Morning of the announcement of the Cutter. Nannoc awoke to Aaron and his other roommates beating him in the face with their robes. Apparently he had slept much later than normal and they all had to go as a group. As fast as he could, he got himself ready to go. They then left the room in single-file, Nannoc at the lead, into the line of the other Children outside the room. An Adult came and led their procession into the meeting room where the rest of the Adults were waiting. As the Children entered, everyone in the room cheered as loud as they could. What else could they do? One of these Children was about to join their ranks in the Adult Society.
The Adult told Nannoc where to stop and slowly the rest of the Children fell into lines, fifteen across, five back. Then the Adult went over to his place while the Children remained standing as they were, facing the place the Elder would appear. Just below that outcropping, the fire was lit, creating odd shadows that danced across the walls with every pop or sizzle. Nannoc looked into the fire as he had just two months prior. This time, gazing deep into the bright flames, he saw something that looked like a boy running...and...next to him was a girl. Nannoc breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't realized until that point that he was still worried that Lily wasn't going to make the right choice. But this proved it. He needn't worry about anything now. Everything would go as planned.
Right then, the Elder appeared above them and put his hands up for quiet. The crowd, which had still been cheering until that point, quickly fell silent. The Elder looked at the Adults and said, "Sephirin's People, I know you've been waiting patiently this last few months." He paused as murmurs of assent ran through the crowd. "Therefore, I will not waste any more of your time. The Child to be the Cutter during tomorrow's Initiation Ceremony will be..." Now he looked at the Children until his eyes finally rested on Nannoc's. Then he pointed and Nannoc stepped forward from the line as the Elder shouted, "Nannoc!" Once again the crowd cheered. Nannoc turned toward them, a triumphant smile on his face. How wrong their expectations of tomorrow were. There would be no Cutting. He wouldn't be here that long. Last night he had put all his necessary possessions in a hidden depression in the hall to the Outside. To make them easier to carry, he had wrapped them up in an extra robe that he had found somewhere. He was entirely ready to go, and had been more than ready in a mental sense for quite some time.
One of the Council came up to him and led him out of the meeting room. Before he left, Nannoc turned around, just to see the jealous expression on Aaron's face. Well, he would be getting what he wanted soon enough. In just a few moments they arrived at the Elder's room. It wasn't impressive in size, but the kinds of things in it were different. Nannoc had never seen anything like them, though he thought he recognized some from Lily's description of things from the Outside. Things like a "bed" instead of the straw mat that the rest of the People had. And there was something that looked like a "candle" for light inside the room. Why did the Elder have these things here? And why didn't he distribute them among the People if they were good enough to keep?
He didn't have very long to ponder these thoughts. The Elder came in and gestured for the Council member to leave. He then gestured to one of the men who served as guards. One of them went out, and the Elder started to speak again, "So, Nannoc. How do you feel?"
"Greatly honored, sir." He was careful to please the Elder, since he was about to destroy several centuries of traditions as soon as the guardsman came back.
"It's a wonderful feeling, isn't it, to know that you are about to become an Adult?"
"Yes, quite."
"Are you ready for everything that comes with that?" The Elder was staring at Nannoc intensely. Nannoc felt very uncomfortable under his gaze. It felt as he were a cow and the Elder was inspecting him. And judging by the face, Nannoc wasn't an entirely pleasing cow.
"What do you mean by that, sir?" He shifted, trying to release himself from the scrutiny of the People's leader.
"I mean, are you ready to accept your adult responsibilities? Including becoming a Hunter, since you're one of the best I've ever seen at the skills needed. Also including taking care of your two new wives."
"Yes, sir, I believe I'm ready for that."
"Well then, let's get those ladies out here so you can choose which ones you want." At that, the guard who had left came back leading a line of 10 girls, two of which Nannoc was supposed to pick for his own. "I'll have them each step forward; you pick the two that you want."
"Bu-" Nannoc didn't need to go through this; he already knew who he wanted.
