Total pages in book: 210
Estimated words: 200837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1004(@200wpm)___ 803(@250wpm)___ 669(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 200837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1004(@200wpm)___ 803(@250wpm)___ 669(@300wpm)
And number nine? It’s practically a guarantee that I wouldn’t go into that tower. So who’s to say that he didn’t give me this position simply because he loved me? And because his son loved me? And because he knew that one day, I really would be family?
I never asked, and I never would, but it’s a logical conclusion even if it’s not true.
Finally, all the introductions are over and Finn officially starts the ball by announcing the very first Dance of Sisters. Then the entire stage is filled with dancing girls in blue. At first, they do all the moves alone in their respective lines, but then young men enter, all wearing linen suits the color of sand. They weave their way through all the Little Sisters, and since I’m sitting in a balcony, I can see the patterns they are making as each one finds their partner and drifts off to the outer edge. When all the partners have been matched up, the dance truly begins with a waltz.
Haryet sighs, putting a hand to her heart. “My goodness, do you girls remember this night ten years ago the way I do?”
Gemna laughs. “I will never forget that night. Jeyk was my partner and he flirted with me non-stop. It was…” She sighs as well now. “It was the best night of my life, I think. And even though we’ve been to so many galas since then, this very first one was the absolute tippy-top!”
I smile as well, thinking back on this night again, this time allowing myself to remember the details. Finn was my partner. We were dating for real at the time, but we knew that the moment I got in to the top ten it would be over. Not for real—well, yes for real, but it was just temporary and we both knew that. We were gonna wait for each other.
If I were making that promise to him today, I would understand that it was just a way to make ourselves feel better and the chances were very slim that we would still be in love ten years later. I was naïve back then. We both were. So we didn’t understand that the odds were against us. We just carried on like it was already true.
Of course, we’ve seen each other nearly every day for the last decade of my service to the god in the tower. And we’ve had lots of meals together. Both private, at Finn’s family home, as well as in public for gatherings and galas and such.
We even got together for a few trysts, like the one we had this afternoon. But all in all, he did his thing and I did mine. He didn’t date anyone else, even though I never made a rule that he couldn’t. And I didn’t date anyone else, either. We didn’t need the rule. We are in love. We only want each other.
He was my partner through all of it so my very first Dance of Sisters was with the man I loved. All the dances in my Choosing stage were with the man I loved. It was a good time. A fun time. A much more innocent time too.
I have been paired up with many a man for the galas that came after, of course, but none of them got anything out of me other than some light conversation. My heart belongs to Finn Scott. I haven’t even imagined another. If something were to happen to him and we didn’t get married, I would die a spinster.
“Will you miss it?”
I turn and look at Haryet, shaking my head. “I like the memories. It’s been a great adventure and I have nothing but good things to say about my time in the Extraction. But I won’t miss it.”
She smiles and nods. “Me either.”
Gemna dissents to my right. “I’ll miss the maids.” We all chuckle. “I mean, people have been picking up after me for ten years now, girls. That’s a luxury you get used to quickly.” Then she sighs and her real answer comes out. “But… it will be a relief, ya know?”
Both Haryet and I turn our heads to look at her, nodding.
“I’m number ten, girls. I’m not going into that tower. There was never any chance of it. But still, especially in these times, it’s a weight on me and I want it to be over.”
Haryet lets out a small laugh. “Oh, tell me about it. I’m number eight, Gemna. Remember when the bell rang for number seven?”
Gemna and I both huff. We remember. Haryet screamed like she woke up from a nightmare. But of course, it was worse than that because it wasn’t a nightmare, it was reality.
After Brooke Bayford went in, Haryet was a mess. Jittery, and sensitive, and emotional. She had long bouts of insomnia, endless weeks of bloodshot eyes, and lost twelve pounds—which is way too much weight for someone so tiny. It made her look malnourished.