Bugged City of Stars

Hedwig confided in Ceiser.

It wasn’t a real choice, or so she told herself. She needed to have an accomplice in her matters from now on, and it wasn’t that she couldn’t trust Walpie or Else— it’s just that she knew they weren’t on her side.

Although a bit of her itched to, she didn’t explain anything more than she needed to. Grat was an old friend. Meissa was his sister. They weren’t really diplomats but instead visitors under a keen eye. He nodded every few seconds and in the pauses where she tried to filter what needed to be revealed out of the things that would get the siblings or herself into hot water.

She trusted Ceiser. She really did. He was a different kind of boy than any other she’d met. But some things weren’t hers to tell, and others that were could lead to questions whose answers weren’t hers to tell.

“I need to get them alone and talk to them. Sternstadt is bugged, and this is the only safe place I know.” She finished, looking expectedly to Ceiser.

“And what’s in it for me?” He asked after a few long seconds.

“Ceiser, I need somewhere to meet them, now.”

“Sterne, I was just kidding. I know a place or two, as long as you’re willing to get a bit dirty.”

“Dirty?”

“As long as you’re willing.” He repeated. Hedwig nodded.

“Oh, and by the way, I expect more information about them if I’m helping you. You’ve been hiding a lot since you got here, Hedda.”

“Be patient.” She hissed and would have tossed her hair back over her shoulder had she not cut it months before. He gave a crooked smile, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall.

“Will I be able to meet them?”

“No.”

“Really?”

“Take me to the spot. I can get there alone later. I’ll ask them about it.” It was a half-lie. She would mention Ceiser as a friend, maybe say something about him leading her there. Hedwig could push boundaries if she wanted to, but with Grat and Meissa, there was a lot more at stake.

“Those diplomats are more high maintenance than Flieder and Purzel.” He snorted. Hedwig heard the noise of someone creaking their way down the hall. She slapped a wadded-up bill to Ceiser’s chest. Her pale hand retracted. He grabbed at the bill, catching it in a fist before it could fall far.

“Danke.” He winked.

She rolled her eyes, “Now let’s go.”

“Now?” He looked at her, eyes wide in alarm. Hedwig tilted her chin up but lowered her voice as the footsteps moved past the closet.

“I have more.” She produced another few bills from the pockets in her romper, holding them out.

“I have a dignity,” he hissed but took the money from her hand, “and a job.”

“You’re ill.” Hedwig pushed more money into his hands. Ceiser eyed her but pocketed all of it. She felt a sort of triumph in bribing him like this and that it worked without much of a hitch.

“Alright, fine, but do you have an alibi?”

“He can’t stop me.”

“Hedda, he’s going to get suspicious.”

“Let him. There’s no way he knows the extent of them.”

Ceiser’s eyebrows raised.

“No,” she continued before he could ask, “Now let’s go.”

Listening before barging out, the two huddled against the door of the closet. Once Hedwig declared it safe to leave, she inched the door open.

Cameras were nonexistent, but sounds could be unmistakable. They made sure to keep their footsteps light and in the right patches that Ceiser had come to know made no noise. They slid out a side entrance and out into the fresh, spring air.

It felt good after a while of being inside. Hedwig didn’t come outside often, especially not since her father had encouraged her via Else and Walpie to do so. The air hit her face, and she basked in it for a moment before she noticed Ceiser looking at her odd.

She flipped him off, to which he replied with a chuckle.

The sky was cloudy, and the breeze flew sharp. She hoped it wouldn’t rain, but even if it did, it wouldn’t stop her from getting to Grat and Meissa. It wasn’t hard to throw on something more durable. Today she had gone for ‘inconspicuous-and-definitely-not-black.’ An pale pink romper and soft shoes.

The way it held her made her look larger than she was. But her collarbones still poked out between the sleeves and her elbows and knees jutted, as usual.

It hurt to think about it, so she stopped.

Most of the walk was hand gestures and facial directions from Ceiser. It wasn’t safe to speak yet, Hedwig assumed. She kept her mouth shut.

They took the backways through Sternstadt, as far as backways could be in the tight city. She followed along on the twists and turns. Nothing was as bad at the trek down from the castle, which was taken silently as well.

