by S. K Munt
There were a lot of things to be done and naturally, not everyone wanted to do them, which is why Miguel ended up putting forward the motion to create castes. He knew from the Academics, that doling out power and privilege and easier tasks to some had been a problematic issue since the dawn of time, and so he ruled that people would be forced to do what came the most naturally to them regardless of how easy or hard the task was, for the good of society. However, to leapfrog the issues that could arise from any sort of hierarchal system, and to dissolve the eternal battle between the sexes, Miguel swore that everyone would be regarded as equals and have an equal share in the spoils of their hard work.
In the beginning there were only three castes: the Academics, The Blue Collars and The Salvagers, but every now and then, a new one was introduced to encourage individuality and to demonstrate the fact that the world was changing and we were now at our leisure to indulge in careers according to desire, rather than just necessity. The Blue Collars made up the majority then as they did before- they were the people who cooked, cleaned, built, sewed, mined, nursed, kept shops and hunted, and closely behind them were the Academics, who were our doctors, teachers, scientists, engineers, inventors and researchers. Behind them were the Corps (once known as the salvagers) both volunteer and drafted, and the members of it are trained in a similar vein to a military, only it was not their job to fight- but to guard, salvage and explore. Then there were the farmers, who were given areas of crown land to develop, followed by the Artisans, which was a rather small caste. They were the ones with creative talents who were paid to dance, sing, write, paint and design. Behind the Artisans in size was the nobility, which was made up of people who were originally from all castes, but were granted a special title for having accomplished something great, or because they were directly involved with the way our country runs, then the Given (who are for all intents and purposes, slaves until they turn twenty-one), then the athletes, then the Nephilim then the most exclusive of all- the Royal family.
There were more castes but they were too tiny and numerous to list, but in the end we were all given the same amount of gold tokens per person per household per caste so that not one family can be wealthier than another by status alone. There are ways to amass wealth of course- everything from living frugally to trading smartly, but the biggest difference between the castes was the way that people worked. The lower and more common the caste, the smaller the house but the shorter your career- with both mother and father have equal time to serve as breadwinner at different times. The higher the caste, the fancier the house but the longer you had to work. Most Artisan and noble families only had one worker, but everyone in farming families worked and were regarded by their own spoils, and Blue Collar men were guaranteed a retirement as soon as their youngest turned twenty-one, to live at leisure while their wife gets the chance to take over as head of the household. It was a complex system but it was fair, even to me in retrospect and most importantly- no caste was allowed to be considered more important another.
How you got a caste depended on age and breeding. Every child in Calliel is sent to learn the fundamentals in education; reading, writing, arithmetic and theology, from the age of three until five and in their sixth year, start at a junior school where they stay until they are thirteen, and then a senior school where they are educated until they are sixteen. When they are sixteen, they take a basic-knowledge exam called the Preliminary caste Examination, to establish their strengths and weaknesses, and then qualify for an apprenticeship- and a new caste- based on their results. People who score poorly will end up in the least desired apprenticeships, but people who get higher scores are made clerks, librarians etc, etc. Or, they are encouraged to take the Academic exam if they get a near to perfect score. There are also other practical exams- for dancers, artists, musical prodigy and athletes, but in order to sit one of those, you have to book a time with a drafter from that caste. If the youth is unsatisfied with their placement after, they can sit the Final Caste Examinations again at the age of twenty-one, after having completed their five year apprenticeships- two unpaid, three for a lower wage, but rarely will you find anyone discontented with their lot enough to actually strive for something bigger or better, once they’ve had five years to adjust to their new caste.
This system is monitored closely by the government to ascertain that we don’t have three hundred children graduate as artists one year and eight builders- there is a number that can move up each year, and a number who are needed elsewhere, so cut-off lines are applied in the marks of these exams to get most people where they are needed rather than where they desire to be. Naturally, there is always room for more Corps volunteers and Blue Collars, but getting into the Artisan or Athletic castes can be a nightmare, and many kids have had their dreams squashed by the competition at the Preliminary Caste Examinations.
From the age of sixteen to eighteen, the young adult partakes in an apprenticeship based on their results, and from eighteen to twenty-one, that child works in their chosen field. This is a golden age in most households, for the child is finally being compensated at an adult rate, and so the ones who live with their parents until their twenty-first year can help fatten the family budget. Then, at twenty-one the child is moved to new housing, and the parents to a retirement village when their second child comes of age as well. Then, that house is gifted to a NEW family, and the system restarts again. On the opposite side of the coin, a child who marries at eighteen deprives their parents of that additional income but then again, there are fewer mouths to feed so it’s a wash, and one that is usually welcomed.
It is fair to say that a child’s innate strengths and weaknesses will determine their future caste, but for the most part people stay in the caste they were born in. Each caste has its own school and of course, their parents influence the children so the daughter of a nobleman is most likely to catch the eye of another nobleman and get swept up into a joining for breeding purposes- or married. You cannot inherit a noble title- it is granted to exceptional individuals by the crown, and that title is then rendered null and void when that child turns sixteen. So, naturally, marrying well is usually made a priority in noble households over studying- and often to the child’s detriment if they grow to be plain or poor company.
