Sister Cities

Part 79: Caitlyn (7 Years Ago)

You're so much older and wiser, and I

I wait by the door like I'm just a kid

Use my best colors for your portrait

Lay the table with the fancy shit

And watch you tolerate it

________________________________________________________________________________

 I watch my shiny black shoes splash through the clear puddles on the stones. Rain patters against my umbrella, letting me tune out Mum and Dad's murmured conversation. I kept quiet and stood still through the entire service, even though my starched black skirt made one of my legs itch terribly and my fury was such that I thought I might scream, and I'm thoroughly tired of murmured conversations by now. The only time I was comfortable was when I fired my rifle alongside the enforcers. They said Grayson would have liked me to do it.

"I'm going to take a nap before dinner, if that's okay," I say when we reach home.

"Go ahead," Dad says. "You can have your meal in your room once it's ready, if you'd prefer."

"No, thank you. I'll come downstairs."

I trudge up to my bedroom with the lethargic misery I imagine they expect. The misery is genuine, of course, but the lethargy is not. As soon as my door is closed, I put on my shooting gear and boots— I won't be shooting, but they're the only clothes I own in which I can run properly and that can handle the rain— and tuck my hair into a hat, since my umbrella is in the entryway. Then I slip out my window.

I spent my day inside before the funeral, but I picked up enough whispers in the city while we were out to know something happened last night with Jayce and his illegal experimentation. They say it involved the same blue light as the explosion in the Undercity, but it wasn't an explosion. Councilor Heimerdinger was there. They say they've been in the Council room all day, and Heimerdinger was in a good mood during his lunch period, so Jayce must have made some sort of breakthrough that was approved. Nothing has been officially announced, however, and Mum sat out the meeting, so she's no help. I have to find out the details firsthand.

The guards at the front of the building wave me through. Meetings typically finish by this time, but they say the Council room is still closed. I have at least an hour before my parents ask after me, so I sit on the floor outside the door and attempt to eavesdrop. I've done this a million times and have never been able to hear anything, but I don't think I'll ever accept that.

I wait for forty-five minutes. Jayce is the first one to emerge and jumps at the sight of me. I leap to my feet. "Jayce! Is it true about your experiments? They say your materials were confiscated. How did you get them back? What did you discover last night? They say you made magic!"

Beaming, he pushes me out of the way of the exiting councilors and various other individuals, and I realize that there's one young man I haven't seen before who stays with him instead of continuing down the hall with the rest.

"Cait, this is Viktor," Jayce says. "My new lab partner. Viktor, this is Caitlyn Kiramman. The councilor's daughter."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

Viktor shakes my eagerly-outstretched hand. "Likewise, Ms. Kiramman. You do not need to call me 'sir.'"

"You don't need to call me 'Ms. Kiramman' either."

"It's true about the experiments," Jayce says, yanking my arm. "Come on. I'll tell you everything."

The three of us make our way to Heimerdinger's laboratory. Jayce chatters about runes and resonance and zero gravity, Viktor interjecting on occasion with the pieces of context that Jayce forgets in his excitement to bring up, and the thrill has me wringing my hands by the time we sit down.