Origin of the Body (20 page)

They returned downstairs, Alexander giving her a quick tour of the mainly open plan layout; the kitchen and dining area set slightly off to one side from the large sitting room.  There were enormous windows all around the ground floor, giving panoramic views of the sea beyond, a wood burning stove occupying the edge of the sitting room, which Anita imagined would make for a heavenly setting when a winter storm was raging outside.  The large, squishy sofas were neutral tones with slate grey cushions, the tables made out of driftwood, and flowers were dotted here and there, making the house smell fresh and pure.

Although a house keeper came once a week to clean and ensure everything was in order, Alexander kept no full time servants here, meaning they would need to fend for themselves and Anita would, for the first time, be treated to the delights of Alexander’s cooking.  As a result, they headed into town to buy groceries, leaving the house by the back door and walking along one of the slatted walkways before climbing a flight of steps to the top of the small cliff behind.  To Anita’s surprise, half way up, they came out onto a terrace sporting a tiled swimming pool and several outdoor four poster beds, fabric at their four corners floating lightly in the breeze.  ‘It’s a bit much, isn’t it!’ laughed Alexander, seeing Anita’s reaction.

‘No, it’s beautiful,’ she said, turning around to take in the astonishing view out to sea, ‘just a bit unexpected.’

‘You have no idea the amount of hassle it was putting that pool in,’ he joked, ‘Philip decided he wanted it, but it took five years to build and get operational; it was Philip’s favourite topic of conversation for the best part of a decade!’

Anita laughed, ‘well it was worth it; it’s amazing.’

They continued up the steps to the top, then walked the short distance along the cliffs into the centre of town, not that you could really call it that.  There were five shops on the main street; a butcher, a grocer, a fishmonger, a baker, and a hardware store, which apparently provided sufficient supplies for all who came to stay.  They went from shop to shop, picking up enough food for a couple of days, joking with the shop keepers as they went.

They entered the hardware store, not because they needed anything, but because Anita was curious to see what was for sale, when she heard her name and stopped in her tracks.  ‘…Anita.  I just can’t believe that dear Alexander would stoop so low,’ said the high, prim voice of someone who had the air of a mid-fifties busybody.  ‘I mean of course he should be married by now, but to someone from a nice Spirit family…I suppose with nobody left to guide his choice of wife it’s no surprise he’s been led astray by an avid social climber.’

‘Quite,’ said a more softly spoken women, ‘moving from Marcus to Alexander so quickly; it’s indecent.’

‘The poor boy dodged a bullet if you ask me.  Now she’s got her claws into Alexander and with no father like Austin to protect him, who’s to say if he’ll ever escape?’

‘And at a time like this, when we need the Descendants to work together, not to be pulled apart by a divisive little hussy like her.’

Alexander heard every word, and deciding they’d listened to enough, put his hand on the small of Anita’s back and steered her out of the shop.  They made their way, in silence, back along the cliffs to the house, Anita’s energy despondent, Alexander brooding over what he’d heard.  They reached the safety of the beach house, Alexander dumping the bags in the kitchen before following Anita to the sitting room where she was staring absorbedly out of the windows.

He walked up behind her, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him.  He bowed his head and kissed her hair, willing her to relax into him, wishing her energy would respond.  After a few moments it did, just not in the way he’d hoped.  He felt anger build within her, boiling up until she tore his hands from her and whirled away, putting several paces between them.

‘Anita,’ Alexander started, undeterred by the desolate look on her face, ‘you’ve got to ignore them.  This is what comes with being part of my life; people gossip about me and what I should or shouldn’t be doing, and you’re going to get caught up in it.’

‘But they think I’m some kind of social climbing slut,’ she exclaimed, ‘too lowly for the likes of you.’

‘Because they want me to marry one of their daughters probably,’ he replied, the half laugh on his lips a dreadful mistake.

‘You think this is funny?’

‘No, of course not.  I couldn’t care less what they think, but it’s amusing they even stopped to talk about us; it says a great deal more about them than it does about us.’

‘But people think I’m only with you because I want to marry a Descendant.  You have no idea how that feels.’

‘Anita, you are a Descendant.’

‘So?  They don’t know that.’

‘So who cares what they think?  They don’t know who you are any more than they know who I really am.  They think they have some kind of right over me and my life because I take part in parades and sit in Council meetings, but they don’t.  They’re jealous of you and your proximity to me, especially because they think they’re the kind of people who should be involved in my life; they’re from prominent Spirit families after all.’

