Chapter 14: Chapter 14

“My mom spends the rest of that day making sure Abby’s cleaning jobs are done and that Master Hector’s glass is always full.

“The other women wonder where Gael is and what she’s doing, but my mom spins such detailed lies that they don’t have any questions left or reasons to dwell on the thought.

“By the end of the day, hardly anyone even realizes Gael isn’t eating supper with them.

“My mom is careful to stay calm and cheerful, though as soon as she’s alone she paces in front of the windows and twists the hem of her dress until it rips. She longs for news, for the hope that Gael is okay.

“She can’t see the village from the house, but she knows it’s only a twenty-minute walk. They don’t have lights there because the walls aren’t thick enough, and the lights would be seen by the enemy.

“Which means that, as my mom watches the sun go down, Gael is either alive and childless or dead.”

“Gael did survive, didn’t she?” the journalist asks.

“In the end, I don’t know what happened to her. I don’t know what happened to any of the other women in that house either. They all died, obviously, but if they were killed, blown up, or incinerated, I can’t tell you.

“My mom wasn’t able to find them again. My dad thought she blamed herself.”

“Oh.” The journalist looks down at her hands for a moment with a small frown. “Did Gael make it back to the house though? Childless?”

“She did. But it wasn’t like my mom had imagined or hoped. A month from then, there was a special meeting. But my mom was unaware of it.

“She knew a few times a year, the Masters from all over Albion would gather at one house and discuss Albion. They were called Meetings, and it was during these Meetings that military strategies and Perfect women were discussed.

“My mom never paid much attention to this, but had she known she wouldn’t have sent Gael out so close to the date. Security was tightened, and workers were checked and double-checked before they were let inside.

“At the appointed time, my mom went downstairs to wait for Gael and Abby, but they didn’t come. She waited until the sun had fully risen and she was forced to return upstairs to eat and not seem suspicious.

“But the worst surprise awaited her in the dining room. She discovered Abby tied to a chair, beaten and bleeding. Beside her, Crippled Abby was unharmed but crying.

“Gael was there too, wearing the workers’ rags. She was also crying and bleeding. Master Hector held her arms pinned against her back.

“Albion soldiers filled the room, and Eric was there too, sipping his drink and staring at the two victims. Master Hector was the one screaming and hitting Gael over and over again.

“My mom was in complete shock when Crippled Abby saw her. She crawled toward her, crying out her name. Instinctively my mom reached down and picked her up.

“The room grew silent except for Crippled Abby’s sobs muffled against my mom’s chest.”

***

“Alex!”

It’s Eric. He rises from his chair fast and rips Crippled Abby from my arms. The child screams, and so does Abby.

“Eric, no!” I reach up for the child, but he holds her out of my grasp.

“She’s a Cripple!” he spits at me.

“She’s a baby!” I snap back.

He looks at me in surprise. I reach up and pull her from his grasp. She comes easily into my arms. Abby watches me with wide eyes, her cheeks stained with tears and blood.

“A Cripple is not a foreign contamination,” I tell the men in the room. I set Crippled Abby on the ground and whisper to her, “Get out of here, child. Go find someone else.”

She leaves, stumbling and sobbing. Eric watches her go, then turns back to me, his eyes narrowing in anger.

“What do you have to do in this story?” he hisses at me.

I stare at him, my mind racing. I see Gael and Abby, both shattered. Abby shakes her head ever so slowly. My hands begin to sweat, and a terrible dread washes through me.

I look at the ground when I speak. “If you should beat anyone in this room, it should be me. It was my idea.”

I can’t look at Eric, but I can guess his expression. My whole body trembles in horror at the words I’ve just spoken.

At the same time, something is released inside me and I want to keep going. Keep tossing off the weight I was carrying on my shoulders.

“Your idea?” Master Hector shouts. He throws Gael to the ground and marches over to me. The soldiers make room for him to pass.

As he towers over me, fuming, I can smell the alcohol on his breath. “Your idea?” he bellows in my face. “You little bitch! It was your idea to destroy the life of a future Perfect! Of my child!”

“Not ~your~ child, Master Hector,” I whisper, not daring to look up at him. “~Her~ child. Gael’s child. She’s the mother of eight Perfect children who will all serve Albion well in their time.”

