by Shannon Lamb
Seeing that her father had wanted for nothing while she wasted away at Quinque castle only made her even bitterer toward Cayden than she already was, but she showcased a smile regardless. Determined not to ruin this bountiful blessing, she pushed her resentment aside and focused on what was right in front of her.
“What happens to the food we don’t eat? There’s no way the nine of us can eat all of this!” Johanna exclaimed anxiously, feeling somewhat guilty for enjoying herself while her people starved under Cailene’s watchful eye.
“Whatever we don’t eat gets distributed to the troops afterwards. Nothing goes to waste,” Fallon explained.
“All these calories!” Bria huffed. “I’m not going to be able to eat for weeks after this meal, especially if I want to keep my figure!” Marie and Laylia shared a look of amusement and chuckled into their napkins. The others quickly chimed in with exuberant laughter, and the elephant in the room excused itself, just for the evening.
Everyone enjoyed light conversation, good-humored jokes and comfortable silences. It was nothing short of a miracle to see everyone get along, even if it was only for a couple of hours.
Cerin nervously picked at his food and excused himself early in the evening. When Marie was stuffed to the brim with delicious food, she decided to waddle off the mass consumption of calories in search of Cerin. After interrogating several dozen soldiers, the general consensus was that Cerin was either in the library or at the pub.
Wanting to avoid drunken, starving men with salacious appetites, she decided to try her luck at the library first. Alex insisted on accompanying her, and for once she didn’t put up a fight. There were hordes of strange men lurking about with lecherous dispositions and leery eyes. She didn’t want to succumb to a bad situation just to prove her independence.
She approached a small, hexagonal building that was propped up with ribbed pillars and buzzed like a bustling hive. However, once Marie made it past the corrugated bronze doors, she could see that all the worker bees had gone home, and only Cerin remained.
Being soldiers of Milités, the inhabitants here were men of action. Few were scholarly and most were more likely to find their pleasure between the sheets than between the pages of a book; though for a library, books were in short supply here.
Massive rectangular touchscreens lined the walls of the open space and served as the only light source, with a blinding azure glow that made Marie wince in rhythm with the resounding electric current. A mahogany table traced the line of the charcoal gray walls, adorned with cushy leather chairs bolted to the floor, so as to assure that no nonsense would be had within these walls.
“I hate this!” To the far left, a screen quivered beneath Cerin’s touch. Flashes of words and images fluttered across the screen as he repeatedly slammed his head into the wall.
“Are you okay?” Marie cautiously approached Cerin, who jumped in surprise.
“I’m fine,” he snapped, finding her sudden presence more hindering than helpful. “Their library is beyond ridiculous. Every scrap of information is organized by class, and each class requires a specific clearance. Without the proper codes, I can’t access anything! I’ve been scouring their database for a basic catalogue of their technology, and it has me chasing my damn tail! Why would anyone put a limit on knowledge?” He threw his arms up in exasperation. “Why can’t they have books here, like normal people? I hate technology!”
“That makes you sound old,” Marie teased.
“That’s the cruel irony of my situation, isn’t it? I’ve always been terrified of old age, even as a young boy. People look at the elderly differently. One’s identity gets lost in the withered folds of skin and white hair, as if they’re no longer a person. They’re treated as nothing more than a burden that’s suffered for the sake of propriety. I’ve somehow managed to reverse the process before I ever got to that point, and by cheating death I gave life to my worst nightmare.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m just as brilliant as ever,” he admitted shamelessly, “but because of my age, no one takes me seriously. I’m identified by my biggest mistake instead of my biggest accomplishment. People are so ruthless!”
“You want to know what I think?”
“Why not?” he murmured halfheartedly.
“Perhaps the answer to saving Aruzhan lies in Aemilius’ lab. Even if it doesn’t, I have no doubt that you’ll eventually figure out how to break her spell, and yours. After you save her and redeem yourself, people will start to recognize you for your potential and forget about the past. In the end, they’ll be the ones who look foolish for ever doubting you,” she smiled encouragingly, but the mention of Aruzhan only seemed to bring him down further.
