*
She, along with all the Gifted servants were huddled into carts and taken to the palace. There, she was put into a room with five other maids.
“I wonder what will happen.” Heather said sitting smiling on her bunk that was pushed between two others.
Laura answered pulling a brush through her long blond hair. “Maybe we’ll stay here. I’ve always wanted to live in the palace.” The other girls giggled.
“I hear the king prefers blonds in his palace.“ Heather’s hair suddenly changed from black to bright golden blond.
Laura rolled her eyes and blinked changing their color. “I wonder what his favorite eye color is.” Then they all laughed. Jacky sat in the corner on her small bumpy mattress and hugged her knees.
“Miss Dana told me that the Black Born took a liking to Abe over there. She was sure he was going to take her away.” Heather whispered loudly making sure Jacky heard but she didn’t look up even though she did focus now on their conversation. She hated to be called Abe but it was the name the girls thought was funny. It was short for Aberrant.
“Ew. He must have a taste for the freaks. Well you know what they say about the Black Born.”
“Yeah, I heard that their Headmaster is a deviant. He takes women off of the streets and they never come back.”
The whispers and giggles faded into the background. Jacky thought about Luke and hoped she could see him again before they took her away to another house for her to serve in.
The next day because of their ordeal they were given a day of freedom where they could, with certain restrictions, walk the grounds of the palace. Jacky decided to go out into the gardens to be alone.
It was hot and she was sweating in the sunlight so she sought out a shady place to sit and rest. There was a tree in a small empty patch of grass on a knoll where she went to sit down.
After a while of peace and quiet she heard the echoes of footsteps and looked. A line of Black Born were escorting a prisoner somewhere but she couldn’t see his face. His ankles were shackled as was his hands. There were four Born all around him, she wondered who could need so many guards. Then as they came closer she saw his face.
“Lex!” She shouted and was on her feet running towards them. His eyes shot up and he focuses on her. “Lex!” She cried again but two of the guards were there in a second holding her back. The one was Hast. “Let me go he’s my brother!” She argued trying to pull away from the men.
Lex began to struggle. “Jacky! Stay back. Shut up Jacky!” He shouted at her. She flinched back slightly then looked around her realizing what she was doing.
“You’re coming with us.” Hast said coldly and kept a hold of her arm, while the other one went back to Lex who was still struggling.
“Leave her alone you sons of pigs. She’s done nothing. She don’t even have a Gift! Leave her alone!” He screamed and she realized by telling them he was her brother she had implicated herself in whatever he had done.
*
Pinching his nose in the sun filed room Luke stood looking out the window across the landscape of Sway.
“Sir!” Hast came in and saluted. “The prisoner is awaiting you sir…and there’s something else.” Luke turned. “There is a girl. From yesterday. She claims that the prisoner is her brother sir. She’s in custody.”
Turning back to the window he said. “Thank you Hast. I will be down shortly to interrogate the girl first. Then I will deal with the rebel.” When the door shut Luke let out a sigh.
He enter into a small room with only a small window letting in a beam of light. A square barred cell was set in the center of the room where Jacky sat on the floor with her head down. When the door was closed and they were alone he walked to the bars. “What were you thinking?! Are you trying to get executed?!”
He faintly saw her head shoot up her face was shining from her tears but she didn’t get up. “You knew and you didn’t tell me.”
“There wasn’t time to tell you Jacks. What would you have had me say? Oh by the way your brother is a rebel. So I threw him in the dungeon…….. I’m a Black Born Jacks. You should have stayed back.”
He heard her laugh through her tears, the sound made him cringe. “I’m sorry Luke. He’s my brother, no matter what.”
He stepped back from the bars and snapped his fingers. A light came on in the cell showing her bruised and tear soaked face. “Did you know he was in the rebellion?”
Her expression drained away. “No. Mother told me years ago that he had disappeared. I didn’t know where he was or what he was doing.”
Luke paced back and forth. “You don’t sound surprised.” His voice echoed enhancing the unemotional tone.
She stood up her eyes narrowing. “That my brother is apart of the rebels? Yes actually, I am… but I just don’t care. He’s my brother.”
“He’s a traitor!” Luke shouted his hands clenched into fists at his sides. Jacky flinched at his outburst. “If he doesn’t submit to my scan. I will have no choice but to take the information from him.”
Gripping the bars Jacky cried. “But that will kill him!”
He didn’t look at her. “I have no choice Jacks. I’ve tried being gentle…but I must do my duty.”
He walked out and just before the door closed he heard her scream. “No!”
