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Duke of Two Cities Chapter 20
Slowly, floor by floor, the elevator rose. The elevator cart had taken on the polite, frustrated quiet that seems to grow out of closed elevators. Even the witch-girls, bubbly and carefree a few moments ago, had quiet grown on them as though someone had cast a spell. One of them took out a phone from between her cleavage.From behind Devon, the young man started to choke. The girl looked from her phone towards the sound and saw the young man, his face nearly glowing read and sweating. She rolled her eyes and shook her head and went back to tapping at her phone after giving her companion a small nudge. Her friend curled a glittery lip in disgust. Their floor arrived. They marched out with a stomp of their heels and a swishing of bejazzled skirt. The large pumpkin man went out soon after, squeezing through Devon with a muttered apology. Soon, Devon and the young man were alone.For the first time, Devon could get a better look at the young man—and a man he was, though just barely. Hi
Duke of Two Cities Chapter 21
Across the city, Maryanne Tomson, mother of two, tried to reach her son. Like many other things Maryanne tried to do, she failed.Earlier that day, they had fought. It was one of the worst fights they’d had in years, all over some silly little hat. Devon, her son, had spent an ungodly sum on something that he’d likely wear once and then put away in a closet somewhere. Three hundred dollars wasted to sit on a shelf and never be used again. A silly, stupid purchase. And after she had made her feelings known, her own son chose the hat over their family. She had cried. There was no shame in admitting it. Did their family mean so little to him? Did she mean so little to him?Maryanne cried and prayed all that morning. When the crying wouldn’t stop, and the prayers didn’t work, she turned to her greatest refuge—sleep. Many women her age struggle with sleep, but Maryanne had always been a dreamer. In the days that she used to have friends, they would all complain about their various sleepi
Duke of Two Cities Chapter 22
Now filled with dream-laden purpose, Maryanne marched out of her room down to the kitchen where Neveah sat. Apparently, she hadn’t moved from the kitchen since the morning. “Neveah, have you seen my phone?”Neveah looked off to the side at the corner of the wall. “Why?” “I need to call your brother,” Maryanne said. “Where’s my phone?Neveah’s eyes went as wide as teacups. She did not look at her mother. “I don’t know? It’s probably where you last left it.” Beneath the annoyance in her voice was a layer of fear. Maryanne glared. “Did he call?” she asked. Neveah shrugged her shoulders, but still avoided her mother’s gaze. “A shoulder shrug is not an answer, missy. Did your brother call, yes or no?”“What am I, your secretary? No! Devon did not call. OK? Happy now?” Neveah brushed away a lock of hair from her ears as she stood up from the table and marched off to her room, her voice trailing away. “My god, can you for two seconds talk about something else other than Devon!”“Don’t
Duke of Two Cities Chapter 23
Devon picked up the phone as it vibrated, looking at it. “More of Neveah’s bullshit, I’m sure.”But what if it wasn’t?Maybe it really was Momma reaching out to apologize—or at least talk. But what would he say?Buzz-buzz. Buzz-buzzGripping his lips, he picked up the phone. “Hello?”ClickWhoever was on the other line hung up. “Goddamnit. Neveah probably has Momma’s phone again… the snake.” He tossed his phone on the bed and refused to look at it, at least until dinner. There were more important things to do—first of which being a long shower. Devon stripped down and tested turned the faucet tap. A spray of steaming hot water blasted out with such force that Devon almost leapt back. Dozens of thin streams hissed from the shower-head, each with enough pressure to clean the dirt out from between tile grouting. Devon swept his hand underneath the stream—wonderful, cool pressure dug gently into his skin. “That is—ooh!” Devon grinned. It was by far the nicest shower he had ever used.
Duke of Two Cities Chapter 24
Silently, with the reflexes of a desert tiger, the man pulled out a cell phone. “Your father calls again, My Prince.”Ali pushed the phone down, his eyes darting around. The executive lounger concierge peered over from his desk. “Is this man a guest of yours?” The concierge asked.“Yes! OK, yes, thank you!” Ali said, waving. He gave the suited man a pat on the arm.“Friend! OK, thank you!”Satisfied, if confused, the concierge turned away and shuffled papers around on his desk. Ali gave the man’s arm a squeeze. He slipped back into his native language and his voice took on a distinct, sharper tone. “What did I tell you about using my formal title here? Again, you have forgotten, Zadik!”The man bowed. “I’m sorry! But please, my Prince— Ali glared. “When we are abroad, we follow the customs of our host. We of House Zhabaiye are not savages, yes?”A constipated look passed over Zadik’s face. “My deepest apologies… bro.”“See, that was not so bad!” Ali beamed. “With some practice, I t
Duke of Two Cities Chapter 25
Far away from New Hudson, across an ocean and a desert in the Royal City of Zhabai, Sayid bin-Osman al-Jirafi sat upon a couch in his office smoking a shisha pipe. Trails of cold smoke poured from his nose as he flipped through his working tablet, poring over reams of data—taxes and fees and the dozen streams of income flowing towards his private monetary sea. He drew in a puff of smoke and poured out a ring the size of a famous New Hudson bagel. The thick ring sailed like a round little ship over to the plate-glass windows overlooking the Royal City below. He imagined that his donut could be strong enough to sail down from his tower and float atop one of Zhabai’s many golden spire, settling like like a well-thrown ring of solid cloud.Sadly, this was just a thought of fancy, and the ring broke apart on the window in trails of smoke. Sayid stroked his beard. The bagel-sized ring remained him of New Hudson, where Cousin Ali was out living his moronic fantasies of becoming a magician
Duke of Two Cities Chapter 26
Perhaps this was a bad idea after all, Ali thought. The conference had already begun, and he had spent the majority of the day sitting in the Executive Lounge snacking on cheeses. He could have stayed in Zhabai City and ate all the cheese and crackers he wanted for free! Truth be told, the thought of him actually going down to the conference made his stomach do flips. It was one thing to talk about these shows and movies online, where he was safe and anonymous (relatively speaking.) But to be around these people in person was another matter. “It’ll be OK,” Ali said to himself. “You’ve been practicing.”Rehearsing average conversation in a mirror does not count as practicing, my friend. Ali pulled out a few of his hairs out of stress. It was true— there was no sense in lying to himself. He had practiced. Ali had spent a shameful amount of hours watching people talk about movies and video games online, after which he practiced saying the words as though he had come up with them himsel
Duke of Two Cities Chapter 27
Putting his first stop into the hands of fate, Ali’s finger stopped: FANTASY AUTHOR PANEL—4:30pm, Grand BallroomFine. That would be his first stop. Ali went to the mirror and checked his costume—in fact, it was not a costume, but one of his formal outfits for festivals and holidays. The jewels on his vest glittered brightly beneath the mirror lamp. He gave his vest a little tug and straightened his cap—small desert cat fitted with a falcon’s feather and emblazoned with gold filigree.I look like a PrinceHe checked his watch, also the watch of a prince, a platinum timepiece crusted with diamonds and a cluster of sapphires and topaz. The face of the timepiece was a collection of colored magnetic sand which emerged from the face like stones bubbling from a still pool. The sand grains slowly flipped to read 4:13.He could still make it if he hurried. But what about Zadik? He should tell him where he was going, at least…“No. It will be fine,” Ali s