The Hidden City Read online

  He stood up, quietly put his plate back into the dispenser machine, and started dressing up slowly. This had become his everyday morning routine, as he felt that giving more attention to things, would make him more awake during the day. This attitude was inspired by the recent talks he attended at one of the Order‘s gatherings, at Margaret’s recommendation, that he began to embrace a lot lately, in his mind, despite his total disinterest in the spiritual things. When he was just about to exit the door, he heard a noise outside. He quickly opened the door to see what was happening, and to his surprise, he saw Margaret. She just landed with her dragon in the front of the house, and she was getting off her obedient creature.

  “Hey, you were supposed to be at work! What’s going on, you are so early back home!”

  “Well, technically I still am working, but today I wanted to pay a visit to our friend, Mary. Mary Windsor, you remember? The lady that gave us those free muffins that day. I want to have a chat with her.”

  “Ah, I remember her. That voluble lady, that won’t stop speaking.”

  “Exactly her. It happens that I’m also in charge of her bakery at work, and I thought a visit would come in handy for her business as well.”

  “Ah, really? That’s really nice, Maggie. You get to see the lady with nice pastry today.”

  After a few seconds of silence, Philip changed his mind about his plans and quickly asked her.

  “Do you think ... I can get to come too? I promise I won’t disturb you two.”

  Margaret smiled.

  “Well, that’s actually the main reason I didn’t go straight to her place with my dragon. I came to see if you want to join in. Are you ready, or do you need a bit more time to dress?”

  Philip’s face lightened up all of a sudden.

  “What are you saying, don’t you see? I’m already dressed up, I was planning to go to the Main Market to browse through some of the shops, but since you’re here, that can wait for a while.”

  “Well, let’s go, then. Our dragons are waiting.”

  Philip whistled his dragon that quickly came from the back of the house. He softly saddled his dragon and buckled him, carefully checking his ties and saddle sockets. They both buckled their dragons, and went up in the air, above the house. The dragons were flapping their big green wings, waiting for a sign to guide their flight path.

  “Come with me this way, Philip, I will guide you, I have the location set on my Mapper,” Margaret said loudly.

  They both started their journey. Today, the view was amazing, as the sky was a crisp deep blue color. Flying in the clear skies, they could see the many houses with red and blue roofs, that made most of their neighborhood. They passed by the Eastern water towers and by a few taller houses, avoiding them in a circular fashion, while flying low in the air, going then straight ahead toward the Western area of the City. Margaret was heading right towards the destination, as she didn’t want to waste any minute today, and Philip was following her closely. After flying continuously for almost 10 minutes, they arrived at the location.

  Margaret took her dragon down first, waited for her to touch the ground, and then dismounted slowly.

  “I took the liberty to notify Mrs. Mary that a Financial Council representative will come at her place at about 12 o’clock. I didn’t want to tell her more than that. I guess I wanted it to be a surprise,” Margaret said, looking at Philip, while he was descending off his dragon.

  In front of Mary’s shop, they admired for a few moments the large collection of pastry that she had in the large window display, and they entered. The doorbell rang, as the door opened, and a smell of fresh-baked pies engulfed them in a matter of seconds. Mary came quickly to see who it was, and to her surprise, she saw the two standing in front of her counter.

  “Ah, it’s you again? Is it me, or you’ve been to my store recently?” she asked, with an eyebrow raised.

  “As a matter of fact, we did,” Margaret said. “And your beautiful pastries are the reason we came back.”

  “Ah, you two. Don’t tell me you love my pastries as well. That’s a very comforting and pleasant surprise for me. Come, come! Let me see what I have for you today, fresh, out of the oven,” Mary said and started to check her fresh pastries that were inside the glass display.

  “Actually,” Margaret said and paused for a while, “we had a meeting planned today.”

  Mary stopped and looked at her, curiously.

  “We have? As far as I know, my only meeting today is around 12 o’clock when I will probably close the shop for an hour or so, because one of our Financial Advisers is coming here. I really don’t know what they want, but...”

  Margaret looked at her and then said boldly.

  “Well, as a matter of fact, you are looking at one of the freshest members of the Financial Council, who just happens to be in charge of some of the best bakeries of the West area of our City, including yours.”

  Mary’s eyes enlargened. She looked quite funny, with her white bakery cap, and her thick eyeglasses.

  “You … are the Financial Council person that contacted me today?”

  Margaret nodded and smiled.

  “Well, what an interesting surprise! Then come right in. I already have the table set for just the two of us, but that can easily accommodate three people. We have plenty of fresh cookies I just got out of the oven only ten minutes ago, not to mention the most delicious teas one can brew on a mile radius at least,” said Mary, chuckling. She was really happy to see Margaret again, and now that she found that she was working at the Financial Council, that made her really proud.

  As the two were settling in at the round table, set in the distant corner of the room, Mary was arranging her treats on the table.

  “So when did you enroll in the Financial Council, Margaret? The last time I saw you two, you had almost nothing to do around here,” Mary said. “And now, all of a sudden, you are one of my supervisors. That’s a quick change of plans, don’t you think?” she said, smiling, and looking at both of them. “Just give me a few minutes to bring that wonderful tea I prepared,” she said, disappearing in the back of the store.

