The War Outside by Kody Boye

Author:Kody Boye [Boye, Kody]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-04-21T22:00:00+00:00

We keep silent after my declaration. While Daniel wanders the room, messing with the various gadgets and ordering things in a way that he feels will keep us content, I look out the window and try to imagine what I will do once Mother Terra arrives. She’ll come soon, I know; and with her she’ll bring a storm unlike any I could’ve ever possibly imagined.

“Daniel,” I say, turning my head.

“Yeah?” he asks.

“Sit down. You’re making me nervous.”

He sits, though reluctantly at that. “What all do you plan on asking Mother Terra?” he says, leaning forward to examine me as if I am one of his mechanical devices meant to be studied.

“What the next phase of my Purpose will be.”

“Do you think it’ll get made public?”

“I don’t know. Does it?”

“Wednesday Givings had hers announced on live television. I… don’t know if they’d do the same for yours, given the state of unrest surrounding the war, but… I honestly wouldn’t be surprised.”

Was my appearance in the media not the reason why I was targeted, though? Surely the woman who bombed several SADs in the attempt on my life saw me on the magazine? And that man who tried to shoot me? How would he have known who to target if not for my face on the television? To think that my Purpose, monumental as it happens to be, would be made public seems astronomically odd, but maybe that’s because I’m thinking inside the box.

Outside, I think, might be a little different.

Three hard knocks come at the door, startling me from thought.

Daniel is just starting to rise when the door opens. In walks Mother Terra, who instantly pins me in place with her gaze.

I swallow. “Revered Mother,” I say.

“Ma’am,” Daniel adds.

“Mister and Missus Cross,” she says. “I hope you have found your accommodations fitting.”

“They’re fine,” I say, then mentally curse myself for speaking so casually. I rise from my place atop the love seat and take a few steps forward to clear the distance between us. “I assume you’re here to discuss my Purpose?”

“Why else would I have come?” she asks. She glances at Daniel for a moment before returning her eyes to me. “I take it you had no complications arriving?”

“No,” I say. “I mean, we had none, no. I was just… scared.”

“You’ve a right to be, my dear. You’re probably the biggest target in the capitol besides either the First Lady, the Commandant, or the Countess herself.”

“But why?” I ask. “Is it because of my appearance? My Purpose? My place in the media?”

“Very few people know your Designated Purpose, Kelendra.”

“Then why am I being targeted?”

“Because your death could easily cause unrest within the populace.”

I blink, stunned.

Mother Terra turns her head to look at the city beyond and says, “Your position within the city’s hierarchy is laughable to some at best, revered at most to others. You are privileged—far more so than most within the city—and because of that, some see you as a person of interest. Your picture being so widely broadcast within the city, and even beyond—”

“Beyond?” I ask.

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