“Ignore her, then,” Jemma said.
But Tyra slipped down the aisle. “Naomi, I need you.”
“I don’t really care what you need.”
Something hard flashed in Tyra’s eyes. “I don’t like to do this, Ms. Jordan, but I’m told your lifer is being held in the Rehabilitation Center. Your cooperation will assure his good treatment.”
Jordan in prison? Heat flashed through Shaylinn’s chest. She hoped her brother would try to control his temper. It felt like a futile hope.
Naomi’s lips parted; her jaw twitched. “Did you just threaten me?”
Tyra swallowed and looked at the stage. “I’m afraid so.”
Naomi shook her head and stood, pushing past Tyra and knocking the tiny woman down into a seat. Jemma followed Naomi all the way to the side stage. Shaylinn didn’t want to be left alone, so she got up and followed. A lady with a brush approached Naomi.
“Don’t touch me,” Naomi said, and the woman skulked away.
Everything looked different from this position. Bright spotlights from the back of the room blinded Shaylinn, making the audience a white blur. She could see the stage perfectly, however, especially where the task director, Luella, and Kendall stood talking.
“Safe Landers,” the task director said, “this baby is coming and soon! He’s yours, and he’s mine. Thank you, Kendall Collin, for your service to our great city.”
Again the crowd applauded. Kendall walked off the stage, deflating a bit once she reached Shaylinn. “I hate being on the ColorCast,” she said. “Especially with that man.”
Luella spoke into her microphone. “Just yesterday, eight new women joined our nation. Like Kendall, they were once outsiders. And among them was their own queen.”
Naomi crossed her arms on top of her belly. “I’m not going out there!”
“A queen as lovely as our Kendall,” Luella said, though Shaylinn swore she’d heard the woman admit to never having seen Naomi. “A queen that brought with her the promise of a future. People of the Safe Lands, I give you Naomi Jordan, who’s carrying a precious baby boy!”
“Go!” Tyra pushed Naomi onto the stage.
“Boy?” Naomi staggered the first few steps after Tyra’s shove, then slowed to a standstill. Shaylinn understood why Tyra had insisted Naomi wear this fitted blue gown over the flowy one Naomi had preferred. They were putting her pregnancy on display for all to see.
“Come now, Ms. Jordan. Don’t be shy.” The task director held out his arms as if Naomi was his long-lost daughter.
The pale shock on Naomi’s face hardened. She straightened, tossed her head back, and marched to the center of the stage. “It’s Mrs. Jordan,” she said.
The task director embraced her and kissed both her cheeks, though Naomi may as well have been a tree.
“Oh, you darling creature!” Luella said, taking Naomi’s hands and holding them out to the side. She let go of one and twirled Naomi under her arm. “Finley, isn’t she stunning?”
The audience applauded. Finley’s reply, wherever he was, wasn’t heard in the theater.
“What a joy,” the task director said to the audience, “to introduce Naomi Jordan, our new Safe Lands queen.”
“I’m not your silly queen,” Naomi said. “What have you done with my husband?”
Immediately, majestic music rose, drowning out Naomi’s unamplified voice. The task director turned to the left side of the stage. Shaylinn followed his gaze and saw two men walk out from the curtains, shirtless! One carried a fat red pillow that held a crown and a long ribbon. The other carried a bouquet of flowers.
The men stopped beside the task director, who picked up the crown with both hands and settled it onto Naomi’s head. Then he put the ribbon over her head, which turned out to be a sash that fell across her body. It bore the words Safe Lands Queen in gold glitter. He took the flowers from the second man and handed them to Naomi.
“Surrogacy,” the task director said. “Giving life. This is true beauty. This is true patriotism. This is the highest glory to be had in our nation. Naomi Jordan, you are highly favored. We thank you for your service. You’re a Safe Lands hero. May Fortune bless you.”
“Finally,” Kendall said to Shaylinn. “Maybe now they’ll start leaving me alone.”
CHAPTER
14
That evening Shaylinn and the other harem girls attended the entertainment orientation, which was held in several ballrooms on the second floor of the Highland Harem. There was a room for dancing, a room for singing, a room for playing musical instruments, and a room for learning how to act. Tyra informed them that they must try everything once as part of their task training.