Anita turned from him and left the house, heading back up the cliff and Alexander let her go, knowing she needed time to calm down.  Instead, he turned to the food they had just purchased, at least now he would have time to prepare a meal for them without Anita looking over his shoulder.

An hour later, with lamb cutlets marinating, chocolate mousse setting, and salad made, Alexander selected a bottle of sparkling wine from the cellar, a variety made from grapes and not ginger, picked up two glasses, and headed back up the cliff, hoping Anita hadn’t gone too far.  She hadn’t; he found her sitting on one of the daybeds by the swimming pool, looking out at the sea, tracking the progress of the now setting sun.  Her skin was covered with shiny sweat, her face red, her hair dishevelled.  ‘Been running?’ he asked, handing her a glass of wine.

‘Yes,’ she said, looking up at him as she accepted it.  ‘It helped clear my head.’

‘And?’

‘You’re right, I know you are.  The problem is I can’t do anything to influence what people say about me and our relationship; I’m powerless.’

‘Even if you could show them who you really are and the true nature of our relationship, you’d never be able to get everyone on side, and it would drive you mad trying.  Whatever you do will be wrong in the eyes of somebody, take it from me, I’ve been living with it my entire life.’

‘I know, people have whispered about me and how odd I am for my whole life too.  I’ve been winning Body challenges for years, but that’s always been about me and something I’ve chosen to do.  I’ve learnt to deal with that, but I don’t like being someone who’s only noteworthy in relation to someone else.  They were only talking about me because of my relationships with you and Marcus; I could be anyone at all and they would have said exactly the same things about me.’

‘Doesn’t that make it more palatable?  You know that makes it total fiction.’

‘You’re missing the point.  I’m not interested in being noteworthy only because of who my boyfriend or husband is.’

‘But that has nothing to do with this.  You were noteworthy in your own right after you won the Chase, they’ve just moved on to gossip about something else now.  Next time you win a challenge, they’ll talk about you because of that again.’

‘Don’t you think it would be easier if you found some girl from a prominent Spirit family to go out with?’

Alexander laughed, a little off balance from Anita’s sudden change of direction.  ‘People like that women have been trying to make that happen for long enough, and yes, it would be easier, but it would also be my idea of hell…and would probably be more likely to lead to divorce,’ he joked.

Anita shoved him playfully on the arm as he sat down next to her, ‘who said anything about marriage?’ she teased.

‘Who said I was talking about you?’ he fired back.

Anita leaned across, grasped handfuls of his shirt and pulled him towards her.  Alexander smiled, complying with her touch, bending forwards and placing his hands either side of her face.  He rested his forehead against hers, breathing deeply, enjoying her now familiar Jasmine scent as it permeated his lungs.  He closed his eyes, savouring the moment before touching his lips to hers, kissing her with a gentle but demanding intensity, her lips responding softly then more urgently as she moved her hands from his chest to his shoulders and pulled herself on top of him.  He moved his hands to her waist, unbuckling the belt holding her shirt in place as she ran her fingers through his tousled hair, their kisses reaching a new found fervour as each revelled in the other.

Alexander swung her around, pushing her back onto the bed, pulling the shirt up over her head and discarding it as he positioned himself above her and removed his shirt.  She looked up as he hovered over her, moving so he was just out of her reach any time she tried to touch him, leaving her entirely vulnerable to his next move.  He forced her to wait, anticipation rising, as he studied every inch of her toned body, Anita doing the same to his muscular torso.  He leaned forward slowly, reaching down to kiss the middle of her chest, his touch causing a shiver of energy to radiate out from the spot, her back arching as sparks travelled through her.  He dwelled there for a moment, feeling the buzz of their mingling energy travelling between his lips and her skin before moving his attention to the swell of breast visible at the top of her bra.  He bit the skin there, Anita on the edge of pain as she reached for his neck, needing something to hold onto.  He freed her, taking advantage of her arched back to unclip her bra and slide it off her arms, moving his attention to her other breast, taking the recently liberated nipple between his lips, playing with his tongue as she took handfuls of his hair.

He released her slowly, kissing his way down her ribcage, across her stomach, reaching the tantalising dip away from her hip bone.  He blew gently on the sensitive skin, delighting in the gooseflesh that formed, then kissed it away with light touches of his lips, moving his hands to her writhing hips to hold them still.  He removed her underwear, kissing his way slowly down her inner thigh before working his way at leisurely speed back up the other, her energy coursing ever more powerfully as he grew closer.  His lips reached her and her body exploded, powerful convulsions racking through her, Alexander smiling triumphantly.

