FREE STORIES 2012(83)
"This is going to be the only handout?" She asked the Wind Clan elf that was doing the weighing.
"Yes. Beloved Tinker domi commanded that it be given out to keep people from panicking. The next shipment will be sold to wholesalers for resale."
Which meant first come, first serve, at whatever price the stores decided to set.
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Wiley's was a little mom-and-pop grocery store two blocks from her house. Olivia shopped there daily to spend all her money from the night before on what little food was left in the store. Wiley's carried local produce and dairy; staying open while the Giant Eagle down the road had closed. Everything that was in cans and plastic containers – basically everything imported from Earth -- was sold out.
A small, refrigerated case held fresh milk and eggs. There was also butter in little canning jars. It reminded her of the ranch. With thirty mouths to feed, every day meant a new jar of butter. She hated the reminder but it couldn't be avoided. Butter wrapped in paper came from Earth. Wiley's got their diary from a little farm in the South Hills.
She winced at the prices listed on the case. Everything was twice what it cost a month ago. She checked her wallet trying not to think of what she'd done to earn the twenties inside. If she got a bottle of milk, butter and a dozen eggs, she'd have enough money left over for a bag of apples and potatoes and three zucchini. The apples and potatoes would keep if she kept them cold and dark. The zucchini would give her something other than milk and eggs to eat.
There was a small rack of slickies in the back of the store. One of them was labeled "Princess Tinker" and "all new photos!" She picked it up and flipped the images.
According to the slickie Tinker had invented hoverbikes and been one of the star riders on the racing circuit. One picture showed her flying around a corner of a racetrack, head to toe mud. Another she was standing after a race, face muddy except where the goggles had protected her eyes. There was nothing elegant or regal about her. How did she get to be a princess?
The next page showed her about to step into a grey Rolls Royce. She wore a rich bronze-colored gown of fairy silk. A fortune of diamonds adored her throat and left wrist. A small wedge of blue marked the center of her forehead like a beauty mark. Her husband and his guards towered over her, emphasizing that she was just a tiny thing.
Clothes, apparently, did make a princess. The caption was in Elvish, and read "Beloved Tinker Domi."
Was "domi" then the Elvish word for Princess? Certainly "she commanded it to be given out," suggested that Tinker was more than just a concubine. The marines had said that Forest Moss wanted a human domi because no elf would have him. Why not? And what exactly would the job entail?
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Aiofe was in her backyard, taking down her laundry. Olivia could see the girl from her kitchen sink. She'd avoided the anthropology student since she'd found out that Aiofe was doing an internship with the EIA. The UN police force had ultimate power in Pittsburgh in regards to humans. They were the ones that deported illegal immigrates. People were saying that with Pittsburgh stranded, the original treaty with the elves was void and that the EIA no longer had any authority.
And if anyone could tell Olivia about Forest Moss, it was Aiofe. She put on her librarian disguise on; auburn hair twisted up into a bun and reading glasses balanced at the end of her nose. She felt vaguely guilty when Aiofe brightened at the sight of her.
"Ah, Red! I've been worried about you." Aiofe had a slight Irish lilt to her voice. "I'd been meaning to come over and knock, but your light is never on."
"I'm still working night shift." Olivia partially lied. Out of habit, she joined in taking down the clothes and folding them neatly. She avoided the indecently frilly panties and bras to focus on the T-shirts sporting logos from the University of Pittsburgh. "You're not working today?"
"They let me go early since I'd been up all night getting things coordinated for today's handouts. At dawn they gave me my share and told me to go home. To be truthful, I think they be afraid that rioting might start and they didn't want a wee Jackeen to be underfoot."
Unlike the elves, most of the human forces were male. Obviously the men thought that Aiofe couldn't defend herself. Unfortunately they probably were right. While, Aiofe was as tall as Olivia, she'd been an only child and gone to a girl's school where the "contact sport" was soccer. Good little girls only learned to defend themselves when they were exposed to little boys who had been taught that rough housing was how real men acted.
"Everything seemed to be going well when I left," Olivia reassured her. She liked the familiar comfort of doing chores with another woman. She'd been so lonely lately.