by Laurèn Lee
“Where are you taking us? Where’s my sister?” Lexa begged.
“We’re taking you to Councilman Nilan,” the tall guard said.
Rocky and Lexa looked to each other and bowed their heads. The uncertainty of the situation was palpable, and Lexa could nearly taste the electricity in the air.
Also, the farther they ventured to the city’s center, the nicer the buildings appeared as well. They were less tall than the surrounding architecture, but much better preserved and taken care of. The city itself was in the eye of the storm, but the very center of the city had its own luxuries.
Eventually, the guards, Lexa and Rocky reached a gigantic building in the shape of a tent in the center of the city. The red eye symbol was sporadically painted on the building in red and white. Lexa had never seen a building in the shape of a tent before, and it could have easily fit fifty people inside.
Without further ado, the tall guard opened the entryway into the building and allowed Lexa and Rocky to enter. The inside was even more lavish than Lexa could have imagined. Plush carpets of royal blues and purples led the way to the center, where a single man stood waiting to greet them. Behind the man were five empty wooden chairs placed in a semicircle. The chairs appeared decrepit, as though they’d collapse at any moment.
“Greetings,” the man said. He wore a floor-length red robe, and his hair was as dark as the night sky. His eyes twinkled with an icy shade of blue, and his teeth were whiter than snow. “Thank you, Santi.”
The tall guard, whom Lexa now knew was named Santi, frisked them and found Lexa’s dagger in her back pocket. He took it away before she could protest and gave it to another guard, who then approached the councilman with the item. Santi then backed away from Lexa and Rocky, resuming his position near the entrance of the building with the other guards. Nilan beckoned Lexa and Rocky forward as he sat down in one of the dilapidated chairs.
“Please, I am Nilan. And you are?” he asked with a sense of arrogance.
Lexa’s body shook, and she hoped Nilan didn’t notice. Sweat pooled at her forehead, and Rocky looked like he felt the same way. He spoke first, “I am Rocky, sir. And, this is my traveling companion, Lexa.”
Lexa nodded and wondered if she should bow.
“Welcome to the City of Lightning. May I ask what brought you here? I know that you suffered a long journey to reach our gates.” The chair squeaked under his weight. Lexa imagined it breaking and Nilan tumbling off, but no such thing happened.
“Well,” Lexa began, her voice trembling. “You see, our camp’s water supply is contaminated. We heard this city might be able to help us.”
Nilan stroked his goatee, which was as dark as the hair on his head. He narrowed his eyes and studied Lexa very closely. Minutes passed before he cleared his throat and spoke again.
“I see. And how do you think we’d be able to help?” he challenged.
“Maybe let us come and stay here? Until we find a more permanent source?” she stammered.
Nilan stood, and a smile stretched across his face. “My girl, do you know how we’ve been able to keep our city safe and avoid any major conflicts in many, many years?”
Lexa shook her head.
“We protect our city by keeping invaders out,” Nilan said firmly.
Rocky took a step forward, and Santi and the guards grasped their guns more tightly. Nilan waved them away, and their shoulders relaxed.
“With all due respect, we are not invaders and have no intention of bringing harm to the city. We just want to help our camp,” Rocky pleaded. “My father drank the contaminated water and is very ill. He will die unless we find a way to access a new water source.
Nilan chuckled. “My dear boy, your father is going to die regardless if you find fresh water or not. There is no cure for ingestion of the water. Surely you know this by now?”
Rocky’s hands tightened into fists, and Lexa gently placed her hand on his forearm. “There’s still time to save the others, though. They won’t last much longer without water. There has to be something you could do to help.”
“We have nothing to offer you, children,” Nilan said flatly. “I’m afraid that is our final answer.”
Lexa’s heart plunged into her stomach as bile rose in her throat. What did he mean they couldn’t help? They had to help. What else could they do to save the camp?
“Please, sir! We’ve heard great stories of the city’s generosity. There has to be something you can do. Anything,” Lexa pleaded.
