Marie's Journey (Ginecean Chronicles)

by La Porta, Monica

  “Yes, let’s go.” Lucas put away his plate and stood.

  Marie and Grant exchanged a glance and then they silently agreed to get it over with. She took his hand and they followed the two men out of the Priest’s apartment. Going down seemed faster, mostly because she knew they would eventually reach larger spaces and she already knew the way.

  “I can’t believe they’ve managed to build all of this without Ginecea being the wiser,” Grant whispered when they stopped on a landing to give the Priest time to greet some men.

  “I think pure breeds want to believe what they want to believe, and as they treat Vasura as if it doesn’t exist, they could never envision men were capable of building an entire city under their noses. Therefore, they would never look for it.” Marie had been thinking about it since she had exited her room.

  “Even though—” Grant looked first down and then up, encompassing the city in its entire length.

  “You’ll see in a moment that it isn’t easy to spot the city from the outside.” Lucas smiled at them from their right side.

  Marie hadn’t noticed the man was walking so close to them.

  “Hopefully, you’ll get to see it today…” Lucas commented, his eyes on the older man, who was deep in conversation with a new set of men who had supplanted the first.

  Soon it was evident that his fear was funded. If at the beginning they had descended through several layers of the city without a hitch, the lower they went, the more people were interested in exchanging words with the Priest. An hour later, Lucas proposed to escort Marie and Grant by himself. The Priest nodded to him and saluted them with a nod of his head while answering somebody else’s question at the same time.

  “It’s always like that?” Grant asked, finally leaving the landing they had been waiting on for the last forty-five minutes.

  “It’s normally worse. He barely sleeps at all.” Lucas looked back at the other man and Marie noticed the affection in his eyes and the softness of his tone when he talked about the Priest.

  “Have you known him long?” she asked.

  Lucas smiled. “All my life.”

  Grant frowned at the man’s answer.

  “I was born here,” Lucas explained. “My mom and dad still live in the Caves.”

  “What are the Caves?” Marie was starting to compare the City of Men to Vasura in terms of social complexity.

  “When this settlement was established, heterosexual families were the target of severe harassment. My father and my mother, along with other couples expecting kids, looked for an alternative to the city and found a system of caves big enough to host them. They’ve created a self-sufficient community.” Lucas led the way downstairs without further complications. He nodded once or twice to men who saluted him, but never stopped to talk to them.

  “They have no interaction with the city?” Grant asked.

  Marie’s eyes went to a mural that, from the vibrant colors, was created by the same artist who had started the one she had seen before. It was another marine scene.

  “The Priest makes sure they aren’t severed from the city. He wants cohabitation, not division.” Lucas followed her eyes and said, “That’s a kids’ project. The Priest teaches classes and that’s one of last year’s community projects to bring all the citizens together. Regardless of where they live.” He passed a finger over an octopus’ tentacle.

  Marie liked the drawings even more. “But we aren’t going to the Caves… why?”

  “The Caves are for families with kids—” Lucas started, but Grant interrupted him.

  “The place where the Priest is sending us, the Sanctuary, hosts heterosexual families as well. I don’t understand.”

  “It’s true. The Sanctuary was created by Guen and Arias when they discovered they were expecting their daughter. They used to live in the city…” Lucas paused to wave at someone. “Actually, they’re the ones who helped build the city.”

  Marie found the children’s signatures on the bottom of the mural. “I still don’t understand why they decided to live by themselves and not join the Caves.”

  “It’s the other way around. They built the Sanctuary first. The other families looked for a different solution.”

  “Why?” Both Marie and Grant asked at the same time.

  “Because as the Priest said, Ginecea’s preconceptions managed to follow us even in the middle of nowhere.” Lucas saw someone walking toward him and muttered, “I’ll build some hidden passageways into this city yet…” Then he left before the man could reach him. After that, the conversation died. He doubled his pace and Marie and Grant had to run to keep up with him.

  Finally, they reached the ground level and she was surprised, once more, by the dimensions of the city. From upstairs, she had seen the plazas and the gardens and the shops, but hadn’t realized how big everything was.

