Chapter 23
“To show respect, you wear black and forgo all past identities.
Until the day you shed the black, you are a sentry, a servant of the Ethorian gods and the Ravaryn Kingdom.”
Icould trace each rib through my skin, and my hip bone was sharper, pressing painfully against the saddle as we rode. I had always been thin, but never this skeletal. Though traveling with the Veilers had given me muscle and calluses, my body fat had reduced to unhealthy levels.
Rowan kept me tightly anchored to his chest with his arms wrapped securely around my abdomen. Without his arms around me, I’d have been blown away.
The so-called Great North was nothing but a pathetic, bitter wasteland. We had been traveling for half a week in the barren lands, and I could confidently say that there was nothing great that far north. We were surrounded by snow, ice, and the constant screeching of the wind.
I was a summer child being forced to endure blisters from the cold, chattering teeth, and chapped lips.
I asked Rowan how the horses could survive such severe temperatures, and he said that they were bred for it. How any creature could be bred for this weather was beyond me.
We spent the first few days in the tundra enduring harsh winds that bit and clawed at our freezing bodies. Despite Rowan covering us with two thick bear hides, my bones still rattled. However, that was nothing compared to the storm that settled upon us on the fifth day.
On the fifth day, we could barely see through the blizzard that plagued us.
I heard a piercing cry coming from one of the nearby horses trudging through the snow. Several muffled screams followed shortly after. I couldn’t see through the haze of white, so I nudged Rowan in question. My tongue was too dry and cracked to speak much.
“That would be the frostbite,” he grumbled.
“It hurts that much?”
“No, that’s the sound of it being removed.”
I squeezed my eyes together, attempting to push the agonizing imagery out of my head. Then I covered my ears to ignore the strangled, blood-curdling cries. I tried not to think about who it was. They probably wanted me dead.
I squinted, trying my best to peer through the thick flurries, and in the distance I saw something odd. Something that did not belong in this landscape.
As we advanced toward the strange spherical structure, I noticed that the two lights that had originally caught my eye were posted on either side of a wide door—at least I assumed it was a door.
The building’s architecture was like none I had ever seen before. It was made completely of smooth silver metal. It was also rather small. I thought we could all fit, but there wouldn’t be much room for movement.
We approached the metal complex, and Rowan slipped off the saddle. He trudged through the snow, making his way to the front of the building. Rowan then pressed a large red button on the door, and it lit up instantly.
Upon closer look, the button and the two sconces on the side of the door appeared to be of the same make. The material seemed familiar to me. It looked like the precious material my father brought back home once—plastic. And the light they illuminated was not normal candlelight.
My inspection was disrupted by a loud buzzing sound that rang out. The door pulled apart, revealing sharp, serrated edges that reminded me much of metal teeth. The image of getting squished between them made me automatically stiffen.
When Rowan let out a loud whistle, all the horses rushed into the building. The inside was extremely bright, so bright it burned. Panels of light were plastered to the ceiling. They were just like the sun, but unnatural. I hated them.
The inside was just one room with a grated floor that I couldn’t see anything below, only darkness. Rowan stalked over to a small, rectangular box on the wall that featured an array of numbered buttons. Then, he pressed a sequence of numbers, and within seconds, I felt the floor move.
I panicked, clutching onto the horse. Several of the culled let out minor screams and yelps, which made me feel justified in my fear.
I’d never experienced a worldshake, but I’d read about them.
It wasn’t until I heard the amused chuckle of a Veiler that I noticed the world wasn’t shaking—we were sinking.
The entire metal platform beneath us rumbled as it descended. The walls stayed still, but the Ground dropped as if we were being lowered into it.
Rowan came over and stroked our horse, subtly moving his hand to pinch my knee. I buried my face in the horse’s mane, putting it level with Rowan’s.
“Hey, it’s alright,” he whispered in my ear.
“What’s happening?” My voice quivered.
“It’s just an elevator.”
“What’s an elevator?”
“A contraption that transports people to different levels of a building. The facility has three levels, but only one of them is above Ground. The upper level only serves as an entry point to the lower ones.”
“So, no stairs?” I swallowed back the bit of bile that had crept up my throat.
“There are stairs in other parts, but those aren’t used nearly as much.
Elevators are the most common form of transportation here.
Though the others are much smaller than this one.
This elevator is the biggest because it has to carry many people and animals.
It’s also the only one that can reach the surface. ”
The elevator stopped when it landed at what I assumed was the bottom.
