Chapter 19 - Those Left Behind
Simon Sutcliffe sat in his room glumly alone. Even Suvorov was gone, having been relieved of his duty in the service center by the fact that Copeland had been chosen. It was the first time that he’d ever had a room to himself in his life and he was finding out that it wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be.
Peter Lomax knocked on the door finally and walked into the room. He sat on what had been Copeland’s bed, though the Mullinix guard had cleaned out it and the area around it when Copeland had been officially chosen. He figured that Simon would be glum and he certainly looked it.
"How are you holding up, Simon?" Peter asked him, "I hadn’t seen or heard anything out of here for a while so I figured I’d check up on you."
"I’m probably better off than Copeland is," Simon sighed, "He’s probably scared out of his skull right now."
"They have ways of dealing with that," Pete told him, "Copeland will be all right. They wouldn’t have chosen him if they didn’t think so."
"What happened to Suvorov anyway?" Simon asked, "I know they didn’t choose him!"
"He was a Mullinix guard," Peter explained, "They often get put in with possibles to keep an eye on them."
"Leaving me alone," Simon sighed, "Man, this bites. Copeland was the nicest guy in the place. No offense, Pete."
"None taken," Peter chuckled, "It’s not like you won’t be able to see him again. The Palace isn’t a prison or anything. He’ll get out to see his family and friends. Being the Mullinix isn’t quite the same as dying."
"For him it’s gotta be quite close," Simon said, "He had a real fear of being chosen for this."
"Do you want to go see the Ascension?" Peter asked him, "You’ll get to see him there."
"Ascension?" Simon asked, not having been out and around this afternoon.
"When the mantle changes hands they have an ascension ceremony and funeral for the late Mullinix," Peter explained, "You might not see another one for many years."
"Sure," Simon nodded, "Beats sitting here alone."
"Get dressed for it," Peter said, "I’ll come back and get you in a few minutes."
"Right," Simon nodded, "I’ll be ready."
Peter went out front and nodded at Marina, who was sitting out on a seat in the outer room. She stood up and shook hands with Peter, who she’d been introduced to a few minutes earlier.
"Is he going?" Marina asked him.
"Yes," Peter nodded, "Are you sure that you can do this?"
"It’ll make Copeland feel better," Marina explained, "It will probably do the same for Simon as well."
"Very well," Peter nodded, "I’m not going to argue. I’ve never been to one of these either. I’ll just go with the rest of my suite."
"He may be back for that part," Marina told him, "I may be joining him because I’ve never seen one of these either."
"Who’s joining who for what?" Simon asked as he walked out, "Who’s this lovely young lady, Pete?"
"My name is Marina," she told him, offering a hand, "I work for the house staff up in the palace."
"House staff?" Simon said, "You’re the ones who…"
"Yes," Marina chuckled, cutting him off, "We see to the well being of the Mullinix. Let’s leave it at that, shall we?"
"Sure," Simon nodded, knowing when to leave well enough alone, "What are you doing here?"
"I figured you might want to see your friend before his big appearance," Marina said, "He could use a visit from a friend too."
"Ok…" Simon said and then looked at Pete, who shrugged, "I don’t know what good I’ll do."
"Just be a friend," Marina said, "That’s all."
"Sure," Simon said, "I’d like to see him."
"Come on with me," Marina said, "Take it easy, Peter."
Peter waved at them as he watched Marina and Simon head off towards the Palace. Simon watched her, wondering just what she was like. Marina liked the new boy, but not the same way she liked Copeland. Simon was a likable sort, someone that was just as non-threatening to her as Copeland was, but someone she’d prefer to keep as a friend.
"So how is he handling it?" Simon asked her, "He looked terrified when he left with Mr. Irons."
"Massimaferro did a fairly good job at preparing him," Marina told him, "He was sleeping when I left him a little while ago."
"You got him to sleep?" Simon said, almost shocked, "I don’t think he slept at all last night."
