OPPRESSION
Draconian (adjective): cruel, severe.
DAY 9, HOUR 20: AN HOUR EARLIER
The shifters left for Elite Academy, and Warren went to get food from the cafeteria.
I finally had the room to myself, and the silence was blissful.
Until it wasn’t.
Knock. Knock. Someone was outside.
I stilled.
The door was enchanted to permit inhabitants entry—only an outsider would knock.
Apprehension prickled down my spine as I realized the party had created the perfect opportunity to get me alone. It might have been planned for that very purpose.
Sweat broke out across my forehead.
It was a good plan.
Sun god forbid my family members miss an opportunity to drink themselves into oblivion. Technically, I was twenty-five, but since they were under the misconception that I was a decade younger, I was left out. They’d know I’d be left behind.
Knock-knock-knock—knock.
The pattern was familiar.
Instantly, I felt sick to my stomach.
I was still waiting on a prosthetic for my leg and could barely maneuver around, let alone face who was at the door.
I cursed my family for putting me in this situation. If any of them bothered to use their critical thinking skills, then maybe I wouldn’t be left to shoulder dark consequences, but alas, they were oblivious, insensible, incognizant, and I was cornered.
Sitting on my lower bunk with a heavy tome spread across my lap, I debated the best course of action.
“I know you’re in there,” an ominous voice said.
With a deep, steadying breath, I closed The Ancient Art of War and Manipulating Those Around You and tucked it under my pillow.
I was on the bottom bunk, but it still took effort to roll myself out of bed without falling over. Grabbing onto the bedpost, I jumped on one leg.
My remaining knee was stiff and uncomfortable.
Apparently having my leg burned completely off wasn’t enough trauma, because new growing pains were making my joints perpetually achy. The lovely benefits of being a species who went through puberty in under a year.
I grimaced.
The door was only a few feet away, but it might as well have been miles.
Cursing the High Court for not getting me a prosthetic by now, I hopped forward awkwardly with my arms outstretched. They said they were acquiring one, but every time we asked, they acted weird about it. It had to be an intimidation tactic.
A foot away, I crashed onto the floor.
I crawled awkwardly on my elbows, then grabbed the doorknob and hoisted myself up. Foreboding washed over me as I opened the door.
Frigid air pooled into the room in a flurry of snowflakes and malfeasance.
“Hello, Jinx,” Dick said coldly as he brushed past me and entered the space like he belonged, which made sense because a corrupt oligarch was most at home in the suffering of others.
Cold from outside wafted in.
I hung off the door and said a quote often attributed to Plato, “The price of apathy toward public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.”
Dick smirked. “True.”
We sized each other up as snow and ice dripped off his shoulders.
I white-knuckled the doorknob and said crisply, “Let’s disregard the false niceties and get to the point of this visit.”
The man who controlled us kept smirking at me and said nothing. Another purposeful intimidation tactic.
Our battle of wills persisted.
We’d both shed our masks because there was no use for subterfuge between us. We both knew the worst of each other.
Dick stood up straighter and dropped his mask. Pale skin glowed with health and ruddy fixtures became more sculpted as he said, “I forgot how much you see through me.” He gritted his teeth. “It’s quite refreshing.” An obvious lie.
I pocketed my sunglasses and let him see his death in my eyes.
He had the audacity to bare his teeth with mirth.
Dick was part of the handful of people who were naturally immune to my abilities.
I wouldn’t call them powers, because that word was synonymous with something mighty and impressive, something with the potential to give something to society.
My abilities were Machiavellian in their cruelty.
They only took.
Violently.
Dick wrinkled his nose as he looked around the messy room.
My family were savages, and I was used to it. To expect anything better of them was an act of futility. So I didn’t.
“What do you want?” I held my chin up high, unwilling to cow before him like he wanted me to.
A horrible smile curled the edges of his lips. “I see you’ve begun puberty.” He stared down at me.
It wasn’t a question, so I didn’t respond.
I waited.
