Eos (The Eos Dawn Series Book 1)

by Jen Guberman

  “This is the main commons. We eat in here, socialize in here—all that kind of stuff. Occasionally there are organized fights in here… occasionally unorganized, but that’s bound to happen if you stick violent people in the same area. If you ask me, exile towns aren’t the way to handle crime.”

  “What do you propose instead of exile towns?”

  “Unfortunately, I still believe in the prison system.”

  “But I’m assuming you know we can’t do that, right? There aren’t enough stable prisons still standing after the war, and the population is still too low to have enough people to maintain that large of a prison, or that many prisons.”

  “I know, I know. I’m not saying it’s an option in current times, but when conditions are right, I think it would be best if they went back to the old ways. Honestly, I’m not so sure conditions aren’t right already—society has recovered quite a bit since the war.”

  “If they could hypothetically do that now, you’d be in a cell though,” I pointed out.

  “It’s better than a cave of people who struggle with a dangerous problem. Not all of the people in here are truly dangerous, but some of the people are here because they’re murderers.”

  I glared at him.

  “Sorry. I meant some of these people take lives for fun. And with the old system, people could be released back into society in some cases. If you were arrested for a minor crime, you wouldn’t have to spend your life apart from your family and friends.”

  I looked at him, curious why he was in Bellicose.

  “Look here,” he pointed. “That room over there is a bathroom. We have showers, but the water doesn’t get very warm.” He used a thumb to rub a bloodstain from my cheek.

  “The room next to that is the representative’s room. His name is Cromwell. He’s a pretty scary looking guy; I’m not going to lie. Massive, too. He’s covered in tribal tattoos, has this weird nose ring, and the typical tough-guy deep voice to match it all. I’d tell you he’s a cool guy, but I’m not sure I can really say that. I’ve never really spoken to the man any more than necessary. Follow me.”

  He led me into a third small, pocketed room and opened a large crate.

  “The city officials know we have a lot of incidents here, seeing the kind of people that are sent here, so we have the largest medical supply of all of the exile towns. It can’t even compare to the supply of any of the cities though, of course.”

  He rummaged through the contents of the crate, pulling out a few things.

  “Sit,” he motioned to a short crate.

  I sat down, and he kneeled in front of me, carefully taking my hand, examining it again. In a matter of a minute, he had fashioned a splint for my wrist.

  “How’s that?” he asked.

  I turned my arm over, admiring his work. I wiggled my fingers.

  “It’s good.”

  “I’ll show you where you can stay,” he led me down another passage, this one longer and taller than the first.

  There were shallow pockets along either wall. Each pocket-room had a woven mat on the floor, a thin blanket across the mat, and a single bulb on the ceiling.

  “No one is staying in this one,” he pointed to one of the rooms, identical to the rest.

  “Thank you, Paren.”

  “No problem, darling. I’ll get you a towel and a change of clothes from the supply room—I’ll be right back.”

  I stood there alone next to the mat and a ratty grey blanket. I killed an innocent man. I sat down and brushed my hand along the blanket, poking my fingers through some of the holes. I don’t have my blanket—it’s in my bag. I don’t have the Key papers—they’re under a tree. The only things I have of my own are my jacket and my pocketknife. I slumped over, sobbing. A few minutes later, Paren came back. Upon seeing me on the floor, he rushed over to me.

  “Hey,” he said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “You okay?”

  I shook my head.

  “Eos,” he tilted my face up with a finger under my chin. “Darling, you look much prettier with a smile on your face. Cheer up—it isn’t as bad as you think. You’ll make a couple friends here, and things will get better. If nothing else, look at it this way… I get a chance to get to know a pretty girl now that you’re here,” he flirted, adding a cheesy wink.

  I smiled half-heartedly, sniveling. I wiped the tears from my face, covering my hand in crusty blood.

  “When can I meet her?” I joked with a sniffle.

  “Smart aleck,” he poked me.

