5. The Tuning Ceremony

“ The leaders and members of the high court, now presented, climb the stairs and enter the tribunals. “
Our guide says.

He leads our way through the stairs. As we climb, Nolvem seems to be the only one that the guards look at.

Finally a bit of reason?

One of the guards spits at her feet, another smashes the handle of his halberd on the ground to scare her off.

But that’s about it…

No arrests; nothing more than provocations or humiliations.

I’m a bit disappointed…

We enter the tribunals, right after the man who announced the arrival of each member of the court.
We’re finally unshackled when the door behind us locks.

“ Pistils of the Northern Petal, taken care of by the caretaker O Three.
Every Pistil has been chosen on behalf of the high court and is standing before you, great leaders of Harebell, for this edition of the tuning ceremony.

The Tailor assigned to them didn’t report any major injuries that needed to be taken care of, aside from the girl in the red dress.
As for their name, according to O Three, they named themselves after the month they arrived at the Petal. “
He announces.

I can’t see any of them for now; the platform they are at is too high up for any of us to see.
I can hear their laughter almost covering the voice of the man who talks to them.

We’re nothing to them.

They didn’t even bother to listen to what the man said, I bet.

“ O Three? “
A woman’s voice from above says.

“ That’s a caretaker with some character! I am surprised that so many pistils are still alive! “
She continues after giggling.

The voice of that woman was filled with authority and, although she seemed amused, her voice still carried a serious tone.
That must be Countess Myrrhis.

“ Looking at the last report, a certain Marc has been terminated recently by her hands, following a rare case of an orphan whitening. “
A male voice now.

“ Here’s the register. “

The sound of a sheet of paper given to another is all I can hear.

“ This Marc, this document describes… I believe it was- “

A small click initiates a device that closes the walls around the platform, preventing us from hearing further.

The same click is heard after a minute or two, and a feminine voice speaks:

“ We will receive the first Pistil that calls themselves Mary. “

The platform lowers and widens with all sorts of mechanical sounds;
the stairs leading to it retract.In front of us, the leaders are seated in an arc around a large table, casually chatting together while the room finishes settling.

Mary is terrified by the tuning part of the ceremony.
Her limbs won’t stop shaking, her cheeks are red and inflated by the tears constantly rolling down them.

She approaches slowly.

Lady Harebell stands up from her seat and approaches gracefully.
She reaches for her hands to reassure her.

“ There’s nothing to be afraid of here… Mary, was it? “
She silently says.

“ Y..yes Mary. “
Mary answers while struggling to hold back her sobs.

Lady Harebell gently pushes back Mary’s head and inspects her throat box.

“ I did not allow you to speak. I will close my eyes on it for today but I must warn you to never do it again.
Have i made myself clear? Now, would you please play your note for me, Mary? “

Mary’s body stiffens when she hears Lady Harebell scold her.
She uses her box and Lady Harebell releases her head.

“ There, everything is fine. Your string is in good shape, no need to replace it.
Your box is well waxed and has little damage on it, but you are taking good care of it.
Nothing to worry about, you may return to your line. “

Lady Harebell smiles and lets Mary return to us.

I don’t know why the sudden change of attitude, but she usually isn’t that friendly with the orphans.
She’s usually cold and indifferent, ignores our feelings, and only does what’s to be done when it comes to inspecting the throat boxes.

Nothing close to what we just saw.

Lady Harebell goes back to her seat and lets Lady Sylvestr speak:

“ You. “
She says, pointing at Nolvem.

“ The little lady in the red dress, come forth. “

Nolvem enters the ray of light coming from the roof in front of the leaders;
her red dress reflects the light on the white floor and turns the white rays into red ones.

“ Most intriguing… Tell me, little lady “

Lady Sylvestr stands and walks on the table, then climbs down with the help of a dancer that holds her while she descends to get to Nolvem’s side.

Nolvem is in awe, her eyes are locked upon the red flower that Lady Sylvestr wears on her ear.

“ Play your note for me, would you? “

What?!

