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)
I rise up, standing in front of Clara, then offer her my hand. She hesitates, staring up into my eyes for a moment. Like she might ask all those questions in her head regardless of Mitchell’s presence.
Her gaze is steady, her resolve firm. But then she sighs, looks away, and takes my hand. Allowing me to end the conversation and pull her to her feet.
But then I also pull her close and place my hands on her cheeks, forcing her to focus on me. It takes a moment for her eyes to meet mine again. But she does. They are blue. Almost the same blue of the canals, and I’ve been comparing those eyes of hers to the canals down below for so many years now, it’s almost impossible to think about water without picturing Clara’s face.
“I’ll see you tonight, OK?”
She nods her head, but she looks like she wants to cry. About Haryet, obviously. But for herself, too. And even Gemna. They thought they’d be safe. But when the Extraction climbs its way all the way up to Maiden number nine, it becomes pretty clear, pretty quick, that the god has every intention of taking each and every one of them.
Clara opens her mouth to say something and I know—I feel it in my gut—that it’s going to be a question she won’t like the answer to. So I place a fingertip on her lips and shake my head. “Tonight, Clara. We’ll talk tonight.”
Then Mitch is there, offering Clara his arm. She looks at him, then me, and gives in, taking his arm and letting him lead her out of my palace.
I wait until Mitchell comes back, then I ask, “Was my mother at the funeral?”
Mitch shakes his head, but doesn’t say anything.
“I need to see her.” I expect an objection, but he doesn’t say anything to this, either. So I just walk past him, get in the elevator, take it down to the ground level, then travel the walkway that leads around and behind the Extraction Tower.
Behind every tower in Tau City there is a neighborhood that houses all the families who live in the districts. The homes are all attached, and built into the rocky hillside, with a canal view. There are dozens of canals in Tau City. Some are very small—just tiny streams with foot bridges that span only a few feet. But our family home is on a secondary canal that is big enough to have a bit of beach and I have many fond memories of swimming in that bright blue water as a kid. The sun tanning my skin brown as I spent hours and hours jumping off the boulders that line the banks and splashing around on hot days.
There are many levels to each neighborhood as well, since all the homes are built into the side of a cliff. It’s beautiful, and serene, and when it’s lit up with lampposts at night, it’s even a little bit magical.
Our family quarters are located just a few minutes’ walk from the tower for convenience and when I arrive, I find a guard standing on the porch outside our front door. He salutes me when I approach.
“What’s going on here?” I ask.
“Sir… I… I was posted here.”
“I can see that. Why are you posted here?” Of course, I can guess. My father was murdered. It’s a logical thing to conclude that my mother might require protection. But that doesn’t explain why she wasn’t at the funeral.
“I don’t know, sir.” The guard shrugs. “I was told to report and someone will replace me in two hours.”
I don’t bother asking any more questions. He’s telling the truth. So I wave him aside, open the door, step in, and close it behind me.
I immediately find myself looking straight into the eyes of four Matrons. They are blocking the stairs that lead up to my parents’ bedroom.
“What is going on? Why are you here? Where is my mother?”
The oldest Matron in the group, the one in the middle, takes a single step forward. Her face is nothing but a topography of wrinkles. She’s not wearing the customary garb of blue tunic and cream scapular apron like the two Matrons on either side of her, but a long cape the color of the night sky. It’s open in the front, trimmed in shimmering gold, and held together with a large gold brooch. Underneath the cape she’s wearing a long dress the color of sand and embroidered with gold stars.
On her head is a crown of sorts. A tiara, but not a dainty one like the Little Sisters occasionally wear to balls during the Choosing. It’s thick, and dull—made of iron, perhaps. It doesn’t look precious, it looks… old. Ancient, like the woman wearing it. And out of place when contrasted with the dazzling gold brooch at her throat.