  “Can I take that shower now?” I giggled stuffily.

  I took the towel and change of clothes into the bathroom. There was a grimy shower stall with a moldy shower curtain hanging from a crooked rod. Better than nothing.

  The crimson and brown of the blood rinsing out of my hair mixed with the amber glow of the lights, making the color appear a burnt umber as it circled around the drain. I watched the blood wash out, feeling numb and exhausted at this point. While in the shower, I figured I’d scrub the blood out of my jacket as well. It was black, so it didn’t really stain anything, but I didn’t want to leave blood in the fabric.

  After my shower, I dried off and put on the new clothes—a simple red tank top, black fitted jeans, clean socks and a pair of shoes made out of a burlap-type material. Thank you, Paren. Never have I been so excited to have clean socks and some shoes.

  Back in the bedroom corridor, I saw a cup of chocolate pudding and a bent spoon sitting on my mat. I smiled to myself, sitting down. I planned to savor the pudding, but I devoured it and I swear I’ve never tasted anything so good in my life.

  I set the empty cup and the spoon aside as I sat there for a few minutes alone. My stomach growled. I wonder if they have a scheduled dinnertime. I figured I’d go look for Paren and ask him how meals work in Bellicose, so I made my way into the common room. There were a few more people that joined the half a dozen from before, sitting at tables. Some played card games and conversed loudly, while others sat alone, staring off at various things in the room. I scanned the faces in the room—there were two other females, and about seven males, but Paren wasn’t there. Next, I decided to check where I found him in the first place. I grabbed a lantern from an unoccupied table and retraced the steps we took to reach the common area.

  When I neared the area we first met, I could see the shadow of a figure—Paren.

  “Hey,” I called out. “Paren, how does dinner around here work?”

  No answer. I approached the shadow, lifting the lantern. It wasn’t Paren. Well, one of them was—the one standing, blood on his fist and a crazed look in his eyes was not Paren. The man on the floor, unconscious with a disfigured nose was.

  “Paren!” I shouted, running over to him. “What did you do to him?!”

  “Put ‘im in ‘is place,” spat the man, towering over me, with jet-black hair in a similar style to Paren’s. The man’s eyes were almost black in the darkness of the cavern as he glared at me. “He deserved worse—I showed ‘im mercy.”

  “What did he do to deserve this?” I shrieked, using the bottom of my tank top to dab at the blood on Paren’s face.

  “He tried takin’ what didn’t belong to ‘im!”

  “He stole from you?”

  “Somethin’ like that.”

  “What did he take?”

  He grabbed the front of my shirt and threw me on my back across the stone floor. “Stop askin’—ain’t yer business.” He called me a couple profane names before taking his lantern and my own that had fallen when he threw me, and he left us in total blackness.

  I groaned before easing myself up. I reached for the back of my head. There was no blood, but I could already feel a bump forming. I could hear shuffling sounds from over by Paren.

  “Paren?” I called out in a half-whisper.

  “Eos?”

  “Yeah. Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. What are you doing here?”

  “I was looking for you. I was just going to ask abo
ut dinner,” I chuckled nervously.

  “Heh, yeah I probably should have told you. How long have I been out?”

  “Not long, I don’t think. I just came over here after eating the pudding cup you left after my shower. Thanks for that, by the way.”

  “No problem, darling,” he thought for a moment before groaning in pain. “I guess that would mean it’s probably pretty close to dinner time about now.”

  “He took my lantern,” I complained.

  “Don’t worry—I think I know the cavern well enough by now. Stick your arm out, I’ll find it.”

  I held out my arm, and I jolted a little when his hand waved around, bumping into mine. He grabbed my hand.

  “Grab my waist and stay close—I don’t want you hitting your head or tripping on anything.” He guided my hand to his waist from behind.

  He led the way slowly and carefully, warning me occasionally to duck my head. Before I knew it, we were back in the common area and I could see people dishing up servings of what looked like roast beef with vegetables and bread.

