THIRTY-FOUR: Lunese you say

“Now, what can I do for you?” First Lady Rose smiled at Arous.

 “I’m looking for my mother.”

“Here?” She chuckled a bit but did not smile.  “So, your mother was an Idelle.  So many people come to this town thinking they have talent.  A gift for speaking. For being  - for representing.  A role model.  Most of them don’t have the business sense that the divine would give a fly.” Now smiling she added, “You mentioned your mother?”

“Yes, I am looking for her.  She came to this city more than ten years ago.  I’ve heard that there was a Lunese that worked here. I’m wondering if you knew her at all-”

“Hmm,” said the Lady. “A Lunese you say?”

 “Yes,” thought Arous. “I thought that would be obvious.”

Lady Rose laughed. “Yes, the old slave race from the moon. There has been one Lunese Idelle. But I don’t know her now nor does she work for me.  If you are representing a client or advising a client, you need to be beautiful and well spoken and talented of course.  She was beautiful, well-spoken and very talented,” she hesitated for a moment and continued.

“When you are an Idelle you are committed to a House. Rose’s is one House out of several you could belong to. Being part of a House is like belonging to a family – it’s a lifelong commitment. Only licensed and committed Idelles can work for or live in a House.  Mine carry the small mark of the red rose on their necks just under their left ear.  Everything we represent . . . is beautiful. If it doesn’t have a bent toward beauty or toward the truth of the thorn, we don’t represent them. That is our mission.  We represent the only people that need our kind of representing, like the Ephors, the MOTA, the Bishops, large corporations.  We don’t often do non-profits, except at the prompting of a political client. The Idelles in Rose House belong to me.”

“Belong?”

“Belong.  As one belongs to the member of a club or organization. Because of the nature of our business, Idelles or Idons are subject to the strictest regulations from the Center of Whole Wellness.  Idelles must be wholesome. Whole people are beautiful. It is the way that my business survives. Beautiful people are easier to believe.  If they are believed then there is no arguing, no fighting, people buy what they need, what we represent to make their lives beautiful, full of truth. If they are not beautiful, they mis-represent the truth and that is a crime punishable by-”

“Do you know where she is?” Arous asked.

“Who?”

“My mother,” Arous was annoyed. “Who else would I be talking about?”

“Well, the only Lunese Idelle that I knew was with Starin’s Agency.  They will have a small star tattoo under their right eye.”

“Where would this business be located now?  Starin‘s Agency?”

“It was shut down a few months ago.  They had some . . . management problems.  I purchased a few of the commitments of the Idelles and Idons working there, but I don’t remember her.  Less than a dozen commitments were sold. The rest were convicted of crimes. I hope your mother was not one of them,” she sighed. “Your eyes. I would have remembered those eyes. And your skin is very arresting. You should think of pledging a House.”

“Crimes?”

“Well, they had a few government contracts.  Treason was one of the crimes mentioned.”

“What happened to them?”

“Treason is punishable by death, of course.”

“Of course,” Arous echoed.  All the lavender drained from her skin till she was ashen.

“Are you feeling well?” asked the Lady.

Arous didn’t say anything. But the Lady pushed a glass of water toward her.

“Drink this,” she said. “It will make you feel much, much better.”

Arous took as sip and a surge of energy passed through her and iridescence came back to her face, eyes, skin.

“Thank you,” she said and she picked up the glass to finish it off.

“Of course, there were a couple of Idelles, I believe, that had good information or just good connections. They were sent to a HaleSpa. I’m not sure that was better than execution, if you ask me.”

The Lady nodded and looked out the window.

“That was fast,” she said as Arous drained the glass, “would you like some more?”

“Please,” said Arous. “I guess I’m just not used to this dry air.  Where I come from its much more . . . humid.”

“Curious!” she smiled. She almost looked as if she was about to start laughing. “I can’t stand humidity.  I have a de-humidifier in this room to suck out all the water out of the air. Curious!”

Arous finished her second glass.

“There is someone whom you might want to meet.  She was a Starin before she came here.”

First Lady Rose called Cindra.

            “Please show Arous into the courtyard and introduce her to Siobhan,” she leaned into Cindra’s ear. “And turn off the de-humidifier on your way out before I shrivel up like a prune.”