Things followed a set pattern and I became attuned to the rhythm and was quite satisfied flowing effortlessly throughout each day. I missed Ninya and spent less and less time at Gertrude's bar, in many ways to avoid Helen.
In time I was promoted to Chief Administrator and led the council meetings each month. Every five years all the senior Administrators were invited to the Capital for the great meeting of the people's representatives. At least ten thousand Administrators and Bureau Chiefs were welcomed and we mingled about like huddled groups of excited school children while the Capital lavished us with every perceivable luxury and privilege.
All the Chief Administrators were housed in their own suite in the Capital Estate. We dined and socialized together with the upper echelons of society. I could barely take a bite of each plate as they summoned new dishes every few minutes. The most beautiful of people were in abundance everywhere and everything seemed like a fairy tale written by Karl Knutmudsen.
This extravagant gala went on for ten days and we also took the time to be very productive in establishing new laws and interpretations of old ones. We made great strides in eliminating a lot of unnecessary regulations and simplified the Constitution to a fraction of its original length. Such was the amount of power flowing freely during that once every five year event.
I became acquainted again with Donna who had been reassigned and made a private attache to another Chief Administrator of the coastal provincial. She welcomed me into her arms and shared that she was prospering along with her sister Mina. We both missed dearly Ninya, but she harbored no ill feelings towards Helen. There was little time to waste on such trivial emotions.
Her Administrator Stevens was an austere man of immense height. He towered over most others and could be seen from a distance in any gathering. He had a very imposing presence and a booming and deep baritone voice. We met frequently over after dinner drinks with Donna sitting comfortably between us and pouring our refills. He had met her a short while and familiar with the sisters and of her membership. His was no game and he had made an informal agreement to ensure certain matters in his district were kept out of their purview. Donna and Mina were given to him by the sisters as their token gesture, but we both laughed and said such gifts were frequent by the sisters and were neither token, nor a gesture.
In reality, he accepted to protect them from Helen and the Neo-Artesians. Helen had risen through the ranks and become a real threat to the sisters. His agreement was simple to ban the Neo-Artesians from the coastal provincial. By default the sisters could then operate more freely.
Donna raised our attention to one of the grand madams of the sisterhood who had entered the room. The most senior of their members kept public faces in the Capital and madam Olivia joined our discussion by the fireside. Donna trembled as Olivia sat next to me. So formidable her reputation. Olivia had her stay and she brought in several other sisters to join us.
She knew of Ninya and was dismayed at such a great loss. Unlike the other madams, hers became a personal vendetta. She loathed the Neo-Artesians more than most and chafed at how they could only stand idly by. She pressed her hand on my arm and gracefully traced her fingers on my skin. She knew I also had spent time with my teacher and of his direct link to Karl Knutmudsen. The rumor was I had become a successor of sorts.
She also shared the rumor that some suspected my teacher for being the creator of Karl Knutmudsen and he was the origin of the Artesians, kept hidden in the open by the inner circle of original members. It would make sense that they would sacrifice themselves to protect him, but that was disproven many times in many ways over the years.
Still rumors seem to cling on longer than the truth as they share something more delectable that facts cannot seem to make us feel. There can be something said of the importance of emotion when describing things. And as quickly as she arrived, Olivia departed. She entreated us to enjoy ourselves and the other sisters remained to keep us company.
Through the haze of smoke, heavy glasses and the sweet giggles and chatter, I realized the ratio of women to men was 4 to 1 and most if not all of them were sisters. We sat like fat old tuna fish with a swarm of a thousand sleek barracuda and sharks circling about. Their whispers over our drunken stupor became the written translations in the charters the next morning.
"It was what Ninya liked about you" said Donna. I was her primary and most frustrating target as I could see through the ruse and beyond that another ruse. So she never tried. The sisters called it falling in love and they all shunned those who fell prey to it. They still revere and love Anna, but call it her main downfall and disgrace.
The council of the madams decided, only Olivia dissented when they made the order for Ninya's execution. Donna carried it out and expected to die when challenging her mentor and she convened with a dozen other sisters who arrived in the city to help carry out the hit. Instead, Ninya put up no resistance. She pressed her hand on mine and said I killed her. I was the next target and Ninya instead asked to go peacefully alone. She then circled her fingers how Olivia did before and nudged me to leave. I nodded, but stayed in my comfortable seat and remained for the full duration of the council affairs then departed for home.
No comments:
Post a Comment