by Adria Eustis
“Probably a rebel,” Astra said.
“I shouldn't be here,” Bridget said, “I'm innocent. I wasn't drink driving at all, they just needed a scapegoat cause the other car had some soldier's kid driving it.”
“Gees that's terrible,” Nina said. She peered out over the island, accessing escapability. It appeared neigh-on impossible. There was no way past a magically charged wall of that magnitude. And even then, she'd never be able to swim the miles of deep water home.
“You probably won't see the warriors from here ever,” Astra said, leaning her back on the metal, “them grasses is taller than they look, beside most of the fighting is way off over them big hills, in the old village and the forests.”
“I didn't want to see.”
“Davie!” Bridget said, her angular cheeks blushing.
She followed Bridget as she snaked through the mobs of zombies to the chain-metal fence along the east of the yard. Bridget's fingers entwined, through the holes, with a red haired boy who stood on the other side.
“And here we have what is known as the zoo,” Astra said, “don't get too close to the enclosure my friends, the monkeys tend to bite.”
Nina peered over at the boy's side of the yard. Dressed in black jogging bottoms and black t-shirts, the guys actions mirrored those of her own group. The air was tinged with hopelessness. Along the length of the chain-mail, some guys mingled with girls on her own side. A tall thin bearded boy stroked his finger down the cheek of a weeping girl through the small diamond holes.
“Yuck, them too are so embarrassing,” Astra said, rolling her eyes as Bridget and Davie attempted a metal-laden kiss. “Come let's finish our tour.”
~
Back inside, Astra showed her the dining room. Lengths of tables filled a bitterly cold room, the stench of porridge burnt onto pans gagged her. Girls in a line took a wooden bowl to a small hole in the wall where a gloved hand reached through with a ladle and tipped a thick lump of white goo where ever it dropped.
“On the menu today, and everyday, we have the delectable home-made mush, cooked lovingly by our five-star chefs, over here we have a tap of noxious, I mean thirst-quenching water.”
Nina winced, starving was more appetising.
“You get one delicious meal a day. And that concludes my tour, any questions,? Please raise your hand.”
“How do I get a phone call to my brother? At the station they said I'd get a phone call.”
“You get a whooping three phone calls throughout your life-time stay, use them wisely.”
“But how, where do I go?”
“Follow.”
~
Back where she'd first entered the cell spaces, Nina followed Astra to some large notice boards next to the gate that had locked life as she knew it behind her. A foul stink wafted towards her as she walked past the hanging girl, refusing to look. Scooping up the phone receiver, she started to pad in Rohn's number.
“Gotta put your code in first.”
“What code?”
“28282,” right there on your tunic duh. Astra poked at Nina's sleeve, at the white needlepoint digits.
“And don't be thinkin bout using no one else's code for a call neither – they be watchin you, right there, and listening too. Instant eviction.” Astra pointed out a surveillance camera right above their heads, it was just one of many that had had it's beady little eye on her today.
~
“Rohn?”
“Nina!”
Her heart fell at the sound of a familiar voice.
“Rohn, I'm so sorry.”
“You're there aren't you?” She could hear the frenzy in his tone.
“Yes, but I'm fine. Please don't worry bout me, how's Eri?”
“How can this be happening?” Nina could picture him, slumped to the floor, head back against the wall, red eyes, ready to smash apart the universe with his clenched fists.
“Forgive me?” Her body stood close against the noticeboards, hiding her face and shame from view.
“I've nothing to forgive you for. You never done anything wrong okay. Those bastards are what's wrong with the world. That bastard. They took the pills Nina. They took them all, and Eri won't stop crying, she just wants her sister. Please come home Nina. Please come home.” She'd not heard her brother cry since he declared himself a man.
“Thirty seconds remaining.” A robotic voice came over the phone.
“I can't Rohn, how can I possibly come home? You have to stay strong and look after Eri. It's just you two now.”
“You're giving up? Like Maire. You're giving up!” She paused for a while, listening to his heart-wrenching sobs.
“I'll never give up.” Gulping, she put down the phone after it cut her off.
