EXALTED (An Exalted Novel) (4 page)

The heat of the water feels soothing on my tender skin. I have no qualms about taking a little extra time in the shower to let the water massage all the sore spots that literally took a beating. Eventually, I turn the tap off, dry myself, and get dressed for dinner. Black training attire is good for any occasion so that’s what I throw on.

* * *

On our walk to the cafeteria, Val tells me about her first specialized archery lesson. She says that they only had target practice, and they will keep practicing until they master that task—same as our morning. Val boasts about her performance, but admits that Chasin was the frontrunner with the bow thus far.

I remind her that it was only the first class and she has plenty of time to improve. “We basically had identical mornings. Garret had us working on target practice all morning. We’re already improving quickly though,” I say. Then I admit, “Ethan’s really good. Better than me. So how’d you like Millie?”

“She never misses. She is amazing, like the goddess Artemis. Totally lethal.” Val gushes over her new idol. “Was her United as amazing as she was?”

I pull the door open to the cafeteria and allow her to enter first, while I take the time to find the right answer. “He didn’t demonstrate his abilities to us. He only observed us.” Garret doesn’t need to show off his skills to trainees, everyone knows how skilled he is. He’s famous amongst the United.

Val presses her thumb to the identification pad and then I follow suit. Our food is sent through the slot, and we then sit at our regular table. Evening meal times differ, in that boys and girls may sit together. This is our only scheduled social time of the day. Chasin and Ethan join us, and Az is quick to follow. He shoulders Chasin, forcing him to move down so he can sit next to me.

I groan. The testosterone is building in the air. The guys all sit up a little straighter and stare each other down over their meals. Beside me, Az puffs out his chest and scoots a little closer to me, like he’s marking his territory. I suddenly lose my appetite and wonder how I’ll even begin to choke down the rest of my dinner.

Az’s appetite, on the other hand, is big, and he has no problem scolding me with a mouth full of food, “You need to throw your punches harder, Mena.”

“It was just a practice exercise, Az,” I remark as I try to inch my way down the bench seat.

“None of this is practice anymore. Do better tomorrow.” He shoves forkful of broccoli in his mouth.

I eat in silence for the rest of the meal, not bothering to take advantage of the social time to converse with Val, Ethan or Chasin, because I realize that I
was
weak today. As much as I can’t stand Az, he’s right. None of this is practice anymore.

My father lifts me onto his broad shoulders, and I wrap my tiny arms around his neck. I hold on tight. I’m so far off the ground that it makes me giggle. I can’t be any older than four years old.

My two long braids, one resting on each shoulder, bounce as my father walks. He heads toward the East Gate, where there is barbed wire fencing between an opening in the stone wall. He points to the swaying fields of corn and says, in almost a whisper, “Look to the Taken. They know the way.” 

“What do you mean father?” I ask him while gazing upon the golden field.

He doesn’t answer me. Instead, he turns and begins striding alongside the stone wall, dragging his index finger along the mortar line. He won’t let me off his shoulders or speak to me as he continues to walk. The wall never curves or turns, and there is never another break in the wall. It just goes on forever.

I scream at him, “Father! Put me down!” I scream louder and louder each time.

He doesn’t hear me.

I struggle to pull myself out of my dream as our alarm sounds, alerting us to the new day. The dream felt so much like a memory . . . but not the end. That was like a nightmare. I shudder.

It’s early, and the room is still dim. Even the sun has yet to wake. It’s keeping that strange dream trapped here with me. I’m confused by the display of fear from the younger version of me. Exalted don’t feel such things. It felt real though.

Val and I get dressed for the morning five-mile run. We leave our room and enter the corridor full of other girls leaving for the run as well. We all silently descend that stairs. The boys, men, and women join us from their respective floors. The morning run is mandatory for all Exalted, except for the children still at home sleeping in their parent’s apartments.

We’re like one entity, all moving as one. Our feet hit the floor with that same tapping sound, the fabric on our pants makes the same swooshing noise, and we all wear black. The older Exalted differ slightly with their purple armbands, but that is the only difference. We even have the same goal in mind;
running will make me stronger.
Therefore, we all keep to the schedule.

As soon as the door opens to the outside, each Exalted sprints away. They flood the grounds of the Republic like an army rushing out for battle. It’s an ominous sight, and I can only imagine that’s why we never see Ambassadors out at this time of the day.

The first mile starts right here, at the stairwell door. I leave Val in my wake, pushing myself faster and faster. This is one area that my peers have nothing on me. My body was built for running. I crave the way my muscles feel as they expand and contract when I pump my legs harder. I pull air into my nose and push it out of my mouth. I feel powerful, not like the weak girl in my nightmare.

The sun is starting to rise. It casts splashes of pink and orange across the sky. It brings a muggy heat with it. I can smell salt in the air. The coastline is closer to this city than it once was. I run so fast that I fear I may take off into the air with the squawking seagulls.

In no time at all, the five-mile run is over. I keep sprinting right up the stairwell to our room and take a quick shower before heading to breakfast. I need it more to wash off the remnants of the strange dream than for the light sweat I produced from the run.

* * *

As always, I’m the first one to arrive in the student/trainee cafeteria. Today, I ran faster than I’ve ever run before, trying to escape my father and the terrifying wall in my dream. The memory of the fear I felt still perplexes me. I sit in silence with my oatmeal reflecting on the dream some more. A whole four minutes pass before the first person enters. It’s Ethan. He’s fast as well.

Soon after, the others trickle in.

Val sits across from me. “What were you running from this morning?” she questions me while acting nonchalant.

