the hologram image in front of me of very beautiful floral gardens.
“The Botanical Gardens?” Fulton asks.
“Yes.”
“But it’s very hard to defend such a wide-open place.”
“It won’t be necessary to defend it. By the time the ceremony begins, there won’t be any resistance to the coronation. Trust me.”
He looks confused. “Do you want any special type of arrangements at the event?” he asks, going down his list.
“Flowers, you mean?”
“Mmm,” he nods.
“I want znous—as many as you can get.”
He laughs. “You do know that those are poisonous, don’t you?”
“I think I heard that. I still want them.”
“Then you shall have them.”
“Is there a bar in here?” I ask him.
“Yes. He shows me the bar, which is better stocked than the one in Kyon’s study. I take two bottles of Winslet from it, one in each hand.
“Can I have these? I want to have a couple of drinks with Phlix.”
“You can have anything you want, Kricket. This is your house.”
“Thanks. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to finish the planning later.”
“It’s okay with me,” he replies with a smile.
Leaving the ballroom, I have Oscil guide me to Phlix. She’s outside, walking along the riverside. When I reach her, I extend a bottle of Winslet out to her. “Care for a drink?” I ask.
“You mean alcohol?” she asks, looking stunned that I would offer it to her.
“Yes. I mean really freaking expensive alcohol.”
I pull out the bottle’s gold-ball stopper and hand her the emerald-green bottle. “Here taste it.”
She takes it from me and sips. “That is delicious,” she says before taking another sip.
“Yeah, it’s good. You know what else is good? It’s worth five thousand Alameeda Gipsons. That’s insane money.”
“I can get vaccinated with that kind of money!” she says.
“Do you have a contact?” I ask.
“I think so. Can you get me more bottles like this?”
“I can take requests, but do it as fast as possible. We’re running out of time.”
“I understand.” She hands me the open bottle and I take a sip of it, savoring the flavor. We walk along, looking at boats. “Are you going to miss this?” she asks.
“No,” I say immediately, but I don’t know if that’s true. “I won’t miss being scared all the time.”
“Will we ever not be scared all the time?” she asks.
“I hope so.”
“I’m glad that I’ll have you.” She links her arm with mine.
“Me too.”
“Do you think you can shadow us?” I ask.
“No problem,” she says.
She closes her eyes and concentrates. “We’re invisible to others now.” She winks at me.
“Fantastic. Come with me. I want to show you something.”
I lead her around the outside of the house to the gigantic doors where I first entered the estate. “This is Kingdom. Have you been in here yet?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “We were brought in through an interior courtyard.”
I show her inside. It’s just as I remember it, a creepy art gallery of portals. I take her over to the one of Naren Falls. We watch the falling water hit the pool of blue water, sending up spray everywhere. The dead body of the soldier isn’t visible anymore. Maybe some big beast dragged it off and made a meal of it. I don’t know, but I’m glad I don’t have to see his corpse.
“You can feel the mist on your face when you’re not in your secret bubble,” I say. “It’s a portal.”
“Cease speaking!” she says in disbelief. “Who made this?”
“Kyon.”
Her eyes get wider as she says again, “Cease speaking!”
“It’s true,” I reply. “Watch this.” I wind back my hand and throw the round, gold bottle stopper at the portal. It lands on the lawn and it half-rolls, half-hops on the turf, because the sphere is now caved in. “It’s sort of brutal on anything that passes through it though.” I take a sip of the Winslet, then pass it to her.
She takes a long draught before staring straight ahead at the falls. “That’s in the annexed area, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It. Is.” I feel her nudge me with the bottle. I claim it for another drink.
“How dangerous is the portal?” she asks. I glance at her. She looks at me, and then at the Winslet bottle.
I wind my arm back and throw the open bottle into the portal. After the emerald-colored glass crosses the frame, it implodes, shattering and spewing sparkling wine all over the lawn in front of Naren Falls. Birds on the branches of the trees inside the frame take flight.