Upon reaching the underground subway system, Rea could hardly restrain herself from asking what felt like a million questions. When had Al been taught to use magic? Why hadn’t he ever mentioned it before during their rides on the subway? How did he know the guy who had tried to kidnap her and Griffin? These questions and a thousand more sped through her head as the three of them descended concrete steps leading to the platform where the subway would arrive before taking them into the High Districts.
The subway station had an ominous feel, not appearing much safer than the neighborhood above, but it was the only way to get from the Low Districts to High. The dirt covering the ground and black bugs crawling from cracks in the concrete walls were accompanied by the strong scent of body odor and cat piss. There were large, square “No Magic” posters hanging limply from the walls, illuminated by flickering fluorescent lights. People who had been looking to avoid the afternoon sun were scattered throughout the station—either sprawled out laying on rugged sleeping bags and stained clothes or laying against the wall dejectedly with their heads down.
“How did you know where to find us?” It was the first question Rea was able to piece together upon arriving at the platform, still in a temporary state of shock from almost being kidnapped. Al pretended to ignore the question at first, hunched over his cane between Rea and Griffin, looking around as if to see if anyone was close enough to hear their conversation.
“Patience, Rea,” Al said at last, apparently satisfied that it was safe to talk, “even if there isn’t anyone close enough to overhear our conversation, it will be safer to talk about this once on the subway.” Al gave the pair of them a meaningful look and continued to look around again suspiciously contradicting his own words. As the sternness of his voice softened, there was a glimpse of worry that appeared in his eyes for a moment before gaining control of himself. Rea shivered and suddenly couldn’t help but feel as if perhaps someone was watching them.
So instead of talking the three of them waited in awkward silence for about five minutes before the subway came zooming down the track. While they were waiting, Rea barely noticed the chatter of people waiting for the subway, which was abruptly interpreted by a homeless man screaming in the background. “They are coming!” screamed the man at the top of his lungs, “I swear to you, everybody run, and if you can’t run, hide! They are coming for us, they are coming for all of us!” Who the man was referring to and why he thought they were coming for them was lost on Rea, so she shrugged it off assuming the man was simply out of his mind.
After hearing the release of the hydraulic brakes, indicating that the subway had come to a complete stop, the group shuffled in against a flow of people returning to the Low Districts for the night. Most didn’t even bother to look up at the mass of people slowly inching their way towards the train entrance, determined to make it on before the doors closed. They found a seat towards the back of the cab away from everyone else, with the exception of a man laying on the bench across from them with beanie pulled over his eyes. The man’s chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm, suggesting that he was still alive but likely sleeping. Still looking a bit anxious, and reluctant to continue their conversation, Al began to speak in a hard tone that said he was not pleased with the two of them.
“Haven’t I told you not to go roaming around after dark?” making an accusatory glance in Rea’s direction, “You are to come straight to the subway when you have to work, no detours.” Despite his hard voice, Al said the words in a way that was someone fatherly, making seeming more disappointed than merely upset. Turning to Griffin, “And as for you, I would have thought your parents always fretting about you staying out of trouble would put some sense into you. Or at least enough reason to know better than to follow Rea around town after dark. Were you planning to walk back home by yourself?”
Griffin was squirming under the hard gaze of Al, trying frantically to protest but being cut off.
“And how I found you tonight had nothing to do with anything but a bit of luck. Had I not had business on the opposite site of the Lows this afternoon, I would have missed the two of you entirely. And to think that it would be Rubin who found the pair of you. I couldn’t think of a worse person to get wrapped up with.” He said that last sentence, emphasizing the name Rubin, with the utmost disgust.
The weight of Al’s lecture was beginning to sink; he continued for another minute or two moving from scolding them for their actions to making them promise to make better decisions in the future. Any attempt Rea made at interjecting was quickly cut off. Griffin had given up on making his position known—slouching on the bench with his head down despondently—clearly at a loss for words.
After deciding he had made his point, Al took a deep breath, and changed his tone to one of fatherly concern, “I know it’s hard to hear, and it's never fun to be told you were in the wrong, but you both need to learn that the Low Districts aren’t as safe as previously were.” When Rea looked up, she noticed that the hard look had softened, and Griffin had worked up enough nerve to look up and meet Al’s eyes. In that moment, Rea flushed with embarrassment, she had been so concerned with defending her actions that she hadn’t had the mind to thank Al for saving them.
“Thanks, Al.” Rea said in a quiet voice. Griffin nodded in agreement.
“Of course,” Al replied, a sly grin splitting his face, “Just don’t let it happen again as I won’t be as kind the next time,” he said with a wink to Rea.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
The subway was still in transit—probably about five minutes from the High District if Rea had to guess. As they sped along, Rea noticed other unlit tunnels branching off to other destinations throughout the Society. The tunnel’s walls were filled with graffiti of simple phrases like, “Down with the Highs” and gang signs Rea did not know the meaning of. Trash littered the entirety of the dirt tunnel. The subway tunnels below ground were off limits according to the law, but the vastness of the underground paths were much too large for it to be enforced. Besides, most of the paths had long since been abandoned and Rea would have been willing to bet that there wasn’t a soul in the city who could tell you where most of them led. Taking advantage of the lull in conversation, Rea resumed her questioning of Al.
