Eminence, p.12
Eminence, page 12
“If it’s no bother,” another voice mocked in a posh accent, and I turned to where Oakley stood, laughing at his own joke. At thirteen years of age, Oakley was the second eldest of the siblings. He was the opposite of Leo in most ways, far more sensible at times, although he did seem to take after his brother’s sarcasm.
“I do thank thee for bestowing your presence upon us,” he continued with mock sincerity. “’Tis an honor—hey, ouch!” he exclaimed as Leo cuffed him on the back of the head.
“Stop mocking our guest and make sure the others stay out of trouble, will you?” Leo said, rolling his eyes despite the laughter he was clearly trying to contain. Oakley huffed, rolling his eyes before darting after the other children.
“Thank you for this,” Leo said to me—alone at last.
“It’s no problem.” I smiled in return. “Although I am curious where we’re going.” We were nearing the forest, a thick band of deadened nature surrounding Atvas into which I had seldom ventured.
“The glade,” Leo replied, pointing to a general part of the forest that meant nothing to me.
“Pardon?”
Leo laughed lightly, eyes sparkling. “It’s just a clearing. We’ve been going there since I was little. It … means a lot to me.”
I glanced at his face, at the tinge of red in his cheeks, and smiled.
As we walked to the glade, my doubt in my decision grew. We were approaching the fence, which made me nervous. Of course, it wasn’t as though we couldn’t go outside the fence. After all, if someone wanted to leave voluntarily, it would only help with the resource crisis. But Mother always said that the fence was there for a reason. I shuddered at the memory of the words as the fence came into sight.
“Leo?” I tugged on his sleeve nervously as we approached. “The glade is inside the fence, right?”
“Yeah, it’s just along the edge here.”
My confusion was overshadowed by wonder when I saw we’d arrived at the glade. It was like nothing I’d ever seen before. It was surrounded by trees, although they weren’t like any trees I’d ever encountered. They had branches of gray, marred with the occasional scorch of black and covered in pale brown leaves. I reached up to touch one, and my jaw dropped as it crumbled to powder at my touch. This same powder floated off all the trees, shimmering gently in the air before settling on the ground. It gave the whole area the illusion of flickering, and floating powder rained down like glimmering rain. Both terrifying and beautiful, it drew me in with a morbid curiosity.
“Worth the trip?”
I jumped at the voice, startled by the warm breath on my neck. I turned to find Leo behind me, a soft smile on his face.
“It’s breathtaking,” I said truthfully, staring at the powder as it glistened against the gray of the sky. “How is this place possible?”
He was quiet for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. “Honestly, I don’t know. My mother once told me this area was hit especially hard by the bombs, and that the plants adapted to impossible conditions. I never did find out how she knew that.”
“What happened to her?” I asked softly, and he flinched lightly at the question.
“She could have saved herself or the baby, and, well … you’ve met Eden, so you know what she chose.”
Death from childbirth wasn’t exactly rare. Without the medical expertise practiced before the war, there was little to prevent it, but that didn’t make it any less tragic. Our Intellect medics did their best, but that often wasn't enough.
“She must have been very brave.”
“She was.” His eyes were cast upwards, and I pretended not to notice the glistening in the corners. Instead I watched Eden as she played, trailing after her siblings around her siblings, and wondered if my mother would have done the same for me. I knew I should let it be, but I couldn’t resist the question that slipped from my mouth.
“And your father?”
He clenched his jaw and looked away, and for a moment, I thought he wasn’t going to answer.
“Drank himself to death. I guess five children weren’t worth putting the bottle down.” Bitterness exuded from his tone, and I couldn’t blame him. Alcohol was anything but cheap, and if his father drank that much, it was no wonder the Hayes family was left with nothing. “I was fourteen.”
A heavy silence settled over us, and I rested my hand gently on top of his without thinking. I was surprised at how nice it felt, connecting with him like this. It was as if despite our differences, despite our scores, in that moment, we were one.
“Leo?” I asked softly, my voice carrying on the gentle wind.
“Yeah?”
