The Journey begins

They are taken into custody. No, not like they are handcuffed or anything, but a group of The Ixtal people marches them through the front door of a building. Maybe students have tried to escape in the past. Lue has never seen that happen though. Once inside, they were conducted to a room and left alone. It’s the richest place Lue has ever been in, with thick, deep carpets and a velvet couch and chairs. She knows velvet because her mother has a dress with a collar made of the stuff. When she sits on the couch, she can’t help running her fingers over the fabric repeatedly. It helps to calm her as she try to prepare for the next hour. The time allotted for students to say goodbye to their loved ones. She cannot afford to get upset, leaving this room with puffy eyes and a red nose. Crying is not an option. There will be more cameras at the train station.

Her mother came first. She almost thought she wouldn't come to see her as she wasn't that happy about it. Lue felt that her mother might have thought I would be like other kids if she goes there and get a good life Lue will probably forget her. But that's ridiculous, she can never do that. Her mother sits beside her and wraps her arms around her. For a few minutes, they said nothing. Then Lue started telling her all the things she must remember to do, now that she will not be there to do them for her. Kayan can get her the herbs she doesn’t grow herself, but she must be very careful about describing them because they got a lot of herbs with them.

"Who is that?" her mother asked.

Oh. She realized she hadn't told her about the twins yet.

"He is the twin brother of Ayaan. They grew some herbs. He couldn't get selected so he will be staying here."

When she is done with instructions about everything she can think of, she turns to her mother and grip her arm, hard. “Listen to me. Are you listening to me?” She nods, alarmed by my intensity. She must know what’s coming. “Don't do anything careless like my father, ” she said.

Her mother’s eyes found the floor. “I know. I won’t. I couldn’t help what —”

“Well, you have to help it this time. I will definitely come back for you! I will come, for sure!"

She nodded.

"Maybe," Lue continues, "we will be as rich as someone from the Silver domain when I come back" with a smile.

Her mother gave her a hug, "Take care, I will be waiting."

And then the Ixtal people are at the door, signalling their time is up, and she's still hugging her mother so hard it hurts and all she's saying is “I love you.” And they’re saying it back and then the Ixtal people order them out and the door closes. Lue buries her head in one of the velvet pillows as if this can block the whole thing out.

The next guest was unexpected. Mr Kael walks straight to her. He is not weepy or evasive, instead, there’s an urgency about his tone that surprises her. “They let you have one thing from your sector in school. They won't let you take your clothes and stuff right? One thing to remind you of home. Will you take the knife with you that I gave you?"

“Your knife?” she said. Taking a knife as a token from her sector is about the last thing on her mind.

She pointed out to the door, "It's in my bag that they kept outside."

Mr Kael swiftly walked through the door and pulled out her knife from her bag.

“Here, put it on your dress, all right?” Mr Kael didn't wait for an answer. He just bent down and fixed the knife to her belt. “Promise you’ll take it everywhere you go, Lue?” he asked. “Promise?”

“But why?" she asked.

She couldn't understand why she have to carry it everywhere. They are going to study not like they will be fighting some creatures there. It's silver domain unlike Vistancian their system and boundaries are way better.

"You will know sooner or later. Can you just promise me you will? I have visited everyone else and said the same thing. Don't be a rebel and just do what I say."

Commanding even to the end. Lue sighed and said, "I promise."

Mr Kael gave her a pat on her head. Then he’s gone and she's left thinking that maybe Mr Kael isn't that horrible.

Finally, Kayan is here and there is nothing romantic between them, but when he opens his arms she doesn't hesitate to go into them. He is familiar to her for some reasons that she didn't know — the way he moves, the smell of herbs, even the sound of his heart beating. She knows from quiet moments during cadet test how he helped her, A few scenes that she will remember out of nowhere — but this is the first time she really feels it, lean and hard-muscled against her own.

“Listen, ” he says. “Study well and take care of my brother and yourself too. At times he is clumsy and takes away with his emotions, but you are the most composed person I know among all of us.”

“You bet, I will,” she said, thinking for a moment and then continuing, "Help my mother at times too. 'kay?"

He smiles, "If you do what I asked then, why not?"

She chuckles, "You met everyone else?"

He nodded, "Your room was the last."

"It's such a shame that you couldn't come with us," she said dropping her head and looking at her shoes

Kayan pats her head, "It's ok, I feel everything happens for a reason. So, you guys better come back and take me with you to the silver domain."

The Ixtal people are back too soon and Kayan asks for more time, but they’re taking him away he waves me goodbye with a smile, and they yanked them apart.

It’s a short ride from the building to the train station. They've never been in a car before. Rarely have we ever ridden in wagons. In Vistancia, they travel on foot. Lue has been right not to cry. The station is swarming with school teachers and their eyes are directly on all of their faces. But she has had a lot of practice at wiping her face clean of emotions and she do this now. She caught a glimpse of Lorek from the corner of her eyes and he look almost bored. Eve, on the other hand, has obviously been crying and interestingly enough does not seem to be trying to cover it up. Beric and Ayaan seemed composed till now, just looking down as they continued to walk.

They have to stand for a few minutes in the doorway of the train while the teachers and the principal wave them goodbyes. Then they are allowed inside and the doors close mercifully behind them. The train begins to move at once.

The speed initially took Lue's breath away. Of course, she's never been on a train, as travel between the districts is forbidden except for officially sanctioned duties or for some business. For them, that’s not so usual. The train is one of the high-speed Silver models that average 250 miles per hour. This was what was written on the train. Maybe their journey to the domain will take less than a day.

A train is even more luxurious than a room in a building. They are each given their own chambers that have a bedroom, a dressing area, and a private bathroom with hot and cold running water. They don’t have hot water at home unless they boil it.

There are drawers filled with fine clothes, and Miss Linda, the escort tells them to do anything they want, and wear anything they want. Everything is at their disposal. Just be ready for supper in an hour. Everyone was in their own room, not really feeling like talking. Understandable. The heavy feeling of leaving their homes was haunting each one of them, even though they lived in the poorest Sector of all. It was still their home.

Lue peels off her mother’s clothes and takes a hot shower. She had never had a shower before. It’s like being in summer rain, only warmer. She wore a dark green shirt and pants. At the last minute, she remembered Mr Kael’s knife. For the first time, she got a good look at it. It’s as if someone fashioned the blade slowly and had it glowing and shiny the gripper was so good, even with sweat it won't let her slip. She flips it around and sees behind it there's a carving done in it. The bird is connected to the gripper only by its wing tips. She suddenly recognized it. It's a bladed eagle.

~Knock knock~

There's a knocking on the door which brings Lue back to reality from her deep thoughts.

"Coming!"