33. Abbey

33

ABBEY

The next two weeks were a magical time for Abbey. Every day she and Solon went somewhere new. They visited several art museums filled with paintings that were meant to be touched. The Tengulans used a thick kind of paint that dried in deep grooves. The idea was to touch the painting as your Eye-pet explained what you were feeling.

"That's the lady's face," Spex would squeak in her ear as she traced the lines the artist had made. "And that's her shoulder and arm…" he continued as Abbey's fingers moved down.

There were sculptures to feel too, but those weren't the only kinds of museums to visit. The Tengulans believed strongly in all kinds of art. There were many different Scent Museums as well. Some collected only the scents of certain types of flowers while others specialized in different foods or even childhood experiences like the smells of school and playgrounds.

There were texture museums too where all kinds of surfaces and fabrics and furs could be stroked and touched. Abbey especially enjoyed the museum devoted to different kinds of animals. She wished they had museums like this on Earth—the closest she had ever come to anything similar was a children's museum where the exhibits were supposed to be touched. But the displays there were always simplistic. The Tengulan museums were meant for blind adults and had more detailed explanations of the art.

But there was more to do than just visit museums. They went swimming in the warm waters of the singing sea—so named because there were buoys every few yards which announced your position in a soft, lilting trill and told you how to get back to shore if you needed to.

They attended numerous concerts too. The Tengulans valued music above all other art forms and they had so many different kinds of instruments it was almost impossible to keep track of them all.

Their celebrities were different too. Abbey learned that on Tengula Five, actors and singers got famous because of their voices—not the way they looked. She and Solon went to "dark plays" where all the action happened in a dark theater which gave the seeing and non-seeing audience members an equal experience. Many restaurants also offered "dark dining" which was the same kind of thing.

They visited libraries where all the books spoke their contents aloud—usually through an earpiece worn in the dominant ear. The Tengulan romances got quite spicy and Abbey found that she enjoyed them as much, if not more, than her beloved audiobooks back home.

And of course, every night they attended the palace banquet. Abbey was beginning to love Tengulan cuisine—even the strong-smelling dishes. The Empress took credit for this—claiming she was "developing Abbey's palate" and praising her for trying new things. She wore her new rose-enhanced Royal Scent everywhere now and declared she would be eternally grateful to Abbey for bringing her the roses. In fact, the two of them were becoming extremely good friends, even though the Empress was ten years older.

One of Abbey's favorite activities was just to go out and walk around and go shopping. The Tengulans had everything laid out in such an orderly manner that she found shopping—which could be an onerous chore on Earth—a simple pleasure on Tengula Five.

Everywhere she went, everything had been made accessible for no or low sight individuals. There were ramps instead of stairs, all the doors spoke the names of the shop as she approached them, and there were talking, 3-D tactile maps in the front of every shopping center which she could feel to understand the layout.

One day while she and Solon were strolling around in a new center, they came to a door which called out,

"Talking Gems and Singing Jewels! Come in and try our singing and talking gems and jewelry!"

"Talking gems?" Abbey asked, intrigued. "What are those?"

"Why don't we go in and find out?" Solon suggested.

A touch of the door made it swing inward and Abbey found herself in the middle of a million tiny sparkling lights, which looked like a brilliant blur to her eyes.

"Pretty Abbey, there are glass cases all filled with shinies!" Spex squeaked in her ear. "So many sparkly pretties!"

"Ah, hello there," a new voice said. It sounded male and the blur in Abbey's vision was Green and Blue.

"Hello," Solon answered. "Is this your shop?"

"Yes, it is, fine people. And might you be the two aliens visiting the Empress?" the shopkeeper asked eagerly. "I heard about you on the Royal Report," he added.

"Yes, that's us," Abbey said, smiling at the fact that she and Solon were now apparently local celebrities. "It's nice to meet you." And she leaned forward for the formal sniff of greeting, which she was almost used to by now.

The shop keeper smelled squeaky clean—like lemon Pledge, she thought as he leaned forward to sniff her as well.

"Oh my, you smell gorgeous, your Ladyship!" he exclaimed after sniffing Abbey's hair. "Is that a Royal scent you're wearing?"

"Well, it was made for me by the Royal Perfumer," Abbey said. "So I guess it is."

"Oh my goodness—a Royal in my shop!" The shopkeeper sounded extremely excited. "Oh, thank you for coming in. How may I serve you today?"

"We were just interested in your singing and talking gems," Solon rumbled. "We have never heard of those where we come from."

"Oh—of course! Let me show you. So, our gems are made from a very special kind of carbon that, when compressed, gains the ability to retain and repeat simple phrases or even melodies," the shop keeper explained. "For instance, if I put this pendant close to my lips and speak just so…" He mumbled something to the jewelry and then held it up to Abbey's ear.

"Esteemed guest from another world—welcome!" trilled a high, musical voice.

"Oh!" Abbey jumped a little. "I wasn't expecting that! Does it really repeat everything you say?"

