Stars Rise

LIX. 100 Years Later Part II

The Gloriam estate in downtown Soliara was an old, sprawling property that didn't give an inch to the dense city during the age of growth, and held its uncompromising location through years of stagnancy and now what looked like the coming age of decline. Its lawns, yards and gardens were protected from the prying eyes of passersby by hedges, fences, and on the south end even a stone wall. No one who hadn't been invited inside had ever seen the outdoor pool, the track, or the zoo, but that didn't stop the rumors of the extravagance of things like that from passing outside the estate's walls.

The mansion was almost modest in comparison to the grounds, but not quite. It only had three stories, making it one of the shortest edifices in the downtown core.

There were only sixteen ensuite guest bedrooms, one ballroom, a library that had a smaller square footage than the outdoor pool, a tiny gallery, an even smaller billiards room, eight bathrooms and a public kitchen in the South Wing — and there was only one wing subordinate to the main house, which consisted of the family's suites, the private kitchen, the indoor pool, the sunroom, the wine cellar in the basement, the main library, the two main ballrooms, the dining room, and four more guest rooms.

Cristo had run out of places to hide from his father and grandfather by the time he was fourteen — they didn't come after him themselves, but the attendants they sent looking were uncommonly effective at finding him, and knew every potential place of refuge.

That was the year the Gloriam family cut ties with Stephen Potestas and forbade Cristo from having Nova Potestas over; he could only sneak her onto the property for quarters of an hour at a time, which only improved how fun the game of hunting and chase became, but it meant they could never get any time together in the libraries, which were Nova's favorite places, nor could they swim or play billiards without getting caught immediately — their diversions were somewhat limited to sneaking through the mazes of gardens and corridors, or the secret passages that led between the guest rooms, although they always brought a good book with them for the few quiet moments they had to read together, and a light so they could read in the dark.

Nova demanded access to the books in the Gloriams' impressive collection, and Cristo had given in to every one of Nova Potestas's demands for as far back as he could remember.

The woman walking beside Cristo past the Gloriam family estate now, however, after passing through Cristo's time link, was somehow not Nova Potestas, Cristo had decided, and so he ignored all of her demands for the time being while he stalled and weighted his choices.

The night was cold and quiet, and Soliara felt empty and alone. The streets should have been busy, they were constructed for crowds, streams of pedestrian hordes and masses — and Cristo wasn't exactly a big fan of massive crowds and streaming hordes, but the empty street was more terrifying than the alternative. Slightly.

Cristo led Nova down Frons, which was still a nice, if eerie, walk, once they were past the Gloriam estate, which Nova at no point even glanced at and paid it as much attention as someone who had never gone inside and never had any intention to.

They crossed the street and passed the trolley station, dead silent on the south side, and the old Regus Deversorium hotel on the north side, each taking up a whole city block and neither much changed from a hundred years ago.

Nova demanded to know where had he taken her and where was everyone and why was it the pitch dark of night while Cristo worked out whether she was real, and if she was real should he bring her to Stephen Potestas to demand answers, and if she wasn't real, what then? Each step west past the trolley station and the hotel coincided with another second he was closer to certainty that Stephen's plan was out of control and it was beyond Cristo's skills to steady it.