Marie's Journey (Ginecean Chronicles) (11 page)

“They were in a lot of pain,” Marie couldn’t help but whisper.

“What did you just say?” Callista spun so rapidly, Marie didn’t see the woman grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling her up, her feet dangling in midair.

Out of the blue, something possessed Marie. Without fully understanding what she was doing, she repeated her words and added, “She was only doing her job. Nobody should suffer so much.” Fully conscious of what she had just done, she braced for the slap that didn’t come. Eyes half-closed, she peeked and saw the captain was looking at her intently.

“Well, I was right in my first assessment. You did find a replacement for the other man-lover. I got rid of the redhead by sending her to a semen farm, but you look too young…” Callista slowly released Marie to the floor, where she stood on shaking legs. The captain held the pause longer than necessary, as if she were waiting for Marie to respond to her silent threat.

This time, Rane squeezed Marie’s arm and intervened before she could say anything. “Don’t take it out on her, Callista. She didn’t mean it. We have worked through last night and today. She’s clearly disoriented.”

“How convenient to blame heresy on sleep deprivation.” The woman kept looking at Marie with her predatory stare. “How old are you anyway?”

Rane stood up. “Please, leave her alone. She’s just fifteen.”

“It’s settled, then. She’s too young to be a donor, isn’t she? Pity.” The captain stepped back and gave Marie one last chilling smile before heading to the exit.

“You’re angry with me—” Rane’s voice broke and with that Marie’s hope as well.

At the door, Callista slowed her stride to impart one final blow. “Pack light, child. At the waste plant, you won’t need a lot of clothes.”

Marie didn’t react at first. She refused to believe what she had heard. It couldn’t be true.

“I didn’t mean for you to get in the middle of my mess.” Rane held out her hands to hug her, but Marie collapsed on herself, a heap on the floor.

She felt hands touching her, but she couldn’t see anything. Her eyes shut and her body felt too heavy. Thankfully, darkness came to her rescue and she drifted toward a soundless haven.

Something, maybe someone, woke her. Other than the fact that she was still at the infirmary, Marie couldn’t be sure of anything. She tried to climb off the narrow bed she didn’t remember lying on, but didn’t make it far. Her right wrist sported a handcuff. “What’s that?”

“Callista gave orders to stop us from leaving this room.” Rane appeared to be equally tied to the bed next to her.

“Why?” Marie needed only a second to remember why and then wished she hadn’t. It was all true. The nightmare she thought she had was her new reality. “When?” she asked after a moment.

“I expect Callista to come any moment now. I let you sleep through the best part of yesterday afternoon and tonight. It’s already five in the morning.” Rane spoke slowly as if collecting her thoughts. “Marie, I’m so sorry—”

The door opened and several guards entered, followed by Callista. The woman had taken great care with her appearance. There wasn’t a single detail out of place; even her boots were shined to perfection. The contrast with Rane’s and Marie’s slovenly appearances was evident.

“Callista, I’m begging you to reconsider. Marie has learned her lesson.” Rane tried to stand upright, but she’d been handcuffed at an uncomfortable angle and didn’t have the same range of motion Marie had.

“It’s too late.” Callista waved her elegant hand in the air.

Marie smelled an expensive scent wafting her way and automatically became conscious of her condition. She could smell her own fear emerging among the unpleasant aromas emanated by her unwashed body. The sheer magnitude of the disgrace Callista had called upon her made her stupid. She simply wasn’t able to think beyond the immediate or maybe she didn’t want to think what would happen one minute from now. She heard the conversation, understood everything, but felt as if she wasn’t there.

“Spare her this humiliation. I’ll do anything you ask.” Rane grew more and more anxious, her voice betraying her fear.

“Yesterday, I made an example out of those miserable workers. Today, I’ll make an example out of two stupid fathered women.” Callista snapped her fingers and four guards flanked Marie’s and Rane’s beds. “Good-bye, Rane.”

The guards removed their handcuffs and hastily hoisted them up. “Move and don’t make a scene,” the one who was holding Rane ordered and then accompanied her words with a sharp slap to the doctor’s face.

Marie thought the punishment uncalled for, but she was still floating somewhere above the scene, not fully connected with what was happening. She followed instructions but still earned a baton poke by one of the guards. She cried out, but didn’t recognize the sound as hers. Once out of the infirmary, silence swallowed her and that somehow managed to put a dent in her armor. They walked the stairs two at a time, only to slow when they reached the first floor. The guards brought them to a halt outside the kitchen. The silence became a suffocating presence, and she saw them. All the people she knew at Redfarm were there, staring at her, mouths agape in shock and judgment. Her friends were there, first in line, looking at her, eyes wide. Verena was there, face puffy. Her eyes were red, and long streaks of dried tears stained her beautiful skin.

