Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 65094 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65094 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
The nonchalance of her answer doesn’t make me feel better. From the time we were children, Noah has always looked out for me. She protected me when I got into a squabble with some kids on the commune. She wiped my tears whenever I cried over something. She gave my first boyfriend a black eye when I caught him kissing another girl. She did her best to comfort me when our home was raided by the Enforcers.
She doesn’t deserve my disdain, but I can’t wrap my mind around how she so readily accepted her situation. I’m terrified beyond all words. Not only am I going to be a breeder, but I’ve been assigned to the leader of sector 10. It’s one of the coldest regions on the planet where I probably won’t see a blade of grass or flowers. I hear the sky stays gray over there. And what’s worse, I hear the leader is some brute who rules his sector with an iron fist.
The Beast.
That name is whispered among the homo sapiens because it’s often used as a threat to keep us in line. I remember when we were locked in cages, I’d heard some of the Enforcers talking amongst themselves. They’d mentioned that the worst offenders among us would be shipped off to sector 10 and they’d have to deal with The Beast.
In the last nightmarish months of my life, workers had been threatened with the possibility of being sent of that sector if they got out of line. And though I’ve paid a great penance for defying The Registry, this may be too great a price.
Despite the tight grip of despair enveloping me, the last thing I want, is to upset Noah, especially in her delicate state. I might not agree with her choices but she’s still my sister and I know she genuinely cares for me.
I shake my head. “No, I do need to apologize. I was way out of line. Obviously I’m on edge about my new assignment. I thought I’d get to stay here with you, Mom and Dad a little while longer. But I can at least take comfort in the fact that Mom and Dad will no longer have to do back-breaking labor and you…well you seem happy.” As hard as I tried, I couldn’t quite keep the bitterness out of my voice.
Noah must have heard it as well, because she releases a heavy sigh, before pushing herself up to her feet and standing. She rests her hands on her stomach.
“When I was first assigned as a breeder, I believed my life was over. I thought to myself, how could I lay with one of the very people who has kept us oppressed? And in the beginning, it was rough. Magnus, wasn’t the easiest person to deal with. And there was drama with his companions. One in particular went out of her way to make my life miserable.”
My brows shoot up. “Magnus had companions?” That really shouldn’t surprise me, after all, it’s common for higher ranking superious to have as many companions as they’re willing to support. I know that first hand. But I was surprised when I arrived at the manor that I didn’t see any scantily clad companions roaming around. Noah hadn’t brought up Magnus’s companions until now.
“Why wouldn’t he? A man in his position usually has several. Magnus had six.”
“Where are they now?”
“He got rid of them when he asked me to be his bride.”
“Wow, he must really care for you. A lot of the superious keep their companions even after marriage.”
I shudder when I think of the monster I was companion to during the months of that horrible assignment. It was bad enough dealing with someone who treated me as an object to be used for their personal enjoyment, but I had to deal with the politics of navigating my way around his wife and the other companions.
Noah strokes her stomach, almost absently as she gazes off in the distance. “I won’t lie and say that Magnus was always sweet to me. As I already said, things were rough between us. I didn’t want to be a breeder. When I’d learned of my fate, I literally wanted to die. I was kind of jealous of you, mom and dad. I didn’t know where the three of you were assigned but I didn’t think it could be any worse than what I would go through. But seeing you so broken and not your happy, smiley self, saddens me because you clearly had a traumatic experience.”
I lower my head as the memories of the past months assail me and I wrap my arms around my body again to keep myself from falling apart. I’m not sure how to reply so I don’t say anything.
Noah continues. “I wish I could tell you that everything is going to be alright and you’ll be fine but I can’t. I don’t know what the sector 10 leader is like, nor have I been to that area. But I did ask Magnus what he thought of the leader of sector 10 and he said, he’s a man of few words.”