“Why did you really enter the Pathway?” I’d asked the question dozens of times now, but never in such a direct manner. In turn, I’d never received a direct answer. But here, in this place of wonder with children’s laughter in the air… he turned to me, and something was different. It wasn’t the way his hair gleamed gold in the sunlight, or the faint freckles spattered across his nose, or even the sharp cut of his jawline as he clenched his teeth. No, it was his eyes, smoldering gray and illuminated with passion and a hint of something else—something almost like fear.
“Because I had to,” Leo breathed, as if the admission was a secret. “I made a mistake, and my score… I told you it was low.”
I hardly dared to breathe, hardly dared to do anything other than nod softly.
“1.3. My score was 1.3”
1.3? That was extraordinarily low. He was smarter than that—better than that.
“So, you see,” Leo continued, huffing out a humorless laugh, “I really did have no choice.”
Indeed, a score of 1.3 wasn’t nearly high enough to put him in the top half of the Service discipline. He surely would have been cast out, if not for the Pathway.
“You want to know the truth?” he asked, turning to face me with a strange look on his face. I nodded, half afraid of what would come out of his mouth. “I would be okay with it. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t even mind.”
I didn’t have to ask who ‘them’ was. His family mattered to Leo more than anything else. You’d have to be blind not to see it.
“I was actually planning to go out that way, but, uh.” Leo paused, a sad smile on his face. “Oakley asked me not to. He practically begged me to enter the Pathway, to at least try.” There was a moment of quiet before he continued, voice quieter. “He’s going to be crushed when it’s not enough.”
The words carved deep into my heart, so deep that my eyes grew moist. I blinked the tears away quickly, swallowing hard. After all of this, after all we both had given to get to this point, Leo still didn’t believe he would make it. The worst part was, he might be right. Leo did nothing but give to others, and here he was with nothing left for himself. Nothing left to put toward the Pathway. The realization settled uncomfortably on my chest, and I felt suffocated for a brief moment.
“Leo?” I asked again, voice considerably lighter. “Do you want to go to a ball with me?”
A moment of shocked silence, then: “What?!”
I resisted the urge to laugh as I turned to him. “The Court has a ball tomorrow, and I thought… Well, we’ve been working on Charisma, and it might be helpful. And, um, I want you to come.” I cut off my rambling, blushing slightly. It had been on my mind for a bit now, something I’d been contemplating but never quite decided. Honestly, I still hadn’t really decided, the words escaping before I could stop them.
“I can’t go to a ball,” Leo said, though his voice was more shocked than anything. “I don’t belong there, and everyone knows it.”
“But you’re in the Pathway,” I argued. “When this is all over, you’ll be on the Court. You belong there as much as any of us.”
“Even if that was true, what about you? I’m no expert at the dynamics of the rich and powerful, but I’m fairly sure it would be bad for your status to bring me.”
I paused at his words, conflicted. It was true that bringing Leo to a gala would be scandalous, and although it should have no effect on my actual rank, there was a chance it would. After all, word got around fast—and status was a big part of Charisma. Yet for the first time in a long time, I didn’t care about my status, or even my rank. I cared about Leo, and fairness, and giving a chance to someone who deserved it.
“Hasn’t anyone ever told you to loosen up?” I smirked, pulling the branch above his head and running away, leaving him covered in powder. He gasped, pretending to be offended.
“Don’t you dare,” I warned, holding my hands up in surrender as he gathered a handful. He just grinned, chasing after me. Soon enough, we were rolling in the dirt, laughing hysterically and smearing powder on each other like paint on a canvas.
“Okay, okay, I surrender!” I conceded, giggling madly, and he plopped down beside me, panting lightly from the exertion. I turned my head and watched him as he lay gazing at the sky through the canopy of branches above. He was messy, complicated, and utterly improper—yet in that moment, I could think of only one word: breathtaking.