I thought she was going to talk about her red dress!
Am I the only one to see that?

I get closer to Mayth and whisper:

“ Am I the only one to see this damn red dress? Am I going mad? “

“ Ya ain’t. I don’t know why they all cool ‘bout it either. “
She tells me.

Nolvem plays her note and the sound it makes is absolutely horrible.

“ So I was right! “
Lady Sylvestr shouts, proud of herself.

She claps her hands excitedly and turns toward Lady Harebell.

“ A self-detuning attempt! My eyes are getting better at this, see?! “
She says joyfully to her.

“ Although, my dear, why would you ever try something as dangerous as that?
Was that an attempt to end your miserable life, little lady? “
She asks, turning back to Nolvem.

“ Oh! I’m sorry. Little Lady, I allow you to speak to me. “
She murmurs while giggling.

Nolvem doesn’t let a second pass and says:

“ M…may I touch the majestic flower resting on your ear, grand Archivist? “

Lady Harebell straightens on her seat immediately.

“ How dare y- “

Lady Sylvestr spins furiously to face Lady Harebell and interrupts her before she can say anything:

“ Ney ney ney, Maria, you won’t get in my way now! You too vowed on the noble texts!
Together, the leaders, we all rule equally, blablabla, we don’t override each other’s decisions and certainly do not interrupt them while they act as a ruler.
That’s an important part of the texts, I think… So I certainly hope that you will apply them here.”
She says very quickly to her.

Lady Harebell nods but seems exhausted from trying to contain her as she sighs.
Lady Sylvestr, chin up, spins back on her heels to face Nolvem, speechless, again.

“ Well… You did not quite answer my question but… Sure! You can touch it. “
She tells Nolvem, her smile even bigger than before.

She unpins the red flower from her ear and delicately deposits it in Nolvem’s shaking hands.

Nolvem doesn’t say a word and just looks at the flower, amazed.

From a door far on my left, an old man sneaks in.
He’s followed by a guard that restrains him from going further.

“ Hey Mayth, look over there, who’s that? “
I ask, pointing at the old man.

“ He seems vaguely familiar but i ain’t sure ‘bout it. If he’s who I’m thinkin’ of, we better not bring any attention to him. “

“ For real, how can you know a random old man coming out of nowhere? How do you know all that? “

“ Really Jur? Ya doin that here of all places?
I don’t have anythin’ to tell ya ‘bout that.
Learn by yourself from now would ya?
Get off’ my boots ya ungrateful fuck.”

Damn! Someone’s tense.
She gets away from me, very annoyed.
Well shit.

We’ll get along later, that doesn’t matter.

I get my focus back on Nolvem, who gave back the flower and is now being inspected.

“ You are way out of tune, little lady, let me fix that for you! “
Lady Sylvestr says.

“ Maria? Could you get the tuner out, please? “
She asks.

“ I already told you to call me Lady Harebell… “

Lady Harebell pulls a handle from under the table that opens at its center.
The cylindrical shape of the tuner emerges from the ground until it reaches the height of Nolvem.

“ Now play your note, little lady! “
Lady Sylvestr asks Nolvem.

As she does, the arrow falls down almost reaching the low-pitched white noise threshold.
Lady Sylvestr takes the red flower between her fingers and reaches for her personal key inside of it.
She puts the key inside of the tuner and plays her note close to it.

Her music box, like all the leader’s, contains four strings, each tuned differently, therefore making a beautiful chord as soon as she starts to play.

The tuner expands in answer to it, revealing one of the most desired items in existence from its top.

She takes out a small rod made of an unknown material and manipulates it for some time until she’s satisfied with whatever she’s done.

Lady Sylvestr grabs Nolvem’s throat and inserts the metallic device in the box’s side.

Surprisingly, Nolvem doesn’t seem bothered by the whole procedure.
She plays her note continuously while Lady Sylvestr matches her pitch to the one marked on the tuner by twisting the device meticulously.

She carefully pulls the rod out once the desired pitch is reached and puts it back inside of the tuner.

