"And although my eyes were open
They might just as well've been closed."
Knock, knock, knock!
The courier knocked on the apartment door, and then his breath caught in his throat when it cracked open. The woman on the other side wasn't wearing pants.
"Uhmgh… what'zit?"
The courier stuck out the silk-paper letter to her, averting his gaze. "I-I-Is this is the residence of a Valleri Crowes?"
She yawned, "Yeah, that's… that's me."
"Y-You have a summons to the Watcher's Spire within the hour! P-Please, if you would–"
She yanked the paper from his hand. "Mhmm, got it. Just gimmie five, I'll get going."
Valleri turned and closed the door in his face. The courier blinked, standing frozen outside her door for a moment. How did someone like her get a high-end residence like this?
Valleri, half-awake, had opened every pantry, drawer, and closet in her new apartment, and groaned at seeing every empty container. Her house didn't have a scrap of food to eat.
She collapsed on her couch, feeling her stomach groaning. Fuck. I mean, I guess I'd be asking too much of Marissa for both free housing and food…
This wasn't her first time toughing it out through an empty stomach. She rose to her feet, slipping on her clothes that were still wet from the endless rain. Could they get permanently damaged, always being soaked? She didn't know how that worked. Regardless, they were cold.
So I need to take a trip to get groceries AND clothes. How much money do I even have, anyway?
Not a lot, judging from how both her apartment and her freedom were the result of hand-outs from people far richer than she could imagine. On top of what kind of Hallownestian foods she could eat and what cloaks would fit her, now she was also stressing over paying back her insurmountable debt. Even college students don't have it this bad.
She eyed the letter on the counter. Oh, but first I gotta see what they want from me at the Spire or whatever…
She paused.
Where's the Spire again?
Hallownest didn't seem to have any standard time-keeping systems, so technically, Valleri made it just in time.
"Of course we have clocks, don't be ridiculous! We aren't savages!"
He's probably lying, she wouldn't listen to this guy.
(Valleri was also decidedly not listening to the ticking of the old-fashioned pendulum clock hanging on the wall, indicating that she was about two hours late.)
The cloaked figure sitting across from her, Watcher Lurien, groaned, putting his masked face in his robed hands. It was weird; it didn't escape her notice how he refused to show even an inch of his body under his cloak. In fact, he was paranoid about it.
The top of the spire was pleasantly cool, with almost every wall a window to the City outside; even underground, they had skyscrapers, and they were on the top floor. Lurien even had a telescope to see the City below, though all Valleri could see was rain and the silhouette of a skyline. The wide room was partially illuminated with pale Lumafly lanterns, and partially by warm candlelight by the Watcher's desk. Piles of stone tablets and silk-paper were scattered all around him, though Valleri suspected there was a method to his disorganized madness. There had to be, for anyone to keep a job like this.
"Look, I didn't mean to be late! I just got… caught up."
In causing two separate public freakouts for showing my face, subsequently needing to sneak through back alleys, having to figure out how to ask for directions to the Spire without getting the City Guard called on me, trying and nearly getting caught stealing a cloak, terrifying half of your receptionists, almost getting arrested about four times total while just trying to walk here–
"I– Fine. Fine." Watcher Lurien sounded like he wanted to throw his hands up. Valleri couldn't tell if he hated his job or not. "You're here now. I can make up two hours of wasted time later."
Lounging in her seat, Valleri didn't feel like a convict in front of a Duke, so much as she felt like a naughty kid in front of a principal.
"So!" Lurien started, frustration rising in his voice, "You have recently acquired a new place of residence, I understand? The details over how you afforded such a wealthy apartment have already been explained to me. We will be using it to contact you in the future."
"Wait, what do you mean, the details? How much do you know?" Valleri sat up in her seat, wanting to probe for more information without seeming suspicious.
"It was Songstress Marissa herself who cleared it with me. That, and an explosion at the Tower of Love would doubtfully escape anyone's attention."
Valleri could feel the Watcher's glare from under his mask. "It wasn't an explosion! It was a… controlled flame…" She shook her head, "And that part wasn't even me, anyway!"
"Well, enough of the incident itself was. I should have your bail revoked on that alone, but…"
He looked away, not wanting to continue the conversation. Valleri leaned in.
"But what?"
A scramble of conflicted noises echoed from under Lurien's mask. "I am by no means approving, formally or otherwise, of your actions…" He receded into himself, as though embarrassed. "However, as a self-proclaimed 'Bounty Hunter,' it is your prerogative to hunt down wanted criminals, however valid it may be. And the Topaz Clan has been quite the thorn in my side."
Valleri fought the urge to beam at him. "See? I'm not a complete drag on society!"
"I never said you were."
"That's what everyone seems to think, anyway. I'm getting tired of having to constantly defend myself."
They fell silent for a moment. Shit, did she say too much? The ticking of the clock and the patter of the rain were deafening as Thief and Watcher sat across from one another.
"Uh… Is that all?"
Lurien blinked out of whatever daydreaming he was in. "Oh! No, there was one more thing. I was told to direct you to the White Palace as soon as we were finished, under direct orders of the Crown."
Her brief elation fell, and Valleri closed her eyes and pursed her lips. "What for?"
"I was not informed, nor is it my place to question His Highness's Royal authority. Ignore such summons at your own peril."
"Alright, alright, I wasn't gonna ignore anything! Sheesh…"
Another silence fell over them. Valleri leaned back in her seat, shoulders squared and twiddling her thumbs, while Lurien poured over documents like she wasn't even there. Tick, tick, pitter-patter. The Watcher seemed to get absorbed in himself and his work easily, not really caring about who else was in the room with him. At least he was dedicated.
Tick tick, pitter-patter.
…
"So, like, do you ever find it hard to hide the fact that you're gay?"
Lurien looked up. "I-I'm sorry?"
"I mean, hey, I don't judge, I swing both ways m'self, see?" Valleri kicked back, throwing her hands behind her head. "I'm an authority on this subject, I don't need proof, I just sense it in you."
"That's… very presumptuous."
"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" Valleri chuckled to herself. "I don't know what kind of culture Hallownest has, but you can trust me, if nobody else. I'm sure you've told the King all about it already, he seems to think fondly of you."
Lurien was starting to fluster. He grabbed some random papers on his desk and straightened them, acting like he had better places to be. "W-Well, I can see this is all very pointless–"
"Look, you're a walking glass closet, so whoever you're pining after, just take your shot, take some pride in it, I'll even be your wing if you want. You're like, the mayor of the City, for Christ's sake. So fuckin' what if you go to church, God knows what's important."
"Security?"
Valleri gave another look at the scrap of paper in her hand, before glancing up at the gargantuan form of the White Palace.
Big place for such a small guy, she thought.
Thanks to her previous loitering (and incarceration) on Palace grounds, there were significantly less public disturbances caused by her mere presence while she was traveling to the Basin beneath the City. Some of the retainers glanced at her nervously, while the occasional diplomat shot her a stink eye, but she didn't mind them.
It was quiet today. Was it because it was still fairly early? No, she didn't get a good look at Lurien's clock before she was practically dragged out, but it should be almost noon now. Or whatever counted as noon in a kingdom without a sun.