Nilan furrowed his brow and walked toward Lexa. Each step was carefully placed as though he walked on an imaginary straight line upon the floor. He reached out to touch Lexa’s cheek, and she looked away shyly.
“Your face,” Nilan said, “is very familiar.” He seemed in a daze, lost in a dream.
“I’ve never been here before,” Lexa said, staring at her shoes.
Nilan cupped her chin in his hands and raised her face so their eyes met again. “I’ve seen your face, but on another.”
Puzzled, Lexa wondered if the man had taken any drugs before their meeting. His eyes turned from aloof to hungry, and her brain produced a thousand possible scenarios of what was to come.
“Tell me, child, where do you come from?” Nilan asked curiously. Then he studied the dagger in his grasp, Lexa’s dagger, and his eyes lit up knowingly.
“A small camp not too far from here,” she replied.
Nilan’s eyes widened. “Did you happen to know a Xenabelle?”
Lexa nodded. “Yes, sir. That was my mother.”
“Was?”
Lexa took a deep breath and exhaled before responding. “Yes, she passed.”
Nilan dropped his hands to his sides and turned on his heels. He walked back to his worn chair and plopped down onto its seat. He handed the other guard the dagger before folding his hands on his lap and returning to studying Lexa.
“There might be something we can do to help you and your people,” he said.
“Wait, really?” Lexa asked incredulously.
“Are you serious?” Rocky questioned.
Nilan sat quietly for another moment or two then confirmed his offer. “Yes. I will speak to the other four councilmembers tomorrow at our meeting and discuss what we can do to help.”
Lexa heaved a sigh of relief but remembered another order of business. “Mr. Nilan, sir? What about my little sister, Ivie? She was hurt on our way to the third stepping stone, and the guards took her.”
Nilan waved to Santi, who strode over to him in a few short paces. They whispered back and forth, each other nodding and then replying to the other. Finally, Santi walked back to his post at the building’s entrance, and Nilan opened his mouth to speak.
“She is at our infirmary having her wounds treated by our medical staff. You can see her in a few hours after she’s had her rest,” Nilan said.
Lexa jumped up and down, thanking him profusely. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! How can we ever repay you?”
Nilan smirked. “Oh, we’ll think of something.”
12
Santi stood aside as the front door opened and a boy of Lexa and Rocky’s age stepped in. He had hair as red as a harvest moon and a splash of freckles across his cheeks. Nilan smiled fondly at the boy and moved to introduce him to the newcomers.
“Lexa, Rocky, this is my son, Titan. I believe he is about your age?”
With his chin raised, Titan looked like a prince with his rings made of rubies and a pure gold chain around his neck. He eyed Lexa, looking her up and down. A sparkle appeared in his eye, and he grinned with a wild curiosity that made Lexa’s stomach flip-flop.
“Greetings,” he said, lowering his head.
Nilan shuffled to the front door, followed by the group of guards. Before leaving, he turned back. “Titan will show you to your rooms and escort you to see your sister after twilight.” With that, Nilan left the tent-shaped building.
The teens rocked back and forth awkwardly, waiting for someone to speak first
. To say something, anything.
“So,” Titan began. “You just got here?”
Rocky nodded and stared, looking back and forth between Titan and Lexa, who in turn stared into the other’s eyes. Rocky moved next to Lexa, standing just a touch in front of her.
“You’ll show us to our rooms?”
Titan finally looked away from Lexa to Rocky, and with a slight sneer, he said, “Yes, yes. Follow me.”
As requested, Lexa and Rocky walked behind Titan as they exited the building and returned to the street outside. Lexa’s head turned in all directions to watch the bustling people mill about, attending to their business. More people in the center seemed well-off, but there were still a large number of poor people in the streets, some looking worse off than Lexa and Rocky. A young boy, no older than seven, sprinted past them. He wore no shirt, and Lexa could count every single one of his ribs as he sped by.
Would they starve here too? Why were people starving at all? Why were some people dressed like royalty while others could pass as slaves?