By the same thread, the son of a painter will probably grow to love the arts and study that in their free time with an expert tutor close at hand, just as the daughter of a builder, like me, will probably develop a crush on some other Blue Collar boy in their class and aspire to marry them in the future, and follow them into whatever caste they qualify for. Academics are given computers and laboratories and larger libraries in their schools, whereas the Blue Collar ones have more facilities for cooking, construction and whatnot, and the Artisan schools have more studios than chalkboards, and the farming children do not have to take the test at all if they are happy to continue to live with their family instead of moving back to Arcadia.
This could be (and as far as I was concerned SHOULD be) deemed unfair, but we were bred to believe that cooking for a husband was every bit as important as studying chemicals, so those who complained were seen as the cause of strife, not the castes themselves. We had been promised that when the world was functioning as it should be, the rules would be relaxed again but until then, it was our job to build a world that our great-grandchildren could enjoy, free of labels, and not to feel sorry for ourselves for living a little harder until then. After all, we had so much more equality than any race on the face of the earth had ever enjoyed before, and the government was taking pains to assure that those working the hardest worked for the shortest amount of time so generally, our system was regarded as Utopic.
I’d been born to be Given though, and so a lot of these doors had been shut to me and to anyone else unfortunate enough to be born third in Arcadia, where the rules were the strictest compared to the rest of Calliel. Given children are forced to stay with their parents until they are five, but then they are claimed by the cro
wn and shipped off to where they are needed. There is no child labour per se, but being third-born in our world is only slightly different to being born a slave in the old. Most of the Given children end up in the Corps or on Government-owned farms in other Kingdoms, but certain households and businesses in every kingdom in Calliel can petition to have one donated to them if there is need, and we are then given over free of charge. We cannot be beaten or spoken down to, and freedom is ours when we turn twenty-one, but most Given children are given the most basic education in boarding houses or barracks until the age of thirteen and then put to hard work. After they’ve completed their sentence, they are free to take the exams to join a caste or get married or joined at twenty-one, but most will end up as Blue Collars or in the Corps for they haven’t been educated in any other matter in depth.
And of course, I was now considered to be less than a third-born Blue Collar, because I’d come from one of the poorest families in Arcadia. It’s pretty difficult to attain the label of ‘poor’ in our world, but we had managed it, thanks to misfortune. My father had fallen off the castle drawbridge while he’d been fortifying it six years before, and had almost snapped his back in half and THEN drowned, because one of the bricks had pinned him in the shallow water and held his head under. One of Eden’s healers had been close enough to revive him after he’d turned blue, but there had been little she could do for his spine and so he’d spent months in a hospital bed, learning how to walk again. Because he hadn’t been able to return to work after, my mother had had to become the breadwinner, and then she’d had to use her wages to pay for women to look after me (there had been many things that father couldn’t do for a year like cook, clean or play with me), when I’d come along the next year, so that had eaten into our savings. My sister had always resented me for coming along and making a hard life harder, and because I had been third-born to boot, our wages had already been stretched too far to feed me, let alone pay someone to care for me until I started school at the age of three. Things would be easier for my parents now that I was gone, and would get easier for them again in four years when Finch started bringing home a wage, but I’d never known a completely full stomach in our house.
In the end, I was considered an ‘undesirable’ as far as friendships within the dormitory went. I was from the most common class, the least attractive and I didn’t know how to dance like Rayleigh or read like Emmerly who had had a private tutor and so, they thought the prince was mad for choosing me after having sent away girls who were prettier, more outgoing and more talented. After all, the one silver lining to our placement within the castle was the fact that we wouldn’t be made to work at all- but spoiled instead and for no reason- so why had Kohén chosen me to stay?
And after Maryah pointed out that Kohén had made his mind up about keeping me in five minutes- which was hours less than Rayleigh, and days less than Emmerly well, they decided to hate me instead, insisting that I must have bribed him to get myself taken in, or that he’d only made that decision in a moment of sadness or pity.
Years later, the differences between us all would prove to be more out of balance than any of us could have dreamed, but in the beginning, we were all just scared and harmless little girls who were unprepared for our cloudy futures.
Only my future wasn’t merely overcast like theirs- it was destined to be a thunderstorm.
*
We were taught how to write letters on my first full day of classes in Eden, and I did so eagerly, deciding to write to my mother to let her know that it would be easy for me to return for my visit in winter, because I was staying right there in the palace! Then I asked her to send me my blonde doll and my photo of a siblings and I, and told her that if I wanted anything else, I’d get it when I returned. I signed it: ‘Love from your Larkin,’ and sent it off at lunch. I was so excited for my mother to hear that I’d been chosen to stay, and I didn’t care that our correspondence would be read by a castle official before it was mailed off. Clearly, my mother hadn’t thought that me being taken into the castle was possible but here I was, dressed in Eden’s finest silk and being educated rather than put to work! Every time I imagined her reading that letter with a proud smile, I almost giggled audibly.