  “Thirty years in the making and still so many things to do.” Lucas echoed the Priest’s words and they sounded funny in his mouth.

  Marie would have loved to spend some time with Grant sitting on one of the benches dotting the gardens. From upstairs, she had seen several secluded spots. Lucas was in a hurry though and dragged them away from the recreational grounds to enter another dim hallway that ended in a small room where a man stood guard.

  “Taking them to the Sanctuary,” Lucas announced after briefly saluting the man, who gave Marie and then Grant a thorough look.

  “Another one of them—” the man said, keeping his eyes on Grant. “A women-lover.” He spat on the ground. “As if we need those here.”

  Marie shivered. She hadn’t liked the man’s tone from the beginning, but then he had gone too far with the insults. Grant’s hand stiffened around her fingers. She squeezed back, trying to silently tell him to let it go, not to confront the man.

  Lucas seemed equally annoyed by the man’s comments but only shook his head slightly. “Let’s go.”

  “What a waste,” were the man’s last words as a gate was opened and they left the City of Men behind.

  Lucas waited until the gate fully closed behind them, probably more to compose himself than for fear of being heard from the inside, and then said, “Don’t ever respond to such provocations. Those people enjoy making you lose your temper and can’t wait to beat you up.”

  “It isn’t easy.” Grant looked back at the gate.

  “That idiot isn’t worth your anger.” Lucas patted his shoulder. “Last hike of the day for you.”

  After that exchange, they walked on a path that wound up in a serpentine motion and led them to higher ground. Marie welcomed the outdoor exercise. The smell from the desert was a balm for her nerves. The man’s cruel words and attitude had unnerved her and she had to breathe in and out for several minutes before she could talk again. When they reached the top of a plateau, Lucas made them turn and look at the valley below.

  He smiled and she wondered what he was looking at, then she understood his previous statement about the city not being so easy to spot from the outside.

  “Isn’t our city beautiful?” Lucas asked, his eyes bright.

  Marie nodded in agreement while Grant whispered, “I’ve never seen anything as beautiful.”

  She could barely believe her eyes, but from up there, it was almost impossible to make out the city from the rocky formation lying at the bottom of the plateau. It only took a slight tilt of the head to look at the red rocks from a different angle and discern the layers that composed the city. The structure resembled a multilevel cake where the ceilings of the buildings underneath composed the floors of the next layer. She sat on a flat rock and stood there silent for a few minutes, unable to peel her eyes away from the sight. A thought, almost a prayer, formed in her mind. Goddess, never let Ginecea here.

  Lucas gave them a few minutes and then called them. “The Sanctuary is less than an hour from here, but the sun is getting closer to the zenith and it isn’t safe to stay outside without proper clothes and water.” He muttered something else about having los
t enough time in social greetings, but it wasn’t meant for their ears and Marie tuned him out. Her worries lifted with every step.

  Hand in hand with Grant, she bathed in the sun. She had always loved to be in the outdoors and never had the chance. The uncertainty about her future a heavy weight on her heart, she had decided to live by the moment and enjoy anything life was throwing at her. From the moment she had left the Institute months ago, nothing had happened the way she had expected. She was quite sure she wasn’t the same Marie who had left the safety of the place where she had been raised to pursue a job she hadn’t even known she would like. She had always dreamed of a different life from the one she had been served since birth. A smile curved her lips before she could suppress it, and then she realized she didn’t want to.

  “What is it?”

  She opened her eyes to see Grant looking at her, his big green eyes staring at her in wonder. With Lucas a few steps ahead of them, she laughed and then pulled Grant to her, looking for his lips.

  “This is the first day of my new life. Forever.” She laughed at her words, joy bubbling inside her heart and making her feel light. “And I want to spend it with you.”

  A cry resounded over their heads and Marie looked up. An eagle soared in the sky, wings spread, riding the thermals. Its silhouette projected against the sun. Grant picked her up, and while swirling her around, his lips searched for hers.

  “I love you.” He kissed her.

