Hell Hath No Fury - Book One

Decisions

They had been at sea for a total of 13 suns when it was announced that they were going to make landfall within a few suns. Ava had established a pattern during that time. She would hang out in the library and read for until night began. Sometimes Cooker would be there and they would talk about Ava's thoughts on the books. She now understood what Cooker meant by needing to speak with someone about them. It was a shock to her. The corruption, poor quality of life, and corrosion of society the house system had caused. Philanthropic projects were fronts to gain more points during classifications. Housemaids were fired right before a new classification and new ones were hired and given money to make it seem that their employers were good people.

This was what her family had participated in for centuries. It was what she had participated in. Laughing at those with less than them but those that had less were never allowed to reach for more. It was a system where those that were on the bottom would never win and advance. She could remember the remnants of food every night that they would have on their dinner table and it would be thrown away. It wasn't given to those that were hungry because the food was theirs. They did not earn those meals she could hear her mother saying.

When she would speak to Cooker about these things, Cooker didn't try to sway her to have a certain opinion. They just openly spoke about the themes in the book and what they each thought of them. Cooker helped Ava fully think about concepts and form opinions on them without making her follow her way of thinking. Her time with Cooker quickly became one of her favorite things about the ship and when their conversations would end, she would anxiously wait for the next one.

One morning, once Ava had finished the second book she closed it and asked Cooker, "How were they able to keep all of this? How far deep does this go, like how many people are in the loop and how many are not?"

"I wondered about that for lengths, y'know? It ate me up inside. Did my parents know? Did their parents know? Did my siblings? I think I've concluded that the heads of the families are the ones that are aware," Cooker stated.

"So you're saying if there is a family of 300 Renikers that only the head of the family knows about the actual history of Baethos?"

"The head and a few other close members. Think about it, the heads of the Great Families and the head of the corresponding noble house must meet to decide how everything is done within their region. That includes education," Cooker began.

"And when only they are in charge of the education of every single resident of their region, they can distribute whatever books and knowledge they want that fits their narrative," Ava finished for Cooker.

Cooker snapped her fingers, "Exactly! Even further, since upper houses would rather be caught dead than mingling and talking politics with lower houses, they never find out the actual truth of the matter."

"When you're there and you have no worries and everything is provided to you, you don't question it. What you learn is believable..."

"And that is why no one knows. And they can continue to publish and distribute books that hide what they truly are." Cooker finished.

Conversations like that were commonplace throughout the journey. Sometimes, Ava analyzed the text differently than Cooker and they would debate on what they thought something meant. Cooker was constantly challenging Ava and she liked it. Throughout the time they spent together, Ava managed to pry about a few things in Cooker's personal life. However, she didn't get very much information before Cooker would wall up.

"If greater houses used half the money they spend on galas and balls, on rebuilding their communities, people would be able to start digging themselves out of poverty!" Cooker shouted she had been pacing the library in a particularly passionate discussion on the distribution of wealth of upper houses.