My heart swells as they come closer, and I completely ignore the man who took her in favor of looking at her.
But there’s a mark on her face.
Several, in fact, all dark and red, just like the ones my mother had.
“I’m sorry,” I mouth as she passes me.
She only blinks at me a couple of times.
I know she can’t talk, she’s not allowed, and if she dared … that man would probably hurt her more when they get back to their hut. Rage fills my veins, and I make a fist as I glare at the guy. I wish I could wrap my hands around his throat and choke him to death.
“Sit,” my father says, and Emmy and the man immediately sit down on two chairs in the front.
The man grabs Emmy’s gloved hand and squeezes it tight. She winces, clearly in pain.
“I hope you know why you’re here,” the president says.
“Yes, thank you so much, president, for allowing me to bring her back,” the man replies. “I owe you my gratitude.”
“God brought you back your wife. Be thankful to him,” the President says.
Wife?
A gasp slips out, but I quickly cover my mouth with my hand.
“Of course,” the man responds, and he bows his head. “Our God is generous and kind.”
“That he is,” the president mumbles. “Unlike my daughter who managed to steal your wife away from you.” My father turns his attention toward me. “See what you have done? You’ve caused this family great pain.”
“I didn’t …” I mutter. “I didn’t even know she was married.”
I gaze at Emmy, who can’t even look me in the eyes. When did it happen? One moment, we were together in the hut, and then the next, she wanted to escape with me over the fence.
Was she already married by then? Is that why she was so determined to run away with me? Because of him?
“It’s irrelevant,” the president growls. “Do you understand what your actions have caused?”
I rub my lips together in an effort to contain my anger. I know they’re watching and listening. All around me are cameras. Nowhere is safe.
“I understand,” I reply, and I glance at Emmy. Her eyes are full of terror.
As though she’s afraid I’m going to tell on her … that I’ll push her to the brink of destruction.
“It was my idea,” I blurt out.
I don’t know why I do, but I can’t stop myself.
“She didn’t wanna come with me. I dragged her.”
Everyone looks at me; the silence is deafening. I quickly glance at Emmy. She’s gently shaking her head, but I ignore her.
“You forced her?” the president asks.
I nod.
“Why?” he asks.
I clear my throat, thinking of a quick response. “Because I didn’t want to be alone.”
His nostrils flare. Another pause follows. “Do you know the pain she has had to endure because of you?”
“I apologize.”
“You should feel sorry,” he says. “Your actions affect everyone around you. Apparently, your time outside has made you forget that simple fact. But you will learn your place here,” he grumbles.
I lower my eyes. I’m probably going to get punished now, but it’s worth it if it means I can keep Emmy out of further trouble, as long as that man she’s with believes my story.
A quick glance in her direction tells me all I need to know because tears have welled up in her eyes and she mouths a, “Thank you,” in my direction.
I gently nod.
“Furthermore,” the president continues. “Do you know how dangerous it was for you to go out there on your own? Pregnant? Without the aid of a man?”
“I—”
“Silence!” His voice echoes through the room. “Listen to my words and don’t interrupt me.”
Wow. No wonder Noah hates him.
“You should’ve known better than to endanger your child,” he growls. “For that alone, I should have you punished.”
Tears well up in my eyes, and in a moment of sheer panic, I lunge to my knees in front of him, hands locked, fingers entwined above my head. “Please, don’t put me in the suffering hut. Please, have mercy.”
He doesn’t say a word.
“Please, I beg you. I have endured so much. I just want this baby to be safe.”
I blink away the tears, hoping he’ll see my plea as honest and truthful even though my heart is filled with so much hatred that I could burn this entire temple down along with all the people in it.
Now I know why my mother did what she did. What pushed her to the brink of insanity.
Anyone would go to those lengths to spare their daughter from the wrath of this man sitting on this throne in front of me.
“Hmm,” he murmurs.
I look up into his eyes. “Please … Father. Have mercy on your only daughter.”
The word father brings a foul taste to my mouth, and it makes me want to rinse it out with soap.
I know Emmy’s watching me, and that she’s probably judging me right now. She knows who I am, where I came from, and she knows I would never see a man like him as my father.
But she must realize my predicament, right? I can only hope she won’t tell a soul about the real me … and that she’ll do the same for me as I did for her.
“It seems you’ve learned to embrace humility as part of our community,” the president says after a while.
“Yes, Father. I understand my mistake now,” I say, nodding while trying to ignore the obvious gawking coming from Emmy’s direction. “I promise you, I won’t ever try to do something like that again.”
I’m lying through my teeth.
I would give anything to escape again, even my own kidney, but that won’t save me now.
“No, you won’t,” he says. “In fact, I presume Noah had something to do with your scheme, so he will be punished as well.”
My eyes widen. “What? No. He fought hard to keep me here.”
He raises his brow. “Is that why he took so long to bring you back? Why I had to jump in and get you myself?”
I swallow away the lump in my throat. I have two choices … rat him out and try to make it out again … or save him like he saved my mother. He hated her guts, yet he pulled her from the fire and got hurt himself.
The choice is simple.
“I was the one who kept him from taking me back,” I say, clutching my hand near my chest. “I was confused … because of my pregnancy.”
The president glares at me as though he expects a better answer.
“Please, don’t hurt him. He tried his best to get me back safely,” I add.
His Adam’s apple moves up and down. “You do realize I know that he knew you were my daughter, right?”
I break out into sweat.
“He purposely kept information from me,” he says. “That alone is punishable with death.”
Even Emmy gasps now.
“He only kept it secret to protect me. Because I didn’t remember my past, he wanted to introduce me to it slowly, so I wouldn’t panic,” I explain. “And it worked. I fell in love with him.”