Then they hit what looked to be a grungier area. A path led from the buildings into a sparse wood. Very visible, but then they began to go downhill again.

“We’re safe to talk here, but when you meet them, it would be wise to continue down.”

“Why?”

“There are eyes as well as ears around.” He reached out to use the trees to help him as the path grew steeper. Hedwig nearly tripped, catching herself with a trunk.

“Be careful,” he paused to turn back, having heard her stumble, “If you die it’s on me, and then I’ll lose this hideaway.”

“Who else knows about it?”

“A few others.”

“Who?” She pushed. They continued downhill, but the decline was more gradual at this point. Rain began to speckle at Hedwig’s head and shoulders.

“Why do you care?” His voice had a nonchalant façade, sweeping whatever was under it away. Hedwig couldn’t tell what he really felt.

“I want to know if I’ll be encountering any.”

“Hmm…”

“Just tell me.” She snapped.

“Facts for facts, eh?”

And then without even being told, Hedwig could tell that they had reached their destination.

It was an old park of sorts, walls of a shed and two other short, small buildings graffitied with chipped paint and caricatures of people and make-believe animals.

“I can tell you about myself but not them.”

“Go ahead, then.”

The last foot or so were straight downhill, and Ceiser crouched before sliding. Hedwig followed suit but ended up nearly falling in the mud. Her hands shot out, and Ceiser grabbed them, helping her regain balance.

“I’m a prodigy Stargazer. Your turn.”

He paused, letting go of her hand, and she could tell his mouth was just short of falling open.

“That’s… a very big secret.”

“The reason why Dschingis moved to the castle here.”

“Because of the temple?”

“So I don’t start having disjointed visions. That’s what happens when a Stargazer is away from a Temple for too long. They start leaking into normal life. Not that that’s any better than my normal visions. Now who knows about this?” She swept her hand.

“You know, I was born here, in the heart of the Sternereich, but I’ve never met a Stargazer. Much less a Prodigy.”

“Templeless.” Hedwig commented, “But that doesn’t answer my question.”

He sighed, moving forward and sitting down on a slab of concrete near the middle, “Sit.” He patted a spot beside him.

Hedwig obliged, avoiding small mud puddles by hopping around until she got there. She reclined back, laying down so that her legs were dangling, and her back was flat.

“There’s a few other servants, and my dad.”

“Your dad?”

“Who do you think found it?”

“I didn’t think Sternstadt had been around that long…?” Hedwig shielded her eyes as the sun peeked out of the clouds and right through the trees, directly onto her.

“It’s been around long before it became this guarded,” Ceiser paused before leaning back so that he was lying beside her with a soft sigh, “How don’t you know? Where were you, before here?”

“Sie sind sehr neugierig,” she hit at him, but for some reason it felt good to talk. It felt good to share her secrets, to have them not as bottled up.

They weren’t really secrets, though. Her father knew, to an extent. Ceiser couldn’t tattle about her past to anyone but other servants, and while she really didn’t want anyone else knowing, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

“Ich bin ‘Sie‘ nicht, weil du eine Prinzessin bist.” He laughed. She nearly did because of the half-rhyme but stopped herself. She was getting way too ahead of herself, revealing this much. But it felt so relieving…

“Well,” she said, switching back to Inglish, “We didn’t learn much about history of anything but astronomy. Our teacher kept us very in the dark.”

“Reasons?” Ceiser asked.

“Stargazers in England are linked directly to the government.”

And the son of the fake Queen was with us, she wanted to say, but she was getting into dangerous territory of things that didn’t need to be shared.

“And that’s all you’re getting.”

Ceiser nodded his head once, “It’s my turn now. My father was eighteen when the walls were built. That was far before Dschingis took over, under the grandparents of the royal children. Sternstadt became a resort for the old König.

“They began to keep ears on the city. New technology from Italia, surprising and effective. But nobody in Sternstadt cared to go or commit treason of any sort, especially when the cars arrived. Sternstadt is the safest place in Europa.

“My father, however, has chronic paranoia. Everyone knew they were being listened to, but no one cared. He did. He searched and found this place and a few others.”

“And the other places?”

“Wer ist jetzt neugierig?”

Hedwig rolled her eyes before realizing that Ceiser couldn’t see or appreciate the movement.