She relaxed back on the bed, her energy subsiding as Alexander removed his remaining clothes before covering her with his body.  She kissed his lips as he manoeuvred inside her, exhaling reverently as he reached his aim.  He moved above her, sliding his hand under her hips and pulling her into him, her legs wrapped tightly around him, not wanting to let him go.  She pushed him sideways and he rolled them over, Anita now sitting astride him, moving slowly on top of him.  He grabbed her hips and she moved faster, their energy so intermingled that neither one of them knew whose energy belonged to who, the pulsating flow snaking backwards and forwards between them, heightening the ever increasing tension that consumed them.  They climaxed together, a sudden surge of energy coursing through them, electricity radiating out from everywhere they touched.  Anita folded forwards, lying on Alexander, her face resting on his chest.  Alexander wrapped his arms tightly around her, a contented lull settling on them both.

Chapter 11

Draeus walked into Monty’s back room.  It had been a while since the Institution had used it for meetings, but they were running out of safe locations in Kingdom since the demonstrations had stepped up a gear.  Austin had doubled the size of his personal army, so it now outnumbered the official police force of the city three to one.  There was usually so little crime in the capital that there simply wasn’t a need for a bigger force.  Amber, having assumed the role of Austin’s Commander in Chief, had taken to raiding the warehouses by the docks to steal food, not to mention bribing, or probably more accurately, threatening, farmers to make them sell what little produce they had directly to Austin, so they could amply feed their growing militia.  But worse, they had also started capturing and interrogating people they suspected to be instigators of the rebellion, or just members of the Institution, and fear was spreading through the people like wildfire that they would be next to be wrongly carted away.  Amber had herself paid Helena a visit, to warn her she was being watched and to tell her, should she put a single foot out of line, that ‘justice’ would be served.

‘How did it go?’ Helena demanded, as Draeus crossed the threshold of the room to be greeted by the expectant, impatient faces of Helena, Rose, Milly, Bas and Gwyn.

‘Not as well as we’d hoped.  Timi couldn’t work out a way to open the cylinder; he managed to stay in Anita’s head longer than anyone else has, but he did that by anchoring to Anita’s mind, and she passed out under the strain.’

‘I’m sure Alexander loved that,’ said Milly, sarcastically.

‘It didn’t go down overly well,’ he confirmed.

‘Is she alright?’ asked Bas, his concern palpable, Gwyn shooting him a warning glance.

‘She’s fine.  No damage done.  She’s just annoyed we went all that way to no apparent avail.’

‘Where are they now?’ asked Rose, ‘Marcus has been putting out feelers for their whereabouts ever since they left Empire.  I suspect he’s feeling a bit embarrassed by the whole thing.’

‘My son is not embarrassed.  He’s frankly glad to be rid of her after the way she treated him,’ snapped Milly, feeling a venomous pulse of hatred for Anita at the impact she’d had on Marcus, who, despite her best efforts, wasn’t exactly on top of the world.

‘That’s not what I heard,’ said Gwyn, enjoying twisting the knife; she’d never really taken to Milly; far too superior.

‘Enough,’ barked Helena.  ‘We’re not here to discuss petty gossip.  Where are Anita and Alexander now?’

‘At Wild Flower as we planned.  They’ll return to Empire soon and can tell anyone who asks that they were spending time at Alexander’s beach house.’

‘Good,’ said Helena, some of the tension leaving her face.  ‘I suppose the question now is what we do next?  We’ve got to get that cylinder open one way or another.’

‘But we can’t wait for that to happen before we act,’ said Rose, her no nonsense tone not inviting any disagreement, ‘tensions are rising and it won’t be long before Austin starts shooting people in the streets in some misguided attempt to keep the peace.’

‘She’s right,’ said Draeus, ‘we came across a meeting of the rebels in the Wild.  They elected a new, more impatient leader, precisely because he voted for launching a strike against Austin soon.’

‘And the energy’s still dropping,’ added Bas, ‘if we don’t do something soon, we’ll have to start rationing transportation as well as food, and next year’s crop yields will be even worse than this year’s.’

‘So what do you suggest?’ asked Helena.

‘We send the relic back,’ he replied evenly.