She approached the castle, clutching the slip of paper Lurien had given her before she left. Was it some kind of pass for entrance or something? She couldn't make out his handwriting, or she just didn't know the language itself well enough. Her best bet was to just creep towards the Palace gates with it and act like she was supposed to be here, and hope that someone with authority would recognize her and tell her where else she was supposed to go.
She hoped she didn't have any other weird surprise meetings today, or that these ones didn't happen often. She'd have preferred to sleep in. Or get something to eat. Or find a job to take. Or doing anything that her time would be better spent on than appeasing bureaucratic nobles.
Valleri found herself glaring at the pale Palace doors, unaware of all the eyes lingering on her from retainers and guards alike as she stormed inside. Nobody followed her in.
Trying to remember the path to the throne room, she was backtracking in her head, recognizing landmarks she'd passed as she was thrown out after her bail was paid. She ascended the lavish foyer, feeling out of place in her rugged and soaked leather jacket among all the pale and crystal.
It was only after knocking on a few doors and wandering down a few random hallways did she notice that nobody else seemed to be here.
"Hello?" she finally decided to call out, etiquette be damned. "Anyone home?"
She was completely lost. She doubted she could find her way back to the entrance if she wanted to now. She felt like some kid lost in a grocery store without her mom, except there weren't any people, there wasn't any food, and all the walls and aisles were dizzying.
Valleri squinted, rubbing her temples. All this white light was giving her a headache. Fuck it, she decided, He summoned me here, he can't get mad if I end up wandering around looking for his weird… pale… Wyrm ass.
"Oh? Who wanders these halls at this hour?"
Valleri spun around. Turning a corner, a tall, pale figure in modest blue-grey robes was watching her with brilliant eyes that shone line sapphires. Her 'hair' seemed to be part of her head, white branches growing and curling from her, and her whole form was glowing.
Valleri blinked. "Uh… Hi? Who are you?"
The lady stared for a moment with her bright blue eyes, wide like dinner plates, before she chuckled to herself. "We never have introduced, have we? Please, call me Edith," the pale lady, Edith, smiled. Her voice was quiet and soothing, like a mother whispering sweet nothings into a child's ear. "Would I be wrong in assuming you are the 'Valleri' I have been hearing so much about?"
"Er… Y-Yeah," Valleri awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. She didn't know what this woman had heard about her, but it couldn't have been anything good. "Um, do you know where I can find Lateralus?"
Edith raised an eyebrow. "Hm? I wasn't aware you were on a first-name basis."
"T-The Pale King, I mean." Valleri didn't know why she was stumbling over herself. Edith just had this gentle, motherly aura about her that coaxed ease out of all who surrounded her. The thought of getting fed up and demanding answers from her felt wrong, even though she'd never had a problem with it before. "I'm apparently due for some kind of meeting with him around this time?"
Edith tapped a finger to her chin. "Quite odd. It was my impression that he was busy at this hour."
Valleri couldn't keep the confused scowl off of her face. "What? But he was the one who called me here!"
"And you were late, were you not?" Edith's eyes gave her a coy curl, a smile. "The King has other priorities to attend to; he cannot await you all morning."
"That's… Yeah…"
The pale lady giggled at Valleri's falter. She beckoned, "You left him waiting, so it is only fair that you wait for him in turn. Have you had lunch yet?"
An all-too familiar ache tore through her stomach. She grimaced, "N-No."
A muted, maternal smile. "Come; our chefs would be delighted to receive you."
…
…"Our?"
"Would you like any wine with that?"
Valleri stared at the five glasses in front of her with growing horror. "N-No thanks."
Edith's eyes glinted. Wordlessly, she nodded to a servant clad in white coattails, who scampered off with an unopened bottle in hand.
Even in a room so massive, Valleri felt cramped; they were in the most formal dining hall Valleri had ever seen, a muted opulence oozing down every pale wall. It reminded Valleri of pictures she had seen of Buckingham Palace, or even of fantasy dining halls, except the main difference was that everything was a stark white.
Dining in the halls of some snow god, seated across from a woman who appeared to be part tree.
She looked down, and her eyes couldn't help but notice her worn, black leather jacket against the pale everything. She was a peasant they'd dragged off of the streets and invited to a royal lunch. She was so out of place, it wasn't even funny.
Thankfully, there didn't seem to be another soul in the massive room. Two long tables stretched the length of the dining hall, headed by a more intimate royal table at the front of the room; this room could comfortably house two or three hundred guests, and it was only her and Edith.
Valleri eyes the woman suspiciously. "Are you… the Queen?"
Edith, the White Lady of Hallownest, giggled. "If you'll allow me to be upfront, I'm quite glad it took you some time to realize. Sometimes, the politics and faux respect can grow tiring; few are bold enough to show me their true face. In deception, there is honesty, I suppose."
In deception, there is honesty.
Oh, God, there's enough silverware at her place to serve a family of four.
Valleri didn't know how to respond – wouldn't be her first time pissing off royalty – so she turned her attention to her plate. Or her three stacked plates topped with a bowl, with another small plate sitting off to the side. Her hands hovered over her dinnerware, only to shy away every time her eyes crossed over the polished porcelain.
Was… Was this some kind of test of manners? This was unfair! She was a street punk, whose fanciest meals on the best of days consisted of eating at local Asian restaurants, surrounded by people she didn't know but who she could mooch off of. Her bill never exceeded thirty dollars, but here, she wasn't worth the air she was breathing!
Sitting before the Queen of Hallownest, surrounded by all this hand-engraved cutlery, Valleri was lost.
Edith spoke up, her soft voice seeming to boom in the giant hall. "Are you familiar with formal dining etiquette?"
"Not at all," Valleri sputtered, honest yet unashamed.
"Worry not; you will need these skills in the future, but for now I shall guide you." She raised her voice, "I think we will begin with the soup course, with chardonnay. Butler?"
Valleri looked at the half-dozen-some retainers scrambling around to serve the Queen's every twitch. "Uh, there's a lot of butlers here."
"Oh, not by definition," Edith corrected. "Whether there are two guests or two hundred, there is only one butler. The others are known as 'footmen', and answer to the butler."
A heavy, thunderous rumble rose from behind her. Valleri's blood ran cold as a shadow fell over her, slowly turning to see a mountain of metal standing over her, a hulking suit of armor two or three times her height.
Before Valleri could scream, Edith said, "I apologize for asking this of you on such short notice, Great Knight Hegemol."
"Please, Your Majesty," echoed a voice much too small and soft for this mammoth. "In this setting, I am but a humble butler."
This was the weirdest fucking shit, it made Valleri want to laugh.
Apparently, they were in for a four-course meal: soup, meat, salad, and dessert.
As their butler, Hegemol, presented their soup bowls, Valleri noted when he referred to it as "Honeydrop Soup". It was simple, almost deceptively so. It was a thick, golden broth that resembled squash soup, topped with a dash of red powdery spice that resembled paprika. It actually looked pretty good.
