Chapter Eight
The contents of the treasure box were laid out on the bedspread in Serena and Gadeth's room. It was not exactly their place, only a spare bedroom that they used when it was more convenient for everyone for them to be at the palace rather than at the Schezar estate (which the crew of the Crusade were now referring to as Fort Schezar). Gadeth always complained about the canopy and curtains on the bed, saying he had spent enough time sleeping in tents during basic training and it was just weird to have a tent inside a room. Today he was out with the crew, running them through manoeuvres, trying to pull them back into condition. Serena found herself missing him whenever there was a lull in her thoughts; a very specific loneliness popped forward and got her attention. It helped to focus on other things, like entertaining Cid. Besides, he would be back late tonight.
'And this,' she said, proud of knowing the word, 'is a ceedee which I found on a stall in the bazaar. It's a recording of music, but we don't have the right kind of music box to play it. And these marks on this side are English letters. They say "The Beatles - Help!"'
'What does that mean?' Cid asked. He turned the ceedee carefully over in his hands, admiring the rainbows on its surface.
'I have to admit I have no idea. "Beatles" isn't even a real word, unless it's a mistake for "beetles," which means bugs. And I'm not sure why they want help either.'
'Maybe it's a distress signal, like a message in a bottle, and if we could play it we could find out where to find them,' Cid said.
'Maybe. But we can't. Poor old Beatles - they'll just have to help themselves.'
'I hope they're all right,' Cid said. 'I hope they sent more than one message and someone found one who could do something about it.'
'I want to know how insects managed to make a ceedee, anyway,' Serena said. Cid put the disc carefully back on the bed and picked up another item.
'What's this?'
'I'm afraid I don't know. I just bought it because I couldn't tell what it was, so I hoped it might be from the Phantom Moon. It's made out of plastic, which was invented in Zaibach forty-odd years ago, but there was never anything like that in the Zaibach shops.'
Cid looked at the object in his hands. 'It's really weird-looking, whatever it is.'
'I know. Isn't it neat?'
'Why do you collect all this stuff?' Cid asked, putting down the unidentifable object and picking up a very small watch on a cunning strap like a belt that let you buckle it round your wrist instead of hanging it on a chain. Unfortunately, it had stopped ticking, and Serena couldn't find any way to wind it up again. There was a crown on the side to adjust the position of the hands, but not one to wind the spring, if there was a spring. 'Hitomi had one kind of like this, I saw her wearing it.'
'I'm not sure why I collect it. It's just interesting to me. I like to wonder what these things are really for, and what the people's lives are like who use them, and who these ones used to belong to. And sometimes I just wonder why anyone would want them, like this.' She picked up a troll doll and waggled it at Cid. 'Who in the world would want something like this? Who in the world would make it?' She tickled his nose with the troll's tuft of bright green hair. He laughed and grabbed it.
'No-one in the world, that's the point. It's another world.'
'Yeah, well, if I ever get to go there I'm taking that doll, and the first person I see, I'm going to shove it under his nose and say "Explain!"' They both laughed at that.
'I bet Hitomi can explain it, if she ever comes back,' Cid said. 'I really hope she does. I want to show her how we're fixing things up in Freid.'
'I'd just like to meet her,' Serena said. 'Oh well. Listen, we'd better get scrubbed up for dinner.'
'It's going to be horrible,' Cid said. 'I bet Van'll be glaring at everyone again. He's really grumpy.'
'You never know,' Serena said. 'Maybe he'll cheer up when he smells food. Anyway, you and I will have fun. So buck up and get ready - I need you to be my partner tonight.'
'I can't believe you're replacing me with a six-year-old,' Gadeth said from the doorway. Serena sprang off the bed.
'What are you doing back?' she cried, and ran to hug him.
'The weather got too bad to keep going,' he said. 'We almost didn't get back to the city, and it was much too far to go back to camp. There I was trudging through the snow, mile after mile, all the while thinking my dear little wife was waiting faithfully for me at home, and a handsome prince has stolen her heart.'
'You great twerp,' she said, and kissed him.
'Yuck!' said Cid. 'Mush!' He stuck out his tongue and grinned at them.
'That's enough out of you, mister blister - go on and get changed.' He ran out of the room, Serena swatting at him and missing on purpose as he passed. Outside, the wind howled suddenly and rattled the glass in the window, slapping it with sleet.
'That sounds awful,' Serena said. 'I'm so glad you're not out in it.'
