Chapter 93:
Vek’s head was swimming. How long had he been inside that sack, sleepless, standing upright inside those wall-stocks? Now there were bright lights everywhere, where was he? A cafeteria? They were going to try him in a cafeteria, oh rock-god, that meant they were going to do this as publicly as possible, and yes, there was already a crowd, there was already a huge crowd, and Vek was blinking, trying to see, trying to not see anyone he knew, but as soon as he was turned to face the crush of serfs Vek realized at once that it didn’t matter, that it didn’t matter at all whether or not he knew them because everyone, everyone, knew him.
He closed his eyes. At once the bonds tying his hands behind his back were given a sharp tug; Vek opened his eyes again. He could feel the emotion swelling up inside him the way it always did, so easily, too easily, but he couldn’t cry, he couldn’t, not now, not now, please not now, please, please, not now, not now.
After a quick, shuddering breath, Vek was able to notice that he was standing on a table in front of everyone, and that the judge was standing on another table nearby. A brown Free Serf file was in the judge’s hand. Then the judge looked up at the crowd. “From the Free Serf file of Vek Kano,” he said, “I read a transcript of a confession he made upon entering the Free Serfs.”
Vek couldn’t help it. The tears spilled out onto his face. He hung his head and wept, hands still tied behind his back. He listened as the judge read out the secret Vek had shared with Lady Nari when he was eleven years old.
“Father, the man I call Father, isn’t actually my father. He took Mother out of the village to a factory in Industrilia and gave her to an Eenta soldier. After she got pregnant, he took her back. He wanted an Eenta son. He wanted me.”
The judge stopped there. Keep reading! Vek wanted to beg him. Read the part where I tell Lady Nari how much I hate him, how I never stopped hating him for what he did to Mother, how I joined the Free Serfs as soon as I could, how I never stopped proving myself. Tell them how when I was eleven I tried to kill the Eenta who raped my mother, and that that’s why I got branded. Read that part, too!
But the judge didn’t. Instead, he flipped through Vek’s Free Serf file and read aloud a sheet Vek hadn’t even known was in there, a sheet he’d apparently signed, a sheet that indicated he’d accepted the duties and obligations of an interrogator.
By then the murmur going through the crowd had turned into a raucous roar. Vek could hear clearly the abuse hurled at him. Filth! Traitor! He could see their snarling faces, their pointing fingers. Eenta! Eenta!
And then he saw Zedid, her lovely face covered in tears, her hand over her mouth, as she looked at Vek, and then, when he met her eyes, as she looked away.
***
They put him back in the wall-stocks, this time without a sack to cover his head, so that everyone could see and spit at his feet. This time, too, Vek bitterly got his wish. No one he knew came to see him. Not even one.
I don’t understand, he thought, as he bowed his head. How did I get here?
***
By the time Lady Nari came to get him, Vek had lost all track of time. He knew from the windows in the hallway if the sun was out or not, but that was it. Without visitors, he went without food, only getting water once from a quick and carelessly held out ladle. It could have been for a whole diurnal. He didn’t know, and Lady Nari didn’t tell him.
Besides, it was her attendant who actually came and fetched Vek from the wall-stocks. Vek followed her mutely, standing back and to the side as she handled the guards in the elevator bays. He didn’t say anything as she led him to Lady Nari’s chamber. When she gestured him into the bathroom, he went in, took off his soiled clothes, and washed himself. He put on the clean clothes that she gave him, lay down on the daybed she pointed to, and then slept.
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
He woke up sometimes to the sound of speech, but since nobody seemed to be talking to him directly, Vek didn’t get up. One time it was the smell of food that roused him, and at that, Vek did sit up. There was a new drum table beside the wall which no longer had a tapestry across it; Lady Nari’s attendant was sitting and eating. She gestured at Vek to join her, and he did. The two of them ate silently, together. Vek was glad she didn’t try to talk to him.
He was halfway done with his meal when he heard the door open. He glanced over to see Lady Nari at the doorway. Habit forced him to stumble up onto his feet. “Lady Nari,” he whispered.
“I have a new mission for you,” she replied.
Vek searched internally for his usual excitement at the idea of a mission and came up with nothing. He bowed his head.
“You’ll have to leave Lost Technology Castle to do it though.”
Hearing that lifted Vek’s head. “When can I go?”
“In a diurnal and a half, sunstir of the 42nd.”
Vek closed his eyes. “Thank you,” he whispered.
“Finish eating, then I’ll brief you.”
“Yes, Lady Nari.”
***
Vek sat and listened quietly as Lady Nari explained how Sukren had betrayed them. “It was Sukren who took the Promised Daughter the night they disappeared. Why, or where she is now, we don’t know, but I heard from one of my spies in LakeCentral Castle that Sukren is there now, under custody. Your mission is to contact my spy, arrange access to Sukren, and find out from him the location of the Promised Daughter.”
So it was Sukren, Vek thought. His mind felt muddy. Sukren, Sukren too…
“Lord Dasgu found out before I did that Sukren took the Promised Daughter across the shelterbelt. That was why he pulled out of the Free Serfs and declared himself queen of the Eenta. I know now that he was contemplating invading the Xhota and taking over their quinter in order to raid the Cursed himself, but even he knew he wouldn’t be able to conquer the Xhota easily. They value their independence as much as the rest of us.
“The Xhota have nothing though. No natural resources, nothing but their bazaar stalls. Of course they agreed to his offer to take them in under his protection and give them resources and local autonomy – in exchange for raiding the Cursed.
“He wouldn’t have told the Xhota though, that the purpose of the raid was to procure the Promised Daughter and her guardian. He must have had them do the raid blind so they wouldn’t realize what valuable political pieces they were passing onto him.”
It was then that Lady Nari smiled. Vek registered it dimly.
“For all his effort, our sources report that the Promised Daughter wasn’t with the Cursed when the Xhota raided them. Like I said, where she is now we don’t know, but neither do the Eenta. If we can squeeze it out of Sukren first, we can get ahead of them. This is where you come in. You’ll be going with a Rajas delegation of older princesses. Officially they’ll be there to negotiate a trade for Sukren. You’ll act as their guardservant. This is to give you the freedom to be unnoticed, to find Sukren and question him on your own. Once you have the information you need from Sukren, abandon the Rajas delegation in LakeCentral and find your own way back here to Lost Technology.”
Lady Nari was looking at Vek. He was supposed to respond. He tried to nod. Apparently she was satisfied because she continued.
“The Rajas delegation will be offering one of the queens in exchange for Sukren. Both are in Chenta possession, and that very much galls the Eenta. They’re desperate to get their hands on at least one before the Night of the Dome. That’s the only reason they’re welcoming a delegation from us at all. Now these Rajas have been instructed to follow your lead. Make sure to have them hint, but never agree to, a trade. Their job is to draw out the negotiation process for as long as you need to find and question Sukren. They are not to finalize a deal. The Promised Daughter would be worth a queen. Sukren isn’t.”
***
Later that night, Vek lay on his side and watched the breathflowers burning brightly in the darkness outside the window of the empty mini-lounge he’d found. He didn’t want to think too deeply; it would hurt too much. But one thing that did keep coming back to him was Lady Nari’s promise. Everything will be perfect.
Now that the Uprising’s happened, everything will be perfect.
I guess it’s me, then. It’s me who isn’t perfect. The Uprising is perfect, but me, I can’t be a part of it, because of who I am.