Life In The Palace (27 page)

Chapter 22

O
n the third
day afterward, there was a knock at the door. I looked up listlessly from the couch as Spike lead Tess and Jen into the living room.

“Hi,” they smiled tentatively.

Jen scanned the room and compassion washed over her face.

Tess looked really uncomfortable, “Chloe, I’m really sorry to ask you this. We tried to call, but your phone was off or something. But … do you know where Seth is? He hasn’t been home for three days.” She looked like she wanted to run back down the stairs.

I shook my head. Spike hovered, ready to swoop in and protect me.

“I haven’t spoken to him. He’s not likely to call me,” I managed to say.

Jen nodded with comprehension and Tess blushed.

“I’m very sorry,” Tess said.

“Isn’t everyone?” I replied and turned my head back to the TV.

“I’d better go tell Josh,” Tess said to Jen. “Take care Chloe.” She looked nervously around and then hurried out.

Jen stood for another minute looking around the room.

Then she approached Spike, “I’m Jen. You must be Spike.” She held out her hand for Spike to shake.

Spike smiled half a smile.

“I would’ve come sooner if I’d known,” Jen explained. “She must be going through hell.”

Spike nodded and looked at me cautiously. She didn’t really want to be talking about me in front of me.

“Is she up to the eating-copious-amounts-of-chocolate stage?” Jen asked.

“No, we’re still on the catatonic, can’t-believe-it-happened stage,” Spike replied. “I’m just trying to keep her company. By now I could do with the chocolate.”

Jen smiled, “I’ll go get supplies. Need anything in particular?”

“Two packs of Marlboro Light, a few bottles of Diet Coke for her and as much chocolate as you can carry.”

Before I knew it, Jen was back laden with bags. “I also got four liters of double chocolate ice cream and five tubes of Pringles just to add some variety.”

“Good thinking.” Spike passed me a chocolate bar, “Here get some of that into you. It will do you some good.”

I silently ate the candy.

I listened to them chatter about school, and their opinions of daytime TV.

Time passes.

Maybe chocolate really is the elixir of life as Jen suggested because suddenly the cascading thoughts that had battered my brain for three days come into focus.

I picked up my phone, and dialed with one hand while I flicked the TV onto mute with the other.

Spike and Jen stopped talking and waited.

“Mrs. Hols? It’s Chloe Diaz.”

“It’s been a long time, deary. I thought you’d forgotten about me,” she joked.

I blushed slightly, “I just had to work some things out.”

“It’s alright. You don’t want to rush into anything.”

“I made a decision. I want to make the Quest. The right way, straight through the front door.” I hesitated for a second. Out of the corner of my eyes I could see Jen and Spike frozen in shock.

“Will you make the call for me? Tell the Guides about me so they agree to see me?” I asked.

“Of course, I will. Let me take down your number and I’ll call you back when I get through to them.” Mrs. Hols didn’t seem the least bit surprised. If anything she sounded like she’d been waiting for my call.

“Thank you.”

I hung up and turned to face my surprised support team.

More clearly than I’d spoke for days, I said, “My life is over. Seth told me once that when you love someone you weave yourself into them so that when it’s over pieces of you get left behind. Look at me, I’m ripped to shreds.”

They eyed me suspiciously.

“You can tell me that time heals all wounds. But it doesn’t; some things hurt forever. Even if it heals, time can’t put anything back together. All the King’s horses and all the King’s men couldn’t put Chloe together again,” I laughed without any mirth.

“If all I have left are the crumbs of my life, I might as well use them for something good. What are the reasons for not being in the Palace? That it’s a sacrifice, it’s hard and your life doesn’t belong to you fully. Well, I’ve made the sacrifice. Hard doesn’t even cover it and my life is gone, so who cares to whom the rest of it belongs to. At least if I do this, I have the chance that what’s left will really mean something.”

Spike nodded, “If it’s what you want then you should go for it.”

“How long does it take?” Jen asked.

“No one can tell you, it’s about how you perform in the Palace so it’s different for each person. The first step is being accepted by the Council of Guides. Mrs. Hols is making me an appointment.”