"First is Natalie," the Elder interrupted. One of the girls stepped forward. She was beautiful, yes, and quite tall. Almost as tall as Nannoc. He shook his head; that didn't matter at all.
Taking it as a signal of his displeasure, the Elder waved Natalie back into the line and called up the next girl, Ariadne. The Elder asked, "Do you pick her?"
"No, I-" But once more the Elder cut him off and ushered a new girl forth; This was Elaine. Every time he tried to say something, the Elder interrupted. This happened for not only the first three, but with Rhiannon, Moira, Emmeline, Jaqueline, and Lia.
Nannoc's tries for attention got more adamant each time, to no avail. Finally, after Lia, he resorted to shouting, "SIR!" With that, the Elder paused in naming the next girl.
"What, Nannoc, gives you the need to interrupt your Elder?" Nannoc shrank back slightly under the intimidation of the Elder, but he had to say what he had to say.
"I don't want any of these girls. I already had a girl picked out for my wife." The Elder sat back in shock.
"Well, this is unconventional, but since you are an exemplary Child of the People, I will allow this. Tell me, Nannoc, who is she that you have chosen?"
"Well...her name is Lily." Nannoc's heart was pounding in his chest. To say he was nervous would have been an extreme understatement. He was shattering centuries of tradition and rules and betraying the People with an Outsider, specifically one set aside for the Cutting. The same Cutting that was initiating him into the Adult society.
"No one in the People is named...Oh. Nannoc," the Elder leaned down to Nannoc, who had his head down, trying to not make eye contact. "You've been breaking rules now, haven't you? Lily's the name of the millah who is to be Cut tomorrow, isn't it?"
"Yes, sir, she's the one I pick." He heard a small chorus of indignant and outraged sounds from the ten girls currently in the room. He had meant to tell the Elder before all the girls were brought in. There wasn't any help for that now, so he just had bear their scorn.
The Elder held up his hand to the girls, and they ceased. He raised one eyebrow and said, "Well, I assume since you've chosen her, she's chosen you, am I right?" Nannoc merely nodded. "Let's test that. If she chooses you, then I give you my express permission to take her as your wife and live out your life with her. If she doesn't choose you, I reserve the right to choose whatever punishment I deem appropriate for your inexcusable behavior and disregard for the rules." Standing up and putting his hand on Nannoc's back, the Elder said, "The ladies that Nannoc has turned down, I want you to come with me. The others can leave. As for the rest of us, we shall head down to the nursery to check see if Lily's affection measures up." With that, he more or less pushed Nannoc out into the hallway with the 8 girls right behind. Lily would undoubtedly say yes. Nannoc knew she would. She had to, or else suffer the consequences. But she would. And Nannoc comforted himself in the fact that, shortly, he and Lily would be free to go about their lives without the People there to oppress them.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
When they arrived in the nursery, they still had to walk past all the other millah. Nannoc smirked when he heard the wretching noises some of the girls made at the smell. Even the Elder and his guardsman wrinkled their noses. When the millah heard the commotion, for usually there were never this many people in the nursery, they began screaming and moaning to be let out. The girls looked incredibly nervous as Nannoc kept leading them (he had long since relieved himself of the Elder's grip) deeper into the tunnels past these noises. He could understand why, with the pleas for help, but he had long since numbed himself to all of the sounds and smells of the nursery. The Elder seemed to not even hear the screams. Neither did the guardsman. Did the Elder care, or had he too numbed himself? But he hadn't been down here in many, many years, decades perhaps. How had he gotten acclimated to this?
It didn't matter. All that mattered was that in just a few minutes, Lily and he could leave forever, never to be bothered again. When they finally entered the chamber for the sacrificial Outsiders, Lily was curled up, asleep in the middle of the room. Nannoc paused just inside, waiting for all the others to file in behind him. He then looked to the Elder for a signal as to what he should do next.
"Go wake her up so that we can talk to her." Nannoc bent down, put his hands on Lily's shoulders, and shook gently to wake her up. She looked greatly confused at first. In hushed whispers, Nannoc explained and her eyes opened wide as she turned to look over his shoulder at the man who had her imprisoned in the first place. Holding her hand, Nannoc refused to turn around when the Elder began to speak.
