Ascension (2 page)

Chapter
2

When I returned,
I entered my family
’
s den only to be greeted by Conor
’
s apologetic expression. He was
hiding behind my mother, who had a scowl carved into her face and
her arms crossed tight over her chest. She closed the gap between
myself and her, and before I could open my moth in protest, sent a
hard slap across my face, the sound ringing throughout the
room.

“
Faradene! You
have no excuse wandering through the tunnels by yourself! Conor
comes back nearly every week, telling me stories about the trouble
you get yourself into. Haven
’
t you learned by now that
nothing comes of you leaving the den?
”

“
But I had to get
some water for dinner,
”
I began to
protest before her stern face stopped me short.

“
You know we
can
’
t fool
around here. The King doesn
’
t care about what his men to do
us. There is nothing here to protect you!
”
She looked at me in earnest, her voice quieter,
“I
can
’
t protect
you.
”
She grasped my arm, holding onto me
as if, should she let go, I would be lost to her.
“
Come on and sit. Supper
’
s ready.
”

I shot Conor a glare as he ran out
of our den, and he cast me a sympathetic smile before turning the
corner. I turned back around and made my way to the center of the
room. Our home consisted of one large, rounded out room with bare,
brown walls and a scattering of mismatched rugs covering the floor.
In the back sits a fire pit, and above it tonight cooked what I
assumed to be another round of potato and carrot stew in a large
cauldron. My mother handed me a clay bowl and I went to fill it up.
I shuddered as another brown carrot slopped its way into my bowl,
trying not to watch as it sunk under the sea of yellow broth. I
took my seat at the table, and was joined a moment later by my
mother. I pushed the carrot lump around in my bowl, not wanting to
break the awkward silence.

“
Go on and eat. I
know it looks bad, but with the rationing, there
isn
’
t much to
be done. We
’
ve
got to use what we have, and only then can we ask for more.
Besides, you don
’
t want your father to see you turning your nose up at your
food when he works so hard to make sure that everyone has what they
need.
”

My father is one of the few members
of our community recognized by the guards as an authority figure of
Cethin. He often meets with other men and women in a council,
working to provide some relief for their people. For a time, things
were going well, considering the fact that we are underground. We
had enough food to last us, the animals we that were occasionally
brought down when a new group of guards came in were nice and
healthy, and the guards themselves took their job a bit more
seriously, giving us less trouble. But recently, the King has been
sending more and more guards down below. The guards, unaccustomed
to having to live with rations and the scarce resources of
underground living, consume nearly double what we do. The little
remaining food must be partitioned up amongst the animals and
ourselves. As consequence, the animals have been getting thinner,
and so have we. While the guards, on the other hand, have grown
plump, with an attitude as large as their appetite.

The council meets
weekly, and the King
’
s guards always attend, to make sure nothing amiss is going
on. The members discuss trivial things such as food count, mining
revenue, and the status of the group latrine. To the guards,
nothing seems out of the ordinary. But to the members of the
council, every word has a double meaning, and through this code, we
have begun to organize a revolt right under the
guard
’
s noses.
None but the council knows the plan; even I am in the dark. But
that doesn
’
t
stop me from trying to weave my way into the
plot.

As my mother and I ate our supper in
silence, my father walked into our den. He placed his blue-stained
cloak across the doorway as a curtain, the symbol that all are home
and resting.

“
My sweet
Miriam!
”
My father
’
s booming voice resounded
through the room as he swept my mother up into a mighty
embrace.

“
Hush, Anso, the
guards will hear you! You know that they follow you
closely!
”

“
Let
them!
”
He boomed, turning his face back
towards the opening.
“
I have nothing to
fear from those weak, power hungry brutes. If they
won
’
t let us
run our own colony, I should at least be able to run my own den.
And that means that if I want to love my wife, so be
it!
”

“
You
’
re in a jolly mood, Anso. Did
the council meeting go well?
”
My mother
asked.

“
Did it go well?
Things will start changing for the better, I can tell you that. We
just have a few more obstacles to face,
“
My father stopped short with a stern look from my mother.
He looked down at me, and I couldn
’
t help but smile. My father was
as jovial as my mother was strict, but when times called, his
enthusiasm would just as quickly turn to a fueled passion for
righteousness, in which his great strength seemed to have no
bounds.

“
Ah, Faradene,
and how is my beautiful child doing?
”
He
scooped me up into his arms as well, and wrapped us all in a tight
hug.

