9 Contraband

When I get back to the table a couple of Amina's friends are already sitting there, talking and laughing. The draw of their stunning smiles and alluring outfits causes the small table to fill quickly and Aiden barely slips in next to me before all the seats are full.

As soon as I sit down I realize my mind is blank for conversation. What's usually easy and comfortable just feels forced. It doesn't matter that I have known these people my entire life or that Amina keeps glancing at me expectantly after she says something the others think is particularly amusing. I find that I'm at a loss for words.

This is the first moment of stillness I've had since this morning, when I was up on the mountain and I feel the weight of the day settle on me. Despite nearly sinking the island and being mutilated by Joss, the thing I can't stop thinking about is what happened with Ocean and that ship. The more I think about it the more I realize that it's my fault. All those people...Ocean can't comprehend its own destruction and that a simple shifting wave can end countless lives. I'm the only one with the weight of those lives on his conscience. I haven't even spoken about what happened there. But who would I tell?

Growing up on this island—despite the familiarity, despite knowing these people for my entire life, there isn't anyone I'm close with. At least not close enough to share feelings like that with. Amina may be a good friend but she's terrible with a secret and most of the boys my age are too busy showing off with their abilities or chasing girls to trouble themselves with deeper matters. Once I would have gone to Maliah but she's too close to the elders for me to confide in her as a friend. I know some who have deep relationships with their mentors but Lito is far from someone I would share my feelings with.

As I think about the ship my eyes drift away from our table to the others. Most everyone who will come has arrived and most of the tables are nearly full. I see my sister, speaking with yet another male elder, though this one, a Tessera, is accompanied by his severe-looking wife. I don't doubt the pair of them will be falling over themselves to please her soon. Maliah has a way with people; something beyond the touch of her gift.

I see other tables, only about a dozen families with younger children sit together and the rest sit with friends or members of their House. Those of the high families, Dominia and Archeon, have prominent tables in the middle of the space. The mid families, the Mareldeans and Lurans are near the water and the Turinos have a collection of tables near the trees. As I scan the banquet I find a small table with a scattering of plates but only one occupant: Immortalis.

I could have spoken with him about the ship, could have used the time we had this afternoon to vent about being used by the tribe but I'd been too caught up in the attack that it simply didn't enter my mind. He wouldn't have told a soul about what I'm going through—

"So do you have an opinion Damon?" Amina's words jarr me back to the table. She bats her unnaturally long eyelashes at me as if she knows my mind's elsewhere and wouldn't have a clue what she was talking about.

"I—don't." I can't keep the question out of my response.

"I'm sure." She pats my hand with only a hint of condescension. It's obvious she only wanted to bring me back to the present.

Amina and the other girls continue the conversation with small contributions from the rest of the table. That's how they like it, the attention of others swirling around them. I try my best to follow but I'm soon lost again as they move from discussing the most recent fashion trends on the Mainland to the most exclusive gossip closer to home.

"What's up little people?" Someone comes up from behind me and before I have time to turn around, a hand slaps me on the back, just hard enough to be uncomfortable but not hard enough for me to say anything without sounding like a wimp. Eli.

I turn to face him and his leather trench coat from the mainland billows out in the slight breeze. Bennett steps in at his side and smiles at the girls. The pair of them have been full tribe since last year but in stark contrast with the others who passed the trials, they use every excuse to spend time with those at this table. Though that's probably because we're some of his best customers.

"We've got a little present for all you hatchlings. Call it a..." His eyes dart up to the table that holds the elders. "Graduation gift." I follow his gaze and see that every seat is filled, spirited discussions breaking out even this early in the evening.

Safe from prying eyes he uncovers a glass bottle from somewhere in his coat. It's most of the way full of an amber liquid and has a caricature of some sort of sailor on a paper label glued to the glass. I can't make heads or tails of the lettering on the bottle but there are so many dialects on the Mainland that I never bothered learning them.

"I had to make sure it was the good stuff before giving it over to you all." He says, tapping the top of the bottle where some of the liquid is missing. "Not quite as strong as the hard 'ol Balen brews but it goes down a lot smoother. Here." He produces a plastic bottle with a red label this time, the liquid a dark brown.

"This is what they drink it with on the Mainland."

"Have you been giving all the graduates presents like this? It seems a bit...contraband." Amina asks with a smile at the edges of her lips. She takes the glass bottle from him and gently rubs her thumb over the label, studying the picture of the man on the paper.

Eli smiles broadly at her and looks like he wants to put his arms around her but thinks better of it. Last time someone did that without invitation ended up with a barbed quill sticking out of his arm.

"To be perfectly honest, the risk of procuring such a fine specimen—"

"Cut the shit Eli, just get on with it. Here, I will. To all you near-graduates: here's a gift to ensure you think kindly of us when you finally get your allot and can spend some real pods on our shit. This here would have set you back a full pod and a half, by the way."

"For a bottle of liquor?" Levin was peering down the table at the bottle with a look of bewilderment. "Mom says Balen only charges six nut for his best stuff. No way this is worth nearly three times that," he said.

"Well your mom must be doing something else to get such a low rate," said Eli. The table erupts into laughter and Levin's face burns a deep red.