The thought surprised even me. When had he gone from irritating to enticing, from making my blood boil with anger to making my heart soar? At that moment, I didn’t care that it would never work. I wanted nothing more than to move my hand to touch his, to feel his skin, on mine, to …
“Leo?” I breathed, speaking before I could do something foolish. “It’s going to be alright, you know that? I know it’s all very uncertain, but you’re not going to let Oakley down. You’ll get a Court spot. We’ll get you a Court spot.”
“Why?” Leo didn’t look at me, instead asking the air. “Why do you care so much?”
“Because you deserve it,” I answered truthfully. “You deserve all of it.”
He was silent, but his hand suddenly inched to touch my own. I opened my palm, allowing his fingers to wrap around my own and reveling in the warmth flooding my veins. The powder floated in the gray sky above, swirling throughout the trees as though propelled by the words left unsaid.
10
Memory, Mothers, and Mayhem
The morning of the ball dawned sunny and beautiful—not that it mattered much to me. My morning was spent in a whirlwind of activity, pampering and prepping myself to perfection. By six o’clock, I felt like a different person altogether—shiny, bright, new. An ornate platinum clip pulled my auburn hair into an elegant updo, not a single silky strand out of place. My mother had chosen the dress, of course, but I had to give her credit. Long and flowy with flowers stitched into the cream bodice, it was truly a dress truly befitting a future Sovereign.
“I hope you remember that you have a job to do tonight.” The image of my mother appeared behind my reflection, and I met her gaze in the mirror. Her emerald-green eyes, so similar to my own, sparkled with expectations and something that seemed almost like worry.
“Of course,” I said without turning around, hoping to end the conversation. I shuffled through my jewelry, automatically setting a large gold necklace aside. Heavy and extravagant, it was an awful thing that I avoided at all costs.
“Are you sure about that?”
I halted at the question, dropping the necklace on my vanity and turning around. Her face was calm, but her eyes were intense, and I knew she had more than the usual reminders in store for this lecture.
“Why wouldn’t I?” I asked carefully, narrowing my eyes. Her suspicion was something I wasn’t the least bit prepared for. After all, my mother knew how invested I was in my ranking. In fact, it was pretty much the only thing we agreed on.
“I noticed that you added someone to the guest list.” Her voice was casual as she moved towards the jewelry I’d dropped, beginning to sift through it. “Someone… new.”
“I’m tutoring him,” I stated calmly, forcing my voice to stay even. I had hoped she wouldn’t notice the addition to the list, but it appeared she was more vigilant than I thought. “Leo needed some experience, so I thought—”
“Willow, we’ve talked about this. You have to start putting your head before your heart.”
I bit the inside of my cheek as she cut me off, gently grabbing my hand and turning me to look into her eyes once again.
“I understand that you think it isn’t a big deal,” she continued, voice somewhere between gentle and scolding. “I can hardly blame you; I was the same as a child.”
I tilted my head at this statement, intrigued. Mother rarely talked about her past, but each tidbit she revealed puzzled me more than the last.
“It’s not your job to help everyone; it’s your job to maintain your position and become Sovereign. That will be help enough.” She rested the gold necklace around my neck, heavy and extravagant and awful. Her gaze met mine in the mirror, utterly unyielding. “The boy may come tonight, but please, promise me it’s the last you’ll see of him. We can’t have everything we’ve worked so hard for collapse.” She fastened the necklace on the tightest setting, tilting her head slightly as she took in my image in the mirror. “The necklace works well, don’t you think?”
I brought an unsteady hand to my throat, feeling the cool metal beneath my fingers. “Yes,” I whispered. “It’s magnificent.”
The statement echoed off the walls, and then my mother was walking away. I let out a breath, turning wearily back to the mirror. I stared at the image, conflicted. I certainly looked the part of the Sovereign, but I had never felt less in control. I loosened the necklace slightly, yet still it suffocated me, weighing me down. I wanted nothing more than to take it all off and hide—hide from the pressure, from the expectations, from the pain. I knew I should be grateful. After all, I was the ideal, the goal, the dream. I had everything.
“My name is Willow Aldridge, and I am perfect.” I repeated to myself, seeking comfort in the words my mother had taught me to say. I’d said the words dozens of times growing up, dreaming of the day I would believe it.
