47. Chapter 47
Maryn
Elias’s house had become the hub of the president’s central operation—the new president.
His council was in a state of chaos. They couldn’t wait for his Rite to conclude or for him to plan a speech. He was going live in five.
He paced his father’s office, glancing up at me every few seconds.
I had been glued to his side from the moment we arrived back at the house. If anyone noticed, they didn’t comment. He dragged me with him into the council meeting, a meeting with security, a meeting with Gideon Charles, who confirmed all the cameras in the area had been scrubbed clean.
He had his best men on it, trying to find out how the rebels had gotten in. Calden Charles among them.
My heart gave a tiny jolt at hearing his name. Safe. Alive. For now.
Elias stopped on the other side of the desk. “I don’t care what we promised Sera. I’m not sending you into Trial Eleven.”
“It’s filmed,” I reminded him.
I had no intention of being in that room tomorrow. But the longer he believed I would be, the safer I was tonight. The moment he closed his eyes, I would disappear from Elias Hale’s life forever.
He slammed his palm on the table. “I don’t care.”
I jumped, leaning back.
“I’m sorry. I’m….” He ran a hand over his face. “I’m freaking out a little here, and I can’t even fathom what I’d do if you weren’t by my side through all of this.”
Guilt twisted through me, there and gone. I schooled my face into neutral passivity and reached for his hand on the desk. My ungloved hand trembled once, the raw corners of my nails exposed.
I let it drop into my lap.
Elias’s brows dipped. “Maryn. This is too much to put on you. Forgive me.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m not the one going on national television in a moment.”
He laughed, running a hand through his hair. “A speech is the least of my worries.”
A knock sounded at the door.
“Come in.”
Paul stepped through the door, darting glances between Elias and me. He wiped a cloth over his sweaty forehead. “Excuse me, Mr. President.” He grimaced. “We need Maryn for touch-ups.”
Elias waved a hand, and Paul motioned me frantically from the room.
I stood, moving toward the door, but stopped and turned back. “I’ll be right back.”
He nodded, and I turned for the door.
This was the first time he’d let me go. I’d begun to wonder if I could make my escape with the way he panicked any time I was out of sight.
“You won’t hold it against me that I called you Twelve, will you, Ms. Veil?”
I swallowed, following him through a door where Vera was already holding up a puffy white gown.
She glanced at Paul. “Get out.”
He backed up, knocked into me, and darted through the door.
Vera pinned me with a hard stare. “I have three minutes. Three.”
I shrugged helplessly. “I don’t look that bad.”
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t have time for hair. Strip.”
I peeled my clothes off, sliding my dress to the floor.
“Arms up.”
I lifted them over my head as a gown of soft eggshell slid over my nude form.
“You forgot undergarments this morning?”
My cheek burned. “There wasn’t time.”
“Whatever,” she muttered, lifting a dusting brush to my face. She patted aggressively, and in moments, I was coughing and hacking.
“Lips.”
I waved my hand in front of my face to clear the dust and puckered my mouth. A brush pasted something thick on, and I licked my lips, grimacing.
“Stop that.” Vera swatted my hand away. “It’s the only thing that will hide your bruises.”
I stilled.
She reached for a thicker brush, dipping it into a bowl and spreading paste across my neck.
A knock sounded at the door, and one of the dozens of aides I’d seen at the house poked a head in. “President Hale asked me to give these to you.” He set the box down and closed the door.
I stared at it. Then opened it: two sapphires. Deep blue. The exact shade of Elias’s ribbon.
I held them in my palm. They were heavier than they looked. Larger than the first pair.
I slid each one on my ears.
“Can I have another pain vial?”
Vera eyed me. “Does your neck hurt?”
“A little.”
“No.”
I frowned at her.
“You need to be moved to tears by whatever your future husband says. The vial dulls more than pain.”
The door swung open, and Paul peeked in. “Time to go… Ms. Veil.”
“Paul, please. Maryn is fine.”
He held the door wide, backing up so I could step through. “No, thank you. Mr… I mean, President Hale is snapping necks out there. I’m not next.”
I followed Paul, and the buzz of drones whirred to life above my head. I glanced back at Vera, and she rubbed her eyes, making a face like a crying child. I turned, following Paul to my seat.
***
The room was packed with more people than I’d ever seen in one place in my life.
Sera slid into the seat beside me, and I darted a glance her way. Another pair of drones sank down, buzzing around us. She stared straight ahead, as though no one in the world existed but the man entering the room.
I looked up as Elias stepped on stage. His gaze found mine and locked onto me. After a beat too long, he nodded, facing the crowd.
He was solemn, nothing like the cool, charismatic president’s son who won the attention of every person in a room. He cleared his throat; the crowd went silent. Apart from the buzz of drones circling, no one so much as coughed.
“Thank you all for joining me today.”
Gideon Charles had personally overseen this live broadcast. It would be shared with the nation on a day other than Monday. The last time they’d broken that rule was the day the infected had breached the outer wall on the northern side of Centrum, pushing hard for Lake Michigan.
The nation watched in horror as President Hale and five hundred armed guards, along with Gideon’s entire drone force, rushed to meet them.
Less than six hundred feet from the only fresh water they would ever taste, Covenant forces had pushed them back.
“Last night, my father, President August Hale, was killed in his own home.”
My hair flew back from my face as half a dozen drones swiveled to the audience, then back to Elias’s matches to record their reactions.
A single tear slid down my cheek.
“Rebels breached the wall and my home, slitting my father’s throat.”
I let another tear fall as gasps erupted.
Elias held up a hand. “The rebels responsible for this act have been found and dealt with.” He pointed a finger, a drone projecting an image onto the wall beside him.
I’d known it was coming, had been in the meeting when the council decided this was the only way to stem panic, but my stomach lurched when five men, hands bound behind their backs, were kicked over the outer wall.
The camera fell with them, panning wide as a horde of beastly creatures dove on fresh meat. I didn’t look away, couldn’t, as half the drones in the room captured all our faces.
Screams died in moments. The only solace I could take was that it had been quick. Those people had been selected at random. I was the one who should have been on that wall, and Calden would have been beside me if he weren’t so good at covering his tracks.
The screen went dark. Silence blanketed us.
“Never, in fifty years, have rebels breached the inner wall.”
Elias’s gaze darted left, and I had to cover my mouth to hide my horror as three guards turned on one of the men alongside the stage and wrestled him to his knees.
“With the help of our mayor to the east, we captured footage of the guard who was bribed to allow these traitors inside our city.”
Boos and angry slurs were shouted at the man on his knees.
A shiver rolled through me as I laced my hands together, my thumb running over the tips of my gloved fingers.
Sera glanced at me, and I stilled.
Calm, Maryn.
The drone in front of Elias shot up, and he faced the crowd once more. “I had hoped this day wouldn’t come for many years.” He wiped a tear from his eye. “I expected to kneel beside my father’s bed and hold his hand, my sons by my side, when he was old and gray.”
Hot tears dripped onto my gown. The fabric darkened everywhere they fell. Vera had been clever again.
“But…” He paused, eyes meeting mine. “Today, I come with a heavy heart and humbly offer myself as your next president.” He bowed his head, letting the silence fill the room. He didn’t need their approval. He was telling them he did, which was smarter.
He looked up, gaze lingering on several people in the crowd.
“Elias is my president!” Sera shouted beside me.
“President Hale.” Then another. Then the room was roaring his name.
I stood, clapping. Sera jumped to her feet beside me.