My words come out fast and blurred. “Men don’t have children. They help us create life, but we’re their mothers because they go off and they protect us. That’s how this system works.

“You protect us differently, but it remains the same. It must. We belong to Albion. Our children belong to Albion, not to you.”

There is silence in the room, and I sneak a peek at the furious Master towering over me.

His hand moves faster than I expect. It catches me across the cheek and sends me sprawling against the ground. I don’t dare to make a noise, but my cheek stings and my head spins.

He’s above me again, his fists clenched in preparation to punch me. I watch as one swoops down toward my face.

It’s stopped, suddenly, by Eric, who pulls Master Hector off me. “Let me deal with her,” he growls.

Eric seizes my wrist, yanking me to my feet. I manage a quick glance at Abby and Gael before he drags me out of the room.

We don’t go far. Eric hauls me downstairs and shoves me into a room I’ve never seen before. The door slams shut behind him.

The room is large and circular, with a round table in the center surrounded by chairs. A massive Eternal Albion flag hangs on the wall.

But I don’t have time to take in the details. Eric grabs my shoulders, spins me around, and slams me against the edge of the table.

“You!” he hisses. “How could you?”

“I was saving her life!” I respond quickly.

His hand connects with my face in a harsh slap. I gasp in pain. It’s the first time Eric has hit me. It hurts more than Hector’s slap. I look up at him, his face twisted in rage.

“You ruined the life of a future Perfect!” he snarls at me.

My heart pounds in my chest, and my blood feels like ice. His piercing eyes bore into mine. It’s like a nightmare come to life. I’ve given Eric a reason to doubt me.

Fear makes my body shake. I’ve put my daughter in danger. How could I have been so foolish?

“Do you realize how much you’ve embarrassed me?” he screams. “You stupid, stupid girl!

“Did you think you had power? Did you think that just because you’re here, that because you’re privileged to spend your nights with me, that you’re powerful?

“You’re not powerful, Alex! You’re nothing! You’re here because I allow it! You live off of me!

“How could you embarrass me like this? How can I face my brothers after what you’ve done? You’ve ruined a Perfect life! That’s treason!”

“She was dying,” I say, my voice steadier than I feel, my eyes wide.

Eric slaps me again, harder than the first time. I fall to the floor, but I know better than to stay there. I scramble onto my knees and bow my head in submission.

“Don’t speak unless I tell you to!” he snaps.

He paces in front of me, then grabs a handful of my dress and yanks me to my feet. He spins me around and presses me against the wall. His hands dig into my shoulders, his face inches from mine.

“She was pregnant. It’s normal for her to be weak at a time like that,” he growls at me. “She wasn’t dying.”

“Yes, she was.” I take a deep breath, feeling something inside me break.

“Have you ever been pregnant, Eric? Do you know the strain? The energy it takes to grow a human inside your body for nine months?

“And then the sleepless nights, the breastfeeding, the exhaustion that follows? You have no idea what it does to us.

“Gael was six months pregnant, and her last child is only seven months old! He forced her a month after he was born! She’s been pregnant almost non-stop for the last five years!”

Eric pulls back from me. His fingers loosen on my shoulders.

“Eric, I might not know anything about war, history, or foreign countries, but I do know a lot about pregnancy. There’s a reason we wait until our children’s first birthday to return to establishments.

“If we didn’t, we wouldn’t survive. We would be so exhausted, and our children would die.

“Gael has been pushed beyond her limits. She was dying, Eric. Dying, and I had to save her life. I couldn’t stand by and watch that child take it from her!”

I stare at him, wide-eyed. He stares back at me. Then he moves his hand up to my face.

“You’ve become bold,” he murmurs.

I shudder. He moves closer to me, his fingers trailing down my throat.

“I apologize, Master,” I whisper, bowing my head and dropping to my knees.

Eric looks down at me. “Don’t act like that,” he says darkly. “Not with me. I like it when you’re bold.”

He grabs my wrist and pulls me back to my feet. Then he pins me against the wall again. He lowers his head and touches his forehead to mine.