Just then my phone rang again, “That was quick.” I said into it with a smile. I heard what she said, wrote something down and said, “I’ll meet you there, thank you.”

Spike and Jen were waiting for the update.

“Tomorrow, they had one slot. She might have pulled some strings. She’ll go with me.”

I took a deep breath and felt something that resembled life force flowing through my body. Some part of me at least would live.

“Do you want me to come too?” Jen asked.

“No, I need to do this by myself. And I want you to go home now, Spike.”

She didn’t look either surprised or upset. “Are you sure?” was all she asked.

“Yes, I couldn’t have survived the last few days without you, but you’ve got classes your missing and it looks like Jen’s going to keep me stocked in chocolate for months to come. Your life doesn’t have to go down the toilet too.”

“What are friends for?” She smiled.

“That’s why I’m telling you to leave,” I said. “Now, can we break out the ice cream?”

I hadn’t expected things to move so quickly. I’d made the decision, but I’d also kind of assumed it would take a while to get an appointment. Not that there was really much to wait for. I couldn’t go back: my life wasn’t going to be put back together. If the only way was forward, I might as well get on with it.

The next morning, fortified by more chocolate than I thought it possible to consume in a twenty – four hour period, I met Mrs. Hols. She was waiting for me outside a modern looking complex. A girl of about my age pushed her wheelchair.

Mrs. Hold waved her hand behind her, “Chloe, this Laya, one of my granddaughters.”

I smiled hello.

“Nervous?” Mrs. Hols asked me, “You can change your mind. I’ll take Laya for coffee and go back home. It’s nice to get out once in a while.”

“I’m nervous, but I’m not changing my mind,” I said firmly.

We followed a path around the side and into a small reception area.

Mrs. Hols announced me to the receptionist and we sat down to wait.

“What are they going to ask me?” I asked in a low voice.

“They’ll want to know who you are, how you know about the People, why you want to be one of us, if you have any idea what it means to Serve.”

I wrinkled my brow, “What’s the last one about?”

“Most of those who take the Quest are not successful. They try to weed out the ones who have no idea what they’re in for.”

“I can hack it,” I said firmly.

“Make sure you convince them of that.”

The door opened and the receptionist called me in.

Mrs. Hols waved her granddaughter back to her seat, “You wait here Laya, dear. Chloe can push the chair.”

And in we went.

If it wasn’t for the difference in age, I’d say that they all looked the same. Three bearded men, each wearing a dark suit, white shirt and bland tie. The first two were white-haired with long beards. The one to the far left surprised me; I’d expected them all to be old. This one barely had a grey hair in his short brown beard.

The one in the middle spoke first, “You are Chloe Diaz?” He asked reading from a sheet.

I nodded.

“Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself and why you want to make the Quest?”

“I’m from El Paso, Texas. I came to Montreal to go to college. This summer I made friends with Tal Perr, she’s one of the People. She told me she was religious and I didn’t think much of it until one day I went to her house unexpectedly. It was the Day of Connection and I saw the Angels there.”

“You saw the Angels?” the white beard guide asked.

“Yes, the Perrs were quite surprised too. They said Others usually can’t do that.”

The Guide nodded for me to go on.

“After that they started telling me more about the Palace and the Service. I found that if I was standing next to them, then I could see into the Palace when they were there.”

The brown-beard Guide spoke next, “You were aware of the truth of their mission because you saw glimpses of the Palace, but what makes you want to enter? Why would you risk your life unnecessarily?”

I took a deep breath, “I had a boyfriend. He was one of the People.”

Mrs. Hols looked at me sharply.

“I didn’t know that it was a problem. But then I saw what he looked like in the Palace.” My voice cracked.

They waited for me to compose myself.

“Tal said I was killing him. I asked Mrs. Hols about it and she said Others can’t be with People.”

“And now you think if you make the Quest you’ll be able to be with him?” the middle Guide asked harshly.

I wiped the tears away with the back of my hand, “No. I know it’s not possible. I just … I just couldn’t kill him. I broke up with him.”

“It seems you loved him very much,” said brown beard kindly.

I nodded.

“But why does that make you want to enter the Palace?”

“Before I found out what I was doing to him, I had already decided I wanted to make the Quest. Once I knew that the Palace was real and the Battle is real, how could I just stand back and go on with my regular life? I couldn’t just turn a blind eye and say I don’t care whether the world keeps turning. But now-” My voice broke and I struggled to keep talking, “I gave up so much. My life will already never be the same, there is nothing holding me back. I want to be part of the struggle. This is all I have left I give, I want to give it to He Who Knows.”

The Guides looked from one to the other.

“Please wait outside for a minute while we speak to Mrs. Hols,” the white beard instructed.

I was too nervous to sit. I just loitered in the lobby. Laya was reading a magazine. The receptionist didn’t look up from her dictation.

It was a very long five minutes. Eventually they called me back in.

Again the middle Guide addressed me, “Miss. Diaz we have heard testimony from Mrs. Hols. In light of what we have seen today, you are accepted to make the Quest. We must warn you, it is not easy. Many fail, many give up, only a few are chosen to enter the Palace and eternal Service. The Quest is arduous and your reward is a lifetime of challenge. You are certain you wish to proceed?”

“I’m certain.”

He nodded curtly, “Very well. As you may know, there are two parts to the Quest. Firstly, you must learn battle strategy with an appointed teacher. Leave your contact information at the desk and you will be assigned a teacher. The second part of the Quest is individual. You must find the Chalice in the Palace and present it to this Council.”

“How do I do that? How do I know when I found it?” I asked as respectfully as possible.

He permitted himself a small smile, “That is the Quest.”

“Oh.”

Find something that I have no idea where it will be or what it looks like, in the Palace that I can’t see.

“When you have succeeded in both parts, you will return to this Council and we will assign a date for you to pass through the moat into the Palace.”

“Thank you.”

With another nod we were dismissed. I stood and pushed Mrs. Hols back into the neat foyer.

“What’s the moat?” I asked as the doors closed behind us.

“You have to actually immerse in water to make the transformation complete. An action in the physical world is needed to cement the change in the spiritual world.”

I nodded as I digested the information.

And so my Quest began.

*

Somewhere in the Palace, the Council of Guides remained deep in consultation. In their heavy cloaks they were nearly indistinguishable one from the other. Together they spoke with the Voice of the Way.

“Was it wise to allow her, an Other, to become so involved?”

“The sinkhole is closed.”

“By her hand.”

“But at what cost?”

“This situation is most unfortunate.”

“Mrs. Hols gives her most profound apology. It seems she only now came to a full understanding of the situation. Had she seen what was happening sooner, she would have moved to correct events.”

“This Seth Wilks is lost to the Palace?”

“It is not for us to know the future.”

“Only to guess at the patterns of the present.”

One of the Guides sighed, “This is what happens when children are sent to perform the Service of adults.”

“The group in question has been quite successful at introducing young Serfs to the Palace. Apparently, they speak the right ‘lingo.’ ”

“Indeed. But they would benefit from increased consultation. This outcome could have been avoided.”

“He may yet return to Service and his place in the Palace.”

“She will likely be successful in her Quest. Her determination is great.”

“Her making the Quest does not compensate for the loss of his Service.”

“This should have been avoided. It should have been handled differently.”

“They meant well. All their lives they had been told that it is not possible for an Other to enter the Palace in order to marry into the People.”

“Mrs. Hols didn’t tell her the truth? That it is only possible to enter the Palace with true sincerity? If the desire to Serve is as great as the desire to marry, then the Quest can be attempted?”

“She didn’t know what she was dealing with. When this Chloe came to her with questions Mrs. Hols was not aware that the relationship was so far progressed.”

“She didn’t see that the bond of love was true?”

“Mrs. Hols did not see them together.”

“So this Other chose to break the bonds of true love?”

“She would not be the instrument of his spiritual death.”