Everyone was finally gathered along the edges of the meeting room. Conversations were kept to a low, expectant hum. The People were all waiting for the Elder to arrive. Nannoc thought it was interesting that the Elder had no other name. Perhaps he had at one point, but no one new what it was now. In fact, none of the Council had names either. He wondered when their names had been taken from them. Not that it truly mattered, for it wouldn't bring the names back. He would probably also get in trouble for asking any questions, so he cut off that line of thought.
His attention was called to the ledge above the fire by the Elder's escort. The room was entirely silent now except for the small crackles and pops from the fire as it threw bizarre shadows across the cavern. Leaning heavily on his maplewood cane, the Elder appeared from the shadows. He walked to the very edge of the platform and stopped. In his deep and raspy voice, he addressed the congregation, "My People. You may have heard that some of our men caught a fresh millah." He paused as some of the crowd murmured their assent; some of them had heard that.
"You've heard correctly." The people began to whisper excitedly. The Elder continued, "In precisely two months time, we will once again have an Initiation ceremony to invite one of our Children into Adulthood." Everyone in the room cheered at the news. The Elder held up his hand for silence and said, "However, we have not yet chosen the Cutter. There are many Children who qualify, and the Council and I will be watching them for the next two months to see which one will become the next Adult." The crowd sighed, disappointed. "Don't be disheartened," the Elder told the People, "Two months will go by more quickly than you think. On the night before the first day of Initiation, I will announce to you the one who has been chosen. Now go and start the preparations."
At that, everyone began filing out of the meeting room. Nannoc was disappointed in the Elder's choice not to announce the one who would be the Cutter. He was hoping with all his heart that he would be chosen. But, it would not be wise to question the Elder's choice, and so Nannoc started off into one of the caves to do his chores. The People were going to be very busy for the next two months; they had no time for someone who didn't do his chores.
The first thing he had to do was sweep out the room for the older male Children. Since there were only four per room, this chore didn't take very long, though Nannoc tried his hardest to drag it out. He didn't want to get to his last chore; it was his duty to take care of the millah. He hadn't minded this duty, in fact, he thought it a great honor to be taking care of the People's meat supply. Until now. Now that she was here. He didn't want to go down to meet her. She made him uncomfortable, like what the People were doing was wrong. He knew that wasn't the case, but the way she said it made him doubt. He hated that feeling of doubt in his most deep-seated beliefs. Nannoc decided that he would be very glad to see the end of the two months waiting period.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Deep down in the tunnels of the nursery, Lily could hear the dull roar from the cheering. She figured it must be about her. She wished she knew what they were going to do to her, but anything, anything, would be better than staying in the nursery. She had no way of keeping track of time and could do nothing to entertain herself. She curled up in the fetal position on the cold stone floor. She could hear sounds coming from other areas of the nursery; moans and screams traveled through the dank air and into her ears with merciless accuracy. She couldn't help but cry at the hopelessness of her situation. Her family would have no idea where she went, and they definitely wouldn't find her down here. She had heard of the men and women living in groups of caves who clothed themselves in black robes and called themselves the People. She had heard stories of people being abducted and never being seen again. It was rumored that they had been stolen away to be sacrificed and eaten by the People in worship of their god. She knew now that these weren't merely stories, legends, and rumors. She had become one of those abducted.
Lily opened her eyes at the slightest noise from the side of her little room. There she saw her boy-captor putting down a small metal tray. She saw him look over at her and swear under his breath. She was surprised that she hadn't noticed him before that point. She crawled over to the tray and watched him begin filling it with some foul-smelling meat or bread substance.
"Please, sir, isn't there something better to eat?" She looked up at him, but that damned hood kept his face in shadow still. She wanted to know the identity of her captor.
"No. Eat this or go hungry." He sounded annoyed and uncomfortable with her so near.
"What's your name?" As she watched his shoulders tighten she realized he was truly uneasy when she talked.
"That's none of your concern." He grabbed another metal tray from a burlap sack she had missed seeing before.
"Well, you're my captor. I should say it's my concern." Lily received no answer but the turning of his back as he swept out of the room with the sack. No wonder she hadn't noticed when he arrived. His movements were completely silent. The only reason she heard him at all was the unavoidable sound the metal trays made when they touched the stone floor.
She began to wonder why he had filled one tray and not the other, when all of a sudden he was beside her again, this time with a water pitcher. When he started to fill the tray with water, she again harassed him with questions.
"May I see your face at least, mysterious warden?" Again he didn't answer.
When the tray was full, he started to walk out of the room, and she tried one more question, "Sir, why am I here? What are you going to do to me?" This time, she got a reaction.
He stopped in the middle of the room and asked her, still facing the opposite direction, "If I tell you why, will you shut up and stop asking me questions?" He sounded angry this time, making her hesitate.
"Uh...yes. Yes, I will. If you will please explain why I'm here." At that, he turned and sat down next to the stake in the middle of the room. He was spotlighted by a small shaft of light the came from high up in the ceiling. Then he began his story.
He spoke in a voice so quiet, that Lily had to strain to hear over the others in the nursery. She had to keep scooting closer and closer until she was right next to him.
"You are here because a few of the hunters went out looking for new millah to breed. Some of our older ones are dying and are no longer viable."
"To...breed? Like cattle?" She could not disguise the horrified disgust in her voice even had she wanted to.
He nodded, "Yes, like what you call cattle. That is what Outsiders are to us. Just as you raise your cattle for food and to breed, so we raise millah- Outsider-cattle."
"That's what we are to you? Cows? Nothing more than filthy animals?!" Now Lily was more angry than frightened. These people had no right to use people like her in such a way. And how could he be telling her this in such a calm, flat voice?
"That's what Outsiders are. They are no more. Except..." Now she could tell his eyes were directly locked on to hers.
"Except what?" She felt a trickle of dread running down her back, flooding out the anger.
"Except that a few outsiders are better than the others. They are more lovely in our eyes, for they resemble our god, Sephirin, or his wife, Ophelia. Those are the special ones. When we find them, we are more careful. We make sure they do not get hurt on their way down to their special rooms in our nursery."
Lily felt her anger flaring up again. "Don't get hurt?! I was thrown all over the place on my way down!"
She then fell over to the ground. He had slapped her across the face.
His voice was no longer the calm, even tone. She could hear the fury as he said, "I let you be disrespectful once, but I will not allow it again. I would not mind if you were merely disrespecting me, but now you disrespect the Elder and the Hunters. That is not allowable." He then waited until she picked herself up and sat down in front of him. She was sure he could feel her anger seething towards him. When he spoke again, his voice was back to normal, "As I was saying, the special Outsiders have different rooms. They are fed a special diet to keep them strong, for their strength is needed for the Ceremony."
"What ceremony?"
"When a Child is to become an Adult, they have a large Initiation Ceremony. These only happen whenever the Hunters bring back the special ones, so they are not very often. The very end of the Initiation is the Cutting."
"What's that?" Lily tried her hardest to keep her fear from showing, but her voice still shook.
She heard the evil smile in his voice as he continued, "The Cutting is the sacrificing of the special one by cutting off the head, then drinking the blood to take in its strength. This is why the strength is kept up until the Ceremony."
She was speechless. She had never heard something so horrible as this. She was to be sacrificed and then eaten. She looked up to where he had all but vanished out of the room and shouted after him, "What gives you the right to treat us this way?" All she heard was the moaning and groaning of the other millah.
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