The Desolate World: A Young Adult Dystopian Romance by Kortney Keisel

Author:Kortney Keisel [Keisel, Kortney]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-07T00:00:00+00:00

13

Novah

Summer 2059 - Present Day

“A king?” Novah’s jaw dropped.

She was with Hewson in the pasture, feeding the chickens and horses, but his words had shocked her enough to completely stop what she was doing.

“That’s right.” The satisfied smile on Hewson’s face was proof enough that he was pretty excited by this new development, and this piece of information finally got him to stop complaining about Beck and how he’d ruined the rebuild committee by inserting himself. He’d been stuck on that subject for the past three days. How everything he said or did, Beck said or did the opposite. He swore Beck was only against something because he was for it. Because of the tension between them in the committee meetings, Novah had been extra careful to keep her distance from Beck around camp. She didn’t want to add another layer to Hewson’s hatred.

“So, someone mentions monarchies, and everyone just says, okay, and then it’s done?”

“No.” Hewson continued along the fence line. “We talked about the pros and cons of this type of government for days before it came to a final vote.”

Novah’s brows creased together. “When were you planning on telling me? Or everyone else, for that matter?”

He lifted the bucket in his hand and poured some grain into the next empty food trough. “We’re not supposed to discuss what we talk about in our meetings, but it’s done now, so I figured I could tell you.”

Novah rested her elbow on the fence. “Who voted in favor of a monarchy?”

“Everyone.” He started walking again, making her move to catch up.

“Everyone?”

She wanted to know what Beck had voted for, but she was smart enough not to come right out and ask.

“Well, everyone except Beck and Alexis.”

Beck didn’t vote for it.

Something about that made Novah happy.

Hewson must’ve known what she was up to, because he quickly moved on. “So yeah, I’m going to be a king.”

A king?

Novah didn’t know how she felt about that, since she wasn’t in the meetings and didn’t hear the rationale. The entire thing seemed ridiculous, like some sort of abuse of power.

“I’m not going to bow before you.”

“It’s not like that. People won’t bow before these kinds of kings and queens. It’s more of a name than anything else. But I wouldn’t stop someone if they wanted to bow.” He glanced over his shoulder, throwing her a teasing smile. “And if I’m a king, that would make you a princess.”

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” she scoffed. “I’m no princess.”

Especially with her hurt foot.

“You are now.” He filled up the next bucket.

“The people in camp aren’t going to like this when they find out.”

“They won’t find out until everything is all done and planned. At that point, they’ll be so grateful for a plan of action, they won’t care what the plan is.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” Novah shook her head. “You better be prepared for a mutiny.”

“People crave leadership in whatever form it comes in. They don’t want to figure out where to rebuild or how to structure things.

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