"The broth is formed by boiling water with Bluecaps, Vengefly meat, and various vegetables from the Queen's gardens, such as Kartoffs and Gulrots," Hegemol had explained. "It is then blended with honey and stirred until it reaches an even consistency, and topped with Kyapa spices."
Valleri, not catching a word of that, dunked her spoon in to give it a taste.
She froze when she heard metal against porcelain.
Across from her, Edith was very meticulous about how she ate her soup. Gingerly inserting her spoon at the 12 o'clock position of her bowl, she dragged the bottom of her spoon against the wide rim to get rid of drips that could stain her dress or chin.
When she raised it to her face, she didn't put the spoon in her mouth, but only sipped it from the side. Her straight posture, her demure expression, her impeccable mannerisms, it was all too perfect. She'd turned eating into an art form.
Awkwardly, Valleri attempted to follow her steps, re-inserting her spoon at the top of the bowl and dragging it: God, when Edith did it, it made her bowl sing, but Valleri's spoon sounded like tortured hyenas. Cringing, she raised the spoon to her face, fighting the urge to lean in closer.
When the soup hit her lips, it made all the tiptoeing around her manners worth it.
It was thick, but smooth. The spices zapped her tongue for just a split second before being smothered under the blanket of honey-broth and alien vegetables. The flavor spread over every inch of her tongue; it was hot, but not so much so that she'd need to rudely open her mouth for air.
Her chest clenched. T-This is the best soup I've ever had in my life!
(Then again, she never had the highest standards for food; you can't, when you're living off of other people's money.)
After a few minutes of savoring the soup in comfortable silence, Valleri cleared her throat to get Queen Edith's attention. "H-Hey, I got a question."
"Hm. Unfortunate."
Valleri sputtered at the nonsensical response. "Wh- M-May I ask a question?"
Edith gave another of her signature teasing smiles. "Of course. What troubles you, child?"
I'm not a child! "Er… It's about Hornet."
The air grew heavy. Edith's posture fell slightly, just slightly, but Valleri caught her expression dampening. "...What about her?"
Valleri realized she was treading dangerous ground. She set her spoon down in her mostly-finished bowl, averting her gaze. "It's just… she's… Herrah and the Pale King's daughter, isn't she?"
"...That is… correct."
"Even though… he's married to you."
Hegemol leaned over, his massive metal visor as close to Valleri's face as it could be without him toppling over. "M-Miss Valleri, might I ask you to–"
"At ease, Hegemol," Edith spoke. She sounded like she was tearing up, but she took a shaken breath and steadied herself. "If Herrah has charged this woman with her daughter's upbringing, then she deserves to know everything."
A silence fell. Valleri shuddered, feeling anxious goosebumps under her jacket running along her skin. Queen Edith began to speak.
"It is not so simple as infidelity. Queen Herrah… has been assigned a sacred duty as a Dreamer. To contain a plague that ravages our kingdom, it must be sealed away, and Herrah's spirit is to act as one of those seals."
The influx of information left Valleri with more questions that she started with. Plague? I haven't heard anything about a plague.
…Except… that Retainer on the tram… Could they have been…?
"As becoming a Dreamer will result in her… extended absence," Edith couldn't help but sugarcoat it, "Deepnest cannot be left without a leader. In exchange for acting as a seal, Herrah demanded… a child."
"A child…" Valleri put the dots together, "Of the King?"
"Yes. She wanted her people to have a strong leader, and who stronger than the daughter of a God?" Her glass seemed to shake in her grip. "I never begrudged my Wyrm for his dalliance. In fact, I feel some instinctual affection for the spiderling. Though…"
They both let that thought hang in the air. Valleri didn't need to hear; she'd never heard anything about the King and Queen having an heir.
But this realization about Hornet put a knot in her throat. It didn't seem real.
Hornet… that little runt? A… demigod?
"But now she's leaving," Valleri blurted. "Herrah, I mean."
Edith sighed, taking a sip from a glass of white chardonnay wine. Valleri couldn't help but wonder who the hell drank wine with lunch, but maybe she was just trying to distract herself. "Not… Not now," Edith corrected, "But… soon, yes."
"And I'll be… I'll raise Hornet when she can't."
The White Lady set her glass down with a clink as she tried to change the subject. "Weavers tend to mature much faster than most bugs; this is no lifelong commitment. And you will not be alone."
"Y-Yeah…" Valleri didn't know how to respond. She stared down at her empty soup bowl.
Edith patted down the lap of her robe before letting out a pitched sigh. "I believe the Wyrm will join us soon. Butler, perhaps we should start the meat course, with… a red cabernet, perhaps?"
Red meats go with red wines.
What Hegemol had called "Boofly Sirloin" seemed to be the equivalent of steak in Hallownest. And it was a damn good one too; supposedly pan-roasted and then brushed with some secret blend of melted butter, spices, and a touch of fat, and then sprinkled with some hand-ground rock salt.
It was served with a side of stir-fried vegetables that Valleri didn't recognize but decided to try one by one. She was being brave today.
Until something struck her: nothing was being served at the seat across from her.
"Oh, you can eat on your own," Edith assured her. "You must be famished. Besides, I don't eat meat."
Of course the tree doesn't eat meat. But now, she didn't have any example to follow to learn royal manners! Valleri stared down at her plate; if this steak tasted half as good as it looked, this would easily be the best meal of her life. But if she made a mistake here…!
Her fork was on her left side and the knife was on her right. A big, sharp, gleaming steak knife Hegemol had kindly laid out for her.
(It was still so weird, having the footmen or whatever do everything for her; they moved her plates, they laid out her silverware, they gave her condiments whenever she even looked like she might want them. She didn't need to reach or move for a single thing. She could get used to this royal treatment. If only these manners weren't saddled with it.)
Fork in left hand, knife in right. She couldn't keep her hands from shaking as she raised them to the steak, noting Edith sipping casually at her red wine across the table. Wine moms. Yeesh. She jabbed her fork into the meat and began cutting it, keeping a careful eye on the White Lady's expression. So far, she hadn't reacted, though maybe that was amusement curling at her lips.
When a single piece had been cut away, Valleri set down her knife on the edge of the plate and swapped the fork over to her right hand–
"Oh, dear, what are you doing?"
Valleri tensed up. She'd made a horrible mistake, hadn't she?
Edith considered her, Valleri frozen to the spot with her jaw still half-open to put the steak inside. She furrowed her brow, "Ah, I suppose that is… an accepted form of eating. Though, I admit, it's scarcely used in this Palace."
"Huh?"
"Your form focuses on your dominant hand, using both the knife and then the fork in the right hand. What is more common for us, and considered more efficient…" She picked up her own knife and fork to demonstrate, "is to keep the knife in the right hand, and the fork in the left."
Valleri paused. Scraping the chunk of steak off of her fork, she began to cut another one, and this time didn't move her utensils over and brought the steak to her mouth–
Her eyes shot open for the second time since she'd sat down. She could taste the butter and fat coating over the thick red muscle. It was very similar to steak, though Boofly meat seemed maybe a little more… buttery? Whatever the difference, the charred steak was cooked to perfection. It almost made her want to cry.
Valleri's whole body tensed up. God, what was happening to her? Herrah had bailed her out for five million, Marissa had bought her a fucking appartment, and now the Queen of Hallownest herself was treating her to this meal.