  “I love you.” She closed her eyes, returned the kiss, and smiled, feeling as free as the eagle flying high above them. “I will always love you.”

  Dear Reader, if you liked this book, please consider writing a review. As an indie author, I rely solely on word of mouth to promote my stories. Just a few words from you will ensure my work is discovered by other readers.

  Monica

  Backstory and Acknowledgments

  The core of this novel was written during Nanowrimo 2012, and since then it has changed title several times. The original idea was to depict what happened between the last two chapters in The Priest, but the character of Marie, a young fathered woman, demanded a different story. So, while I was writing this book, titles changed to reflect the overall atmosphere of the novel. The City of Men became Journey to the City of Men, and finally I surrendered to the evidence that I was never going to center Marie’s story around the City of Men’s wars, and I decided that the best title would be Marie’s Journey.

  The Team

  I wrote Marie’s Journey and I take full responsibility for it

  Amy Eye edited it

  Cassie McCown proofread it

  Alessandro Fiorini created the amazing cover

  Roberto Ruggeri formatted it

  You, the reader, hopefully liked Marie’s story as much as I did writing it

  Bio

  Monica La Porta is an Italian who landed in Seattle several years ago. Despite popular feelings about the Northwest weather, she finds the mist and the rain the perfect conditions to write. Being a strong advocate of universal acceptance and against violence in any form and shape, she is also glad to have landed precisely in Washington State. She is the author of The Ginecean Chronicles, a dystopian/science fiction series set on the planet Ginecea where women rule over a race of enslaved men and heterosexual love is considered a sin. She has published The Priest, Pax in the Land of Women, and Prince at War. She is currently editing the fourth in the Ginecean series. She also wrote and illustrated a children’s book about the power of imagination, The Prince’s Day Out. Her latest published short, Linda of the Night, is a fairytale love story celebrating inner beauty. Stop by her blog to read about her miniatures, sculptures, paintings, and her beloved beagle, Nero. Sometimes, she also posts about her writing.

  Monica La Porta’s blog: www.monicalaporta.com

  The Ginecean Chronicles Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ginecea

  The Prince’s Day Out Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ThePrincesDayOut

  Goodreads Author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5757332.Monica_La_Porta

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/momilp

  Other Books by Monica La Porta

  To keep up to date with Monica’s new releases and promotions click here or scan the QR code with your smartphone or mobile device.

  The Priest – Book One of the Ginecean Chronicles

  Mauricio is a slave. Like any man born on Ginecea, he is but a number to the pure breed women who rule over him with cruel hands. Imprisoned inside the Temple since birth, Mauricio has never been outside, never felt the warmth of the sun on his skin. He lives a life devoid of hopes and desires. Then one day, he hears Rosie sing. He risks everything for one look at her and his life is changed forever. An impossible friendship blossoms into affection deemed sinful and perverted in a society where the only rightful union is between women. Love is born where only hate has roots and leads Mauricio to uncover a truth that could destroy Ginecea.

  Marie's Journey – Book 1.5 of the Ginecean Chronicles

  Marie just turned fifteen and can’t wait to leave the Institute where she has been raised with thirty girls, all unwanted like herself. As a fathered woman, she is set to make the best she can with what she was given and dreams of when she will start training as a nurse at Redfarm, her new home. But Redfarm is far from the nurturing environment Marie had envisioned. She meets Grant and, through him, is exposed to the race of men—the workers whose lives are worth even less than hers—and discovers they aren’t as despicable as she had been taught to believe. Before she can understand her own feelings, the longing for hugs she can’t share with Grant takes hold in her heart and she soon wishes they could be anywhere else but there. Her desire is granted, but once again, reality is harsher than her dreams. Marie’s Journey is a companion book in The Ginecean Chronicles, a series set in the dystopian world of Ginecea, where women rule over enslaved men and heterosexual love is the ultimate sin. Although the story is chronologically set between The Priest and Pax in the Land of Women, Marie’s Journey can be read alone.

