Iliona and the resumption of ties Read online

  He arrived at the end of the corridor in front of the octagonal room, whose glassy walls were covered on the inside with long white blinds that touched the ground. He opened its door without knocking.

  Inside the octagonal room, nine timers were sitting at an oval glass table, which had seats for twenty. The lemonish lights that time came from inside the table only, irradiating across all its extension and casting enough glow on the faces around it. Ed’s eyes quickly scanned the place, stopping in one person with interest and hidden shock. The early timer who had threatened him in the lake was also sitting at the table, wearing a blue cloak just like his, with her loose almost white hair falling over her shoulders. He took his sunglasses off and headed toward an empty chair.

  “We were waiting you’d appear, Ed.” Said Lumma, the timer leader of the Internal Council. Her hair, dyed in turquoise blue, was all caught in a lateral braid, which ended over her left shoulder.

  “It did not seem so.” He finally sat. “Since you did not even invite me to this reunion.”

  “How come you here then?” Flen, the bald timer who had been at Timothy’s asked, and he was wearing his black cloak that time.

  “The Internal and External Councils always gather after or before important happenings. As there wasn’t a previous reunion to discuss the sudden changes, I figured you would be here. And for what I can see I wasn’t the only one who was not consulted about such changes.” He looked at the empty chairs around. “Where is the External Council? Did you banish them too?”

  “It was quite the contrary. They excluded us first. Erry, as the leader of the External Council, was the first one to betray us. He took the humans side.” Lumma answered him, showing a grave expression. And Flen felt chills in his arms as if there was a gush of cold wind in his stomach.

  There was a silence to that.

  “Well, anyway.” Ed continued as that information did not matter much to him. “I came to know why I was not only discharged of my first singing but forgotten in Nagranto to hear it. And as this wasn’t enough, when I arrived in here I was welcomed by a kid giving me arrest warrants.” He finished turning his upset eyes to the youngest timer in front of him, who sustained his stare with a little smile.

  “Her name is Tris, Ed. And she’s the youngest timer of our team now. Some members of the Internal Council decided to leave suddenly. We had to make quick replacements. Erry didn’t find supporters in his group only.” Lumma explained with disappointment in her dark eyes.

  “Replacement?” A soft jeer smile appeared on Ed’s face. “So now we replace skillful and trained timers, for kids who are not even in college yet?”

  “I am in Timers College.” Tris interrupted him, serious but calm. “Besides, what makes you think I’m not skillful or trained? My age? Are you that limited?”

  “There are certain techniques timers under thirteen can’t endure. It’s not about age; it’s about body limits. To become a skillful timer requires power children are not able to deal with yet.”

  “She’s an early timer, Ed.” Lumma intervened. “Because of her abilities, she just stayed at Timers School ‘till she was ten. Then, she just jumped to college. She did the tests, and her health is unaffected, we wouldn’t allow her to continue if it wasn’t. And her results made her as qualified to be among us now, as yours did.”

  “Ten?” He repeated.

  “I’m twelve now.” Tris made it clear to him, with vivacity in her pale blue eyes.

  “She had orders to stop anyone who came out from a nil during the singing. Not only her, but other timers spread across Iliona City as well.” Lumma answered him, calmly. “Now, about us dismissing you …”

  “You mean betraying me,” Ed interrupted her as a matter of correction.

  “I would call it a precaution.” Lumma corrected him quickly. Then she added:

  “We’re living a very delicate moment, and we’re starting to identify the ones involved with it. I mean the ones who are causing it. Erry is one of them, but he’s not acting alone. He’s part of a group. And we suspect you can be part of his team as well.”

  After the silence that came with that sentence, Ed started laughing.

  “You never stop surprising me. So now, I work with Erry. Really? How come?” He said leaning his back on the chair, as to hear something funny.

  “The External Council is no longer working with us, but still our actions are failing as they were already foreseen by the ones we’re playing against. There must be information leaking. Our plans are not kept between us only anymore.”

  “And among everybody at this table, you think I’m the one leaking plans.” He concluded her thought.

  “It’s not you directly,” Lumma said. “But Muriel. And you’re her work partner. So we see you as a suspect as well.”

  He was taken aback. He mentally recalled all his actions with Muriel in the last days and months, but he could not see anything suspect about her , “She was the one thinking it worth trying to do our job ‘till the end,” He thought to himself. “She and Zian. Unless…”

  “You seem surprised.” Flen observed, then added, “If you’re faking it, then you’re quite an actor.”

  “How is she involved?” He ignored Flen and asked toward Lumma.

  “Erry told Flen everything. He couldn’t manage everything directly while working in the Council without letting others notice it, so he needed an ally. Someone further from the Administration matters, but involved with his cause still.” She said.

  “While Erry was still working in here, planning things from far, she gathered more ilions, defending that if they had humans on their side, they could escape the timer’s control over Iliona City. And she became a leader to them.” Flen added.

  “And Erry told you all that?” Ed asked him with smart eyes.