'So am I, believe me. A warm dry room with you in it is a lot more appealing than sitting out a snowstorm in the lee of a bank with a bunch of muddy men bitching and moaning about their cold feet and their cold nuts.'
'Aw, your hair's still all cold and wet.'
'Warm me up.'
Of course, relative newlyweds still have an excuse for this sort of behaviour.
The morning came cold and clear, and with the news that Millerna was indisposed.
'Indisposed?' Cid repeated.
'Throwing up,' said Serena.
'Thank you for that graphic footnote,' Allen said. He looked tired and cross. 'Actually, I think she may have caught your cold. Which has put her in a panic about the health of the baby, and I was up with her half the night. Please try to keep your germs to yourself in future.'
'Sorry,' Serena said, and blew her nose again. She looked really ill this morning, with shadows under her eyes and an increasingly pink nose. Van glanced from one end of the breakfast table to the other - they were certainly an unprepossessing group that morning. He had had trouble sleeping, and when he had dozed off it had only been to dreams where he followed Hitomi through a huge, confusing city, never able to catch up with her. The only bright-eyed one was Cid, who was putting so much brown sugar on his porridge that it was practically syrup with oats in it.
'You'll make yourself ill with that lot,' Gadeth told him. 'Or so hyperactive you'll be bouncing off the walls.'
'This is how I like it,' he said adamantly, and put another spoonful on. 'Is there any honey? The runny kind. I want to write my name on the top.'
'Just eat the bowl of sugar you've got already, why don't you?' Serena said wearily. She was not quite talking in the 'I hab a code id by dose' way, but her speech was a little thick.
'I'd better see how Millerna is getting on,' Allen said. 'She's hoping to be up by lunchtime, so we can get on with things in the afternoon.' He left the room, leaving most of his toast untouched.
'Gawd,' said Serena. 'This promises to be a really revolting day. At least the weather is better.' The sun was very bright, if not warm.
'No decisions this morning, then,' Van said. 'And a house full of people sniffing.'
'It's only me,' Serena protested, 'and I don't keep sniffing, I blow. Though I suppose Gadeth will catch it too, won't you, love?'
'No - I never catch colds,' Gadeth said. His wife gave him a Look. 'Well, I'd love to keep you company, but it's not my fault if I've got a natural resistance, is it? You should be glad I'll be strong and healthy to take care of you.' She relented and smiled.
'So what will we do all morning?' Cid asked. He had shovelled up the sugary porridge already and was now working his way through a round of toast with honey. (The creamy clover kind, not the runny kind.)
'I don't know,' Serena said. 'A basin of hot water with eucalyptus in it and a towel over my head sound tempting.' Cid looked disappointed. He had been relying on her to be the fun grown-up. 'But,' she went on, 'I guess I can't leave my favourite nephew to kick around feeling bored. Want to go to the bazaar and look for weird things?'
'Is the bazaar even open in winter?' Van asked. 'There's a foot of snow on the ground.'
'Oh yes,' Serena said. 'They just move it undercover. There's a big old guild-hall they've taken over. You should come, it's fun.'
When the bazaar was indoors, there was nowhere for the smells to go, so the air was a rich blend of perfumes, people-odours, animal-odours and hot food-odours, and as you moved among the stalls you walked into clouds of different aromas. Serena, Gadeth and Cid were occupied with a game called Name That Smell, walking together while Van trailed along behind them. Cid was holding Serena's hand, swinging from her arm and laughing up at her because she couldn't smell a thing. They looked strangely like a real family, though of course Serena was far too young to have a child that age.
The bazaar was packed, as you would expect on a day when the skies had cleared and people wanted to get out of the house, and the impression of crowding was heightened by being indoors. There was less space between booths than there would have been in a street, and you were always at risk of backing into a display of vegetables, or jostling someone, turning around to say sorry and finding it was a dancing bear. The others had stopped in front of a tented booth, so he caught up with them almost without meaning to, just drifting to a stop alongside them.
There was a sandwichboard sign in front of the tent, with a large blue hand painted on it. Above it was the name 'Mysteriosa' and below it the words 'Chiromancy, palmistry, fortune-telling.'
'Well, with a name like Mysteriosa she's just got to be good,' Gadeth said, sounding amused.
'But fortune-telling works,' Cid said. 'Hitomi read my fortune and she told me I was going to become a good ruler and lots of people would help me. That's coming true - at least the other people part is, and I have to make sure the me part does.'