“ We are all set, little lady! Say, you seem quite attracted to colored things!
A quality I like to have at my side in my coworkers and my inquisitors.
If you ever get out of your Petal and seek an exciting journey, I’d be glad to have a chat with you.
If… Only you survive t’ill then eheheh. Anyway!”

Lady Sylvestr smiles widely and gives Nolvem a petal out of the flower she has at her ear.

Nolvem nods happily and returns to us.

Three suited people, representing Lord Ursin, seated on a wide chair, begin to say:

“ A pistil named after the month December will walk forward and face us to be inspected. “

Decy does as said but another figure stands from his seat.

“ I will be the one to inspect that one if you do not mind, Lords Ursin. “
Says the figure.

What was his name again… I believe it was Duke Lanarth or something.

His presence is disturbing and gives me chills.
Also, he does not seem to be moving his lips while he’s talking.

“ Why the sudden interest, Duke? “
Lady Harebell asks.

“ A simple hint of curiosity, darling, that is all. Would you accept this humble request of mine? “
He pauses.

Yeah, he’s not talking with his mouth, his lips aren’t moving at all!
His voice comes from his throat box, how is that possible?

“ Harebell dearest? “
He continues.

“ Go on, sure whatever. Do you accept his request, Lord Ursin? “
Lady Harebell says annoyed.

The three suited men, perfectly synchronized, nod to him and wave their hands, palms up, in the direction of Decy as if offering him to the Duke.

“ We are not bothered by the request at all.
We will give the inspection of the December pistil to you, Duke Lanarth. “
They declare.

“ Most fabulous! I thank you dearly, gentlemen. “

The Duke is helped by one of his servants to get up from his seat by making himself as a step.
The other leaders spare themselves from looking at him and the way he uses living people as objects.

If they seem so disturbed by that, why don’t they act accordingly?
This man is making me nauseous.

He takes off his gloves and puts both his hands on Decy’s shoulders.

“ What was your name, boy? “

Decy opens his mouth and shows his cut tongue while pointing at it with his left hand.

“ Mute? How exciting! “

The Duke rips off some of his shirt to reveal his arms.
He then places his hands on Decy’s bare shoulders.
From the skin contact, Decy tenses and contracts his muscles.

“ Smooth skin, well fed and muscular, my my! You’ve got everything for yourself, boy.
You are just about to make me crazy!”
The Duke exclames, eyes wide open.

Again, all the other leaders are uneasy about the scene but don’t do shit about what’s happening.

The Duke brushes one of his fingers on the mask the Tailor put on the jaw of Decy, trying to find the locking mechanism.
He finds it and detaches the mask, which falls loudly on the ground, making Decy startle.
His severed mouth is fully revealed and is inspected in detail.

“ What a sight you offer me now! Such complexity in your scars!
I see burns and cuts. Whoever did this to you knew what they were doing!
What a thrill. “

The Duke seems to be trembling from excitement.
Decy is terrified and doesn’t dare to move.

From behind me I feel agitation.
Mayth is restraining Apry by locking her arms and putting her hand on her mouth.

“ Mmmm! gommma kill mmm! MmI swear I’mmm gommma go up and brffeak his skull!
Get offfff mmmme Mmmayth I don’t care iffff I die let mmmme kill this mmmmonster! “
Apry says, muffled in Mayth’s hand.

“ Get yaself back together damnit! Ya ain’t the only one who’ll end up getti’ killed Apry.
I won’t let ya destroy what I finally managed to build. “
Mayth struggles to tell as quietly as she can as she’s putting everything she has to restrain Apry from dooming us all.

Apry almost successfully breaks out of her grasp when Febry joins Mayth to help her keep her still.

The Duke slowly waves his finger and one of his abominations comes closer to pick up the mask off the ground.
He gives it to him and the Duke installs it back around Decy’s jaw.

“ Ah, yes, I almost forgot. “
He says displeased.

With his hand he does a small wave.

“ Go on, play your note. “

Decy does so. His note is weak and shaking; interrupted by sobs that he tries to hide as much as he can.