Why was everyone giving her handouts? Didn't they hate her?
"...lleri, are you alright?"
Blinking back tears, she realized she was still chewing and forced herself to swallow. "N-Nothing," she choked out, "It's nothing. It's just…" She wanted to gag as she faked a smile while averting her gaze, "It's really good, that's all. Not… I'm not used to it."
Edith frowned. "Valleri… Is there something you'd like to–"
The massive doors to the dining hall creaked open. Valleri's head spun to see King Lateralus enter, followed by the hulking form of Herrah, with Hornet riding on her back.
Everyone froze just a few paces in. Lateralus's gaze immediately zeroed in on Valleri, eating his food in his Palace with his wife.
He glared. Valleri gulped.
"The Burak Peppered Salad, please, with… Oh, Mantis champagne?"
Herrah bristled, too large to take a proper seat and instead standing behind Edith. "A fine salad, but I object to your choice of drink. I have my pride to consider."
"Oh, but wouldn't it be so sweet to feast on your enemy's own production against their will?" Edith gave Herrah a coy, sideways smile. "Imagine if their Tribe enrobed themselves in your finest silks! That feeling is what you are doing to them!"
Herrah closed her eyes, contemplating. "...I suppose one glass couldn't hurt."
Jeez. Edith's suggestions were powerful, to change even Herrah's mind.
Lateralus was seated next to his wife. He looked discontent at being seated anywhere other than his own personal chair at the front of the room; he was visibly stressing over imperfections in the table setting, how many millimeters away the forks were from the knives and the plates, making sure everything was perfectly centered. "That aside," he said, "Valleri. You were due two hours ago."
Valleri threw her hands up. "Look, I got held up on my way to the Spire! I– Oh, thank you," she shied back as Hegemol placed a salad in front of her– "I got here as fast as I could afterwards!"
"Held up by what?"
"Er… Nearly getting arrested for existing?"
Lateralus sensed that there was a bit more to the story, but he sighed, running his hands down his face. "Fine. We're here now. Try to coordinate better in the future."
Valleri grumbled. She decided to turn her attention to her salad.
Instead of thick lettuce leaves, the "Burak Peppered Salad" had vine cuttings, thin like bean sprouts. Though, most of it was composed of earthy-looking vegetables(Hegemol later referred to them as "Buraks, Navets, and Cebulas," whatever the hell those were), with a crumbled cottage-looking cheese. It was seasoned with black rock pepper, a thin powder that reminded her of ginger, and drops of what she'd find tasted like lime.
A weird thought occurred to Valleri. "Hey, how do you make cheese, anyway?"
Edith looked up. "Excuse me?"
"I mean, dairy is a mammal thing, right? How do you make this stuff if everyone and everything is a bug?"
Hegemol answered for her. "If I may, My Lady? I do not know what you mean by 'mammal thing', but Hallownestian dairy is produced from various grains, nuts and plants. The process makes it… difficult, to produce in great quantities, so dairy is considered a great luxury."
"...Huh." That was actually interesting. She didn't know anything about vegan dairy – she always thought it was kinda stupid – but maybe if their technology was just a little bit better, anyone in Hallownest could have a cool glass of milk. That might be an interesting project.
The drink in front of Herrah was strange, too– it looked nothing like champagne. It was a deep purple, with bubbles rising from within and popping at the surface releasing a foggy mist that floated down over the edges of the glass. Valleri decided not to question it.
Hornet popped up from Herrah's shoulder. "V-Valleri!" she lisped, squirming and leaning over to reach for her but not wanting to leave her mother's warm embrace.
Valleri couldn't help but giggle and wave. Cute little demigod.
Suddenly, the Pale King startled, his fork clattering on his plate as he bumped all of their silverware. An already imperfect balance, a flawed order, shaken completely out of control and reason, everything was a mess, everything was–
"T-This fork!" The Pale King glared at the offending utensil on his table like it had bitten him. "H-How repulsive! Abhorrent! Unacceptable!"
Herrah clutched the neck of her wine glass in a vice. "Spit it out."
"Someone used this fork to scrape… d-defecation off of their shoes!" Lateralus looked like he was about to vomit. "It must be replaced immediately! Do we have spares? We had commissioned six-thousand, seven-hundred and sixty-five dinnerware pieces for the Palace, would a replacement be of a different year? Would anyone notice? Should we replace the whole set–"
The White Lady rested her hand on the Pale King's shoulder, who immediately began to calm down. "Dearest, please," she cooed, "Let's not worry about this while we have guests. Here, you can use one of my forks."
"B-But this is a fruit fork, not a salad fork! And–"
"Shh," Edith rubbed small circles into Lateralus' back. "We're in private company. We can allow some minor breaches of formality." After a moment of sputtering, The Pale King eventually caved. He munched on his salad in disturbed silence, looking smaller than usual.
Herrah snorted, leaning closer to Valleri. "Clairvoyants. He knows everything he wants to know about everything he touches, and then some. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss."
Valleri blinked. Lateralus had… psychic powers? 'Cause he was a god? And he used his god powers to find out where all his silverware's been. She gave a nervous glance at her own fork, praying nobody had done anything weird with it.
"So, uh…" Valleri cleared her throat. "What exactly was I called here for? Is it about my bail?"
"No; details of your probation will go through Watcher Lurien." Lateralus tried to straighten himself up a little. "We actually wish to discuss your arrangement with Queen Herrah regarding… the Princess."
Herrah tickled her claw under Hornet's chin, who giggled in her mother's embrace. "I'm going to be busy with appeasing some diplomats from Greenpath for the rest of the day. I'd appreciate it if someone could watch Hornet until tomorrow morning. That is," she lowered herself down, glaring daggers at Valleri, challenging her. "...if you think you can handle it."
Valleri scoffed, "I can prob'ly handle it better than some sleeping magic lock can."
…
Lateralus' head shot up, wide-eyed and tense.
Edith gasped, a hand over her mouth.
Every footman in the room within earshot stopped and turned, some nervously backing away.
Hornet seemed to sense the air growing heavy, and nestled deeper in her mother's arms, trying to hide her face while still getting a good view.
Herrah's masked expression darkened, turning to face Valleri. Strapped to her back, her greatneedle seemed to glint in the light as she leaned down, leveling her six-eyed mask with Valleri.
She could feel the cold, killer glare from under her hood as she glared right back. Valleri and the Beast of Deepnest, unblinking, unwavering.
Edith looked like she wanted to say something, but her mouth only hung open. Lateralus shuddered.
Valleri and Herrah were locked in a deadly staring contest.
…
…
…snrk.
A strange sound came from Herrah. Valleri's deadpan lips twitched upwards.
The tension snapped, and Herrah doubled over, a chuckle causing her whole form to shudder. Valleri's face turned red as she fought to keep her expression stone-cold, her face bloated with barely-contained laughter.
Herrah threw her head back, and laughed.
Valleri blew raspberries as she held her face in her hands, strangled laughter coming from her, knowing she should at least try to be modest but failing.