"So, Lily, Nannoc here has told me that you two are in love. He has chosen you as his wife over eight girls of the People. Before I let him do something that completely defies my rules, I need to know that his love is returned. As such, I have a simple question for you Lily: Nannoc has chosen you. Do you choose him?"
Lily turned her eyes back to Nannoc, looking scared. Not of the Elder, but of Nannoc. She pulled her hands out of his and pulled away slightly. He followed her with his eyes. In a small voice, she spoke, "I'm sorry, Nannoc, but I can't." He stared at her, not comprehending. What did she mean "she can't?" Her life depended on it.
"I'm sorry, what was that Lily? Speak loudly enough that we can all hear you." Nannoc could hear slight amusment in the Elder's voice.
"I can't. I can't marry Nannoc." Dropping her voice again, she spoke to only Nannoc, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." The slight sobs in her voice didn't change anything. Nannoc's face stiffened. He stood up, oblivious now to everything exept the fact that Lily, his only friend, the one person he opened up to, the one girl he'd ever wanted, turned him down. Not even to save her own life would she marry him. And it wasn't even a real marriage.
"Well, I suppose that's it then. Nannoc, you know I need to punish you now for breaking all my rules."
"Yes sir." He faced away from Lily. Her rejection spun its way through him, squelching every good feeling this last two months had brought him.
"Very well." The Elder turned to the girls who had been waiting impatiently on the side of the room. When Nannoc saw the smug little grins on their faces, he wanted to wring their necks. But what was the use? Lily had denied him. Nothing would change that fact. Nothing would change the inevitable punshiment he would recieve. Nothing would alleviate the feeling that had turned him cold on the inside. He was dead to the outside world. The Elder addressed the girls, "As you can see, Nannoc's choice of an Outsider for his wife didn't work very well. We need a way to remind him that this is always the case. Each of you should get your chance to remind him of this fact. Therefore, his punishment is forty total lashes, five from each of you." The Elder then left, leaving everything else to his guardman.
Nannoc was stripped of his robe, exposing his bare skin to the cold air of the cave. He was then shoved down to his hands and knees. He didn't resist; nothing mattered now. The guardmans took his whip and gave it to the first of the girls, Natalie. Every single one of the girls of the People had been trained in using a whip so that they would never be useless in a battle. Each time the whip was lashed across Nannoc's back, it had that force and an indignant anger behind it. He knew he should feel it hurt, but it couldn't compare to what he felt inside. He closed his eyes and took his punshiment. He deserved this. It was his fault. He broke all those rules; he should be punished. This must be Sephirin's punishment for going against the rules of his spokesman, the Elder. Each girl had five chances to hurt him as much as possible, and they were planning on it. Each stroke of the whip was strong enough to tear his back apart.
Forty lashes later, the guardsman took his whip back from Lia, the last girl. He looked disappointed that Nannoc hadn't screamed or cried at all. He then ushered the girls from the nursery, but they each took one last moment to express their scorn: each of them spat on Nannoc. When he was sure they were all gone, Nanoc, lay down on his side. He heard Lily still whispering a pathetic, pitying, "I'm sorry," behind him. He knew his back must be a complete mess of blood and horrific wounds. He almost felt sorry for her. Almost.
As he lay there in the darkness, the damp stone floor beneath him, he contemplated what was going to happen next. He almost wished he was in Lily's position tomorrow; everything would stop. There would be no more to worry about; nothing more to pain him. It would be over. That's what he could do. When everyone was expecting him to celebrate his victory through Initiation, he would end his own life. How ironic that it would be with the same sword that brought him to Adulthood that he would die. As these thoughts went through his head, tears began falling from his eyes; tears for Lily, tears for himself, tears for the People, tears for the world. Eventually, he fell to unconsciousness despite the pain. Tomorrow would tell all.
No comments:
Post a Comment