"Beside the point. The reason this bottle is worth so much is because of the risk it takes us to snag something like it. And then of course the annoying fact that a certain someone's gift doesn't work on anything useful." Eli makes a face at Bennett but all Bennett does is shrug. He knows how rare the gift of copying is—there was only one other Chosen in living memory who could duplicate physical objects into exact replicas of their original. The fact that it doesn't work on everything perfectly has never bothered him.

"Back to the point, yes this is a gift to remind you of the many different objects we can obtain for the ambitious Full Chosen and no, we aren't going to be giving all graduates similar gifts. For obvious reasons I hope." He looked pointedly at another table of kids our age and it was obvious. At the table were the three other kids from our grade, each sitting with their mentor and all seeming to try and outdo each other with brown-nosery. The mentors looked miserable.

"So what do you call this?" I surprise even myself with the question and take the bottle from Amina. The lid twists off easily and I pour a generous amount into my empty wine glass. I pass the bottle back to her and she smiles as she pours herself some then passes it around the table. Alcohol is generally a privilege earned by those who have passed the Final Lesson. That's not to say most of us haven't already snuck tastes from our house cellars but it's generally a luxury difficult to obtain.

Eli favors me with a smile. "They call it ron or rum depending on which dialect you choose, made from fermented sugarcane." I take a sniff and end up coughing at the strong scent. I expected it to smell sweet but it just smells like any other alcohol. I take a small sip and my eyes water. Despite my best efforts I end up coughing again.

"Here." Eli passes the other bottle to me. "Cola." I pour the dark liquid into my wine glass and swirl it to mix the two then take a hesitant sip. This time the flavor is cut with a sweetness so strong it takes me off guard. The alcohol taste is still there but the sweet cola makes it go down much easier. I only have a few sips before the warmth in my stomach spreads to my head. A dangerous drink indeed.

Eli claps me on the back. "Glad you liked the trial run. This bottle's on the house but any more than that'll cost ya." He slips his jacket open to show a row of bottles, many of the same but a few with different labels, different alcohols.

I sip the last drip from the glass then set it back on the table. "Wouldn't expect anything less."

"How'd you slip the guard this time?" Amina was already pouring herself another drink, the bottle half empty now that it made its way around the table. "Bribe, blackmail...seduction?" She giggles and I can see a flush on her cheeks that has nothing to do with her artificially crafted makeup.

"Tricks of the trade my dear, though I'd be happy to share if you want to join our little—ouch!"

"Very generous of you but my answer's the same as the last three times you asked me." She had a wide smile on her face as Eli stuck his finger in his mouth. The spine had grown up through her dress then retracted, leaving her dress miraculously unscathed. I suppose that answered whether or not she was wearing any real clothes.

Before either of them can respond a low bell is struck and people begin making their way back to their tables.

"Looks like you two should find your table. Too bad we're all out of seats" Levin says though his mock sympathy only goes as far as his words.

"Naw, I think we'll pull up here." Bennet says. Eli is already reaching out toward a pair of chairs at a vacant table. The table is on the edge of the banquet area, about 50 meters away but just the same he pulls them though the air and sets them down for himself and Bennet.

Every time I see him do this I get a headache as my eyes try to make sense of what's happening. I know that he's making a portal of some sort and pulling the chair through but it's one thing knowing what's happening and it's another to see reality bent before you. The air warps in front of him and each chair seems to meet a sluggish resistance as he pulls them through the portal and sets them down in front of himself and Bennet. Both of them take seats and stare towards the stage as if nothing unusual has happened. And for our island, I suppose nothing has.

Because of their nonchalance or perhaps because no one else can think of anything to say, the rest of the table is silent and turns toward the stage as well. The elders, with Mom in the center have mostly taken their seats in the semi-circle that looks out across the rest of the tables. I can see my sister on the edge of the group and next to the rest of the elders she looks like a child sitting at the adults' table.

The rest of the assembly have mostly taken their seats and quieted down in anticipation of what speeches the elders have prepared for the banquet. I don't know why they bother. They say all the same things at these meetings: that all of us are crucial to our way of life and how vital it is for each family to work together for the continued flourishing of our great society. As if saying these things prevent House Archeon from building slightly over the border into the Turino's land or the Lurans from wandering into Mareldean territory.

I spot Immortalis's usual table. A small one on the edge of the clearing with only one chair next to it. The few plates and cup left with the remains of his dinner. I scan the area and notice he's at the back of the banquet area, the only one standing as the last people take their seats. Just as the last conversations finish and Mom is about to speak, he slips out through the trees.

My curiosity peaks and I glance around, noting that nearly every member of the tribe is here. Why is leaving now? What could he possibly be doing in the dark that he wouldn't want others to see? I barely think as I rise from my seat and murmur something to Amina about being right back.

I stand where Immortalis stood at the back of the clearing and pause for a few seconds. Mom's speaking now and if she noticed my leaving then she's choosing not to show it. I take one last look around but everyone is captivated by whatever it is she's saying. I turn back to the trees, pausing to make sure my water reserve is still intact. Then I take a deep breath as I duck under the branches of a tree after Immortalis.