Read Online The Nothing: A Book of the Between by Kerry Schafer - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kerry Schafer
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appearance is important and I’m going to shave you. Sit.”
To his own surprise, he sat. She was a force of nature and he wasn’t about to cross her. She poured water into the basin from a clay pitcher, whisked up the soap in a small bowl, and shaved his face and throat, one terrifying stroke after another. She also trimmed his hair.
And then she opened a drawer in the side of the little cart and brought out an armload of clothing, which she laid out on the table beside him.
Jared picked up a pair of what he supposed would have to be called breeches, made out of what was obviously homespun yarn roughly sewn together, and a harsh brown shirt that looked for all the world like a nightshirt. Peasants, he supposed, would wear clothing like this. If they were called peasants in this world. Whatever they were called, he wasn’t one. Kraal had brought him here because he was of value.
“I’m not wearing that.”
“Because what you’re wearing is infinitely better,” the woman said with evident scorn.
Jared looked down at his bloodstained pants, the right leg torn away to reveal his new, clear gel appendage. The tunic was ripped open down the front.
“But—I’m meeting the Queen. Is there nothing else?”
“If you think clothes will impress her, you know naught of the Queen of Giants. You’d best dress quickly—the sun has nearly passed Third Hill.”
“Whatever that means.”
“Come. You’ve got a lot to learn in a very short time.”
He got up and followed her down the hallway. When she opened the door, he covered his eyes with his arm, so bright was the light, but after a moment, he looked again and, squinting, was able to see.
A large, square of vacant space stretched out between the house and those neighboring, paved with flat, gold-colored stones laid expertly together in an intricate pattern. Like a city square, he thought, which ought to have a fountain at the center, with a few shade trees and park benches and pigeons. Where there should have been a fountain or sculpture, instead there was a half circle of perfectly symmetrical standing stones, twenty feet tall, all rounded at the top. They were too perfect to have been formed by nature but didn’t look like they’d been made by hands, either. Each was a different color, and he realized as he looked more closely that they were gemstones of a size and clarity unimagined.
Emerald, sapphire, ruby.
At the point that would have been the center of a complete circle, a clear crystal pillar stretched upward, catching a few of the sun’s rays in faceted angles and reflecting the light skyward in a visible beam.
But the sunlight shone now directly on the ruby stone, the third, on it and through it so that the whole thing glowed and cast red beams across the square.
“When the sun has a clear path,” the old woman said, “and lights up the Time Stone, Kraal will come for you. You must be in the Queen’s audience hall and ready to present your petition before it moves on to Fourth Hill.”
“And if I don’t choose to see the Queen?” The stones were too much. Too much light, too much color, an intensity of sensation that made his nerves scream for relief. When the sun lit up that central pillar—what was that, diamond? It was going to be blinding.
The woman laughed, or he thought it was a laugh, a dry rustling sound. “You are a child, with the ways of a child, and if you continue with such foolishness, you will be a dead child. Kraal has no death wish. If you aren’t ready or if you try to resist, he will pick you up and carry you there naked. They take agreements seriously here. Now, will you get dressed or no?”
Her wrinkled face was void of expression, and he knew he’d get less mercy from her than from the Giants. “What’s your bargain with them?” he demanded.
“You would like to know that, I am sure.” Without another word, she turned and went back into the cottage, and after a moment, he followed, his emotions a turmoil.
To his own surprise, he sat. She was a force of nature and he wasn’t about to cross her. She poured water into the basin from a clay pitcher, whisked up the soap in a small bowl, and shaved his face and throat, one terrifying stroke after another. She also trimmed his hair.
And then she opened a drawer in the side of the little cart and brought out an armload of clothing, which she laid out on the table beside him.
Jared picked up a pair of what he supposed would have to be called breeches, made out of what was obviously homespun yarn roughly sewn together, and a harsh brown shirt that looked for all the world like a nightshirt. Peasants, he supposed, would wear clothing like this. If they were called peasants in this world. Whatever they were called, he wasn’t one. Kraal had brought him here because he was of value.
“I’m not wearing that.”
“Because what you’re wearing is infinitely better,” the woman said with evident scorn.
Jared looked down at his bloodstained pants, the right leg torn away to reveal his new, clear gel appendage. The tunic was ripped open down the front.
“But—I’m meeting the Queen. Is there nothing else?”
“If you think clothes will impress her, you know naught of the Queen of Giants. You’d best dress quickly—the sun has nearly passed Third Hill.”
“Whatever that means.”
“Come. You’ve got a lot to learn in a very short time.”
He got up and followed her down the hallway. When she opened the door, he covered his eyes with his arm, so bright was the light, but after a moment, he looked again and, squinting, was able to see.
A large, square of vacant space stretched out between the house and those neighboring, paved with flat, gold-colored stones laid expertly together in an intricate pattern. Like a city square, he thought, which ought to have a fountain at the center, with a few shade trees and park benches and pigeons. Where there should have been a fountain or sculpture, instead there was a half circle of perfectly symmetrical standing stones, twenty feet tall, all rounded at the top. They were too perfect to have been formed by nature but didn’t look like they’d been made by hands, either. Each was a different color, and he realized as he looked more closely that they were gemstones of a size and clarity unimagined.
Emerald, sapphire, ruby.
At the point that would have been the center of a complete circle, a clear crystal pillar stretched upward, catching a few of the sun’s rays in faceted angles and reflecting the light skyward in a visible beam.
But the sunlight shone now directly on the ruby stone, the third, on it and through it so that the whole thing glowed and cast red beams across the square.
“When the sun has a clear path,” the old woman said, “and lights up the Time Stone, Kraal will come for you. You must be in the Queen’s audience hall and ready to present your petition before it moves on to Fourth Hill.”
“And if I don’t choose to see the Queen?” The stones were too much. Too much light, too much color, an intensity of sensation that made his nerves scream for relief. When the sun lit up that central pillar—what was that, diamond? It was going to be blinding.
The woman laughed, or he thought it was a laugh, a dry rustling sound. “You are a child, with the ways of a child, and if you continue with such foolishness, you will be a dead child. Kraal has no death wish. If you aren’t ready or if you try to resist, he will pick you up and carry you there naked. They take agreements seriously here. Now, will you get dressed or no?”
Her wrinkled face was void of expression, and he knew he’d get less mercy from her than from the Giants. “What’s your bargain with them?” he demanded.
“You would like to know that, I am sure.” Without another word, she turned and went back into the cottage, and after a moment, he followed, his emotions a turmoil.
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