broccolifloret

  After hearing a persistent rattling for some time, I opened my eyes. It was Valentino attempting to open the compartment window. Our window looked into the east, and the morning sun had surrounded him in a shining halo.

  "I think it's stuck." I rubbed my eyes.

  "Sorry I woke Your Excellency up."

  "Don't be. I never sleep well on moving vehicles."

  Not really, but he didn't need to know what had happened to me st night. My stomach was too empty for me to think about it; sharing it with anybody else was out of the question.

  I could get ready for the day real quick. Change my underpants, wash my face and brush my teeth with half a cup of water—living next to the desert will teach you to do this efficiently—and give my hair a comb-over. We could shower in the city ter that day.

  As for Valentino, he was shaving the excess of his goatee with the help of a hand mirror he'd propped up on the window. I had nothing better to do, so I looked at him. He'd already undone his braid, combed it, and rebraided it. His uniform pants and shirt were almost as neat as st day.

  "Man, I sure wouldn't shave in a moving train," I said. "No offense, you look real good."

  "Your Excellency shaves?"

  "Yeah, once a week. Else I grow this stupid li'l mustache that makes me look fifteen. I get that from the brown side of the family, of course. Inherintance's so weird though. My Dad's less white than me and he has a great mustache. You know, I haven't seen him in a while. Did you ever hear about him? His name is Indigo Mamani. He's a professor. Teaches biology at—University of Science Bamaris, I think."

  He folded the hand mirror with a snap. "I'm unfamiliar with universities."

  "Oh, sorry. You went to the Guards' Academy, didn't you? Hope you didn't think I'm some dumb hick who thinks everyone in the capital knows the same four pces. I know just how big it is! It's just that, as long as there was a chance, I had to try it."

  "I'm the one who spoke out of turn."

  "That's not true and you know it. You don't have to apologize to me just 'cause I'm reted to Her Magnificence."

  Valentino smiled. Not sure if he meant it. "If I hear anything about Your Excellency's Dad, I'll let you know. How's that sound?"

  "Much better. Let's grab a cup of coffee and have some leftovers for breakfast."

  We shared the wagon with a couple of families, including a handful of rowdy kids, and a few farmhands. I made some small talk with them while the children stampeded down the hallway shouting at the top of their lungs. Valentino kept an eye on the miniature crowd, but I knew better than to mention the situation in High Tomenedra. I wasn't really focused on the rest of our conversation—how supplies and water reservoirs were faring in this dry season, whether anybody had seen weird mirages coming out of the desert, the usual. I could follow that kind of talk asleep.

  I shared some of our provisions with our neighbors and got a bowl of chicha and a sopapil for each of us in exchange. Our fellow passengers kept gncing toward Valentino, all tall and blond in his still as-spotless-as-possible uniform, though they tried not to let it show. Better not to stick around too long.

  Valentino said nothing, but surely he wasn't stupid. And even if he'd been, our encounter with the Tekitekis in El Meandro would've clued him in. By the time we returned to our compartment with a cup of coffee, I felt the need to end the silence before it grew too thick and uncomfortable.

  We sat side by side on his bunk. "How many little siblings do you have, anyway? Or are yours cousins, too?"

  He'd folded one leg primly over the other. "Where did Your Excellency get that from?"

  Much like Vanth, he'd reacted to my question with polite suspicion. Amusing and irritating.

  "From the way you behave with children. People around here are sort of used to looking after everyone's children, but I know it's different in the capital."

  He sipped his coffee in silence and I wondered if I'd gotten it wrong after all. But I didn't wonder much longer.

  "I see. Does Your Excellency suggest I keep my distance from children?"

  "No, don't worry." I slumped on Valentino's bunk, staring at the bottom of mine with my empty cup on my chest. "You like them, don't you?"

  "I guess I do. Didn't it occur to Your Excellency that I could be a parent instead?"

  "Well, yeah. But you've spent over a decade with the Academy and the guards. You'd barely get to see your kids. I hoped it wouldn't be so depressing."

  He shook his head, though he was smiling. "Fine. Your Excellency wins. I have five younger siblings. None of them is my full sibling and two aren't of my blood at all—my step-parents's children."

  Just now, his voice sounded just a little bit happier.

  "Come on, man. Don't stop there. Tell me more."

  "I'd hate to bore Your Excellency."

  "Hey, I wouldn't ask just to look polite. I really wanna know."

  It was nice of him to warn me, because he had a lot to say. Once he realized I was actually listening, he went on and on about this one brother's marriage and this one sister's job and how this other sister didn't talk to her own parents anymore but she did talk to Valentino, and he was the only one who'd visited this other brother in jail and had made a point of cooking his favorite dish, veggie sagna. I wondered if Valentino was worried about getting kicked out of the Sabrewings or something, what with the criminal brother, but of course I didn't know him well enough to make such a delicate question. I wondered if he was a bit ashamed of whatever this brother had gotten into, and of the crowd that other sister frequented these days, but all I got was that he regretted burning the bèchamel sauce.

