Human Rights (13 page)

"I... I don't understand."

The door opened, and a young Jackal stepped in with a glass of water and a small kit. "There are injuries?"

"Yes," she said, motioning to me. "It seems the road was difficult for Ewan's knees. Please tend them. The water is for him, too."

The physician knelt in front of me and offered the glass. I glanced between them before taking the glass and sipping the water. I turned most of my attention back to the Cheetah, ignoring the Jackal as he began to clean and dress my knees. "I don't understand," I said once more, my voice stronger after the water.

"There is an order to our city. You Humans, who have no means of protecting yourselves or contributing to our society, are kept in comfort, your basic needs met. You are not treated badly, are you?" she asked.

I hissed as the Jackal smeared salve over my knees. "N-No," I whispered. It was a lie, though. Humans were treated worse than the cities horses and work animals. We could be beaten, kept outside, thrown away! We had no
dignity
, which was a word Jiat had taught me. In this city, Humans possessed no dignity, and Jiat and his
radical thinking
only said we should.

She smiled at me again. She smiled too much. "No." The Jackal stood up, nodded to her, and slipped back out of the room. "Tell me, Ewan, did Sir Jiat ever take you to gatherings?"

"I was taken to play with other pets." There was nothing wrong with that, I knew. "Other pets came to Sir Jiat's home to play with me."

"That... was so kind of him. Did he ever speak to the masters of those other pets?"

"Yes." I forced a smile to my lips. "They would have lunch while we played out in the courtyard."

My smile seemed to please her, and she leaned forward. "Did you ever hear what they said?"

I would not betray Jiat. This female was insane if she thought I'd just hand over all of Jiat's secrets to her. "Sometimes. They would talk about a loss of life or current court matters or debate over the expansion of livestock lands." I forced myself to look away, as if embarrassed. "I didn't understand it most of the time."

She nodded. Everyone "knew" that Humans didn't have the same mental capacities of the Canines and Felines. We were just dumb, hairless creatures, after all. It occurred to me that keeping her believing that was in my best interests for now.

"Did they ever talk about anything else?" she prodded. "Maybe traveling to another city, or about pets that went away on a long trip?"

I almost laughed in her face. She was so transparent. She was asking about the colony, as though I would be stupid enough to just blurt out everything. I shook my head, letting my eyes go as wide and stupid as I could manage. "I never heard anything like that."

"No one would be mad at you if you did. You're not in trouble, Ewan. You understand that, right?"

Of course I was in trouble. If they took Jiat away from me, there was only one place that I could go, and then only one place after that. "I understand." Better than she thought.

"So think hard. Can you remember anything else about those other masters? Could you maybe point at them if I showed you some pictures?"

"I don't think so. Everyone looks so different in pictures than they do from the ground."

Something in the way I said that made her whiskers twitch, and I instantly regretted it. She looked back at the door for a moment and made sure it was secure, and then she walked across the room and crouched down in front of me.

"We both know you're not as stupid as you're pretending to be." Her voice was still soft, but the gentleness had been replaced with steel. "Your master and his friends are in a lot of trouble. They are dangerous, and they need to be stopped. We've made an offer to him that if he tells us about the others in his little revolution, the Court will be lenient in his sentencing. But he refuses to help himself, so I'm making the same offer to you. Tell me what you know about this so-called Movement, and I can make sure that both you and he are treated fairly. You won't be allowed to be back together, of course, but we will find you a new home with a new master who will care for you properly. I think you already know what the alternative is."

I stared back at her, too stunned at the change in tone to respond immediately. Outside of Jiat and the other masters like him, I'd never heard anyone admit that Humans were smart enough to understand things on the same level as the Canines and Felines. How many people felt the same way, but couldn't take the next step and admit that we should be treated on the same level?

I licked my lips and held her gaze, all pretending gone. Very slowly, deliberately, I said, "I don't know anything. I really can't help you."

I braced myself for the inevitable attack, the shouting or the beating, but the Cheetah simply sighed and stood, smoothing down her robes with her paws. "No, I suppose you really can't," she said, just like that switching back to the kindly voice from before, though this one seemed to be tinged with a note of sadness. She walked back to the door, but before opening it, she looked back over her shoulder at me. When she spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper. "For what it's worth, I wish you luck."

And then she was gone. Miab appeared some time later and walked me back to the pound, the Cheetah's parting words still pounding in my ears.

I don't know how long I was left in the cage at the pound. I lost my company when Dr. Tiwan took the female from the cage beside my own a day after I was interrogated. Miab dropped food and water into my cage a few times, though I never ate. I didn't want anything but Jiat. I slept a lot, and since there were no windows, the passage of time was difficult to note. When I'd finally given up on Jiat coming for me, he appeared in the doorway. I sat up, gripping the lattice metal of my cage, and gave a cry. He hurried to me and crouched down, brushing his fingers over mine through the metal.

"Shh," Jiat breathed. "I'm so sorry. This is all my doing—"

"Take me home," I begged, tears in my eyes again. "Please... please, Jiat, take me
home
."

Jiat shook his head, his own eyes shining with tears. "I can't. Oh, Ewan, I can't. The magistrate signed the order today. I've been expelled from the Guard, and... and no one will speak to me. No one
can
speak to me. I've been given a ten year sentence, ostracized by all in the city."

I bowed my head and cried all over again, bitterness a hard lump in my throat. "Please..."

"I wish I could," Jiat said, his voice choked, uneven. "Miab is watching us now. I asked to see you through to the end, but I was only granted five minutes."

Five minutes! Only five? I surged forward, pressing my lips to the metal. "I love you."

Jiat pressed his muzzle to my lips, lapped at my tear-wet skin. "I love you, too. That has not changed. It will not change."

His scent filled my nose, and I could feel the softness of his fur. I wanted to be held by him, protected, but I knew this was it. This was all I would have before my end came for me. My tears fell unchecked, and I kept whispering my love to him, even after Miab yanked Jiat from me, leaving me alone in the room.

Chapter Eleven

Thirty-two years. My life had lasted but thirty-two years. Maybe I'd expected longer, even if I really had no reason to. Mutts didn't last long. But once I'd entered Jiat's home, I'd thought to live until I was old, my body creaky, safe and warm and loved. This
society
, though... Humans so far down, animals and slaves, even with masters and mistresses who loved us. Love didn't change the way the laws bound everyone. I just hoped Jill would escape. Even if she had to leave Hyra—no matter the heartbreak of that parting—at least Jill would be alive. Hyra would know they always had the
chance
to reunite. Jiat didn't have that chance. Our chance was gone.

The hunger had long stopped bothering me, but the thirst was nearly unbearable. I eyed the bowl of water. Would it matter if I died of whatever awaited me or from denying myself water? I swallowed again, but it hurt. My tongue felt thick in my mouth, and my throat burned like the summer sun. The water called to me, and I squeezed my eyes shut. No! I wouldn't.

But the more I thought about it, the more my mind came back to the same conclusion: this was my own punishment. I suppose I felt guilty wanting even the basic necessities when I couldn't be sure what Jiat's sentence would ultimately mean for him. That aside, it was nothing more than pride, and even that was failing me now. I sighed, a rasping sound, and then weakly crawled to the water bowl. I finished it in three huge gulps, and I wanted more. I wouldn't beg for it. I wouldn't ask. Miab would bring more eventually, probably with a smug smile on his lips to see my bowl empty finally.

I sat back in the corner and closed my eyes. How long would I wait? If my life was to end, I wanted it to be done with. I was ready. No, no, I wasn't. I didn't
want
to die. I wanted to go home. I wanted to curl up in Jiat's arms and weep with relief and joy. Instead, tears of grief stung my swollen sinuses. I couldn't smell Jiat on me anymore. How long had it been since he'd whispered his goodbyes to me? A day? A week? I hugged myself and hid my face in my knees. I was so tired, so lost, and there was no reprieve. No one was going to save me. I was done.

"Ewan?"

I looked up, blinking blearily. Had I fallen asleep? Dr. Tiwan crouched in front of my cage, watching me. I didn't speak. There was no point in speaking. The beasts that lorded over this place wouldn't hear my words, anyway. I was an animal, sent to be deposed of by a court that probably didn't even know my name. No one knew my name. Ewan. Ha! The name my first owner had given me, but not the one my own mother had whispered into my ear as a child. My name. I would keep it for myself. I would go to my grave with it in my heart.

"Ewan."

That name. A name I'd come to for so many years, but a name that wasn't my own. Let him call me that name until time stopped. It wasn't my name. I bowed my head. If he'd come to strip me of my life, let him get on with it. No begging, no weeping, no struggling. I wouldn't give them that. I would keep those pieces for myself. They couldn't have those, just like they couldn't have my love of Jiat. I would go into that darkness loving Jiat, and that was mine, too. My love and my name, mine. The only two things I'd
ever
owned in my life.

The cage door swung open, screeching loudly on its hinges. Dr. Tiwan clipped a leash to the rough, ill-fitting collar around my neck. A tug and I crawled out. I kept my head bowed as Dr. Tiwan led me away from the bank of cages and to a door at the back of the room. The room. That place all pets whispered about in the pound. No pet who walked through the door stepped back out. It was the end. My end. I'd be lying if I denied the fear that rushed through me, the fluttering of my heart and the tightening of my gut. I wanted to run. I wanted to beg. But I gritted my teeth and swallowed it all down. I wouldn't give them
that
.

The room was small. I jumped a little as the door shut behind me with a soft click. Dr. Tiwan threw the bolt, and I stared at the metal table surrounded by little else. A single cabinet stood in the corner, a drab gray-green monolith in the stark room. Beside the table was a tray with a vial of pale green liquid and a syringe. I stared at it, tilting my head. That was it? That was what would take me from this life? It seemed so small for such a thing.

"Please," Dr. Tiwan murmured. "Lay on the table. I would rather not call Miab in and make this... any more difficult for you than I know it must be."

My gaze moved from the tray to Dr. Tiwan, my brow furrowed. "Difficult?" I asked, my voice rough. "You think this difficult?"

"I know it is." Dr. Tiwan went to the small, basic sink to our left and washed his hands. "Death is never easy."

"Of course it is." I glanced to the tray. "For you, it's as simple as a green liquid and a needle."

Dr. Tiwan turned as he dried his hands. "The taking of a life—
any
life—is difficult for a physician. I assure you, though, it is quiet. Like falling asleep. Painless."

I stared at the metal table, listening to my own heart beat in my chest. It wasn't racing anymore. If there was fear, I didn't feel it. Painless. Like falling asleep. How merciful. Useless mercy, I thought, since that mercy still denied me my life. It still left Jiat alone, cast out from his own life, for ten years. I crossed to the table and crawled up on it, hissing at the chill. It brought gooseflesh up all over my body. Staring up at the ceiling, I waited.

"Close your eyes."

"No."

"Ewan." Dr. Tiwan stood over me, his furry face compassionate. "Close your eyes."

I met his gaze. "No." I wouldn't make it any easier for him. This was
my
death, not his.

Dr. Tiwan sighed, and I watched him draw some of the pale green liquid up into the syringe. I suddenly wanted to close my eyes. I righted my head and let my eyes shut. Jiat. I conjured a picture of my master. Fur white with those tan, beautiful markings. Eyes the color of deep amber honey. His voice. That slight growl when I touched him, and the deep purring when our passions were spent. I tried to keep myself there, in that warm memory, even when I felt the sting of the needle pierce the flesh of my arm. The liquid burned, and within moments, my head began to swim.