The Baptism

Prologue: Danae

Danae sat in the corner of her new room and wept bitterly. She had not cried, however, in front of the Assessors as her mother had instructed: "Do not bring shame to our family, Danae. There are things that are greater than ourselves; things that we cannot control."

She remembered how her father had somberly walked out of the house when the decree had been issued. His reception of the news was more so a form of sadness than rage. Just as mother insisted, he knew to subdue his hatred by expelling it out of anyone's hearing range near the river. The churning flow of water drowned out his curses.

Danae remembered her sister with longing. They were only a few years apart, yet they had looked one in the same. How could she be so different from her? Different enough to be taken away, shunned, carried off to a place with other children that were supposedly defective? She stared down at her arms and hands and legs and feet through her tears, meticulously surveying each inch of skin. Nothing appeared wrong to her. What did the Assessors see that she didn't?

After some time had passed, she rose and gingerly walked around her new room, knowing that she didn’t really belong in it. She could hear voices adjacent to her and sensed the vicinity of other warm bodies, although she could not see them. Someone across the hall seemed to sigh in long drawn out breaths. Where was she exactly? But, in the end, it didn’t really matter. She was no longer with her family, no longer in a place that she could call home, where she felt reassurance and a customary sense of self.

As the day grew to dusk, hushed footsteps approached her door. Danae waited for the lock to unhitch and, as the door slowly opened, a nurse appeared before her. She was a bit older, bent slightly forward, wearing a soft gray dress. As she spoke, a warm red hue tinged her cheeks and a welcoming smile crossed her lips.

"Hello, little one. Sorry to have kept you waiting. It has been busy today with so many new arrivals. My, aren't you beautiful! Please, come with me. Let's get you comfortable."

Danae, not yet possessing a begrudging enough demeanor to refuse, took the nurse's hand, curious to find out where she actually was. As they walked down the dimly lit hall, she saw other little children being escorted by nurses of similar stature in front of her. They all seemed confused, turning their heads this way and that, peering behind each other to glimpse the myriad faces, all projecting the same questions through their eyes. After a moment, Danae and the group arrived at a larger common area for bathing and dressing. The nurses took each child to a tub, undressed them gently, and guided them into the warm, transparent water. Danae wasn't quite sure about these proceedings, but nothing seemed initially scary about it. No other children were refusing and she didn't want to be the one to cause a stir, so she obliged and stepped into the tub.