"Only certain phrases and only if you repeat them intentionally to the gem at least ten times," the owner told her. That's why it's important to be certain you have the right message before you record it."

"What do the gems look like?" Abbey asked. She was speaking to Solon because he could give a more detailed description than Spex, who called the jewelry in the shop "pretty shinies" or "sparklies."

"They look a lot like the gems I have seen on Earth but brighter and larger," Solon told her. "Some look like diamonds, others like sapphires, others like rubies and emeralds. I even see a few purple and pink stones."

"Oh, could I see a purple one up close?" Abbey asked eagerly. Right now all the gems were running together into one big shiny blur but she thought if she had one of them closer to her face she might be able to at least see the color.

"Certainly, my Lady," the shop keeper said eagerly. "Let me get you one of our shining, singing amethysts."

He bustled around for a moment and then came back.

"Here you are," he said, bringing the gem. "This is a fifteen choprack gem which can retain and repeat quite a long phrase set in a white-gold band. Would you like to hold it?"

"Yes, please!" Abbey said.

The jeweler placed the ring in her hand and she held it up close to her face, almost touching her nose. Even with her limited vision she could see how special it was—it was a brilliant purple which glittered and glimmered as she moved the ring this way and that. Abbey could feel its many facets when she ran her fingertips over it.

"Oh, it's beautiful!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, it's beautiful!" the ring echoed back to her. It spoke in her own voice but higher and more musical, Abbey thought. Without thinking about it, she slipped it on her finger. To her surprise, it fit perfectly.

"Do you like it?" Solon asked her.

"Well yes—it's beautiful. But I'm sure it's also expensive," Abbey remarked, looking in the direction of the shop owner.

"It is one of our pricier items," the owner agreed regretfully. "Fifty thousand klopecks, I'm afraid."

"Fifty thousand? Oh my—you'd better take it back." Abbey slipped the ring off her finger hurriedly and handed it to him. "Thank you so much for showing it to me, though."

"But of course! Anything for a Royal," the shop keeper declared.

Abbey and Solon looked at a few other items and then left and continued shopping. Abbey didn't think any more about the ring. It was clearly out of their price range so there was no sense dreaming of it.

Then, on their last night on Tengula Five as she was packing to go, Solon came to her and asked if they could talk.

"Of course we can talk," Abbey told him, frowning. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"No, lelka—something is right," he rumbled. Then, to Abbey's surprise, he sank to his knees before her. She knew this because the big golden blur in her field of vision suddenly got much shorter.

"Oh—what are you doing down there?" she asked, frowning.

"Making this official," Solon said. Taking her hand in his, he pressed something into it—a small, square box, she realized after a moment.

"What's this?" Abbey asked, frowning.

"Open it and find out," Solon suggested.

"Okay." She found the seam of the box and, after a moment of fumbling, was able to open it up.

At once, a glimmer of bright, pure purple met her eyes.

"Oh!" Abbey exclaimed. "What in the world?"

"It's the ring we saw in the singing gem shop," he explained. "Bring it close to your ear."

Abbey did as he said and heard a voice murmuring to her. After a moment, she was to understand what it was saying.

"I will love you forever, lelka. You are my heart," the ring said in what was unmistakably Solon's voice. It was higher and more musical, but it still had his rumbling tone.

"Well? Do you like it?" Solon asked after a moment, sounding anxious and Abbey realized she'd just been standing there, listening to his message over and over.

"Do I like it? I love it!" she exclaimed. "But, Solon—it's so expensive."

"That's all right—I had some credits put by for a special purchase," he assured her. "And it costs nothing to live in the Monstrum Mother Ship, you know. So I can afford a little extravagance."

"Well, if you say so. It's so perfect, but I don't know?—"

"All you have to know is that I love you," he said firmly. "Will you wear that ring and be my wife, Abbey?"

"Oh, Solon…" She wasn't sure what to say. "I thought we were just going to Bond. But…you want to get married too?"

"I want to tie you to me in every way I can," he murmured. "I want to Bond with you and Join with you and marry you and anything else you can think of. I want forever with you. What do you say?"

Abbey was crying at this point, but they were tears of joy. She knew the big Monstrum would understand because he could feel her emotions when they touched.

"Yes," she whispered brokenly. "Yes, Solon—yes!"

"You've made me so happy, lelka."

Taking her hands in his, he slipped the ring on her finger. Then he rose and gathered her into his arms. "We'll plan the wedding as soon as we get back to the Monstrum Mother Ship."

"Yes—right after my high school reunion," Abbey agreed. "I can't believe I have you and a gorgeous ring to show off to all my friends! I feel like the luckiest girl in the world—no, in the universe."

"I'm the lucky one," Solon rumbled, hugging her tight. "I feel so blessed that the Goddess put us together."

Abbey felt blessed too. Though she was sad to be leaving Tengula Five, she was excited to attend her reunion. She wanted to show off her hot Monstrum fiancé and her gorgeous new speaking engagement ring. And then after that, she got to plan her wedding! It seemed like her life was absolutely perfect right now.

She had no idea that everything was about to go terribly wrong.