Children of the Prime Box Set

by T. C. Edge

  "Stop," I say, my voice catching. "Just...stop, Marlow."

  "My Lady?"

  "Don't 'My Lady' me," I huff. "And don't ever call me a Daughter of the Prime! I have my own parents back home outside Pine Lake. Those two charlatans up there have absolutely nothing to do with me!"

  My words are met with a mixed reception, Marlow struggling against the insult to his gods, yet seemingly unable to now reprimand me for speaking out against them. His eyebrows quiver, facial expression shuffling about as if my words are quite literally painful for him to hear. Yet, he still is forced to lower his head, bow and cower before me. And the vehemence of my words...well, they send a shudder of fear through him too.

  "I...apologise, Lady Fire-Blood," Marlow says, performing another subservient bow. "I understand that you must be stressed, and have many questions you'd like answered. However, I would..." he says, dipping his head once more and hesitating slightly, "caution against calling the Prime a charlatan. In time, you will discover the truth."

  "The truth," I repeat, turning to glance out of the window, my gaze climbing to the summit of the hill, ever concealed by mist and fog. "Like the fact that the Prime is two people, not one. And yet, here you are, using the singular form of charlatan."

  "Well, yes," murmurs Marlow, remaining uneasy and, perhaps, thinking I may roast him alive at any moment. "The Prime is considered a single entity, the unity of the genders. They take the dual form to represent us all, as both mother and father to the divine residents of this city."

  "And yet I only ever heard them referenced as 'he'," I say.

  "Ah, yes, well that is down to preference. Many here call the Prime 'she', or 'they' as well."

  "That's ridiculous," I say. "And you actually think that these two people 'took' this form? As if they descended from some higher plane of existence to watch and rule over us?" I shake my head. "They're just a man and a woman, Marlow. Genetically enhanced, but still mortal."

  "That isn't what I believe," the High Worthy replies. "Nor anyone else here. In time, perhaps you will come to see the truth as well."

  I choose not to respond to that, but merely turn away from the man and walk over to a chair to one side of the grand chamber. I drop into it, feeling my body caressed by the soft fabric and cushioning. A renewed feeling of fatigue permeates me, my body slumping into a pose that would no doubt be considered far too listless for the people around here.

  I care not. All I want is to be able to go home. To get my sister and Jude and return to Pine Lake. To the parents I should have respected more. To the life I shouldn't have taken for granted. To the grandmother who I should have consulted before venturing off on this foolish quest.

  I draw a breath, and sigh it out with a question.

  "What will happen to me now?" I ask, staring blankly into the room. "I killed people, Marlow. I...I killed so many..."

  "It was...regrettable," the High Worthy says, still hovering somewhere closer to the door. "To lose any Son or Daughter of the Prime is a horrible thing."

  I look up, getting confirmation of what I'd already suspected. "I killed some of...them?" I whisper, feeling no joy, no gratification, from that fact.

  "Several, yes," Marlow responds. "They have journeyed to the Eternal Halls."

  "And...the Worthy?" I ask weakly.

  "Two dozen or so," he says, trying to sound sincere. "Such a terrible shame."

  Two dozen...

  I duck my head, setting fingers to my temples. That gnawing pain in my skull returns to assault me once more.

  "I should be executed," I whisper. "I'm clearly too dangerous to be left alive..."

  "Ah yes, dangerous you are..."

  The words are delivered by a newcomer, light and friendly. I lift my gaze to the door and find it mysteriously open, a man standing there on the threshold, somehow entering without making a sound. He's tall, draped in a magnificent blue and red coat with golden lining, his hair dark brown and straight and neatly swept back. Emerald eyes spring from his narrow face, his chin pointed and cheekbones clearly defined. The wrinkles around his eyes and brow suggest a man of middle age, though in a place like this, such a thing is almost impossible to determine.

  He steps forwards, Marlow immediately shuffling back and out of the way, bowing low as he goes.

  "You were meant to introduce me, Marlow," the man says coolly, not even looking at him as he draws near.

