Chapter 9
I tried and failed not to acknowledge Cereus’ look of amusement. “I await your report,” she said, as I headed into my room to put my gloves away. That task was immediately complicated as I stood open-mouthed in the doorway.
I had a canopy bed! Ahem. I mean.
I had a canopy bed. A tent of mostly opaque eigengrau cloth stretched overhead, completely enveloping the mattress save for an opening at its foot. There seemed more than enough cloth for me to close myself completely off from the outside world if I so desired. The frame itself was an ornate and wooden affair, but the canopy itself was the star of the show. The four corners came inward as they rose, coming to meet at a rounded crest which almost reached the ceiling. Forgetting all about the gloves, I clambered up and crawled inside.
It was the same mattress as my old bed, as far as I could tell, this time covered by a dark colored comforter decorated with a large yellow crescent. My owl was leaning against a mound of pillows. I looked up, and… wow. Little stars hung from the canopy, but my gaze was drawn to a pull string, capped with another little crescent, hanging off of one of the corner posts. I gave it an experimental tug.
All the stars hanging above me lit up at that moment, casting a soft glow on my gawking face, tilted upward as I was on all fours at the center of the mattress. I’d asked for a canopy bed, but what I got… was…
Like, Cereus was very… extra, I got that. But to set all this up, just for me… was I crying over a bed? I sure hoped not. Last thing I needed to do was ruin this new comforter with my tears…
I rolled over on my back, or rather, I flopped over to face the stars overhead. It was like something straight out of a fantasy world… it was absolutely magnificent. But what had I done to actually deserve it? A shadow moved outside the canopy, and then a vine came in to wipe at my tears.
“Cereus, I…” I sat up to meet her where she stood, at the foot of my bed, much of her obscured by the cloth. Fuck. She was going to ask if I was disappointed, if this was not enough. She was going to…
“Is it too much?” she asked instead.
“I don’t know.”
“You do see where I’m coming from, of course,” Cereus said. “My apprentice is worthy of only the best. I am not above displays of opulence to win her over.”
The words to say were hidden away as I searched for them. I wanted to reply as the Dark Lady, I really did…
“Does the Dark Lady think she is undeserving?” Cereus asked. I could see the glow of her eyes seeping through the cloth.
“I’m curious what makes you think I earned something so… incredible,” I murmured.
“It’s simple, I think. You asked.” I could see the silhouette shift as Cereus cocked her head. “Is that not enough?” A vine booped me on the nose, which made me blink. “Need I remind you that creating something such as this really isn’t so difficult?”
I don’t think I had an answer to that. Okay, Serenity, get your head together. You had this really cool bed that your plant warden got for you. But it didn’t cost any money or whatever. Once this stuff is all over with, you can probably get a similar one set up at home…
Would Cereus feel bad when it came time for me to leave this stuff behind? As soon as my wardship was up… well, maybe she was still operating under the assumption that I’d succumb to her wiles and be a floret or whatever. Be her floret. Stars, she was right out there, patiently waiting as I got lost in my own mind. Was she doing something to me?!
No. No, she wasn’t… I’d always been like this. Weak and indecisive as I overanalyzed every little thing. Evernight, though… she acted, and she acted quick. I needed her now. As I was now, so trapped in my mind, I wouldn’t even notice as the collar was wrapped around my neck.
Why couldn’t I be her? Why couldn’t I just be her? I could see where this was going. The trials were a smokescreen, something to keep me distracted while I was steadily beaten down by… affection and care. How much time would it take? Before I lost…
Beep. Yellow lights flashed on my bracelets. Oh dear! Serenity was panicking again.
Cereus crouched down until she was at eye level with me. “Are you spiraling again, Serenity? Would you like to talk me through it?”
Reveal my weaknesses, my little secrets? There was no way I could afford to do that. So what I did instead was… just stare at her, wide-eyed. It was inexplicably easy to maintain eye contact as her gaze pulsated back at me, and I again wondered; was she doing something to me? I tore my gaze away just in case she was.
