Belle Hartley Palmer blushes a contented blue in Da’an’s arms, while Sister Renee feeds her brother, Steven. The former executive adopts a mantra after adapting her corporate mindset to her new life: “Milk and multi-tasking.”
“How is our guest, Mr. Shrek, doing?,” Renee asks. “Do we need to requisition anything else to make his stay comfortable?”
“Our guest fares well, as of the last encounter,” replies Da‘an. “I will enquire after his most immediate needs when Lili and I visit with him, today.”
Renee questions the omissions: “Boone and Liam aren’t going with you?”
“No,” Da’an confirms. “Their presence is required at the Taelon Museum of Art in order to finalize security arrangements for the opening.” The North American Companion blushes with pride: “The Two Worlds, One Raven exhibit debuts. Ms. Plaza sculpted the final three pieces with the aid of her skrill, Butterfly.”
Renee smiles, “Excellent! Hopefully, I can get out and see it. One advantage of communal living is that I have babysitters when I need them. Are you going to attempt the Art Therapy approach that Maiya suggested?”
“Yes,” informs Da’an. “Perhaps the expressions of Rainier Maria Rilke and the Brothers’ Grimm will succeed where general discourse has failed.”
External measures of time note the passing of an hour. Da’an and Lili stand before Vorjak’s cell aboard Freedom Station. The Jaridian reads aloud, an eerie distance in his voice:
You darkness, that I come from,
I love you more than all the fires
that fence in the world,
for the fire makes
a circle of light for everyone,
And then no one outside learns of you.
But the darkness pulls in everything:
shapes and fires, animals and myself,
how easily it gathers them! -
powers and people -
and it is possible a great energy
is moving near me.
I have faith in nights.
Vorjak absorbs Rilke’s words: “The meanings are of the Black. Gladness in this vision.” The Jaridian accents an excerpt, gracefully tracing the air with his Nosferatu-like fingers. “Attending, please:”
….I love you more than all the fires
that fence in the world,
for the fire makes
a circle of light for everyone,
And then no one outside learns of you….
“The meanings are all that we, of Jaridia, hold to ourselves,” asserts Vorjak. “The Black must be; shades else dilute the Universe.”
Lili interjects: “But, when we first met, Vorjak, you said that all shades make up the Black. If that’s the case, then we need ‘all the fires that fence in the world.’ The other colors in those fires may be part of the Less Black, but the light within the Less Black provides a contrast which shows off the Black. The light of the fires inspires a person to focus on the dark centers that feed the flames.”
Da‘an continues: “Note the page upon which the words you read are recorded. There is Less Black between the Black that is the poet’s language. If the Less Black space were absent, could you see the language and appreciate the Universe of the poet’s vision in the first place?”
Dr. Moira McGowan interrupts before the Jaridian can answer: “Your meal is ready, Vorjak. Widows this time.”
“Best. Best. Best,” mutters Vorjak happily. “Arachnids mirror nutrients found on Jaridia.”
Lili endeavors to hide her disgust, as Vorjak downs living, squirming Black Widows. She remembers eating a few grasshoppers during a survival course, but not while they still kicked. Vorjak savors his food: “Much enjoying the spiders on my tongue. Much enjoying.”
Da;an remains passive through this display, but Lili feels Boone and Liam shudder involuntarily through their bond. “We should change his codename from Shrek to Renfield,” suggests Liam half-jokingly.
“No,” responds Boone soberly. “Renfield was unhinged. Vorjak isn’t unhinged; that’s why he’s potentially dangerous.”
Lili turns from their link when she hears Vorjak addressing Da’an’s question: “Your saying merits my thinking, Da’an, but the world holds greater order without the Less Black. Attending of Snow White, The Black ebony of She Who Bore Snow White’s casement inspires her engendering. The Less Black of the comb, the ribbons, and the apple cause the mind-chaos of thrice-ceasing.”
“Will you assist me in countering him, Sky-Flower?,” queries Da’an.
“Of course,” assures Lili, knowing what he has in mind.
Da’an responds: “It is true that the Less Black is associated with death in this narrative. However, it is the Less Black of the contrasting snow that calls the Queen’s attention to the Black ebony. Furthermore, it is the Less Black of the contrasting snow that calls the Queen’s attention to the Less Black of the contrasting blood that she has spilled, which is a symbol of engendering and continuance. I will demonstrate.”
With that, Da’an produces a scalpel he borrows from Dr. McGowan. He uses it to cut Lili’s finger. He continues: “Lili’s paleness calls attention to the blood I have loosed. The blood is her life -- a life that affects the Universe through affecting other lives. Palm to palm, we touch.”
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