The Wings of Ashtaroth

Chapter 6: Visitors: Section III: Iridescia

As she kicked and punched at him, her captor said the bad words, the ones she'd been cautioned by Auntie not to repeat. The ruby-haired man had taught her those words and laughed when she repeated them. She didn't like the ruby-haired man. His ruby hair was coarse, and sometimes she thought his laughs were mean, and sometimes he would be improper with her, like Massan had been before Auntie had sent him away.

"Don't restrain her; you're making it worse!" Auntie's voice.

The soldier's hand loosened.

"Ssss―Suh." She started to cry. She curled up in the bottom of the boat, drew her knees to her swollen belly. A chick curled in its egg. She tried to wrap her arms around her legs, but they wouldn't reach.

The skiff banged against the stone of the canal walls and she looked up. Auntie was staring down at her. Auntie's thin face grew cold. "I'm disappointed in you, Tayri."

Until recently, disappointed had meant hitting. It had been a long time since there had been hitting though, longer than she could count. The ruby-haired man didn't even hit her anymore. Now he came with fruit and sweet milk and maids with trays of meat.

But the tower was cold and lonely, and in the night Iridescia had heard screams again. It had frightened her so much she'd decided to run away.

She reached for the stone wall of the canal, brought back to the here and now by its rough dampness. The boat thud-thud-thudded against a dead end.

"Clang, clang, clang," she said quietly to herself, the sound soothing.

Auntie glared, gesturing to the strong men she always kept with her, and who stood to either side of her. The strong men lifted Iridescia out of the boat and didn't let go of her even when they stood her down next to Auntie.

The slap came quick, the sound echoing off the walls. Iridescia's shoulders shook, and then she heaved, and then she cried. She stumbled back toward the boat, but the strong men's fingers held her fast, digging into her skin.

"Ssss." She wanted them to let her go. Why wouldn't they let her go?

Auntie tsked. "Shut up, stupid girl. Better you didn't try to speak at all. There's no need to announce your simplicity, when it's already so plain on your face. And don't stare so."

Iridescia chewed her lip, staring. Auntie didn't like it when Iridescia stared.

Auntie turned away and stalked beneath an arch into one of the inner courtyards, toward home. "Bring her back. Arrange for a mason to visit tomorrow and brick up the window."

Iridescia looked back along the walkway and the arch opposite. Past the water and the gardens she could see the town and its people. If they bricked up her window, would the town disappear?

Iridescia stroked her belly.

She woke up.

Great Aunt Star was sitting on a chair beside Iridescia's bed. After the dream, she looked so much older, her skin marked by so many more lines. Frown lines.

"You're staring," she said.

Iridescia didn't look away. The woman in the dream hadn't looked away, whoever she was, and she'd been so much more frightened of Star than Iridescia was. Had the dream been a memory of some kind? Everything had looked and felt so real. She could still feel the burn of Auntie—of Aunt Star's—slap hot on her cheek. She gingerly pressed her palm to her face.

Star tsked, just like in the dream. "Answer me, child. Or will you add disobedience to your laziness this morning?"

"Laziness?" Iridescia signed. She glanced out the window of her small, rounded tower room. The sun was high in the sky. It was at least noon.