Astra had wandered off - good. Wiping her eyes, Nina stayed looking at the notice boards, until all signs of her crying was sure to be gone.
“REDEEM YOURSELF IN THE THEATRE OF WAR.” A poster said.
There was a picture of the Goddess Ciorr in a sheer, delicate dress. Long golden curls spread down her back as she reached her arms, bejewelled with silver bracelets into the sky. Sparkling particles of light encompassed her. Her beauty was breathtaking, but it was just a copy of a painting. A re-imagining. No one would know what the Goddess actually looked like, or if she were even still out there, some where. Nina knew not much of the Gods. Only that thousands of years ago they created Etath, then left it alone to make new worlds. Blessing a small amount of Humans and Elves with their magic, asking them to protect their creation. But they never returned, nor even made communication. Things like real paintings perished long ago before the modern world, before people knew all about preserving things. Only sturdy affirmations exist today, things like weapons and armours, jewels and pottery. Archaeologists find new items all the time, buried deep. And the stories are not written down, only told by the Nymphs. Mysterious immortal, demi-gods that stayed on Etath, but hid themselves away. She'd never seen a Nymph in person – barely anyone had. Nymphs only communicated with Druids – protectors of nature. They told the Druid's stories of long ago, and gave them clues were to find precious articles. Families with magical powers tended to be deeply religious, often believing that if they stopped worshipping the one whom their abilities came from that something bad would happen to them. Magic was genetic, sometimes skipping a generation, sometimes only landing on one child out of ten. As far as Nina knew, no one in her family was gifted at all, and shrines and temples were alien to her.
“REDEEM YOURSELF IN THE THEATRE OF WAR.” She read it again, bold red letters. Did King Dederick really think that murder was redemption?
“Sinners. You have failed Ciorr, Goddess of Light, Peace and Justice. Win back her honour Fight in her name. Crucify your fellow sinners. Bestow justice upon them by death. Freedom will be granted to all those who atone for their sins in The Theatre of War. Every blow of justice dealt by your hand awards one point. Upon reaching maximum score, sinners will be liberated, as warriors, pardoned by the king, and forgiven by the all-powerful Goddess Ciorr.” The words made her sick to the stomach.
Besides the poster of Ciorr, hung another. One of Dedite herself. Her striking red braid hung out the bottom of her horned helmet. High and mighty she stood against the backdrop of mountains with a spear twisted behind her fully armoured body.
“REDEEM YOURSELF IN THE THEATRE OF WAR.” It said, this time in black.
“Sinners. Your have failed Dedite, Goddess of War. Win back her honour Fight in her name. Battle your fellow sinners. Bring your own war to The Amphitheatre Every death of another warrior by your hands grants one point. Upon reaching maximum score, sinners will be liberated, as warriors, pardoned by the king, and forgiven by the all-powerful Goddess Dedite.” Next to the posters hung a whiteboard and a jumbo pen on a string. “Theatre sign ups,” it read. There were a dozen names written down, each one in different handwriting, as well as small traces of recently wiped off names. And along the bottom in capitals it read, “ONCE YOU'
RE SIGNED UP – THERE'S NO BACKING OUT”
“Die in this wretched cage. Die out there as an apparent martyr.”
The tiny voice came from over her shoulder. She turned to face a small Elven girl who couldn't have been older than twelve.
“Opal,” she said with a dainty bow. Short, fine black hair was pushed behind her thin pointed ears, her deep-set violet eyes, swirled with pure innocence.
“Nina.”
Opal's clothes showered her, she rocked with her hands behind her back. “I got a spare bed. Came up yesterday morning. Roomie was evicted.”
“That'd be great thanks.”
CHAPTER TEN
JANINA
October, Year of the Pearl Acacia
Nina came up for air, from the vulgar smell of the sink. She'd been cradling it for an hour now. Retching, no more of the afternoons disgusting lump of maggot flavoured porridge, was left to be chucked up. Opal sat on the bottom bunk, twiddling her thumbs and not knowing where to look. Probably regretting offering her a place in her space.
