Elves Invasion

8

Mia stuck out a hand to stop him. “Wait, did you just say that it’s the only crime in Bower City?”

“Yes.”

She looked at him, perplexed. “But you have laws against murder and r**e and all that stuff?”

“Of course. But those things don’t happen here.”

Mia started laughing. Zuro didn’t join her. Her laugh died. “You’re serious?”

“Mia, listen very carefully. There’s no crime in Bower City. No murder, no r**e, no arson, no theft, no domestic a***e, no k********g, no assault, no crime. Except claiming.”

“That’s impossible,” she said.

Zuro reached out and led a Worker from the sleeve of Mia’s kimono onto his thumbnail. She sucked in a surprised breath. She hadn’t even realized it was there.

“Who knows how much the Workers understand of what we say?” he said pensively. “The Warrior Sisters can understand some, but from what Avahas said, they understand differently. Whatever that means. What we do know is that the Hive senses what we can’t. They recognize hostility, fear, and aggression of every stripe. Last night, you saw for yourself how quick they are to intervene. They don’t let violent crimes happen. For nonviolent crimes, like theft—well, the Hive is everywhere. They see it happen even if they don’t know what it is. You only have to report something stolen for it to be found and the perpetrators brought to justice. There is no ‘getting away with it’ in Bower City. But claiming is the only crime the Hive can’t understand because it’s not like the others.”

“It’s consensual,” Mia said, finally believing.

“Even pleasurable, I hear,” Zuro said softly. “We’re all tempted to do it. But since it’s the one and only committable crime in Bower City, there’s nothing else for us humans to put our energy into ferreting out. That’s why I can say with some certainty that Avadoesn’t have any claimed. Least of all me.”

There was regret in his voice. Mia understood why the people here stared at her and her coven, and why they kept their distance with such dislike, even distaste. What would she feel if she had been tempted with something her whole life and denied it, only to see a group of people flaunting the freedom she wished she had? A freedom that they should have. Her brow furrowed.

“Why is it illegal?” she asked.

“Huh?” Zuro said, distracted. He was looking up the street for a trolley.

“Claiming is consensual,” she said, thinking aloud. “A witch can’t force herself on another. The willstone would shatter if she tried to break the will of the bearer. So why is it illegal?”

“There are other forms of coercion,” Zuro reminded her. “Ways to make people give their consent.”

“Then that should be illegal—coerced claiming—but not claiming itself,” Mia argued. “What do the lawmakers care if people choose to give themselves to each other? It’s none of their business, really.” He didn’t reply. “What about becoming stone kin?” she persisted. “There can’t be any objection to that.”

“Illegal,” Zuro said curtly.

“Why?” Mia exclaimed.

“It fosters secrecy and obsession, and it’s another form of intimacy that can be coerced. All individual mindspace should be autonomous, and that autonomy is protected by the city,” Zuro repeated, as if by rote.

“That’s utterly ridiculous,” Mia retorted. “You can’t tell people they’re autonomous, and in the same breath deny them the right to choose.”

The trolley pulled near at that moment, and he urged her onto it. Mia wondered whether he’d heard her, but decided not to press him. If he did hear her, he obviously didn’t want to talk about it.

They met the rest of her coven back at the guest suite and spent a few minutes showing one another what they’d purchased. Erye slipped in a few minutes after Mia and Zuro arrived. He’d been gone longer than any of them, but he was carrying no packages. He didn’t greet anyone. He sat apart from the rest while Una, Juliet, and Joel looked through every bag to see what the coven had acquired.

“How long were you on the trail?” Zuro asked, picking up a garment that had slid to the floor and folding it.

“Was it three months or four?” Joel asked, casting his eyes back to Windyard.

“Nearly four,” Windyard answered.

Zuro was impressed. “Did your tribe migrate a lot?” he asked Windyard.

“Some,” Windyard answered. “But I’d never been out in the wild for that long before.”

“Are things getting bad back east? Is that why you risked the trip?” Zuro asked.

“Define ‘bad,’” Joel said, still digging through tunics.

“I don’t know. I have no idea what it’s like to live in the wild,” Zuro admitted. “But I’d imagine something huge must have happened to make you all risk going west. Did you think there might be something out here, or did you just go blindly?”

“You’re very curious,” Erye said. His tone was not approving.

“Who wouldn’t be?” Zuro said, shrugging. “It’s got to be one hell of a story. Did you think there was a settlement or some kind of fort that you were heading for?”

“No one back east has any idea that there’s anything out here—and certainly not a city,” Joel said.

He’s pumping us for information. Don’t say another word, Erye said to all of them in mindspeak.

He’s just curious, Breakfast countered. It’s totally natural.

He’s a spy, Erye insisted.

Takes one to know one, I guess, Windyard said. Mia felt how Windyard’s words stung Erye.

“Are we going to see Avatoday?” Mia asked, changing both the spoken and non-spoken conversations.

“Dinner. Tonight,” Zuro said cheerfully. “She’s sorry she can’t spend more time with you.”

“We’re sure she’s a busy woman,” Juliet said.

“Is she going to explain what she really wants from Mia yet, or is this dinner still part of her charm offensive?” Erye drawled.

Zuro froze for a moment before recovering. “I’m sure Avaand Mia will have a lot to talk about. But about what, I couldn’t guess.”

“Thank you, Zuro,” Mia said. “If you see Grace, tell her I’m looking forward to speaking with her, too.”

Mia waited for Zuro to leave before turning to Erye. “Not very friendly,” she said.