'You can't trust fortune-telling,' Van said.
'That's rich coming from someone whose life has frequently depended entirely on someone else's psychic abilities,' Serena said. 'If Hitomi hadn't been able to "see" cloaked Alseides, you would be' She suddenly looked uncomfortable, realising how tactless that was from all points of view. 'Well, the point is, you trusted her. You relied on her.'
'And I shouldn't have,' Van said. 'It wasn't fair to her.'
'Can we not have such a deep conversation when we're just talking about a gypsy palm-reader?' Serena suggested. 'I think this looks like fun. I'm going in.'
'I want to see too,' said Cid. Serena lifted the flap of the tent and looked in, Cid peering round her. They saw a small round table, lit by a softly hissing oil lamp hanging from the top of the tent. Sitting behind it was a woman veiled in dark blue. The only part of her that showed was her eyes, which were rather prominent and an unusual tawny yellow. She was looking directly at them as though she had been expecting them, although since she had probably been able to hear them talking outside there was nothing mystical about that.
'Hello,' Serena said. 'Could I get my fortune told?'
'Yes,' said Mysteriosa. 'The price is two silver.'
'That's reasonable,' Serena said. She took the chair opposite Mysteriosa at the table. Cid stood by her, watching Mysteriosa closely in case she did anything particularly magical.
'What a dear little boy,' said Mysteriosa. 'I think you two are related, but he is not your son. A cousin, perhaps, or a nephew?'
'Hey, she's not bad,' said Gadeth. He and Van were watching through the tent flap.
'There's nothing special about that,' Van said. 'She's obviously too young to be his mother but they look related. He's probably not her brother because there's such a big age difference. Anyone could work it out.'
'I mean her delivery's not bad,' Gadeth said. 'A bit of hocus-pocus, but not too much mumbo-jumbo.'
'Hey,' said Mysteriosa sharply. 'Quiet in the cheap seats.'
'Sorry,' said Gadeth, 'we'll shut up.' He winked at Van. Serena was taking off her gloves.
'Please show me your right hand, palm up,' said the palmist. She pulled Serena's hand a little further forward, to get it in the best light, and started to trace the lines with a forefinger. She did not speak. After a minute she made a puzzled sound in her throat and said 'Could you show me the other hand, as well? Take off your ring.'
Serena put her left hand on the table too. The palmist inspected that thoroughly too. It seemed to bother her. She made a 'tsk, tsk' noise.
'What?' said Serena. 'Is something wrong?'
'Young woman, are you playing some kind of silly trick?' Mysteriosa asked. 'People don't have hands like this. I don't know how you can fake it, but I can't believe in this.'
'No, I'm not - these are my real hands. What's strange about them? They've got four fingers and one thumb each.' Serena sounded a little affronted.
'You really don't see it?'
'I'm not a palmist. Tell me what you're talking about.'
Mysteriosa sighed. 'Well, just to pick on the most obvious feature, you appear to have two lifelines on each hand. One is significantly shorter than the other, but it's still a distinct line, not just chaining or an unrelated crease. In addition to that - well, I would expect your two palms to be more or less mirror images of each other, differing in some points, of course, according to which is the dominant hand. From this I can interpret information about your past, your likely future, and the underlying personality that is the cause of these. But your hands contradict each other. The sinister hand shows completely different character traits from the dexter.'
'What do you mean, sinister?'
'It's just an older word for left. Dexter means right. But this is sinister. I can see cruelty, anger, excessive self-love, lack of foresight, impetuous action, a propensity to violence and obsession - this is not a nice hand. But your right hand has all the hallmarks of a loyal, affectionate nature, a tendency to think deeply, even to the point of overthinking things, deep ties with the people you love, and protective strength. It's like a different person. Complete contradiction. I might expect to find some oddities in a person like yourself - dressed like a man - but this looks as though you've been two different people in your lifetime.' She shook her head over Serena's contrary hands.
'You're not from around here, are you?' asked Gadeth from the door.
'No. My homeland is shrouded in mystery. I have just arrived in your country. Why?'
'She has been two different people. Have you really not heard about Serena Schezar?'
Mysteriosa did a double-take. 'She's that one?'
'Serena Schezar Finn,' Serena said helpfully. She put her wedding ring back on. 'Apparently you're not as clairvoyant as all that.'
'That's a different branch of the Art,' Mysteriosa protested. 'I just do hands.'
