The Forbidden Fruit

by S. K Munt

  I got to my feet, and the room was now spinning rather than twirling. ‘But-’

  ‘But he said no!’ she cried, wiping her tears away. ‘He said the only thing I’d had going for me was my reluctance, and now that I was begging for what I had not inspired within him to beg for, he wanted me gone! He said that when we got back, he’d throw my snobbish little backside into the Corps for having called you a slut-’

  ‘A WHAT?’

  ‘You don’t think I saw the way you eye-fucked Kohl? Or the way he lingered near to your bungalow window at night?’ she sneered, stepping closer to me and pointing to the letters. ‘And now that I’ve seen those I know that I was right: you are a slut!’ her face broke and she spun away. ‘I was scared, okay Larkin? Don’t you get it? I was scared! I’d made him so angry, the only chance I had to smooth things over, was to take advantage of the fact that YOU had made him angrier!’

  She was making me dizzy with the way she was steering about her moods, like the drunken captain with a sharp prow of a ship. ‘Kelia-’

  ‘So I offered him the one thing that I knew he would not be able to resist,’ she twisted back and smirked at me, and I saw her disgust toward men written all over her pretty, smudged features. ‘A way to have me, and my snobbish little backside, in a way that would ensure that the next time he took me- I’d be a virgin to sully again.’ I pressed my hand to my gut and she smiled knowingly. ‘THAT sparked his interest, and he was dragging me to the beach in a heartbeat, hell bent on pounding his frustration with you into me. So yes, you saw us together, and yet- I am still technically a virgin.’

  I covered my mouth with my hands, deciding then and there that Kohl was the ONLY Barachiel option for me! How many times had Kohén… while angry with ME...? ‘Oh my god… Kelia… I’m so sorry!’

  ‘Don’t be,’ she shrugged. ‘I rather enjoyed our time together. Why do you think I’m upset at the idea of leaving him and that charge of his?’ She grinned evilly. ‘He had me orgasming within seconds.’

  I turned away from her, not enjoying this interaction at all. How could someone go from weeping to bragging about being sodomised in the space of a few seconds?

  An insane person- one who has a thing for stabbing people, and one that you have your back to!

  I spun back. ‘So…?’

  ‘So after he spoke with us all just now, he took me aside and told me it was my call. Everyone has to be inspected when they leave here, and because I would pass the purity test, I would fail to qualify for a brothel of my own, but get to keep my gold. Then he said that if I still wanted to work in this sort of role instead of doing hard labour… I had until Saturday to find someone to gift my purity to.’ She narrowed her eyes to slits. ‘But then he told me that it would not be him, and that if I wanted to become a Companion, then I should try his twin or his older brother or failing that- one of the guards!’ She jerked around suddenly and smacked her tiny fist into my leather bedpost. ‘One of the GUARDS, Larkin!’

  I pressed my fingers to my forehead. ‘I can’t believe I’m hearing this! How DARE he take you so many times and then-’

  ‘He didn’t, Larkin…’ she sighed, deflating immediately. ‘He was still trying to get inside me properly, when you apparently showed up and made him go soft. He fought us all off, threw an electric storm in a fit of frustration then went after you when it started to rain and he hasn’t come to ANY of us since, as far as they know anyway.’

  I felt my face screw up as blood spiked at my brain like acid. ‘What? But your gold-’

  ‘He comes to my door,’ Kelia conceded, ‘but only to slip another trinket under it to keep up appearances as his way of apologising...but he barely looks at me and in case you haven’t noticed, the others are wearing the same amount of gold that they had before we left for Pacifica, because he’s been ignoring them too and acting infatuated with me.’ She wiped at her eyes while I pressed my hand to my chest, feeling the hourglass upend itself once more. So Kohén HADN”T actually had her? What I’d witnessed had been only an attempt? ugh, this was so confusing! ‘So I am a whore by nature, not nurture, and if I don’t want to live my life as a Blue Collar servant, then I have to find someone to defile me enough to put a roof over my head before I turn into a fucking rotten pumpkin at midnight on Saturday, because he’s refusing to be ‘unfaithful’ to you, now that being faithful to you is apparently possible.’ She picked up one of the letters from the bed and studied it thoughtfully. ‘I probably would have gone to Kohl, and I figured that he wouldn’t turn down sex if he knew he wouldn’t get in trouble for it- but I saw him charge outside in tears last night after following you and...’ She turned and held up the piece of paper and dangled it in front of my eyes. ‘He’s selected his favourite too, hasn’t he? And from what I hear, you two are now planning to set sail together- and leave your bestest friend at permanent half mast behind forever!’ She smirked and flicked the paper at me. ‘Or at least, you were.’

