Page 27 of Conform
“Yes. Every morning, you will have an hour-long session. It will instruct you on the Elite protocol. It will also provide dance lessons before we attend our first ball, which will take place at the end of the moon. A public Courting requires fresh lessons. It was all in the contract.”
Right, the contract I hadn’t even read. I glanced toward the sky again, the sun sinking away slowly.
“Did you look over the contract?” Collin asked.
“I didn’t,” I admitted, glancing his way. “Was there any reason to? I couldn’t reject you.”
My stomach hit my feet as I snapped my mouth closed, my eyes finding his. He simply watched me curiously.
“Emeline, I—” Collin cleared his throat as he straightened his jacket. “Today,” he began again, his jaw tight, “you should have been able to leave unseen. It was unfair to you. I have ensured that issue won’t arise again.”
“Right. No one wants to see someone in gray.”
One day a year, birth parents were permitted to visit their offspring at the Academy. Standing in the entrance hall, I remembered adults, mostly in gray, coming through the grand doors to greet their defective offspring. Not many Elite showed up, but a few did. I stood in that hall every single year, waiting for my name to be called. I drifted toward the back of the crowd as the years passed. After Alice disappeared, I stopped going altogether. My name was never called. No Elite wanted to see me, even when I was young.
Why would that change now?
“Usually, that area is clear of the Elite,” Collin continued. “However, things are difficult right now. The Elite are being made to use the ground entrance. I have spoken to the Comm Department, ensuring that they will not mess up again.”
“Why are things difficult?” I asked quietly. Would he tell me what Violet had shared?
“It is a complicated answer,” Collin said. It wasn’t an answer, but it didn’t shut down the conversation either.
I bit my lip, attempting to silence the vicious war at play, that burning desire to understand eating me alive.
I glanced up to find Collin solely focused on my lip between my teeth.
Maybe it was simply to prove Violet wrong, that I was a person to him—to someone. Maybe being told to talk plainly made me too bold. Or perhaps my defect knew no bounds.
“Is it because of the people going against the Illum?”
Collin didn’t move, seconds stretching until they felt like minutes, hours, days. He tilted his head, watching me with an intensity that set my skin ablaze. “I did not realize the happenings in the clouds had reached the ground so quickly.”
“They haven’t. I . . .” Mind racing, I cursed myself. I had talked too plainly. Too freely.
It is on you if this gets back to us.Rose’s warnings echoed through me.Questions mean trouble.
Collin looked at me like he saw something entirely different, that he had miscalculated something. “The Starlings were talking about it?”
My frantic pulse pushed against my skin. How had he guessed? I hesitated, but I had to answer him. “I only asked why the Elite were at the atrium. They just said an Elite told them there was trouble. That’s all.”
“An Elite shared the information?”
“Yes, someone named Eve.”
Collin shifted in his seat. “Have you mentioned this to anyone else?”
“I have only seen them and you,” I said, taking a steadying breath. “Is it bad?”
“It’s nothing the Illum will not see an end to,” Collin told me, adjusting the sleeve of his jacket. I opened my mouth, but Collin cut me off. “It is why we had to wait four days for our second meeting. The Illum will stop at nothing to silence those who speak about it.”
My questioning had come to an end.
A heavy silence fell upon us. I scanned the Elite but too many looked our way. The Sphere filled with a symphony of colors as the setting sun met the horizon. From this vantage point, its bloodred blaze seemed endless, illuminating the clouds around us in shades of vibrant purples, blushing pinks, and golden yellows.
The beauty stole my breath, chasing away all the terrible thoughts running rampant and making me forget the Elite who continued to stare and whisper. If only I could watch the sunset here forever, or even just a few more moments. It was fleeting, the ending already in sight. The night was not far off now, waiting to cloak the sky.
I realized the sun’s final moments painted not only the clouds. My dress was no longer ivory but all the colors around us. Rose had dressed me to reflect the sunset. I smiled, relishing the small moment of joy, letting it chase everything else away.