  “I’m going to go clean up really quick,” Paren said, pointing goofily to his crooked nose.

  I nodded.

  I went and filled a bowl with some of the stew and took my place at an empty table. Paren returned a few minutes later and filled a bowl for himself, taking the seat across from me.

  “So, tell me, why did that guy attack you?” I asked.

  “You jump right to the point, don’t you?” He laughed heartily. “It’s stupid, really. Mikael’s a jerk, and when he sees something he wants, he thinks he has every right to it- as if it’s his- and when someone else poses a threat to him obtaining it, he feels the need to fight them off.”

  “What did you take from him?”

  “That’s the kicker. I didn’t take anything.”

  “Then why does he feel like you did?”

  “He told me to stay away from you,” Paren’s face grew serious. “He said some crude things about you, and he tried to go in the bathroom while you were showering. I told him off and stood in front of the door. He challenged me, saying he would back off if I won. I figured I didn’t have much to lose if I tried, so I took him on. I told him I wanted to fight away from the commons, so he grabbed a lantern and we made our way to where you found us. Long story short, a few punches were dodged, a few punches landed. I got him with a couple good ones, but he barely flinched. Of course, you can infer the rest based on how you found me.”

  “What? He seriously did this to you because you were trying to protect me?”

  “I know you don’t believe me, and that’s okay.”

  “I have no reason not to,” I repeated his words.

  Paren smiled, emphasizing his dimples.

  “So, since I’m taking this time to hear you out, and apparently I feel like trusting that you’re telling the truth, why don’t you tell me why you’re in Bellicose?” I asked.

  “Alright. Fair enough,” he slurped some broth from his spoon. “I used to live in Nortown. I’m 23 now, but when I was 21, I went to the city bar. It wasn’t my first time, but I didn’t go often—I’m not keen on alcohol—I don’t like what it does to people, and I don’t care for the taste, even. But I decided to go for social reasons—I have a thing for meeting new people. I sat between these two men. One was significantly older than myself, with grey, thinning hair and bifocals—he was a truly sweet and intelligent man, and the other was about my age, maybe a little older. The younger man was of a slightly bigger build, but he was shorter than me. A gorgeous young woman took an open seat next to him—one of the only seats open at the time. Aside from the fact that he never stopped staring at her chest, he got rather handsy with her. He kept running his hand up her thigh, and occasionally one along the back of her neck as he leaned in as if smelling her hair, and she kept swatting it away, asking him to please stop. Well, he didn’t, and she decided to get up and leave, but he just wasn’t going to have that. He called her some names, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her back toward him, but she was wearing heels. She lost her balance and fell when he tugged on her. I had enough at that point—I couldn’t watch him treat her like that, so I got his attention and punched him square in the face. But I didn’t stop at that. I kept wailing on the guy, punching and punching until my fist looked like it was covered in more blood than skin. His face was almost unrecognizable—it swelled almost immediately, his nose was crushed, and his features bathed in his own blood. I think I knocked one of his teeth out. He didn’t fight back hard—he mostly squirmed and swore at me. The bartender must have called the officials because they arrived during the incident and pulled me off of him. Needless to say, they took me here almost immediately afterwards.”

  I looked apologetically at him.

  “So, you didn’t kill anyone?”

  “Nope.”

  “And you didn’t just hurt someone for the fun of it?”

  “Nope.”

  “You were trying to protect that girl, and you were exiled for it?” I clarified.

  “Yup.”

  “I believe you.”

  He smiled.

  “So, darling,” he started. “Tell me, why were you exiled?”

  “I actually was initially exiled to Avid,” I admitted. I feel like he’s harmless. Unlike when I was in Equivox, I don’t really have anything to lose at this point anyways. “I’ve been stealing things since I was about 15. Nothing major. I’d steal a few dollars here and there—never enough for anyone to notice. I never stole personal items that would be missed.”