  The hourglass shattered and the sands scattered. ‘What does that mean?!’

  She smiled. ‘Kohén’s off ensuring that that will not happen at this very moment.’

  My blood turned to ice, going from whooshing in my ears to freezing over and numbing me to everything. I pressed both hands over my mouth and reeled back from her, tripping over my original copy of Romeo and Juliet as I did. ‘What have you DONE?!’

  Kelia gestured to the room. ‘I pulled him in here a few minutes ago, and told him to take me on your bed. The real way, you know? I begged for it. He fought me off, of course, and that was when I saw the shoebox through the cupboard door. He went to storm out, and I threw it at him. He started screaming at me over that stupid old thing-’ she pointed to the ruined soccer ball. ‘But then he saw the Bible, then the inscription and then- the letters… so many letters!’ she smirked at me, balling one up and tossing it over her shoulder. ‘And once I managed to read a few lines, I understood everything and illuminated him to the emotional little scene between you and his twin, which I was fortunate enough to catch the end of last night. Now YOU’RE the one who’s fucked! And believe me when I say, he won’t be satisfied in taking you where you’ve already been had, either!’

  I fell back against my cupboard doors. ‘How could you? You don’t know! You don’t understand-’

  ‘I understand that you take everything from everybody, even the things you don’t want!’ she hissed. ‘You took his favour, then Kohl’s, then I see you sliming all over Karol and Ora, trying to wreck that too and it makes me sick to my stomach!’

  ‘You’re wrong!’ I cried, ripping a pillowcase off one of the pillows and immediately beginning to stash Kohl’s letters and the bible into it. ‘You’re so wrong!’ Fear gripped me like a fist and crushed my lungs, heart- all of me. ‘I’m not trying to take anything from anyone! I’m trying to get out of here before something gets wrecked because of me, me included, but the brothers…’ I shook my head and my hot tears flickered free and made Kohl’s lovely writing smear. ‘I haven’t been had! Kohl and I have not even kissed! If Kohén attacks him over you, it will be you who are the destructive one, not I!’

  ‘Bullshit.’ Kelia sat down on my bed primly, looking like a lunatic in a ruined asylum, and the calm in the eye of a horrific storm. ‘You’re the biggest whore out of all of us, duckling, and as soon as Kohén hears it from his twin, you can kiss your freedom goodbye!’

  No! No, no, NO!

  I gaped at her. ‘He’s gone to Kohl? Now?!’

  ‘Yes. Well, officially he has gone to have his royal family portrait taken, though I don’t imagine that he’ll be able to muster up much of a smile. But despite evidence to the contrary-’ she motioned to the mess on my floor. ‘He still has faith in you both and will not take my word or Kohl’s printed ones, over both of your spoken ones. He told me to get out of sight and speak of this to no one because if I am wrong, he will charge me with treason against Prince Kohl. But if I am right- he will return for me with a golden brand as a thank you for openi
ng his eyes.’ She twirled a gnarled strand of hair and smiled smugly at me while I sobbed into my hands: violent, wracking sobs. I had been so close and now… now I would pay for the fact that Kohén had never loved me enough to win my devotion in return. ‘And I will get to live in Eden untouched forever,’ she finished, ‘like the princess that I was supposed to be.’

  I wanted to throttle her, but I knew that if I put my hands on her, I’d kill her. ‘This is not fair…’ I spluttered. ‘No one deserves how hurt and angry he must be feeling-’ I lifted my gaze to hers. ‘No one but YOU.’

