44. Alley

"You may come out now."

Guiliana heard the familiar voice and stepped out from the shadow. 

In the dark alley in the back of the studio, she met Lord Qusbecq's amber eyes. "I'm not sure why I had to listen in on that," she said. 

"Is that how you greet an old friend?" the Lord scoffed, a plume of smoke trailing from his lips. "Want a draft? You aren't as uptight as Kieren, are you?"

She smirked, snatching the cigar from his hand. So what Kieren Zaman used to be an addict? What does it have to do with me? She blew in the other's face. 

"Must say I miss the arrogance," Arslan chuckled. 

"The chip doesn't fall far from the block."

His chuckle rose into a laugh that echoed into the night. 

Guiliana glanced around, her face drawn. 

"Relax," Lord Qusbecq leaned on his back to the mortar wall. "Even if people see us, nothing untoward here. Can't two old friends catch up while sharing a cigar?" He tipped his head aside, his amber eyes gliding in her direction.

Keeping all her rancor at bay, her bile at her fate, her indignation that scorched her soul, Guiliana passed on the fat bundle of tobacco back to its owner. "Is that so?"

"Tell me what you heard." The lord took a draft. 

"Nothing you wouldn't like me to know."

"But do you agree?"

"You have to be more specific, Sir," she replied; an aloof smile didn't quite reach her eyes. 

"Do you agree that the circle of life is an intellectual waste?" 

She hesitated. Time treats its subjects differently. While some age only to gain wrinkles and weight, others grow wisdom before their first stand of gray. Mira de Armas came to her thought, lingering for a moment the length of a breath. "Why does it matter?" she asked instead. "I presume you didn't ask me over to talk about philosophy." 

"What if I did? Since when did philosophy earn such a bad name as if it's a waste of everyone's time?" 

"When it stands in the way between me and the passcode to the transaction you promised me." Guiliana shrugged. 

"I really do enjoy you, woman," the lord snorted, stretching out his words. "And I can see why Warshon adores you. But don't take my question so lightly. I'm not an idealistic fool, and I wouldn't have raised my questions had they not served purposes beyond pestering the audience." 

Guiliana pursed her lips, stifling a shudder when she took the cigar the lord passed on, her mind racing. He wanted her influence on Warshon. So, obviously, he needed her to be on board with him. "While the brilliant minds cease with time, many alive are a pure waste of space." She gambled with the answer the other might anticipate. Through the gossamer smoke, she surveyed him out of the corner of her eyes and caught a hint of mockery in his amber eyes. 

"If it came from anyone else, I'd suspect them of saying that just for my ears," the lord said, his head tilting skyward. "But coming from you, it rings genuine, and I know even if you're skeptical, you agree deep down."

Keeping her eyes on the ember she held between her fingers, Guiliana gnawed at her top lip. While she indeed agreed, she doubted they held the same standard for brilliance. "So?" she mused. 

"So, you will help Warshon come to his senses and agree with you."

"What do you expect him to do?

"Nothing but to give him an air of expectancy for a life with you much longer than average, a vision he'd like to defend," replied the lord in his even voice as he crossed his arms, his thumb stroking his chin. "Would be great if you could have him join the research."

Even without the fine details, Guiliana knew she had been lent a glimpse into an abyss that was out of her depth. "I suppose you mean the research at the Bellerophon Institute? Stem cells for organ reproductions and gene renewal?" 

"What else?" 

She drew a draft from the cigar, her hand shaky. Filling her lungs, the smoke also clouded her mind. "What does the research have anything to do with his vision of a life with me?"

"To reserve it, perhaps, so it won't wilt, so that thirty, forty years from now, he can still look at you and feel the raging libido as he looks at you now." the lord chuckled, resting his eyes. 

Turning to face him, Guiliana stiffened with tears welling up. In the back of her head, she imagined stabbing his eyes with the ember of the cigar, and it still wouldn't be enough to sate her thirst for revenge. "You did everything in your power to take him away from me, and now what? You want him to have a life with me forever?" The irony almost choked her. 

The man hissed with a cackle dripping in contempt. "You misunderstood me, my dear." He opened his eyes, his hands in his pockets. "I want him to envision, not to have. It's the things we can't have that will always tick and push us to strive. You wouldn't be so naive to think that I'd let you have him, would you?" Skewing around on his heels, he edged toward her, his amber eyes drilled like blades of fire. "You, who betrayed him the second I agreed to your bargain, any father would do their due part for their son and steer clear of you."

Guiliana backed a step, her tears dry under his gaze. A scoff tilted her lips. "Lighten up, Arslan. I never liked your son that much anyway."

The lord only smirked. 

"Forever, huh?" she continued. "Wasn't it you who used to say that everything must always come to an end?"

"The will to make a difference builds civilization, dear. Aren't you intrigued by the prospect of humanity realizing the impossible in your lifetime?" 

"The impossible doesn't concern me," she ventured with a teasing smirk. "I only want the share you agreed to."

Arslan paused as if disappointed. "It's already under your name." He swiveled away, turning his back to her, his long shadow slanting behind him. "You'll have the passcode once you prove your dedication to the task."

"I'm your girl," Guiliana tucked her cheek to the shoulder, each word cut like a knife in her throat. 

"Warshon never spends holidays at home. On the new year, he always goes out of town to who knows where. Find it. Go there. Surprise him. To earn his trust, you'll resign from Dinc's office and cut ties. The monthly dividends from the share is twice the amount of your annual pay, and it will go directly to your savings." As he finished, he opened the backdoor to the studio. Sharp light from overhead fixtures sliced into the night for a blink of an eye amidst the bustle swirling inside, and it was gone at a clank of the door, leaving her in the immense dark with only the ember flickering between her fingers. 

She stubbed it out on her palm. Biting her lip, she told herself to remember the price she had paid to come this far and the shame she was made to swallow. Another step closer to the truth behind her father's death, and the closet where all the skeletons were kept. She shivered with a muffled laugh of momentary triumph, quiet and manic.