I’m special mother, do you hear me? Tell Jaiya too- I’m SPECIAL!
The return package came later that afternoon- a box so big that when it was delivered into my arms by one of the guards, Rayleigh and Emmerly crowded around me, excited to see what I’d gotten.
‘Perhaps she sent biscuits!’
‘Oh! You’ll share them, won’t you Lark?’
‘Maybe you have some new dresses to wear on the weekends! Quick! Open it!’
I opened it, as excited as they, and the first two items that I lifted out were what I’d asked for: my blonde doll, and the framed picture. I put them on my bed and then leaned in to pull out the remaining items- a skipping rope, my soccer ball, my watering can which was rusted around the lip, and all four of the books that Jaiya had handed down to me years ago. There was also a pair of leather boots, my hairbrush, two more dolls and a pair of tights that I’d outgrown the year before. When I’d removed everything, I stared down into the empty box in confusion, then tilted it and reached around inside it for a letter or some sort of explanation, but came up with nothing.
‘What’s all of this junk?’ Emmerly asked, holding up my watering can and wrinkling her snub nose.
Everything I own.
And it was. Every single thing, except for my clothes. ‘Erm, it’s just the stuff I asked her to send me,’ I said quickly, getting up and gathering up my things. They spilled out of my arms but after three trips, I managed to get it all into my closet, except for the doll, which I put on my bed, and the photograph, which I positioned on top of the bureau in front of the mirror. I caught sight of myself reflected above them, and saw a girl who was about to cry. Why hadn’t mother written back and why had she sent back every keepsake of mine? Wasn’t she proud? Wasn’t she relieved that I wouldn’t be traveling by ship or carriage, too far removed from her to come to me in an emergency?
Why did the carton of my things seem like the thorough goodbye she hadn’t granted me at the palace steps, two days before?
‘Well, that’s boring…’ Emmerly said, getting off her bed and moving back to her end of the room.
‘Those dolls aren’t even very pretty,’ Rayleigh agreed. ‘And they’re wearing a strange fabric that isn’t silk.’
It was a cotton- a rare fabric indeed and very special to have, but I didn’t bother pointing that out to her.
‘Like their owner.’ Emmerly whispered. ‘Pale, and weird!’
‘Definitely an ugly duckling,’ Rayleigh whispered back. ‘Let’s call her duckling!’
‘That’s perfect! She’ll think it’s cute!’
I hurried out of the room so that I wouldn’t cry in front of them, and almost ran straight into the maid Lindy, who was poised to knock on our door in the hall.
‘Wash time!’ she sang, then saw my face and stooped to lift my chin. ‘Larkin! What’s the matter? I thought you’d be in good cheer, darling! I saw that big box your mother sent-’
‘There was no letter!’ I burst out. ‘Nothing! And she sent all of my things! Why would she do that?’
Lindy winced. ‘Oh sweetie…’ she cupped my jaw and stared hard into my eyes. ‘You know this is normal, don’t you? That parents of the Given children take steps to separate themselves from them when-’
‘I know all of that!’ I wailed. ‘But these are MY parents, not others. And I’m not just a Given child, I’m hers!’ I began to cry. ‘She doesn’t love me anymore, does she? Perhaps she never did!’
The woman hugged me tightly to her large, soft frame and allowed me to weep onto her shoulder, saying nothing and that was basically a confirmation of my greatest fears. ‘I hate this system,’ she confessed. ‘I have two daughters of my own, and I don’t know what I’d do if I had to give up one as sweet as you…’
; That admission made me cry harder, for it was a lovely sentiment that my mother obviously did not share. When my tears slowed, I pulled back and looked away croaking: ‘I’ll go wash…’
‘She might write yet, little Lark,’ the maid whispered, catching my fingers and curling hers around them. ‘Sometimes they just need as much time to adjust as you do. Perhaps when you are older, or maybe even by the winter solstice…’ she smiled a wobbly smile. ‘You never know. I’ve seen all sorts of miracles happen in this situation before- just don’t lose hope, remember? God thrives on our hope, as do we.’ She tucked my hair behind my ear. ‘And if you ever get lonely or want someone to talk to, give me a holler and I’ll sneak up for a cuddle.’ She tickled under my chin and smiled. ‘Sometimes a cuddle can fix anything.’
I smiled at her, grateful for her kindness. ‘How would I find you?’
‘I’m always around- cleaning your rooms and fixing your dresses. But if I’m not, look for my husband Coaxley and tell him that you need me. He’s one of the guards-‘
‘I know Coaxley,’ I said, surprised. ‘He brought me to my room. He’s very handsome.’
‘Isn’t he though?’ she winked. ‘Good thing that he likes big girls, like me, hey?’
I laughed and sniffled, drying my eyes. ‘Thank you, and I promise I’ll keep the room as clean as I can.’
The door opened before she could respond, and Emmerly and Rayleigh came to a halt in the frame, staring from me, to Maryah.