Chapter Eleven: Dicentra

I allowed myself to believe that after my chat with the puppet, things would start to look up.

I was wrong.

Every day I go to court and deal with the cases, and every day Unova shows up. She tries to intervene and constantly makes me look bad in front of all the other Marionettes. The fear they once felt when they thought of me dissipates the more often she visits, and I’m getting sick of it.

What’s worse is that Philus still hasn’t come back, and I’m convinced that he joined my stepmother. Which means the next time I see him, he’s as good as dead.

Usually I would have a way to free myself of all these feelings, a way to get back on my feet – but after my fight with Marceau a few days ago, it seems that it’s no longer an option.

The Queen’s party is just a couple of days away, and if I don’t let go of things now it’s definitely going to come back and bite me later. I could always use one of my puppets… but it doesn’t seem fair to subject them to the pain of knowing that I control them. It didn’t cross my mind when I introduced myself to Ettie though… why should it now?

‘Don’t do something stupid like you always do,’ says Cendra, a warning tone in its voice, ‘If you know it’s not fair then don’t do anything, alright? You’ve already messed up with Marceau, do you really want to make things worse?’

‘Since when did you care?’ I retaliate, getting up from my sofa and going to get a bottle of Serenity’s finest Star Juice*.

‘Since you became even more depressed than you already were and won’t even try to fight Unova anymore? I may not like you, but I hate her more. I’m just trying to save you from yourself. Take it or leave it.’

‘Whatever.’

I plop myself back on the sofa and turn on my corescreen**, then pick a show to watch for a while. I don’t get very far before I start drifting off, so I curl up on the sofa with the show still playing, close my eyes and hope to the stars that when I wake up tomorrow it’ll be better.

***

It’s not.

I know people were looking at me before, but they look even more now. The stares follow me down the halls, chase me through the building, and I feel the walls closing in. Clutching my briefcase tighter, I walk swiftly and surely, trying desperately to escape the humiliation that hangs in the air around me. When I finally get to my office, I wrench open the door and shut myself inside, letting out a sigh of relief. I’m safe for now.

‘You’re in quite a rush, aren’t you?’

I jump slightly, not expecting another person to be here so early. But when I see who it is, my shock turns to disgust.

‘Unova,’ I sneer.

‘Hello, Dicentra,’ she says sweetly, though I can hear the venom hidden beneath.

‘I should’ve known you couldn’t keep yourself from ruining my reputation. How does it feel?’

‘I… What?’

I walk towards her slowly, taking in the sight of her sat behind my desk and using it to fuel my anger.

‘Don’t play dumb, Unova. You and I both know that you want to make a joke of me. And you know what?’ I place my hands on my desk, getting right up to her face, ‘It’s working.’

Her face lights up with a wicked kind of joy, a joy that will give her the power she so desperately craves. Or so she thinks.

‘Really…’ she purrs, a malicious grin slowly spreading across her face.

‘Don’t let it get to your head,’ I reply, rolling my eyes.

‘You know,’ she says, cocking her head to one side, ‘I haven’t seen you with Marceau recently.’

My heart almost stops beating.

‘I heard he was in court the first time I dropped by,’ she continues, ‘someone told me he came to see you.’

‘Yeah, well, we had a fight,’ I say, ‘Just a little argument, it was nothing. But we’re- we both needed some space for a bit.’

‘I see,’ she says, a look of mild amusement appearing on her face. ‘Well, isn’t that a shame. I know you two are quite… fond of each other.’

She gives me an unsettling look, one that makes me think she knows something I don’t. I know she’s trying to intimidate me, but I’m not that easily shaken.

‘That would be right,’ I respond, keeping eye contact with her.

‘Well, I better go now. But you’ll see me very soon, so don’t worry.’ She reaches forward and pinches my cheek between her fingers, giving it a little shake before leaving.

She thinks she’s won, but she hasn’t. Not yet. And I have every intention to make sure she never does.