Kendall had been given the night off, due to what Tyra had called “the upcoming momentous occasion of giving birth,” so Shaylinn stayed close to Jemma and Naomi. They decided to get the acting out of the way, then do the dancing, and end with instruments and singing, which they thought would be more relaxing. Mia tagged along too.
The acting room seemed twenty degrees hotter than the rest of the building because of all the bright lamps pointing at each of the stations. There were four stages set up in this room: a kitchen, a dance club, a living room, and a restaurant. Each had a row of seats for spectators.
“It’s like a life-sized dollhouse!” Mia said.
Naomi pointed out a small table of food and filled a plate with stuffed chicken rolls. Once they all had something to munch on, the group sat by the living room station and watched Eliza, Jennifer, and Chipeta read a scene about three friends in the Safe Lands Boarding School. Shaylinn found the process of filmmaking fascinating, and asked one of the men running the station about camera crews, lighting, scripts, and how they put it all together.
“There you are!” Tyra said from behind Jemma. “I’ve been looking for you.”
Naomi growled low, like a dog whose territory had been invaded.
Jemma flashed Tyra a hopeful smile. “You’re going to let me take Naomi back to the dormitory because a pregnant woman needs her rest?”
“No,” Tyra said, “but I’ll make you a deal. The director wants to film some of the harem girls reading a scene for a thriller movie. He thinks it’ll make great outtakes for today’s ‘behind the scenes with the new nationals’ bit Luella’s going to run on her show.”
“They’re filming this day?” Shaylinn looked around. She didn’t want to be on TV.
“Of course!” Tyra said. “They film everything for the ColorCast.”
“Good.” Naomi shoved three chicken rolls into her mouth. “Whurs duh camma?”
Shaylinn cackled at how silly Naomi looked. The perfect woman for her brother.
“Be serious,” Tyra said. “If you do this, and do it well, you can go back to the room.”
“Done,” Naomi said, gulping down her mouthful. “Where’s my script?”
“Excellent!” Tyra handed them each a sheet of white paper. “I want Jemma and Naomi to read Mielle’s parts and Mia and Shaylinn to read the kidnapper. Then if you want, you can switch. It’s being filmed on the kitchen set. Byran Kester is the director. He’s waiting for you.”
“I want to switch,” Mia said. “I’d rather play the victim over the kidnapper.”
Shaylinn rolled her eyes and settled back to read it over.
29 INT. APARTMENT—KITCHEN—DAY
A FRIGHTENED MIELLE IS TIED TO A CHAIR. BEHIND HER, ON THE WALLS, ARE POSTERS DEPICTING REBEL PROPAGANDA.
MIELLE STRUGGLES WITH THE ROPES THAT BIND HER HANDS.
KIDNAPPER 1 APPROACHES MIELLE. HE IS HOLDING A KNIFE. ON HIS RIGHT, KIDNAPPER 2 IS SETTING UP A CAMERA ON A TRIPOD. KIDNAPPER 3 SITS ON A CHAIR BEHIND THEM BOTH, INHALING FROM A BLACK VAPORIZER AND BREATHING OUT BLACK SMOKE.
KIDNAPPER 1
We’re going to record a little footage to send to your Valentine in the Highlands so he knows you’re alive. That way he’ll be more willing when we —
MIELLE
I’m not doing anything you say!
<
br /> KIDNAPPER 1
Don’t you think your lover has a right to know where you are?
MIELLE
Kale and I do what we want. We’re not lifers.
KIDNAPPER 1
That’s not what I heard. I heard you’ve scheduled your liberation for the same day. And you haven’t been to your apartment in six months.
MIELLE
You’ve been following me?
KIDNAPPER 1
(to Kidnapper 3)
I think she’s catching on.
(to Mielle)
Now, unless you want a knife shoved between Kale’s ribs, you’re going to help us out, you get me?
CUT TO:
30 INT. APARTMENT—KITCHEN—LATER
MIELLE SITS ON HER CHAIR FACING KIDNAPPER 2 AND HIS CAMERA. KIDNAPPER 2 LEANS IN TO RECORD.