  The two started sniffing a few of the warm orange cakes that were on the table.

  “These ones smell wonderful, I feel lemon and cinnamon,” Philip said. “Do you think we can try some?”

  “Go on, indulge, my dears, have no fear, they are really good,” she said loudly from the back of the store. “I’ll be right there with you, in a few moments.”

  “I think I’ll indulge myself into one as well,” Margaret whispered to Philip, “before Mary starts to talk. She has the habit of talking a lot, and I want to make sure I taste these before they disappear from the plate.”

  Mary came with two large teapots, and she took three small colorful cups from behind the counter.

  “I keep these cups only for special occasions. It is only my favored customers or really good friends that get to see them.”

  She took the pot and poured, slowly, the warm tea, which had a color similar to the amber. The steam was going upwards, slowly, as the precious tea filled her colorful cups, and they were all eager to try it out. She finally sat down, sighed, and looked at Margaret.

  “So what was so important that you wanted to see me, after all, dear?”

  Margaret smiled and took another bite of the savory cookie that she was eating.

  “Well, since I’m in charge of your bakery at the Council, I thought I would pay you back a visit, bring a smile, and also the few credits that we owe you,” she simply said and looked at Mary, displaying a simple smile. She definitely liked her English blunt personality, as Mary reminded her a lot of one of her grandmothers, that used to live in London.

  “So direct! I love that! Well, for starters, I don’t really need your credits. You can keep them and buy some precious little things with them, from the markets. But if you wanted to see me and taste some of my new daily fresh treats, that’s alright with me,” Mary said and chuckled. “H
ere, I will have some with you, because I love them as well. Have you tried your tea yet? It is delicious, and I’ve added a few of the local dried berries that are very popular around here, tell me how you find it.”

  On a sunny day, with a quiet summery breeze that seemed to stretch all throughout the city, nothing could beat having a relaxed tea time with fresh baked goods.

  “So how are your flower gardens treating you every day, Margaret?” began Mary, after sipping quietly on her tea, with an inquiring look.

  “Well, my garden is beautiful as always and the City never stops to amaze me. But now, as I have this new job, my view of the local landscape has changed. Every day comes with something new and we got to see so much of the City, now that we have our own dragons,” Maggie said, returning a smile.

  “Ah, you have your own dragons? That’s really nice. The Elders offered me one, but I’m too old for that. And as you know, everything I need is delivered right to my doorstep, grace to the Financial Council, so all my activities exist around my shop, and my little house, that is not very far from here.”

  Margaret nodded. Mary was indeed too old to fly a dragon, not to mention that she was a little bit round, which usually happens, around her age.

  They continued to enjoy their tea in silence. It was really a good and rare tea, similar to the green tea on Earth, mixed with a lot of dried fruits and flower petals. It was one of those teas that induced a relaxed state of mind, where one would love to just sit around and contemplate the cozy atmosphere of the day. In the back of the shop you could hear quiet jazzy music, that was probably from one of the radio stations that broadcasted in the City, and Philip loved that.

  Mary put her cup of tea down and looked at Philip.

  “So? Have you decided if you will stay here after all? Have you managed to go around the city to see if it suits you?” Mary asked.

  Philip looked at her, surprised that she asked him anything. Ever since they came into the shop, Mary has only spoken to Margaret.

  “Well,” Philip said, “that’s what the Elders ask us from time to time. We love the City and thus far we manage well. At least for me, every day is as beautiful as living in a small cabin at the edge of an ocean resort,” he said, and smiled largely.

  “He likes it a lot,” Margaret said, “it is only me who has to work here.”

  “Ah, but you like it too, don’t you?” Mary said and took another sip of the tea. “The exhilaration of working in the City cannot be compared to lying around, only if you are the contemplative type. The whole secret of this City seems to lie in their emerald amulets. If it wouldn’t be for them ... I was like Philip too, but at some point, I just couldn’t bear lying around anymore, so I had to open this little shop of mine, and I’m pretty sure that Philip is thinking of something similar too,” she said and touched her emerald amulet.

  Philip looked at her, with increased curiosity.

  “Well, as a matter of fact, I thought a lot about it lately. I’d love to open something like a street shop, where I could sell some of the goods that they usually sell there. I am not really sure what, for the moment, but the fact that we live close by the central market is encouraging me to dream about it.”

  Mary nodded with a smile and took another sip of tea. She then looked at Margaret and said.

  “Have you had a chance to meet the Order yet, my dear?”

  Margaret looked at her, feeling this was suddenly quite a personal question, and that the direction of the discussion was mostly aimed towards her. Still, she answered, avoiding getting too much into the details.

  “As a matter of fact, I did. I attended some of their meetings at the recommendation of one of the oldest Elders, and I must say that they’re lovely people. I recently started to try their silent meditation practice, and I find it very helpful,” she said, with an upright tone.