'Can you tell me anything about my future,' Serena asked, 'or are my hands just too confusing?'
'Let me look at the right hand again,' Mysteriosa said desperately. She was clearly rattled. 'Well yes, I would interpret that shorter lifeline as related to the, the previous character traits indicated in your left hand. You can see how it fades out, whereas this one, the dominant lifeline, I suppose I would say, continues very clear and strong. That means good health, a robust constitution.'
Serena fished out her handkerchief with her free hand and blew her nose.
'Yes, well, minor ailments aside, obviously. I see I see travel, possibly a journey over water'
'She's already had a tall dark stranger,' Gadeth chipped in, 'but we know each other quite well now.'
'And strong, clear heart line just one great love for you, I think, and it looks lasting.'
'There I am again,' said Gadeth, and nudged Van.
'I see I do see children, although perhaps not any time soon. It's difficult to give exact times expect at least three. Possibly twins at some stage. These are the good things. I feel I must also warn you that you will have some extremely difficult times. Life will test you often, and the tests will be hard. You have many strengths to draw on, but the outcome depends on your resolve. I can't see any more than that, not clearly.' She let go of Serena's hand and sat back. 'Because of the unusual nature of the hand, I can't even guarantee the accuracy of this reading.'
'Well,,' said Serena. She drew her gloves back on. 'What do I owe you again?'
'Three silver,' Mysteriosa said promptly.
'Ah, you said two when she came in,' Gadeth pointed out.
'It's extra for bringing hecklers,' she said crossly. 'And creepy little kids who stare at me when I'm trying to read.'
'I'm not creepy,' Cid said indignantly. 'And I know a better fortune-teller than you, anyway.'
'Never mind, Ciddy,' Serena said. 'We've given her enough trouble for one day.' She put the money on the table and got up to go.
'Just watch out,' Mysteriosa said. 'You're split two ways and that's never easy.'
'I'm not split,' Serena said. 'Not any more.'
'Just watch out, that's all I'm saying,' Mysteriosa said. 'Now go before you scare off my next customers.'
'I'm definitely not impressed with her,' Cid said, when they were back out in the hall. 'She didn't know what she was talking about and she had a smelly bottle under the table.'
Serena laughed. 'Well, I'm glad I have you and Gadeth to remind me not to take her too seriously.'
'I said it from the beginning,' Van reminded her.
'Well, you too, then.'
'But actually, I think she might have had a point.'
'Just drop it, would you? Look there, Cid. That's one of the best stalls I've found for Moon junk.' She led him over to a large booth crammed with bric-a-brac, and a big table covered in boxes of stuff.
'What did you want to say that for?' Gadeth asked Van. 'You'll just upset her. And I don't care if you're a king, if you upset my wife you make an enemy of me. So get that look off your face.' He followed Serena and Cid. Van was a little hurt by that; he'd always rather liked Gadeth. Even when he had problems with Allen, the crew of Crusade had been good to him. Alienating one of them made him uncomfortable. He decided to really try to be more agreeable, and caught up with the others, bending over the table.
'Now don't get disappointed if you don't find anything good,' Serena was telling Cid, 'because most days you don't find anything. We're seeking the rare and bizarre and that doesn't just show up in the first place you look.'
'What about this?' asked Cid, holding up a metal object with a wooden handle.
'That is pretty weird,' Serena admitted. 'I wonder what it could be used for?'
'It's an apple corer,' Gadeth said. 'My mother has one.'
'Spoilsport,' said Cid.
'It's always apples with you, isn't it?' Serena said. 'Your father would be happy.'
'What are you hoping to find, anyway?' Van asked. Be pleasant, take an interest.
' Things that might have come from the Phantom Moon,' Serena said. 'We don't know if there's someone bringing them here, or if they somehow get here by themselves, but every now and then they show up, usually on stalls like this, because people don't know what they are but they look interesting. So they stick them in jumble trays like these, and you can get them cheap.'
'But you don't know what they are either,' Van pointed out, glancing into a tray. 'They might be cheap, but they're completely useless.'
'I don't only buy things I don't recognise,' Serena replied. 'I buy real things too. I have to squander the Schezar family fortune somehow, and my chosen method is shopping.'
'She keeps buying me shirts,' Gadeth said in a weary tone.
'You were saying you didn't have enough!'
'Actually, I was saying that you wearing my shirts all the time meant I didn't have enough.'