  "Yes, Master Overseer, I was about to. I...I apologise..."

  The Overseer flicks a wrist, shutting Marlow up.

  "No matter," he says. "You can step outside, I'll take up Amber's queries from here."

  "Yes, Master, of course..."

  Without a second's hesitation, Marlow dips his head once more and retreats, shuffling towards the door.

  A moment later, he's gone.

  Replaced by a man who, evidently, holds the answers I'm looking for.

  23

  It takes a moment before further words are ushered in that grand bedchamber, the man known as the Overseer, walking in with a meandering step, gazing upon the room fondly, and paying particular attention to the frescoes on the ceiling. He does a short circuit around the centre of the room, looking up, smiling, his glorious coat swaying behind him.

  Eventually, he turns to me, regarding me with great interest, a smile spread across his face.

  "Oh, I do enjoy it when these prophesies work out," he says, drawing a breath of pleasure. "Everything went as it was foretold. You may not realise it yet, my dear, but you are exactly where you are meant to be."

  My brow tightens into a frown. "Prophesies?" I whisper. "You mean...someone knew all this would happen?"

  "Not someone, dear child," replies the Overseer. "Our great mother and father saw you coming a long time ago. This one has been well known for some time, in certain circles at least."

  "The Prime," I say. "They...have the gift of foresight?"

  Just as grandma said...

  "Amongst other things," grins the Overseer, his face splitting into a wrinkled smile that does more to show his age. "But don't tell me this is a complete surprise, Amber. Be honest now. You've known something odd has been going on since the beginning, haven't you?"

  "I..." My mind switches back to where this all began. My failed branding at the collection ceremony. The way Ceres reacted when my cheek didn't burn. The way he spoke with Lilly, whispered words for only her to hear, collected her to be brought to Olympus. He must have known I'd come after my beloved sister. Everything that happened in Black Ridge, and being found by Herald Perses, all the way up to what happened during my purification...did they already know it would go down like that?

  Had it all been foretold?

  "Yes, that's it," whispers the Overseer, creeping a little closer towards me. "You see it now, don't you, Amber. You know this is where you belong."

  "I...I don't," I say, doubting myself suddenly. "I belong...back home."

  "But what is home? Your little cabin where you feel like an outsider among your own family? The woods and lakes and mountains across the Western Fringe? Pine Lake?" He scoffs. "Do you really feel at home there, living among a people so meek and mild, so submissive? Don't you yearn for something more? Don't you wish to see your true potential unleashed?"

  "I..."

  "I know, I know, there are no easy answers," whispers the Overseer, his voice soft and alluring, like a honeyed potion in my ear. "Yet the simple truth is, Amber, that you don't really have a choice. You are here for a reason. This city will become your home now. We will become your people..."

  I draw back from the concept, feeling sick, moving from my chair and towards the window. I suck in several gulps of fresh air, my eyes swaying out over the grand streets unbidden, an involuntary feeling of wonder spreading through me again at the sight. A feeling that I wish to explore, to ramble through the many districts of this city, to explore every inch of this fantastical world.

  And there, in the back of my head, my grandmother's words echo...
>
  It is a city of wonders, and horrors combined.

  I've been here only a day or two, and already I've witnessed both.

  I find myself having to force my gaze away, my mind working off in so many different directions. Has my future already been seen, I wonder. If my coming here was foretold, has my staying here been similarly so? Do they already know that I'll become one of them, a Daughter of the Prime?

  And, above all, what exactly do they expect of me? Why...why do they want me so much?

  I shake the questions away, but find the Overseer once more in my ear. His words whisper, flowing smoothly, reading the emotions so clearly cast across my face.

  "You abhor the idea, I know. And I understand just why, Amber," he says. I find my eyes drawn to his again, notice the slight glint of gold within the green. "You have been a doubter all your life. You have questioned the world you live in. You have...been told of certain things that, perhaps, you shouldn't be privy to."