Milly and Gwyn sniggered, ‘and how do you intend to do that, given generations of Descendants have failed?’ asked Milly, her tone reminiscent of Austin’s patronizing put downs at Council meetings.

‘Well, aside from the obvious, that Descendants haven’t failed for any reason other than they haven’t tried, I’m not talking about actually sending it back to the Gods, I don’t know how to do that.  What I do know how to do however, is to appear to send the relic back.’

‘What good would that do?’ asked Gwyn, feeling more than a little resistant to the idea that anyone other than a Descendant should have a say in actions concerning the relic.

‘I hope it would follow the same pattern we observed after Christiana’s death,’ Gwyn looked blank, so he kept going.  ‘Christiana died several days before Austin announced her death.  There was no energy reaction until after the announcement was made, meaning it was people’s reaction to her death and not her actual death that made the difference to the energy.  I’m hoping the same thing would hold true for the relic; all we have to do is make the people think the relic has been returned to the Gods.  This should cause a surge in the energy and we can figure out how to actually return the relic later.’

‘So you don’t think the prophecy is true?’ asked Gwyn, flabbergasted.

‘Of course I believe in the prophecy and there is a very real possibility this won’t work, or that the Gods will send us some other kind of punishment for trying it.  I also don’t think it would work as a long term measure; lies have a certain negativity about them, which in itself somehow gets out and spreads, but as a short term measure, I think it could help us preserve order.’

‘Last time you told us about this you still had to try out several hypotheses,’ said Rose, ‘have you figured it out now?’

‘I think so, yes,’ replied Bas, ‘although obviously we can’t have a trial run, so I’m not saying it’s without risk.’

‘How could you possibly have figured it out?’ asked Milly, her lack of enthusiasm palpable, ‘Anderson has been away for weeks.’

Bas’s normal even headedness wavered, ‘Anderson had very little to do with the idea, and I certainly didn’t need him to test my hypotheses.  He’s more of, what I would call, a book based academic than a practical one.’

‘Where is Anderson anyway?’ asked Helena, realizing she had heard nothing of him since he left with Draeus, Alexander and Anita.

‘He stayed at the Cloud Mountain,’ said Draeus quietly.

‘Why?’ Helena demanded.

‘I don’t know I’m afraid.  Said he wanted to stay and look into some of the research going on there and I saw no reason to object.’

‘When’s he coming back?’ Helena asked, riled given she was Anderson’s handler within the Institution and knew nothing of his intention to stay in the Wild.

‘No idea,’ Draeus said offhandedly, ‘but I’ll be returning to the Cloud Mountain shortly, so I can ask him when I get there.’

‘Fine,’ said Helena, her brow furrowed in thought.  ‘Bas’ idea is the only one we have and I think it could work.  What do you need us to do to help?’ she asked.

‘Well the most important thing we lack is the support of the ruling Descendants,’ he said, matter of factly.  ‘I can get the technical side set up in a few weeks but if the Descendants aren’t there to put on a show, the whole plan falls apart.’

‘Alexander will help us,’ said Helena confidently, ‘and Gwyn, I think we should have you there and not Peter; the Body bloodline travels through women after all.’

Every face turned to Gwyn, who shook her head in disbelief, then got up and left the room without a word.  Bas shot Helena a look that clearly conveyed his disapproval and got up to go after her.  ‘It’s down to you to sway her Bas,’ said Helena, her words flowing unhelpfully after him.

‘And what do we do about Austin?’ asked Milly, the light play of a malicious smile crossing her lips.

‘What do you suggest?’ asked Rose, jumping in before Helena had a chance to let her emotions respond.

‘The only way to get to Austin is via Marcus,’ she said coolly, ‘even though I have no doubt you’ll try one of your midnight encounters with my ex-husband Helena.’

Helena looked ready to punch Milly, so Rose intervened once more, ‘do you think you can get Marcus on side?’ she asked, knowing full well the enormity of the task they were asking of her.

‘I have no idea,’ she replied, ‘but I suppose I’ll have to try.’  Milly got up and made for the door, ‘I’ll be in touch if and when I have news,’ she said, closing the door behind her.

Draeus, Helena and Rose sat back in their chairs, Helena and Rose looking more than a little ragged.  ‘The trials of leadership,’ said Draeus, as he poured them all strong, black coffee from the pot in the middle of the table.

‘Don’t mock,’ Helena sniped, but they all knew the warning had little venom in it and Draeus smiled at her indulgently.

