Twell and the Rebellion (11 page)

“Hmmmm. I’m not convinced
that here was the
right
time
.” I smirked at Jonaz.

“
Oh yeah… well…whoops.”
Jonaz winked at me.

“
Would you two like a trip
to solitary confinement?” Brazin’s big bass voice boomed down over
me, causing me to flinch.

“
I’m sure we would not,” I
replied meekly. I figured at least one of us had to look
apologetic.

“
It’s my fault.” Jonaz’s
smile, as he addressed Brazin, was wide and challenging. “I
couldn’t resist her.”

“Yes and we all saw the
level of resistance she just put up,” Maza snapped. She looked at
me with pure dislike and I fought the urge to pull a face at her.
Talk about fun patrol. Then I realized what a commotion we were
making. Hundreds of eyes gazed eagerly at the scene, the tension
crackling through the room while they waited to see what Maza would
do. I knew we wouldn’t get away with it. We’d broken the rules,
publicly displaying ‘
amorous
behaviour
’ as they called it. Oh, and we
were matched to other people. It would make them look totally
ridiculous if they didn’t punish us.

“
You are forbidden to have
any further contact with each other,” Maza sentenced us. I felt my
skin, which had been warm with passion a moment ago, turn icy cold.
My hands flew up, covering my mouth as I looked over at Jonaz. His
expression was no longer teasing, but dark with grim
determination.

“What gives you the right
to separate us?” Jonaz demanded. “We chose each other, by
ourselves. We don’t need your system, because we made a choice. Why
is it so wrong that we deserve to be punished?”

“You have blatantly
disregarded our laws.” Maza’s voice was low, but it travelled
firmly and resolutely through the room. “You’ve been warned and now
you will stay away from each other. If you don’t obey, you will
both be put into solitary confinement.” Her eyes, as she glared at
me, shone with a mixture of meanness and triumph. No one would
disobey the law under her watch, or challenge her authority. Her
empty heart and loyal mind were chillingly clear. I lost my
temper.

“Why should we submit our
hearts, when we do
everything
else the Governing
Body asks us to do?” I was barely aware of Brazin releasing his
grip on my arm as I ranted. “We’ve given you our lives to protect
Como, our bodies, our powers, and our obedience. Yet you still
dictate when, how, and who we can be with? What more do you want
from us? Where will it end?” My voice rang out sharp and defiant,
echoing with bitterness throughout the space of the hall. For a
moment, there was nothing but shocked silence. Then a low
murmuring, a small buzz of resentment, began to swell and move. It
rose up, a growing restless wave gathering momentum and volume as a
sea of heads nodded or shook respectively.

“
She’s right!”

“
She’s a rebel, she should
be thrown out!”

“But it’s true… we
do
everythin
g they say.” The voices
heaved up, cresting in a roar of unison, while I stood frozen in
shock at what I’d started. I looked at Maza and saw her outrage,
but much more importantly, I glimpsed a tiny flicker of fear. I
understood exactly what she feared. Control. Or losing control.
Whirling around she fixed her icy stare on Brazin, as if urging him
to do something.

A few tables away, Shanna
grinned at me with new respect in her rebellious eyes. Then she
pursed her lips together and whistled, a long lone tune that cut a
new path through the tension, the Comian sign of support. It
quickly caught on. The back of my neck prickled, my pulse
quickening as an eerie chorus of whistling filled the space where
silence had been. The sound reverberated throughout the hall and
through my bones, into my chest, touching my heart.

“Enough!”
Brazin’s booming order
rose over it all and then, as if on cue, officers appeared at every
entrance to the hall, filing in out of nowhere. They seemed to
press in from all sides and I experienced the foreboding sensation
of being trapped, even though we were supposed to be here of our
own free will.

The noise abruptly died down and
was hushed. Nervous anticipation shone in the eyes of my fellow
cadets as we waited to see what they would do next.

