Part X

Artemis had always hated how sausage smelled and tasted but whenever Seneca made them, they were delicious. He never told her what he did to make them taste so good no matter how much she begged him to share.

As she chewed on her food she watched him clean up the dishes he had used. He glanced at her every now and again, satisfied that she was eating the food he’d made. Smiling, he remembered the first time they had eaten breakfast together—he had burned the food and she had yelled at him for the rest of the day.

“Zypher’s stopping by later,” he announced, sitting down across from her. “He said he had something to talk to you about.”

She frowned and leaned her head to the side. “Wasn’t he just here?”

“It’s been ten years at least,” Seneca corrected her. “Ten years.”

Sighing, she shifted in her seat, taking a sip of her orange juice. “What does he want? Do you know?”

“No,” he shook his head. “But it probably has something to do with the next Clan.”

She put her fork down on the edge of her plate and leaned back, appetite gone. “They won’t be here for a while though. There has to be more than just that.”

“I don’t know,” Seneca shrugged. “Zypher is Zypher. He has a reason for everything he does although we may know always know what it is.”

“Which is why I dislike him,” she explained. “He’s always doing stuff but never telling us why and it’s annoying.”

He sighed. “Just be respectful. Although he’s younger than you, his rank is higher.”

“I know, I know,” she waved him off.

“And he’ an Akijah,” he continued. “So use the right speech form.”

She rolled her eyes.

“I’m serious!” he raised his voice. “The last time you really offended him and he ranted to me for forever afterwards.”

“I’ll be polite!” she said exasperatedly. “You’re not my mom.”

“Thank heavens for that,” he teased, a smile appearing on his face. “I would never want to raise someone like you.”

She glared at him, half-joking but also half-serious. “My mom was a better person than you’ll ever be.”

He leaned against the counter, dishcloth slung over his shoulder. He was wearing a light blue button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, matched with worn jeans that had slight holes on the knees. His light bleached hair was curly, unruly and frizzy from the recent washing and the color went well with the jeans he wore.

“Why are you dressed like that?” she asked, taking a bite of toast as she studied him once more.

“They’re moving me to the Docking Department,” he explained. “Today is my first day.”

“Ah,” she nodded. “Sounds fun.”

He supported his right wrist as he rotated his hand around. “I mean, it’s about time for a transfer. I swear if I had to record one more bit of data—.” He stopped and took a deep breath. “—I was going to get early arthritis.”

She laughed as she scrapped the rest of her food together and quickly finished it. “You should head out so you’re not late.”

He nodded and handed the towel to her before scooting around her and grabbing his backpack from the couch. “I’ll be back tonight so save me some food.”

“I’ll probably eat out,” she told him.

Turning to look at her, he frowned slightly. “Do you not want to eat with me?”

“I’ll wait then,” she sighed. “Don’t stay too late or I won’t.”

He smiled and opened the door. Before he left, he gave her a small but quick wave and shut the door behind her. As soon as the door clicked shut, she leaned against the counter with a sigh. The back of her neck hurt from sleeping on it weird and now matter how much she tried, she couldn’t get it to crack.

She finished wiping the counter before she turned off the lights and collapsed onto the couch. Across from her, above the TV was one of Tay’s favorite paintings. It was a lush green hill with a house off in the distance and a herd of sheep grazing. Fluffy clouds soared in the sky, touched by the glimmering rays of sunshine. She sighed and closed her eyes.

Tay.

She wondered what he was doing right now. Had he gotten out of bed yet or had he decided to sleep in for the first time in his life? Was he living alone or had the Great Library managed to find someone else to keep him company. She knew how much he hated being alone and she was certain that even though his memory would be gone, the habit of always keeping someone by his side would remain.

There was a knock at the door, startling her from her thoughts and bringing her to the front door. When she opened it, Zypher stood there, hands tucked behind his back patiently.

He looked like any normal human even though he wasn’t one. His eyes were what gave it away as they were a soft purple , the only part of him that couldn’t be masked by his camouflage.

She opened the door and he stepped inside, nudging the door shut behind him.

“Would you like something to drink?” she switched to his native tongue, using the right form to show respect. He smiled, obviously pleased at the effort she was putting in.

“Oh, um, maybe a glass of water?” he spoke with more ease, letting the words roll of his tongue unlike Artemis who sounded stiff and unsure of herself. “I like your pronunciation.”

She gave a forced smile. “Thank you.”

“It sounds so—human,” he laughed. “But I appreciate the effort.”

