Chapter 30
Thirty
Jada
“Well, you’ve managed to do alright for yourself,” Brinn announces, looking around the lavish apartment Pluto has appointed me.
The space is grand, much larger than my small chambers back on Lunara.
It seems wasteful, all this open space. I could easily share with two, potentially three others, and still have room to spare.
Worst of all, it doesn’t feel earned anymore, not after listening to the hearings and the pleas of innocent citizens. It feels bought.
My finger traces the outline of the large island—it’s as big as one buffet table in the Commons. “Trust me, I don’t feel good about it.”
Brinn flops down on the sofa, her legs flung over the arm of the indigo fabric. Our connection has come the easiest, our friendship blooming effortlessly. “What do you mean?” she asks, stretching her graceful limbs across the soft cushions.
“There were things I heard and saw in the court hearings I scribed for that didn’t sit well with me.”
“Like what?”
I ease myself into an armchair across from her, the cool smoothness sliding against my skirt—leather is the name of the material, according to Brinn. “I’m not supposed to discuss court happenings.”
“And I’m not supposed to be leading a rebellion. I’d say I’m pretty trustworthy.” She winks those deep violet eyes at me, and I’m putty, opening my mouth to share everything.
Fair point.
“The way they handle things… It’s not just. They’re going to take this woman’s home from her simply because her parents fell behind on taxes prior to passing.
” I stand up, beginning to pace the carpeted floor, my voice pitching to a higher volume.
“And this man, they imprisoned him for being curious about the human worlds! Without allowing him a chance to explain, with no warning—nothing! I’m appalled.
And if this is how they openly treat their citizens, I’m terrified to think what they may be doing when no one is looking.
I’m beginning to wonder if there was truth to what Zellie said. What if I’ve made a terrible mistake?”
Out of breath, I look to Brinn, who continues to lie. Her legs swing while she fights off a bemused look on her face. “Well, say something!”
“Here I was, thinking I’d have to refrain from sharing my true thoughts with you, leaving all the fun stuff for Zellie.”
I scowl, huffing as I fall back into the chair. “It was awful, Brinn! He may as well have said that they expect complete and total obedience. I can’t stop thinking about that poor man. He was curious! Are we not allowed to have our own thoughts and wonders? Why can’t he see the human worlds?”
Brinn gives me a pointed glance, the silence falling between us as she exaggeratedly takes in the surrounding space. “I know it’s different, but—”
“Do not finish that sentence. You can’t possibly be defending them right now.”
“I’m not!”
Brinn sits up, placing her hand over her heart and leaning forward. “Listen to what you feel in here instead of being what you think the world expects of you. Do you honestly think how you lived on Lunara is comparable to how we live in Astralis?”
New emotions take hold of me—an anger lights in my stomach, causing irritation to form deep in my chest. “Obviously not, or I wouldn’t be choosing to live here.”
“The way you are forced to live is despicable. You are all holed up there with little to no freedom. Barely any ability to exhibit self-expression. Uniform. Compliant. Does that life equate to a life you could have here?” Brinn spits the words out as if they disgust her.
“It’s not even close,” I mutter, reminiscing on how quickly I was drawn to the colorful world full of whimsical enchantments, not to mention the finer things.
“Why would they let us see this, then?”
Brinn settles back into the sofa. “Because you’re beneath them. They don’t view you as a threat.”
A sour feeling twists in my body, making me sick to my stomach.
At once, I know it’s the realization that she’s right—they think they have us under their control.
If they’re so willing to openly rule with an iron fist, what are they doing that I’m not aware of?
I’ve been a fool, blinded by the promise of something shiny and new, torn between my innate responsibility to keep order. But I will be a fool no longer.
“What else are they doing?” I ask. And as Brinn fills me in on their harsh ruling and experimentations, I come to my own conclusions.
I’m walking a line—a delicate one—that I must continue to balance on for the sake of appearances, as well as my safety.
But I have an advantage here… I can talk to the humans, while Brinn and Zellie continue to work with the citizens.
Brinn finishes filling me in—some information new, some older from my conversations with Zellie. “They think we’re all below them. Too dumb and useless to attempt something like this.”
We need to do more than create a group of people who dissent what the Kosmos are doing.
If we are to rise and overpower them, we cannot rely on one person, regardless of how strong Zellie is.
The rebellion here, they each have their own magic.
Perhaps they should be training it, honing their skills into something sharper.
Maybe I can find a way to strengthen the humans, as well.
It’s time to prepare for something more if things are going to change around here.
And I do want them to change. The people of the galaxies deserve better. Galatea deserves better.
“Then let that miscalculation be their undoing.”