The wide steel doors opened once more, and I was met with the sight of pristine white walls and reflective tile floors.
A woman was standing just outside, sporting a wide smile and shoulders hunched to her ears.
She was dressed in a matte baby blue pantsuit, and her brunette hair was pulled back tightly into a high ponytail.
She unclasped her hands, and her mouth opened before she started speaking.
“Hello everyone, my name is Corsica Marwood! I am very excited to get to know everyone in the coming weeks. In the meantime, I’d like to welcome you to our facility! We take great pride in the research that we conduct here and are endlessly thankful for all of our wonderful program participants!”
Her chirpy voice made my head ache.
“If you will please follow me,” she continued, “I would like to take you to your quarters and give you all a chance to wash up before meeting the most important person at the facility—my father!”
Most of the Veilers broke off to lead the horses somewhere else, but a few Veilers, including Renata and Rowan, remained with the culled. Those of us who remained followed Corsica down a hallway filled with even more panels of fire-less light.
These lights did not allow for any shadows, which meant there would be no hiding here.
Corsica’s black heels clicked and clanked on the floor as she charismatically preached the importance of the facility’s research. Coincidentally, she never once mentioned what that research was or how the research was conducted. She did, however, refer to us all as participants in “the project.”
It meant that whatever research they were doing here included us somehow, and that fact made me extremely apprehensive.
We reached our “wing,” as Corsica had called it, which was just a large oval room that seemed like the sterile version of what was supposed to be a gathering space.
It looked like a waiting room, with generic decor and too-firm seating.
There was another rectangular box hanging high on the wall, but this one was much larger, and it was flashing various moving images.
Attached to the main area were five smaller hallways that branched off in different directions.
“Each of you has been assigned a room and corresponding roommate for the duration of your stay here,” Corsica said with all her teeth showing. I knew she was trying to come across as someone familiar and friendly, but I could see the predator she truly was.
“And exactly how long is our stay?” One of the culled spoke up. Everyone looked at her and then back at Corsica expectantly. We were all wondering the same thing.
“That depends entirely on your performance in the program. Know that if you succeed in the program, both you and your family will be richly compensated. Not to mention the glory and admiration you will receive from the royal family itself!” There were a few subtle gasps, but the rest of us remained suspicious.
It was far too vague and promising to be true.
“How does one ‘succeed’ in the program?” A boy no older than eighteen asked.
“That, my dear boy, is an excellent question. One that my father, the head chairperson of the GRC in charge of running the program, is more qualified to answer. I will send the sentries to collect you from your rooms in half an hour. Please use that time judiciously to dress and acclimate yourselves. See you all soon!” She waved, fluttering her fingers down into her palm, and strolled away.
I followed one of the Veiler’s directions to go to my room. Said directions included a guttural “C-7” and a finger pointing to the hallway labeled C. I muttered a sarcastic “thank you” and tottered down the hallway, disoriented.
Rowan had left, just as he warned. Yet it still stung.
I found my room. It was nothing grand, just two twin beds, several feet apart. The bedspread was much like everything else in the complex—brilliant white. One bed had sheets slightly ruffled and pulled back.
There was one abstract piece of art hanging on the wall, featuring some shades of red and orange. But that was it as far as the diversity of the facility’s color palette was concerned.
Across the beds were two sets of dresser drawers and a large circular mirror between them. Attached to the room was a small bathroom with a toilet and a lone showerhead. There was no bathroom door or curtain.
How wonderful.
I looked through the dresser that was directly across from the unused twin bed, assuming it was meant for me.
There were three drawers: the first had several pairs of underwear, and two corsets.
The second had four dresses with shades of white, red, blue, and green.
The third drawer had two pairs of black flats.
I didn’t wear dresses. Ever. They reminded me too much of my father.
The thought of wearing a dress for the first time in years in this place—for these people—made my skin itch. I wasn’t an object that they got to dress up and parade about.
Despite my anger, I needed to play along enough to bide my time. I was finally here, the place with answers about Willam. Through clenched teeth, I selected the blue dress and black flats. I placed them on top of the dresser and made my way to the shower.
I needed to scrub my skin off. It smelled that strongly.
We had plumbing in Oak Hollow, but nothing this fancy.
The water was always lukewarm, and the toilets had cranks instead of petite metal levers.
Given the climate, I thought the water would be cold as ice, but it was surprisingly warm.
There was a selection of ornate floral soaps on the counter that made me frown.
They were trying to make us comfortable, and nothing good came from letting down one’s guard.
It made me even more cautious.