The Lotus Effect (Rise Of The Ardent) (23 page)

Chapter 23

Hidden Motives ~ Small Things

       
After having slept for an entire day, I found it difficult to find respite from my worry. I lay in bed that night, troubled by the events of the past few days and especially disturbed by the strange way Xander had acted after I emerged from the safe house.

       
He tiptoed around me as if my every action was going to break me. I found his demeanor questionable being that he was the type to toss girls down wells to toughen them up. Perhaps he wasn’t as fond of me when we first met, and now, maybe he was? If that was the problem he needed to get over it fast. He cannot be dawdling over me every few moments in the Barrage.

       
He told me so himself.

       
I closed my eyes, forcing the images of an exploding workshop to the back of my mind. My hearing and equilibrium were much improved from what they were earlier. Hopefully by the Genesis Ceremony tomorrow I will be back to full health. If not, I hoped I could make it appear that way.

       
Relaxing the tension from my arms and legs, I cleared my mind, drawing the soft blankets to my chin. The piercing crescendo of the Sonic Spike lingered just beyond the edge of my consciousness: a screaming echo demanding I never forget. Rolling to my side, I carefully folded the memory and tucked it within me. I would deal with it later. Right now: I needed sleep.

       
A slight creak sounded behind me. A compression of sound. Then suddenly—a release.

       
Not again
, I thought.

       
Someone was in my room.

       
Not giving away the fact I was awake, I silently gripped the handle of the dagger I kept hidden under the far side of my mattress.

Not waiting to hear another sound to help confirm my suspicion, I leapt to my feet. In one fluid maneuver I kicked the blankets from my body and into the air, momentarily surprising my intruder—the sheets spinning like the layers of a twirling gown. A dark silhouette moved to avoid it. My senses had not failed me. There
was
someone in my room.

Leaping from the bed, I tackled a muscular body in the midsection, knocking it to the ground. My own knees slammed to the floor, sending a jolt of pain straight to the soles of my feet. Ignoring it, I quickly mounted my uninvited guest with knife secured at their throat.

Breathing heavily, I focused my eyes enough to realize I was sitting on top of Xander.

He grunted. “I’m impressed. You have the instincts of a fighter after all.” He rose to his elbows. “And to think you’d be helpless—with no sand in sight for you to assault me with.”

I stumbled off him and put the knife on the nightstand. “Xander?” I hissed. “What are you—” I squinted, catching the reflective gleam of my necklace resting in his hand. “Why do you have my necklace?”

He sat up in a crouch, dangling the charm over his knee. “I didn’t expect you to still have this.”

“As you’ve told me before. Stop dancing around the issue and tell me what’s going on!”

Xander let out a breath, realizing he had no other option than to comply. “I’ve engineered the necklace’s inner workings to detonate upon my trigger. It’s a bomb, Lily.”

He had said it so suddenly I just stood there.

And blinked.

“
What
?” I asked quietly, my voice wavering from surprise.

“The necklace . . . you were never to have it in your possession past the night of the Coronation. The Council, like every other time, was to confiscate it into their treasury.” He looked away as if upset with himself. “It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.”

Staggering backwards in astonishment, I frowned. “So you’re
angry
that
I
. . .” I stumbled over the right words. “that I hindered your attempt to
blow up
my home? My parents?” I asked, disgusted by the thought. “To kill me?” I added breathlessly, my throat crystalizing with shock.

Xander stood up, running his fingers frustratingly through his hair. He steeled himself and looked at me. “No, Lily. Never that. Its detonation range was to compromise the treasury, nothing more. It was to be used only as a distraction.”

“A distraction for
what
?” I shot out.

Xander didn’t blink. “The night of your Coronation—that was the night I was to assassinate your father.”

~

Sitting on the bed’s edge, I stared at the grooves in the floor. Blinking slowly, as though turning the pages of an elaborate book, its meaning hard to absorb. “Why did you not tell me this?” I asked, my skin flushing hot with betrayal. “So this was your big plan? What you’ve been hiding from me all along?
Murder
my father?” I whispered, refusing to look at him.

“Yes,” he admitted softly. Xander took a seat on the floor, his arms hanging deflated across his propped knees, hands barely touching. “Though that wasn’t everything. Killing the Head of Council, I had chosen on my own. He had ordered my parents deaths after all.” Anticipating my next question he added, “Teizel had no involvement or knowledge of that.”

I saw him open the back of the necklace and remove a small triangular piece, carefully placing it in his pocket. “I have explosives ready and waiting. Enough to be hidden all along the Walls,” he added suddenly, making me look sharply at him. His expression though dispirited, now looked firm. “Teizel and I are planning to expose the Outlands.”

Xander looked up from his hands, sincerity steeled within his eyes. “I couldn’t go through with it—killing your father. Not after . . . not after hearing what you said that night, saw you running away. You had such conviction. I’m not sure why—but it threw me off balance. That if I had misjudged you, then what too didn’t I know about your father?”

I stared at Xander hard, unbelieving, but he continued, “The last thing I ever want is for you to fall on the tip of my sword. For
my
actions. That’s why I hadn’t planned to tell you about the explosives. If I were to be caught, I didn’t want you to be seen as an accomplice.”

“Xander, I’m your
partner
,” I spat out at him, realizing anger still fizzled within me. “Who else are they going to accuse of aiding you in this if not me?”

 
“I know.” He lowered his head in remorse. “After I hesitated to kill your father—I didn’t know what to do. It was the one thing that was driving me forward for so long. This desire made me the Engineer that I am, knowing my work needed to be impressive to catch the eye of the Council for your Coronation. After that night, I just wanted to do something good for a change. Help you fight.” Xander rose to his feet, standing tall. “If we win, Lily, it will instill hope to the citizens, making the transition to the Outlands something they can understand. Something they can believe in.” He stalled. “Before—I never planned to join the Barrage. Like with the necklace, I was going to only use it as a distraction while I secured the explosives. Have the citizens localized so the blasts wouldn’t affect them. Now, with my time spent as a fighter, I don’t really have that option.”

“Give me the necklace. With all parts in tow,” I commanded suddenly, thinking of Mrs. Fawnsworth and the look she held within her eyes before she died. Pleading for change.

Xander swung it just out of my reach, a look on his face as though I had gone mad. “I can make you another if that’s what—”

I stood angrily and tried to pry it away from his fingers.

With an outstretched arm, he held me at bay. “Okay, Okay. Stop.
Here
.” He hesitantly handed it over after replacing the triangular piece inside. “Do I have to make you anymore aware that I am now handing over an
explosive
into your possession?” he pressed.

“I won’t have it for long,” I stated firmly, laying the necklace carefully onto the nightstand before crawling back into bed. “I know the motivations of the Council better than anyone. If you’re going to do this, you might as well do it right. And that means having my help.”

Xander eyed me suspiciously. Though soon, a hint of respect began to brim, lining the corners of his eyes. Xander wasn’t an idiot. And neither was I. Not coming to terms with my true feelings sooner—before the Coronation—had caused me to make a rash, most likely suicidal decision.

This time however, I knew
exactly
what I was going to do.

Chapter 24

The Genesis Ceremony

One would think it most suspicious to be rewarded for bravery as a participant in the Barrage while standing in the same central dais where so many resisting souls had found their fates at the end of a swinging noose. Those who spoke out against the Council mainly, but most were those who were simply born different. Those with ailments of the skin, of the mind. Those who couldn’t or refused to speak. Those who loved differently. Those who prevented
normal
citizens from prosperity. The
diseased
. The Abnormal.

A sour taste grudged itself from my stomach, clawing its way to my mouth as I climbed the walkway and the few steps to the platform. I managed to hold my head high, ignoring the quiet whispers and stares coming from the stone arena before us. This was the Genesis Ceremony. The crowd was required to remain silent until every fighter made their way to the stage. So silent they remained. Like trapped ghosts they watched; stares potent. Truly believing that we, the fighters, were the only ones who could set them free.

Rows upon rows of stone steps ascended before us, giving the audience no other choice but to direct their undivided attention our way. Not that it mattered. The crowd was infused with a curious mix of both fascination and fear. Even more so than any of the previous Barrages. Perhaps I was being biased, now with my perspective center stage and no longer that of a five-year-old spectator.

We had been the last fighters to arrive. I settled into my position next to Xander, my boots making prints across the grime covered and neglected surface. I watched as the sun sparkled through the settling plume of dust that was sent into the air from the participants tromping through the dirt-filled arena.

The Magistrate gave the slight wave of his wrinkled hand towards the crowd in permission to give their praise. A smattering of applause at first, but then the stadium erupted into a ground shaking clamor. Children jumped from their seats, nearly falling over those in front of them. Banners shot into the air from the eight different sections, the flags bearing symbols of their respective Sectors—none of which were sanctioned by the Council, only what the citizens deemed to best represent themselves. Nothing specific of course, no animals or tools, only rune-like shapes so no one can catch on to what they may hold dear. The Council never approved of this form of ‘ideology’, but they turned a blind eye during the Barrage. It was the one time everyone could be themselves. The Barrage as it were, the game of death and corruption, was the Council’s so called
gift
to City Prosper.

A gift of opportunity as I saw it.

The Council thought it to be a funny thing, the Barrage. The people starved for its excitement every thirteen years. Even the best will kneel before chaos if they believe it will offer them a few days away from life’s miseries. They will kneel even longer if they think it will offer them a
lifetime
away from such grievances. I plan to never kneel before the chaos, but rather embrace it. Embrace it so that I can slowly rip it apart from the inside, cleansing and cauterizing as I claw my way through.

Managing a glance at Xander, I saw that he was staring towards a crowded partition in the Sector 1 section. I narrowed my eyes, not finding anything of particular interest—until I spotted a woman in a woolen robe with hood partially concealing her face. She was speaking animatedly to another who appeared to be a native of Sector 1. The way she moved, the way she lifted her chin in anger was strangely reminiscent of someone I knew.

Someone I knew
very
well.

My
mother
.
 

The crowd continued to shout and rant their applause, allowing Xander to speak freely without fear of being overheard. He leaned towards me with hands behind his back in a manner of relaxed posterity. “It appears we may have found the culprit to your rather . . .
 
explosive experience the other day. She seems none too pleased to see you here today.”

Xander straightened to his original stance just before the crowd settled, awaiting the words of the Magistrate. My hands tightened into fists at my sides, the only visible sign of my anger and resentment at what I’d just witnessed.

My mother, realizing she no longer had the concealment of the cheering crowd, disappeared among the mass of faces, no doubt making her way back to the Head of Council box to be with my father.

“Ladies and gentlemen, if I may now have your attention. I would like to welcome you to the sixth consecutive Genesis Ceremony!” said the same skinny and affluent announcer from the Drawing. He puffed himself up in his suit while managing to loosen his collar at the same time. “I understand it’s on the sweltering side of climates today so I shall keep this short.”

The announcer received a few agreeable snorts from the crowd as they shifted uncomfortably against one another. It reminded me of a wave of insects moving in unison against a common enemy.

I too could feel the sweat pooling beneath my hairline, creating a trail of salty droplets down the sides of my temples that led to the corners of my mouth and neck. The weather in Prosper was unpredictable. It could be bone-numbing cold, and then the next day, be smoldering like it is today. Both were not factors I’d considered before, but now, knowing I had to strap layers upon layers of armor to my body, this heat may prove to be a dilemma of its own. Not to mention, I hadn’t even really trained, physically, in my armor yet.

I shifted uneasily on my feet at the thought.

None of this mattered now. I would have to deal with every obstacle the next few days would throw at me as they presented themselves. If I had to drag myself through the scorching heat then I would just have to do so. Might as well face the brunt of reality sooner rather than later.

Looking to my right—down the line of fighters with their hands behind their backs, their chests puffed out proudly before them—I gauged my opponents.

Anyone of them could kill me flat out
.

I remembered Xander’s words of encouragement, telling me I had special talents of my own in which to utilize. I was quick and nimble. If I was able to skirt around their attacks long enough to drain their stamina, then maybe I had a chance.

Maybe.

I glanced down the line once again. The only other pair who seemed to have my height and slight of build was the twins from Sector 1, Affery and Afina. Their proud quiet confidence unnerved my earlier hopes of maintaining a tactic of ‘keep away’.

I turned my attention back to the crowd before any more of my confidence should waiver. The stadium was full. A blur of excited faces. The announcer held his copper voice amplifier close to his sweaty mouth as he continued, “The rules of the Barrage are simple as I am sure many of you already know, but for those who are newly experiencing this joyous occasion, I shall say firstly that this is not an event for the weak of heart and should not be taken lightly. There is death, yes. Glorious death given to a glorious cause!” The announcer paused for effect. “Though, each and every participant understands what they signed up for.” He shook his hands absently in the air. “Do not feel remorse for the fallen, but rather, rejoice in their efforts! For they are helping to lead us into a prosperous tomorrow!”

The crowd stood and roared their assent. Among the many faces I could see, there were a few older ones who didn’t agree, apathy clearly written across their faces.

The announcer stalked the length of the stage in front of us, his shiny black shoes gleaming in the sun as he swiveled on his heels. “The rules of the Barrage are simple. Two Sector teams will be selected at random to fight. A conclusion will be met either from the demise of their opponents or in the event that one team has obtained injuries significant enough to render them unable to continue. The victors will advance to the next round. The losers will attain another chance, fighting their way back to the top through the elimination bracket. There will be six regular rounds and three elimination rounds.”

I could tell the crowd was becoming restless and so too could the announcer.

“With that said, enough of my incessant chatter and on to more exciting news! We have a special treat for you this year,” the announcer said slyly, a mischievous glint to his eye.

I perked up in confusion and could tell the rest of the fighters were alarmed as they shifted uneasily on their feet. Unexpected news involving the Barrage was never well received on the fighter’s end.

“I shall welcome the Magistrate to the stage to announce the exciting news. Charles, if you please.” The announcer passed the amplifier over into the stubby fingers of the Magistrate.

The crowd went silent, not a breath was taken. When the Magistrate spoke, everyone listened.

The rotund little man grumbled into the amplifier, not having the same enthusiasm of the announcer. “Yes, the Council has been gracious enough to make the Sixth Barrage Tournament one of unique disposition.” The Magistrate cleared his throat, in what I thought to be a disapproving gesture, but I couldn’t be too sure. The Magistrate always had a dour look about him. “As many of you are aware, the fighting will take place in the Lands of Requiem located near the East Wall, which,” He paused for effect, though his voice still dull and monotonous. “is also the closest location to the
Edge
.”

The crowd took in a breath at the slight emphasis of that last word. I glanced at Xander who stood expressionless; his jaw tense and his eyes tight as he regarded the Magistrate.

“The Council is proud of the progress that City Prosper has made these last few years and as a reward, the partition of the Wall closest to the Edge has been removed for an added element of . . .
excitement
.”

The crowd went silent, not even hushed whispers made their rounds. There had never been an official statement about the Edge. No one even knew for sure if it really existed and to be thrust so forcefully with such knowledge was shocking for everyone. I’m not sure what the Council was hoping to prove by releasing such information publicly, but I do know they were not getting the reception they were counting on.

The Magistrate himself hardly sounded excited about it.

Looking up towards my father, I found my mother now sitting resolutely beside him. I rolled my eyes.
Looks like Mother has finally found her seat.

My father made a stern face towards the announcer to do something. The lanky man caught my father’s glare and literally jumped to attention as though he was dodging bullets aimed at his feet. He smiled nervously towards the Magistrate and reached for the amplifier.

The Magistrate grumbled, handing it off with a none too gentle shove before shuffling his way back to his seat.

“Is this not such an exciting turn of events Ladies and Gentlemen? This knowledge may come as a shock to many, but consider yourselves lucky to be among the first to say you have witnessed the Edge and now will have a whole new respect and love for the safety that City Prosper provides! We must thank the Council for their trust and desire to keep us safe!”

The bit about
safety
got the crowd clapping, slowly at first, but finally worked itself into a healthy applause.

I felt like I was going to be sick. Maybe it was all for show, but the people were so easily led down a path of distorted information and lies that it made my heart wilt with sadness. They deserved so much more than this.

I looked towards Xander, a question in my eyes that would have to wait. The Edge was surrounded by a force field of unimaginable size, according to his information. Would they remove it during the Barrage? While we fought? So that now we had the option to topple off the sides? Or would they prefer us to use it as another weapon? Toss our opponents against it, toasting them into crispybits? Neither sounded the least bit
exciting
at all.

The Lands of Requiem. I now knew it was only just a small sectioned off part of the Outlands. Funny how everything I dreamed about finding the truth of had always been right in front of me. Whether the Council of Elders named it in memoria to those who fell to the weapons of their brethren, the Lands of Requiem always sounded fitting a name to call the broken up territory. The hymn of death was the only tune to ever be sung in such a place.

A few of the other fighters fidgeted in their positions across the platform. Since I had arrived last onto the stage, I had Xander as a buffer between Scottie and myself. He looked rather smug and dandy even if his face was still slightly covered in the green and purple hues of healing. Scotty’s ability to fight didn’t bother me, his perverse and sick sense of nature did. Seeing him smiling made me suddenly remember one of the advantages for signing up for this in the first place.