like that. He was smart enough to figure out that he didn’t want to live the way his parents had, bouncing from job to job and barely scraping by. So he’d found the highest-paying job he could, and if that meant spending weeks on a platform at a time doing whatever job he was told to do, that was fine by him. It wasn’t as though he could spend anything on the platform, and after his first couple of paychecks, he realized that if he got home and spent it all going to the pub with his mates, he’d end up pissing it all against the wall. So he’d stop doing that and read a few books about saving and not living paycheck to paycheck.
Not that his saving account was any use to him now.
Ul smiled, revealing small, white, pointed teeth. He waved his three-finger tentacles as if wanting Dawson to continue.
Continue with what? Rambling?
“Do you want me to keep talking?” This was weird. Everything had been weird since the collapse. It was only the level of weird that varied.
Ul smiled and made that motion again. Dawson glanced at the man who seemed to accompany the king everywhere. The man made a similar gesture, then touched his lips.
He either had food on his face, or they wanted him to talk. Given that he hadn’t eaten yet, he was pretty sure it was thelatter. Though why they wanted him to talk when they didn’t speak the same language, he had no idea.
Still, if that is what the king commanded, that is what he would do. “Okay, so I think you want me to keep talking, which is confusing. More confusing than everything else that is going on. Can I finish buttering my bread? And is that jam? I’m hoping that’s jam.” He pointed at a ceramic bowl that appeared to be filled with berry jam. He hoped it was berries and not something terrible.
Ul pointed to things on the table and named them.
Oh God, languages have never been his strong subject at school. He knew enough to order a drink on Ibiza, and enough terrible French to offend any native speaker.
He smiled and used the spoon in the jam bowl to blob some onto his bread. “I’m going to assume this won’t kill me. Katrina was concerned about food poisoning last night. She waited a couple of hours to see if I’d start throwing up before she ate. I’m not too worried about food poisoning…I’m more worried about eating something that you guys can eat that is toxic to humans. Although you seem human. So if you can eat it, I’m guessing I can eat it.” And he hoped that he wasn’t wrong because berries were one of those things that could kill. Them and mushrooms.
He took a bite of the bread and butter and jam. This bread was not the same coarse brown stuff he’d eaten last night. It was a little softer. Probably because it’s what the king ate. He was having breakfast with the king.
The blonde man opposite him said something to Ul.
“I have no idea what you’re saying. I’m guessing you’re talking about me, which is awkward. And I know you can’t understand me, but I’m hoping I can mime this next part out because I am so curious.” He pointed at himself and then at the man opposite him and the soldier. “Human? We are the same?”
Dawson wasn’t sure if he expected a response or if he was asking his questions out loud just to have something to say.
Ul considered him for several seconds. He pointed at the soldier and the man at the table and said something about them. He ran his tentacle fingers over his head and then pointed at the man at the table, whose name appeared to be Ifer.
Ifer tugged at a lock of his hair, frowned, and pointed at Dawson’s head. He tugged on his hair again, and this time he said Katrina’s name.
Katrina was not a natural blonde. Did they think she was more like them? Did they think he wasn’t like them because his hair was the wrong color?
Ul watched him closely, his dark eyes unreadable, and every time Dawson was silent for too long, the motion was made for him to keep speaking, which made it hard to eat breakfast. He ate a few more pieces of bread, some of the smoked meat, and an apple, the whole while talking. He described the food, the room. He looked at Ul and asked about his arm and his tentacles, and asked what he was.
When the king decided breakfast was over, everyone followed him. “Am I supposed to keep talking? Why do you want me to keep talking?”
Was Katrina spending her day talking, too?
Ul turned and spoke to him as if they were having a conversation. Or at least that was how it sounded to him because it didn’t sound like an order. Ul touched his own mouth with one finger tentacle and then reached out and touched Dawson’s lip as he gave Dawson an order. The dark freckles on Ul’s arm and face changed color, becoming a deep pink.
“Wow…what does that mean?”
Ul stared at his hand as if it had betrayed him.
