Monsters of Men

“Hello to you, too,” he laughs. He holds up the forest hens he’s carrying. “I’m saving the fattest one for us. Simone and the Humanitarian can have the small one.”

“Don’t call him that,” I say, frowning.

Lee looks over at Bradley, who’s heading back into the ship. The half-circle of people who sit by the bay doors and watch – bigger today – just mutter to each other, and in the Noise of the few men there, Ivan included, I hear it again, The Humanitarian.

“He’s trying to save us,” I say to them. “He’s trying to make it so all of the people coming can live here in peace. With the Spackle.”

“Yeah,” Ivan calls over. “And while he’s doing it, he doesn’t seem to notice that his weapons’d bring peace a hell of a lot faster than humanitarian efforts.”

“His humanitarian efforts could guarantee you a long life, Ivan,” I say. “And you should mind your own goddam business.”

“I do believe survival is our business,” Ivan says loudly, and there’s a woman next to him agreeing, a smug smile on her dirty face, and even though she looks ashen from the same fever I’ve got and wears the same band I wear, I still want to smack her and smack her and smack her so she never looks at me that way again.

But Lee’s already taking my arm and leading me away, around the scout ship to the far side by the engines, still off, still cool, but the one place on the hill where no one’s going to make a tent.

“Stupid, small-minded people–” I’m ranting.

“I’m sorry, Viola,” Lee says, “but I kind of agree with them.”

“Lee–”

“President Prentiss killed my mother and sister,” he says. “Anything we could do to help stop the Spackle and him is fine by me.”

“You’re as bad as Mistress Coyle,” I say. “And she tried to kill you.”

“I’m just saying, if we’ve got the weapons, we could show more strength–”

“And guarantee slaughter for years to come!”

He smirks a little, infuriatingly. “You sound like Bradley. He’s the only one around here who talks like that.”

“Yes, because a hilltop full of frightened and hungry people are really going to offer a rational–”

And then I stop because Lee’s just looking at me. Looking at my nose. I can tell, because I can see myself in his Noise, see me shouting and getting angry, see my nose wrinkling like it must do when I’m mad, see the warmth of his feelings around that wrinkle–

And in a flash, there’s a picture of him and me in his Noise, holding each other tight, no clothes anywhere, and I’m seeing the blond hairs on his chest that I’ve never seen in real life, the downy, soft, surprisingly thick hair that trails all the way down to his belly button and below and–

“Oh, crap,” he says, stepping back.

“Lee?” I say, but he’s already turning and walking away fast, his Noise flooding with bright yellow embarrassment and he’s saying, loud, “I’m going back to the hunting party,” and walking away even faster–

And as I head off again in search of Mistress Coyle, I realize my skin feels incredibly hot, like I’m blushing all over–

[TODD]

Boy colt? Angharrad says to me all the way back into town after the Spackle attack, going faster than I’m even asking her to. Boy colt?

“Almost there, girl,” I say.

I ride into camp just behind the Mayor, who’s still practically glowing from how he controlled the men on the road just now. He slides off Juliet’s Joy, handing her to James, who’s waiting for us. I ride over to him, too, jumping off Angharrad’s saddle.

“I need some feed for her,” I say quickly. “Some water, too.”

“I’ve got feed all ready,” he says, as I guide her over to my tent. “But we’re rationing water so–”

“No,” I say, unbuckling the saddle from her as fast as I can. “You don’t unnerstand. She needs water now. We’ve just–”

“Is she bossing you around again?” James says.

And I turn to him, eyes wide open. He’s smiling back at me, not getting what we’ve just been thru at all, thinking that I’m being pushed around by my horse and not that I know how to take care of her, that she needs me–

“She’s a beauty,” he says, pulling a tangle outta Angharrad’s mane. “But you’re still the boss.”

And I can see him thinking, thinking about his farm, thinking about the horses he and his pa used to have, three of ’em, all tan-coloured with white noses, thinking about how they were taken by the army but how he ain’t seen ’em since, which probably means they died in battle–

A thought which makes Angharrad say Boy colt? again all worried-like–

And that makes me even angrier–

“No,” I say to James. “Get some extra water for her now.”

And barely even aware that I’m doing it, I’m staring at him hard, pushing with my Noise, reaching out and grabbing his–

Taking hold of it–

Taking hold of him–

And I am the Circle and the Circle is me–

“What are you doing, Todd?” he says, swatting away at the front of his face like he’s batting back a fly.

“Water,” I say. “Now.”

And I can feel the buzz coming, feel it flailing about in the air–

I’m sweating now, even in the cold–

And I can see him sweating, too–

Sweating and looking confused–

He furrows his brow. “Todd?”

And he says it in such a sad way, a way that sounds, I don’t know, betrayed, like I reached inside him and messed him about, that I almost stop right there. I almost stop concentrating, I almost stop reaching out to him–

But only almost.

“I’ll get her plenty of water,” he says, his eyes dazed. “I’ll get some right now.”

And off he goes, back towards the water tank.

I take a second to catch my breath.

I did it.

I did it again.

And it felt good.

It felt powerful.

“Oh, help,” I whisper under my breath, and I’m shaking so hard I have to sit down.

{VIOLA}

I find Mistress Coyle in a small group of women near the healing tents, her back to me.

“Hey!” I call, stomping over. My voice is very loud after what just happened with Lee, but I’m also feeling fainter than seems plausible and I wonder if I’m about to fall flat on my face.