“I hate this place,” Nina said, wiping her mouth with her sleeve.
“Uh huh,” Opal nodded sweetly, gazing off into nothingness.
“How long you been here?”
“Oh, uh, oh, shucks, uhm, in herea few weeks, but I was in another jail before this since I can ever remember.”
“Why?” Nina suck her face into the gaps in the window, she had a good view of the prison yard from here. But it was getting dark now, and the cold was obvious as shivering people were heading back inside.
“Papa tried to take us home, I'm a sinner for trying to cross the ocean.”
“But you couldn't have been old enough to even have been making that choice?”
Opal shrugged and smiled, and played with a shining butterfly clip in her hair.
“Aren't you angry?” Nina asked.
“There's no point to that.” Her soft spoken voice, tugged at her heart strings.
“I wish I wasn't.”
“Would you like something to read?” Opal pulled some books from under her pillow and offered them forwards.
“Where do people get stuff from? Those books, Astra's bubblegum, playing cards, I saw someone with a chocolate bar earlier too.” She took a book, The Qualms of a Horse by Stallion Smith. Riveting.
“Oh well, they have those big birds. Condors. Emerald condors. Trained to drop boxes over the island for the fighting people. Sometimes the silly birds accidentally drop them in the yard.”
“Why would they have books about horses and bubblegum in a box, shouldn't they have useful things like first aid kids, weapons?”
“Uh huh, but the people think it's funny, to watch poor islanders fight for a box and then open it only to get a dumb thing inside.”
“Ridiculous, this whole place, it's ridiculous. The whole world, ludicrous, mental, insane.” She pulled at her own hair till it hurt too much, then launched herself onto the top bunk.
“I have a book about cats if you prefer cats.”
Nina buried her face in the mattress, of course there'd be no pillow. It had been the longest, most unfair day of her life. They'd walked laps around the yard for hours, she'd thought about Rohn and Eri, and how she wished she could go back in time and change her actions. Astra had nattered constantly in her ear about her life in the middle-lands and how fabulous it had been, before they ripped her out of her forest home, for stalking some rich boy, which, might she add, was totally not the case at all. If she had to throw one more pretend smile her way she thought her face would fall off. Then they'd eaten that repugnant meal and she came to understand why everyone was so thin. She'd taken a shower, cold was the only setting available, and she had stood freezing and drip dried, rather than touching one of those horrid towels. The one and only good thing was that prison-life wasn't as scary as she'd imagined it to be from old-fashioned movies. Guards were only seen high up in the towers, with readied rifles aimed at the yards. The inmates didn't bother each other, there were no gangs, no fighting, just friendly banter. It seemed everyone was too afraid to step out of line at all. Surveillance cameras were everywhere, and Zimir's Oculi floated around the open spaces outside. All she wanted was to go home. This couldn't be it, this couldn't be the rest of her life. But she wasn't about to give up, she wasn't going to become a 'Swinging Nelly'. For Rohn's sake, for Eri's sake. Astra had seemed so confident that she was getting out of here. But why? The cell bars thudded with the ground as they came down for the night. She pulled the prickling old blanket close to her ears, an attempt to block out the melancholy from the other girls in the night.
~
Early next morning, Nina came down from her third floor cage, for some reason, actually wanting Astra to babble on at her. Anything to take away from her own depressing thoughts. Opal, bless her little heart, was quiet as a mouse.
“Morning sweet cheeks,” Astra mumbled, her mouth was full of toothpaste that she was spreading around with her finger.
“Morning.”
“Want some, got it from a Conner bird, after you buggered off yesterday.” Nina took the paste and shovelled some into her mouth, thankful to rid the taste of yesterday. Bridget lay on her back, reading a sheet of paper.
“Awwww, he said he loves me,” Bridget said, pulling the paper close to her chest.
“Vile.” Astra said.
“Davie was it?”
“Yes! Davie, Davie, Davie. My love, my life.”
