Chapter 2: Privileged- Claire
I was so certain I was about to die. My eyes had shut, waiting for the red-hot pain of the knife to end it all. There had been no time to move. I waited, but after a couple seconds, I realized that death wasn't coming. Not today. I opened my eyes to a scene that only happens in the scary stories my parents would tell me. In a pool of blood below me, I saw the man that had saved my life. Knife still sitting in his well muscled chest, right below his ribcage. Right below his heart. "Take this man and get him to a doctor!" I yelled to my guards. "He will not die on my watch!"
The guards took quick action, picking him up and leveling him out. Another guard was quick to pay a nearby shopkeeper to clean the blood off the streets. I vaguely heard a guard speaking to me "Come, Ms. Claire, we have to leave now." We turn, but my eyes stay on they man, who I see is now just a boy. He looked obviously older than I was, but he was still a boy. He seemed underfed, yet strong. I barely registered the guards pressing on his wound to stop he bleeding, completely focused on the person who had just saved my life.
The next morning, I awoke in my chambers, sunlight streaming through my window. I propped myself up onto my elbow, watching the small specks of dust float through the air. They seemed so peaceful. Such a contrast to my own life. The hectic competition to become the next Rheteer. The next leader of our society. I called out to my maid, "Ms. Eola? Could you come in here a moment?" She entered my room and asked me what I needed. "Could you check on the man that saved me yesterday? How is he doing?" She told me she would check on him, and as she left my room, I fell back into bed. I sighed, waiting for her to come back.
Once Ms. Eola returned, I sat up eagerly for her answer. My face fell as I saw her grave countenance. She shook her head.
"He's still unconscious, but that's likely from the infection he got from the filth of the streets. His wound is healing nicely, however." She said to me. I then asked her
"What are his symptoms? I want to know what his chances are." She looked at me strangely; I wasn't supposed to care this much about an Abandoned
"He's got a very fever and he's sweating as if he were running a marathon." Those didn't sound like they were deadly, but what did I know about healing? I doubted that he had any of the vaccines that I had always had all my life, so they might have been deadlier to him than I.
"Thank you. Ms. Eola. You may leave now." as she left, I got dressed for the day. I tried to put the boy out of my mind, I had other things planned for today.
We met in the dining hall for breakfast. All fifteen of us, all of us competing for the position of the Rheteer. Today was one of the most anxiety-inspiring days of the competition, or so we were all told. Of course, I felt that anxiety among everyone. For the most part, that was because we were told that we were supposed to be anxious. At least, I thought so, because each day of the competition is different and we don't get told what the 'tests' are until we actually reach the day of that test. There was none of the usual chatter during breakfast, everyone waiting for the moment that our activity for the day would be revealed. Whether it be some sort of game or just a normal test(which I doubted), we had been told that it would be extremely difficult and competitive. But then, everything was competitive here.
A man entered the dining hall through the large double doors at the front. A man we all knew. Everyone sat up, waiting for the information we was to give us almost hungrily. He opened his mouth and we all unconsciously leaned forward in our seats.
"The Rheteer would like to congratulate Claire on her successful activity yesterday. She seemed to be very charismatic, as an Abandoned saved her life yesterday from a crazy Servant." I got a couple of intense glares in my direction, because they hated others' success. As the man spoke again, everyone turned back to watch him. "We would like to acknowledge the, however slightly lesser, success of all of you yesterday." I could feel my competitors thinking "Get on with it already!" but he seemed determined to keep suspense at an all time high until the reveal.
"And on that note, time to announce your activity of the day." the man finall
The guards took quick action, picking him up and leveling him out. Another guard was quick to pay a nearby shopkeeper to clean the blood off the streets. I vaguely heard a guard speaking to me "Come, Ms. Claire, we have to leave now." We turn, but my eyes stay on they man, who I see is now just a boy. He looked obviously older than I was, but he was still a boy. He seemed underfed, yet strong. I barely registered the guards pressing on his wound to stop he bleeding, completely focused on the person who had just saved my life.
The next morning, I awoke in my chambers, sunlight streaming through my window. I propped myself up onto my elbow, watching the small specks of dust float through the air. They seemed so peaceful. Such a contrast to my own life. The hectic competition to become the next Rheteer. The next leader of our society. I called out to my maid, "Ms. Eola? Could you come in here a moment?" She entered my room and asked me what I needed. "Could you check on the man that saved me yesterday? How is he doing?" She told me she would check on him, and as she left my room, I fell back into bed. I sighed, waiting for her to come back.
Once Ms. Eola returned, I sat up eagerly for her answer. My face fell as I saw her grave countenance. She shook her head.
"He's still unconscious, but that's likely from the infection he got from the filth of the streets. His wound is healing nicely, however." She said to me. I then asked her
"What are his symptoms? I want to know what his chances are." She looked at me strangely; I wasn't supposed to care this much about an Abandoned
"He's got a very fever and he's sweating as if he were running a marathon." Those didn't sound like they were deadly, but what did I know about healing? I doubted that he had any of the vaccines that I had always had all my life, so they might have been deadlier to him than I.
"Thank you. Ms. Eola. You may leave now." as she left, I got dressed for the day. I tried to put the boy out of my mind, I had other things planned for today.
We met in the dining hall for breakfast. All fifteen of us, all of us competing for the position of the Rheteer. Today was one of the most anxiety-inspiring days of the competition, or so we were all told. Of course, I felt that anxiety among everyone. For the most part, that was because we were told that we were supposed to be anxious. At least, I thought so, because each day of the competition is different and we don't get told what the 'tests' are until we actually reach the day of that test. There was none of the usual chatter during breakfast, everyone waiting for the moment that our activity for the day would be revealed. Whether it be some sort of game or just a normal test(which I doubted), we had been told that it would be extremely difficult and competitive. But then, everything was competitive here.
A man entered the dining hall through the large double doors at the front. A man we all knew. Everyone sat up, waiting for the information we was to give us almost hungrily. He opened his mouth and we all unconsciously leaned forward in our seats.
"The Rheteer would like to congratulate Claire on her successful activity yesterday. She seemed to be very charismatic, as an Abandoned saved her life yesterday from a crazy Servant." I got a couple of intense glares in my direction, because they hated others' success. As the man spoke again, everyone turned back to watch him. "We would like to acknowledge the, however slightly lesser, success of all of you yesterday." I could feel my competitors thinking "Get on with it already!" but he seemed determined to keep suspense at an all time high until the reveal.
"And on that note, time to announce your activity of the day." the man finall