  "Hey, you can make bèchamel sauce," I pointed out. "I don't think I could."

  Valentino looked away. "It's not hard at all. In truth, I'm not much of a cook."

  "But you did cook it." Which is to say, he was the one willing to do it. But as I said, that felt like wandering into personal grounds. It was enough that Valentino was sharing this much with me. I felt as if a skittish lizard crawled over my boot.

  He told me a few more anecdotes, until I started losing context and getting the siblings mixed up. Like many of my lovers, Valentino had finally gotten to the point where he was simply letting it all out, so he wasn't entirely aware of what he'd already told me and what he hadn't. When he started with the children of his siblings, I lost the thread for good. Good thing I didn't let it show.

  At first, Valentino gnced at me out of the corner of his eye, as if to make sure I still followed him. I suppose some people say they want to hear your story but change their minds halfway through. Me, I always like it when people are forthcoming. Sure, you may not hear anything useful, and you'll probably have to sift through a lot of stuff, but it's much more pleasant than having to draw the words out of a reluctant conversationalist.

  "And Sonia won't go to uni." This was the youngest, one Sonia Zerem. "When I mention it, she practically runs away. None of the others went but I expected more from her, y'know? She's the smart one."

  "I could talk to her," I offered. "Y'know, subtly."

  "Of course Your Excellency'll be busy in the capital."

  "Yeah, but that's why I'd like to take a break and meet with friends." That reminded me I'd invited myself to Vanth's scary manor. They sold pnners in High Tomenedra, right? I'd never owned one, but I'd seen some of my lovers use them to keep track of appointments. It was kind of exciting to think I'd have the chance to do the same.

  "We can try to align our schedules." He stretched out his legs. "And it's not as if I don't get where they're coming from. My siblings, I mean. You can hang your diploma in the wall, but in the end, if you're not already rich you'll probably end up working on a factory or driving a coach no matter what."

  "Yeah, I get it. My other parent was one of those. One of the rich people who got their title from another rich person with a title, I mean. His name was Jano Bariskol. I don't even have to ask if you've heard of him 'cause I know you didn't. Had a low profile. Yeah, he never used the Lemarezin name. Guess that made him an eccentric."

  If I had to have something in common with my other parent, not calling myself a Lemarezin might as well be it.

  Valentino looked at me with barely concealed curiosity.

  "Ask away," I said. "After all, you told me about your family. Though I don't have much to share."

  "Would Your Excellency mind telling me when he died?"

  "About twelve years ago. Yeah, when I went to the capital. As you can see, he can't be the necromancer."

  Valentino looked at the wall as if he was gazing into the distance. That was probably the same look I had when the gears in my mind started turning.

  "He can't be the one siccing creatures from the Underworld on Your Excellency. But that doesn't mean he can't be involved."

  That was the same thing Vanth had told me. Surely he couldn't be conspiring with Valentino behind my back. No, that was a silly thought. More likely they'd both reached a simir conclusion because it made sense. I'd have to take this seriously.

  "For example?"

  "Yesterday Your Excellency wondered about a bck market for crystallized murder. Though there's no such thing, there is one for other necromantic supplies. Especially those sourced from Her Magnificence's blood retives."

  "Wait, wait. Don't they cremate bodies to prevent this?"

  "This is required by w, but the w can be broken."

  "Yeah. I don't even want to imagine what'd happen to someone found selling bits and pieces of one of the Lemarezins."

  "Rest assured there won't be any bits of them left to sell. If somebody's already inclined to take the risk, though, there's another thing that can sway them. People tend to use things like hair or fingernails in spells because it's retively easy to find clippings of them. This is rarely discussed outside w enforcement, to dissuade perpetrators, but other body parts are in fact more effective."

  Oh, wonderful. Someone could be using Jano Bariskol's bones or whatever against me. It figures he'd be a liability even after death.

  Luckily Omedura was already growing rger in the horizon. I needed to leave that cramped compartment behind and stretch my legs. We made sure all of our stuff was properly packed and nothing had been forgotten in a corner. An easy task, as our belongings were few and the compartment pretty bare. Valentino offered to carry my bundle.

  "Your Excellency looks a little bit faint," he expined.

  I hoisted the bundle higher and made sure my sleeve covered the snake bracelet. "Not at all. I'll look better once I've soaked up sunlight. I'm not used to spending the whole morning cooped up in a box."

  He smiled sympathetically. "Or to hear about someone smuggling your parent's body parts, one supposses."

  I smiled, though that wasn't it. The Lemarezins would use us and throw us away without an instant's hesitation. Alive or dead, it made no difference. Jano Bariskol could refuse to cim that woman's name all he wanted. He was still one of them, so I didn't feel any concern over his dusty bones.