Soon the shave was the absolute last thing on Ted's mind. The city watch did, after all, look into the death rather closely. He used all his tricks, masking the true nature of the neck fracture with seven different spells, but whether those were enough remained a mystery for a while.
Ted did not even know whether it was paranoia or realism that he suffered from. He thought he saw an inkling of doubt on every face.
He tried his best to keep Eknie updated about any real or fictional developments in the story of the poor addicted girl.
"We must have ears everywhere, and eyes as well," Eknie whispered to him as they were walking around in the garden.
Ted preferred his flower arrangements clean and defined, his trees well-kept and his paths free of any pebbles or anything else that would have disturbed his visual tastes. His gardener was not as organized as he would have hoped for, but he was obedient, and with a financial incentive, he was willing to leave behind his outdated ideas about letting plants be their wild selves.
Ted plucked a rain cherry from its rightful place and plopped it into his mouth.
He noticed that old yearning in Eknie's eyes, and for a moment that felt like a moment standing in flames, Ted's heart responded with a thrilling leap inside his chest that threatened to blow his cover.
It was the pressure making him think things like that, nothing more. He was so stressed out. Stress made him unstable and willing to entertain such stupid ideas.
If he fell for Eknie, even if it was just the will of his flesh, he would be doomed. He knew that much.
"Are those any good?" Eknie asked.
Ted realized that it could be a good idea to just play along.
"See for yourself," he said and plucked another cherry, this time for her.
He was not allowed to think about the fact that the cherry would end up in her mouth, touching her tongue.
He was definitely not allowed to think about the seed that she would spit out soon, discarding it, just like he discarded people.
Maybe it was only the madness of unrequited love that made her cold, as cold as him, but Ted really did not know whether that mattered at all.
He forced his heartbeat to calm down and handed her the cherry. He knew he was able to discard her if he needed to. It would be preferable to him to make the remaining time with her as uncomplicated as possible.
Lusting after her with reciprocal insanity was the definition of needless complications.
He watched her chew on the juicy rain cherry. These only grew during the death of the scorching warmth of the dry season, signifying the start of the rains, as their name suggested. Soon the streets would be flooding due to the poor sewage system.
There were clouds coming up already, but for the time of the initiation ceremony, the actual, competent meteorologists had promised sunshine. At least the weather was good to Ted. He felt liberated with the rays of that cursed daylight star hidden, like he was the master of his own body and mind again.
He had never thought about the weather this much.
"It's all right," Eknie said, a shadow forming upon her brow. "It is definitely a good year."
"Why are you like that?" Ted asked before he could stop himself. "You know our agreement, right? You can't be bitter about what I can't give to you. You know it doesn't work like that."
"I didn't say anything," Eknie protested.
"No, you didn't," Ted said, moderately annoyed. "You thought about it so hard that I could hear it."
Eknie could have pushed him further, and if that had happened, he would have put her back into her place. Not physically, of course, he was not about to victimize her as just another beaten woman, but he knew words that could hurt anyone, no matter what they had or did not have in their hearts.
Eknie did not do anything to further displease him. Instead, she glanced towards the ground and spat out the seed of the rain cherry.
"It's a good year," she said.
They went on with their stroll in the garden. Ted was most pleased with her submission.
"I think Doira has some funny ideas," Eknie said as they approached the little pond where the fox bobblers swam.
Fox bobblers, with their flowing fins and bright red color, were a popular hobby, but they ate anything and everything, wasting away in a split second without energy-rich food.
They saw seven dead fox bobblers in the water, and three that were so malnourished that they were basically dead already.
"What has caused this?" Ted asked. He had cherished the fish. They were the only pets he was willing to keep nowadays.
"They say that a fox bobbler dies when its owner is threatened." Eknie seemed to shudder a bit. "I am guessing that these may have prevented a further catastrophe. But we need to do some damage control. Doira…"
"He will be dealt with," Ted said, stroking the cane he had taken for a walk. It was not the support he sought from it – rather, what he liked about the cane was the sword hidden within.
"He will take his own life very soon." He pulled out the sword. It was narrow and sharp enough that it would have cut through his gloves, his skin, his flesh and his bone with a single touch of its blade. "I think he will find peace. Don't mind the fact that I might…push him towards the right solution."
Eknie pointed towards the gate. "Ted, there is someone approaching us."
It was a man of the city watch. This was why Ted had wanted to be outside, pretending to be a wholesome lover of flowers and ponds. It just looked better that way.
Now, though, he would hear the results of the autopsy.
He put on his best solemn face and walked towards the gate with his friend.