  Pax in the Land of Women – Book Two of the Ginecean Chronicles

  Love doesn’t obey preordained rules. Sometimes, social status and gender mean nothing. The purest of affections can be born between two people living in different worlds. In a society where women rule over an enslaved race of men and love between a woman and man is considered a perversion, Pax’s and Prince’s union is destined for a tragic end. Coming from an existence of privilege, Pax has never endured harshness. She has never had any reason to doubt the rules Ginecea was built on. Everything changes when she is sent to spend her summer on a desolate farm and is exposed to the ongoing brutalities against defenseless men. A wrong turn leads her to witness Prince’s thrashing at the hands of the guards. One look from him and Pax’s perfect life is shattered, the memory of his dark eyes haunting her night and day. As a pure breed, born to one of the most prestigious family in Ginecea, she would have never thought it possible to fall in love with a man. Marked as a sinner, Pax abjures her ancestry to save Prince’s life. She hopes they can disappear into the desert, but social prejudice and political schemes give them no respite. The Priestess, the ruler of all Ginecea, has other plans for Pax Layan and her family.Second in The Ginecean Chronicles, Pax in the Land of Women is a dystopian tale set on the planet Ginecea.

  Prince at War – Book Three of the Ginecean Chronicles

  The City of Men has been destroyed. The pure breeds want him dead. Prince is still running for his life. This time, he’s not alone. Pax and the rest of the survivors count on him to keep them alive in the unforgiving desert. Pursued by the heartless Priestess and the President of Ginecea, Prince and Pax fight to find a haven for their unborn child. He knows the two women won’t stop at anything to achieve their goal. But he can’t fathom the true reasons behind their motives. Ginecea wants the heads of anyone who helped the fugitive men and nobody is safe. Not even the fathered women, slaughtered by a Priestess crazed by hate. The world
is in an uproar and Pax and Prince stand in the eye of the storm. Prince at War is the third book in The Ginecean Chronicles, a series set in the dystopian world of Ginecea where women rule over enslaved men, and heterosexual love is the ultimate sin.

  Elios – Elios and Gaia Series

  He had no name until she gave him one. Elios has existed for eons, yet he has never lived. As a Solean Observer, his latest assignment is to study human nature. When Earth reaches its final days, he will be the one judging whether humanity’s memory deserves to be preserved. This is not his first mission, and he is confident that he will make Lex, his Ancestor Guide, proud once again. Then, in Athens, Elios locks eyes with Gaia, and for the first time in his long life, he develops feelings he doesn’t have a name for. An impulse stronger than any he has ever felt will drive him to follow Gaia first to Rome, where she lives, and then across the ocean to the United States when she goes to study abroad. In Seattle, unable to fight his sentiments any longer, Elios finally approaches Gaia. What starts as an innocent desire to talk to her just once, soon becomes a fire Elios can’t quench. And yet, bound by his oath as an Observer, he can’t have any physical contact with her. Struggling between his duties to Solo, the planet that gave him birth, and Gaia, who has become the only reason for his existence, Elios must decide. But fate, in the form of an archeological finding discovered inside an Etruscan tomb, decides for him and Gaia, separating them. Although Elios is a companion novel to Gaia, they can be read in either order. They are both stand-alone stories from different points of view. You met Gaia and Elios in her book; now hear his story.

  Gaia – Elios and Gaia Series

  While vacationing in Greece, Gaia locks eyes with a stranger, twice. Two years later, back in Rome, she should be enjoying college life; instead, the memories of his lapis lazuli eyes and Mona Lisa smile still haunt her. Gaia longs to meet him again and unwittingly sabotages her romantic life by refusing to move on. Only her anthropological studies about the mysterious Etruscans make her feel alive. A chance to breathe new air is presented to her when she wins a full scholarship to study abroad at the University of Washington. In rainy Seattle, Gaia finally meets the man of her dreams, but he proves to be... otherworldly. Meanwhile, in her field of studies, what starts as an interesting archeological finding about a six-fingered human image, soon evolves into the discovery of the millennium, but not where Earth is concerned. Although Gaia is a companion novel of Elios, you can read these in either order. They are both stand-alone stories from different points of view. You met Gaia and Elios in his book; now hear her story.