5 - CLARA

CHAPTER FIVE

T he God's Tower event center is unquestionably the most elaborate, over-the-top community building in Tau City. It is a giant four-story dome set in the middle of God's Lake with bridges leading back to both the Maiden and Extraction Districts like spokes on a wheel.

It's massive, but when compared to the God's Tower directly behind it, the event center comes off as miniature.

The ballroom inside is equally impressive—glossy, ice-blue floors lead up to a set of grand shallow steps at the top of the room, where balcony staircases feed into it. These balconies are supported by thick columns, meant to draw your eye up to the ceiling, which is a series of glass-paned windows surrounded by an intricate framework of silver-gray trusses.

You could get lost in that ceiling if you look too long. It's mesmerizingly beautiful.

At the top of the shallow stairs, right in the center of the stage, is a colossal, twenty-foot-wide glass globe with a hollow center and this is where Gemna, Haryet, and I presently stand, hidden by the dazzling gold light that shines outward, blinding the people in the ballroom.

Attendants are bustling all around us as we stand still and allow them do their jobs. Everything about the Maiden ceremonies is scripted, right down to the last detail. And we're used to this by now. So I am barely noticing the lighting people, and the makeup people, and the directors because I've been looking for Finn—dying to see him in whatever fancy suit the coordinators have planned—because the end of my Extraction Maiden tenure is the beginning of his.

In a way.

Because Finn's apprenticeship as Extraction Master begins tonight, he will be at his father's side through the whole thing, learning all the little details that make these galas so exciting and fun.

But I haven't seen him yet. And that's strange, isn't it? Come to think of it, I haven't seen Aldo, either. I lean in to Haryet's shoulder. "Have you seen Finn?"

"No. But I haven't been looking."

"I haven't seen him either. Have you, Gemna?"

"Nope. But I have seen both Mitchell and Jeyk, so he's gotta be around here somewhere."

Mitchell and Jeyk are Finn's best friends, so this assumption of Gemna's makes sense.

I look again. Granted, I don't have a great view of the main stage—it's much wider than the twenty-foot hole I can presently see through. Plus there are balconies and staircases on either side of the main stage and Finn could be in any of these out-of-sight locations. But I'm anxious to see him so I stare out of the hole, wishing for him to appear. It's only been a few hours since I left his quarters, but all the moments we spend apart feel like an eternity now that the end is so near.

I'm so ready to be done with the Maidens. So ready to just fall into a new life with him.

"Hey."

I jump in surprise, my hand over my heart, when Finn's voice is suddenly in my ear.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."

He's come up behind me, but I don't turn to look at him because attendants are already barking at me to keep still, and not to ruin my hair, and all kinds of other things. "Where have you been? I was looking for you."

He lets out a long breath, but no explanation is forthcoming. So despite the instructions of the attendants, I turn to look at Finn anyway. He's pale. And when I place my hand on his cheek, he's cold, too. "Are you sick?"

"No. But…" He hesitates. "But there was… an accident. I'll be presiding tonight."

"What kind of accident? Your father? Is he OK?"

"He's in the health center right now. They're calling the god?—"

" What ?" My mouth drops open in shock. Healing costs Tau City a lot of spark. It's used very sparingly these days. Of course, Tau City—for the most part—is filled to the brim with super-fit citizens, so health services have never been much of a drain on our spark rations. But still, even for the Extraction Master, they don't call the god for help with healing unless it's something really serious.

Finn exhales, interrupting the sense of hopelessness that begins creeping up my spine. "He's fine, Clara. He's… gonna be fine. I just need to take over tonight and… it's… fine ."

When things are fine, people don't feel the need to insist that things are fine.

I open my mouth, ready to pepper him with a barrage of questions, but then people are yelling at us both. At me to turn around, and at Finn to take his place. Music starts and it's not like we have a choice. I can just barely make out the Little Sisters entering the ballroom outside the globe. And then Finn is gone and I can't do anything but stare ahead and watch the show like everyone else.

I want to think about what Finn just said—especially the part about calling the god in the tower for help—but there's no time because suddenly, the whole place comes alive.

