The Knowledge of the Hidden

Chapter 3

Julian and I spend the day driving around the city to look at wedding venues and I try to act interested as the hosts chat away about features. By the end of the afternoon we've seen over a dozen, but I can't remember nearly anything about them. When we've seen our last, Julian programs the car to take us to our future house, and leans back in his seat, asking me questions about the venues.

I give him short answers, trying my best to seem knowledgeable, but I can tell I'm not fooling him. He's getting more frustrated by the minute and rubbing his fingers against his temples like I'm giving him a migraine.

"Do you even care where we get married?" he asks finally, though I feel like that's not the question he actually wants to ask.

"The last place we visited was nice," I say diplomatically.

"Great, Olka Gardens it is," Julian says, pulling out his slate to mark it down. The car stops and he gets out, coming around to my side to hold my door for me. I force a smile and let him, climbing out from the seat to stand beside him. He's quite a bit taller than me with round eyes that seem to constantly move, even when the rest of him is still. Is this the first time that I am noticing that they are blue? I can't be sure.

Although we both come from high status families, that's about the only thing Julian and I seem to have in common. He is a Prominent, one of the few gifted Strengths to be given that title, and works harder at his skill than anyone I've seen. When he's not fighting with me about wedding stuff, he is working out, and has already dedicated an entire floor of our future house to a personal gym. He was hesitant at first, continuously checking and rechecking with me to make sure that I didn't mind, but the truth is I couldn't care less. It's not like I was going to fill every floor with my stuff. I don't even have a hobby.

It really is a wonder that the two of us were matched, but since graduation, I've begun to expect things that don't make sense. I glance up toward the house the two of us were assigned, an old brick mansion on the corner of one of the wealthiest areas of town. I try not to stare at it for too long. It only serves to remind me how much I don't deserve it.

Growing up, I was the envy of kids in my class for my house and money. Most people would love to get the chance to live as I'd become accustomed to, but every inch of me violently rejected the lifestyle. Our many empty rooms made the house feel lonely, our excess of machines gave me more free time than I knew what to do with, and I was never allowed to touch or play with anything because of its worth.

But the worst part was that I'd earned none of it, and every golden plate, heated floor tile, and high definition device was a piercing reminder of how valuable and worthy the skilled were, and how worthless I was by comparison. See what hard work and good character can get you? My dad's voice echoes in my head. I later learned I had neither.

And yet, despite all that, here I was standing in front of one of the biggest houses I've ever seen close up. Me, the loud-mouthed, unskilled, ungrateful nothing, who was far more suited for a watch list than a palace, was having all of this handed to me. My mind flickers to Josh, who deserved everything I never did, but who lived in poverty all because of something his parents did long ago. None of it made sense.

"I'm going to go to the market for a bit," I tell Julian before he can ask me to come inside. "Anything you want me to get?"

Julian sighs. "There are more decisions that have to be made, Lilly," he says. "Why don't we make a few more selections before you go running off for the night?"

I glare at him. "I'm not running off," I say, though that's pretty much exactly what I was planning. "I'm getting stuff for the wedding."

It's a lie and he knows it, but he shrugs and doesn't challenge me on it. "Sample the cakes while you're there. I had them put aside a few of my favorites when I was down there last," he says.