“Obviously, you don’t know our siblings too well. They cling to resentment like ravenous leeches.”
“That’s their problem. Why should you care what they think? I certainly don’t.”
“Regardless of what happens, I’m glad to have met you, Marie.” Cerin half-smiled. “You’re not like the rest of our family. Perhaps it’s because you weren’t forced to grow up around their toxic personalities.”
“Ha. I’ve had my own fair share of nastiness to deal with where I come from.”
“Unless murder and incest were daily dinner discussions, you’re still better off.”
“Now that I’m here, I can have the best of both worlds!” They laughed. The two of them seemed to share the same dark sense of humor. “Laylia doesn’t seem so bad,” she blurted out.
“She’s not,” he paused, shaking his head. “She wasn’t,” he corrected morosely. “She was a very sweet child, before...” Marie sensed Cerin’s reluctance and cut him off.
“I don’t understand how that could happen. Why didn’t Bria protect her from Marcel?” Marie didn’t realize how angry she was until she heard the vitriol and urgency in her tone.
“Laylia’s always been secretive, even as a child. She’s a couple of years older than Marcel, but he was always bigger than her. I imagine she was ashamed, and didn’t tell anyone what was happening. Bria most likely didn’t find out the truth until after they’d left the castle, and I imagine that’s only because Laylia had a moment of weakness. By that point, all she could do was avenge Laylia, which Laylia wouldn’t have wanted, for Arécia’s sake. Arécia is Marcel’s Umbra. If Bria killed Marcel, it would mean Arécia’s death,” Cerin elaborated. “I fear what Marcel did to Laylia has left her quite numb to the feelings of others, not that the rest of us are much better,” he rolled his eyes. “She seems different with you, though. I think you’re good for her,” he smiled. “Why are you here, anyway?” he asked, suddenly changing the subject.
“You barely touched your food, and you left dinner so early. I was curious where you’d gone to. I thought you might be ill or something.”
“Ah. I’m quite well. As well any of us can be, considering,” he smiled weakly.
“Are you nervous about tomorrow?”
“Yes. It helps if you focus on something else, though. When I think of what Cailene’s done to Aruzhan, and how she’s persecuted the people she’s sworn to protect, it infuriates me,” he absently wrung his hands. “For what it’s worth, I’m a total coward, but it helps to focus on my anger. It gives me the courage I so desperately need. If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed, focus on what we’re fighting for. If you remember the reason we’re fighting, you might forget about the fight itself.”
“I wish I could,” she said doubtfully. “As terrible as Cailene is, I’m worse.”
“Oh? That’s a fairly bold statement.”
“I barely know the people we’re fighting for. Being away from the castle, it’s easy to forget how awful it is for them. I feel so disconnected from this world sometimes,” she admitted reluctantly, fighting the onslaught of guilty tears. “I’m so scared, and that’s the only thing I can think about. I’m never going to be able to sleep tonight,” she frowned.
“That, I can help you with.” Cerin fl
ashed a toothy grin and pulled a vial of syrupy red liquid from his shirt pocket. “This is Sleep Solution. Silly name, I know, but it’s exactly as it sounds. A few drops of this, and you’ll be out like a drunk. Just a few drops, though. Don’t overdo it, or you’ll be completely comatose tomorrow.”
Ha. I wouldn’t mind being comatose when we storm the castle. Marie impatiently snatched the vial from his hands and cradled it to her chest. She hoped to god it would be a dreamless sleep she fell into.
Marie felt somewhat disappointed when she found out she wouldn’t be bunking with Alex. She found his touch comforting – even though it always left her hungry for more – and it seemed to be the only way he knew to offer her solace. As disappointed as she was, he was far more upset about it, not that either of them would ever admit to it.
