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 pause, not understanding what this commotion might mean. But then feel foolish as a large group of Spark Maiden wannabes comes into the living space. At this stage of the Choosing we call them Little Sisters and they are bright, and young, and excited because regardless of what kind of luxury they grew up in, the Maiden Tower is a whole new definition of extravagance. They all want to be here to experience it.
Almost everything in the Maiden Tower is decorated in the same color palette—cream and other light-colored neutrals, with just a little touch of sun-faded blue sprinkled about. The dormitory, where these Little Sisters will spend the rest of the Choosing time, is the only exception to this scheme because the color palette is reversed. Everything is blue in their dorm with just little touches of the neutrals that dominate here. Blue is how they segregate ‘them’ from ‘us.’ Because blue is the color of spark and as Little Sisters, they have not yet perfected the spark inside them.
As a Maiden, however, I could light up the night if I want to.
Not as spectacularly as Spark Maidens with lower numbers, of course. Being number nine means that while my spark display was definitely better than most during our group’s final Choosing, it was nowhere close to the fireworks Imogen Gibson could set off with her performance.
All these Little Sisters are wearing blue day dresses, mostly long ones woven out of linen, and each of them have a little accent scarf or a belt made of leather as an accessory. Dressmaking is considered a desirable skill for those wanting to be Spark Maidens. So all these girls made these dresses with their own hands. In fact, they are probably wearing their finest work since it’s the very first Choosing, and therefore, the very first time they are on public display.
Tonight is their first gala and they are practically bursting with excitement. Some of them are even displaying tiny bits of spark, mostly as static in their hair or a miniscule glint of light in their eyes. But it really is just tiny bits because they are probably trying to hold it in. Tonight, at the gala, they will light themselves up for the very first time—at least in public. And no one wants to give away what they have planned to astonish Finn’s father, Aldo, the Extraction Master.
Spark display is the number one criterion for being Chosen as a Maiden and my time at the first gala is probably my fondest memory of this whole journey.
Compared to most of my fellow Maidens, my spark is rather limited. And back then, as a Little Sister, it was only in my fingertips. But that night, during the first gala, I managed to make spark drawings in the air with my blue light. I drew stupid things—hearts, and simple flowers, and arrows. But no one had ever done that before. Yes, it was basic—especially compared to Imogen, who actually blew a bubble of blue light around her entire body and floated up in the air for six whole seconds—but it was also surprising, so it made people gasp with delight and clap their hands with laughter.
It made them happy. I was the girl who made them happy.
“Ladies, simmer down and please stay in a triple line!” The Matron in charge of the Little Sisters calls this out as she claps her hands. She’s an older woman who isn’t around much, so her name escapes me at the moment. Sometimes, when a Maiden’s duty is over, she joins the Order and becomes a Matron. Their job is to train up the Pledges and keep the Little Sisters in line. This one’s tone becomes sharper when a group in back takes too long to form up. “Do I need to remind you that you’re being judged on this?” Though I can’t see the Matron’s face, I can almost hear the raised eyebrow.
Which makes me chuckle and scurry up the stairs that lead to my floor.
But I take a moment to look back at them when I get to the next landing. And when I do this, my gaze finds the girl in back who is responsible for all that Matronly attention. She’s tall, with long, flowing auburn hair, and even from up here I get a little lost in those brilliant blue eyes when she directs her gaze right at me. She gives them a good roll. Like she’s bored or something.
So brazen.
Or, maybe, just so arrogant.
I turn away without acknowledging her and hurry up the next flight of stairs, eager to get home. When I enter my quarters, I find Haryet and Gemna sitting on my reception room couch, giggling like schoolgirls.
“What’s so funny?” I close the door behind me, kick my slippers off, and then skip across the bone-colored flagstone floor, bouncing onto the couch next to them. I sink back into the overstuffed cushions and lay my feet across Haryet’s lap.