“But I’m very angry with you right now, Alex,” he whispers. “Very, very angry.”

His hands start to roam my body, and I close my eyes.

“Alex, I will be the only one to judge your reasons. So you’d better tell me exactly why you killed that Perfect baby before it even had a chance to live. Tell me fast before I change my mind,” he hisses.

His body presses against mine. One hand grips my collar while the other wraps around my waist.

“Master,” I whisper, “she was dying. I had to save her. Now she can have more children if Master Hector gives her more time. She could have more children. Please don’t hurt Gael or Abby anymore. I forced them both.”

“You forced them both?” he hisses.

“I did, Master.”

“You stupid girl,” he hisses.

I bow my head and look down as he continues to press against me.

“I understand what I’ve done, the crime I’ve committed. But I would do it again, every time, to save her life,” I whisper.

Eric is silent. I feel his breath against my face. “A Perfect killing a Perfect,” he whispers.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

“An unborn fetus isn’t a Perfect. I had to wait until my seventeenth birthday to be a Perfect. I am sad I destroyed a life before it had a chance to live, and I will never forget that.

“And I will always remember that fetus, but I won’t regret it. Because Gael is still here, and her son still has a mother. And that’s what’s important. To me, to her, to Master Hector. And most importantly to Albion.”

“So what made you send her to the workers?” he growls. “How did you know they could do the operation?”

“I didn’t know for sure. I guessed, I hoped. I couldn’t do it here. I lack the medical knowledge and the equipment. And none of the doctors or nurses here would have agreed.

“I figured that since they make their own food and live independently, they must have more skills than me.

“And most of the people there are Defectives, women who have already had children, witnessed miscarriages, and seen blood and fetuses. They would be able to keep a level head.

“With time on their hands and peace, Gael had a better chance than me trying to operate on her in my room at midnight. So I sent her away. I never knew.”

“A risk Gael was willing to take?”

“A risk that I was willing to take. She was too weak to realize what I was doing. It was my decision,” I say quickly.

Eric looks at me. I lower my gaze, but he grabs my face, forcing me to meet his eyes. He glares at me, his dark eyes piercing mine. His fingers dig into the side of my face. I try to keep my trembling under control.

“You will be punished for your crime, Alex, and I won’t protect you,” he growls at me.

Tears start to stream down my cheeks. He breathes heavily into my face. “Did you think you would get away with this? Were you planning to lie to us?” he asks.

“I don’t know, Master,” I whisper. “I just wanted to save her life.”

Eric chuckles, then he pulls away from me, laughing harder. I watch him pace a few steps away from me. He keeps his eyes on me, still chuckling.

“That’s your thing, isn’t it, Alex? You like saving people.” He smirks at me. I lower my head. “Look at me!” he snaps, marching toward me.

He grabs the side of my face and holds it close to his. He uses his body to pin me against the wall again.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you!” he growls, pressing his forehead to the side of my face. “You would betray Albion to save someone.”

“I traded a Perfect woman for what would likely have been a motherless, unhealthy baby,” I whisper.

Eric chuckles again. “But that wasn’t your decision to make, was it?” he says. I shake my head slowly. “And so you regret it, don’t you?”

“Yes, Master.”

“And you will never, ever do anything like that again, will you?”

“No, Master.”

“See how generous I am? See how good I am to you?”

“Yes, Master. You are very kind to me,” I reply.

He chuckles again and nudges my nose with his. “I am.” He smiles to himself, then slowly pulls away from me.

I watch him as he moves around the room once, running his fingers through his coarse blond hair. Eventually, he stops and faces me again.

“The problem is that you committed treason, Alex. I am very powerful, but I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to protect you from this,” he tells me seriously.

“You have to face this alone,” he continues, looking angry. “If you make it out, I’ll be there for you.”

I look at him and wipe away the tears staining my cheeks. “Thank you, Master,” I whisper.

He frowns at me and moves toward me again. “You’re welcome. Now stop your crying. I don’t like it when you cry. I don’t want you to appear weak in front of the others. You can only show your weakness to me, Alex.”

I nod and let him wipe my tears with his thumbs. He gives me a nod, and then he grabs my arm and pulls me back out of the room.