  ‘Nothing in Calliel is fair for girls like us, and this time I’ve decided that you DON’T get to be the only exception,’ she hissed, rising from my bed. ‘But you’re a fighter Larkin, one who has a way of getting more than her share of what she deserves, so to make sure that we don’t get stuck together for eternity- I suggest that you run while you still can. Leave me both brothers, and hide yourself away before you can be made into a hated Companion, or cast over into the Wildwoods as a ruined whore! But the only chance you have left to walk out of here with freedom in your grasp, is to steal it as you have everything else!’

  I wiped my tears from my eyes, and my muscles were so locked up with fear that they barely managed that movement alone. I was in so much trouble! Even if Kohl and I had kept our feelings for one another contained, it had been an affair of sorts, and the only shot in hell that I had of saving him from getting raked over the coals for it, was if the duchess intervened on our behalf. She said she loved me like a mother, and she said she understood my feelings for Kohl- and even encouraged them! But could that be enough to save me Elijah’s wrath? Would I be forced to stay in the castle? Or just forced to sign away my life to Elijah on some godforsaken farm in the middle of nowhere?

  ‘I love Kohl and Kohén in a way you could never understand,’ I said frostily. ‘I will not run from Kohén and allow him to think the worst, and I will not leave Kohl alone to deal with the fallout of what we are guilty of doing, all alone!’ I pushed off the cupboard and turned to the mirror, relieved to see that although I was pale and my eyes a freakish shade of bright purple, I had composure enough still to get close enough to Kohén without affirming his worst fears with a single, damning glance.

  ‘You’re not going to be able to charm your way out of this one, Larkin!’ Kelia cried, sounding exasperated as though she honestly cared about my well being. ‘You’re a fool if you stay!’

  ‘They could kill each other!’ I snarled, turning and shoving her backwards while the loaded pillowcase swung in my hand. ‘They could kill other people!’

  ‘So what if they do? Everyone in this kingdom is an asshole!’ she cried, getting back on her feet and picking up another book- pelting it at me. I saw it coming and dodged it, but it hit the mirror and knocked the frame over. I scurried forward and picked up Gone With The Wind and Romeo and Juliet, my mind whirring- wondering if I should be packing a bag- or a weapon.

  Oh my god… oh my god… what do I do? How can I even imagine smoothing this over?!

  But I let my tears fall onto the books, and then reached for Memoirs Of A Geisha as well as something glass flew past my head and shattered the glass in a framed photo of Martya and I. If they were taking portraits, Kohén was probably trying to keep his poker face in place well enough to buy me time to explain. But I had to speak to him before he spoke of this to anyone! I had to tell him how things really were, and that it was him I loved with the word more, because it was true!

  ‘You know what?’ Kelia raged on. ‘I hope they fight! I hope they fight hard and they kill every one of us, especially ME! In fact, I might even throw myself between them and go down as the true hero, hey? Like Satan threw herself in front of Miguel!’ She sank to her knees and sobbed. ‘Will I be a hero if I do that?!’ she demanded. ‘Will I get a statue, Larkin? Will I get everything, as you have?’

  I stared down at the weathered old covers through blurry eyes, before sliding them back into my wardrobe. So many romances! So many dreams! But the stories had been so enthralling, that I’d given up on real, flawed love.

  But I had learned one thing from the books that had nothing to do with romance, but about severing sentimentality before you could be hung by it.

  ‘Do as thou will...’ I walked toward the door. ‘For I am done with thee.’

  I slammed the door behind us, and broke into a run, immediately dropping my composure so that I’d have strength enough to carry my fear directly to Kohén’s feet.

  Given Contract

  I name: MARIAH VASQUEZ, employee of the Arcadian monarchy, do solemnly swear that name: LARKIN WHITTAKER aged: 5 is of sound body and mind at the time of the signing of this document on date: June 11th AA632 I understand that as one of her legal guardians, failing to reveal that the signatory is ill, mentally challenged or under the influence of intoxicating substances or a third party at the time of the signing will be seen as negligence against the signatory and the crown, and that I will be held accountable for concealing any information that could impede the relevance of this document.

