The Unspoken: Book One in the Keres Trilogy (17 page)

A Mother greets me at the large double door entrance to the towering circular building,
“
And what can I do for you this morning, Keres dear?
”
she says in a voice as smooth as silk.

“
I came for PG3456,
”
I pant.

“
I
’
m afraid that isn
’
t possible, dear heart. They are learning from their mistakes.
”

“
But it was my mistake. I washed the uniform,
”
I say quickly,
“
It was me, not them.
”

“
Oh, I hate to see you so upset, Keres dear,
”
soothes The Mother,
“
You know, of course, that there are no individual actions of a Play Group and we all must take responsibility for each other.
”

“
I take responsibility for theirs and mine, add me to the rack.
”

“
No,
”
coos The Mother biting her bottom lip,
“
Nooo, I
’
m afraid we can
’
t do that. Go eat your lunch, baby lamb. You must be hungry.
”

“
Can I at least see them? Speak to them?
”

The Mother wavers a moment,
“
I think it would be good for you, dear. How wise you are.
”
She motions for me to follow her. Pausing at a desk, she retrieves a group of keys and we walk deep into the building.

Making several turns so it feels like we have doubled back at least twice, we reach a door with a large iron double lock. The Mother turns to me,
“
Remember, dear, everything we do is for your own good. We want to help you be kind and obedient.
”
She inserts two keys in the lock and turns them in opposite directions. The door swings open and I step into the dark room.

Stretched spread eagle by chains on the walls are Wex, Frehn, Merit, Doe and Harc. They are held upright by the iron shackles around their wrists, trickles of blood running down their forearms and mixing with beads of sweat.

“
Look who it is, Doe,
”
Harc says with ice in her voice,
“
Keres has come for a visit.
”

I can say nothing, struck mute by the sight.
“
Hello, Keres,
”
whispers Doe.

“
Now, don
’
t be all dramatic,
”
Frehn says in disgust.
“
We have made it through worse than this.
”
He shifts on the wall and I can see braided whip marks on his bare chest.
“
It
’
s only for the day, Keres, we will be back in the common room after dinner.
”

“
I-
”
I start,
“
-so sorry-
”

“
It
’
s nothing, we wondered where you were though, seeing as how you were the ultimate culprit in the greatest laundry scandal of the century,
”
Frehn tries to say nonchalantly.

“
Frehn dear, don
’
t mock the seriousness of the actions that brought us these consequences,
”
croons The Mother from the doorway.
“
You don
’
t want to make us think we aren
’
t learning from our mistakes.
”

“
No, Mother,
”
says Frehn and gives the chains on his legs a shake.
“
No, Mother. We wouldn
’
t want that.
”

I move towards Doe who is limp with fatigue already, and they aren
’
t halfway through the punishment yet.
“
Doe,
”
I whisper,
“
do you need water?
”

“
No food, no water,
”
sings out The Mother.

“
They can
’
t stay like this for seven more hours!
”
I cry.

“
Certainly we can and will, we are learning,
”
answers The Mother happily.

“
Please, please,
”
I begin to beg, the full force of the scene bursting on me,
“
please, rack me instead. They didn
’
t do anything.
”

“
It
’
s time to go, Keres dear, you
’
ll miss lunch!
”
The Mother begins to pull me from the room.

“
No, no wait, let me clean their cuts, let me bring them something to drink!
”
I
’
m panicking now, and I can feel the tears welling again in my eyes. The Mother pulls me forcibly, and I am yanked off my feet and dragged from the room screaming,
“
I
’
m so sorry!
”
to my Play Group. Frehn
’
s eyes narrowing is the only move made by any of them. The door slams and the iron keys click in the lock. I launch myself at the door and hang onto the handle,
“
Please, please!
”

The Mother leaves me clinging to the door, tears rolling down my face, and she glides down the hall with her lavender tunic sweeping the floor behind her. Wex never lifted his head to look at me.

Abbot. I jump to my feet and race to the Gratis Building. Abbot will help me. Pressing against the elevator doors to make them open faster, I stumble across the hall to his door. I burst through into his den, eyes wild in panic,
“
Help me, please, Abbot!
”

“
We can finish this later, Marmet,
”
Abbot says to a woman in the room with him as if I have only asked about the weather conditions. He hands a stack of rolled paper and a dusty book to Marmet and escorts her to the door, closing it behind her.
“
You didn
’
t tell me that The Mothers caught you washing your suit,
”
he says to me reproachfully.

“
I didn
’
t think they would react with a racking! I thought, I don
’
t know what I thought. Maybe that we would have no recreational activities, or no dinner, or something. Abbot, you have to help them!
”

“
I can
’
t, Keres, you know I can
’
t,
”
he says sadly.
“
Your Play Group is under their control. The Mothers can do what they think necessary,
”
Abbot sits on the edge of his desk,
“
and what they think necessary is torture.
”

“
Why can
’
t I be racked with them? We should have been punished together, tell them to string me up with them!
”
I yell.

“
I could, but it wouldn
’
t do them any good.
”

“
It would do me good,
”
I sob. I fling my arms up to cover my face.

“
They will be all right, you know. They will have dinner in your common room and they will go to sleep. They are not angry with you. They understand the system far better than you.
”

“
You didn
’
t see them, you didn
’
t hear Harc.
”
The memory of Harc
’
s frostbitten voice echoes in my ears.
“
Wex didn
’
t even look at me.
”

“
And Harc would have been better served if she had followed Wex
’
s example. What possessed you to go to them?
”

“
I wanted to- to help them.
”
I stammer.

“
For someone so smart, so powerful, you are inexplicably blind.
”
Abbot scoffs.
“
Has nothing I said over the last two days sunk in? Do you comprehend nothing you read? Control your emotions, Keres. Do not act on impulse. Have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish before you fly into passions.
”

“
I should have ignored their punishment? I should have gone to the canteen and eaten roasted beef flank while my friends were chained to the walls of the Amendments Spire, bleeding for my disobedience?
”

“
You are always in extremes, Keres! No, you should not have ignored their punishment. You should have made your block ready for their return tonight by stocking it with healing aids and food. Then you should have come to me calmly to see if I could do anything to lessen their sentence. By going to The Mothers in a fit of temper first, you gave them the power. Not only were they able to confirm that they have the ability to punish you with the mere idea of PG3456
’
s consequence, they were able to show you results and watch your subsequent collapse. And now, PG3456 will probably suffer much more because you cannot control your anger. Now The Mothers will enjoy their victory and there is nothing I can do.
”

“
Could you have helped them?
”