While I can't see the balconies or much of the stairwells, the scripted nature of the Extraction ceremonies means they are mostly predictable. Plus, it's the job of a Little Sister to memorize every movement. And even though it's been a long time since I was a Little Sister, I can see the patterns in my mind's eye.

With seventy-five girls in this first lineup of Chosen Little Sisters, the entrance is a very complicated affair and the choreography uses all eight of the balcony staircases to get everyone in quickly. Movement is coordinated like a dance, but no one is dancing. Just calmly trying to make sure they keep count of where they are and where they're supposed to be after the weaving serpentine entrance pattern is complete.

When the music stops there is a sea of girls in pretty blue dresses filling the entire circular area at the top of the ballroom, the space directly at the foot of the stage where our glass globe is.

Then the spotlights, which have been blocking us from view inside the globe, go out. This is the cue for Gemna, Haryet, and myself to walk forward and stand in front of the Little Sisters.

I'm in the center, because we always stand in numerical order on stage and I'm number nine, so I have the only spoken lines of the night. "Welcome, everyone," I say, projecting my voice to the very ends of the massive ballroom. "Welcome to the very first Choosing celebration of the one-hundred-and-twenty- first Tower God Extraction! Please give all seventy-five of our new Little Sisters the warmest of welcomes!"

Aside from the Extraction number, these lines never change. And although I have never said them myself, since this is my first time being center Maiden at the first Choosing celebration, I have known this day was coming for ten years now, so it all comes out in perfect order, just like it's supposed to.

Then Finn's voice is bounding through the ballroom. "Yes, welcome, everyone!"

He's stage left on a special landing halfway between the second level and the upper balconies, and the thing I immediately pick up about him is that he's calm. Like his father is not in the health center and the god has not been called upon to help him heal.

"You're probably wondering what I'm doing up here. Well, my father decided to throw me in the deep water and see if I could swim, so I'm taking over for him tonight—and I promise, Extraction Master, I will not disappoint!"

There's some chuckling here from the crowd as Finn pauses to look stage right and salute. We all look stage right, expecting Aldo to be there, smiling down at his son from the upper balcony or something.

But of course he's not there. Because he is in the health center.

Finn doesn't give the crowd time to wonder about this, or question where Aldo might be. He gives them just enough time to think they saw him, and then he's talking again.

I stop listening though. Because I'm suddenly caught up in this lie.

Because that's what he's doing. Finn is lying to the people. Trying to preserve the good mood of the night, I suppose.

But it kinda rubs me the wrong way. Aldo is injured and the god has been called in for special rations of spark. The proper thing to do here is to chuck these Little Sisters aside and have everybody bow their heads and pray for him. Begging the god to spare his life. Giving up every little bit of city spark we have available to heal him.

And that's not what happens. What happens is that things go on like Aldo is not injured and possibly dying.

I let out a breath, trying to control my… well, I'm not sure what I'm feeling, so I don't have a word for it. It's not anger, that's too strong. But it's much more than dissatisfaction.

But the ceremony goes on around me and then it's time for Haryet, Gemna, and I to leave the stage and make our way up the stairs to a mezzanine platform on the same level where Finn is standing, only on the opposite side of the ballroom. He's already introducing Little Sister number ten by the time we take our seats.

I'm barely paying attention at this point. Much too worried about Aldo to care about these girls in blue as they muster up pathetic displays of spark power—case in point, this girl, number ten, is showing her spark through her eyes. Which are already blue so, yeah. Not only is this trick way overdone, but it has almost no effect.

Still, Finn smiles at her, clapping politely as she exits and he calls the next girl in line.

I want to get up and march right over to the health center to hold Aldo's hand and beg the god to make him well. But of course, there is no chance of that. I won't be getting out of here for hours, at least. Not until every last girl has been introduced and all the dancing is over.

I huff, making Haryet turn her head in my direction and whisper, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm… my feet hurt." It's the best I can come up with on the spot. I'm not much of a liar. Can't even remember the last time I told a lie, even one as small as this. But I suppose I must lie. Otherwise I'll just upset everyone.

I guess Finn came to the same conclusion, so maybe I'm overreacting.

