First World(42)

Brace laughed, like he thought I was kidding, before sobering slightly. “You’re serious, aren’t you? How can a piece of paper be worth anything? Does it have some type of magical property?” He shook his head. “No, of course it can’t on Earth.”

Lallielle shuddered. “That sounds horrid. What happens if you don’t have enough of this ‘paper’ for the basic essentials?”

I bit my lip; in a matter of seconds they’d made something that was so fundamental on Earth sound absolutely ridiculous.

“Before the dark days, if you couldn’t find a job and therefore didn’t have any money, you ended up homeless and living on the street.”

The horror grew on Lallielle’s face.

“So if you don’t have money, then how did you get this amazing place? And the clothes?” I gestured around me.

She blinked a few times. “Well, we all have talents; every person is expected to contribute to the upkeep of society. The higher in demand your skill, the more you can barter and trade for other things.”

Did she just say barter and trade?

Brace helped her explain. “You remember those specialties I described in the forest?”

At my nod he continued.

“Well, that was just a small insight into First Worlders’ skills.”

My mind was getting a little blown right now. I couldn’t quite wrap my head around the concept. But it would be all kinds of awesome to live in a world where everyone has an important skill to contribute.

Lallielle spoke again, her gentle voice easing my confusion with a subject change. “Would you like to know some of the memories of your baby-life?”

Looking up, I faced her, curious as to what she would say.

“You were born on the first day of the first month, year two million.” She started eagerly, smiling in remembrance. “You were a beautiful baby, with these incredible and unique green eyes. They were so large, dominating your entire face. You have grown into them quite beautifully.”

At this point, I’m sure my ‘unique’ eyes were flashing disbelief. She was sweet-talking me.

“You hardly ever cried, just stared up at me with your emerald eyes.”

I shrugged off a sudden urge to cry, stupid whacked-out emotions. My life before I was four was a blank; as if I hadn’t existed before the age where I could retain my own memories. But now there was something, a moment, a memory.

“What’s the date now?” I cleared my throat to help force the words out.

“Twenty-first day of the twelfth month,” Brace answered.

I was surprised that their time-frame was comparable to Earth.

He grinned at me. “I presume it’s just a few days until your eighteenth birthday.”

I had to have Lucy back by the time I turned eighteen. It just wasn’t happening without her.

Deciding to sit again, I clasped my hands in front of me. My birthmark flashed at me.

“Quarn asked me about my birthmark.” I glanced up again. “Why did he ask that?”

“Aribella, my girl, that’s the mark of your mother’s royal line. A matriarchal inheritance. But you also have a mark of my family. And I’ll bet old Quarn didn’t ask you about that one.”

I spun around in my chair to find the source of the deep voice echoing through the room. My eyes widened in shock. A man – I think he was a man – stood there, his colossal proportions filling the doorway. He topped out at a minimum of six foot ten, and a glowing light encircled him. He moved further into the room, and I drank in every detail.

He had shoulder-length fiery red hair, a deep rich blood red, even more potent than my own. But it was obvious where my hair color had originated. Flashes danced through his eyes, the color of newly turned autumn leaves, burnt gold. He was intimidating, a strength and power unlike any I’d ever experienced. The longer I stared, the less potent was the glowing, until I barely noticed it. Had he dimmed his glow somehow?

He moved to Lallielle. They embraced, as if they hadn’t seen each other in days. The love between them was intense. For a moment I swear an intertwining aura circled them in waves of pink and silver. I shook my head. This ‘crazy’ thing I was starting to do was a little concerning.

Was this my father?

This larger-than-life – possibly glowing – man-giant?

Lallielle’s stories all implied that she’d made all the decisions alone.

Where had this colossally over-sized person been during everything?

He laughed loudly then, a deep husky woof. He even threw his head back as if there was nothing he did that was half-hearted.

“I can read your thoughts, daughter, especially when you are projecting so strongly at me.”