She's Too Naive

Chapter 42

Greg came back just as he said he would, bringing a tray of food with him. I was sitting on the bed with my back on the wall, and at first just stared at the food he offered. I was hesitant to take it from him.

My stomach growled and I figured I needed to stop being stubborn, so I took the tray and began munching on the bland ham and cheese sandwich. The bread was like cardboard and there was no mayo, but after not eating anything it tasted like heaven.

Greg stood and watched me eat, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"What did you do to get punished with the Defaecatio?" Greg asked, surprising me. I didn't know guarding me included personal talk.

"I fornicated with their most prestigious soldier," I snorted, being blunt. Even though Rosen and I had not been together like that, the Def didn't seem to care. Greg's jaw dropped.

"Rosen Parker?" he asked for clarification.

"That's the one." Rosen must have been very well known if Greg immediately knew who I was talking about.

"That's some deep shithole you dug yourself into." Greg shook his head.

"What?" I furrowed my brow in confusion.

"Rosen is sacred to Armanno."

"Who?"

"Armanno is the spokesperson for the council. But lately he seems to be making all the rules." said Greg. "A few years back, Armanno took Rosen under his wing and basically began to train him himself. After all, each council member chooses their successor and Armanno chose Rosen."

That was news to me. I had thought the Def equally chose the next council members every ten years and then when that class graduated the council stepped down and the new one took over.

"Wait, i'm confused. So each council member chooses the one they want to take their  place?" I questioned.

"Yeah," Greg nodded slowly. "So that way in case that council member dies, there is someone to take their place while the others finish their training. Then after graduation the rest of the council will step down and the graduates who have been chosen will take their place." My head was spinning with trying to follow everything.

"Oh."

"It's actually what happened to Armanno. The council member before him died and he had to step up and take his place three years early." Greg shrugged. "You were with Rosen for a while, right? Why didn't he explain all this to you?"

"It was very brief...," I trailed off. In fact, now that I thought about it, Rosen had barely talked about his time with the Def at all. I knew next to nothing about what he had to do for the Def, or how he had been trained.

"It's not always easy to talk about." Greg nodded in understanding. I must have looked confused as he elaborated. "What the Def is doing is good, but it's not always easy to take a life. We must get rid of all the sin in the world so it doesn't continue to spread and contaminate everyone. Doesn't mean that I enjoy killing people. It's just my duty to God."

Jesus.

So Rosen and Cole were right when trying to explain to me that they didn't know better. If you were raised to believe a certain way, how did you suddenly believe something else?

I was raised that murder was wrong, but what if I had been told the opposite. Would I think different? Act different?

I would hope that I would have a gut instinct that what I was doing wasn't right. Just like Rosen and Cole had experienced.