  “I see. But have you got the time to interact with the people that come to the center? I personally had … that is in the past, if there is such thing here, in our suspended time.”

  “You had? But then … what changed? To be honest I haven’t seen you there, at least in any of the days that I went at one of the houses where they gather.”

  “Well, I also had my share of the meetings with the Elders for a while. At the shop, or at home. At some point, they seemed to be everywhere.” She then leaned towards Margaret and whispered to her ear.

  “The Elders are very much connected to the Order, but they want to keep it a small fact, so people would not know … but that’s another story … ”

  Philip became curious.

  “They are? We’d be happy to hear a new story,” he said, picking another cinnamon roll out of the plate filled with cookies.

  Mary looked at both of them seriously, for a few seconds, and then continued.

  “Well, to begin with, the Order acts independently, as you have probably been hearing too. But I found out that the Elders are actually running the Order, from the shadow. I have a few friends in the Order, that told me that there are three Elders that personally supervise everything that goes around there. And they told me that … the Order started to secretly recruit people from the City, recently. I’m not sure what they are trying to accomplish, but if you ask me, this seems to be limiting our freedom, that is to join the Order freely, or even not to care about it at all,” said Mary, with a secretive look. “Do you think I’m nuts? I may be, at my age, many things can happen … ”

  Margaret smiled. She loved Mary and the quirky style that always seemed to generate a good mood around her, no matter what she was saying.

  “As far as I’m concerned, to keep my peace of mind in this quiet and peaceful city, I think they might be just rumors, you know,” said Margaret, sipping quietly from her cup.

  Mary shooked her head.

  “Well, they’re not, my child. I’m pretty sure about it. I have my own sources you know, and as you can see I have my orange robe, so ... I know a lot more than you do. I had plenty of time to live around this City. And I interacted with the Elders way more than you had a chance, so I know them a lot better than you. I had the time to think about a lot of theories about them, and I really don’t care if they know I do, or if someone else senses that. They’re good people, in most of the cases, but if you ask me,” and she came closer to them, and whispered softly, “there’s more than meets the eye when it’s about them. I know, and this impression formed across the passage of time here, that they hold secrets, secrets that they don’t want people to know about.”

  “For example,” Mary continued, “are you aware that there’s a shield like a big hemispheric bubble around our City? No one talks about it, but I have found out from some of my friends, that visit my bakery. They are the adventurer type, that kind of people that like to explore the surroundings, walk a lot in nature. They got lost in the woods around the City with no Mappers, and they accidentally found it. Now, what would that be useful for?”

  Margaret’s face changed.

  “Well, we … we actually kind of know about that.”

  “You do? But you don’t seem to have a lot of friends here and you just came here maybe a month ago or so. So how on Earth did you found out about it?”

  “Well,” Margaret began and took a quick glance at Philip, “one day we were riding our dragons way across the virgin forest, to explore more of the outskirts of the City, and we seemed to … have stumbled upon it. We were told not to venture too much away from the City, but my reckless spirit took us there. Our dragons would not want to fly any further away. And so that you know, it is also marked on the Mappers, with a thick light blue line,” Margaret said, with a low voice.

  “Ah, you have the dragons! So it is true! Now why on this planet would we need something like this? No one knows about us, we live in safe haven, in a continuous eternity, and still, we need a protective shield? I think there’s something more to this, and since no one is talking about it, I presume it’s a secret that the Elders want to keep to themselves. You know
, we’re not being told much here, as far as I learned in all these years, and at some point, there would be more and more people that would want to know more about this kind of things.”

  Mary paused and put some more tea into their cups, reverently. After she finished, she quietly put the teapot down and said.

  “Well, as for me, I’m not sure that knowing all these things will help me in any way. I’m old, and I don’t think returning back home, to our old England, would help me in any way. But you two are really young, and if you miss your old life, you do have the option of going back home at any time that you want … ”

  Mary smiled while Philip took another cookie from the plate.

  “Ah, and there would be another thing: the caves. Have you two had a chance to visit them?”

  Philip was dreaming away, engulfed in the cozy air of Mary’s bakery, taking a cookie from time to time from the plate, checking her bakery display window, as the discussion was monopolized by the girls.

  “Well,” Margaret said, “we had plenty of times when we flew above the mountains where the caves are, and at one time, we descended and briefly visited one of them. I remember descending a lot of stairs to find that there are corridors dig in stone, and lots of wide rooms from which they took a lot of stone, to build the houses. We even found some interesting small crystals on the floors that Philip took home, but we didn’t stay for long, as the Mappers seemed not to function very well inside the mountain, and we were afraid of losing ourselves on the corridors. Besides, as I remember well, we were pretty hungry, and the stone corridors were really cold, not to mention that there was nothing too fancy for us to see there,” Margaret said, putting down her teacup.

  “Well, you are mostly right about the caves. Most of them are like that. But I’ve heard, and now that just might be a rumor that spreads around a few sweet beverages around a bakery table, that there’s a particular one, with an entrance in the form of a triangle, where strange things are happening, that is hidden from all the others,” she said, whispering quietly towards Margaret.