31 CLOSEUP—MIELLE
MIELLE
(tearfully)
Hay-o, Kale. I’m sorry I got myself into this. I shouldn’t have believed Tarme’s lies about the Liberation Department. You were right about him. About everything. I miss you. The food is good, though.
(laughs)
Please do what they say. I’m afraid of what will happen if you don’t. I love you.
Shaylinn looked at Jemma. “That’s a scary story, isn’t it?”
“Very. Let’s just do it so we can go, huh?” Jemma said.
They walked over to the kitchen set and found Byran. He was a small man, dark-haired, with a thin face covered in scruff. He wore a black shirt with all of the buttons undone so that his bright yellow tank top showed. A thick gold chain hung round his neck.
“I’ve got the script on the prompters,” Byran said, “so you can just read it. We’re still trying to get a feeling for which lines are the best for this scene. Think you can act this out?”
“It’s not much of a stretch,” Jemma said. “We are kidnapped people, after all.”
Byran’s laugh sounded forced. “Let’s take you first, lovely. That’s a pretty dress.”
“Right on top of the trends,” Naomi said.
“Let’s have you sit on the stool, femme,” Byran said. “We’re going to come in close on your face, but try not to fidget, because we want you as still as possible. Willa’s going to put a little makeup on you, pale that tanned face a bit, give you some fake tears.”
“Let’s see, you other two …” He looked to Shaylinn and Mia. “I’m just going to let you read how you want to. Try to sound mean.”
Once Willa had finished applying makeup to Jemma’s face, Byran said, “Both cameras are already rolling, so we can edit later.”
“He’s recording now?” Shaylinn asked, suddenly feeling awkward.
“Yep,” Byran said. “I’m going to ask you all some questions to loosen you up a bit, help you get comfortable. Tell me, Jemma, how old are you?”
“Seventeen.”
“And do you have a partner?” He looked at the script. “A uh … boy friend?”
“Yes.”
“Of course you do, lovely little flame like yourself. And what’s your trigger’s name?”
“Um … Levi.”
“Feeling a bit more comfortable?”
Jemma tittered and rocked in her seat. “No.”
“How about you … Shaylinn, is it?”
Had Shaylinn made a mistake? “You didn’t ask me anything!”
Naomi snickered, and then Jemma laughed for real.
“No worries. Jemma, go ahead and read the lines off the prompter screen,” Byran said, “Shaylinn, you read the kidnapper, but stand back by this microphone, out of the way. We’re just filming Mielle now.”
Shaylinn was relieved to stand out of the way. She and Jemma spoke their lines. Shaylinn didn’t like the kidnapper’s part. His words embarrassed her.
When they finished, Byran said, “Okay, that’s reading the lines. This time, I want you to act them out. I want to hear your fear. I want to see real tears in your eyes. But I want a real fake laugh, okay? Make it sound like you’re trying to make light of this horror you’re living through. Make your lover believe it. Make Kale scared for you. Pretend it’s your Levi, if it helps.”
And so they read the lines again. Shaylinn tried hard to pretend she was an evil man, but it made her stomach tighten. She just wanted it to be over.
“Great!” Byran smiled at Jemma. “That was great, really great. Can you repeat that last line for me? But this time say, ‘You were right about him. About everything. You were right.’ ”
Jemma repeated the line the way he asked.
“You’re a natural, Jemma. Naomi, you’re up. Shaylinn, let Mia stand where you are to read the kidnapper.”
When they finished with Byran and the acting station, Naomi insisted they leave. Once they were out in the cooler hallway, Naomi said, “Can we go back to the room now?”
“Tyra said we could,” Jemma said.
“But we haven’t done the singing room yet,” Mia said, “or the instrument one. I know neither of you are very good at either of those things, but I happen to have some talent.”
“Who cares?” Naomi said. “We’re prisoners in this place.”
“So we shouldn’t have any fun?” Mia asked.
“My father was killed, Mia,” Naomi said. “Our mothers are missing. The children are probably terrified. You should treat this like a vacation.”
“Are you trying to make me feel guilty because my mom is here and yours isn’t? Fine! Go back to the room and cry. I’m going to have some fun.” Mia stomped away, her tiny steps reminding Shaylinn of the way Matron Dlorah walked.