Haryet lets out a breath, then reaches for my hand and gives it a squeeze. "Mine too, sister. But I'm busy picturing life after all this is over. And we're so close now, it doesn't even feel like a dream anymore." She gives my hand another squeeze, then lets go and straightens her back, pretending to pay attention.

I do the same. There isn't any point in getting worked up because there is nothing I can do. The only one with the power to change the situation would be Finn himself, and he just keeps going with the introductions, like he's not at all concerned about Aldo.

So I think maybe… maybe someone came and passed on a message right before the ceremony started letting him know that Aldo is fine. That the god listened and healed him up.

That's the only logical explanation for Finn's jovial mood, and as a little more time passes, I decide that's what happened. Aldo is fine and I can relax.

So that's what I do. I calm down, loosen up my tight shoulders, and listen attentively like I'm supposed to as each Little Sister walks across the stage in her simple, handmade blue dress while Finn calls out her name.

The spark displays are almost never dazzling the way Imogen's was when she was on this stage. She was a very special case. We all knew she was going to be number one.

But this next Little Sister is wearing something unexpected and different.

Haryet coos in my ear as I recognize the brazen, auburn-haired girl from earlier in the day as she takes her walk. "Oooo! That's Jasina Bell."

Gemna pipes in now. "That dress is gorgeous, isn't it, girls? Do you think she made it herself?"

"Not likely." Haryet laughs. "She comes from a long line of Maidens. I'm sure she had help."

I pay attention here, my curiosity getting the better of me. The dress she's wearing really is spectacular. It's blue, like all the others, but it's nothing like all the others. Typically, the first gala dresses are plain and simple, because they are the same dresses they've been wearing all day.

But Jasina Bell's dress doesn't look anything like the one I saw her in earlier. So many layers of flowing and fluttering skirts over a simple linen… this is when I realize she is wearing the one from earlier, except she's embellished it with the tulle, and the tulle has been decorated with… I squint and lean in. "What's that on her dress? Are those… butterflies?"

"Embroidered," Gemna says. "And look, it's sparkling."

"Woven silver?" Haryet postulates.

"And something gold too," I add.

And the moment I say this, it comes to life. The crowd gasps as all the tiny butterflies on her dress take flight and flutter around her. This is when we realize they are made of spark!

Not the actual embellishments on her dress, but electric blue light copies of them lift up off the tulle and float in the air around her. They don't do anything else, just float there. But this is such a different way to display spark that the entire ballroom erupts in cheers and clapping. And it goes on for so long, Finn has to stop them in order to make the girl leave the stage because she is soaking this moment up with every fiber of her being.

The whole thing is way over the top, but at the same time, it's… gorgeous. And even though projecting light into the air is a simple trick—hell, even I managed to do it during my first Choosing gala—it's not simple at all when combined with the butterflies on the dress.

It actually might be the most spectacular display of average spark I've ever seen. And by the sound of the reaction in the ballroom, everyone is agreeing with me.

"How many Maidens?" I ask Haryet and Gemna. "In her family, I mean."

"Four," Gemna replies. "But most were Chosen generations ago."

"One of them is a Matron now," Haryet adds.

Well. Now I remember the name of the Matron I saw leading that group of Little Sisters this afternoon. Matron Bell. Aunt, or great-aunt, or great-great-aunt of one Jasina Bell. Who will forever be known, from this day forward, as the Little Sister who wore the prettiest gown to the First Choosing in the whole entire history of the Choosings and stunned people with her spark butterflies.

Haryet interrupts my thoughts with a new statement. "I heard she got special treatment. You know, to get this far, since she's from down-city."

Gemna counters this with a huff. "Don't be jealous now, Haryet. This girl is as gorgeous as that dress. And her display of spark was creative and original. She doesn't need special treatment."

Gemna's right. Jasina is probably the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. And that's saying a lot, because every girl in the Extraction is beautiful and I've seen a lot of them.

I take Jasina's side for another reason as well, though. Because I maybe got special treatment myself. I'm not saying I didn't earn my place, but Aldo is like a father to me. After my own father died, Aldo took me under his wing. I was already a part of the Extraction—girls sign up for that when they are twelve. But he helped me so much along the way after my parents died.