“Keep your voice down.” Al said at the first mention of magic, looking across to the man laying on the bench for any reaction that he had heard, “the Society has informants throughout the Low Districts as well as the High that look for people unlawfully using magic.” Rea lowered her voice in compliance while Griffin leaned in closer to all, looking forward to Al’s explanation.
“I was trained at the Briar Academy,” Al said at last, “an underground school of magic for Low Borns. It was created after the civil war, a way for us Lows to train in secret and build up our resistance.” Rea could hardly contain her shock, immediately probing with follow up questions and receiving a firm hush from Al. As far as she knew, the resistance had been squashed when the High Borns won the war. Even spurious claims of resistance activity were thwarted quickly and quietly by the Society—making associating yourself with the cause openly a sure death sentence. Griffin was just as shook by the revelation, mouth hanging open and eyes wide. Despite their brief outburst, Al continued.
“But I was trained during the civil war, specifically for combat, back when there were battles breaking out every other day. We were always overmatched, but we held as strong as could be expected given the resources we had. In many ways, our small successes could be attributed to Briar himself, the original leader of the resistance. Briar is still widely considered the best sorcerer the world has ever known, among Highs or Lows.”
“What happened to him?” Griffin interjected, looking up at the old man with utter fascination— Griffin’s favorite class in school was history after all—having gotten over his initial shock. Based on his reaction, it was obvious that this was not a topic covered in his classes at school.
“He was taken by the High Borns,” Al leaned back and closed his eyes behind his spectacles for a moment while shaking his head as if not quite believing what he was saying to be true. “Tortured. Executed. Shown no mercy. Briar was ultimately used as an example to the Lows of what would come of people trying to undermine the Highs control.” After taking a deep breath and taking a moment to gather himself, he continued, “The resistance was all but finished after that. We did the best we could to regroup, but every new leader appointed failed to live up to the job. Seeing no path forward, the resistance agreed to cease fighting, attempt to preserve what was left and live to fight another day, which is when the school opened.” Having said what he felt like was more than enough explanation, Al looked at the pair of them in turn, waiting for some reaction, while trying to muster some of his previous composure.
Griffin looked at her, trying to get a read on how she was taking it all in, but Rea avoided his eyes, deep in thought. This meant that there were Lows in hiding who had learned to use magic. It meant that her people had not bowed down and accepted defeat; her people were still trying to fight back against the control the High Borns had over them.
Contemplating the thought of her people fighting back, she realized that she had developed a strong hatred for the Highs— a hatred that burned in the pit of her stomach permeated throughout the rest of her body—and what they had forced her people to endure. The Lows were confined to live in run down neighborhoods, making ends meet with barely enough money or food to survive, and having to work tirelessly for the Highs with no prospect of ever rising in the social hierarchy. Lows were told strictly what they could and could not do; they were kept down so that the Highs could use them as a kickstand to support their control of the Society. To Rea, this only left her with one real option.
“How can I enroll in the Briar Academy?” she said with determination in her voice.
Al’s face rapidly from slightly relieved at having said his part to angry again with himself at fear of having said too much. Even Griffin’s face when from contemplative to one of utter surprise.
Al leaned turned towards Rea and said the words quietly and firmly, “You will not be enrolling, Rea. It is far too dangerous. Students at Briar die every year, making fatal mistakes trying to wield magic they aren’t ready for or creating haphazardly made potions that turn out to be poisonous. There have also been student disappearances as of late, presumably taken from High Born agents living in the Low District to root out signs of resistance.” Al paused for a moment with a worried expression on his face, looking as if he knew some of the students who had disappeared, “Besides, you have your mother to think about Rea, and Griffin is already attending school here in the Low District. It would be a horrible decision for either of you to even consider such a thing.”
Rea could sense the finality in his voice, her face heating as Al continued with reason after reason as to why enrolling would be a mistake. It was not just that he rejected the idea of her enrolling in the academy that upset her, but that his reasoning was quite sound, as if rubbing salt on a fresh wound.
Hearing all of this from Al, she became angry with herself for even getting her hopes up for a moment that she would be able to enroll in the Academy. She wouldn’t be of any use to the resistance. She had never attended school before and between taking care of her mother and working her evenings at the bakery, she barely had enough time to sleep. Despite her anger, she couldn’t help but feel like this had been her one chance. Her one chance to contribute to something greater than herself, her one chance to give back to her people, and most importantly, her one chance to finally fulfill her lifelong dream of using magic and receiving an education simultaneously. Rea considered all of this while listening to Al and Griffin going back and forth about the Briar academy, completely and utterly lost in thoughts of what could have been.