Edith and lateralus watched on, stunned. That didn't go how they had feared it would. And Herrah's laughter wasn't mocking or faked or dark; it was genuine, full of mirth. They might've laughed too, if they weren't so shocked.
Neither of them had ever, ever seen Herrah laugh so honestly before.
"And that's why I picked you!" Herrah managed to huff out between chuckles. "No-one else would ever say that to my face!"
Valleri's giggles were starting to die down. The weird hilarity of staring at someone else's face had faded. "I– hah," she coughed, "I'd be glad to watch her, though I don't have anything to feed her for dinner. I gotta run errands."
Herrah paused to consider this. She reached into a small satchel on her hip and fished out a brown bag, tossing it into Valleri's lap. She could hear the chi-chlink of Gero within. "Ten grand. That oughta keep you afloat for one shopping trip."
"O-Oh, no, I–" Valleri fumbled with the bag, heavier than she expected. "I can't accept. I've been taking too many handouts lately, I… I gotta learn to stand on my own, y'know? 'Sides, my pride can't take it."
Queen Herrah scoffed. "Oh, put your pride aside. Freedom and a home should hardly be considered 'handouts', it's what you're owed. This'll be the last time I give you anything."
"I…" Valleri kept her eyes on the bag in her lap, feeling her chest clench up. Why?, she wanted to beg, but she knew it wasn't the time. "Alright. Alright. I… Thank you."
Edith clapped her hands together, intent on changing the conversation, or maybe just retaking control of it. "Well! Before you all depart, at least allow me to entertain you with our dessert course!"
Valleri paled. Right, four courses. For lunch.
Hegemol approached, his footsteps thundering and making the silverware jingle. He set down what appeared to be a tray of tarts, and holy shit those looked good. "Roseberry Scorch!", he presented. The base was a soft, fluffy milk bread, filled with juicy red berries(she assumed those were "Roseberries") and a thick white cream, and then layered with a honeycomb and sprinkled with a healthy helping of brown sugar.
Sugar? Valleri noted. Well, it looks like sugar, anyway. Do they have sugarcane in Hallownest, or some equivalent? Come to think of it, how the hell is sugar even made?
"So, uh, why's it called 'Scorch' anyway? Is it spicy?"
She could hear Hegemol's smile under his visor. "This!" His giant metal gauntlets snapped open at the finger, a metal tube protruding.
Valleri jolted back in horror as fire exploded forth, incinerating all of the tarts. When the blaze receded after a terrifying few seconds, the desserts were mostly untouched, save for the top layer of honeycomb that was burned brown.
"O-Oh…" Valleri's voice was small. It's like a Crème Brûlée. I-I get it now. Hahah…
The rain of the City pelted their cloaks from above.
"There's a few things I want to get before we go home, that cool?"
Hornet, perched up on her shoulder, nodded. Valleri looked out over the winding streets of the City, not sure where to go and not sure if she wanted to ask for directions. She wasn't even sure how to get back to her apartment from here.
"Okay… Where can I buy clothes around here?" She liked her outfit, but she hadn't changed in days, and it was getting disgusting. Just having something she could use as a spare would be nice.
They wandered for a while before Hornet tugged on her cloak. "There, there!" she pointed to a small storefront on the corner. In the window was a painted symbol, a circle with six lines like eyes. "That's Mom's mark!"
"Mom's? That's… Oh." Spiders make silk, silk makes clothes. Figures. Does Herrah have a monopoly on the fashion industry? She ran to get inside and out of the cold rain, hoping there weren't too many faces watching her.
…
The only options they had for women were dresses, and while they all looked very nice, they weren't exactly made with humans in mind. Some were half her size, some were double. Some of them had four or six sleeves, some had openings in the back for wings, none of them had any space in the chest area.
It occurred to Valleri that, technically, she had the best tits in the whole kingdom. By default. She let herself giggle over the stupidity of it all; that was the kind of anti-achievement that kept her going.
"W-What's so funny?" Hornet asked innocently, her wide, dark eyes boring into hers.
"Er– Nothing," Valleri dodged. She fumbled through the dense aisles of clothes, "Though, they don't exactly have any pants here, and I'm not wearing a dainty little dress."
It took a bit of time, and asking the shopkeep some awkward questions, but Valleri managed to find some loose-fitting pants in the back that she could keep tight with her belt, as well as a few small cloaks that looked almost like shirts. Well, they were more like crop-tops, but it was clean. She could wear this while she figured out how to clean her old clothes. She never gave a shit about fashion; as long as it covered her up and wasn't fucking humiliating, she didn't care what she went out in.
"Do you wanna get anything while we're here?" she'd asked. She really shouldn't be splurging right now, but she was in the mood to get Hornet something nice.
The Spider Princess scanned the shelves. Her eyes lit up, "That one!"
Valleri looked. It was a small, silvery pendant resting on a countertop, adorned with a small locket. It didn't seem to have a price tag, but it seemed pretty simple in design, and she couldn't tell if it was expensive or not. "Really? Why?"
"I… A-Ah wan' one like you!"
She blinked, feeling her cross necklace with her fingers under her shirt. "You… you don't want one like mine," she mumbled.
"B-But it's so pretty!" Hornet begged. "A-Ahn i-it's like yours, a-and–"
"This pendant?" Valleri's head snapped up as the shopkeeper came around, some kind of Weaver, holding it up by its chain. "This was crafted by artisans. How about I give you a discount for five thousand Geo? It's normally twice that!"
This guy probably got it for only fifteen hundred, Valleri thought, but she was still floored by the price. She only had ten thousand, could she really afford to throw away half of her money on Hornet? "L-Look, I'm sorry, I can't afford it–"
"B-But…! You said!" Hornet looked like she was going to cry. She turned to look at the grinning shopkeeper, her eyes pleading.
"You can't just walk out of here now, can you? You don't want to upset your child!" He laughed, "Tell you what, how does four seventy… five…"
Something in his demeanor changed. His six eyes were laser-focused on Hornet, his breathing still. Valleri realized that Hornet's hood had slipped off at some point. He suddenly thrust out the locket to them.
"P-Princess Hornet! It's an honor to have you i-in my humble store! Please, take this as a gift!"
I… I gotta learn to stand on my own, y'know?
"A-And take the rest of those clothes as well, free of charge! Anything for our Queen and her–"
Valleri slammed her bag of Geo on the counter. "Five-K Geo for it, I don't do handouts!"
The shopkeeper was startled. "M-Miss, please, I can't accept, I–"
"Well, I can't accept free shit, either!" Valleri yelled. "Take it or leave it!"
The shopkeeper had tried to talk them down, but Valleri managed to shove three thousand Geo at him for the pendant and clothes before storming out. At least, she thought it was three thousand, she didn't actually know how their currency worked. That left her with six thousand left for food, which seemed like plenty; with any luck, she might have some left over.
Damn, she threw away a third of her money there, and nearly half. She shouldn't he trusted with money anymore.
Hornet was on her shoulder, holding her pendant in awe. Her eyes sparkled as she spun it around in her hands, feeling the cool chains slink between her claws. She'd gone totally silent.
Valleri gave her a sideways glance. "Aren't you gonna put that thing on? You'll drop it if you keep playing with it."