'Well, now there are enough for both of us. I know it's girly, but I just like buying things for us. It's a nesting instinct. And most of what I buy, you like - you like the new quilt we've got at home.'
Van watched the two of them talking, bickering, getting close to arguing but always good-humoured, completely comfortable together. He felt miserably envious. I wish I could just stop thinking about this. Yes, I miss her. I'm going to have to miss her for the rest of my life. I shouldn't be dwelling on it. He picked over the contents of one of the junk trays, hoping to see something that would distract him. Beside him, Cid was happily occupied with the same thing. His tray was mostly full of buttons, buckles, earrings without mates and old military medals, so it made a satisfying amount of rattling and clinking as he pawed through the tarnished heap. His chin was just over the edge of the tray, and he was standing on tiptoe. He's being a normal little boy. That's nice to see but it's strange at the same time, because this afternoon he has to help decide the fate of a nation. I have to do that too and here I am killing time in a market. I thought my life would change forever when I became king, and it did, and yet there are still lots of times when I find myself just hanging around like a kid. I wish Meruru were here; she'd enjoy this. She was always more of a magpie than a blackbird. I could buy her a toffee apple. If she'd eat it now she's being all grown-up.
'Look at this!' Cid breathed. Van turned to look, and his own breath caught in his throat. Dangling from Cid's mittened hand was a fine gold chain. Suspended from it was a smooth pink teardrop of a jewel, tipped with gold. It was like Hitomi's. It could have been Hitomi's.
'That's beautiful,' Serena said, quietly so the stallholder wouldn't hear and realise they were impressed. 'It must be in this box by mistake. No-one would sell something like that as junk.'
'You know, Hitomi had one just like that,' Gadeth said. 'The same setting and everything.'
'I know,' said Cid. 'She could do magic with it - it told her where people were.'
'I've never seen a jewel quite like that,' Serena said. 'It's got a colour like rose quartz but it's so clear. No, on second thought, I have seen something like that but not in jewellery - the big stone on the front of Escaflowne. It's like Energist but bigger and purer.' She bit her lip and tentatively touched the jewel with her fingertips, then closed her hand around it. 'I'm definitely getting this.'
'It's the same, isn't it, Van?' Cid said. Van found he couldn't speak easily. It was just so wrong that a pendant like Hitomi's should be on a junk stall in the Pallas bazaar. It was wrong that there should be a pendant like Hitomi's. It should be as unique as she was. Other people, people who didn't even know her, shouldn't be able to just buy something that to him, was a part of her. But how could he say that to them? He decided to take the easy way and nodded.
Cid let go of the pendant's chain and Serena scooped a medal and a hair comb with a row of ribbon roses on it into her hand with it.
'I've got three items from the two-a-penny box,' she called to the stallholder, who was at the other end of his table arranging a silver-backed mirror, brush and comb set so you didn't notice how many teeth the comb was missing. 'So what do I owe you?'
'One and a half peizos,' the stallholder said. 'What do they teach you these days?' Serena paid him and turned to go.
'But I want to look for more weirdness,' Cid protested.
'We've used up our luck at this stall,' Serena said. 'We need to try somewhere else now.' She led the way to a reasonably clear space by a meat pie stand before looking at the pendant again. 'Call me a thief, because that was a steal!'
'Do you feel good about defrauding that man?' Van asked. He could tell he was going to be out of sorts for the rest of the day now. Seeing Serena gloat over her purchase had put the lid on it.
'Yes,' Serena said, defiantly. 'I feel excellent. Gadeth, could you help me put it on?'
'Are you supposed to wear jewellery in uniform?' Gadeth asked, trying to get the catch to open.
'I can hide it under this daft cravatty thing,' Serena said. 'You know, it wasn't until I looked at myself in this uniform that I realised you have to be a man to wear it without looking like a girl.'
'That doesn't make any sense,' Cid said. He was pinning the medal on the front of his coat.
'Well, come on, puffed sleeves,' Serena said.
'Everyone wears puffed sleeves,' Gadeth said defensively. 'They're in the uniform.' He closed the catch and let the chain fall against Serena's neck. She lifted the stone and looked at it happily.
'You know what?' Van said. 'I think I'll just go back to the palace. I have some things to get organised. Thanks for letting me come, but I'm going back.'
'Well, that's all right,' Serena said, a little surprised but not concerned. 'We'll see you for lunch, then.' She sneezed.