“Nothing,” I don’t tell her about the dream, but offer, “just trying to be better. You know, like Az suggested.”

“Hmm . . . “ I can tell that she doesn’t believe me by her tone. “Is that why you were tossing and turning last night?” she asks.

She knows me too well, but I don’t want her to think I’m weak. While Val is my best friend, she is also my competition until the United Trials are over. So, I simply respond, “I guess I’m just ready to get started today.”

She seems to accept that answer and doesn’t question me any further. She’s also aware of Kinah making her way over to our table and doesn’t want her to become aware of some advantage she may have over me.
Thank you
, I silently praise her.

Kinah greets us with some horrible new insult she thought up. The day never truly starts without such a greeting from her. I know Kinah thinks she’s shaking up her competition, but it’s actually having the opposite effect . . . on me anyway.

The medical citizens enter several minutes later to bring us each our daily dose of the Pump. I can see the tiny purple capsules from my table and patiently wait to get mine. Normally, this uneventful process goes uninterrupted. Today, however, Force, Garret, Millie, and two Ambassadors follow the citizens into the cafeteria.

Ambassadors are smaller than Exalted, like the citizens, but have a bigger presence. They wear flowing garments of bright blues, greens and purples with a gold Republic sash over their shoulders. They model themselves after the great Roman scholars and nobles. You can always tell one of them apart from a citizen, not only by their clothing, but also, by the wisdom and knowledge within their eyes. They have this ability to draw your attention to them, whereas citizens are meant to be unnoticed with their boxy, monochromatic cotton clothing and downcast eyes.

It’s extremely unusual for Ambassadors to enter the Exalted training facility. While it’s not forbidden, since the Ambassadors make the rules, it is rarely seen. The focus of the room immediately shifts to them. The room falls silent. Even the medical citizens stop what they are doing and scurry off to the side of the room.

Garret makes an announcement to the cafeteria of students and trainees. He speaks loudly so that all can hear what he has to say. “Another citizen was taken yesterday from the fields.” Everyone straightens up and leans forward upon hearing this news—news that I already know about. We all wait patiently for Garret to continue; knowing something out of the ordinary is coming. The act of kidnapping citizens isn’t a new phenomenon. “The Exalted are spread thin with guarding the wall around the Republic’s perimeter as well as the fields and farms outside the wall. The Ambassadors have requested that the upcoming United Trials’ participants aid in the Republic’s protection. This will now be part of your training. Understood?” he commands.

The trainees answer in unison, “Yes, sir!” We are all eager to get started. While we have shadowed an adult Exalted on occasion, we have never been outside the walls on our own. This experience will give us a taste of what our lives will be like once we complete the United Trials.

Millie explains how we will all share the patrol times where the extra help is needed. “Everyone will skip two morning weapons training sessions each week, as well as two afternoon combat training sessions. We have posted your schedules outside of the gymnasium doors. You will all be sent out in pairs with someone from your class. You will all do your share and guard the Republic. And you will not be late!” she orders. She looks from Ethan over to me. They are never going to let us forget that one time we were late.

Force picks up from there. “You will all be guarding in different areas outside the walls. Most of you will be placed on the outer edges of our farms. Be aware of your surroundings at all times. This is not practice! Kill on sight!”

I glance over to the medical citizens. They’re standing with their backs to us, facing the wall. My attention is quickly brought back to our weapons instructor, Garret, as he calls my name. “Ethan and Mena, you two are up first this morning. Report to Basav at the East Gate. You will both be patrolling in the cornfields until lunch. Strength be with you.”

They leave us, and before anyone can say anything to me, I’m out of my seat and striding across the room. I stick my hand out to the cowering medical citizen for her to hand me my pill. She carefully places it in my hand and then backs away from me. I swallow it down as I turn to leave for the East Gate, for my first patrol. I’m ready.

But as I approach the door, I stop short. I remember something from earlier in the day . . . I remember something about the East Gate . . . It’s the same gate that my father brought me to in my dream.

The two Ambassadors that are in my path block my exit from the cafeteria. I will have to wait a few more minutes. The Ambassadors linger. They remained silent during the announcement of the trainees’ new duties, and now they whisper to one another as they both glance over the room, admiring their new crop of protectors. They are evaluating our potential and our physiques. They look at me, standing close by, with both fear and appraisal in their eyes. But I’m too close to them. They back away, moving like a crab as they clutch to each other.

Finally, one of the Ambassadors snaps his fingers at the medical citizens and instructs them, “Please continue passing out the vitamins. We want our Exalted to be strong, now don’t we?” One of them chuckles, and then they both turn and leave the cafeteria, still whispering on their way out. They’ve seen what they needed to see for now.

As if an electric shock zapped me back into action, I stride over to the citizen at the door. I show him my plate as the medical citizens once again pass out the supplements to all of the students and trainees.

Ethan catches up with my in the hallway and he follows me to the exit. We didn’t waste any time sticking around to discuss the announcement with the others. We are both ready to get started.

“Let’s go,” I say to Ethan as I push open the door and sprint toward our destination. I notice nothing but Ethan’s reliable company as we jog to the East Gate. Tunnel vision has taken over my sight. My mind is purely focused on serving the Republic on my first solo patrol. I pick up my pace. Ethan follows suit.

As we continue, the East Gate comes into view; I begin to check my belt. We slow our pace, as we both take account of all of our knives. This procedure must become second nature to us, like putting on shoes every morning.

We reach an Exalted guard that stands at the opening of the East Gate. He is dressed all in black, much like we are, but he wears an armband with five purple stripes, marking his ranking from his Trials and his current position. Fifth place. One day I will have one armband. Only one.