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Awakening: Hunter's Gambit
10: An Unyielding Perspective

10: An Unyielding Perspective

POV Seth

Through the large floor-to-ceiling windows, the horizon had blanketed the sky over the Academy campus in hues of reds and purples, signaling that the evening’s curfew wasn’t far. This terrible session would reach its conclusion, and Seth would bury himself in his nightmares, leaving the tempting mystery pill on his torturer’s altar. He would not be returning to another session.

Everything she had brought up barely mattered in the grand scheme of things. He’d survive as long as he maintained his position at the head of the Squad and as a student at the Academy.

When he thought this session couldn’t get any worse, the therapist prompted, “Regina’s betrayal must have shaken you.” It almost sounded like a question.

Seth had to be careful about how he answered anything regarding Regina. This viper wouldn’t hesitate to turn that girl’s good fortune into a nightmare. After all, Regina lacked the generational pedigree that doctor Yan would approve of.

“What are you getting at?” Seth tried not to sound curt, but his patience with this woman was at its limit. Her change of tactics had not gone unnoticed, opting to attack Seth’s defenses on two fronts, wearing him thinner. She had saved the most sensitive issue for last, long after she had eroded his tolerance of her through trivial stressors. Doctor Margaret Yan was a formidable opponent.

“The signing of her marriage contract,” doctor Yan smiled. She enjoyed stabbing him through the heart.

His breath caught and his stomach knotted, but he forced a smile, refusing to allow this terrible woman her victory. “I’m happy for her.” He didn’t elaborate. Anything he said might ruin Regina’s arrangement.

Regina was an unsponsored third year Tier 1 student at the Academy. It was with a note of pride that she was the first in her family to attend. Unfortunately, she is also the only member of her large family who will ever attend.

She and Seth had dated in their second year, as part of a mutual agreement. Regina was direct with her offer, testing Seth’s wants against her judgment of his character. She was committed to her goal in attaining a favorable marriage contract, and in order to attain her goal, she needed to make a few sacrifices. To safely navigate the hormonal minefield that was an unsupervised campus full of teenagers, she established a relationship with someone who was just as focused on their own goals as she was on hers.

Regina had three choices for her life path. Service on the Killing Fields, like Seth. A marriage contract, where she would provide offspring to one genetic donor, with the legal requirement being six children. Or through a breeding contract to provide offspring to the highest bidder. Breeders were bound by the base requirement of six off-spring but often remained a breeder throughout their lives. They had a strict no contact policy with their children or their lovers.

Regina was family oriented, but had a deep loathing of Breeders, lowering their status as being little more than whores. In the end, she only ever really had one choice. She had listed herself as a marriage candidate when she was twelve.

No institute would allow a child marriage, but the candidate could start gaining a resume of offers pretty much since birth, increasing her desirability factor.

With parental consent, Regina could marry as young as sixteen. Her parents had stipulated that the only reason they’d permit such a crude arrangement was if the chosen partner was of a higher social status. What they really meant was that her future husband had to earn more money than they did. They had aspirations for their Regina, university, and a career path filled with the opportunities they never had.

She had never considered the possibility of marrying before eighteen. As far as the elites were concerned, she had too many flaws. Her pedigree being chief among the errors in her character. She presented traces of the exotic lineage of the old tribes that used to roam the lands in ancient times. For a woman of her social status, her confidence was unwarranted, her intelligence was a threat when they demanded subservience and obedience. Her beauty was the only desirable element for the elite, but from the messages she had shared with Seth, he felt she was more of a collector’s piece than a human.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Her attending the Academy was part of improving her value on the market, an element she had learned when she viewed her competitor’s profiles. Like Seth, she wanted to give herself the best possible odds of success.

It made Seth sick just thinking about it.

“It must have hurt to have learned that she was moving on. You were… close.”

