Page 74 of Us Dark Few

“I must confess that our last conversation intrigued me. I grow bored of the same tired talks with council members and incessant guests. It’s unending fawning and monotonous discussions. Suffocating for someone like me.

“But there was something different in your eyes,” he continued. “A need to survive. An intelligence that bypassed the emotion swimming in them. Indeed, as I grow older, I find that my body craves to find stimulation in any form,” the Governor’s voice flattened, and his expression turned forlorn as if he was lonely.

A lonely psychopath.

The fact that she couldn’t stop staring at his angelic face made her sick.

“Is that why you requested me to be a servant? To stimulate you?” She’d rather be carved into tiny slices and served with the pork.

He blinked, the faraway look receding from his eyes. “I assure you that my intentions are completely honorable. You have nothing to fear from me. But you never answered my question about the painting.” He gestured to the picture of the woman.

Khalani found it hard to concentrate as the Governor stood right next to her, shoulder to shoulder.

“It’s um… it’s a nice painting, Gov—”

“No.” He shook his head. “You can hold the formalities for now. Indulge me. This is a place for honesty.”

She honestly wanted to see him dead. But that wasn’t the name of the game they were playing.

Khalani turned fully to the painting but kept him in her peripheral. “At first glance, it looks like an old portrait of a woman who doesn’t seem particularly captivating. But if you study her face, it feels like she has a whole story to tell in her eyes alone. She’s in a strange place but doesn’t look afraid, as if she knows something we don’t.”

“Hmm, very good.” He nodded. “Do you find yourself in a strange place, too?”

“Yes,” she whispered. And let the truth slip. “Genesis is stranger and more terrifying than Apollo.”

He raised his eyebrows. “And why is that?”

She hesitated and glanced at the painting. The woman stared directly into her eyes, daring her to speak.

“They’ve already forgotten where they came from and are perfectlycontent to sit around and eat bonbons while their neighbors struggle beneath their feet. Ignorance is their sword and shield.” Her forehead creased at her rising emotion. “I’m not like the woman in this painting at all. Nothing I see here is amusing.”

Khalani feared she’d revealed too much and at any moment he would call the guards to arrest her for treason, but Alexander gave her an assessing look.

“Would you be shocked to know that this used to be the most famous painting in the world? They called it the Mona Lisa,” the words dripped from his tongue like silk.

She tasted the name in her mouth.

Mona Lisa.

“I thought Apollo kept the famous art in the Archives where no one could view it.” Khalani frowned.

“And do you know why we keep it that way?”

“Because art inspires people?” she hesitantly asked, remembering Winnie’s lessons.

He grinned and shook his head. “I was right. You would make a better council member than those simpletons. In many ways, the focus on art and foolish fantasies in human culture led to the Great Collapse. They weren’t focused on the real problems. People were more inclined to sit at home and live in a screen versus worrying about climate change, declining resources, and mass extinction across different animal and plant lifeforms. The warning signs were all there. But they knew they wouldn’t be alive when the destruction they sowed came about. They waited for someone else to fix their problems, but it never happened. And here we are.” Alexander held out his hands.

The Governor turned back to the painting, seeming to glare at the mischievous woman. “Unfortunately, that plague of ignorance was never cured, as you correctly surmised. I keep this painting here as an ode to that lost generation, and a reminder of my duties.”

She studied him as his voice carried on, and those eyes became lost in a different world.

The way he spoke…it sounded like he agreed with her, but they were saying something completely different.

Her ire was directed toward a particular group, but his disdain was towardeveryone.

An eerie, prickling sensation centered on her insides. She opened her mouth to ask him more about his duties, but the kitchen door opened.

“What has taken you so long with those dri—Governor Huxley! F-forgive me, sir. This servant knew she was supposed to come straight back here. I take full responsibility,” the butler stammered and bowed low to the ground.

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