Sunset blanketed the room in an eerie lavender glow, and everything the sunlight touched sparkled. There was something off about the extreme beauty of the realm, and it put my teeth on edge.
I had a bad feeling we’d discover something sinister in the glimmering landscape.
It wasn’t a matter of if.
It was a matter of when.
Moving quicker than my eyes could track, Dick grabbed my wrist in a punishing grip and squeezed. The pressure was overwhelming, and my bones creaked.
I screamed.
Something snapped.
I cried out louder as unwelcome tears streamed down my cheeks because unlike everyone else in my family, I was physically pathetic. No amount of mental prowess could make up for the fact that my body was flimsy.
Breakable.
Dick exploited it mercilessly.
I fell hard onto my knee and collapsed forward, my arm twisted in his grip at a horrible angle as snot ran down my nose.
I sobbed pathetically.
Dick wrenched and twisted it further.
“P-P-P-Please,” I blubbered pathetically as spots danced in my vision. A horrible sense of helplessness consumed me.
Click.
Metal fell to the floor, and I followed its trajectory. He released me, and I smashed face forward, unable to stop myself in time.
Blood splattered across my shattered nose as I face-planted onto the chilled concrete floor.
Long moments passed.
I wheezed before my jailer.
“Stand up,” Dick ordered, voice tight with annoyance like he found me deplorable.
It took a few fumbling tries, but finally I pulled myself off the ground using the doorknob, back pressed against it as I put as much space between us as I could.
Watery hiccups racked my slight frame.
“Stop acting so pathetic,” he spat with disgust as he glared at me like I’d disappointed him.
I covered my mouth, but the hiccups didn’t stop.
Copper, snot, and tears pooled across my hands as I trembled. A pitiful mess.
How easy it was to break me.
Shame cornered me. The ability to suffer is a small matter—weak women and even slaves can achieve mastery in that. Nietzsche’s sexist observation was so much crueler because it applied so perfectly to me.
How easily I suffered.
It made me feel miniscule.
I was nothing like Aran.
The disgust that choked me as my knee shook and I gagged on blood was almost worse than the pain in the first place. I hated the sight of blood because it made me woozy.
Another weakness.
Spots slowly receded from my vision, and a noise of shock escaped me as I stared down at the innocuous gold cuff sitting on the floor between us.
I knew from experience that a similar cuff was hidden by enchantments on his own wrist.
“W-W-Why?” I asked shakily as I stared at the invisible metal still heavy on my other wrist.
The sense of foreboding increased.
I wasn’t fool enough to believe it was an act of goodwill.
After I’d used my voice and frozen the worthless shifter who’d kidnapped us back in the beast realm, Dick had increased the number of cuffs from one to two.
He’d neutered me completely.
Sun god forbid I defend myself from attack.
His expression was bored as he pocketed the removed cuff and walked toward my cowering form, then his face twisted with cruelty. “Let me make this very clear, little girl.”
I bristled with indignation because we both knew I was a woman.
It was a mortifying ordeal to be at his mercy.
Dick’s voice was hard as steel. “Make no mistake, your abilities are still mostly constrained. If you try anything—I will personally eliminate you. Your worth only extends as far as you allow yourself to be used, understood?” His voice cracked like a whip, and I jumped.
“Yes,” I said through gritted teeth as I lifted my head and pretended to be stronger than I was.
His expression changed to boredom, and he said clinically, “Seventeen men and women have already been killed in this war. The numbers are unfortunate, and our projections of the war efforts are not pretty. We’ve calculated that all able bodies will be necessary to defeat the ungodly—you’re included in that number.”
I waited.
Tears and snot still running down my face.
He smirked.
“Are you not able-bodied?” he asked mockingly as he stared at the space where my leg used to be.
I fisted my hands and didn’t rise to his bait.
Instead I said slowly, “My species is banned from the High Court realms. If I use my other abilities, I will be executed. I’m not ignorant of my situation.”
“In peacetime, yes.” He smiled condescendingly. “This is war, and the High Court has made an exception on your behalf. Just like we did once before.”
