The Cultivated Girl

Chapter 23 - Discovery

Simone was so angry with her mother she decided to get a message to Amira as soon as possible. It would be simple, something like 'I'll join you. Just get me out of here'. She was so embarrassed she wanted to crawl into the earth and lie still until she petrified as well. Mortified.

She couldn't believe the entire coven had talked about her period. In front of her clutch too. She'd been hoping to just ignore the whole thing until it went away but that couldn't happen if everyone insisted on talking about it.

"Well, you heard her. We better get out of here before someone decides to stone us or something."

"Don't say that," said Nada softly.

"What? Let's get out of here?"

"My sister was stoned to death."

"Oh. That. Sorry." Simone didn't know what else to say. Talk about putting your foot in it. "Um, so how do we leave, Alexia?"

"Who knows? Oh, maybe the one who'll bring about the Age of the Dragon. You're supposed to be the Sarsaura. Why didn't you tell us?"

"I didn't know. "

Lying, flashed Due.

"I'm not. Not exactly."

They looked at her angrily. "Okay, fine. Remember when we ran into... my mother. Afterwards I went to the Komodos to think. Amira found me there. She was my au pair, the person who looked after me when mom wasn't around. It turns out she's a priestess here too. She told me a bunch of stuff, I didn't believe half of it. One thing she did say was that I was a genetic breeding experiment. I didn't know anything else, especially not about being a sorceror".

"The Sarsaura. There is only one," said Alexia frostily.

Nada stared at her excitedly as if she was waiting for Simone to sprout wings and fly away.

"Stop staring at me."

Nada looked away briefly. "It sounds like this Amira woman is no good for you. She's like a lying snake. Every time you've ever been in trouble it's because of her. I wouldn't trust her one little bit."

Simone spun around. "What the hell would you know? None of you understand what it's like. At least she was there most of the time. Not like my mother. I don't want to be here. I never wanted to be here. Every day I've just been hauled around like excess baggage, from one place to the next."

Nada put a hand on her arm. Simone shook it off.

"I'm a tool. A science project. People say I'm special but I'm not. If I was, she would have kept me near by. She would have made sure I was part of the family. She would have trusted me with her secrets."

"And you didn't think of mentioning it to us?" Said Alexia.

"No. Would you? It sounds ridiculous, like something out of a movie. I don't understand half of what they said. Don't pretend you do."

Alexia stiffened. "You know Simone, you've made it pretty clear that you don't want to be here. You mock and ridicule our religion, our way of life at every step. At some point you have to realise that you're a part of this clutch for one cycle and what you do during that time affects others." She twirled in the dirt, like she was lecturing the fossilised faces.

"I live here, Sanctuary is my home. All I have ever wanted since I was in the hive was to be one of the chosen thirteen, serving the Goddess. It's not enough for me to just pass Earth Year, I have to excel or I'll never get there.

She stabbed the air viciously. "Nada and Joli have nowhere else to go. Have you ever asked them what they were running from to be here. What happens to them if they don't pass the year?