“
This is not the time or
the place for such protests,” Maza commanded with new authority.
Her beady eyes roved the room like a searchlight, looking for any
protesting gesture she could swoop in on. “You’re here to train for
a war, not to indulge in selfish desires!” Darting towards me, she
grabbed my arm and yanked me around to face her. From the corner of
my eye I saw Jonaz start forward to intervene, but two more
officers appeared in front of him, blocking his way.

“
A soldier cannot be
distracted by emotions. You are here for one reason only, to
protect Como. Have you forgotten that already?” she
demanded.

“
No!” I cried, furious she
would question it. I was even angrier that Brazin just stood by,
saying nothing to defend me. Of all people, he understood what I’d
gone through in order to be here. The memory itself subdued me, the
fight beginning to seep out of me.

“Do you
want
to be
here?” Maza’s voice was calmer, but still unarguable.

“
Yes,” I answered quietly.
“I want to be here.”

“Then I ask that you
behave like it.” Maza let go of me and turned to the room of
watchful eyes. “If you want to be here, follow the rules.
Otherwise, you will be dealt with.” She pinned her icy gaze on
Jonaz. “She is
not
your match. Your behaviour is therefore,
unacceptable. Stay away from her, or she will reap the
consequences. That is final.”

My heart sank in dismay as
Jonaz glared
at her in silence, his
expression so frozen I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. She was
clever. Clever enough to know he would toe the line to protect me.
He didn’t answer her, but thankfully, she didn’t seem to require an
actual response.

“
Now, all of you get to
training,” Maza said finally.

I watched numbly as everyone got
up and walked without further protest from the hall, silent under
the observation of the officers. But as they went, I couldn’t
mistake the change in many of their faces. Confusion flickered,
resentment shone, anything but mere acceptance. That could not be
controlled. As they filed out I saw Avin and Shanna turned back to
look at me. Avin’s expression was a mixture of hurt and something
else… like maybe he thought he might have bitten off more than he
could chew with me. But Shanna’s face shone with unbridled
exhilaration, and I knew I’d just kindled the fire she’d been
carefully building. More to the point, I had well and truly fanned
the flames of her cause. I didn’t see how I could turn back now, or
back down, because Shanna was right.

Chapter
Six

Maza, Brazin, Jonaz, and I
remained in the hall, with the addition of two other officers.
Lifting my gaze I met Jonaz’s eyes. They were black with
fury
. In three quick, long strides he
moved around Maza and Brazin, pulling me into his arms.

“Twell.”
His
expression was tight with regret as his lips brushed my
forehead
. “I’m so sorry.”

“
Don’t be,” I said
flatly.

“
Insubordination! Separate
them at once!” Maza’s outraged expression was almost comical as
Brazin groaned and shook his head.

Jonaz pulled back a little
and frowned at my tone. “What is it?” he asked urgently as one of
the officers moved forward to pull us apart.

“
What if Shanna’s way is
right?” I whispered. “What if being careful isn’t the
way?”

“Twell, be careful. That
girl is bad news.” His voice was tight with worry as the officer
pulled him roughly away. His body twisted back to me, his features
becoming a pale reflection of my despair.

“
Remove him.” Maza’s rust
coloured eyes drilled into mine, shining with victory and the
restoration of control.

“
Twell!” Jonaz yelled
hoarsely as both officers took each of his arms. They bore him
away, practically dragging him from the hall.

“
Jonaz!” My heart lurched
as he disappeared from sight and I felt myself floundering in a sea
of doubt and fear and finding it hard to breathe. I started to
shake.

“Oh, for planet’s sake,”
Brazin growled. Clearly over the teen angst, he grabbed my arm and
marched me in the opposite direction. I didn’t struggle, still lost
in the shock of openly rebelling against the Governing Body. Then a
new thought invaded my mind. If I truly believed the partnering
took away my freedom of choice and in turn a part of my humanity,
then any time spent waiting for the right time to act was denying
the sense of urgency building inside of me. War was upon us and
what if I didn’t make it, or get the chance to follow my heart?
While I continued to obey them, I was living a lie. It was unfair
for everyone, unfair for myself, and for Jonaz. Even for Avin. The
revelation was enough to make my head spin, and I stumbled as my
legs became boneless.

