Garden of Night: Beneath Devouring Eyes #3

Chapter 3 | Part 2

Veli hummed and threw her wardrobe doors wide, exhilaration thrilling through her muscles and into her shaking hands.

I'm going to Aquarius!

With a grin, she pulled clothing from the garment hooks and shelves, tossing them over Baba and onto the brown coverlet of her bed behind her. The sheep watched with bemusement as tan trousers sailed over his head to join sandy tunics and cream leggings. Veli left the more distracting colors that family and friends had given her over the years shoved in the wardrobe's back corners and instead focused on amassing a comforting bounty of beige.

She didn't really need to pack her belongings yet, of course. The landers would not transport students to the planet's surface for two more days, and except for a few optional Circles, the ship's classes were canceled tomorrow to give departing students time to prepare. Still, she couldn't wait.

"This is so unreal," she told Baba. "I got in? Me? And Matir and Vatir are actually letting me go."

The sheep stared at her.

Veli threw open the large storage basket at the end of her bed and tossed the lid on the tile. One by one, she picked up articles of clothing and studied them. Six tunics made of cloth she'd spun, woven, and stitched from Baba's wool found their way into the basket, neatly folded in a nice stack. Six pairs of trousers joined them, one for each day of the Aquarian week, followed by six pairs of fleece-lined leggings.

She tucked her hair behind her ears and then lifted a skirt from the pile heaped atop her bed, frowning. She liked the embroidery she'd stitched onto the hem, tiny burnt gold roses against creamy wool. But overly-feminine garments required a special mood--

Mood disorders can be treated with a combination of medication and therapy--

People have a legal right to refuse treatment, except when deemed incompetent, in which case involuntary treatment is--

She sighed, rubbing the fabric between her fingers. The fuzzy sensation of wool soon drowned out the warring voices.

She smiled at the soft texture, then at the sheep. I wish I could take Baba with me.

Not that she ever would. The Aquarians were flesh eaters, and food was scarce on their world after some kind of cataclysm. At least, that's what the Pedagogues said. She doubted the planet-dwellers would take Baba from her, but she wouldn't risk it. Not when they might want the five-legged sheep for more than just wool.

"They'll eat you right up," she said with a shudder, reaching out to scratch Baba behind his fuzzy ears.

A knock on her door made her glance up. "Come in."

She lifted a questioning brow as her mother and father stepped into her bedroom.

Nitun was a gaunt man who shared Veli's Mitsul platinum blond hair and pale hazel eyes, although in a darker face than the fair Wilyems complexion Veli had inherited from her mother and without accentuated cheekbones ridges. He stepped around Baba and glanced at Desi.

Veli's mother, a willowy woman with auburn hair, cleared her throat. "Veli, we need to talk."

Veli frowned as her mother, sitting on the bed, pushed the pile of clothing aside. "Please don't touch my things, Matir."

She scrunched her nose at the purplish-gold embroidery her mother's touch had revealed. Too bold. Why didn't I notice that before? She snatched the tunic up and tossed it toward the wardrobe, and some of the tension in her chest eased. There.

"We're not here to touch anything," her mother said. She patted the patch of bare blanket that she'd cleared of clothing. "Come here, Dajtir. Sit down with me."