“
Ahh! Let go! I can
’
t breathe!
”
I squirmed my way out of his grip, giggling, and we both
sat back down to eat. My mother left to fetch him a bowl, and
before I could think of a way to distract my father, she returned
and sat down, her eyes trained on mine as she
announced,

“
Faradene got
herself into trouble again. This time a guard nearly dragged her to
his room to have his way with her.
”

“
That
wasn
’t my fault!
”
I protested before she could say any more.
“
It isn
’
t like I asked him to grab me!
We needed water, and you weren
’
t here! I had only gone to the
well,
“

“
Exactly!
”
She cut me off.
“I
’
ve told you before, you are not
to leave our den on your own! You demand too much attention, and we
don
’
t need to
give the guards any excuse to hurt us more than they already
have!
”

“
But you
can
’
t hold me
up in this room forever! What am I supposed to do? Work needs to be
done, and if all I have to do to is sit here my entire life,
I
’
m going to go
insane! Besides, it
’
s not my fault I look like this!
”

“
Well the fact
is, you do!
”
My mother took in a deep
breath, trying to reign in her voice, which had rose to a shout.
She continued in a much quieter, but equally demanding tone.
“
I don’
t want to lose
you just because you were bored and looking for something to do.
Your father and I are doing all that we can to protect you, but if
you keep choosing to be reckless, there is nothing we can do to
save you! Not only are you getting yourself in trouble, but you are
also threatening the safety of Conor, his family, and everyone else
you selfishly pull into your thoughtless attempts to distract
yourself from boredom.
”

At this, my
father put his large hand on my shoulder, concern in his
eyes.
“
Faradene, I agree with your
mother. You can
’
t drag other people into your business.
”

Furious, I stood
up, throwing his hand off me.
“I
’
ve done nothing wrong except be
born like this! I shouldn
’
t be treated like a child just
because of my looks! I am old enough to take care of myself and
make my own decisions!
”

“
Eighteen is
hardly old enough to know what is right and wrong! You think you
know more about the way things work because your father is on the
council, but you
’
re really just a naive child. You don
’
t know anything about the real
world,
”
my mother
argued.

“
Because you
never let me see it!
”
I was enraged, and
I couldn
’
t help
from raising my voice. We
’
ve had this conversation before,
and every time it grew worse and worse. We always wound up talking
in circles, never really communicating anything, hearing rather
than listening, reacting in place of considering, never getting
anywhere. Still, I couldn
’
t help but fight back.
“It
’
s not enough that
everyone avoids me, but you also trap me in this room!
You
’
re no
better than the guards! All I want is to do my part! Just let me
live like everyone else!
”

“
You can never be
like everyone else! Why can
’
t you understand that?
”
She stopped yelling and opened her hands towards
me, reaching to stroke my hair. I warily backed away, but she
continued advancing.
“
You are a beautiful
diamond in this coal mine. Just let your father and I take care of
you and keep you out of danger.
”
I batted
her hands away, moving more quickly out of her outstretched
arms.

“
No. You
can
’
t treat me
like this anymore. Father is a councilman, and you work every day
with the children. Everyone looks up to you two. But me,
I
’
m nothing
more than a pretty face that can
’
t carry her own weight.
I
’
m sick of it!
I
’
m done
sitting around!
”

“
Faradene,
“

“
No! I hate this
face, I hate the guards, and I hate you!
”
I tore out of the room, getting tangled in my
father
’
s cloak.
Unraveling myself, I let it fall to the floor. Looking up from the
blue bundle now dusted with dirt, my eyes met those of my father,
nearly unrecognizable in the grief that had so quickly replaced the
mirth present a few moments ago. Tearing my eyes from his, I fled
into the darkness.

Chapter
3

I tore my way through the tunnels,
running past the well and into one of the abandoned mines. Down
here in Cethin, we mine nearly every mineral the wealthy Ahrenians
could desire. When the rich want crystals for their dresses, we
find them crystals. When they need coal for their fires, we find
them coal. They expect us to be able to summon a vein of ore at
their whim, but in reality, we are forced to dig deep into the
earth, tunneling in a wide web until we stumble upon a trace of
whatever they demand.

The old mine I
found myself in is a simple marble mine. It
’
s one of my favorites, because
the simple marble has rose veins running through it, making the
ordinary beautiful. But tonight, it just made me more upset. I wish
that I could be just plain white marble, like everyone else, but
instead I have pink streaks running through me, separating me from
the rest.

When I was young,
all the children would attend lessons until they were strong enough
to work. My mother was the teacher, and she taught us the basics on
how to survive. Which roots are safe to eat, how to dry meat with
salt, how to make cheese from goats milk, and most importantly, how
to blend in. How to avoid the guards at all times, and how to react
should they catch you doing anything they decide you
shouldn
’
t be
doing. On occasion, she would teach us about the history of our
community. Why we are destined to live in the dark while the rich
live above ground. These lessons were my favorite for two reasons.
Whenever she spoke of history, she would speak about the outdoors.
Although she has never been, knows about it from her great great
grandmother, who taught her great grandmother, who taught her
grandmother, who taught her mother, who taught her. They almost
sound like legends, these things called trees and flowers, a sun
that rises and falls every day to tell you when to start anew. Down
here, we have little sense of the time of day. With no sun or moon,
night and day are trivial anachronisms that the guards hold on to
in order to keep their sanity while they work underground. Us, we
are accustomed to the lack of day and instead rely on special
candles that reach a bulb of gunpowder at every hour to let us know
how much time has passed. These as well are more for the
guards
’
sake
than our own. We have all adapted, more or less, to be on the same
schedule. We rise together, we work together, and we fall together.
Everything we do is done as a group. Which can make it all the more
evident when someone doesn
’
t exactly fit
in.