"I like it."
Valleri blinked, then giggled. "Alright~ Just be careful, okay? It wasn't cheap."
"It was free!" Hornet protested, but she put it around her neck, feeling it on her chitin and stuffing it under her red dress. "You just threw a bunch of money at that guy!"
"Very expensive," Valleri doubled down with a straight face. "I could be struggling with bankruptcy tomorrow. I'm below the poverty line."
"You threw a bag of Geo at his face!"
"I doubt he's complaining about it."
They looked like they were finally coming up on a food market, in a big city square. Asymmetrical and stone-blue, glowing under Lumafly lanterns. Cloaked bugs were running all around them, all trying to shout over one another, all trying to get in and out as fast as possible without any order or sense and only slowing everyone else down. Everyone had places to be, but nobody was going anywhere.
'Bustling' was the word for it. Valleri hated 'bustling'. She only liked L.A. because liking L.A. was a good business practice; everyone's shit was there for the taking. She'd prefer to live somewhere quieter, if she wasn't dirt-poor with no way of making honest money.
Looking at some of the options, Valleri realized that she had no idea what the hell any of this stuff was. What could she cook something good with? What was good for dinner? Breakfast? What was similar to Earth foods and what would explode in her face at the slightest provocation?
She decided that the meats were the least likely to poison her, as long as she cooked them thoroughly enough. Meat was meat; she had no idea what any of these plants were or what was in them. Cyanide could be a delicacy in Hallownest for all she knew. She approached a small stall with some strip meat, "Hey, how much for one of these?"
"Two hundred apiece."
Valleri fished four hundred Geo out of her pouch. "Here you go, two please." She held the shiny rocks out, but paused; the shopkeeper had frozen. She had her hood up, but she wasn't wearing any gloves, and his eyes were darting from her pale hands to her hooded face.
Valleri glanced around nervously; was anyone else watching? "U-Uh, excuse–"
"I-I-I'm so sorry, we're closed today," he said in a hurry, shuffling around under the counter; anything to avert his gaze.
"H-Hey, what?! What time do you close?"
He froze. "D-Dark?"
"It's always dark, we're underground!"
"N-Now," the shopkeeper quickly but firmly corrected himself, "We close now."
"But that's–!" Valleri was cut off as the shopkeeper drew a curtain over the stall, blocking her out. "H-Hey! I know you can still hear me! I'm not gonna hurt you or anything! What the hell!"
He was silent. Valleri groaned; the stubborn guy wasn't gonna come out now. Or was he just afraid? She gave a half-hearted kick to his flimsy shellwood stall, before turning heel and walking the other way. Stupid prick just listened too rumors too much; if she hid her hands, maybe she could actually buy something.
…But she didn't have anything to hide her hands with, did she? Nothing that wouldn't just be strange and suspicious.
Across the street, there was another quiet stall, selling miscellaneous clothing: hats, belts, gloves. Target sighted. She walked over, but not too directly; she didn't want to draw attention for this.
She waited around a corner, shushing Hornet, who looked confused but seemed to get the message. Waiting until the merchant looked the other way to count his earnings(He was well off, he could afford to lose a little), she slowly, expertly reached out for a pair of black gloves…
Someone grabbed her wrist, and yanked.
Valleri yelped as she stumbled out of her hiding place, her arm held high in the air by a large, armored guard. "I thought I saw you pilfering a cloak around here earlier today!" the gruff voice accused.
She tried to pull her arm back, but the guard only tightened his gauntlet's grip; bastard was either gonna crush it, or rip it out of its socket! "L-Let me go!" To her dismay, they were starting to attract the attention of a few passerby, including the merchant she'd just tried to steal from. Her pale, alien hands were on display for the whole square to see.
A second guard stood behind her, cornering her between two massive suits of armor. "I know this woman, I've been hearing stories all about her! Under investigation for murder, she is!"
"Murder!" the first guard chortled. "This may be petty theft, but with the law preying on you like that, your punishment's bound to be much more severe!"
Valleri was starting to panic. They were right, they were right, she was fucking dead and they were right–
"Gentlemen, there's no need to make such a scene."
They all turned to see a trio of bugs approaching them, with slick velvet cloaks and adorned in jewelry. Their leader, wearing white, gave a crooked grin. "She's one of our… clients. She didn't mean any harm; so tragic it is, that she cannot even participate in our local economy because of mere rumors and allegations! Surely, you can find it in your heart to forgive her?"
The guard huffed. "And you expect me to believe that? Our honor to this City dictates that we–!"
Both guards went silent. Valleri didn't know how Geo worked, but she gasped when she saw the leader holding out a small satchel full of the stuff, and that every metal nugget was gleaming gold.
"Please," his voice crawled, "Let's not make a scene."
A moment of silence fell over them. The guards glanced around, ensuring nobody could see, and looked the other way as they snatched the money out of the leader's hands. Finally letting go of Valleri's wrist, she stumbled back, clutching the sore flesh. The guards glared at her under their visors before stalking off, stuffing the money away.
The three cloaks surrounded her. Oh, God, Hornet was still on her shoulder, even if she was tucked away under Valleri's cloak. Were they looking for trouble?
"Valleri," the leader drawled. "Finally, we have you alone to talk." Valleri scanned him up and down; his cloak was snow-white and puffy despite the rain, but the only identifying feature was a small, yellow gemstone badge embedded on the chest of his cloak. A badge that the other two members of his little clique were wearing, too.
A small, yellow gemstone badge.
Topaz.
"Who the hell are you?" Valleri asked, trying to clench her hands into fists, only to wince when the pain of her arm being grabbed flared up.
The leader laughed. "My name is not important, unless you want to be screaming it all night. Our boss only wanted us to let you know that his 'offer' is still open; we only showed you kindness just this once, but if you accept, perhaps you'll never need to worry about the guards ever again?"
"Oh, so you're Walsh's boys," Valleri mumbled. "Well, tell him if I'm ever interested, I'll get back to him myself. Not into it right now."
The leader shrugged. "Well, I'm not hearing a 'no'!" His boys chuckled, probably on cue, but she could tell they were nervous. "I'm interested in what else we can do to convince you. But that's one matter; our boss has an entirely different score to settle with you first."
"Finally! I was waitin' for you to shut up and throw hands!" Valleri got into a fighting position. "I gotta say, thanks for earlier. There's no way I could beat up those guards, but you guys…"
She tapped her shoulder. Valleri shuddered as she felt Hornet's spindly claws scamper down her back and leap out of her cloak, scrambling between the legs of the guy behind her.
"W-What the hell–?!"
Valleri spun around and delivered a swift roundhouse kick to the thug's gut. All the breath left his lungs as he collapsed to the ground, and the other two rushed in to grab her.
The leader got her from behind, grabbing both of her arms and locking them above her head, no matter how much she struggled. The other thug pulled a metal baton from their cloak, uncaring of all the bystanders watching the fight go down around them.
With a heave, Valleri threw both of her legs up on the thug's shoulders and around his neck. She clenched them together as hard as she could, and with a crunch, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed, baton clattering to the ground.