“The Dark Lady’s trust remains an elusive prize,” she observed. Her body shifted in a coordinated release of tension that I realized was her equivalent of sighing. “I know you walk a hard road. Your powers were stolen away and the path to recovery is not yet apparent. So long have you hidden away from those you perceive as shunning the darkness. Even worse, you are in the clutches of your adversary. It’s almost like the night sky that once protected you is foreign to you now, outside of your control.” It didn’t come across as gloating. It was as if the Queen was simply taking note, sharing the things she saw. “Tell me. Are you all alone?”
“I don’t… I don’t know what you’re trying to get out of me,” I said.
A vine curled around my chin and nudged my face towards hers. “I want you to recognize the advancements you have made despite your supposed state of weakness,” she told me. “Today you departed your comfort zone and interacted with strangers. On its surface that might sound trivial, but I believe you and I know better than that. You’ve passed the second trial, Serenity.”
“Do not try to flatter me, pretender,” I murmured. “I still know where your true aims lie.”
“Well, Evernight, I fear I will have to disappoint you. I have not reached the end of my praise. Your host informed me of how things went. You were reserved, but polite. You answered questions and offered opinions. Additionally, it would seem that his floret is suddenly very keen on putting together an outfit for herself, isn’t that interesting?”
Huh. Should I be flattered that I’d apparently inspired someone, or insulted that a pet wanted to mimic something that was important to me?
A vine caressed my cheek. “I still want to know what is on the Dark Lady’s mind.”
Ugh. Fine. She’d find out one way or another, so…. “It’s the usual,” I said, looking at her. She looked at me. “You’re going to make me say it?” She nodded. “I’m afraid of losing myself. Becoming a floret.” She waited for me to continue, because of course she did. “I’m afraid that I’ll pass every trial or whatever and still get beaten down by all the… acts of undeserved kindness, until I feel that you’ve done so much for me that I’m obligated to be yours.”
The Queen was silent for a moment, slowly rising back up to her full height, a vine parting the curtains between us as she did so, as to make sure there was nothing but air between her and I. She began to laugh, a sinister and planty sound that filled up the partially enclosed space in which I hid. What…? W-why?
“My precious, foolish Evernight,” she began. My cheeks burned as I looked down, but a vine brought my gaze back upwards. “Listen to me, and listen well. Every kind act, every good thing that comes your way is something you utterly deserve, and you will receive nothing less. I will not allow you to be a pet out of mere obligation. Your submission will happen because you want it, or because you need it, but never because you feel it is owed. And should you become mine, my floret, I promise you this. In mind, the clarity of a cloudless night, the brilliance of the brightest stars. In body, the power of my haustoric implant, which will grant the Dark Lady a level of strength and speed that she has never before possessed.”
“Well, I’ll admit that’s the closest you’ve come to making it tempting. But I’m still gonna pass. It wouldn’t be me.”
Cereus, of course, found this very amusing. “My dear, I wouldn’t let ‘it’ be anyone but you. But keep fighting for your independence, if it pleases you.”
“I’ll fight to the very end!” I exclaimed. I’d secure my independence and go back to doing… something, I dunno. Maybe I’d spruce up my own lair of shadows. Go back to writing, pick up a new hobby. It all seemed so easy to consider when it wasn’t right there in front of me.
My warden simply ran a vine through my hair as she gazed indulgently down at me. “And there she is. I’m proud of you.”
I blinked and hoped in vain that I wasn’t blushing. “For what?”
“For telling me what was tormenting you so,” she said.
“And how will the pretender queen use this information against me, I wonder?” It was a challenge, I suppose, but the Dark Lady’s response also came naturally, here. Go ahead, Cereus. Play your part while still being an affini.
“Oh, my dearest champion in her star woven Shroud. What do you genuinely think I will do with what you disclosed?”
Nope! No deflections. “You tell me.”
“Do you genuinely think that I would need to resort to such under-vined tactics?” Cereus asked. “I have my pride, you know.”
“I guess we shall see,” I replied coolly.
“I leave you the time between now and dinner to rest and recuperate as you please,” my devious captor informed me. “The Dark Lady’s performance so far has been nothing less than exemplary.” I could practically feel the warmth of her smile. “And later… I’d love to hear about your new friend.”
