The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton

Author:Dhonielle Clayton [Clayton, Dhonielle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Piccadilly Press
Published: 2022-11-22T00:00:00+00:00

STARPOST

Jason,

Are you okay?

From,

Ella and Brigit

THE VAULT

G

ia left the Close with a new face today. Her hair night black and her sun-kissed skin the color of warm sand. She resembled a woman fresh from the Polynesian Pre-fecture or somewhere equally warm. She tightened her neckscarf and wandered through Augusta’s Automat Mart on Betel-more’s high street, inspecting an automat. “These have gotten so much fancier since I’ve been gone.”

“I’m a Minder Model 6800. The best there is,” the tinny voice answered.

She glanced at her starfolk helper. “You think this will work?”

“Yes, madam,” he replied.

“I need it to be better than the best. I need it to be perfect. I need it to follow instructions.” Gia shined the very top of the automat’s head.

The starfolk opened the machine’s cavity, rearranging its insides. “I’ve programmed it to feed you the information you need and do whatever you need done. It will obey your every command.”

The automat bowed.

Gia smiled. “First errand done. Please see that our new friend arrives at the Arcanum’s Lower School without a hitch.”

The starfolk nodded and rushed off with the machine.

Gia stepped back on the street. Thick storm clouds shifted overhead, threatening a cold autumn rain. She pulled up her hood. It would turn to snow soon. People buzzed around, zipping in and out of stores, wondering aloud if the afternoon tempest would delay their shopping.

The storm ushered in the dark by the time Gia arrived at the graveyard. She laughed to herself. “All these empty graves just for show. Marvellers scared of death, scared of their own shadows,” she said, thinking of the proper burial grounds in the Underworld.

The last time she’d come here was to pay respects to her father right before the accident, before she was sentenced to life in prison. Her feet found the right path.

The Trivelino family vault rose above her, its emblem pulsing after detecting her presence. She traced her fingers over the sock and buskin masks—one sad, tragic face and one happy, comedic one—waiting for the door to open. But it didn’t. She tried again. She’d seen both her mother and father do it so many times during her childhood, squirreling away money from their business to avoid the prying eyes—and pockets—of the bankers of the Marvellian Mint. “What is happening?”

She looped around the stone, looking for signs of damage or forced entry. Nothing. She tromped back to the front and tried one final time.

The emblem sparked, then a message appeared in the stone:

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.