And number nine ? It's practically a guarantee that I wouldn't go into that tower. So who's to say that he didn't give me this position simply because he loved me? And because his son loved me? And because he knew that one day, I really would be family?

I never asked, and I never would, but it's a logical conclusion even if it's not true.

Finally, all the introductions are over and Finn officially starts the ball by announcing the very first Dance of Sisters. Then the entire stage is filled with dancing girls in blue. At first, they do all the moves alone in their respective lines, but then young men enter, all wearing linen suits the color of sand. They weave their way through all the Little Sisters, and since I'm sitting in a balcony, I can see the patterns they are making as each one finds their partner and drifts off to the outer edge. When all the partners have been matched up, the dance truly begins with a waltz.

Haryet sighs, putting a hand to her heart. "My goodness, do you girls remember this night ten years ago the way I do?"

Gemna laughs. "I will never forget that night. Jeyk was my partner and he flirted with me non-stop. It was…" She sighs as well now. "It was the best night of my life, I think. And even though we've been to so many galas since then, this very first one was the absolute tippy-top!"

I smile as well, thinking back on this night again, this time allowing myself to remember the details. Finn was my partner. We were dating for real at the time, but we knew that the moment I got in to the top ten it would be over. Not for real—well, yes for real, but it was just temporary and we both knew that. We were gonna wait for each other.

If I were making that promise to him today, I would understand that it was just a way to make ourselves feel better and the chances were very slim that we would still be in love ten years later. I was na?ve back then. We both were. So we didn't understand that the odds were against us. We just carried on like it was already true.

Of course, we've seen each other nearly every day for the last decade of my service to the god in the tower. And we've had lots of meals together. Both private, at Finn's family home, as well as in public for gatherings and galas and such.

We even got together for a few trysts, like the one we had this afternoon. But all in all, he did his thing and I did mine. He didn't date anyone else, even though I never made a rule that he couldn't. And I didn't date anyone else, either. We didn't need the rule. We are in love. We only want each other.

He was my partner through all of it so my very first Dance of Sisters was with the man I loved. All the dances in my Choosing stage were with the man I loved. It was a good time. A fun time. A much more innocent time too.

I have been paired up with many a man for the galas that came after, of course, but none of them got anything out of me other than some light conversation. My heart belongs to Finn Scott. I haven't even imagined another. If something were to happen to him and we didn't get married, I would die a spinster.

"Will you miss it?"

I turn and look at Haryet, shaking my head. "I like the memories. It's been a great adventure and I have nothing but good things to say about my time in the Extraction. But I won't miss it."

She smiles and nods. "Me either."

Gemna dissents to my right. "I'll miss the maids." We all chuckle. "I mean, people have been picking up after me for ten years now, girls. That's a luxury you get used to quickly." Then she sighs and her real answer comes out. "But… it will be a relief, ya know?"

Both Haryet and I turn our heads to look at her, nodding.

"I'm number ten, girls. I'm not going into that tower. There was never any chance of it. But still, especially in these times, it's a weight on me and I want it to be over."

Haryet lets out a small laugh. "Oh, tell me about it. I'm number eight, Gemna. Remember when the bell rang for number seven?"

Gemna and I both huff. We remember. Haryet screamed like she woke up from a nightmare. But of course, it was worse than that because it wasn't a nightmare, it was reality.

After Brooke Bayford went in, Haryet was a mess. Jittery, and sensitive, and emotional. She had long bouts of insomnia, endless weeks of bloodshot eyes, and lost twelve pounds—which is way too much weight for someone so tiny. It made her look malnourished.

She got through it, of course. It's been over a year since Brooke's bell rang. But it's horrifying to realize that your life could be over at any time and you have no control at all.

I can't even imagine what it's been like to be Haryet this past year. I want this to be over. For all of us. It's been a good decade, but it's also been a stressful decade. Probably the most stressful Extraction ever. Never, in the entire history of this contest, has a Spark Maiden with a number higher than two been called into the tower.

Three months.

It feels very far away when the bell could toll at any time.