The Selection

Chapter 20: Fine

Gabriel held out his hand, smiling with his eyes, "Come, Ember."

I grabbed onto his hand interlacing out fingers. He dragged me through crowds upon crowds. People danced, yelled, sang. They were completely oblivious to Gabriel and I, which was fine by me and definitely fine with Gabe. He dragged me until we reached the Pierre. I hadn't noticed it the first time I was here, possibly because I had been too nervous or perhaps only sidetracked by the very attractive man I had only begun to understand, but the sky intertwined with the water. Nothing in the distance was visible. I didn't know where the water ended and the sky began and it was beautiful with the sunset painted in orange and red.

"Hesperides," Gabriel whispered, staring out at the vanishing sun. I looked up at him in confusion and noticed that his eyes looked different. They weren't the same eyes That held secrets only I knew. They weren't the same eyes that gave me an electric feeling that rattled my bones.

"Whats that?" I asked him.

"The goddess-nymphs of golden light of sunsets. They were to protect the tree of golden apples which was given to Hera, Zeus's wife, on their wedding day. Many correlate this with the forbidden fruit of the Beginning of Days."

I knew the story, Adam and Eve. God had told even not to eat the forbidden fruit and she had anyways, dooming us all. Still confused, I let go of his hand and walked forward until I hit the end of the Pierre, Gabriel's footsteps close to mine.

As I leaned over the railing, Gabriel put an arm on either side of me. Caging me in. "What are you thinking about?"

"I'm confused," I whispered.

"About?"

"Everything. Why'd they take me? How did they take me?" Another difference from last time we'd stood here, ships were cast in the water.

"You're not focusing on what's truly important," he whispered. I turned around still caged in. I stared up at his new, weird eyes.

"You're not making any sense," I retorted.

"What'd he say about your mom?" Gabriel pushed. "That she wasn't... what?"

"What are you-"

Gabriel grabbed my arms tightly, causing me pain, "The man, Ember! The people who want your help!" He screamed at me.

"I don't know!" I screamed back, "Something about not obliging and they needed someone who was willing to help them!"

Gabriel pulled back and nodded, "Good. Remember that. Look." He turned me around and pointed. The sunset swirled black as though the sun had completely fallen out of the sky. The waves engulfed the ships, creating a wall of water in front of the Pierre. I turned towards Gabriel, frightened at what I was witnessing but he was gone and then so was I.

I woke with a jerk, very momentarily thinking I'd gone blind until I remembered I was blindfolded. The tape over my mouth was beginning to fall moistened by nightmare sweats.

"We're letting you go now Princess Ember," a voice startled me. Someone had been in the room with me while I slept and for some reason that was the most unnerving part of the experience. "When I untie you, do not fight me," a man's deep voice explained. He began to work on the ropes binding my wrists. I immediately tried to rub the burn away when I was freed but it only made it hurt worse. They would definitely be marked. He then untied my ankles and I fought the urge to run but I decided running blindfolded wouldn't be my best idea.

"Hands behind your back," he commanded and I obliged. He tied my wrists back together and it hurt worse this time. He then picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. I didn't object as told but let out a grunt when my stomach hit his shoulder. I felt his steps and focused on counting each one. 157.

When I felt the fresh breeze of outdoors I was relieved they were sticking to their word and letting me go. I was dropped into a car and the door was shut behind me. I rested my head on the seat, trying to steady my heavy breathing. The car started up and took off.

"I'm sorry this had to happen to you," a man in the drivers seat, I assumed, said. Even if my mouth hadn't been taped, I probably wouldn't have responded. There were just no words.

"But it had to happen to someone. If not you, then the Prince. Some of us would've been killed if we would've taken him though. He's too valuable," he explains, "Not that you aren't, we got a very big rise out of the kingdom taking you."

Why would the kingdom possibly be worried about me? I was a nuisance, a Five intruding in on a world of One's. The Queen despised my very existence, the King compared me to the girl who rejected him and Gabe, well... I could see it getting a rise out of him. He said he'd come for me but he didn't even need to. They had no choice but to give me back. If I didn't go back, win Gabriel's heart of the other 12 girls then they'd never get whatever it is they truly wanted out of me.

"We're here. Now I'm going to help you out and your going to lay on the ground until they come to get you. Nod your head if you understand," I nodded directly and he did as he said he would. I wasn't there for more then a minute before another pair of hands were on me.

"Don't worry, Lady Ember. I got you," it was Officer Bowen's voice. He picked me up and put me into a backseat. Once we quickly started driving away, Officer Bowen carefully took the tape from my mouth. Even though I now had the ability to speak, I had nothing to say. My eyesight was the next thing I was granted.

Officer Bowen's aqua eyes stared in to mine and I wondered if he were checking for a concussion through my pupils. We sat like that for a long moment before he began to work on the rope around my wrists.

"Thank you," I said softly as my wrists were released. I looked at my burns scorched into my skin from the rough edges of the rope, I avoided touching them. Officer Bowen took an ice pack from the front seat and handed it to me. I knew it was intended for my wrists but instead I put it on my forehead that was pounding with a migraine.

"Did they give you anything? Medicine, food, drink-"

"No," I said firmly, "they didn't."

He ignored the annoyance in my voice and began talking to the driver of the car about informing the infirmary that I wasn't given anything orally but that my eyebrow was, in fact, busted open. It was?

I turned and stared at my reflection in the window. My left eye was red and swollen, my eyebrow in fact was split open. A stream of dried blood streamed down the side of my face. I guessed that had happened after I was punched on the staircase and knocked out.

"Is Gabriel okay?" I asked Officer Bowen and he gave me a firm nod. Gabriel could take a punch and I obviously couldn't. I slid my ice pack over to help the swelling go down.

The ride to the palace was mostly filled with silence, which I was thankful for and thought maybe this worked out great until I seen the front of the palace. Cameras and crowds were covering the ground in front of the gate. I was disgusted knowing that they wanted a picture of my arrival just to make money in a magazine or newspaper.

Officer Bowen escorted me into the palace and call me selfish but I sort of thought someone would be there to greet me. Any of the girls, my maids or at least Gabriel. But the front entrance was clear and Officer Bowen seen me to the infirmary.

They spent an hour and a half doing tests on me even after I told them multiple times that nothing had happened when I was there besides being knocked out. But they insisted. They also cleaned my eyebrow, gave me painkillers for headaches, and a little bit of sleeping medicine. The entire time I expected Gabriel to come bursting through the door but he never did.

"Officer Bowen will escort you to your room now, dear," the nurse told me after informing me of when to take the medication. Apparently, the sleeping medicine had already taken effect because my eyelids grew heavy and my legs refused to hold me up. Officer Bowen scooped me up into his arms and I found his shoulder rather comfortable.