In today’s excerpt, Riwenne and her friends meet up with two characters we haven’t seen in a while. Bymonten has been Amena’s manager since she was in Star Search and Warawa was her choreographer for her last tour, and she’s asking them to support her on a new tour in Ruraqie and the other United Cities of Lake Totdo.
So they meet up for lunch in a restaurant inside The G Hotel. In addition to planning the concert, Bymonten and Warawa also talk about what they’ve been up to since the last time they met and share some insights into how people are being affected by all the political upheavals.
Lunch with Bymonten and Warawa
Bymonten towered over everyone, a slender figure with long red hair and a broad smile. He was dressed, as always, on the very cutting edge of fashion with a black corset and a flowing, feminine-style blouse over knee breeches and stockings.
With him was Warawa, who had been Amena’s choreographer. He was shorter than the manager but still taller than all of us girls and even slimmer from years of dancing. His blue hair was swept up into an elegant coiffure. At first, it looked like he was wearing a jade green skirt, but when he walked toward us, the fabric split apart to reveal billowing trousers.
The way the two men held hands and smiled at each other, it seemed like they’d been close since the last time we saw them. They were a striking couple. I envied their flair for style, but I knew I’d never be able to pull off those outfits with my short, stocky figure.
Bymonten greeted everyone with an embrace and two air kisses. “So nice to see you again, darlings,” he said. “We were wondering if you were ever coming back to civilization. You know, after all that time I spent defending you against accusations that you were a rebel, it was quite a shock to find out it was actually true.”
Kyra and I glanced at each other with embarrassment, but Amena just laughed and swatted him playfully on the arm.
“I’m sure you figured out what was really going on,” she said, winking at him. “And you know, we still have civilization in Lyndamon. You’re welcome to come see for yourself someday.”
Bymonten scratched his head. “Well, I’m not really sure how to handle all the changes these days. I’ve never been much for politics, but we were here when things happened, so it seemed like it wasn’t safe to go back to the empire.”
Warawa nodded. “I hear it’s getting harder to cross the border. Everyone who is outside the empire is suspected, and you need to know someone on the inside to get papers. I say the border crossed us.”
I shook my head. “That’s not fair. We give free passage to anyone who doesn’t agree with our new laws and wants to go back to the empire’s rule. They were law-abiding citizens before, so they should be allowed back.”
Bymonten shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t matter who’s in charge so long as I can go on about my usual business. Ah, but here’s our waiter.”
We paused the conversation while the waiter took everyone’s orders. I was happy to see that there was a variety of food on the menu, including some things we’d been running low on back home. The city seemed to be prospering with their new independence. Hopefully, we could catch up to them now that we had access to the mainland again.
