boo :)
from the depths of the Jaya that inhabits my brain:
“Why didn’t I know about any of this?” Jay sighs, his voice fraught with emotion.
I look over to see him staring up at the sky. “I didn’t want to tell you before.”
“That’s not what I mean,” he assures me, looking over. “I mean that I was never taught about Chen’s history like this.”
I shrug. “Your people is neutral. That’s how they avoid being ruled by Chen or the Overlord.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t be neutral,” Jay claps back. “If Chen really did that –,”
“Then what?” I ask. “If you don’t like Chen, you only have two choices. You can be peaceful until Chen finally decides he wants your resources, or you can join my father.” And the second option is by far the worst. Chen is greedy, but my father has a kind of wickedness that even Chen doesn’t stoop to. Chen didn’t train his daughter to kill anyone who got too close.
Jay’s eyes travel my face, landing on where the remnants of a bruise still stain my eye. Before I know what’s happening, he slowly and gently stretches out a finger to –
“No!” I exclaim, rolling over away from him. “You can never cross the boundary and come in here, Jay.” I sit up and beg him to understand with my eyes. “Please.”
“For the last time, what happened for you to come back with that bruise?” Jay asks, rising to sit with his legs crossed.
I shake my head. Ever since eight months ago, when I missed our afternoon meetings for two weeks because I was injured so badly in a fight, Jay’s been on my case about any minor injury I have.
“Does your father do it to you?” he asks, his tone dead serious.
“No,” I insist. “I’m telling you the truth when I say that I was in a fight.”
“What kind of fight?” he asks. “Nya, you had a black eye and bruises all over your face from this. You don’t seem like the kind of girl who gets in fights for nothing.”
I bite my tongue on the confession I’m about to make. Jay knows nothing about the criminal my father has turned me into, and it has to stay that way.