His intentions were purely platonic, he told himself. He often drew comfort from the warmth of her slumbering body, mindlessly tracing the line of her jaw as she sighed softly into the night. He needed to feel her safe in his arms to assure himself that no harm would befall her while he was around, but it would never escalate beyond that. She was a heavy sleeper, that one. Snored too. He laughed suddenly, in fond remembrance.
I’m a mess, Alex grimaced. They might die tomorrow, and the only thing he could think about was touching her. He was beginning to wonder if his desire to be near her wasn’t quite so altruistic; a forbidden longing that he’d banished from his being. Every time his mind grew flooded with lascivious inklings of something more, he set fire to the troublesome thoughts and sent them screaming into the night. Hopefully this time they would stay away for good.
When they’d arrived at their destination, he reluctantly parted ways with Marie on a note of uncomfortable silence. He mentally chastised himself for not offering her the comfort of his bed before he’d left, but eventually came to the conclusion that it was for the better that he hadn’t made a complete fool of himself; something he only cared about in regards to Marie.
“Tomorrow,” he told himself. “Tomorrow, I won’t leave her side.”
Bria had a surefire way of turning her ideas into reality, and had decided early on in the evening that all the girls were going to bunk together tonight, which included Marie, Laylia, Johanna and herself. Apparently Fallon didn’t count, but in all fairness, Bria was more feminine.
Marie had trouble not busting a rib at the sight of Bria in a pink silk chemise, her rippling muscles poking out in all the wrong places. Her rib was still healing, and it was excruciating to laugh, so she did her best to stifle the mirth struggling to escape. Fortunately, she was soon distracted by the beautiful ambiance Laylia had created.
A rainbow of silken lilies danced along the arched ceiling, floating on a gentle draft like scattered petals bobbing along the steady current of a rolling tide. Each flower emitted a different scent, ranging from spicy gingerbread and juicy apples to warm blueberry muffins and spring flowers. The delightful scents coalesced into a surprisingly pleasant heady aroma that made Marie sigh in ecstasy.
The two beds – no more comfortable than two stone slabs, and nowhere near big enough to accommodate the four of them – had been pushed together and plumped up with down ticks and overstuffed pillows, shrouded in a billowing canopy of sheer pink and cobalt blue.
The soft chime of glass bells resounded in rhythm with the twinkling lights scattered along the walls. The lights hypnotically flickered like the gentle patter of a rainstorm lapping the treetops, lulling the land to sleep, and with it, Marie. She felt herself drifting away to a dark place, and quickly reacquainted herself with the here and now.
“Don’t just stand there! Hop in!” Laylia demanded playfully. Marie didn’t hesitate, and before long, she found herself swimming through the covers and rocking with laughter.
“This is remarkably feminine for a soldier’s hut. I assume this is your doing?” Marie teased Laylia.
“When this horrible ordeal is finished, I’m going to teach you how to use magic,” Laylia said decidedly.
“Stop being such a downer, Johanna!” It wasn’t until Bria’s crude remark that Marie noticed Johanna sulking in the corner.
“What’s wrong?” Marie struggled to be taken seriously as she crawled across the bed toward Johanna, sinking into the folds of feathers as she sailed across the sheets on her belly.
“This isn’t right. My friends are probably being tortured right now, and you’re all laughing it up. How can you be so carefree knowing what awaits us tomorrow?” Johanna glowered.
“Tomorrow’s going to be awful,” Laylia said candidly. “None of us know what’s going to happen, or if we’re even going to succeed. Tonight may be our last night to enjoy ourselves. It would be wrong not to seize the opportunity.” Laylia crouched down in front of Johanna at the foot of the bed and sighed. “Take a moment, Johanna. Appreciate the beauty that surrounds us.” The floating lilies waltzed around the room in synch with Laylia’s swirling pointer finger, coaxing a hesitant laugh from Johanna.
Marie internally appraised every interaction Laylia had. Her sister was nothing short of an enigma. She ruthlessly ran cons on unsuspecting innocents and shielded herself with sassy comments and sardonic wit, yet she was extraordinarily empathetic, and was always the first to offer a word of comfort to those in need.