‘I suppose all we can do now is wait,’ said Rose, sipping tentatively at her coffee before adding a liberal quantity of cream.

‘I suppose so,’ said Helena.  ‘Why are you going back to the Cloud Mountain so soon?’ she asked Draeus.  He usually steered clear of the place, preferring those who worked for him to make the trips on his behalf.

‘Timi wants large quantities of a number of things and insisted I be the one to personally oversee the shipments.’

‘What does he want?’ asked Helena.  Timi was always looking to fortify his precious mountain retreat, so the news was no particular surprise.

‘Everything and anything, from different types of metals, to rare dried flowers, to seeds and bulbs, to building supplies.  You name it, he probably wants some of it.’

‘Why?’ asked Rose.

‘No idea, but he’s paying handsomely for it and wants the utmost discretion, so I take it I can trust you two not to go gossiping?’

‘It never really was our style,’ replied Rose dryly.

‘In which case, I have some buying to do, so if you’ll excuse me.’

Draeus left the two women alone.  ‘Be careful of Timi,’ said Helena before he made it out of earshot, ‘he’s the most devious person I know.’

*****

Bas and Gwyn sat on the top floor of the Observatory, legs dangling over the side, Bas feeling a little odd for it not to be Anita next to him as he sat staring out over Empire.  ‘I’m just not convinced this is the only way,’ said Gwyn.  ‘Austin keeps saying he has a better plan, another way to tackle the situation.’

‘Refreshing to hear he’s finally acknowledging we have ‘a situation’,’ replied Bas, not trying to hide the hostility he felt.

‘He can hardly deny there’s something wrong when there are round the clock protests outside his houses and all the Temples.’

‘That’s just a symptom.  Has he acknowledged the real cause of the problem?’

‘He’s just doing what he thinks is right,’ Gwyn said defensively.  Austin had been the Descendant she’d listened to for such a long time, it seemed wrong not to listen to him now.

‘So he says, but he’s totally wrong and following his ‘do nothing’ approach means scores of people will die, either at the hands of his burgeoning army, or because they don’t have enough food to eat.’

‘He says he has another plan to fix this.’

‘Really?  And what is that?’

‘I don’t know; obviously he’s not going to tell me.’

‘And let’s assume for just a moment that his plan fails?  Or that he doesn’t really have a plan, seeing as he’s not keen on sharing it?  Or that his plan is to in fact use his army to take over and try to lead by himself?’

‘He wouldn’t do that.’

‘Really?  Give me one convincing reason why not.’

‘Because he swore an oath.’

‘Like all ruling Descendants do?  To find a way to send the relic back?  Fat lot of good that does anyone.’

‘How dare you.  You have no idea what goes on behind the closed doors of our residences.’

‘You’re trying to tell me it’s research into how to send the relic back?’ he laughed, and regretted it instantly.

‘Gods, Bas, how can you mock me when all you do is sit here looking at declining energy readings whilst pining for Anita, who never has been and never will be interested in you.’

Bas’ face tumbled, pain contorting his features, his energy choked up inside as he struggled to clear the fuzz of shock, searching for some words to say.  He realized he couldn’t, nothing seemed suitable after such an unnecessary, personal escalation.  Instead, he met Gwyn’s eyes with a confused look, then got up and left her, needing more than anything else to be on his own, craving the rush of the river for company rather than that of this spiteful girl who he had thought he’d been falling in love with.

‘Bas,’ she called after him as he ducked through the window and hurtled down the stairs, almost knocking Patrick over as he whistled passed.  ‘Bas, come back,’ she pleaded, but he was gone, and even if he’d heard her, his brain would have blocked out her words.

Instead, Gwyn’s words were answered with an unexpected voice, Patrick’s.  ‘Are you alright?’ he asked gently, making his way out onto the roof, perching on a pipe.

‘Do I look alright?’ Gwyn snapped, wanting this little runt of a man to disappear.

‘Not really, no,’ he replied frankly.  ‘You look like you’ve been caught up in Bas’ never ending affections for Anita.’

Gwyn looked round, shocked at his words.  ‘What do you mean?’ she demanded.

‘Sorry, but I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation with Bas.  It seems to me he’s only going through with this whole sorry business for Anita; he’s been looking for a way to impress her for as long as I can remember, and if he solves this, I think it’s safe to say he’d achieve that.’  Patrick paused, the air pregnant with implication.