He saw no point in lying about their relationship. It was platonic. They were each other’s support system and cheerleaders. Not that the average flesh and blood human being would understand, let alone believe that. Especially from a teenager.

For a second, he considered saying nothing, but realized both statements were loaded and damaging if he left them alone. He might redirect the viper’s focus onto him. But would that reveal that he was hiding something? Would she hurt Regina just to get at him?

He hated this game.

“I routinely helped Regina filter through marriage candidate profiles and requests. It was educational.” ‘To the level of perversion, the things you people subject to those you deem lesser,’ he wanted to add.

He had seen everything from maintaining a specific weight requirement, to birthing only sons, to the number of sexual acts she’d be required to perform, sometimes not to exclusion of her marriage partner. Seth was certain that several private requirements were just an effort to scare her off, to signal that they felt she was disposable.

He had helped her design a list of her requirements. “You sound like my mother!” She had laughed, her rich, joyous laughter. “I think mom would have accepted you as a candidate.”

“Four years too late, though,” Seth shrugged. He considered now that he had probably missed a really important signal. He couldn’t make an offer until he returned from the war. If he returned from the war…

Still, he helped her to develop her way-out clauses. Given her mother’s profession as a lawyer, she’d write up the details as required. His parents wanted her safe above all else. But all Regina saw was the reduction of proposals, and that rattled her deeply as her eighteen-birthday loomed ever nearer.

“I knew what her plans were. I knew we would have to say goodbye. Whether it was through my service to the Nation and its people or her getting married and serving the Nation through childbearing. We both knew there was an end. Knowing helped us stay focused on our goals. Regina needed to maintain her integrity to appease elite double standards.”

The therapist made a note and Seth's stomach lurched. Had he said too much?

In the very end, they had failed. When she had told him that her parents had approved of an arrangement, she had come to him in tears. The shock of losing her a year too early was too much to bear. With the service notices, the request to have him sit out the last game, everything… it was all too much…

“My end of it was about focusing on my sponsor’s requirements. Regina spent much of her second year helping with odd-jobs so I’d have time to study.” Maybe he shouldn’t have said that. Maybe he’d lose a portion of pay to Regina, who only volunteered to clean a few tables, and maybe sweep the floor a few times. She’d hand him tools or hold modules open while he tinkered with electronics. Her help freed up a lot of his time.

She’d spend time with him because of the social expectations of a girlfriend. A convenient excuse to avoid aggressive male suitors. He hadn’t used her in the same way. He found female interest blatantly disrespectful, as the overly confident few would make their move while in Regina’s presence. Seth and Regina would laugh about it later. Seth was shocked at their boldness while Regina picked out their imperfections.

“You deem Regina disposable.” the viper’s words slipped through her lips with a hint of glee.

Seth seethed. “I want what is best for Regina. That’s not with me.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Was there a question? All I heard was you twisting my words. Keep telling me what I feel, what I think. So far, I think this entire conversation has been one-sided. You’ve made it clear that you’re not here to help me.” He couldn’t stop himself. And when the smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth, the last thread of his patience was severed.

He found himself on his feet, shouting, “You’ve already decided the story you want to hear. I don’t even know why I even bothered asking for help at this point. Keep your damn meds! I’m not begging for your scraps!” He stormed from the room, slamming the door behind him.

“Your assessment isn’t over,” doctor Margaret Yan shouted to assert her last word over the disastrous session she had engineered. He heard the pleasure in her command. Somewhere deep inside, his spirit braced itself for the next attack.

He grumbled under his breath, unable to contain his rage. He suspected he was grumbling rather loudly, given the way the secretary pivoted toward him as he thundered past her desk. “I’d like to file a complaint!” he yelled at her. Took a deep breath, and in a tightly controlled voice, repeated his statement.

She nodded. “You’ll have to go through the administration application for the service.” Seth didn’t have his tablet with him, having left it with his gear at his bunk. He hadn’t foreseen the need for it. He’d file one when he got back to his barracks.