She threw her arms back in a circle, managing to break free of the leader's stranglehold. The third thug she kicked earlier was stepping over the unconscious body of the second, approaching with his fists clenched.
The leader threw a wide punch. Valleri ducked down to dodge it, and grabbed onto his shoulders and legs while she was crouched low, causing the leader's breath to hitch in his throat.
She yelled as she lifted the kicking mafioso into the air, and threw him at the other thug.
They collided and crashed into the stone ground with a cry and a heavy thud, dirt and water smearing on their expensive fur cloaks(It looked like fur, anyway. Shit was probably made of leaves for all she knew). The crowd around them scrambled away, staring at the scene in shocked silence. Rain poured down all around them, muffling the soundless gasps with white noise.
Three Clan members, trashed on the ground. Hornet scampered out of some corner and climbed back up Valleri's leg.
"T-That was awesome!" she giggled, entertained at watching her caretaker beat the hell out of strangers in the middle of a crowded street. "Can you teach me that?"
"Mmmaybe when you're a little older," Valleri smiled, playfully rubbing Hornet's chin. She turned; the three Topaz boys were being arrested by some guards(thankfully not the ones from before). The murmurs of the crowd had only gotten louder, and with the thugs being taken away, she was left on center stage for the whole market square to stare at.
She figured she should ask while she had everyone's attention.
"What'do I gotta do to buy some food around here?!"
Hornet didn't help carry in groceries.
Valleri lugged in bags of clothes and food, dumping them all on a countertop in the kitchen. She didn't get it. After she beat the crap out of those Topaz punks, some of the shopkeepers in the square were actually a little more willing to sell food to her.
Were they thankful to her for getting some of those thugs put away? Or were they just scared shitless of her? She couldn't tell. She didn't even know which one she'd prefer.
While she was trying to sort her groceries(half of which she couldn't even name) without withering on the inside at her apartment's glaring lack of a refrigerator, Hornet was exploring. She ran in circles through every door, climbed up everywhere she could, poked at what little furniture she owned. By the time Valleri had finished putting things away in cabinets, Hornet had pulled herself up onto the counter.
"Do you really live here?"
Valleri blinked, leaning up against the wall. "Uh, yeah. As of recently, at least."
"But… It's so empty." Hornet's brow furrowed. "Why don't you own anything?"
Valleri didn't know how to respond.
…
"Tag!"
Valleri sprinted around her apartment, weaving between sparse furniture to dodge a little spider in red that was hunting her down, prey within her own home. The little girl was giggling so much, she was bound to get hiccups. She didn't know if she could keep up.
Hornet being so much smaller made it easier to fit the game within her apartment, though Valleri also had to watch her step so she didn't trip over Hornet or anything. But on the other hand, Hornet could also climb along walls and ceilings where Valleri couldn't, so she probably had the advantage here. Valleri was intentionally keeping pace just to be fair to Hornet and keep it interesting, but maybe she'd try a little harder.
Valleri vaulted a table with nothing on it, rolling across the floor on the other side. She was only down for a split second, but it was already too late; Hornet had rappelled down from her ceiling and landed on her back
"Tag!"
She spun around, but Hornet was already running back down to the kitchen. Valleri thought she was just letting Hornet win, but maybe Hornet had her outclassed the whole time.
…
Valleri collapsed on her couch, and – silently thanking Marissa for having put a couch here at all – threw her head back, trying to catch her breath.
Tag was a kind of endless back-and-forth game, with no clear ending or or way of keeping score. It was purely a way to pass the time, running around and chasing each other until it was time to do better things. In Tag, nobody really won or lost.
Except Valleri. Valleri lost.
She was sweating a little under her clothes, and she found herself hoping that her apartment had a bath or something. Sure, there was rain outside, but she wasn't about to go streaking through the City just to bathe.
Hornet, not even winded, hopped up next to her. "When are we eating?" she asked, unable to keep still even after running around her home thirty times.
"Well… It's prolly gettin' dark soon, so we'll get on it in a few." Valleri took a deep sigh. She stared at the wall opposite of the sofa, decorated with a single medium-sized flea-market painting of a silver flower. Generic soulless apartment shit. "Man, I'd kill to get a TV in here…"
"W-What's a 'tee-vee'?"
"It's, uh… nothing important."
…
"So… your mom is a spider, right?"
"Uh-huh!"
"Um… what's the deal with… silk? Has she told you, or do you have to… y'know, wait 'til you're older?"
"W-Weavers have silk magic! M-Mom taught me some magic, too, b-but I'm still learning!"
"Wicked. Can I see?"
…
Valleri and Hornet were turning a broom into a guitar.
She had no idea where Hornet's silk was coming from, other than seemingly out of thin air, but magic was inexplicable crackshit anyway so she didn't bother asking. Even if it was magic, the strings themselves felt very real; she could grab them, rub them between her fingers, pluck at them.
Having broken apart a smaller, weaker broom to feed to the stronger one, Valleri had nailed a small wooden bar near the top of the handle, so the strings could be spaced evenly. Adding a few more nails along it, she watched as Hornet concentrated her magic, and whips of snow-white silk thrashed through the air before catching onto the nails and tightening.
Valleri picked it up by the… stem? No, the neck– and marveled at it. The strings were glowing with magic. This stupid piece of shit was beautiful.
Didn't take her long to try playing it.
The neck was too thin to press her fingers down flat, so they needed to be slightly loose so she could bend them around and down. She didn't have a pick, so she just thumbed it. Also didn't help that Valleri had zero fucking clue how to play guitar.
"All the leaves are brown,
and the sky is gray–!"
She didn't know the chords, she just moved up when the next note was higher and down when the next note was lower. Wait, her fingers were supposed to be closer to the bottom for high notes, right?
It didn't matter, she was still dancing around her apartment with Hornet and causing a racket. Could she get evicted for noise complaints?
"California dreamin'~,
on such a winter's daaaay~!"
…
How the hell did these caveman stoves work? There was an open metal box inside, but neither gas fuel nor electric power were a thing in Hallownest. Was she supposed to burn fucking lumber in here?
Also didn't help that she didn't have shit in the way of pots and plates. She had barely enough for her and Hornet, if she managed to make something edible. If she wanted to take the safe route, maybe she could make some kind of soup? But would Hornet like that?
Valleri found herself trying to chop up the lunk of meat she bought with an old, dulled knife. It sucked, and she was probably ruining her counter, but it was fine for now. She'd get better shit later, when she had more time and money.
Hornet seemed to sense her struggles and opened the stove. Valleri watched as a glowing emblem appeared on the inside, apparently emblazoned there by the manufacturer. With a whip of her string magic, it ignited, and a pale, ethereal flame.
"...Huh." Hornet shut the vault-heavy stove cover. Valleri felt vaguely insulted for a kid knowing how to use a stove better than she did.
Just as she was about to put the strips of meat in, she paused. Weren't you supposed to grease pans before you added food? She didn't have any butter or oil or cans of Pam. What now?
"M-Momma always uses spare fat," Hornet spoke up. Valleri turned, staring at her in surprise, her eyes darting back to the gorey mess on her countertop.
