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)
He and Jeyk both stop abruptly and turn back to me. Mitch squints his eyes. “What?”
“What happens if I don’t send her through? Has anyone ever done it?”
Surprisingly, it’s Jeyk who answers me, not Mitch. “I asked that question once.”
“To who?” I ask him.
“My father. And he said that his grandfather told him that your grandfather once refused.”
“Really? My father never mentioned it. And I never knew my grandfather. He died long before—” I pause for a moment, trying on the idea that I should stop here. That I should forget I ever asked this question. Just wallow in my own ignorance for a while.
But I can’t. I’ve already heard too much. “The god killed him?”
Jeyk’s expression turns uncomfortable and he shrugs. “He wasn’t the only one. The entire Council dropped dead. That was the night that Aldo became the Extraction Master and he was the one who sent the Maiden in. But Father said the worst part was that all the Maidens-in-Waiting, and even the Little Sisters who didn’t get Chosen had to go in too.”
“What?” This comes from Mitch. “That’s bullshit.”
Jeyk just shrugs. “Whatever. That’s what he said.”
“How would that even happen?” I ask. “I mean, did the god appear, or something, and then demand all this extra spark?”
“No.” Jeyk shakes his head. “He said they just did it. The door didn’t close after the first Maiden walked through. And then, all of a sudden, the other Maidens started walking towards the door too. People tried to stop them and they couldn’t. It was like they were in a trance. Like they were compelled. Then all of that year’s Unchosen did the same thing. They lost a hundred girls that night, not just one.”
I let out a long breath and look at Mitch. He wants to object. He wants to say it’s bullshit. But it was him, just a few hours ago, telling me that the only way these Maidens walk through is by compulsion. So he can’t. Even if what Jeyk just told us is completely false, Mitch can’t say shit.
But Jeyk isn’t done. He keeps talking. “A lot of things like that have happened over the years, Finn. My father told me a lot of things about Tau City. He’s worked in every single district. He has friends in all of them because he’s the guy they turned to when they needed help with mechanicals. And sometimes, they couldn’t pay. So he’d ask them questions about the past. What they saw, what they heard. This place doesn’t run as smoothly as they tell us. Things—like big things—go wrong all the time. It’s just, they don’t put that in the history books, ya know? They just… don’t tell anyone.”
I don’t respond. I just turn back to the bridge and continue walking.
Jeyk and Mitch follow behind me.
When we arrive at the dining hall it’s already packed with people. I can’t sit with Clara—traditions—but she’s sitting in a private elevated balcony, just like I am, and we are directly across from each other. Just like we were last night in the ballroom.
She seems to know I’m here, but I only get one small wave. Both Clara and Gemna are too busy consoling poor Haryet to pay attention to anything else.
Dinner is a long, boring affair and no one seems to be in the mood to party like they were last night. Of course, last night their Extraction Master wasn’t dead—at least in their minds—and the eighth girl had not been called into the tower yet.
At nine o’clock, once the feast is over, the people sitting at the tables on the floor of the dining room begin migrating out and over to the God’s Tower event center where the gala will be held.
The Maidens and myself will enter the gala last. I will dance with Haryet for at least thirty minutes while Tau City’s elite class watch us, whispering and murmuring. Then I will hand her off to Mitchell and everyone will dance. Including me, including Clara. All the Maidens will dance with every man in the room and I will dance with every woman. Clara and I might get three minutes with each other.
But it’s OK.
I keep telling myself that. Over and over again. It’s OK. Because she’s mine and I’m bringing her home with me tonight. She is spending the night with me tonight. I don’t care what the Matrons say or how much they threaten her, or me, for that matter. I will have my night with Clara.
You never know, it could be my last. Who could predict the whims of a god we’ve never even seen, let alone understand?
Once it’s my turn to leave the dining hall and make my way over to the gala, I go through the motions. I say all the right words to all the important people as I walk, and then, once I enter, wait for the applause to end while acting humble and unassuming. Then I meet up with Haryet on the dance floor so the gala can officially begin.