“
Come on, what’s this? I
know you’re not the fainting type.” Brazin sighed in exasperation,
but his grip on my arm was gentler as he led me out of the hall. I
sucked in the fresh air gratefully.

“
I’ve never fainted in my
life,” I retorted, ignoring the glint of warning in his
eye.

“
Would you like to tell me
what it was you thought you were doing in there?” Oversized arms
folded across his broad chest as Brazin stood over me, his massive
bulk blocking out the weak sunlight. I shivered in his
shadow.

“
I’m not sure,” I
muttered. “But I honestly didn’t mean to cause any
trouble.”

“Well regardless, I fear
that you have,” Brazin replied in his most unimpressed tone. “Even
if what you believe is true, you have no right to stir everyone
else up and especially at a time like this.”

“
Do you think it’s true?”
My head whipped up as I searched Brazin’s face for
support.

“I didn’t say that,”
Brazin growled warningly. Sighing I rested my head in my hands for
a moment, gazing out over the desert. The horizon shimmered with
the promise of glistening water. I longed to run towards it, to
plunge into its cooling depths and sink away from my troubles.
However, it was only an illusion, as intangible as the dreams I
clung to.

“
What I mean,” Brazin said
more gently, “is perhaps you should pick your battles, one at a
time.”

I looked up at him in surprise
and was even more taken aback when he sat down next to me.

“
Protecting Como is your
first priority, Twell. Use your time and energy to focus on that
before you go throwing yourself into any more conflict. Trouble
enough is coming our way.” Brazin’s own gaze seemed to stretch much
further than the horizon.

“I understand.” My cheeks
heated as I looked down at the ground in shame. How I could be so
selfish as to focus on anything else but the war?

“You need to get a better
control over that temper of yours, too,” Brazin added, his features
stern again. “You showed complete disrespect for both our laws and
your superiors today; that can’t go unpunished.”

“I know,” I
grimaced.

“
You’re not sorry are
you?” Brazin grumbled.

“
Er…” I
stalled.

“
Give me your wrist,”
Brazin ordered, standing up.

“
What? Why?”

“
Because I asked you to.”
Brazin’s tone became unnegotiable and sensing I was about to
overstep the line of his patience, I obeyed, proffering up my
wrist. He fiddled around with my organizer for a moment and then
dropped my wrist as he stood up. “Don’t try to see him or contact
him while you’re here,” Brazin warned me. “You will only take meals
at the north wing of the hall, at the opposite end to him and you
will be escorted by officers to and from classes if you prove you
can’t be trusted.”

“Did you just delete and
block Jonaz?” My jaw dropped in horror; barely hearing the other
terms of my punishment.

“
Don’t push me, Twell.
You’re lucky we haven’t punished you both more
severely.”

I pouted in silence; still
staring at my wrist as if I’d just lost my hand.

“
Get to training,” he said
finally. Then he turned and strode away towards the arenas, leaving
me to gape tragically after him.

I never knew my father—the
Abwarzians had made sure of that,—nor did I have the remotest idea
what a father-daughter relationship was supposed to be like. I’d
been raised by a female guardian and only knew her gentle, but
unbendable ways of discipline. Yet Brazin’s lecture had been far
kinder than I was expecting and I found I didn’t like the feeling
of his disapproval.

I trudged moodily to class,
dreading the reaction I was sure to receive from the other cadets.
Sure enough, I felt like a swamp maiden who’d just waltzed in on
Comian legs, fighting the urge to bolt from the arena as everyone
gawked at me. Kina and Lavi skidded to a halt in front of me and
launched the perfect balance of my fellow cadet’s response.