  He fixes me with a stare, and I know he's speaking of my grandmother. And within his words, I sense a threat. A threat to her life. A threat to force compliance.

  "But," he goes on, "perhaps that is all part of your journey. Perhaps Alberta is part of all this too, fuelling you with this passion, forcing you to come save your sister. Giving you this inner rage and fire that can be so....destructive."

  His eyes glint, that smile of his breaking upon his lips. He takes a step towards me, no fear within him. No concern for that destructive power that resides within me. No fear that I'll use it on him.

  He stops short, looming tall. His eyes work up to the frescoes on the ceiling once again, his long-fingered hand rising. He sways it across them, pointing them out, speaking as he does so.

  "You see these, Amber," he whispers. "These are depictions of wondrous men and women, capable of fantastical deeds. Across the Fringe, they - we - are labelled gods, but you know better now, don't you?"

  I frown as his eyes drop upon me.

  "Oh yes," he goes on, "you know where these powers come from. You know the origination of the gifts that we here possess. We are not so naive here as to believe us like the mythical deities of the past. We know that the ancient myths and legends that inspire us are not true..." He looks up again to the frescoes, so beautiful and detailed, so dramatic and grand. "We are not gods as were prescribed in ancient religions," he says. "But we are divine in our own way. We are new gods, real gods. The next stage in the evolution of this world. And you are to become a part of it."

  I find myself struck dumb by his words, the revelation of the truth. The truth that I've always known, that my grandmother always taught me. A truth that, it appears, is known here too...

  "It's all...lies," I whisper, stepping back from him. "You've designed all of this as a lie..."

  "Truth is a point of view, Amber. The term god is loose, open for interpretation. We are gods, and believe we should be worshiped and paid homage as such. This world was the Prime's vision, and it has proven prosperous. Even across the Fringe, where you believe your people suffer so greatly, most live contented, happy lives. People require direction and purpose, Amber, as history has proven. We merely provide them that."

  "And you?" I ask. "Marlow called you the Overseer. What is it that you do here, exactly?"

  "Oh, I have an important function, my dear. One considered paramount by the Prime." He leans in once again, bending like a tree in a fierce wind. "You see, Amber, your coming here is most opportune. The Trial of the Chosen is about to begin..."

  He smiles again, a knowing smile, as if expecting a particular reaction. He gets it, my face scrunching up immediately as his words fall, my body leaning back in a posture of protest.

  "And you think I'm going to take part?!" I say, laughing. "You really think I want to be one of the Chosen?" I look up to the frescoes on the ceiling once more. "You think I want to be like them?"

  He considers it, that smile never leaving his face. "Oh yes," he says after a time, "I believe you want it, somewhere deep down. Even if you don't know it yet, you want it, Amber. This sort of power ever yearns to break free. Such a raw potential as yours cannot be hidden away forever."

  "Well, we'll see about that," I say, forcing my words out harshly. I fix him with the most resolute stare I can muster. "Listen to me carefully, Overseer, and watch my Prime-damned lips - I'm not competing in any trials!"

  The man's response is too quick, too confident. He smiles once more and nods, his rangy form seeming to grow in height. "Oh, yes you will. We are in need of a Chosen Fire-Blood, Amber, and have been gathering our potential candidates. You will join them, and prove yourself worthy of joining the Prime at his side."

  The words are almost too ridiculous to consider. I laugh, loudly, and turn my gaze left and right, not quite knowing what to say. In all honesty, I'm not even entirely sure of the purpose of the Chosen. All I've been told is that they are the best of the different classes of 'divinities' and 'gods'. Or, to put it more accurately, genetically enhanced individuals.

  Those capable of displaying the highest proficiency in any particular power will be considered to join the Prime's most favoured Children. To be worshiped by all those beneath them, second only to the Prime, and of equal standing with the greatest of the Heralds, among the hierarchy of the city.

  If all good Devotees across the Fringe wish to be found Worthy, then all Children of the Prime wish to join the Chosen. It is the highest honour among those already favoured. The chance to stand above all others and know, beyond doubt, that your powers outdo all others of your type.