  “What got you exiled in the first place?”

  “Well, I stole some rum and got caught. The thought occurred to me when I was delivering a letter to the barkeep. I used to be an in-city messenger in Rockhallow. When I walked in, he was talking to someone about the ‘cost of that rum nowadays,’ and I didn’t want to interrupt, so I stood and listened until he was done talking. Then I gave him the letter and left, but I kept lingering outside the bar around closing time after that for a while. I did it for a few weeks until I knew his schedule. I knew that he would leave and return later for a while before leaving the bar for good at night. Once I had it down to a science, I decided to make my move. I wanted some of the rum for myself—I’ve never owned something so expensive and valuable. It was super old rum, really, from well before the war. I was going to steal a bottle for myself, and a bottle to sell after a few years to another city. I wanted to be a cross-city messenger.”

  “And that’s when they caught you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Phew,” he huffed before he tipped back the remains of his beef stew. “That blows. All of this because you stole some rum... Or tried, I suppose.”

  “It’s more than just that,” I sighed.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The reason I escaped Avid, the reason I ended up here instead… everything in-between.”

  Paren cocked his head to the side questioningly.

  “I—” I stammered.

  “You don’t have to tell me,” he said, his face growing serious. “I understand.”

  “No… You know what? Lying hasn’t been working for me. Maybe I’ll have better luck with telling someone the truth.”

  I began to tell him the long story about the Skeleton Key, about how Zane and I had been working together for a while, about how all of my stuff was still near Equivox, and about how the officials who arrested me the second time had no idea who I was or what I had done in the past.

  “I don’t understand,” Paren said innocently. “Why would you be willing to go through all of this for some key?”

  “It isn’t just a key,” I explained. “It’s freedom. The ability to go anywhere, to have anything. I wouldn’t flaunt it if I had it—I would be strategic about it. Maybe I’d reinvent myself in another city, under another name. I’d have anything I would ever need, but I could go anywhere if I ever needed or wanted. I was already in an exile town, and I hated it there—I wanted out. But I
didn’t know what it would cost me. I didn’t know that all of this was going to happen. And I still need to get the Avid and Delaisse keys from Zane, the Equivox key from the mother and daughter I met, the Bellicose key, and the Clamorite key.”

  “Well, how does one find these keys?”

  “I don’t know. Zane technically found the first two. At least, I think. Since he disappeared in Delaisse, I assumed he found it and decided to leave me behind. I know the first one came from the dump in Avid though. And I found the Equivox key in a box at the bottom of the lake.”

  “From what I can tell, these keys seem to be in places within the exile towns that are symbolic to them. The dumps—people say the thieves of Avid are ‘dirty thieves,’ right? Dirty… Dump. And the Equivox liars were put near the most pristine lake in the New Territory because it is supposed to be symbolic of clarity, purity, and not having to look far to find the truth—at least, that’s what my teachers always told me the lake symbolized. It sounded like bogus to me until you told me about this key thing. Do you follow me?”

  “I get what you’re saying, but Bellicose is supposed to be in this cavern because the violent people in it are like cavemen, correct? Well, in case you haven’t noticed, the entire freaking place is a cave. That doesn’t exactly narrow things down.”

  Paren thought for a moment.

  “Well, I don’t know. I guess we just have to keep our eyes open, maybe do some exploring sometime,” he laughed sweetly.

  “They exiled me to Avid. I escaped, and I wound up in Equivox. I met a little girl and her mom, and they said I could stay the night, but when I woke up, there were officials in the house. One came at me with a syringe, and I didn’t want to get locked up God-knows-where, and I stabbed him. I wasn’t thinking about it; I was just trying to escape.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “I—I don’t know,” I admitted in an exasperated sigh, allowing my eyes to wander as I thought about everything that had happened, and as they wandered, they caught sight of Mikael, just as he was running at Paren from behind.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN