Chapter Eleven
Alexandr Miroslav
The tragedy of this story isn’t that from this point forward, there could have been another path to how it all ended. The tragedy is that it was always going to end the way it did.
The room was silent again, oddly enough.
I pulled the backwards cap I was wearing tighter over my head, as though someone would run over and try ripping it off.
Marigold seemed to be none the wiser that I’d used her secret to keep my own, and Rain didn’t seem to be keen on exposing our deal.
In exchange, I got to worry about one less person digging into things they shouldn’t.
Only a moment later, Thaddeus entered in a flurry of black, seconds after Ajax rushed in all red-faced and sweaty.
“Practice,” He mumbled his excuse like the six students facing him would demand an explanation for his apparent tardiness.
Thaddeus threw himself onto the seat facing us and stretched out his long legs with a deep sigh. Nobody spoke as he got comfortable, pulled out a cigar, and attended to lighting it.
When he was finished with his first puff, he focused on his band of unconnectable puzzle pieces. “Has anyone heard of moral disarmament?”
I didn’t always feel left out when I didn’t understand something others did, but I’d known the feeling was there when relief washed over me at the sight of no hands raised.
I wasn’t particularly invested in academia like August or Rain, but I also wasn’t roaming in the lowest percentiles.
That had to count for something, I hoped.
Only recently did I find myself with enough free time and incentive to invest in completing readings and homework. But I was sure that if I applied myself, taking the advice of my old teachers I had thus far ignored, I could really make something of myself.
A quiet intake of breath sounded from Marigold, like she was on the verge of speaking before thinking better of it and silencing herself.
Paris, sitting next to me again, mumbled quietly, only loud enough that I could hear, “Talk.”
“Anybody?”
When the silence continued, he waved a hand. “Maybe I’ll leave that for another time.”
Thaddeus took another inhale of his cigar, leaning back and looking between us, his face taking on a questioning stare. “Cold night, isn’t it?”
Again, no one said a word.
Except, I didn’t understand what his goal was.
He was like an unprepared teacher grappling with strings of questions and answers to form their lesson of the day.
“Sir,” August spoke up. “Last meeting, you told us to draft up a list of questions we had for you?”
Remembrance filled Thaddeus’s eyes, but he seemed to deny it for the fun of it. “I don’t recall.”
I’d completely forgotten to draft up my own list, but I was sure I would ask if my lacking knowledge demanded it.
August’s face scrunched up, as though preparing for a verbal spar. “Well, you did.”
I hiked up my brows at his tone as my eyes slid to Thaddeus to gauge his reaction. But instead, he smirked. “Alright, I’ll bite. What questions do you all have for me?”
Despite her initial silence, Paris seemed to be the most eager, beating August before he could utter a sound. “Do we take control of the assets of the retiring board member that appointed us?”
“Yes.”
It was a simple and short word, and yet it resonated louder than the most heartfelt of poems.
August didn’t let the answer phase him, pushing on, question after question. “Who appointed us?”
“That, I cannot disclose. For personal reasons.”
“Because of whom you appointed?”
“Partially. It might cause a… feeling of conflict of interest, for one.”
“Why… us?”
I knew he wanted to ask, ‘why me’, because at least a number of us were thinking it.
“You’ll have to discover that on your own. Find your strengths, understand them. You’ll then understand why the board deemed you worthy enough for the Founder’s Society.”
Thaddeus was answering but also, not, and August seemed to be getting frustrated. Myself included.
“What privileges does Castle Hill offer us as members of the society?”
Thaddeus let out an amused huff of air. “For now, as you can see, you are free within Castle Hill to roam at all hours without questioning. All staff members are given specific instructions by the board to treat you all like kings and queens.”
“Even professors?” Ajax asked.
“Even professors. However, do not assume this implies perfect grades for mediocre work. I only mean that professors turn the other cheek if you happen to miss a class or two for… your extracurricular activity. They will allow you a wider berth than they would other students. Reprimands that align with the academy’s policies will not apply to you, but I trust you won’t be going around and picking fights for the hell of it.