  Yet to me, the concept is abhorrent. I'd sooner die than be forced to serve and submit...

  I show my feelings upon my face once more, and yet the expression of the Overseer doesn't change. That knowing grin remains, and worryingly so. It takes me a moment to step aside from my anger and let my reason and logic prevail. To realise that, as he told me before...I have no choice.

  My face changes, the reality of my predicament dawning. The Overseer knows. He seems to always know.

  "Take a look at this, my dear," he says softly, directing my gaze towards a large, blank section of stone wall.

  I follow the instruction as he steps forward, heading for a small panel I'm seeing for the first time. He activates it, bringing up a small display. A moment later, the wall itself blooms to life, lit like a screen, rectangular in shape. It's technology I'm aware of, but have never seen before. Tech that was once abundant before the fall, and evidently melded into the archaic nature of this city.

  The Overseer steps back again, observing my reaction as the screen lights up. Before it does, I already fear just what I'll see.

  The cell comes into view; small, confined, dark. I see a figure huddled in one corner, his clothing dirtied, signs of bruising and small lacerations to his exposed skin. He hunkers down, eyes of a blind man, locked away in the pitch darkness.

  Jude.

  The sight sends my gut lurching. I turn ferociously upon the Overseer, who maintains his poise, his confident air.

  "Oh, you won't react, my dear," he says calmly. "I believe Captain Krun made it abundantly clear to you that non-compliance will have consequences. It seems obvious to me that you place little value on your own life. Your undoing, like so many others, is your weakness for those you love."

  He keeps his eyes on me for a drawn out moment, as if tempting me to act. I feel a slight boil of energy in my core, feel my fingers tingling with that internal flame. It's a feeling I'm learning to know, an acquaintance becoming a friend. It starts to build as I hold the man's expression, see the taunting shape of his eyes. That smile of his, bordered by wrinkles, works up on one side, as if adopting the lopsided grin that Jude so often affects, an expression I know so well, love so dearly...

  No, control yourself, I think, barking the words to myself. You can't win here, Amber. You...you have to comply.

  I shut my eyes and draw a breath, managing to calm my core, douse the fire in my blood. When I open
them, I see that the Overseer has once more acted without me knowing, moving back to the panel on the wall, bringing up another image.

  Lilly.

  I see my sister, sitting on a stone bench, her skinny frame draped in grey robes. Others sit beside her, those of a similar age, another batch of Worthies brought to Olympus to worship and serve. They sit there, heads low, presided over by a couple of bald men, walking down the line perusing them, inspecting them. I know immediately that they're High Worthies, tasked, perhaps, with testing the new recruits, discover just where their purpose in this city lies.

  I stare at the screen, and find myself moving towards it. My hands reach out, one going for Jude, the other for Lilly, pressing at the images, wishing I could be there with them. From behind me, a voice comes, close to my ear.

  "Their lives can be very different, Amber, depending on what you choose," whispers the Overseer. "Oh, the life of a Worthy can be very rewarding, if one's assigned role is...agreeable. Many are very happy here, and Lilly could be one of them. Who knows, perhaps she could even be assigned to you. You could live here together, in a place just like this, all to your own."

  He stops, letting the suggestion settle. When he speaks again, his tone has darkened.

  "Or..." he goes on, voice constricting to a tighter, more menacing whisper, "she could find herself living a very different life indeed. All sorts of needs are required to be met here. If you fail to comply, your sister will suffer the consequences..."

  I hear his words continue to slip into my ears from behind me, looming over my head, though don't take them in. I just stare at my sister, at my best friend, and know I'll do whatever it takes to protect them. If this is my purpose here, my fate, then so be it.

  "I'll do it," I say, still staring at those I love, cutting the man off. "I know Lilly wants to be here. This has been her dream forever, no matter how much I've warned against it. Provide her with a happy life, and let Jude go back home to Pine Lake..." I turn around, and stare up into the man's eyes. "Do that, and I'll do anything you want."