of the audience looked on, giving their silent consent. As soon as the monkey was out of the room, Persephone straightened her body, cracked her bones, and spoke sweetly into the microphone.
“Now then,” she said. “Let us get this vote under way. I trust there won’t be any more distractions, aside from my beauty. As I was saying …”
X
Being inside a thick sack, Ted only knew that he’d been placed on a wagon of some kind, and he could feel Vango, Dr. Narwhal, and Dwack beside him. Their mouths were taped shut and their wrists bound with heavy ropes.
When the wagon stopped, Ted detected a flurry of activity outside the sack.
“Move!” said a rough voice as Ted was yanked off the wagon and carried by several pairs of hands. Behind him, he heard labored grunting and guessed that the kidnappers were attempting to lift Dr. Narwhal.
“Set his flippers free and make him walk,” said another voice. “If he doesn’t move, we’ll have to roll him.”
Suddenly Ted was dropped roughly onto the ground, and his sack was untied and swiftly removed. He opened his eyes and saw that he was in a wide tunnel constructed entirely of bending, arching trees. Everywhere he looked, other tree-tunnels connected to this main corridor.
Dwack, Vango, and Dr. Narwhal sat beside him.
And standing in front of him was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen.
“Mon Dieu!”
she said. “You are a ragtag lot. And you
stink!”
XI
After the vote, Persephone departed the Senate chamber for her high-rise apartment, feeling great about herself. It was almost unprecedented to see a
unanimous
yes vote, and the invasion was
going
to happen. She just needed to hammer out some final details. But that meeting wasn’t for another couple of weeks, so she had some time to relax … and get married.
Persephone looked through the window at the Ab-Com City skyline. Though she knew she should move into the stodgy Presidential Palace on the outskirts of the city, she preferred living in this apartment, her home, which she had been in ever since she had started earning enough money from bribes and kickbacks to have the type of life she had fantasized about during her sailing days.
When she met her Scurvy.
Persephone sat down on her feather bed—made from specific birds whose plumage had made her jealous—and removed her wig. It had been a long day, and she needed to rest if she was going to see Scurvy soon. He was the love of her life, and she wanted to look gorgeous.
“SWAMSTER,” she yelled. “BRING MY BATH SALTS!”
But Swamster didn’t respond.
“Oh yes,” said Persephone to herself. “I sent him to kill that boy.”
Persephone flopped back on her bed and rubbed her eyeholes with the delicate bones that formed her wings. She looked at the ceiling, where years before she had commissioned an artist to paint a portrait of Scurvy, just the way she’d remembered him. Masculine. Dashing. Perfect.
“Ah,
mi amor,”
said Persephone.
She had first met Scurvy on a pirate ship, where she had been the ab-com of a cabin girl named Grace, who had helped her mother cook, clean, and sew for the sailors. Grace had spent her entire life on the boat and saw plenty of scrap bones that sailors tossed her way after they were done eating. The cabin girl was terribly lonely, and she reconstructed these bones in her imagination to make a friend—her cockatoo, Persephone Skeleton.
One day, the ship stopped in Port Royal, Jamaica, to pick up supplies and replace crew members who had been lost at sea or killed in battle. A sailor came aboard with his young son Myles, who had dreamed of being a pirate since he was old enough to stare out at the boats coming into port. Myles had inherited an abstract companion to match his obsession—Scurvy Gordon. Myles the cabin boy met Grace the cabin girl, and from that day on, Scurvy and Persephone were inseparable.
During the days, Persephone sat on Scurvy’s shoulder as he captained his ship up and down the
“Now then,” she said. “Let us get this vote under way. I trust there won’t be any more distractions, aside from my beauty. As I was saying …”
X
Being inside a thick sack, Ted only knew that he’d been placed on a wagon of some kind, and he could feel Vango, Dr. Narwhal, and Dwack beside him. Their mouths were taped shut and their wrists bound with heavy ropes.
When the wagon stopped, Ted detected a flurry of activity outside the sack.
“Move!” said a rough voice as Ted was yanked off the wagon and carried by several pairs of hands. Behind him, he heard labored grunting and guessed that the kidnappers were attempting to lift Dr. Narwhal.
“Set his flippers free and make him walk,” said another voice. “If he doesn’t move, we’ll have to roll him.”
Suddenly Ted was dropped roughly onto the ground, and his sack was untied and swiftly removed. He opened his eyes and saw that he was in a wide tunnel constructed entirely of bending, arching trees. Everywhere he looked, other tree-tunnels connected to this main corridor.
Dwack, Vango, and Dr. Narwhal sat beside him.
And standing in front of him was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen.
“Mon Dieu!”
she said. “You are a ragtag lot. And you
stink!”
XI
After the vote, Persephone departed the Senate chamber for her high-rise apartment, feeling great about herself. It was almost unprecedented to see a
unanimous
yes vote, and the invasion was
going
to happen. She just needed to hammer out some final details. But that meeting wasn’t for another couple of weeks, so she had some time to relax … and get married.
Persephone looked through the window at the Ab-Com City skyline. Though she knew she should move into the stodgy Presidential Palace on the outskirts of the city, she preferred living in this apartment, her home, which she had been in ever since she had started earning enough money from bribes and kickbacks to have the type of life she had fantasized about during her sailing days.
When she met her Scurvy.
Persephone sat down on her feather bed—made from specific birds whose plumage had made her jealous—and removed her wig. It had been a long day, and she needed to rest if she was going to see Scurvy soon. He was the love of her life, and she wanted to look gorgeous.
“SWAMSTER,” she yelled. “BRING MY BATH SALTS!”
But Swamster didn’t respond.
“Oh yes,” said Persephone to herself. “I sent him to kill that boy.”
Persephone flopped back on her bed and rubbed her eyeholes with the delicate bones that formed her wings. She looked at the ceiling, where years before she had commissioned an artist to paint a portrait of Scurvy, just the way she’d remembered him. Masculine. Dashing. Perfect.
“Ah,
mi amor,”
said Persephone.
She had first met Scurvy on a pirate ship, where she had been the ab-com of a cabin girl named Grace, who had helped her mother cook, clean, and sew for the sailors. Grace had spent her entire life on the boat and saw plenty of scrap bones that sailors tossed her way after they were done eating. The cabin girl was terribly lonely, and she reconstructed these bones in her imagination to make a friend—her cockatoo, Persephone Skeleton.
One day, the ship stopped in Port Royal, Jamaica, to pick up supplies and replace crew members who had been lost at sea or killed in battle. A sailor came aboard with his young son Myles, who had dreamed of being a pirate since he was old enough to stare out at the boats coming into port. Myles had inherited an abstract companion to match his obsession—Scurvy Gordon. Myles the cabin boy met Grace the cabin girl, and from that day on, Scurvy and Persephone were inseparable.
During the days, Persephone sat on Scurvy’s shoulder as he captained his ship up and down the
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