That… was actually smart. She carved a bit of fat out of the meat and tried smearing it around on the inside of the hot pan(maybe it was magic, too, or some shit). It popped and sizzled, but coated the metal in a thin layer of grease.
Valleri added meat, and then as an afterthought, she and Hornet cut up some vegetables and tossed them in, too. It smelled good, even if she didn't have any spices to work with or anything nice like that. When things started to burn a little, they turned down the heat, panicked a bit, and added a cup of water or two in order to hydrate the food and help it cook more thoroughly.
There was a lot of steam, smoke, burns and stress, but they finally had something to eat. Somewhat-charred meat with burnt… uh… vegetables. They were probably good.
The taste of ash on her mouth made her grimace, but it was hers, something that she made on her own. It was something she could be proud of.
Well, her and Hornet, of course. The little spiderling giggled across the table.
…
"It's probably past your bedtime, bubs."
"A-Ah don't have bedtime!"
"That's not true," Valleri laughed. She picked her up, holding the little spiderling in her arms and carrying her to the spare bedroom. "'Sides, I gotta go to bed, too. Got work tomorrow."
Hornet looked up at her. Despite her protests, Valleri could see the sleep in her eyes. "Doin' what?"
"Beating up bad guys, what else?" She laid Hornet down in a bed much too large for her, placing a rag over a Lumafly lantern to dim it like a nightlight. Valleri tucked her in, "This comfy?"
Hornet squirmed, distress squeaking from her throat. She pushed aside the heavy covers and grabbed onto Valleri's hand as she tried to leave, her expression hard to see with the only light in the room being from the crack in the door.
"D-Don't go."
Valleri stopped. The room was dark, the sheets were soft and clean, and Hornet could be alone from this stranger her mother left her with. She'd had a long day, and could finally rest. And yet…
"Do… Do you wanna stay with me?"
Hornet hummed, still tugging on her hand. Valleri's expression softened. "...Okay. C'mon up." She undid the covers and picked up Hornet again, taking her to the master bedroom where they could both have a little more leg room.
As they crashed down, Valleri wanted to pass out; these were like hotel blankets, and they felt like a cloud compared to the cells and alleys she'd been staying in lately. The relief almost made her want to cry.
Hornet nestled under the blankets and into her chest. Valleri moved to hit the lights–
"W-What about the song?"
She blinked, her hand faltering as she looked down at the little spider-child in her arms. "Hm?"
"M-Momma always sings me a song before bed."
Valleri's arm fell to her side, huffing. "C-Can't you go a night without it?" Valleri hadn't gotten any better at playing their junk guitar, and last time she checked, her singing was bad enough to kill a small dog.
Hornet shook her head, mewling. Valleri pursed her lips, resigning herself to this humiliation. It was Hornet's own fault if her singing ended up giving her nightmares.
The guitar was leaning against the dresser. Valleri reached over and lugged it up, careful not to knock anything over with what was still technically a broom. She held it in her arms for a moment, catching her breath.
Two lethargic sides of her fought; one of them wanted to put the guitar back and demand that Hornet sleep on her own, and the other wanted to gently let her down and make an empty promise to sing some other night. Neither of them wanted to do this.
And yet, Valleri found her fingers moving on their own, her lips moving and singing words that felt detached, yet no less real than her.
"If you close… the door…
the night could last, forever…"
It wasn't magical. It sounded scratchy and unrecognizable on the makeshift guitar, and Valleri didn't even know the notes. But for a moment, she stopped thinking, stopped caring. It didn't matter, because she was doing this for Hornet.
"Leave the sun, shine out…
and say hello, to never~"
She played for a few more minutes, feeling Hornet slowly fall asleep beside her. The rain pattering on her window was her drums, a soft blue light filtering through.
"Dark party bars, shiny Cadillac cars,
and the people on subways and trains…"
Her apartment was dark and empty, only decorated with minimal furniture and a cheap painting or two. Her notes didn't echo through the room or float out through the door or window to escape into the open air; they were quiet, cut off quickly. It was a private show, just for her and Hornet.
"Looking gray in the rain, as they stand disarrayed…"
For Hornet.
She could barely hear her own voice.
"Oh, but people look well in the dark~"
"If you close… the door…
the night could last, forever…
Leave the wine, glass out…
and drink a toast, to never~"
Hornet plucked at the strings of her needle. It didn't feel real. Years trying different chords, years trying to piece together the lyrics from memory, all for a woman that she knew was never coming home.
She couldn't even remember how small and fragile she was when she had first heard this song, so long ago. Even now, her pendant was still around her neck, like cold fire against her chitin.
The gusting winds of the Kingdom's Edge made her red cloak whip around her legs, and she shuddered from the biting cold. The cold of her needle made her claws numb, but she kept playing, kept singing under her breath. Because she wanted to.
This was one of the few things in her life that she did because she wanted to, not because she felt obligated to because of her duty or bloodline. She wanted to hear this song, she wanted her life back.
That was what Valleri had taught her, all those empty years ago.
How to want.
"All the people are dancing and they're having such fun…"
Hornet took a shuddery breath, white ash falling from above and landing on her cloak like the snowflakes she'd heard so much about as a child. Nothing but white ask as far as she could see, stretching out into the wastelands beyond the Kingdom. She wished she could do this somewhere more hospitable, but she had to stay guard. She couldn't even let herself sleep.
Not when he would be coming.
He was the reason she had remembered this song in the first place. Would he perish from the forces that raged within him, as nothing more than a painful reminder? Or maybe…?
Maybe things could finally… change?
"I wish it could happen to me…~"
…No. She would reserve all judgement until she could test him herself.
He'd be here. Any day now.
The strings of her needle hummed, and the wind began to howl.
Chapter name and summary are a reference to A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum.
Other musical references in this chapter include:
Édith Piaf (artist)
California Dreamin' by The Mamas The Papas
After Hours by The Velvet Underground
Before anything else, I wanna say that I'm glad I got this out on the 2nd anniversary of Ethnoentomology! God, we've been doing this shit for two years straight. It's hard to wrap my head around, but I'm glad we've made it this far. Thank you to everyone who's stuck with us this whole time, and everyone who's with us now. :)
This chapter mostly exists so I could try playing around with food. The idea of using food for worldbuilding is probably the best idea i've ever had, yet I rarely get the chance to use it, so this was just me seeing what I could do. (My main weakness is naming things; most of the vegetable names are just Polish names for real vegetables like turnips and onions) That, and since it's in the White Palace, I had to put a lot of research into royal dining etiquette and dinnerware. At one point, I had 36 tabs open about dining table setups and wine types!
Tidbit of info I mentioned but didn't elaborate on: What Valleri was doing with her steak is called the American style of eating, while Edith's demonstration is the Continental/European style. The only reason I know this is because my dad brought it up to me out of the blue one day when he noticed I - apparently - use the Continental style even though I'm American, and nobody else he knows does that. I don't know why
And in case it wasn't obvious, yes, that last scene is a timeskip to the events of the main Ethno fic, just for the hell of it. Again, both this fic and that one are being written simultaneously, and are meant to be read simultaneously as well, so don't worry about spoilers!
Please leave a comment, and thank you so much for the last two years!