The Marriage of the Living Dark

FLOWERS

“Nothing...”

She breathed the word, trying it out on the air. It was a frightening thought But maybe not as frightening as the triumph of DeVore. At least he would not inherit Not now.

Beneath that vague unfocused fear, she felt a sadness that her adopted sons and their children would not live to see a brighter future. But so it was. They had unlocked Pandora’s box and this was the result. Emily stood and, pulling on her cloak, went out. Outside Siri’s door, she stopped and listened. There was no sound. No sound at all. She tried the door. It was ajar. She pushed it and stepped inside, listening once more.

“Siri?”

There was a sound from her right, from the bathroom. She walked across and gently tapped.

“Siri? Siri, are you in there?”

There was a heavy sigh, then. “What?”

“Siri, can I speak to you?”

There was a long pause, then the door opened a crack Siri’s face, puffed and swollen, looked out from the brightness within. “Siri?”

Siri stood back, letting Emily enter. She waited until Emily had sat on the edge of the long, narrow bath, then, sighing, said, “He told you, did he?” “Who?”

“Daniel. He told you I went to him.”

Faced by the direct statement, Emily found she could not lie. “Yes,” she said.

“He was worried about you. He thought... he thought he’d hurt you.”

“He did. But maybe if s for the best, neh?”

That “neh?’, with its edge of cynicism, surprised Emily. She looked at Siri anew, recognising in that moment just how much Siri had pinned her hopes on winning Daniel’s love.

Tm sorry,” she began, but Siri put up her hands, as if to fend her off. “I don’t want your pity,” she said, her face hard now. “No, nor your advice. So you can save all of your rehearsed speeches for someone else. I don’t need them.”Emily looked down, then shrugged. “I’m sorry,” she said again. “Really I am.” She paused, then, “You want some time off?”

Siri shook her head, then walked over to the sink and began to wash her face, attending to the task with an exaggerated concentration, as if to negate Emily’s presence there in the room.

Emily watched her a moment, then stood. She would need to keep an eye on Siri these next few days. Who knew what stunts she’d try? “All right,” she said finally. “I’ll leave you then.”

Siri gave a little grunt of acknowledgment, then carried on washing. Aiya, she thought as she closed the door behind her. Then, knowing she would not sleep unless she did something about it, she turned and began to walk towards the nearest guard room. It wouldn’t hurt to have someone check on the girl every few hours or so. Just in case.

DeVore walked from the cell, a faint smile on his lips. At last! At-fucking-last! As guards bowed low or hurried to open doors for him, he began to laugh, a gentle yet triumphant laugh.

The prisoner was dead. He’d heaved a sigh and died, like a gutted fish expiring on the slab.

Dead but he won’t tie down ...

He felt calm; strangely, abnormally calm. Stepping into the darkened suite of rooms which once had housed Pei K’ung, Li Yuan’s fifth wife DeVore sniffed the air and smiled. The dirty tittle dog! He tiptoed across and looked. Yes, there they were, then-naked bodies entwined about each other’s. He stood there, studying them a moment, then reached out and tugged at the boy’s big toe.

Da-neel grunted and turned his head slightly, one sleepy eye half-focusing on DeVore “Oh, if s you ...”

FLOWERS

“Yes, it’s me,” DeVore said. “And Fve a task for you, if you’ve finished fucking my woman.”

The boy sat up slowly, disentangling himself from the woman’s limbs. “What1 s happening?” he asked, yawning as he reached down and picked up his shirt.

Tve been playing a game”

“A game?”

“Yes, with a poker and a map.”

“Ahhh ...” The fake’s eyes widened with understanding. “Who was he?”

“Lin Lao.”

“Lin Lao?” Daniel pulled on his shirt, then whistled. “Then you know where she is.”

“Precisely. But we’ve not got long.”

“I see that” The young man turned, looking down at Emtu. “Then you’ll need her, too.”

DeVore smiled. “Yes.” He sat beside the woman, then ran his left hand slowly up her flank until it cupped her breast Slowly the nipple hardened. She turned, murmuring vaguely in her sleep. DeVore leaned forward and nuzzled his tongue against the hardened bud. An eye flicked open. The woman smiled. ‘Tve a job for you, my sweet A very important job. Indeed, you might say that if s the job you were made for.”

It is night. A field of lucent blooms, pale, long-necked lilies, stretch beneath the circle of the moon, their radiance tike the glow oftiving death. Tall-stemmed blooms that tremble in the chtH wind from the west. A sigh ripples from bloom to bloom, from stantened mouth to mouth; an utterance of darkness, iMean. There is a moment’s perfect stillness and then they walk, black earth tumbling like pepper grains from their roots as they slowly ctimb the steepening dope, the faint rustle of their leaves filling the silence of the valley.

From space nothing, yet the truth is, in a thousand valleys the blooms are on the move, their faint corpse-light shimmering across the dark yet moontit lands, slowly extending their domain, even as humankind sleeps. A sigh and then they rest once more, leaves folded, awaiting the day and the sunlight from which they take their strength.

Fields of lilies, beautiful pale white lilies shining beneath the moon, filling the high ground of the alpine valleys, while beneath them ‘lie the great plains of central Europe.

They rest. Tomorrow they unH begin the descent. Tomorrow.