Above, the sun shone, but around the circumference of the city, the storm raged on in the distance. Lightning appeared and thunder rumbled, despite the seemingly pleasant day within the City of Lightning’s borders.
Titan led the way, his jewelry glittering in the daylight. Lexa would bet her next meal that his ruby ring alone would be worth more than a year’s worth of crops. Titan strode down the street in the direction of a well-kept brick building ahead. It didn’t have a sign out front, but all the windows shone, and the exterior seemed to be in tip-top shape.
Lexa knew for sure this was their destination when Titan opened the door and a bell chimed, indicating their entrance. A modestly dressed man in his forties sat at the counter in the entrance with a notebook and a pen in front of him.
“Sir Titan! What a pleasure to see you today,” he said.
“Thank you, Roburt. You as well,” Titan said. “These are our guests. I presume you’ve been filled in on the situation?” Titan asked in a hushed tone.
Roburt directed his attention to Lexa and Rocky and wrinkled his nose. “Yes, I was informed.”
Titan clapped his hands. “Great! Are their rooms ready?”
Without needing to look at his book, Roburt nodded. “Fifth floor. Rooms two and three.”
“Thank you,” Titan said and walked toward the staircase to the left of the entrance.
Lexa stared in awe at the interior of the building. Every square inch was spotless, and plush carpets lined the floors, just as in the council’s chambers. Artwork was strewn across the walls, including several old landscape photographs of the world before it ended. Lexa paused at one particular framed shot of a large statue of a woman wearing a crown. She reached to touch the photo, but Titan cleared his throat.
“Ready?” he asked.
Lexa forced herself to turn away and follow Titan up the stairs. Rocky climbed the stairs next to Lexa and didn’t take his eyes off her. After a handful of flights, they reached floor five. Titan opened the door to the hallway, where several rooms with closed doors were lined up on either side. He found rooms two and three and opened them simultaneously for Rocky and Lexa.
“You know, we could just share a room,” Rocky offered.
Titan waved away his suggestion. “No problem at all. I’m sure you both could use a good night’s rest in your own beds.”
Rocky opened his mouth to protest, but Lexa pushed past and walked inside room number two. Her jaw dropped. “Holy shit!”
The room had its own king-sized bed, a closet, full-length mirror and a basket of fruit on the dresser beside the window, which looked out over the city. Lexa had never seen such luxuries before in her life, let alone be allowed to enjoy them.
“This is unbelievable,” she said.
“Believe it,” Titan said warmly.
Lexa peeked into another room within the bedroom and screamed. Rocky rushed to her side.
“What? What is it?” he asked urgently.
Lexa pointed to a porcelain tub in the room with a silver head. She jumped up and down. “Oh my, God! Is that a real-life shower?” she cried.
Titan chuckled. “It sure is.”
“With real water and everything?” Lexa asked.
Titan nodded and excused himself as he squeezed between Lexa and Rocky. He turned a silver valve under the metal head, and water coursed out of its faucet and into the tub. At first, Lexa jumped back and wrapped her arms around her body.
Titan knelt beside the tub and put his hand under the steady stream of water. Lexa opened her mouth to yell for him to stop but was silenced when Titan wasn’t hurt by the water. He left his hand under the flowing shower for several seconds before he pulled away and turned off the faucets.
“Have you never seen a shower before?” he asked with narrowed eyes.
“I mean, not uh, a real shower. We made our own kinda shower back at our camp. Hell, I’ve never had a real bed to myself either,” Lexa explained.
“Well, I’ll leave you to it, then,” Titan said. “I’ll come to retrieve you in an hour for dinner.”
Titan left the room, but not before winking at Lexa before he closed the door. She ignored the gesture and roamed around the bedroom touching and examining every object in sight.
“Rocky! Can you believe this? We’re finally here!”
Rocky looked back skeptically with pursed lips. “Yeah, it’s great.”
