Continuing the Good Deeds
Madigan stepped from the long-range transport onto a street teeming with people. She blinked in surprise as she had to quickly sidestep through the throng to avoid being jostled. She headed for the baggage pick up and was grateful to find that retrieving her luggage was quick and easy.
She left the transport station, struggling with her large case and a bulky bag slung over one shoulder. Pausing, she carefully pulled a few braids out from under the strap on her shoulder.
Her hair was her one real vanity. Thick and full, reaching down to her hips, it was every shade of red from the palest of pinks to a dark, rich burgundy. Her mother's good-bye present to her when she'd embarked on her journey was to spend hours braiding it and entwining a multitude of sparkling crystal beads. With every move of her head, the beads glittered and showcased the many shades of red.
All along her journey to this strange and isolated land, the people she had encountered had regarded her with everything from wonder to suspicion. The farther west she'd traveled, the more the looks they gave her showed uncertainty and mistrust. Thus far she'd found it more amusing than insulting.
She had spent her life set apart from the people around her. Family, friends, and everyone else, it seemed, looked at her like she didn't quite belong. The strange, unexplainable marks on her wrist didn't help her reputation. She had excelled in school, passing her peers by leaps and bounds, and began to seek higher education at the tender age of twelve. Against her parents' wishes, she'd enrolled in her country's best university when she was only thirteen.
While math and science came to her far too easy, relationships with people were another matter altogether. When Madigan had taken the time to look up from her books and studies, she found herself surrounded by strangers who seemed to have nothing better to do than ridicule her. It just made it easier to stay dedicated to learning.
At eighteen, she had nothing more to learn at the university and a full-grown, lush body that she didn't know what to do with. She quickly found employment with a medical science laboratory and, for a while, managed to forget life once again as she fell deep into her work. Fashion was nothing more than comfortable clothing for work and creative ways to hide the strange marks on her wrist. Her social skills beyond talking about work were nearly nonexistent.
But eventually, a male co-worker managed to break through her concentration of constant work. For the first time in her life, Madigan found herself seduced by something other than knowledge. The man, nearly fifteen years her senior, tall and lean with dark handsome features, soon taught her all about her sadly lacking sexual education. She was swept away on a tide of sexual pleasure, and for the first time in her life, felt like a giddy young girl in love.
Once she was thoroughly smitten with him and was willing to give him all he asked of her, she discovered the truth. His wife intercepted a planned romantic weekend and entered Madigan's life with all the fury of a scorned woman. Madigan's heart shattered and as her tears fell, the man's wife felt enough pity for Madigan that she gentled her voice told her about how things were not always as they seemed. Luckily for Madigan, as soon as she divorced the cheating bastard, she surprised them both by taking the young girl under her wing and helped her navigate some of the social aspects of life she'd missed out on.
Once Madigan learned how to be a woman, and what to do with her full, curvy body, work finally took a step back. Soon she had blossomed into a confident woman who knew how to handle the nearly all-male workforce she was in. If she wanted sex, she knew how to find it safely, and if she didn't, that was okay, too.
Now at the age of thirty-seven, here she was, thousands of miles from home to begin yet another chapter of her strange, almost out-of-order life. Stepping clear of the crush of people, Madigan found herself staring into cool green eyes. A slender blonde in an elegant emerald suit gave her a nod of greeting.
"Hello," said the blonde. "I'm Mistress Fleur. Mistress Leona is waiting for us at the Manor." She turned and waved to a young man behind her, who quickly stepped forward and took Madigan's heavy case.
Relieved to have assistance, Madigan gave Fleur a warm smile and said, "Then I'm guessing you know I'm Madigan?"
The blonde gave a delicate shrug and said, "You... stand out of the crowd. Knowing you were coming from a distant country, it was an easy distinction to make."
Madigan sensed that Mistress Fleur's voice contained nothing but sincerity. No critical judgment hid behind her words. Glancing around once more, she realized the people surrounding them were mostly dressed plainly in natural colors, causing Madigan in her bright blue and green traveling outfit to be a vivid spot of color. The woman was right about her standing out.
Mistress Fleur turned to the young man and gave him quick instructions. She then waved Madigan over to stand in the shade of the building. Madigan began to notice how people would dip their heads toward the Mistress in reverence as she passed them. A small transport pulled up nearby. Her young assistant stepped out and gracefully helped Mistress Fleur into the transport, then turned and did the same for Madigan, who accepted his hand with a surprised smirk. She couldn't remember a time in her life when anyone had treated her as if she were someone important.
Once the transport was gliding gently over the river toward yet another large city, Mistress Fleur began a brief history of the area. Mistress Leona had stumbled into a small, dusty, backwater village and, over time, turned it into a thriving city that they renamed as Prime. Across the river, where Madigan had arrived, was a busy town called Possibility, the growing point of which was an inn and general store owned by Fleur herself and her previous husband, Titus
Madigan noted a bit of humor in Fleur's voice as she told the story of an old church in the original town that had tragically burned down. She explained that the former priest's habit of leaving lit candles, combined with a poorly placed curtain tassel, had caused a surprisingly hot and ravenous fire. The devastation of the church opened up the grounds for Mistress Leona's large Manor house, where they were currently heading.
With the construction of a university and laboratory in Prime, Mistress Leona hoped to draw in more people to their sister cities. Madigan's head began to swim with questions. She was here because this Mistress Leona had traveled to her country thousands of miles away. The woman she'd seen at a small conference had been young. She simply couldn't understand how someone so young had almost single-handedly built two thriving cities; not to mention the young Mistress Fleur's hand in things.
"Look, I'm a woman of science, and what you're saying simply isn't possible. Mistress Leona would have to be over a hundred years old to have accomplished all that," she protested.
Mistress Fleur nodded, a strange sparkle in her eye. "Yes. She's currently 287 years old. Just for your information, I turned 175 last month."
Madigan felt her mouth drop open, but no words came out.