  “Yes, he did.” Flen started playing with one of the hoops in his left ear. “It was not as he was confessing, though, he was angry because his initial plan was to gain something out of it. He was the one who came up with the idea of telling humans we could make their wishes come true, to attract them faster. And he started contacting enterprises as well. However, he just discovered later that Muriel was heading in other direction. So he took it all as treason and told us everything to get back at her.”

  “And after telling you all this, he just got inside of a nil and vanished?” Ed suggested sarcastically.

  “He escaped,” Lumma said. “We have everything recorded on the security cameras. He punched Flen in the face and escaped.”

  “Well, this is… ridiculous.” Ed exclaimed as in lack of a better word.

  “It was a strong punch,” Flen added, casually, as trying to defend himself.

  But Ed did not even look at him. He could not understand how he never noticed Muriel was involved in all of that. And how Flen could be so free of suspicions. However, no one better than her could explain this to him.

  “And what are your efforts to bring him back?”

  “Well, you’re not of trust anymore. We can’t tell you.” Flen answered him again, although the question was meant to Lumma.

  “On the other hand, you are someone of full trust, right?” Ed’s gray eyes met Flen’s hazel ones. Then he spoke toward Lumma, putting on his glasses again and standing up, “You’re accepting kids as part of the Internal Council, pointing wrong suspects while defending and even letting go the real ones. Also, the way the singing was made was very irresponsible. I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but it’s getting easier not to take the Administration’s side.”

  “You better remain sat,” Lumma said, with a threatening tone. “If you leave now, I’ll understand you’re indeed involved with her in all this. When Tris reported to us you had escaped, I did nothing about it because I understood your timer’s pride. But there will not be a second chance. This behavior is just your pride making you act like this again.”

  “Pride?” He looked back at her. “Ok then, let’s suppose you’re right. Don’t you t
hink this situation is bigger than you have imagined? Do you think that arresting the actors will end up with the play?”

  “We don’t need to arrest all the actors. Just the main one.” She eagerly replied.

  “Not always. Sometimes, the script is already growing on the other side, with the audience. And then new main actors appear. And there’s nothing you can do about it than to enjoy the show.”

  Lumma stood up, annoyed. Her dark purple cloak accompanied her movement.

  “I’m serious, Ed. If you leave now, I’ll understand you’re on their side. You’ll not belong to this Council anymore.” She warned him again, but he was already walking toward the door he had passed through just a few minutes ago. And from the threshold, he said, sourly:

  “I’m not on their side. I’m on my side. And if this doesn’t mean fighting a lost fight, it’s fine by me.” And he left after saying so.

  17

  Chairs and Scales

  “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Zian asked arriving by Timothy’s side. His house was distant from the city’s center, and there were no houses or tall buildings around it. It was in a quite isolated place, with not much in its surroundings but trees and a single lamppost, whose light was blue, in front of it. It was a two-story house, all in black, with a round balcony on the last floor, which faced the street. Timothy was in front of it, observing the surroundings, especially the trees, whose leaves were not green as the ones he knew, but purple. The morning sun was just an opaque globe in Iliona City turquoise sky. And despite less visible than at night, he still could notice the fake stars.

  He had taken a fallen leaf from the ground to look at it closer when Zian arrived. Timothy was the last one to wake up and when he found the empty living room but for the many chairs, he went outside to check if he would find someone there.

  “They are always like that?” He asked showing the leaf to Zian.

  “These get darker during the autumn, becoming purple. But they usually have a lighter violet color. Nonetheless, there are red and orange leaves too in Iliona. We just don’t have green ones like in your world.”

  “So there isn’t a single green tree in the entire Iliona world?” He asked throwing away the leaf.

  “There are some in Dandelion City,” Zian said, thoughtful. Then as predicting Timothy would ask him about it, he quickly changed the subject. “Anyway, your city is still… well…asleep. So it’s not safe for you to go back yet. Winda went to visit her parents, and Muriel said she had something important to take care of. Ed went to the Administration building try to check what happened. So it’s just you and me for the next few hours…” He paused, without knowing what else to say.

  “So… aren’t you hungry? Tevis enjoys coffee, so it’s the only human food I have. I can make you some.” He suggested.

  Timothy smiled. “Well, coffee is not food. But I enjoy it too. I also brought some snacks in my bag.” He said, trying not to dismiss Zian’s attempt of being polite. “How long do you think it will take ‘till I can go back to Nagranto?” He asked while they were heading to inside.

  “I would like to tell you that not much, but the truth is that I don’t know. The Administration is keeping a watch over the city, even with everybody sleeping, so it would be troublesome for you if they found an awaken boy wandering around there. You should only go back when things become routine again. And about Bob…We have no news from him yet, but I bet he’ll get in touch soon.”

  “Hmm.” Timothy nodded, suddenly a bit sadder. He hadn’t thought about Bob missing after he woke up that morning yet, ‘till Zian mention it. “Where’s the bathroom? I also brought some clean clothes within the bag. It would be good to change this one I’m wearing.” He added taking his bag from the floor, near the chair he had slept.

  In fact, the living room was so full of chairs they could barely walk without stumbling upon one of them. By the daylight, looking at all their forms and colors, Timothy had a better notion of Zian’s hobby than at night when he could only see their silhouettes.