“What’s wrong? We are finally getting a chance to save our camp,” Lexa said, crestfallen.
“I don’t know, Lex. Something seems off about this place. Too good to be true, ya know?”
“No, I don’t know. But what I do know is that I’m going to take a shower,” she squealed.
Lexa pulled open the dresser drawers, and inside were several plain white t-shirts and black pants. She pulled them up to herself, and while they seemed like they’d be a touch too large, they were better than her current clothes, covered in dirt and body odor.
Rocky watched as Lexa went into the bathroom again and turned the faucets with the utmost caution. She held her breath and put her own hand under the water. She immediately flinched as though somehow it would burn her skin like contaminated water, but it didn’t. Just as it hadn’t hurt Titan minutes before.
She pulled her stained and sweaty t-shirt over her head while a tank top remained underneath, then smiled shyly. “Do you mind?”
Rocky averted his gaze. “Oh yeah, of course. Sorry. I’ll just, uh, be in my room cleaning up.”
“Sounds good!” Lexa said.
As soon as Rocky left her room, she finished undressing and eased her filthy body into the shower. The water burned her skin at first, but only because she wasn’t used to it. She hadn’t had a proper shower in over a week, let alone a shower like this. Inside the tub, there were several glass containers with pearly liquids inside. Lexa opened one of the jars, and the soap smelled of lilacs. She used a dime-sized dollop and put it into her hair. Instantly, the perfume wafted with the steam into the air, permeating the entire bathroom.
She sang to herself and continued to lather her body with another mysterious soap, this one with a blood orange scent. She hadn’t been this clean in years, and she could have stayed under the water for another hour if her conscience allowed it.
Eventually, Lexa stepped out of the tub, wrapped herself with a white towel and returned to the bedroom. The wallpaper was a simple color of ivory, and the bedding matched but had gold accents. Lexa jumped onto the bed and lay down, still in her towel.
She closed her eyes and wondered why it’d taken so long for someone from her camp to come to the City of Lightning in the first place.
13
Rocky knocked on Lexa’s door after he showered and cleaned up.
“Come in!” Lexa called.
Rocky opened the door and found Lexa lying on the bed with her arms and legs spread far apart. He smiled and went to jump on the bed, where there was a small space at the edge. Lexa
bounced upward like a kernel of popcorn and giggled.
“Hey!” She playfully punched Rocky in the arm.
“Ready to go to dinner?” he asked.
Lexa blushed. “This is kind of weird, isn’t it? We’re getting this royal treatment just for coming here and asking for help.”
Rocky stood and pulled Lexa up too. “Well, let’s just be cautiously optimistic, okay?”
Lexa frowned. “What do you mean? Why? Everyone seems so nice here.”
“They agreed to help us, but we don’t know what they want in return,” Rocky said.
Lexa waved him away and skipped toward the door. Rocky had never seen her so joyous and animated. “Do you think they’re going to have chicken or steak?”
Rocky shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. He followed Lexa out of the room, and there, in the hallway, Titan stood to retrieve them. He’d changed his clothes since they last saw him, and he wore a tight leather jacket with black jeans. Rocky watched as Lexa’s eyes lit up.
“Titan! Hey,” she said.
Titan smiled back. “Hey, yourself. Ready for dinner?”
Lexa nodded, and Rocky agreed.
“Great! I’m taking you to the best place in town,” Titan said.
“You are?” Lexa asked as they walked down the stairs to the foyer of the building. Rocky rolled his eyes, but no one saw him.
“Of course, you’re our guests,” Titan said.
Titan waved to the person at the front desk and held the door open for Lexa and Rocky. The sun started its process of setting, which made the city so much darker than before. Without being able to see a clear horizon, once the sun passed its zenith in the sky, sunset approached much more quickly. However, a warm breeze filtered through the buildings and kissed Lexa’s skin with delight. Her hair, longer than it’d ever been, flowed gently in the breeze and made her feel like a princess.
“Clean water suits you well,” Titan said, noticing Lexa’s glow.