“Perhaps if the pretender queen behaves herself,” I said, smirking.
The subtle but omnipresent thrumming that emanated from my warden briefly intensified, but they themselves did not say anything. She simply stared for a few moments. It was starting to weird me out. Eventually, however, she clasped her verdant hands together, a parting vine tousling my hair as she soundlessly departed.
I pushed the thought that it was too quiet with her gone out of my head, but it came right back anyway. Maybe I’d compile a fan or something, just for that bit of white noise. For now, though… I had a couple of things. Time, most importantly, but also something resembling privacy. And an owl I still needed to name.
“Wait right there,” I told my plush, as I departed my starlit lair to grab my tablet. With the device in hand, I clambered back into bed and leaned up against the small mountain of pillows at the far end. I pulled up a database of terran names on the overnet, these days cleared of advertisements and other clutter. There were certain things I needed to decide beforehand. Was my owl a girl? A cursory check of their underside proved inconclusive. Sure, she was a girl.
About an hour later I had a small list of names and a still-unnamed owl. I’d almost gone with Selene, the Greek word for moon, until I remembered what Cereus’ full first name was. And it was kind of close to my name, besides. I looked back at the list I’d come up with… but none stuck out. All were serviceable, but none jumped out as “the one.”
“Why’s it so hard to name a stupid owwwllll,” I moaned, and then looked at it. “Um. Sorry. You’re not stupid.”
The owl did not respond.
“Well guess what,” I said to the plush, “your name is Owl ‘til I think of something better.”
Now what? I had free time granted by my leafy overlord; something I certainly shouldn’t waste. Nevertheless, here I was, wasting it quite effectively. I ended up idly browsing the overnet, mildly frustrated with myself but mostly just bored out of my mind. My aimless searching eventually led me to an absolute free-for-all of a citywide chat server, with too many posts per second for me to ever hope to keep up with. If I wanted to, however, there were smaller channels that were district-wide, block-wide, or centered purely on a building.
So naturally, I found myself in the chatroom for… well, the block and building chats were the same for this highrise. But it’s where I found myself all the same. A box popped up asking me to input a handle; the default choice was something I vaguely recalled having set in the past, but I decided I’d opt for something just a little… snazzier. Just a little.
For the time being though, I just lurked and watched.
StitchWitch: Master cuddles are so nice. Get you some master cuddlesssss!
StitchWitch: Mmmmmmmmmastercuddlessss…
Winderuppies: How high r u
StitchWitch: Hi how are you!!!lol
Winderuppies: Answers that question owo
Winderuppies: You enjoy urself. I like thinking tho
StitchWitch: Overrated.! Besides I know you like your Msssssss
StitchWitch: Hard to think on Ms lolol
Well, figured it would be floret talk.
Winderuppies: Shut up it feels nice
StitchWitch: Only Master can shut me up lol
Winderuppies: Hey Mr. Celes
StitchWitch: hfhgjrkksjfjdjdj
SteelBladeLuka: Hey um…
StitchWitch: Lukaaaaa
SteelBladeLuka: Mistress got an M graft… is it over for me…?
StitchWitch: I’m surrounded by dollies
Winderuppies: DUDE Ms are so gooood
Winderuppies: Imagine the best thing ever and now imagine it even better… that’s Ms
SteelBladeLuka: Paralysis doesn’t sound fun though.
Winderuppies: It’s not like… trapped
Winderuppies: Ur mind is like… imagine a cloudless spring day
StitchWitch: Very poetic
Winderuppies: But actually tho
Winderuppies: Better than As
StitchWitch: !!!
StitchWitch: FIGHTING WORDS
I fell out of the conversation for a bit, getting distracted by my perfectly squeezable plush instead. There were better things to do than follow florets’ increasingly frenzied drug talk, even if I definitely knew one of them and probably knew a second as well. I had no ideas for Winderuppies, though. Another floret in a tower probably full of them. The conversation went on, though, regardless of the attention I was paying it.
StitchWitch: !So! Sooooo
StitchWitch: Met someone new today
Winderuppies: At ur anime thing??