Maybe she has some sort of Robin Hood Complex. Steal from the rich, and give to the poor? Marie briefly considered the thought, but quickly discarded it. Laylia didn’t discriminate and was always the sole recipient of her kleptomaniac tendencies. Perhaps it simply came down to greed. She didn’t want to hurt others, but couldn’t resist shiny things. Considering her past, Marie was convinced that her reasoning couldn’t possibly be quite so simple.
“As much as I’d love to stay up all night, I think we should be well-rested for tomorrow,” Marie interjected suddenly.
“Fat chance,” Bria scoffed.
“Cerin gave me some Sleep Solution. There’s more than enough to go around.”
“I love that stuff!” Bria eagerly grasped for the vial, but Marie sharply drew her hand back.
“I saw what you did to that kid in Artifex. I think I should be the one to administer it,” Marie quirked a brow. Bria couldn’t help but burst out laughing, and the others quickly followed suit.
SWEATING BULLETS
Marie awoke in a stranger’s bed, alone. The dreadful feeling that accompanied her reluctant rise was one she knew all too well, and didn’t particularly care for. The other girls had left while she was sleeping, taking with them the magic that had illuminated their surroundings last night and ignited a fire in Marie’s heart. Now her nerve was nothing more than dying embers. In the harsh light of day, she could see things for what they really were: empty and fleeting.
Marie emerged from the hut – haggard and glassy-eyed – to see Cerin explaining the devices he’d made to the three Umbra. It was an odd looking contraption. A fat disk the size of a man’s fist, filled with a clear gelatinous fluid and mounted on three steel prongs. The devices looked harmless enough, and were anything but.
“For the sake of convenience, I will henceforth refer to this device as an IV. It’s short for Intravenous Infragilis venom, obviously,” Cerin chortled.
“Wouldn’t that be I-I-V?” asked Bria.
“Technically yes, but it’s a lot easier to just call it an IV. Moving on,” Cerin harrumphed. “The IV will go under your manes and inject between your shoulder blades. The microscopic sensors at the end of the prongs will constantly test your blood. As soon as they detect even the smallest trace of Baindingu poison, they’ll release the necessary amount of IV to counter the effects.”
“So the IV’s release IV? That’s confusing,” Bria huffed.
Cerin went on, ignoring her. “The venom will halt your human transformation, but you’ll be susceptible to immediate change the second it runs out. I know nothing of the gas and had little time to prepare, so I can only give you a rough estimate as to how long you’ll have before the ven
om runs out, and it’s based on nothing more than my intuition. By my calculations, you should have an hour. Presumably, an hour should be ample amount of time to traverse to Slave Quarters.”
“Providing your guesswork is correct, and the blinding pain doesn’t paralyze us,” Bria added grumpily.
“It will be excruciating,” Cerin admitted. There was no use lying to them. They’d find out soon enough.
“We have no other choice.” Alex forced a smile to imbue Bria with courage, though he found himself lacking as well.
“That doesn’t make the choice we do have any more appealing,” Bria groaned, rolling her eyes.
“Alex. Bria.” Cayden jerked his head toward Marie, whose lingering presence had gone unnoticed until now.
It wasn’t until that moment that Marie realized she was no longer alone. Johanna and Laylia seemed to have silently materialized alongside her, irritatingly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. What are they so happy about? Marie frowned.
“Come with me, girls.” Cayden gently placed his hand on the small of Johanna’s back and steered her forward.
“Where to?” Johanna emphatically convulsed and tore away from his touch, somewhat taken aback by the hurt look in his eyes when she pulled away.
“To the Armaments. I don’t feel right loading you up with weapons without giving you the proper instruction on how to use them. You can choose whatever you’d like, but you won’t get the proper clearance until you’ve been well-versed in their uses and applications,” he instructed sternly.
The four of them didn’t spend too long at the Armory. All three girls were too small for anything but Parvúlus Armor. It took no time at all for them to equip themselves, though Laylia’s incessant whining made it feel like it took a lot longer than it did.