I trust that you will use this privilege responsibly. ”
“Board members aren’t worried about giving their entire life’s work, or rather, their entire bloodline’s work to people they aren’t related to?”
Thaddeus slanted a look at Rain’s clear insinuation but didn’t comment on it, only answering her question as he continued to do, “The board understands what must be done to ensure its survival.”
After a moment of silence, he clapped his hands, and the sound made a few of us flinch, myself included. “Now, if you all are done with the third degree, I have a few things to get through.”
He cleared his throat and got comfortable, leaning back against his armchair and taking a deep breath before starting, “The Founder’s Society dates back centuries.
Maybe not so specifically under the structure of Castle Hill, but it existed under different names and different times.
Throughout the years, one axiom was formed. It is indisputable and foundational.
“Think of it as a guideline of sorts. Nosce Teipsum. It translates from Latin to ‘know thyself’. If you do not look within and understand your own nature, you are an incomplete being. The reason I’m telling you this is because Castle Hill is and has always been an engineered networking pool that has, for generations, groomed heirs to preserve their bloodlines and their legacies.
The Founder’s Society simply… filters the best. Of course, before you, the board appointed their own heirs, biasedly considering them the best, but things have changed.
Despite that, the velvet rope separating you seven from the rest of Castle Hill is this very Society. ”
He looked to each and every one of us, giving us all a second of eye contact before diverting his attention to the next, “The reason why this is important is because your first official business as representatives of the Founder’s society, assuming your last task was completed, will begin soon, once I’ve hashed out all the details.
If you can complete the task as a group with excellence, only then, will I begin teaching you what the Founder’s Society has to offer.
Applying the advice I’ve just given you to all future scenarios, in the literal sense, is crucial.
I will be assuming any rivalries or conflict among you have been hashed out.
” For a barely-there moment, I glanced at Rain, and she did the same; our eyes met, there and gone.
“From this point forward, you move as one entity.
“Your education is secondary. Because the board does not concern itself with test scores. Whether you have what it takes to negotiate, manage assets, pick up multilingual fluency, and perfect etiquette. Because power, true power, does not prove worthy at a desk. It does so when you are willing to do whatever it takes to get it. That is, after all, what separates the closing of a textbook and the closing of a deal.”
When no one protested, Thaddeus’s eyes turned dark as he leaned forward in his seat, suddenly more invested in his own words.
“I will only say this once, and it is something I cannot stress enough. You are all responsible for each other.” The room was silent, the heaviness of his words settling on all of us.
If Rain was taking his words seriously, she would forget the target practice she was seeing Marigold to be.
A fleeting thought passed through my mind. I watched Marigold as she knotted her fingers through the holes in her sweater over her uniform and wondered if what I’d done was the right thing.
Well, no, that would be hypocritical. If it was the safest thing, more like.
In favour of my own interests, always in favour of my own interests.
Rain wouldn’t move against Marigold after Thaddeus’ words, nor would she move against me. But after our deal, I hoped I had gained enough of her attention.
The Founder’s Society was about wit, cunning. We were an unlikely crew, a fractured circle, but there was bound to be a mental hierarchy, and although I didn’t prefer to be at the tippy top, I also didn’t like the idea of being looked down upon.
“Do you understand what I am saying to you all?” Thaddeus’ voice pulled me back to the scene in front of me.
We nodded.
And he began his lesson.
My shoulder was beginning to ache about a half-hour in, and my mind along with it.
I always knew the world was a corrupt place that catered more to those causing it harm than good. But hearing the words coming from one of its very sources was placing my conscience on a balance scale.
To hate this world and all that it stood for. To stand with the grassroots that slaved away at the foundation of every industry just to survive.
I shifted a little when Thaddeus spoke about the financial benefits of creating wars and the opportunities for shifting powers in their favour as if he were reading it off the morning paper, trying to hide my discomfort. Like a hypocrite sitting among the faithful.
The other side wanted to close that door and let the hunger for power absorb me. Change me until I fit in. Until I could wash away the scent of my youth, sewer heat and cold sweats. Why couldn’t I take the opportunity that was given to me when the world never offered otherwise?