“Will you tell me if I tell you more?” She just continued.

“Do you have any more marks?” He nudged her with an elbow.

“Plenty at the castle.”

“It was a joke.” He replied, but it was accompanied with a soft laugh that Hedwig was tipped into as well. It lasted for a moment, but a moment too long for her comfort. She hurried along.

“The first time you met me you said something about Dschingis’ rumored wife and child fleeing. You were right. I don’t remember the time when I was here, and I don’t remember what he was like to her, but the way she talked about him wasn’t in a good light. I was the heir, or heiress. She brought me to England and raised me with an old friend. Then she died, and it was just me and him. Then I was sent to the Parthenon temple.”

“Parthenon?” He whistled.

“Where else? Your turn.”

“There’s a basement of a shop, a certain alleyway, here, the closet I took you to, a specific landing on a staircase in a townhouse, a couple of rooftops- you’d be surprised how many of those they missed— and you’d probably be safe taking a boat down the river if you stayed near the middle.” He counted each off on his fingers, held at his chest.

It was silent for a moment as Hedwig took it all in.

“And only a few people know about them?”

“No. This spot is the most private. The rooftops are more popular.”

“I see.”

“What’s it like to be a Stargazer?” It came out as a blurt, but with the tone behind it, Hedwig could tell that he’d thought of the question beforehand.

“I only have bad visions. I’ve gotten used to not getting a lot of sleep. Dream visions are a lot of emotions and sensory shit flying around— those are the worst for me. Regular visions are complete take-overs. I had one of those earlier today when I fell into the fountain. They’re straightforward but just a show if anything. Disjointed visions are parts of visions that come into regular life.”

“Sounds like a horrible time.”

“A lot of people want to be Stargazers. I don’t understand. It’s horrible.”

“I haven’t grown up knowing them as more than just legends.”

“There’s more than you’d think. We had almost seventy at Parthenon.”

“Yeah, but Parthenon is the England religion center, isn’t it?”

“You’re right.” Hedwig sighed. She turned her head towards Ceiser so that her cheek rested on the concrete and noticed too late that he was turned towards her and they were very close.

“Are we going to kiss?” He asked with a crooked smile. Hedwig sat up very quickly. He followed, slower, as she looked at him with wide eyes.

“Kiss?”

“Ein Kuss?” The smile was partially wiped from his face at her reaction. She ran a hand through her short hair, eyes on him and him only.

Kiss? She’d never done that. But she felt a yearning. So much had happened that day, things that she’d kept from others, especially when they hadn’t pried. Ceiser hadn’t pried. She’d bribed him to be here, and he’d come. He’d listened. He’d shared his own.

He was nothing like Nel.

And that was what led her to close the distance between their mouths in a short peck, jumping back just as quickly as if she had been burned, even though his lips had only been a bit warm.

He burst into laughter.

“That’s not a kiss.”

“Well, I tried my best.” She snapped, crossing her arms and turning away.

“Hedda, here,” he leaned over to her, taking her chin in one hand. Hedwig let her face be turned to him. His large, brown eyes met her blue ones. She became aware of the light in them that she hadn’t appreciated or even noticed before.

He tilted her head slightly, and they were kissing again.

This time it felt good. Weird, wet, but good. It was short, but not too short, for a moment longer would have made it too long. Just the perfect length of a kiss, or at least in her inexperienced opinion.

“How many others have you done that with?” Was her first question as they pulled apart. Something she needed to know. She needed to know that she wasn’t special— or rather, have it reinforced, because she already knew. Hedwig couldn’t fall for a boy, not when she’d be broken out as soon as possible.

Ceiser stood from the slab, ignoring her question, and leaving her wide-eyed and looking at him.

“We should head back now. Before your father gets suspicious.”

“Damn my father.”

“I know he won’t punish you, but I’m dispensable.”

“Alright.” Hedwig stood, “When can we come here again?”

“Maybe I’ll take you to the rooftops next.” He stroked his chin, and Hedwig laughed for a moment before reeling herself back in.

No attachments, you’re going to be out of here. He’s just a friend, if even that.

“You’re confusing, Hedda,” he sighed, “Now, no more talking. We’ll go back the way we came.”

And that they did.