have any idea how dangerous that was?”
Kaizen couldn’t help but think how he never would’ve met that girl—the cautious movement in the shadow, the soft voice which didn’t seek to take, take, take from him—if Johannes had been guarding the stairwell. She’d called him a real person. A fact he’d come to doubt himself.
“It was—it was illegal, Kaizen! You can’t be left alone! You’re my son! ” the duke went on. He really only hit his stride when he was laying into his son. “If anything were to happen to you—”
Kaizen glowered. His father’s indignation wasn’t about protecting his high-profile family. It was about preserving the social order. “Yeah,” he said. “If anything were to happen to me, Icarus would be left without its next duke.”
“That’s right, ” Malthus seethed.
Kaizen shook his head and set off from the castle grounds, toward the smaller island to the right. Both Newton-2 and Johannes stepped automatically after him, but Kaizen whirled, flinging a hand away from him as if to throw the lot of them into the air with telekinesis. “Leave me alone!” he commanded.
Newton-2 obeyed, but Johannes looked imploringly between his two masters.
“Let him go,” Kaizen heard Malthus growl behind his back. “It’s fine.”
Kaizen thundered over the bridge which linked the smaller island on the right to the Taliko Archipelagos castle grounds. Its bolts and chains didn’t whine and squeal like everything else in the industrial city, because this particular bridge was crafted of the exotic material known as wood . Although the citizens of Icarus may have found that amazing, Kaizen hardly paid it any mind.
He’d left the archipelagos less than twenty-four times in his twenty-four years. He knew them unbearably well. He knew how moss felt against his fingertips. He knew of the faces made by fish underwater. And it was beautiful. Objectively, he knew that. But subjectively, he hated it.
Kaizen moved through the elaborate greenhouse of this second island, blind to the flowers, deaf to the echo of birdsong. He exited the greenhouse from its other side, striding further still to the right, following another insulated wooden bridge to a circular lake on the rightmost and second smallest island. A brass pipe fed into the lake, and circled the bottom of the dome, plugging into a thick cloud bank directly below. This cloud bank was constantly created and recreated by the manufactured waterfall on the rim of the island’s glass plating.
Standing at the very edge of the dome stood a young girl with long, fair hair, the outline of her slender fingers silhouetted on the glass.
“Hey Sophie,” Kaizen greeted, going to join her at the edge. This was her favorite place—not that she had many from which to choose.
Down below, they could see the way the water coursed into the air, a dark ribbon which then bloomed into a swath of pearl, only to be sucked back into the domed lake, never to be free on the wind. No wonder it was her favorite place.
“How was the ball?” Sophie wondered bleakly.
“Oh, you know. Awful.” Kaizen smiled, but Sophie didn’t see it. “There was a small, small riot.”
Now Sophie smiled, though she still did not tear her eyes from the glass.
“But!” Kaizen went on. “I met somebody.”
Now the girl pulled her eyes from the glass. “Oh, really?”
“Yeah—the one who caused that small, small riot.”
Sophie nodded. “She sounds nice. A member of the gentry, I presume.”
“Of course. What are you doing up so late?”
“Oh, I’m just . . .
Kaizen couldn’t help but think how he never would’ve met that girl—the cautious movement in the shadow, the soft voice which didn’t seek to take, take, take from him—if Johannes had been guarding the stairwell. She’d called him a real person. A fact he’d come to doubt himself.
“It was—it was illegal, Kaizen! You can’t be left alone! You’re my son! ” the duke went on. He really only hit his stride when he was laying into his son. “If anything were to happen to you—”
Kaizen glowered. His father’s indignation wasn’t about protecting his high-profile family. It was about preserving the social order. “Yeah,” he said. “If anything were to happen to me, Icarus would be left without its next duke.”
“That’s right, ” Malthus seethed.
Kaizen shook his head and set off from the castle grounds, toward the smaller island to the right. Both Newton-2 and Johannes stepped automatically after him, but Kaizen whirled, flinging a hand away from him as if to throw the lot of them into the air with telekinesis. “Leave me alone!” he commanded.
Newton-2 obeyed, but Johannes looked imploringly between his two masters.
“Let him go,” Kaizen heard Malthus growl behind his back. “It’s fine.”
Kaizen thundered over the bridge which linked the smaller island on the right to the Taliko Archipelagos castle grounds. Its bolts and chains didn’t whine and squeal like everything else in the industrial city, because this particular bridge was crafted of the exotic material known as wood . Although the citizens of Icarus may have found that amazing, Kaizen hardly paid it any mind.
He’d left the archipelagos less than twenty-four times in his twenty-four years. He knew them unbearably well. He knew how moss felt against his fingertips. He knew of the faces made by fish underwater. And it was beautiful. Objectively, he knew that. But subjectively, he hated it.
Kaizen moved through the elaborate greenhouse of this second island, blind to the flowers, deaf to the echo of birdsong. He exited the greenhouse from its other side, striding further still to the right, following another insulated wooden bridge to a circular lake on the rightmost and second smallest island. A brass pipe fed into the lake, and circled the bottom of the dome, plugging into a thick cloud bank directly below. This cloud bank was constantly created and recreated by the manufactured waterfall on the rim of the island’s glass plating.
Standing at the very edge of the dome stood a young girl with long, fair hair, the outline of her slender fingers silhouetted on the glass.
“Hey Sophie,” Kaizen greeted, going to join her at the edge. This was her favorite place—not that she had many from which to choose.
Down below, they could see the way the water coursed into the air, a dark ribbon which then bloomed into a swath of pearl, only to be sucked back into the domed lake, never to be free on the wind. No wonder it was her favorite place.
“How was the ball?” Sophie wondered bleakly.
“Oh, you know. Awful.” Kaizen smiled, but Sophie didn’t see it. “There was a small, small riot.”
Now Sophie smiled, though she still did not tear her eyes from the glass.
“But!” Kaizen went on. “I met somebody.”
Now the girl pulled her eyes from the glass. “Oh, really?”
“Yeah—the one who caused that small, small riot.”
Sophie nodded. “She sounds nice. A member of the gentry, I presume.”
“Of course. What are you doing up so late?”
“Oh, I’m just . . .
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