'Maybe we should go back, too,' Gadeth said. 'You sound worse and it's not very warm in here.' Cid looked disappointed; he was too good to complain about cutting the outing short, but you could see he had been looking forward to seeing more.
'I know what,' Serena said. 'Van and I will go back, and you boys can stay here long enough to look around properly. You'll be all right together, won't you?'
'Well, I suppose so,' Gadeth said. He looked dubious. 'It's you I'm concerned about.'
'You need uncle practise anyway. Have fun.' She kissed him on the cheek, scruffled Cid's hair, and said to Van 'Come on.' He followed her with his hands in his coat pockets.
The two of them made their way through the crowds to the side exit. They had come in through the main door, so they would have to walk around a block to get on the quickest route back to the palace. Doing this involved crossing a bridge over one of the frozen canals. Serena stopped at the top of the bridge's arch and leaned on the parapet.
'The air is so fresh when it's this cold,' she said, and drew in a deep breath. Unfortunately, this made her cough till her eyes watered. 'Oh dear,' she said, thumping her chest with her palm. 'I sound like I'm at death's door. I'm probably very contagious.'
'We should just walk straight back, then,' Van said. He had no particular wish for a conversation, but she seemed to think it would be nice to talk.
'Wasn't it an amazing coincidence to find that necklace?' Serena asked cheerfully. 'I think it's a good omen for today. And of course, it's so pretty.'
'Do you even know what it means?'
'What it means?'
'As far as we can tell pendants like that are relics of Atlantis, or something even older. I didn't even know another one existed. Your father gave one to Hitomi's grandmother years ago and the grandmother gave it to her. She gave it to me and it's at home in Fanelia. There shouldn't be another like it.' He shoved some snow off the parapet and watched it spatter on the uneven ice of the canal.
'I don't see why not,' she said mildly. 'They might have been very common in Atlantis. There could be lots of them around and you've just only seen one.'
'They're not just jewellery,' he said. 'As you pointed out, they're made of the same stone that was used in Escaflowne. I don't know where the Ispano Clan got it, or what it really is, but it's related to Energist. Hitomi's pendant, and the Energist I put in Escaflowne, could both be used to create a column of light that would take you from this world to the Phantom Moon, or the other way around, or move you around on this world. It didn't always work consistently. It used to react to the bearer's wishes.'
Serena pulled her cravat aside and looked at the pendant again. 'I knew there was something weird about the stone. When Dilandau touched it, when you were a prisoner in the floating fortress, it streamed light and made an explosion - it was terrifying. When Cid found this, I wondered what would happen if I touched it now.'
'Well, nothing, so that's nice.' He stared down at the ice. Bits of stick and rubbish were frozen in it and would stay there until the thaw.
'It ought to prove something to you, at least.'
'You still shouldn't have it,' he said. 'And you shouldn't have bought it for a penny. A thing like that should be a gift. It should mean something.'
'What does Hitomi's pendant mean to you?' she asked. 'If she gave it to you, and you left it behind in Fanelia don't you want to keep something of hers with you? Something that would let you go to see her?'
'You don't know anything about it!' Van was furious now.
'I know what it's like to love someone and I can't help wondering what you think you're doing! Don't you care about her?'
'I can't ever be with her!' His voice sounded hoarse and high in his ears. 'Why would she ever want to see me again? She went home! She chose her world! I've got to stop thinking about her!'
'And what if she's sitting at home right now thinking why doesn't Van ever come to see me any more and it's breaking her heart? Have you even asked her what she wants?'
Van glared at her, a bossy girl with a pink, runny nose preaching to him about how to love. The cravat was still on one side and the pink jewel was shining against her white shirt. She shouldn't have it. She, of all people, should not have it. He turned away from her in disgust and stamped through the snow off the bridge.
'Hey! I haven't finished talking to you!' Serena called after him. He ignored her and walked faster. He could hear her running behind him, catching up.
'You can have it if you think it's so important,' she said. 'As a gift. Peace offering. That would be meaningful, wouldn't it?'
'I don't want it,' he said. 'It's yours.'
'You can be so mean.'
'How is that being mean? I'm telling you you can keep the thing you like. Mean would be ripping it off your neck and giving you whiplash.'
'Fine,' she said. 'Screw you too.' She stormed on ahead, walking even faster than he could. Van watched her go, letting himself slow down, feeling his anger die until it no longer warmed him.
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