“ Perfect, now get off my view. “

Decy quickly joins us and trips on the stairs but doesn’t fall.
Apry hugs him as he arrives, whispering things in his ear while doing so.

Febry is the one to get inspected by Ursin but nothing out of the ordinary happens.
He’s already in tune enough but had his box fixed in some aspects because of its damage.
The three men tinkered around his throat box under his curious and focused sight for a while, then let him go without talking to him.

Apry is inspected by the authoritative Countess Myrrhis. Like Lord Ursin, she doesn’t speak to her while doing the inspection.
Countess Myrrhis took her time to inspect every muscle of Apry in detail.
At the very end, the Countess seemed to have quietly said something to her that made Apry shed a single tear.
She got back to us slowly and did not talk to us since.

I’m still not called or asked to be inspected; like every year, this doesn’t seem to have changed.
Mayth is the last one to be inspected before my supposedly turn; we’ll see if this year is any different for me.

“ The month of May is asked to come closer! We shall discuss quite some matters with you. “
The Ursins say enthusiastically.

W..what?

“ Oh the little lady Mayth, yes, come forth, child, the Archivist also thrives to put a face on your name. Bring yourself to the light. “
Lady Sylvestr says immediately after, eager as well.

What’s that?
What the fuck is happening?

“ Well now, what happened to your eye? Hah! Did O Three do that to you? Hahah what a Lady!”
Countess Myrrhis continues.

“ Now now, please everyone. You have the right to talk to all of us, young Mayth, be aware of your current status nonetheless.
You shall answer our questions and we shall answer yours. “
Says Lady Harebell to remind her colleagues of the event they’re at.

Lady Harebell and the others except for the Duke all get up to meet her.
When Mayth is near them, the same device from earlier closes around them, preventing us from hearing them but still allowing us to see.

I can’t believe the sickening sight I’m having right now.Mayth has a smile at the corner of her mouth;
she’s standing straighter than I’ve ever seen her, and her gestures are those of a noble’s.

It’s been an hour now.

To think two years ago she almost spat on Lady Harebell’s face.
All those days talking about how much she hated the nobles and their way of avoiding the sight of our suffering;
plotting in theory against the leaders and how she would’ve made them lose their rank and honor.

After various exchanges, discussions between each leader and Mayth, they finally stop talking and proceed to the actual inspection.
She had to take off her metal eyepatch to get her wound cleaned; the Duke immediately stood up from his seat nearly making it fall.
From a glance, Lady Harebell made him sit back.

They worked a lot on her box until, at last, the device around them opens, letting her out.
Before doing so, she shakes hands with them.

What a joke.

She walks in front of me. Her throat box’s protective glass is now darker than ours and a lot cleaner.

“ You disg- “

“ Shut the fuck up Jur’.
I told ya; learn from yourself from now and get, off, my, boots! “
She says, interrupting what I was about to say.

“ They’re responsible for the deaths of many previous monthlings and all that we’ve been through.
You shook hands with them! “
I say.

It’s so hard to not scream at her and beat her down on the ground right now.
Stay calm, c’mon.

“ Damnit Mayth! you shook hands! “

“ Get lost Jur’ “
She answers while getting farther.

The joke hasn’t ended yet, I guess.

Every inspection, aside from Febry’s, had something abnormal to it.

Screw this, the whole ceremony made absolute nonsense:
our number, the leaders’ behavior towards each of the monthlings, and Mayth’s relationship with the leaders.

“ Pistils of the Northern Petal, you are dismissed and will be brought back to the main lobby of Harebell. “
Lady Harebell begins to say.

“ The ceremony ends here for you, month-named, but we will inspect you next year as always, hoping that you will all be well and healthy as you are today. “
The three Lords Ursin continue.

Well, there goes my ceremony.
Why do they even bother bringing me here if they don’t even call me?

“ You can leave now, children. “
Duke Lanarth concludes.

Our guide puts the shackles back on our ankles and the grand doors open.
He leads us outside to the stairs, and they close behind us, sealing what happened away.