Page 3 of Kingdom of Rot & Ruin
My mother’s harsh, pinched face filled my mind.
Stop slouching. What will your instructors think?
No, NO! Do it again! Your instructors will think you’re stupid!
My shoulders stiffened. Mother was the one missing out; it wasn’t my fault she drank too much last night. I would simply have to tell her all about it later; it would give us something to talk about, at least. I knew she loved me; her harshness was because she wanted me to succeed, and to be prepared for my reaping.
“Come, boy.”
Listen to your instructors.
My spine straightened as I closed the door behind me and followed him down the hall toward my new life. I wouldn’t fail, Mother.
I wouldn’t.
“Lord Vession, I?—”
“Be quiet. I will give you the rules with the rest of the boys. Do you need them now?”
My mouth opened to assure him I didn’t, but that wouldbreak the rule about being quiet, wouldn’t it? Mutely, I shook my head.
Vession smirked, his gaze lingering over my head. “Hmm. More intelligent than most of them. The others will arrive soon.”
The palace was connected to the place of learning where all the reaped boys went. It was a long way for my legs though, and difficult to keep up with Lord Vession’s efficient strides. I didn’t dare complain; I just kept moving.
Portraits of dead kings and queens winked past me as we moved, marble statues standing as regal guardians in between them in little alcoves. I’d never been allowed to explore the palace. Mother had mostly kept me in our apartments for my safety.
I wasn’t sure from what. Maybe today I will learn?
Panting and a little out of breath, I rejoiced when Lord Vession finally came to a stop after what felt like miles of unending hallway and portraits. In front of us stood a large archway with words carved in a strange script I didn’t understand.
“Through these doors, you will cease to be who you are and become who you are destined to be, and what will be deemed useful to the crown. Do you understand?”
He almost got me. My lips parted, but my survival instincts kicked in at the last minute and I merely nodded.
Lord Vession rewarded me with another one of his lopsided smirks, and together we walked underneath the archway, and towards the rest of my life.
The archway was dark beyond it, leading down stone steps. I hadn’t expected the first room I saw to be bathing chambers, but as we emerged into a large, open air room withvaulted ceilings and large tubs, it could hardly be anything else. Lord Vession rushed me through it, shaking his head. Fireguards lingered here and there, carrying lumpy sacks out of the room on their shoulders. Primas clucked their tongues as they mopped away puddles and scrubbed the tubs clean.
“The mud boys and girls are filthy when they get here. Obviously, you don’t need such attentions.”
My spine straightened at that, my chin lifting high into the air. I had much to be proud of, even if I was from one of the higher order of Nobles. I knew advanced mathematics, studied literature, and certainly knew how to bathe on my own, without a prima holding my hand or a Fireguard forcing me into the water.
Just how savage were mud boys?
“Through here. It will be a while still while the medication examinations take place and everything that needs to be done to make them presentable. The other noble boys have arrived, however. You may mingle.”
As we left the bathing chamber behind, we entered a large antechamber with a wide open space, and tables with benches. Two of the tables were filled by boys my age, and dressed similarly to me. My heart raced just seeing them—finally, I’d be able to make friends and have someone to talk to other than my mother!
“Sit.”
I popped down on the edge of the bench at Vession’s urging, next to a blond-haired boy who stared at me with wide eyes.
“That is all the noble boys to be reaped,” Lord Vession stated, drawing everyone’s attention to him. I was glad; the boy staring at me made me feel uncomfortable. Was I not dressed enough like him? Was there something on my face? I gave it a rub with the back of my hand just to make sure.
“The other boys will join soon. Before they get here, let us go over some expectations.”
He paused, eyeing each of us individually.
