Page 4 of Kingdom of Tomorrow
I tried again to make her understand. “I’m not—”
“Look. Judging by your transcript, I’m guessing your mom spent multiple paychecks on furthering your education rather than saving in case of an emergency.”
Blood drained from my head, igniting a dull ring in my ears. Ms. Butler wasn’t wrong. I’d attended expensive lectures and purchased the necessary tools to grow my own indoor minigarden. A pricey endeavor.
“Think of it this way,” she added. “Three years is a blip. When your term ends, we can revisit your desire to attend the Center.”
“But you just said the two-year gap is a major hurdle.” Think of the trouble a five-year gap would cause!
Again, she continued. “If you rack up enough honors, you’ll probably earn special privileges within your desired field. This is a win-win situation for you, Miss Roosa. I suggest you take it.”
The idea of me, Panic Girl, becoming a hardened soldier who traversed between two realms to protect civilians from an otherworldly sickness was nothing but laughable.
“So what’s it gonna be? Agriculture or family?” Ms. Butler demanded. “I need an answer. Not that there’s really anything to think about. This is a no-brainer to me.”
No, this was a nightmare. I mean, I’d heard of this happening to others. Kids who’d been drafted to pay a loved one’s debt. But I’d never thought it could happen to me.
“I’ll do it,” I croaked. “I’ll sign up.” Mom was my person; I’d do anything for her, even put my life on hold again.
“Excellent.” Satisfaction danced in the adviser’s eyes, as if my decision affected her future as much as my mother’s. “You’ll report to 1984 Minitrue Street at ten tomorrow morning. Don’t be late. The bus waits for no one, and it’s your sole transport to Fort Bala. You’re allowed to bring a single bag. No weapons, food, or mementos. They’ll only slow your progress.”
I struggled to catch my breath. Fort Bala, where a doorway between worlds was said to exist.
“Due to the intricacies of your training, you’ll be forbidden from seeing or contacting family and friends. Be sure to say your goodbyes tonight.” Ms. Butler swiveled in her chair, refocusing on the screen and typing. “I’m sending instructions to your data bank. You can access it at home. Have a nice day, Miss Roosa, and beCured.” A certain dismissal.
“BeCured,” I echoed out of habit.
Numb, I stood and stumbled from the cubicle. The knights hadn’t moved from their posts. Again, they watched me unflinchingly, almost as if they hoped I’d do something. Anything.
Tears stung my eyes. I wouldn’t see my mother, my best friend, for three years. If I even survived the academy.
Chapter Two
I tell you now: consider your ways.
—The Book of Soal1.37.1.5
I burst outside, entering the bustling cityscape. People from every spectrum of society rushed about. Across the street, a man invited pedestrians to try his “asylum experience.” Near an enormous sculpture of a winged woman with crab claws, three knights and two lords in full protective gear arrested a group of people who were shouting, “Soal is life,Curedis death! The Kingdom of Yesterday comes!”
Soalians. Those on the cusp of infection. I shuddered. They believed a god named Soal lived in a magical library and he instructed them to destroyCured, the only entity capable of protecting the rest of us. Anyone sane recognized how ridiculous it all sounded ... but Soalians weren’t sane.
Citizens for Unified Reform, Education, and Defense made mistakes, but who didn’t?Curedensured we survived in a world gone mad.
Tomorrow, I would join its ranks.
Say your goodbyes tonight.
My next breath emerged as a short, rasping pant. No matter how fast I traveled along the sidewalk, maneuvering through the crowd, I couldn’t escape a growing sense of doom. I’d only ever fought onemaddened, and only to defend myself after she broke. I’d never come closer to dying.
Sizzling sunlight failed to warm my chilled skin. I tried to focus on my surroundings. Buildings of varying sizes and shapes lined the busy streets. A blend of sleek new constructions, old barns, and lavish crystal palaces that bisected different apartments, shops, and offices. Oddly shaped structures made from a shiny golden alloy fused with those made from ordinary brick.
As I turned a corner, an intoxicating floral fragrance hit my nose. Familiar. Despised. Icy fingers of dread crept down my spine, and my racing thoughts fragmented until a lone mantra remained.Ignore the Rock, ignore the Rock, ignore the Rock.
But I couldn’t. A section of it stretched along my right, and as always, I felt as if a thousand eyes were upon me, observing me with x-ray vision. Maybe they were. Small metal dogs patrolled the top of the stone, their eyes recording everything that happened, allowing operators to monitor the feed twenty-four seven.
Slinging my arms around my middle, I attempted to make myself smaller. Pieces of the Rock occupied every province in every nation. Truly, there was nowhere you could go without bumping into a seven-foot-long, seven-foot-high section. They were impossible to miss, move, or destroy. Not even explosives affected them. And yet, with their translucent, mirror-esque stone and intricate web of internal veins filled with a bloodlike liquid, every inch appeared fragile. On the outside, strange round symbols contained disjointed lines. No matter the weather or season, the most exquisite foliage bloomed along the upper edges. A cruel development, considering the Rock was also the source of the Madness.
Ahead of me, a woman knelt before the structure, reverently tracing her fingertips around a circle. Another Soalian. I huffed with disgust. She wasn’t the least bit worried about infection or her coming arrest. And she would be arrested, then placed in a treatment facility with the others.