“I don’t believe what they’re saying—” Verena said, at first her voice too broken to be fully understood. “I don’t believe them!” she screamed and everybody turned from Marie to her. “It’s a lie. You wouldn’t do it!”

“I didn’t do anything…” Marie didn’t understand. Her head was clearing and she didn’t like it. As the numbness was receding, a feeling of despair took its place. Not caring was better compared to the agony slowly working its way to her heart. “What did they say I did?” She looked at Verena, hoping for an answer, but Callista demanded the audience’s full attention by hitting the floor with a whip lash that zinged through the air and produced a thunder-like noise.

“All of you take a good look at those two women. Have you?” Callista paused for effect. Some of the younger girls even nodded at her question. “This is what happens to men lovers who help workers escape. They are sentenced to life in a waste plant.”

At the last statement, people reacted. Some of the apprentices gasped in shock, part of the elders who evidently had already helped spread the rumor stood silent, while others cried their disbelief. Finally, Callista’s words dissipated with what was left of the fog in Marie’s mind. Or maybe it was the way her name was called by her friends. Or the tears in Verena’s eyes. Marie felt her legs giving out and sagged to the floor before she could reach for Rane’s proffered hand. She looked at Callista, who was coldly staring at her, and she wished she had fainted.

“Here at Redfarm, we punish perversion with the maximum penalty. Do not ever forget that.” Callista grabbed Marie by the collar of her shirt. “Do not feel sorry for her.” She shook Marie, whose limbs swayed as if she were a ragdoll.

Cina, Laila, and some of the apprentices she had worked with in the kitchen sobbed. Verena was beyond crying, her face frozen in a silent scream.

“This is not your friend anymore. She committed blasphemy. She will be pay for her sins.” Callista gave her another jerk.

Marie couldn’t help but let her tears fall. When she thought her humiliation was complete, Madame Lana appeared. She hadn’t seen the woman descending the stairs, but there she was to be testimony of her last moment at Redfarm. Marie started crying in earnest. None of the numbness she had felt before was left, only searing pain tearing through her body. She didn’t grovel and beg; she knew it wouldn’t help. The captain was power-angry and a pure breed, and she was nothing more than a fathered girl.

“Captain, I believe you proved your point eloquently.” Madame Lana walked slowly toward them.

“Madame, these women are culpable of harboring and aiding workers. They are men lovers.” Callista looked at the older woman in suspicion.

“I’m sure it was a misunderstanding.” Madame Lana stepped closer and calmly reached for Marie and freed her from the captain’s hold.

Marie stood still for a long moment, uncertain of what to do. Her body shook so hard it became difficult to stand still. She saw Madame Lana open her arms to receive her, but Marie couldn’t move.

The woman closed the gap and embraced Marie, who, had she any sanity left, would’ve been shocked by the rector’s demeanor. “This girl wouldn’t hurt a mosquito and I’ve never heard a single complaint about Doctor Rane. Helping workers to escape… demonstrating unhealthy affections toward men… those are big accusations. Let the matter settle for a few days. We can open an official inquiry.”

At the rector’s last suggestion, Callista’s eyes narrowed into two slits, her mouth serrated in a white line, and when she finally opened her mouth, her voice was calmer and colder than before. “The bus has just arrived and these two fathered women will be leaving. There won’t be any delay in delivering their punishment, because today, tomorrow, or a week from now, the sentence will be the same. I’d leave things the way they are if I were you.” She had come face-to-face with Madame Lana to whisper her warning.

“I’m not trying to hinder—” Madame Lana couldn’t finish.

Callista snatched Marie from the older woman’s arms and said out loud, “If you sin, you will be branded as a sinner.”

Marie was thrown toward Rane, who caught her. She thought she heard Verena raising her voice and then a louder whiplash than the first.

“Escort them out.” Captain Callista’s order echoed in the absolute silence. “Vasura is waiting.”

The collective gasp following the disclosure of the waste plant’s name sounded deafening. Fathered women whose crimes were so heinous imprisonment wasn’t punishment enough were sent to Vasura. For a moment, Marie looked at the people staring in shock. A feeling of disconnection swarmed over her yet again. Then, Verena’s face stood out and she was painfully reminded of her reality.

Rane put one hand on the small of her back. “Start walking. The guards are hoping we make a scene so they can punish us in front of everybody.”

Marie followed Rane’s suggestion and slowly put one foot in front of the other, trying not to look back at Verena. The hallway only one step ahead, she had to turn to say good-bye to her friend. “Verena! I’ll never forget you!” The baton hit her on her back with unexpected strength, and she breathlessly fumbled forward.

“This isn’t necessary.” Madame Lana hastily helped her to her feet. “Child, don’t make them angrier. I won’t be able to keep you safe once you’re outside these walls.”

Marie looked at the woman and nodded, dark spots dancing before her eyes. Rane took Madame Lana’s place by her side and gently pushed her out of the big hall. She had only a brief moment to realize she was leaving Redfarm for good and was on the bus before anybody could say a word to her.

“Enjoy the view.” One of the guards showed her and Rane the seats behind the driver.

Marie raised her eyes to look at the guard and realized the young woman was staring at her with genuine worry. “Thank you.” She slid inside and took her place by the window.

The guard nodded, then tilted her head slightly, checking if she was being watched. “Madame Lana sends this.” She reached inside her uniform and retrieved a brown envelope from an internal pocket.

Rane took the proffered item and hid it under her seat. “Tell her…” Her voice trailed, and tears silently washed her face.

“She knows.” The guard took Rane’s hand in hers and squeezed it. “She knows. You don’t have to say anything.”

“Tell her anyway.” Rane’s eyes turned to look outside the window and she shook her head. “What are you doing here?” she whispered to the glass. “I don’t want you to see me like this.”

Madame Lana was standing on the first step of the landing by the majestic dark-red door. She waved her slim hand, her lips moving.

Rane put one hand on her heart and leaned toward the window, almost sitting on Marie’s lap, to put the other hand on the glass. “Me too.”

Callista appeared at the door, a malevolent presence behind the rector, and Rane immediately dropped her hand. The captain called the young guard outside, and two armed guards hurried inside as she climbed down. The door closed, and the driver moved the bus in one single movement. In a few seconds, Redfarm disappeared behind a corner in the road.

Samara passed by, the clean streets and the elegant buildings resplendent in the morning sun. Marie watched as stores opened for business, clerks showed their wares in the best light, and café owners arranged tables behind stained glass. In a few days, the debutant season would begin and all the pure breed girls of age would make their official appearance in society. Not that she would ever have had a chance to be part of it, not even as hired help. Still, tears fell for all the conversations about silly, vain pure breeds she would never have with Verena. And then she sobbed because she would never make fun again of pure breeds who didn’t know how to tie their shoes without the help of a fathered woman. Finally, she realized she’d never had the promised outing and never visited the city she was leaving to never return.

Samara was replaced by several towns. Marie kept her eyes glued to the glass and followed the guard’s suggestion, although enjoying the scenery was the least of her thoughts. She couldn’t face Rane, couldn’t utter a single word. Not because she would cry if she tried to talk. She simply couldn’t think of anything to say that wasn’t an accusation toward the doctor, and she didn’t want to unleash her anger on her. When Marie turned to see how she was faring, Rane resembled more a stone statue than a person. Grief emanated in waves from her and Marie couldn’t bear the sight. She angled her body toward the window and let the hours pass, her mind mercifully blank. They were both so quiet the two armed guards busied themselves bickering about the long drive. After a while, Marie forgot they were there to make sure they wouldn’t try to escape their fate. As if a fathered woman could ever do that.

After several hours, Rane gave signs of life. “Tirsa.” She shook Marie from her torpor and Marie frowned in wonder at Rane’s solitary word. The doctor reached over to tap on the glass with one shaky finger. “There.”

Marie looked and saw the far away outline of a cityscape. Elongated spires stood out against the afternoon sky, the sun slowly descending toward the horizon. She took note of the fact that almost an entire day had gone already.

“I was born in Tirsa.” Rane straightened and sat back on her seat but kept looking at the window. “I always thought I was going to see it again someday.” Her hands nervously played with the hem of her sweater. “Never imagined it was going to be like this.” She glanced behind her seat to see if the guards were looking at them, and when she saw the two women were napping, she bent and retrieved the envelope she had hidden under her seat. Marie made to turn to give her some privacy, but Rane smiled and laid one hand on her arm.

“These are only childhood memories.” She opened the envelope and took out a few pictures from it. “Look at me…” She angled one of the pictures toward Marie. It was a yellowed image of a small girl hugging a smiling woman, in the distance a fountain and several buildings with terraced ceilings. “I was such a scrawny kid.” She chuckled and then let out a sob.

Marie couldn’t comment. She had questions about that woman smiling at the young Rane, about her childhood, but couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t pry in on the doctor’s sorrow. She gave one last glance at the image before Rane brought it to her chest, and couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness. After that exchange, the doctor took out six more pictures one by one and silently looked at them for a long time. Only when the guards behind them stirred, Rane put the pictures back inside the envelope and then hid it under her shirt.

The bus never traveled any closer to Tirsa’s city limits, but skirted along the mountain road at a steady, lulling pace. Fast enough to make it impossible to focus on details one might want to take a second look at, but at the same time maddeningly slow. Marie wanted to reach her final destination in a flash; she didn’t need the cruise through the Ginecean landscape. She didn’t need a reminder of how heartbreakingly beautiful her land was.