"A bit of tea and some headache pills," Marina smiled, "Works every time. The fact that you and he drank way too much last night didn’t help."
"I take it Suvorov told you that," Simon said, remembering his own morning headache, "It was a good night though."
"I haven’t seen Suvorov," Marina shrugged, "Just read the report when Iggy told me to take care of him this afternoon."
"Babysitter, huh?" Simon said, "He’ll love that…"
"More like a guide," Marina told him, "I know the place and he doesn’t. I’m only a couple years older than the two of you as well."
"That works," Simon nodded as they walked together.
Simon was nearly as under whelmed with the palace as Copeland had been, though his response was a mite more reserved due to the fact that he wasn’t going to have to live there. Marina walked them through security and they walked up the stairs to the Mullinix suites, an area that few outsiders have ever seen.
"This is interesting," Simon said, "Is this where all the Mullinix live?"
"Yep," Marina nodded, "There are four suites, three of which are occupied at any time."
"A bit of a step up from our earlier quarters," Simon said, "That’s something at least."
"We’re trying to make him comfortable," Marina promised, "He’ll get fed better here as well."
"Real food?" Simon said, surprised, "I’ll have to come over for dinner sometime."
"Food should be in there," Marina said, "Provided that he hasn’t eaten it all yet."
"I’m all for that too," Simon said.
Marina knocked on the door and then opened it up. Copeland was there and awake but still a little out of it. Daytime naps were not something he was used to doing, though he would be the first to admit that he felt a bit better. He had just started on the coffee and flatbread when he noticed Simon come in.
"Man," Copeland said, "I’m glad to see you, Simon!"
"I tell you," Simon said, smiling at his friend, "If you don’t have the freakiest timing…"
"Sit, sit!" Copeland said, "Have something to eat. I will say this much, the food here so far exceeds that crap we ate in the caf."
"Just what I wanted to hear," Simon chuckled, sitting down and grabbing some bread, "So what happened?"
"Massimaferro came to get me," Copeland explained, "We spent a good long time talking about the process that got me chosen."
"You mean the dumbass question that confirmed it?" Simon grinned.
"That too," Copeland nodded, eating a bit more, "But now that it has been explained a bit more I’m not quite as scared of it as I was before."
"That’s sorta like saying you’re a bit less drunk that you were last night," Simon pointed out, "How is your head, anyway?"
"A little bit of sleep helped that," Copeland said, "I guess now that it’s happened, I can’t dread it as much either."
"I hate to interrupt," Marina said, "But you’re going to have to go through the ascension ceremony in about thirty minutes."
"I don’t get a chance to prepare for this, huh?" Copeland asked her.
"No need," Marina told him, "They expect you to be shell shocked for this ceremony. Insegniferro will have the hard part."
"Man," Simon said, "I don’t envy you this part."
"It’ll be all right, Simon," Copeland told him, "Just come visit me once in a while, eh?"
"Every day at mealtime," Simon promised cynically, earning a dinner roll tossed squarely at his nose, which he caught in his mouth, "Mmmf… Thanks!"
&n
bsp; Marina smiled and slipped out of the room, leaving the two boys on their own. Massimaferro was in his room being helped into the formal garb that weighed twice as much as it should have. Marianna was tying the laces and getting him into the ridiculous getup.
"He and Simon seem to have bonded well," Marina said, "Considering they’ve known each other for less than a week."
"Good," Massy grunted as Marianna pulled something tight, "Maybe he’ll choose the boy for his Personal Rep."
"So what is the plan?" Marina asked him, "What do we have to shove him in to?"
"Leave him in his regular clothes," Massy said, "Just have him downstairs in twenty minutes. People are already starting to gather in the square."
"Who goes out with him?" Marianna asked, "Any of us?"
"Just us three on the stage," Massy said, "Any of you who want to watch can do so from the audience."
"I’ll bring Simon down there and watch from the front," Marina said, "Anything else you need?"
"Yeah," Massy grunted, "A good tailor to let this damned thing out."