“You met him in here?” Nina asked, taking a seat next to her on the bed. Bridget most have been around twenty, but she wasn't sure about Astra, who spoke like an annoying little brat, but looked around her own age, and seemed more intelligent than a first glance would let on.
“I did, that fence might hold us apart physically but there's no boundaries to love.”
“Eew, could you not.”
“That's sweet. How long you been together?” Nina asked.
“Five months now. But..”
“What?”
“Well, it's my birthday in a few weeks – I'll be moved over to D Wing. I'll never see him again. It's tragic.” Her arms flailed out over the mattress.
“That's awful.”
“We'll have to exchange our love letters through Astra. And peer at each other when the crowds permit. Until he also turns 21, and then he'll be moved to A Wing. All the way on the other side! My heart, it, ugh.” By the way the girls body flipped about on the bed, she couldn't tell if the girl was for real, or was rehearsing for a very very bad play.
“I don't know what to say.”
“Ooh, I'm so writing a poem about his hair right now. Have you seen how curly it is?” Bridget flipped over, her notepad in hand, she furiously scribbled away, chewing on her biro so often.
“Told you Bridge, just say the word and I'll get you out of here.”
“Will you get me out of here?” Nina asked, though only half sincerely.
“Yeah course, long as you ain't a fraidy-cat. Too many fraidies in here, no one will team up with me.”
“Team up? What – out there?”
“Yeaah,” Astra sat cross legged on her bed, combing her long, snow-white hair, “peeps don't believe it, but I'm actually a real good Elysian. Magic proficiency ten out of ten.”
“They don't let tens in here Astra, highest they let in is a seven, rest are put down in the hole,” Bridget said, still jotting her poems, “don't listen to her Nina, she doesn't half chat some terrible rubbish.” Her voice seemed to change now, like she was acting the part of high-class lady from Prille.
“Keep telling you Bridge, truth serums don't work on me, I'm too cute for poisons.”
“If you're so good, you wouldn't have ended up in here,” Mol finally spoke from up on her bunk, her voice someone raspy. Though her back was still to the group.
“You not dead yet? Gees. Anyhoo. So, yeah, I'm totally a ten – and everyone with a brain knows no-one can take on a Peace Bringer, what with their blessed aura from, oh let me see, the m
ost powerful man in existence, so forgive me, Mol, for choosing to surrender rather than die. And, I'll have you know I actually evaded capture for over two months. Now if you're finished being a bitch I'll continue.”
Nina rubbed the back of her neck, trying to avoid looking at the hypothetical fumes from Astra's ears.
“Right, thanks. So Nina. My plan is to get out there with a team, three or four of us. Stick together, score some points, get the hell on out of here and back to my real life.”
“I don't know the rules, every time I saw it up on a TV screen when I was out I got the hell away from it. How can anyone even watch it? It's sick.” Nina said. She shook her head, it really was impossible to think that Channel 10 had good ratings at all, but she'd seen newspaper headlines of them winning awards for years. Either the world was full of monsters disguised as real-people, or the king was faking the popularity of his 'sports' channel.
“Its barbaric. You know – they censor nudity and swearing on every single channel, and then that channel just goes against every other stupid peace law in existence, it doesn't make sense at all. What devil on Etath possesses that man?” Bridget added.
“You don't know the rules? Well good job I'm here. Referee Astra at your service,” she saluted a hand on her head, “Firstly. There are two areas. East and West, both the same size, I think, divided down the middle. We would be on the East. Only fifty sinners are allowed out there at one time. Every time one of um snuffs it, another is shoved in in their place. There are fifteen warriors. You know, those who signed up for fun. When you're out there, it's basically a free for all. The warriors don't generally kill the other warriors, but if they happen across one who's considerably more famous than he is – he'll have a pop at it. What rank are you Nina?”
“Um, the guard lady said I was a Rank 1.”
“Great, me too, anyhoo. So every kill grants you a point. Rank 1's need to score fifty points for freedom. Rank 2's need a hundred, and so on.”
“That's a lot,” Nina said, throwing her hand to her mouth.
“Yeah specially if your a Rank 3, that's two hundred points you'd need.”