SteelBladeLuka: Oh yeah, we did.
StitchWitch: New blood! But you haven’t heard the amazing part
Oh dear. Where was this going? It was me, right? They meant me.
StitchWitch: They were
StitchWitch: None other than
Winderuppies: Why the suspense??
StitchWitch: Just hold on
StitchWitch: Impatient dolly. Now I gotta start over
StitchWitch: They were none other than
D.L.o.Evernight: .
StitchWitch: THE DARK LADY OF HFJDIDKENFJFIDKSIFNVJIR SERENITY WHY
D.L.o.Evernight: What?
Winderuppies: I’m so confused
The time had come for subterfuge and sleight of hand!
D.L.o.Evernight: I know not this “Serenity”
SteelBladeLuka: EVERNIGHT SPEAKS
StitchWitch: Speaks nonsense…..Serenity I know it’s you
Winderuppies: But who’s Serenity or Evernight of whatevvv
D.L.o.Evernight: I am night’s avatar, I am the sacred darkness
Winderuppies: What
StitchWitch: You heard her
D.L.o.Evernight: I am the Dark Lady of Evernight
Winderuppies: What does that meeeean
Winderuppies: Oh wait this is like a RP thing??
Winderuppies: I like RP
Winderuppies: *nuzzles u*
D.L.o.Evernight: What no get away
Winderuppies: :(
StitchWitch: *nuzzles Winderuppies*
SteelBladeLuka: *Class As Evernight*
D.L.o.Evernight: Deflected by the Shroud!
SteelBladeLuka: Wait so I class A’d myself?
StitchWitch: Guess so!
SteelBladeLuka: *moan*
SteelBladeLuka: AHHH MISTRESS ACTUALLY CLASS A’D ME
SteelBladeLuka: Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
SteelBladeLuka: Come to hab 708
StitchWitch: Hey Evernight Luka needs your help >:)
D.L.o.Evernight: Uhhh pass I just met him like today?
StitchWitch: Just gonna leave someone in need huh
Winderuppies: Omw Luka
Winderuppies has logged off.
StitchWitch: Mmmmmmmg
StitchWitch: I’m going too
StitchWitch has logged off.
SteelBladeLuka has logged off.
D.L.o.Evernight: Um
D.L.o.Evernight: Okay.
I set the tablet aside. They could go and enjoy their… florgy, I guess, but Evelyn trying to guilt me into going was… unwelcome. Was I just a prude by the standards of our brave new world?
I… no. This was stupid. To start with, I liked women, and Luka was decidedly not that. No one could blame me for being gay unless they were clinging to some archaic prejudice, which was a really silly thing to get hung up on in the Compact anyway.
But now…Luka had put out the call and now two women were jumping at him, just like that. Er… assuming Winderuppies was a woman. Okay, Luka had one woman and one unknown jumping at him, all because he got a little high and asked? I was… trying to make sense of floret culture, wasn’t I? Sex positivity was fine, I guess. But there was a difference between helping a person actually in need and the Dark Lady of Evernight giving a practical stranger a handjob!
Unwelcome fantasies breezed across my mind as I imagined what might be going on in 708. Class Gs had done fantastic things for my libido, such as making it mostly ignorable, but in the shadows of my mind it yet lurked.
And who knew what the plants got out of it. Well, I could hazard a guess. Reducing a human to a horny mess was probably… cute. If everything else about us was cute, why wouldn’t… yeesh. Was Cereus like that too? Was she eager to see me utterly without control, helplessly writhing in her vines like a good little…
I hurriedly brought my knees together as my cheeks burned. Already hard, however, the maneuver only served to stimulate it more. A low whine escaped my lips. At least there was a canopy of cloth between me and any cameras, right? Unless there were ones hidden in here. But more pressing… my tablet! My damn tablet. They tracked me on the overnet, that was a given, but did the device itself record my actual physical actions? But… it wasn’t pointed at me right now, at least. If I had my face in it because I was using it to look up… material… well. It knew. The damn thing knew.