As I stared at my pale reflection, I couldn’t help but wonder when perfection had stopped being the dream and started to become the nightmare.
***
A tense feeling haunted me in the hours that followed, and by the time I was set to meet Leo I was already wishing the night were finished. I was sure that even his companionship would fail to raise my mood—a doubt I began to question as he appeared in my vision. His eyes scanned the crowd, clearly uncomfortable in spite of his elegance. Despite the clear age of his suit, it fit him well, accentuating his strong form. His eternally messy hair was slicked back tastefully, although his hair clearly resisted the style, creating an appearance of tousled elegance. Gray eyes met green as he found me, and I descended the grand staircase slowly. He grinned as I neared, reaching a tanned hand towards mine. I responded in kind, and he kissed my hand, bowing.
“Good evening, my lady.” His actions were proper, but I knew from the twinkle in his eye that he was joking. I giggled softly, sinking into a clumsy curtsy. Courtesies such as bows and curtsies hadn’t been used in ages—too reminiscent of the flawed royals of the Oldens—but my childhood tutor had insisted on teaching me anyway.
“Good evening, fine sir,” I joked back, grabbing his arm as he offered it to me. It was just as electric of a touch as the day we first met, and yet there was something else, too—a familiar warmth that caused my heart to pound. Something had changed yesterday in the glade, something I couldn’t even begin to understand. I pushed it out of my head as we turned, heading towards the ballroom. “Where did you learn all of that, anyways?” The question was genuine. Surely he had never had a tutor, and they were not well-known mannerisms.
“Why, I can’t tell you that,” he said lightly, eyes twinkling. “That would ruin the mystery.”
I laughed gently, but my mind raced. There was something about his tone that told me there was a secret beneath his laughter, and I was determined to discover it.
I was torn from my thoughts by a voice, and I realized we were being spoken to.
“Willow, you look just lovely, of course.”
I turned to see Ruben and Lucille Bonavich standing just outside the ballroom. Auden was situated properly between his parents, sophisticated as ever in a white suit and a sleek black tie. He nodded formally as his dark eyes met mine, mouth tightening as he took in Leo beside me.
“Thank you. You do as well.” I smiled politely at Lucille, the pleasantries slipping from my tongue easily.
“I see you’ve brought a… friend.” The words came from Ruben, his eyes roaming critically from my hand on Leo’s arm to his aged suit. I removed my hand quickly, avoiding Auden’s eyes. We both knew what was expected: we would be the first and second-highest scores, therefore designating us to be Paired and married. Bringing Leo here, holding his arm… Undoubtedly they saw it as a threat to our marriage, to the system.
Leo shifted uncomfortably, clasping his hands stiffly behind his back. “Leo Hayes,” he said, reaching out a hand awkwardly. His voice was tight, clearly full of nerves. “Nice to meet you.”
Ruben smiled tightly, a hint of cruelty behind the nicety as he grasped Leo’s hand tightly. “And you, Leonardo.” His voice was short, and he turned to leave, clearly disinterested in the discussion.
“It’s Leo, actually,” Leo retorted suddenly, a subtle blaze behind his words. “Just Leo.”
Ruben turned swiftly, eyes hard as they met Leo’s. Tension stretched the moment, and I fidgeted uncomfortably.
“Leo,” Ruben said slowly, as if tasting the word in his mouth only to find it deeply unpleasant. His face melted into an unpleasant smile—one that reminded me quite a bit of a serpent. Despite his previous attempts to leave, it seemed he had found Leo’s answer amusing enough to stay. “You’re a participant in the Pathway, then?”
Leo glanced at me quickly, clearly uncomfortable.
“He is,” I shot back with a glare, anger flaring up in my veins. Auden just watched the interaction with an increasingly furrowed brow, concern evident in his eyes.
“Ruben, Lucille,” a voice stated from beside me, cool and casual. I almost groaned at the sight of my mother. The last thing Leo needed was to meet yet another person who hated him on principle.
