Potenkiah, the deathgiver

Chapter 5.4

***

“You dropped this, miss,” said the gardener, kindly handing over the ProCom to the young human.

Elisa Bandier was about to decline the offering when she remembered seeing Bridget nearby. The device was probably hers.

“Thank you, yes. I couldn’t find it in all these leaves,” she said, extending a hand to receive the object.

The gardener continued to gather the dead leaves with a pressurized sweeper. However, he remained alert to the humans’ movements, as well as those of any visitor that entered his dominion. It was his duty as a Junpaih.

The girl was snickering; the man beside her was boasting about how he had driven an Eloahn teen up the wall telling jokes about eggs. Both guffawed, bent at the waist.

“Don’t tell your father, Lisa,” said the man, pausing to breathe, but she ruined his effort by bursting out laughing again.

“You are so much fun, Mark…” She pushed his shoulder lightly.

“More than those stuck up Eloahns you study with?”

“Those annoying spoiled brats! I’d like to teach a lesson to several of them. A little bit of humility wouldn’t hurt them.”

“Is it true that none of them unfurl their wings in public?”

“It’s odd, isn’t it? Hey, you,” Elisa shot at the gardener. Frowning, the man silenced the machine and stood to attention. “Why is it that the girls that are eight and nine never unfurl their wings in public?”

“The King has commanded it, miss.”

“Huh, I thought it was a matter of modesty.” She exchanged a look with Mark, grimaced in resignation, and thanked the gardener for his kindness.

“They work perfectly well,” added the gardener, before leaving.

“What do you mean?”

The employee shrugged, checked that no one else was paying attention, and said, “If it were necessary, any of them would use them. They hold back because it would be humiliating for the King himself to tell them off in public. But you did not hear it from me. I have to get a bag for these leaves before the wind blows them away.”

He bowed and left.

“What do you think about that?” commented Elisa, crossing her arms.

“I bet the bratty nobles annoy him as much as they annoy you.”

“I’d say.”

“Whatever you’re thinking, make sure it looks like an accident, Lisa. You won’t damage your father’s career for the sake of personal revenge. Remember he’s a friend of the King.”

“And the reason why we’re... on vacation here,” she added ironically.

***

While heading away towards the maintenance dispenser, near the stables, Kim Davalo reflected on his rash decision. He was assuming a great risk by planting ideas in the human’s head. He was betting on the animosity of a fickle and vengeful teenager, as well as on her discretion. He must be insane.

If it was true that the young woman hated all of the Eloahn students in her class, and was planning to ridicule one of them, he could not pass it up. Any victim the human chose worked for him.

Suddenly, he heard a long whistle, with tonal variations, as if to convey a message. He ran to see what was happening.