  Signed: Mariah Vasquez Dated: June 11th, AA632

  given contract and specified obligations

  The signatory agrees to the following conditions:

  1. That upon signing this, I am agreeing to be emancipated from my parents, preventing them or I, for being held accountable for the circumstances of my illegal conception from hereon out.

  2. That the Arcadian government has generously agreed to raise me as a member of the kingdom, and will cover all costs regarding my personal needs, education and healthcare until the moon of my twenty-first birthday, and that they will do so fairly, while adhering to a duty of care which will be monitored by several legal guardians, including, but not limited to- at least one Shepherd.

  3. That I have been selected, according to my year of birth and its correlation with the crowned prince’s fifth birthday, to belong to a separate, exemplary caste to the other Given children reaped during standard circumstances. However, I understand that if my behaviour does not please my guardians or my crowned prince, I could be transferred into another sect of Given children, outside of Eden’s walls, at any time by order of the king until my twenty-first year, unless of course, other factors impede his claim on me- including, but not limited to brandings, the ruling of an acting regent, or other similar circumstances, which will be revealed to me after my thirteenth moon.

  4. I understand that though my responsibility, first and foremost, is to act as a *Companion to Prince_KOHÉN_ Barachiel, the responsibilities that will fall to me in this position are subject to change according to age, development and behavioural standards- and that by signing this document now, I am agreeing to all future terms and conditions as well, as they have been deemed fair and acceptable by my guardian _Mariah Vasquez_ and because I will be compensated generously for all that I am asked to do, once I have turned sixteen and am able to earn a personal wage.

  5. I understand that though I will be prepared for the role that I will play in palace life in due course, full disclosure of all that will be expected of me will not be awarded to me until my thirteenth moon, after I have been deemed mature enough to understand my role and obligations to the crown, completely.

  6. I understand that according to the duty of care, my upbringing will be monitored for signs that I am being distressed, abused or coerced against my will in any way. However, to protect the interests of the other Companions, I agree to keep questions, speculations and accusations regarding our future responsibilities to a minimum, and understand that I will be punished if I scare, threaten or intimidate any of the other members of my caste, or my guardians.

  7. I agree that although my biological parents are allowed to visit me with me for precisely four weeks of a calendar year, they are in no way obligated to adhere to this, and reserve the right to waive any lingering parental claims on me, until my twenty-first year when I will be considered an independent adult.

  8
. I understand that my behaviour will be monitored on a daily basis, and that any severe misdemeanours will be punished accordingly- including, but not restricted to: displaying poor manners, using foul language, making Godless exclamations or practicing religion. Though I will be regarded as a minor and an innocent until my thirteenth moon, any gross misconduct after involving the breaking of this contract, theft, physical abuse, sexual abuse, murder, religious practice and attempts to escape will be considered adult crimes, and may warrant canings, whippings, imprisonment or banishment, according to the severity of the crime committed and the ruling of the King and Shepherd in charge at the time of my arrest.

  9. I understand that my role is a privileged one, and that I will benefit from my elevated position in many ways. However, any intimate revelations awarded to me by Prince _Kohén_ Barachiel, or any other member of the royal family are to be considered strictly confidential, and so revealing any private information to others gleaned in this manner, will be punished by a whipping.

  10. I agree that although responsibility for me falls to King_Elijah_ Barachiel II_, my obligations are to Prince _Kohén_ Barachiel, first and foremost. I understand that I am now considered legal property of the Arcadian monarchy until my twenty-first year ( *subject to pre-emptive release or a requested, legally binding extension via branding) so any wilful, insolent, ungrateful or uncooperative behaviour towards my prince will be regarded as a legal infraction of this sealed document.

  11. I agree that I have accepted copies of The 6 Books Of Creation, Arcadia’s legal code and Arcadia’s ethical code. I also understand that a separate handbook, that will cover the guidelines of my allocated caste, will be given to me on my thirteenth moon, and that I will have three years to familiarise myself with it before I am expected to adhere to my obligations.