Origin of the Body by H.R. Moore Read Free Book Online Page B

boots fell away into silence, the blackness swallowing us so all that was left was Peter pressing up against me, his breath and mine deafening in the silence.  I looked up and was surprised to find him looking absorbedly down at me, intensity there I had not seen from him before, nor indeed expected from a man who was usually so meek and mild.  He crept his hand up to my neck, lowering his head down towards mine, but I pulled my eyes away, looking down at the floor and raising a hand to his chest to fully deter him.  I looked back up to try and offer some kind of apology but he had already moved away, making for the other end of the dark passage and leaving me to walk the short distance back home alone.
    Jeff was already there when I arrived, I was pleased to see without the company of Milly.  He said he had been returning from the bathroom when he’d heard the alarm and fled.  I didn’t say I knew he was lying, I didn’t really see the point.
     
    18th August, 1334.
     
    My entries are becoming only annual events now, and I fear this entry is a dangerous one to write.  I’ve started hiding the diary so it will never be accidently found.
    A few weeks after my last entry, Anthony and Celia became engaged, and the rest of us followed like a stack of falling dominos, first Peter and Olivia, then Rose and Alistair, then finally Jeff and I.  Whereas for all of us, this had always been the likely conclusion, for Helena the story was quite different.  I don’t know what she expected to happen between her and Austin, not with the influence Tobias has over his son, but she had apparently not been expecting the announcement of his engagement to Milly, the daughter of the most prominent of Mind Councillors.  Helena appeared unaffected on the surface, but I knew the news was eating away at her inside and one night she finally admitted to me how devastated she really was.  ‘We were together the night after it was announced,’ she said, ‘he told me he didn’t want to be with her, but that was what his life was; he didn’t have the luxury of choice.  We both knew it was a lie, he’d made his choice, his choice just wasn’t me.’
    And after the marriages, the partying died down a bit, and recently, babies have started making an appearance; first Celia and Anthony’s son Alexander, then Austin and Milly’s son Marcus.  Helena was once again hit most hard, I know she still sees Austin, even to this day, and I think a part of her still expects him to one day choose her…
    Anyway, life seems to have somehow become more serious; Tobias’ guards can be found everywhere, he increases taxes almost by the month, any kind of relic research has been outlawed, and the other Descendants are, for some reason, notably absent.  Christiana has moved permanently to her Empire residence and Philip is barely ever seen at all.
    So it was a surprise when Christiana summoned me to see her a couple of months ago.  I had not a clue why, the only reason I could think was that as my God Mother she somehow wanted to intervene to restore my ruin of a relationship with her best friend, my mother.  I didn’t tell the others where I was going, not even Jeff, our relationship deteriorates further almost daily, and headed to Christiana’s enormous, square manor house on the outskirts of Empire.  To my surprise, Peter greeted me at the door, asking if I knew why we were there.  I told him I had no idea and we went straight to see Christiana together.
    Unusually, Christiana had invited us to eat dinner with her in her suite, dishes of food already laid out on a dresser when we entered.  We followed her lead and helped ourselves to roast lamb, crispy roast potatoes and an array of vegetables, before sitting at a small, round table, giving her quizzical looks between mouthfuls.  ‘I’m sure you’re both wondering why you’re here,’ she started, letting out her breath quickly in a half laugh when she saw our faces, ‘so I’ll skip