I wrapped one arm around my stomach protectively. “I didn’t want to.”
Instinctually I shielded my organs from a predator that wanted to disembowel me.
He tipped his head back and roared with laughter.
“We both know you’re always the aggressor.” His expression flatlined. “Don’t we?”
“How do I know this isn’t a trick to get me arrested?” I enunciated each word as I tried to steady my jumbled thoughts. It was next to impossible with the pain radiating through my face from my broken nose.
His face was a mask. “You don’t.”
A long moment passed as neither of us spoke.
“Is that all?” I asked haughtily.
We kept staring at each other, and the longer he stood above me, the more I wanted to scream.
He smirked and said, “The High Court will be unable to procure you a prosthetic or hover chair, now—or in the future.”
A ringing echoed in my ears.
“Excuse me?” The room swayed around me. “How am I supposed to get around, let alone fight?”
He tipped his head back and laughed. “You have to keep the monsters neutered. Otherwise, they’ll turn on you.” He smirked. “We both know you’ll be fine.”
Fingernails digging into the concrete wall, I gestured with my head for him to leave.
Time expanded.
He didn’t go.
Muted orange light glowed around Dick, and his features hardened. “You’ll still be punished nightly to ensure your compliance. If you attempt to use your abilities outside of battle, I’ll be alerted and you will be eliminated. If you attempt in any way to overthrow the High Court or work against our objectives—you’ll be eliminated.”
Silence stretched.
Again he smirked. “Am I clear?
“Crystal.”
He rubbed his hands together as he turned to leave. “Glad we could have this chat. Like usual, if you tell anyone about this situation, you and everyone you care for will be tortured beyond recognition.”
He stared into my eyes like he was trying to read my mind.
Inside my head was a vast black lake, and if he tried to step a toe inside the waters, he’d drown.
A part of me wanted him to try.
Breaking eye contact, he shook his head and said, “You’re the only person in centuries who has dared to challenge me.” He smirked like he knew something I didn’t, like he was complimenting me on my strength.
Blood poured down my nose as my nails scraped against concrete.
I didn’t feel strong.
I felt like broken glass, shattered across the floor.
Dick opened the door.
“Wait,” I blurted out, and he stopped but didn’t turn to look at me as frigid air wafted into the room.
For a split second, his side profile changed into something marble-esque. He looked like a familiar statue.
Dick’s ruddy features returned, and I blinked rapidly.
Snowflakes blasted against my skin as the room’s temperature dropped further.
“Why take one cuff off now?” I asked. “Why not wait until there are fewer soldiers? Why do this now? What do you know about the war?”
Dick left without another word, and the door swung closed.
Outside, I glimpsed a towering figure in a dark cloak. Their blue eyes glowed like lightning and were staring directly at me. They always accompanied him.
The door slammed shut.
I slid down onto the floor. For a long moment, I lay panting as shock permeated my bones. The silence surrounded me.
Cradling my throbbing face, I acknowledged that Nietzsche would be satisfied.
The abyss had gazed back into me.
And it hurt.
Warren started when he returned a few minutes later and found me dejectedly sprawled out.
He swore and fell to his knees as he snarled, “They can’t keep fucking hurting you like this. We have to tell the others.”
He knew I was tortured at night and sometimes people paid me a visit, but he didn’t know it was Dick. He didn’t know the cloaked figure was usually present. He didn’t know anything that mattered.
Secrets stood between my life and his death.
Because of what I was, everyone I knew was at risk.
“No,” I said as he wiped blood off my face with a wet washcloth. “We’ll tell them I tripped and fell.”
The shifter frowned, but he didn’t argue as he carried me back to my bed. He gently put down a sandwich from the cafeteria.
“Thanks. You’re a good friend.” I stared down at my covers and cradled my wrist.
Warren sighed as he climbed up into his bunk above mine. “What are we going to do?”
“What we always do.” I gingerly reopened my book with one hand and started reading. “Survive.”