I probably should’ve been horrified. Plants watching me masturbate, oh no! But if that was happening… it really said more about them than me, no? Kinda pathetic if their choice of entertainment was… Serenityvision. Still, if I’d been pushed into the mood earlier, I’d slipped out of it by now. My invisible fans would just have to wait…
Oh well!
Dinner was excellent, as I’d more or less expected. It was Cereus’ apparent preference to have us both seated at the table, facing each other at opposite ends. She watched me, a root drawing from a bowl of some murky liquid, different from last night, while I ate a pasta dish she’d prepared.
“How is it?” she asked me.
“I haven’t been disappointed yet,” I said. “It’s fantastic, I mean.”
She nodded her head. “I’m glad you think so. And, you know…”
I swallowed a bite of cheesy and starchy goodness. “What?”
“If you so chose… I’d be happy to feed you,” she said, eyes narrowing as she looked pleased with herself. “Ah, what is that look? It’s hardly unusual.”
“Is it truly a queen’s place to do such a thing? Or are you not as royal as you claim,” I challenged.
I allowed myself some internal satisfaction as her eyes widened. “Is that not something queens do?”
“The young monarch still has much to learn,” I said.
“I would counter that it is the Queen’s place to do just what she will.” Cereus gave me a menacing look. “And I think the time has come for her to exercise some of that royal authority.” Before I could question her, a duo of vines firmly removed the silverware from my hands, and her expression proved that, yes, you didn’t need a mouth to wear such a shit-eating grin.
“I am dazzled and awed by the queen’s… pettiness,” I deadpanned. Cereus simply rose from her seat, and sauntered over to where I was, lowering herself down to eye level once she was mostly behind me. A vine in front of me artfully worked the fork, getting an even spread of ingredients into one bite sized portion. Another fine tapped my cheek. “Seriously?” I managed to utter before she swiftly, delicately brought the food into my mouth, while a new pair of vines ‘encouraged’ me to close it around the fork. The cutlery was soundlessly withdrawn, leaving me with no recourse but to chew, my face flush.
Patiently waiting until I swallowed, my captor angled the fork again to begin the process anew, a vine again tapping my cheek in order to get me to open my mouth. I went along with it without much else of a choice, while Cereus behind me quietly murmured something, the sensation only adding to the overall pins and needles.
“Open your mouth, ________ dear,” nobody said as the process continued. Just unwelcome memories of when I was very young, being… fed like I was now. Just endure it, Serenity, but… please don’t enjoy it. It was degrading, it was anathema, it was… sending warm pulses through my entire body, lulling me into a state of unmatched coziness, while the Queen’s not-quite-heartbeat thrummed into my soul. Mom had never gotten to know Serenity, of course, only a lost child pretending to be what she wasn’t.
The feeding continued until my plate was empty, one last vine patting my head as Cereus withdrew, leaving behind a briefly uncanny silence. It was over. I survived.
“Do let me know if you’d like to do that again,” Cereus said. I was distracted, though — was that a memory of something that actually happened, or just a constructed portrait of what might have been? Memories of that long ago were scarce at best, as they were for… just about anyone, as I understood it. But even so, the voice was there, clear in my mind. Ack, whatever! It hardly mattered.
“Think you can handle dessert on your own?” Cereus asked. I blinked, finally noticing the scoop of vanilla ice cream atop a warmed chocolate chip cookie. When had Cereus…? “My lovely Evernight, so lost in thought. Shall I assist you once more?”
“No, no, I’m fine,” I murmured. I picked up the spoon and ignored the knife for the time being, and got started on the task at hand. Embarrassingly enough, I think I actually moaned around my first bite, it was that good — Cereus seemed just as pleased as usual.
“So tell me about this friend of yours,” she eventually said. I looked up from what was in front of me.
“I said I would if you behaved yourself,” I countered, “which you didn’t.”
She simply chuckled in return. “So be it. I’ll content myself with knowing you showed initiative in meeting someone.” I continued until I was finished. “All done?”
I nodded. “Um. Thanks.”
She took the plate away to decompile, along with the silverware. “You are very welcome.” A vine prodded my face with a napkin, getting something I apparently missed. “And now, I believe the time has come to discuss your third trial.”
