Restored (A Caleo Selection)

21 ~ A Truth So Fundamental

Leah's funeral the next day was brief and quiet, without fanfare. I stood with Madeleine and a few other palace workers as they lowered her casket into the ground. Kate was too grief-stricken to leave her room.

I didn't get to see her one last time. Opal whispered to me that she had been tortured, with strangely delicate designs cut into her skin. I could only imagine one of my uncles calm and serene as he reduced practical, dignified Leah to tears.

The morning after, I left a very different note in my father's old office. What do you want from me?

The reply was there less than two hours later. Come to this place at 11:25 p.m. There will be no guards.

I went through the motions of the day as usual, but I steered far away from Hazel and Reyna. Piper was the only person to whom I spoke, letting her do the talking whenever someone approached us.

Piper sighed as we sat together in a corner of the Women's Room. "There's so much tension."

"You're telling me."

"No, I meant between the girls, believe it or not." Piper gestured at the small groups of Selected around the room. "Ever since Leo eliminated the last batch. Don't you feel it? I just wish we could be friends. But it's like we're all wary of each other."

I glanced around the room. "I can't say that I noticed."

"Of course you didn't." Piper crossed her legs. "At least we're doing something about it tonight. You're not sitting idly anymore."

"I suppose," I said doubtfully, watching Lou Ellen and Echo laughing together.

Piper punched my arm. "Calypso. Get your act together. You have to have some semblance of strength tonight. Now is the time to practice."

"The more broken I look, the more they'll think they convinced me to join their side," I countered.

Piper hesitated. "You can't let them break you for real, though."

"My friend just died, and I'm supposed to be tough?"

"Isn't that what Leo's been doing?" Piper said softly.

I rubbed my neck. "You know what? I hate you when you're right about stuff. I actually hate you right now."

Piper's lips quirked into a smile. "Good. Hate me, hate them, hate whoever you need to in order to get the job done."

A maid curtseyed in front of us. "A message, m'lady."

I barely refrained from snatching the letter away from her. "Thank you." Ripping it open, I scanned the loopy script with hope. "Leo wants to see me."

"Excellent." Piper squeezed my hand. "Remember what I said. Give him a chance, Callie. He's different from the boys who've hurt you."

I didn't look at her as I hurried out the door. Piper was right about many things -- too many things for my taste.

The note had said to find him in Bunker 9, and I made my way down the servants' stairs to it. Rapping on the door, I straightened my yellow dress and tried to breathe normally.

The door swung open, and there stood Leo in all his scrawniness, dirty and not wearing a suit for the first time in days. "Hey there, Sunshine."

I couldn't stop a smile from crossing my face. "Hey, Repair Boy. Long time no see."

"Yeah, well, I've been busy." He beckoned me inside, closing the door with a wham. "Lots of papers to tend."

"And yet you're here, of all places, no doubt running your country productively."