  In the far corner of the room, there were four round and yellow chairs arranged in a circle, as if a table should be in the middle of them, but there was none. Zian’s black telephone was on one of them, which was a classic rotary with golden edges and a triangular base. There were two red armchairs, one on each side of the living room’s round window. And a greenish one too large to be an armchair and too small to be a sofa that stayed in the middle of the room, as if it had fallen and remained there.

  There was also the padded wood bench of two places where Ed had slept last night. The creamy papasan where Winda had rested, the downy brown chair Muriel and Zian had stayed, and the black and white checkered swivel chair that had accommodated Timothy, which pattern was the same of the floor.

  In the space under the stairs, there were three carmine seats with brown arms, put so tight against each other they seemed to be glued together. And by the side of the entry door, there was a blue chair with yellow casters and red arms.

  “Oh, I collect them,” Zian said, as a matter of explanation when he noticed Timothy was examining the chairs. “Do you like them?”

  “Not as much as you do,” Timothy said, still looking around.

  Zian smiled, feeling a bit embarrassed. “Do you collect anything? Game cards, pens, another type of furniture?” He joked by the end of the phrase.

  “No.” The silence grew after his answer. Timothy thought Zian’s collection a bit unusual and not practical at all because game cards and pens could be stored in drawers or boxes, but chairs just took too much space. Then he added:

  “I just never felt like collecting something. I guess it happens…”

  “Sure it happens…..” Zian replied, not knowing how to go on with that conversation. “Anyway, the bathroom is on the second floor; it’s the last door turning right by the end of the corridor.” He finally added.

  “Ok, I’ll go there.”

  “I’ll prepare the coffee while that,” Zian said while Timothy went upstairs.

  “You really stick to others, don’t you?” Timothy was so surprised with that serious voice he almost fell off the stairs. He expected the second floor to be empty, not knowing that Ed was already in there, sitting on a chair placed in a small room by the left side of the staircase. With his legs crossed, elbows propped on the arms of the chair, and hands intertwined by the height of his chin, waiting.

  “Oh my, you scared me!” Timothy stopped in the middle of the way, surprised. By his exclamation, Zian also rushed to upstairs, asking:

  “What, what happened? Who is in…” However, he stopped in the middle of his question when he saw Ed, wearing his timer’s cloak along with his red sunglasses. Then, he commented, moving up the stairs: “Ah, it’s you. The house has an entry door, in case you haven’t noticed it.”

  “Really? Among so many chairs I forgot about the door.” He replied sarcastically. “I stopped by Muriel’s, but there was nobody in there. So I was about to take the subway again to visit you when I remembered you lived in the middle of nowhere. Then I thought it would be better to practice my skills since nowadays I never know when I’ll need to escape again.” He showed a little smile.

  “I thought using your skills to break into someone’s house was against the timer’s rules.” Zian reminded him.

  “And it is. But I’m temporarily off the timer’s code. Because of you.”

  “Because of me?!” Zian almost yelled in surprise. “How come I have something to do with that?”

  “That’s what I came to know,” Ed said calmly, looking at Timothy who was still standing in the middle of the staircase. And added: “I would appreciate more if we could talk about it alone.”

  “Timothy could you…” Zian started, but Timothy interrupted him:

  “I understood.” He said and finished going up the stairs to head to the bathroom.

  *

  Zian took a seat on one of the four chairs in front of Ed. They were pale green with blue seams and
black arms and shaped like shells.

  “Your whole house seems like a big waiting room,” Ed said, taking off his red glasses.

  “I’ll not consider criticism from you.” But he did, even that just a little because he added drily: “I would appreciate more if you could just start talking what you came to say.”

  “Well, like I said I’m temporarily off the timer’s code because the Administration suspects I’m involved with the ones spreading the word about Iliona to humans. That’s why they dismissed me from the singing without further ado. After such accusation, I refused to remain in their reunion until the end and corroborate with their nonsense. That’s why I’m a fugitive to them now. A tiny correction: They think I’m involved because they figured out that Muriel is not only part of it, but she’s also one of those who is commanding the whole thing. Nevertheless, looking back I could remember nothing suspicious about her, but the fact she has always been fond of you. That’s what makes you responsible for my current situation.”

  “So that is it? You hear a bunch of things, make crazy deductions, and then I’m already guilty? Just because Muriel and I are close?” Zian replied, indignantly.

  “We’re working as partners for less than one year; I don’t know her. And even knowing you longer, I don’t trust you either. Besides, the way you both defended so much how we should not give up our work, saying that we should still try ‘till the end, always seemed exaggerated to me. And now after the accusations, it makes sense to think you were using those extravagant arguments as a disguise.”

  “So you already believe Muriel is involved indeed? And commanding it all!” Zian emphasized.

  “There’s another commander, a timer, his name is Erry, but you don’t know him. I was told he is the one luring humans by saying we can turn their wishes into reality. But Muriel didn’t agree with that, so they broke apart. And because Erry told them that the Administration let him escape.”

  “Muriel never mentioned anyone called Erry…” Zian said scratching his head. But Ed interrupted him: