Page 19 of Kingdom of Tomorrow (Book of Arden #1)
There is only one battle, and it is between good and evil.
“Apparently everything includes death by exhaustion,” Roman muttered as the entire team hobbled to our rooms. Others groaned in agreement, me among them.
Warm-up involved being stalked by hordes of feeder holograms. In self-defense class, we were pitted against machines that projected holograms of ourselves and left battered.
Drills included practicing what we’d learned yesterday in bouts of hand-to-hand combat.
Afterward, the HP appropriated everyone’s free time, not just mine, and forced us to run obstacle courses outside while knights acted as feeders, working to stop us.
His version of immersion therapy, I guess.
I slogged into my cell and fell onto my mattress. Mykal was already asleep and chained.
Man, I missed my plants and the scent of earth.
But I missed Mom and her encouragement more.
She gave the world’s best hugs and had the most infectious laughter.
No doubt she was locked inside her apartment, in desperate need of rest but too busy worrying for me to get it.
How I hated that. I wanted only to make life better for her, never worse.
The barred door shut, and I clasped my shackle shut around my wrist. All night, I drifted in and out of sleep, but I never managed to doze for more than an hour. When the morning alarm sounded, I wasn’t ready.
“Guess what?” Mykal exclaimed, bounding over. She looked as bright as the sun. “It’s Shiden Day! Or do you prefer Ariloh ?”
“You’re making this weird,” I grumbled, shucking off my open chain and rising from bed.
“That’s my specialty.”
Hopefully, Shiloh was in a better mood today. I hadn’t seen him after warm-up, when he’d seemed so upset.
I trudged to the locker room while Mykal skipped, pausing here and there to beckon me onward. “Hurry up, Ardie! We can’t be late, or we’ll get bumped from the train. No Bala City. No date. Did I tell you I’m meeting my boyfriend?”
Looked like the nickname was sticking.
Maybe it was the exhaustion. Or the stress of being at the academy. Either way, I didn’t understand half of what she said. “Bala City?” I’d never even heard of it.
“A playland for soldiers. I’ve been once with Roman and his family.”
A myriad of other questions bubbled to the surface, but I was too drained to engage in conversation.
I zipped through a shower, then riffled through my locker and the few clothes I’d brought from home.
Disappointment set in. I should’ve added a pretty dress to my travel bag.
Just one! Even a pair of cute jeans. Because I’d packed so sparingly, my best option for the most anticipated date of my life was a blue tank top with matching running shorts.
Basically a replica of the pink set I’d worn on day one, eliciting scorn from the HP.
“—second-in-command.”
My ears twitched, catching Lark’s voice.
“He doesn’t get a day off,” she told Juniper, who entered the locker room with her. “He’s attending a meeting with all our instructors.”
Poor Roman. Attending such meetings equaled torture. But also fortunate Roman. He had the greatest chance of becoming top lord. Not that I’d given up. I’d just shifted my focus. Improve first, then go for gold.
“Come on, come on.” A bouncing Mykal dragged me through the building. She wore a frilly red dress, and she looked beautiful. “Have you ever been underground?”
“Never. And I never will.” The infected most often broke in the dark, and those with full-blown Madness loved to congregate in underground tunnels.
“Okay, so, that’s not true. Or it won’t be true in roughly three seconds.” She led me through a set of double doors and to the ledge of a staircase leading down. Far down. Into a pool of darkness.
Foreboding skittered over my spine. Nope. Not happening. I dug in my heels, then endeavored to retreat.
She grasped both my wrists to stop me. “It’s perfectly safe, I promise. Armed guards are posted all around. I’ve made the trip multiple times to fetch stuff for His Majesty. Besides, if you refuse, you gotta stay here. No date.”
Fine. Deep breath in, out. I refused to give in to fear, missing a day of fun I craved with every ounce of my being. “I-I’ll do it. Because I’m brave,” I said, forcing my feet to shuffle forward. One, two, three. “I mean it. I’m brave,” I repeated, quickening my pace.
“So, so brave,” Mykal praised, matching my stride.
Down we went, a musty odor saturating too-warm air. At the bottom was a platform illuminated with pritis light and overflowing with soldiers both in and out of uniform. Different conversations mingled together, echoing from rocky walls. Not bad. But how was I supposed to find Shiloh?
“What is this place?” I asked.
“A way station. Bala City is just outside the base. The trains go back and forth throughout the day.”
Brakes squealed, a grate against my ears as a series of massive metal carts stopped beyond the platform.
I came to a halt when the crowd parted before one cart in particular, revealing the opening of its doors.
The HP stood alone in the center of the compartment.
The sight of him sent my nerves into hyperdrive. Did he commute to work?
Mykal pulled me toward his section. “Let’s take his place!”
As he strode forward, he noticed us. Easy to do, considering we were the only people willing to approach him.
Oh, did he look good, his sharp edges softened.
He still hadn’t shaved; a thick shadow covered his stalwart jaw.
A black shirt hugged his broad shoulders and strong chest while fatigues displayed muscular thighs.
His smolder momentarily erased my ability to think.
A monotone voice announced, “Departing to Bala City in five minutes,” and a throng rushed over, eager to board. I lost sight of him. Good, that was good.
“Oh! I spotted my guy. Bye!” Mykal darted off, disappearing in the crowd.
I took off too. Strangely enough, the crowd parted for me. No. Wrong. Not for me but the high prince. We stopped in front of each other, people giving us a wide berth.
“Too bad you’re on leave,” he said, humor glinting in his eyes. “I’m impatient to continue combating your fear of everything.”
I couldn’t stifle my groan. Or a jolt of surprise. He might be teasing me. “What do you have planned for us?”
“I won’t ruin your day off with the answer.”
“It’s that bad?” I groaned again.
“Actually, Bubble Gum, it’s worse.” He looked me over and almost smiled. “I prefer the pink.” With that, he strode past me, leaving me reeling.
I watched him, eyes wide. Had he maybe, possibly issued a compliment? In, like, a flirty manner?
No. Absolutely not. I’d mistaken the sexy tone in his office, and I was mistaken about his flirtiness now. He was only being nice because of his father.
Relieved—only relieved—I called, “Guess you’re gonna call me Lady Blue now.” Two could play this game.
“Don’t be silly.” He performed a slow spin as he walked. “Pink and blue make purple.”
Why, why, why did that strike me as the peak of awful?
“Don’t have too much fun today,” he added. “Tomorrow is a pruning day.”
Great. Wonderful. A crush of people enveloped me before I could respond, forcing me to motor in the opposite direction.
The closer I got to the train, the tighter the crowd became, the more I struggled to make progress, and the harder I longed to return to my room.
No wonder Mykal had rushed us. If you didn’t arrive early, you didn’t fit in the windowless carts.
But make it inside I did, passing my infection scan just as the doors closed behind me.
The cart wobbled, then shot into action, zipping along a dark, narrow tunnel at a faster and faster rate.
How was I supposed to find—“There you are,” a familiar voice called.
Shiloh! The handsome medic shouldered through the throng. My relief was so great, I threw my arms around him the moment he was within reach. “I’m so happy to see you.”
He hugged me back, almost clinging.
Remembering yesterday’s scowl, I asked, “How are you?”
“I’m with you.” He pulled away with a smile that didn’t quite reach the rest of his expression. His usual sparkle had dulled. “Everything is good.”
Anxiety screwed with my heart. What was going on? Unfortunately, now wasn’t the time for a conversation. But I did take his hand and sign “lemons.”
A tiny flicker of relief flared in his irises, and he linked our fingers. We stayed like that until the train stopped. He guided me from the cart, through a tunnel, up a flight of stairs, and into a sunlit city. We cleared the crowd, and a fantasyland opened around us.
“This can’t be real,” I breathed. Massive statues topped marble daises, where costumed people danced.
Other monuments crowned oddly shaped buildings made of a shimmery silver material that seemed to ripple with the wind.
Lights flashed from signs advertising reducing or increasing the age listed on your birth certificate as well as walk-in surgeries to change anything you disliked about your body.
Holograms beckoned pedestrians inside stores.
Superfast music played in the background. I almost couldn’t process the splendor.
“There’s more,” Shiloh said.
As we slipped down the street, I gaped at this and that, relying on my companion to guide me. I only snapped into protect-myself mode when we came to a section of the Rock. Utilizing a skill I’d perfected over the years, I kept my focus anywhere else. Or tried to ...
The surface. It seemed to thin, becoming translucent and revealing a handsome bearded man wearing a red robe.
He stood inside the stone. For once I didn’t feel as though I was being watched by a thousand eyes, but two.
Even with the metal dogs and their cameras, I felt seen by the man and no other as he tracked me with a narrowed gaze.