“I want to stay,” Shaylinn said. “I mean, you’re right, we are prisoners. But all I can do in my bedroom is feel bad about what happened. Here at least I can forget it for a few more hours.”
Jemma hugged Shaylinn. “Okay, Shay. You stay with Mia. And keep her out of trouble.”
“I heard that!” Mia yelled.
Shaylinn and Mia went to the dancing room next. It had six stations, three on each side of the room. Instrumental music was playing at the station to the right of the entrance where a ballerina danced, seeming to float across the floor on her toes, sweeping her arms from side to side. A small crowd had formed in front of the station, and the girls stopped to watch. When the song ended, the crowds applauded and the ballerina curtsied.
“Anyone interested in learning the steps of ballet?” the ballerina asked.
Mia raised her hand, naturally, and the next thing Shaylinn knew, she and Mia were learning “ballet positions.”
After the ballet station, they visited a station for a dance that required them to move very quickly to thumping music, one where they made noise using their feet, and one for what they called club dancing, which forced them to do some things the elders in Glenrock might have frowned on. Mia seemed to pick them all up quickly, but Shaylinn’s feet seemed too big and slow to do any of it right. Until they got to the one called ballroom dancing.
The flashing screen on the wall said their instructor, Maroz Zerrik, was a famous dancer. He had short blond hair, perfect posture, and broad shoulders. Every time he looked at Shaylinn, her cheeks tingled. He explained the waltz, the tango, the foxtrot, the jitterbug, performing each with a woman named Nelessa Kade, who looked almost naked in a light brown sequined dress.
“Now,” Maroz said, “I will waltz with each of you.”
Mia squealed and rushed up to Maroz as if he’d called her name. “Me first!”
Maroz chuckled. “As you wish, pearl.”
Mia gasped at Shaylinn. “Did you hear that? He said ‘As you wish.’ I’ll have to tell Jemma. Maybe I’ve found my own Westley.”
By the look on Nelessa Kade’s face, Shaylinn doubted that very much. As Maroz waltzed with Mia, however, she looked just as good at it as Nelessa. The longer their dance lasted, the more Shaylinn worried about her coming turn.
When Maroz’s gaze fell on Shaylinn and he held out his hand, she nearly melted. Mia had to push Shayli
nn onto the station floor. The man’s touch made her stomach flutter. She couldn’t remember if she was moving her feet or if Maroz had lifted her up for the entire dance, but somehow she glided along with him, both mortified and enthralled.
When the dance ended, Maroz looked at her with a wide smile. “With more practice, you could become quite good at this. You just have to —” But Shaylinn never learned what she would need to do, as Mia dragged Shaylinn to the singing room, which had one stage and a long line of people who wanted to sing. Shaylinn had no desire to sing in front of people, so she sat and waited for Mia, who, when her turn came, crooned on the center stage.
Neither of them had much success in the musical instruments room, but making funny sounds out of a trumpet made Shaylinn laugh.
“I have my cosmetic consultation tomorrow morning,” Mia said. “What time is yours?”
“Nine thirty.”
“Mine’s at nine. You want to come earlier with me? I’ll wait for yours to be over.”
“Okay.” It would be nice to have someone there to talk to, and she was enjoying spending time with tonight’s kinder Mia. “I think I want to do it.”
Mia laughed. “Do you even know what ‘it’ is?”
Shaylinn smiled. “Making me thin, I think. Why are you going? You’re beautiful.”
“I know, but there’s so much I’d like to improve, and if these people are willing to do it, I’m not going to fight it.”
Shaylinn understood. Everything about this place seemed wonderful. The food, the buildings, the beds, the showers, the clothes … Granted, she was afraid of being pregnant and of catching the thin plague. But she was beginning to wonder if Papa Eli had been a bit mistaken about what happened inside these walls. She could get used to living here.
CHAPTER
15
The Safe Lands Rehabilitation Center, also called the RC, was located just north of City Hall. Omar arrived twenty minutes early for his meeting with General Otley, anxious to see what Skottie had wanted to show him. He checked in with the enforcer at the entrance, then waited in the lobby for Skottie. Pictures of people hung along the wall. Brass nameplates had been mounted under each, displaying the person’s name and task.
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