Page 11 of The Wild Hunt
Akari returns my smile with one of her own.
“Oh, good, it’s our turn!”
Jasmin lets me go ahead of her, and I load my plate with a bit of everything. Bacon, eggs, hash browns, mushrooms, toast- they even have smashed avocado! I grab an orange juice from the fridge, and we find a table for four together.
We eat in companionable silence, Jasmin like a dainty dame, and I like a starved animal. I have the largest plate, but I manage to clear it first. As the others chew at more respectable rates, I let my eyes roam around the cafeteria. There are girls and women from so many nationalities and backgrounds. Some gossip as if they have been friends for a lifetime, others sit in groups, yet completely ignore one another. I even spy a couple of hostile glares. One of which is aimed my way.
Little Platinum from the food line. I smile and send her a twinkle-fingered wave. She rolls her eyes, flips her damn hair again and turns away to whisper to an equally platinum blonde beside her. This one has so many piercings that I’d lose count before I even tried.
I turn back to my friends.
“So, what does everyone make of the whole medical examination thing? Are we getting a final pap smear before we cross?” I joke. Unsurprisingly, it falls flat.
“I’ve never had a pap smear…” Akari says nervously.
“Same,” Jasmin adds.
“It’s not so bad,” Jabira gives them each a gentle smile.
“It’s an unfortunate necessity,” I add. “But I don’t think we’ll be receiving one, anyway. I am sorry for suggesting it. I was just trying to… I don’t know? Ease my nerves?”
“It’s ok,” Akari says. “It’s not like I hadn’t had the thought myself. I hope I’m on today’s list. I don’t want to spend the next four days worrying about it. Better to get it over with, I say.”
“Yes, I hope so too,” I say.
“We are but one floor of women to be examined,” Jabira says. “And it will take four days just to work through the hundred of us. It makes you wonder just how big this whole thing is. The number of doctors they have employed, the guards, the cooks, and the conscripts in the army below. It’s all sobig.”
“Not big enough to quash the fae and this whole stupid lottery,” I scoff.
We fall silent, each lost in our thoughts.
Eventually, Jabira strikes up a conversation again, but I’m too lost inside my head to listen. She was right, just now. Questioning how big the lottery has gotten. How was the government affording all this?
It made me wonder if perhaps the government received more than just peace from our faerie neighbors.
Chapter Four
Jabira, Jasmin, and Akari all have their medical examinations in the first two days. Mine, however, will be one of the very last. No matter how reassuring the girls have been, I still can’t help but want to vomit every hour I have to stew over the damn thing. Knowing the time for the Crossing is getting ever closer doesn’t help the matter. After tonight, there is only one more remaining. And I’ve spent the past three days worrying over something that pales in comparison to what will come after. If only I could talk some sense into my damn brain.
I barely touched breakfast and lunch today, as my appointment grew closer. The girls tell me over and over that the examination is quick. There is no pap smear or any form of intimate procedures. They tell me it’s more of a questionnaire and a prodding of several needles than an examination. As if the needle revelation was going to make me feel any better.
They could be injecting us with some form of liquid explosive that only activates when we make the Crossing. Perhaps it is a serum of forgetting, and we will arrive in Faerie nothing more than bumbling idiots that can’t remember how to wipe our asses, let alone our very names.
Gods, I needed to shut my brain off.
The sound of my bedroom door unlocking has me jumping to my feet as my heart triples in speed.
“It’s time?” I whisper. It was supposed to be a silent thought, but by the way pimple face’s swollen left eyebrow raises, I know I’ve spoken aloud.
“If you are referring to your medical examination, then yes,” he states matter-of-factly. “Come.”
I follow Sir Pimpleton out of my room, leaving the door wide open behind me. It’s not like I had anything in there worth stealing. Nor would anyone here have the chance to snoop, except for the other guards. I send a thin, steely-eyed look at the first one we pass. He doesn’t even spare me a glance in return.
We pass dozens of rooms, an elevator shaft, and an emergency stairwell. With brief hesitation, I reach out and try the handle as we pass. It’s locked, of course. I knew it would be. My guard turns, raising a brow. I smile sweetly and shrug. He just rolls his eyes and continues past another dozen rooms before stopping in front of one that looks the same as all the rest, golden number and all.
Sir Pimpleton knocks three times, then opens the door and steps to the side. He lifts his hand, indicating for me to go in. I gulp and walk through.
It’s like any old doctor’s room; small and square, with a desk, one swivel chair and one plastic, a bed with paper rolled across its length, and a bunch of medical equipment.
