Broken Worlds- The Complete Series by Jasper T Scott

Author:Jasper T Scott [Scott, Jasper T]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Anthem Press
Published: 2019-09-09T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Darius sat on a twenty-year-old mattress in his and Cassandra’s assigned quarters, watching through the jagged remains of a broken window as the sinking sun splashed fire on the clouds. Cassandra and Dyara sat beside him, eating a few of their rations.

“I wonder why all of the windows are broken?” Cassandra asked.

Darius shrugged. “Storms?”

“Or birds pecking at them, trying to get in for shelter,” Dyara suggested.

“Seekers?” Cassandra asked.

“I don’t think so,” Darius said. “Not these windows, anyway. They’re too small for Seekers to climb through.”

They sat in silence, watching the night fall. The room turned hazy with darkness, and the air grew cold. Darius shivered.

“How much longer do we need to wait?” Cassandra whispered.

“A while yet,” Darius said, shaking his head. In theory everyone had already gone to bed, but he doubted that included Tanik or Samara, and especially not the Marines who were probably still boarding up entrances and stringing lights through the common areas.

Cassandra covered a yawn and shook her head.

“Why don’t you get some sleep?” he suggested, and nodded to the dusty mattress. An ancient-looking brown blanket and a pillow sat on the foot of the bed. He passed the pillow to Cassandra and waited for her to lie down before spreading the blanket over her. She rolled over to face the wall, and he looked on with a smile. “Good night, sweetheart. I love you.”

“Night, Dad. Love you, too.”

He glanced at the door; it was barred and locked. The castle had plenty of rooms with missing or broken doors, but there were enough that still had them for the Acolytes to have a measure of privacy and security. Dyara’s room was across the hall from Darius and Cassandra’s, but since they were planning to go sneaking around the castle together it didn’t make sense for her to wait there by herself. That, and she didn’t want to be alone.

Darius sat in silence with Dyara. Stars came out, winking at them—the cold eyes of the night.

“What’s it like?” Dyara whispered.

Darius arched an eyebrow at her. “What’s what like?”

She jerked her chin to Cassandra. “Having kids.”

“Oh, it’s amazing. And terrifying. And exhausting. Frustrating...”

“All that?”

“I could go on,” Darius said. “It’s a bit of everything, but mostly it’s great. I would have had more kids if I’d found the right person, and if it hadn’t been for Cassandra’s cancer.”

Dyara nodded slowly. “I wish I could have kids.”

“You can’t?” he asked.

“No, I can. I just don’t want to.”

“But you said...”

“I wish there were some way to have them and keep them safe. My parents sacrificed everything to get me this.” She turned over her wrist, revealing the seal of life, a glowing triangle with an eye inside of it. “They sold their home, cashed in their savings, and moved to a remote planet, all so they could get me this forgery and keep me from going to the Crucible.” She shook her head. “And look at where it got me. I ended up getting sent to a designated hunting ground with Tanik.

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