“Already? I figured it’d be a once a day thing,” I said.
“It’s interesting you should say that, dearest Evernight. This next task, should you choose to accept it, will be an ongoing one.” She continued on as I raised an eyebrow. “Between your dinner time and your bedtime, you will keep a journal.”
Ugh, really? “Why?”
Cereus smiled. “Because the Queen demands it. You may write whatever you like, in truth, but I have recommendations as for what you should put down all the same. Describe your day, your mood, the thoughts in your head. Write things you are grateful for, and write the things that bother you. Record your big ideas, your small ideas. Date your entries, but don’t feel pressured about the length.”
“And you’re going to read everything I write, yeah?” I asked.
“Would you like me to?”
“No.”
“Then I will not.”
“Wait a minute,” I said. “How will you verify that I’m actually writing, then?”
“I suppose I may not be able to,” Cereus conceded. I looked at her. She looked at me. “Anyway, shall we compile you a notebook?”
I stared at an empty first page. The date seemed like a good first step, so I wrote that down. Fifteenth of September, 2554. Day Two of Evernight’s imprisonment.
“Dear diary…” No, too cliche.
“Gimme some ideas here, Owl,” I murmured. The plush did not respond. But… wait a minute. What was this, school? No one was asking me for an introductory paragraph. I would just… start with what happened. Anime Club, Alayah, new bed, florets floretting.
A few paragraphs in, I reviewed what I had:
“The palace of my captor is vast indeed. It is said that a dryad can never stray far from her tree, so one would expect such a creature to be a homebody… but this one has gone far above and beyond. It is a structure like a ring, the center of which is an extravagant courtyard, filled with floral scents and birdsong. At its hub is the tree in question, towering, dappling the entire space in shade. At night its white flowers bloom.”
“This dryad, she styles herself the ‘Queen of the Night.’ The fiendish beast inflicted me with some manner of curse, one that threatens to kill me if I stray beyond the confines of this realm. All the while, she seeks to court me, insisting that I am her honored guest; her guards bow when I pass, and her maids dote on me.”
“I, the Dark Lady of Evernight, know the wicked truth. The hush tones of her retainers have nonetheless passed my ear, dear readers; I hear words, phrases. Exchange of Being. Transferral of Essence. She holds me captive until she can usurp my power of night; I fear she may even seek to turn nature itself, by breaking free of her botanical shackle and bind me to her tree in her stead. She has her domain as I have mine, but if they are reversed, I shall be trapped here forevermore while she has the entire sky.”
“In these last few days, I have done all I can. I stick to the shadows, I gather intelligence, probing for any sort of weakness. I have hitherto retained my Shroud, which will not abandon me so long as the night remains my ally. I would see her tree burned to the ground, but she ensures me such an act would trigger the curse, killing me as well as her. It is furthermore guarded fiercely by her followers, who I fear are bewitched by some devilish magic of her kind. Through it all she promises me unending pleasure, riches beyond my wildest dreams… but readers, the Dark Lady is no fool. She seeks to saddle me with her fate and escape her gilded cage. It is evident in the palace itself, with its resplendent halls reflecting the wildest excesses of the rulers of humankind. It is not the domain of a dryad at peace with her being… she longs for something. Something she believes can be taken from me. But as sure as the sun sets, so shall I escape…”
Well. Some journal entry this had turned out to be. It looked more like… a new Evernight story.
Was I writing a new Evernight story? In 2554? Was this real? Agh, but now there were all sorts of questions! Was it too close to reality? Should I change some things to obfuscate that?
Calm down, Serenity. This was merely a first draft; everything could be changed. If I wanted it changed, anyway. I would just… pen a few more entries as the days passed and… see where it leads. Yeah. Did that mean I was done for today, then? I’d churned out a good few pages, with my handwriting as it was.
So what now? In a couple of hours Cereus would likely insist on what she was setting up as my nighttime routine — brushing my teeth, taking a shower, and administering my Class Gs, all in the largest bathroom I’d ever seen. Before then, well… I guess I hadn’t been expecting this much free time.
Maybe I’d see what Cereus was up to.