Page 3 of Guiding Desire
Karmine watched the road, and Senlas the landscape beyond where anything could hide.
2
ORREY
I want to party all night,
I want a Guardian all night,
Because they never back down
Because they last the whole night.
(Bidi & the Glitches, Party All Night)
Colorful flags lined the parade path through Meridian Park the Guardians and their Conduits would be taking. Each bore a symbol, the city’s crest of three skyward-pointing silver arrows in a circle alternating with the Conduits’ white spiral surrounded by the Guardians’ black circle.
The crowd was already excited, waving little flags in various colors with either Argentea’s crest or the Guardian crest. Some had been waiting for hours while others still walked the park or lazed on the grass farther away from the procession route. On designated trees close enough to the path so the Guardians would have an easy time seeing them, people were tying colorful ribbons, each with a sentiment of gratitude, maybe even a wish.
I wonder how many Guardian chasers are wishing for catching one today,Orrey thought, nodding to Paras, who was patrolling a section on the opposite side of the barrier.
Paras looked vigilant, yet at ease, and he was where the people were. Orrey felt tense enough on his side. He was walking up and down his area along the low crowd barriers, more in an attempt to get into the shade of the trees to the left of his section than anything else. It was a painfully hot day, and while the sunglasses were all good and well, the protector uniform wasn’t made for standing in the sun for hours on end. There was a summer uniform, of course, but they were all supposed to wear the parade one for today. Long sleeves, shirt, jacket, thick pants, and heavy boots.
Orrey wiped the sweat from his brow and watched a parent lift his child up in his arms to help them tie a dark blue ribbon to a tree branch. It made the kid smile. The Guardian Parade was supposed to be fun. Orrey sighed and turned, walking back the other way.
After a few steps, he ran a hand along his neck. His collar was damp. His cap was shielding his face, but he was pretty sure he’d end the day with a painful sunburn just below his hairline.
On the other end of his section, he had eyes on one of his colleagues, Atar Nedam. It was Nedam’s fourth year as opposed to Orrey’s first, and while it could have been and probably was Orrey’s imagination, Nedam looked a lot more comfortable in that uniform. She even waved and smiled at him when she saw him looking, normal enough for colleagues and apartment mates, but Orrey still found himself hesitating. This was a public event, after all. He lifted his hand and gave her a curt wave back.
“You think we’ll get to see all five A-class teams this year?” someone in the crowd said.
Orrey turned his head, trying to avoid staring. A group of four women, none of them older than Orrey’s own twenty-five, huddled under two parasols split between them.
“I hope so,” one responded to the first. “I got to shake Guardian Mirol’s hand last year. Maybe he remembers me.”
“She was hoping he’d awaken her dormant Conduit powers,” the third one told the group. An older man standing next to them rolled his eyes. Orrey was also temped, but this was work.
“Sacred Covenant, that only ever happens in those cheesy dramas we used to watch at school.”
“It happens sometimes,” the second one said, sounding sheepish.
The fourth tilted her parasol. “I think Dara still watches them.”
“Like you don’t,” the second, Dara, said. “We all still watch them.”
Orrey veered away from them, strolling in the other direction. He hoped this sort of infatuation was the worst they would have to deal with today, not that he was much looking forward to subduing one of those women in case they tried scaling the barrier, but it was better than any insurrectionists. There was no direct report of a threat, but whenever Conduits were out in groups like they would be today, being safe rather than sorry was what the protectors aimed for.
“Hourly check-in,” came a voice over Orrey’s earpiece.
Orrey tapped the gadget. “This is Orrey Acton, section thirteen-B. Everything looks good, nothing suspicious to report.”
“Copy, out,” the operator said and clicked off, leaving Orrey to the blazing heat.
He pulled his standard issue screen from his pocket to check for any updates, activating the device with his thumb print. It was a good ninety minutes until the Guardians were supposed to start walking through Meridian Park and from there to the Guardian & Conduit Grounds. Once they were all back safely within the Grounds, the protectors’ job would be done.
Right now, they were all still at the very nice stage at Centennial Bridge with the neat rows of chairs and streaming bots capturing the speeches by select Guardians, Conduits, and regulars like Orrey, only for Orrey to get on a stage instead of keeping an eye on the parade path, a miracle would have to occur.
He put his screen back in his pocket, not daring to watch the stream while he should be watching the crowd. Also, Orrey’s mother would be watching. She’d likely tell him all about it in their next screen call, ask him what he thought about one speech over the other. That Orrey was working and not sitting in an office or at home where he could watch was not a detail his mom ever got hung up on, and the thought alone made Orrey sigh.