Good. She thought. You should.

She got him some water and slid the glass across the table to him. Before posing the question she had been wondering about since Seneca mentioned Zypher would be visiting her.

“What do you need to talk to me about?”

He seemed to hesitate for a moment too long before changing his mind and taking a sip of his water. “The Master’s will be sending another clan in six months.”

“Six months?” she echoed. “That’s longer than usual.”

“And they want you to be gone by the time they arrive,” he finished.

She froze, hands folded in her lap. “They want me—gone?”

He nodded. “I’m sorry, it’s out of my hands and I—.”

“Why?” she tensed, her hands forming into fists as she waited for him to answer. When he didn’t, she added to the question. “Did I do something?”

He shook his head. “No, Artemis, you didn’t do anything but the Master’s think that it’s best if you were gone before the new Clan arrives. As it is, you’ve been here for over 900 years. What are you running from?”

“Life,” she answered bluntly. “I’m running from life. I don’t want to live just yet, Zypher. Why are you taking this from me?”

“I’m not,” he sighed and rubbed his temples. He didn’t lower his speech form but she could tell he was tempted to do so. Why was she blaming him? It wasn’t his fault. It was the Master’s. “I didn’t want to tell you but there’s no one else to do it.”

“Who will take my place?” she questioned. “There has to be a Leader here and I’ve always filled that role.”

“MJ,” he answered. “He’s around your age, maybe a year or two older—human years that is—but he’s only 200 or so years old.”

She rolled her eyes. “And when does he show up?”

“He’ll be arriving a few days from now,” he explained. “Please take good care of him and make sure you train him properly.”

She was quiet as she chewed on her lip. “And what about me? What if I refuse to leave?”

“People are going to start remembering you as of today,” he announced. “From today onwards, you won’t be able to run from the consequences of your actions. The Master’s have it planned so by the time you do move out, you’ll already have a bit of social standing to support yourself off of.”

“This is stupid,” she lowered her speech form and he instantly frowned. “Why should I have to obey every order the Master’s tell me? Am I slave?”

“No,” he shook his head, distain making its way into his voice. “But you’re a convict and they’re the judges. Just be happy they didn’t kill you back when they first found you.”

She glared at him. This is why she disliked him. He was always the bearer of bad news and although that wasn’t his fault, whenever she saw him now, she always expected something to happen.

“I don’t want to,” she gritted her teeth. “If Tay was here, what would happen to him?”

“He would have been asked to leave too,” he explained. “After the new clans are sent out, no one will be allowed to stay longer than their sentence unless they’re a Leader.”

“Why?”

“Because this is a punishment, Artemis,” he snapped. “Not free therapy.”

She ignored his comment.

“What about Seneca?” she asked.

“His sentence was over a long time ago and he actually left for a few days,” he explained. “It wasn’t long enough for us to completely erase his memories so he came back and is now being paid to stay at the Library.”

“Then pay me,” she suggested. “Move me up to the library.”

“I’ll see what I can do but I’m not promising anything,” he sighed. “The new Master seems to have it out for you.”

She was quiet before standing up. “Okay, fine. I’ll be gone by the six month mark. Now, please, leave.”

He looked at her, the frown slowly disappearing from his face. “I’m sorry, Artemis. I’m just the messenger—don’t shoot me.”

She sighed. “You know why I shoot the messenger?”

He shook his head slightly.

“Because it sends a message,” she snapped. “Now get out of my house.”

She had dropped all formalities and was speaking very rudely, something that was very disrespectful for an Akijah to speak that way to someone of higher rank. She didn’t care though as she was several hundred years older than him so, in reality, he should be speaking respectfully to her.

She didn’t move from where she stood until she heard the door click shut behind him. Only then did she let out the breath she had been holding. Why now? She shut her eyes and hung her head, the confusion washing over her.

The door bell rang but she didn’t move to answer it. If it was Zypher, she didn’t want to see him. She couldn’t control what she was feeling anymore and would probably haul off and punch him.

It rang again and she got the idea that maybe it wasn’t Zypher. He would have just come in instead of ringing a second time so she straightened and headed for the door. Opening it, she saw a familiar face there.

Hayden wore black pants and a light green shirt that was loosely tucked in on the front. He smiled and extended a small bouquet of three white roses.

“Thank you,” it sounded more like a question than an actual thanks but she took the flowers from him.

“What do you need now?” she raised an eyebrow.

A sheepish smirk crossed his face. “Saving.”