When I say those words, Emmy looks at me in shock.
“I became his, and we made a child, together. He planned to tell you right after, but then …”
“You ran,” he fills in for me.
“Don’t let your grandchild grow up without a father,” I say, shaking my head. “No one deserves that.”
He mulls it over for a second. “You’re just like your mother.”
I don’t know what that means … or whether it’s even good or not.
He sucks in a breath and stands. “Very well. You’ve convinced me.”
A sigh of relief escapes my mouth.
“But …”
Too soon.
“My grandchild belongs here, in this community as part of a loving Family,” he says, his eyes narrowing. “You will not leave this property ever again. Should you try, you’ll have the blood of your husband and your child on your hands, do you understand?”
I gulp, then nod. It’s a definite threat. One I’m sure he’d make happen if push ever came to shove.
He smiles and sits down again, tapping his fingers together. “Good. Then we’re done here.”
Noah
When someone finally knocks on my door, I immediately open it, hoping it’ll be my salvation from being locked away in a room. “Yes?”
“The president wants to have a word,” the elder says.
I follow him as he traipses downstairs and toward the wing underneath the staircase, where we go into his auditorium. This room is usually only used for occasions when we’d need to speak to the crowd of people and invite them inside to take a seat, but that’s a rare occurrence. Why would he bring me here? Unless … he means to put me on the block in front of everyone to make an example out of me.
But as I walk through the big doors in the back, Natalie passes me, and we look each other in the eye without saying a word. One simple glance says more than a thousand words ever can.
The president wanted a word with her too. I wonder what he had to say … and if she ratted me out to save herself.
I won’t blame her if she did. It’d be the safest option for her. She’d survive. Our child would live. But I would perish, and she knows.
I can only hope she said what she needed to say.
The doors close behind me, and the elder directs me toward the center of the room. On the seat in the front sits the president.
When our eyes lock, it’s as if the earth has been set on fire, and I’m dancing on the charred remains.
“Sit,” the president barks.
I do what he asks and peer up at him on his little throne.
“I want you to know that I only brought you here because of my daughter,” he says.
“What did she say?”
He glares at me as though I said something I shouldn’t have.
“You’re lucky you’re still alive, you know that, right?” he growls.
I nod. “I am aware.”
“Then you should be thankful for every minute.”
I avert my eyes because if I’d look at him now, he’d realize how badly I’d like to murder him. “I am … very thankful,” I say in the softest tone I can muster right now.
“The only reason you’re still alive is because of her,” he says. “Because you have made a child with her. Because she begged for me to keep you alive.”
She saved me?
She’d … do that for me?
I didn’t know I had a heart until it suddenly started beating at right this very moment.
“However, I cannot overlook the choices you’ve made,” he says.
I breathe in and out slowly, trying not to panic.
Everything, all I’ve worked for, my entire life’s plan, could go up in flames from his command.
“You chose not to tell me that Natalie was my daughter. You chose not to tell me that she was pregnant.”
“For her safety,” I mutter.
“Yes, I’m aware, she already told me,” he barks. “You still defied my rule, and for that, I cannot forgive you.”
“I apologize,” I say. “I only did what I thought was best.”
“Then you shouldn’t have let her escape to begin with,” he says, tapping his chair with his fingers. “In fact, I’m starting to wonder how she managed to escape the first time, at such a young age …”
“There is a reason I went along with all those trips my father made,” I explain. “I was searching for her all this time.”
He narrows his eyes. “Convenient.”
“I wanted her back more than anything,” I say. “And I did bring her back.”
“The first time, perhaps, but you failed the second time.”
“I was trying to keep her safe. She was in a very bad mental state because of the pregnancy,” I explain.
He waves it away. “Excuses, excuses …”
“I apologize if I have taken too much time or if anything I said was offensive,” I say. “But I did everything in my power to bring her back safely and unharmed so that she could remain my wife and we could have our child together. It’s all I ever wanted. To continue the legacy of this great Family.”
The silence that follows seems to last forever. I look up into his judgmental eyes, hoping he’ll believe my words and won’t see the truth resting in my eyes.
“I wanted nothing more than a grandchild, and I will not let anyone risk its life, do you understand?” he says. “Not even you.”
“Yes, president,” I reply, licking my lips.
“My daughter will be taken care of properly from now on. You will see to it that she is treated well and that her needs are taken care of,” he says.
Oh, yes. Yes, I’ll most definitely take care of all her needs.
“But …” he adds, pointing at me with his index finger. “If I even catch a whiff of something going wrong …”
I know he doesn’t trust me, and he’s right. But if I’m to survive, if I want this plan to succeed on its very last possible thread, I have to give him something. There’s only one more thing I can try.
“I vow to keep her safe,” I say.
His brow rises. “You vow?”
“Yes,” I say, without hesitation.
“You do realize the gravity of that word?”
I nod. “I am aware …”
“A vow is sacred. It can’t ever be broken or …”
He makes a gesture around his throat, slicing it through with his finger.
No words are necessary. I get the picture.
He leans back against his makeshift throne. “Fine. I accept.”
A weight is lifted off my shoulder, but at the same time, another is added, and this one is much, much heavier.
“Now get out and don’t get in my way again,” he growls.
I quickly get up and bow. “Thank you, President Lawrence. I will do my utmost best to uphold the rules of this community and let it prosper.”
Then I leave as quickly as I came, not sparing a second to even glance at the elder who opens the door for me. There’s no more room in my mind or heart for frivolous, fake greetings and merry smiles.
My soul has darkened, and my conscience has left the building.
My own life is on the line now.
It’s either time to forever fake it or break this entire community into half.
And I plan to do the latter.
