However, I was disappointed. And frightened. From somewhere nearby came an explosion, so loud that I ducked, covering my head uselessly with my arms. Before I could get my bearings smoke was filling the room, acrid black smoke that made my eyes water and my throat sting. I couldn't see anything farther than two feet away from me and all I was sure of was Joelle's hand clutching mine. There was a pandemonium of noise in the room, people shouting, screaming, in panic and pain. Joelle's voice came from close to my ear, shouting
"Come on, we have to get out!" and I followed her like a blind man through the chaos. She led us in a staggered path towards where we had come in, and I wondered for a moment where Isaac and Adam had gone, but found I could focus only on where I put my feet. There was debris littering the floor and broken glass everywhere. People shoved by us headed in all directions, mindful of nobody's safety but their own, but soon I could see a shaft of light and we headed for it. We found an open door, and burst out of it, not into the alley, but onto the main street, and into a crush of angry people. Some of them were tattered customers of the Treehouse, looking shell-shocked, and it took me a moment to realize that the rest of them were some sort of protesters. There were probably a hundred of them standing in the rain, holding signs and shouting furiously. A few kicks were aimed in our direction as we struggled to get out of the fray, angry words shouted, and I felt suddenly very small, confused and drunk. Fortunately, Joelle's hand held me steady, yanking me onto a clear patch of sidewalk, and looking frantically for a cab. I abandoned myself to her authority and gratefully gasped the cold, comparitavely fresh air of the street.
As a cab pulled up, my worry about Isaac and Adam renewed itself.
"Joelle..."
"Get in!"
"Joelle! Shouldn't we find the boys? What if they got hurt?"
"They're fine! They're together, we'll find them back at the palace. Lets just get away from here!."
As I climbed in, I was very aware of one of the laws that the Attendants agreed to live by: Protect your Attendee at all costs. Joelle was just trying to get me away from any more danger. And she was right, Isaac and Adam were big boys and if they couldn't take care of themselves, they could take care of each other.
I turned to Joelle to inspect her for any damage, still having difficulty believing that all this had just happened. She was living proof however, her usually immaculate golden hair standing on end, smudges of dirt on her cheeks and a bruise starting to form on her temple. I reached up to brush it sympathetically with my thumb.
"What happened?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. Something hit me when that noise went off."
I shook my head in disbelief. "Who would want to bomb the Treehouse? I just don't understand."
"I really don't know. Maybe it was those protesters, though I didn't catch what they were saying. God, I hope nobody was hurt."
Somewhat tenderly I said, "You were."
"You know what I mean." and she reached out for my hand once more. I felt my pulse finally begin to slow and calm returned to me. What a strange night. I tried to think it over as the cab sped through the upper levels in the fog, but it felt as if my brain couldn't process any of it. Somehow the fog had gotten in there too. Coming up to the Palace district there were massive blockages in the road, vehicles stopped, drivers shouting. It fit in perfectly with the rest of the evening, strange and inexplicable. When we could see the outer wall of the Palace grounds, towering fifty feet high, Joelle told the driver to let us out.
"We're not getting anywhere like this. We can walk from here."
The rain still pissed down and we ran towards the nearest gate. We passed our bracelets over the identity recog at the guard house and trudged into the gardens when they let us in. We had come in fairly close to the staff quarters, I recognized the path we took. Now that my adrenaline had stopped raging I felt quite giddy, weaving a bit as I walked. My hair was flattened to my skull, and I'm sure I looked like a drowned rat.
"What a crazy night! I can't believe that all happened! What was with Kavriona and all the... stuff?"
Joelle laughed. "I really don't know. I have to say that I've never seen anything like that before!"
"And you never will again!" I put my arm around her shoulders, (she stood just a few inches taller than I) partly because I was feeling companionable, partly because I just couldn't seem to walk in a straight line. That's one of the things about October Brandy, it takes hours for the effects to wear off. I think that was when Joelle finally abandoned herself to her own drunkenness and we staggered through the garden, laughing and shouting in the rain. As we passed one of the many shallow ponds beside the walk, Joelle said something that struck me as particularly funny, and I guess I leaned a little too far to the left, because before I knew it we were both waist deep in freezing water. It was such a shock that we just wrapped our arms around each other and doubled over, laughing breathlessly.
"Thanks a lot Saskia, I think I needed just a little bit more water on me!"
"I'm so, hehehe ...so, haha.... I'm so sorry!"
For some reason, then, I took her face in my hands and kissed her, square on the mouth. There in the darkness with the rain rippling the surface of the pond our lips were warm and we just stayed like that for a moment. Our laughing had stopped, but when I drew back there was a little smile still on Joelle's wet face. Her gold flecked eyes met mine and never faltered.
I suddenly felt awkward and embarrassed. I hung my head.
"oops.. um.... sorry. I just, I mean...sorry Joelle. Ahem."
I'm sorry, but I'm not. I really wanted to do that. And it felt... incredible.
"That's okay." She whispered and before I could look up she was cupping my face in her hand and her lips were touching mine again. Standing there in the water, shivering, I nevertheless felt a warm pulse run through my body as her tongue danced between my lips, forcing its way into my mouth. She wrapped her arms around me and pressed me close to her, and we stood there kissing for what seemed like an eternity, the pond-fish nibbling at our ankles. And then she pulled away and said "Let's go in."