Secondborn

Chapter 6

In Census

The room is small, rectangular, and unfamiliar—dank—a cell, not a room. The only appointments in it are a small toilet in the corner and a steel sink. A steel door is across from me. I have a strange, tinny taste in my mouth. My back aches. I shift and groan from the cold and lack of movement that have made my muscles stiff. I feel buried. I reach for my sword, but it’s gone—so is my uniform. I’m wearing a snug, midnight-blue long-sleeved shirt and loose, elastic-waisted trousers of the same color and coarse material. My feet are bare. I stretch my legs out from the fetal position. The ground is cold beneath me.

A long tube runs down my leg and out the loose pant leg at the bottom. It’s attached to a urine collection canister, nearly full. How long have I been here? I pull out the catheter tube and shove it aside. Beneath the sleeve of my right arm is an intravenous device that could be feeding me drugs or hydrating me. I don’t know which, but I want it out. I tug, and it stings as I extract it. My stomach growls and feels as if it’s gnawing away at itself. I’ve never felt this kind of hunger before.

I shove myself up to my feet. Stretching my arms, I wince. My fingers brush the area where I was shot by the dart. It’s sore. Lifting my shirt, I investigate a massive bruise above my heart, black and ugly but turning yellow—it’s not fresh. How long was I unconscious?

I move to a moniker identification scanner on a panel beside the door. I glance at my hand. My moniker is still dead. I try to scan it anyway, feeling claustrophobic and desperate to get out. The blue laser runs over it. The door doesn’t budge. I bang on it and yell for help until I’m hoarse, but no one comes.

The cold floor is brutal against my bare feet. I’m shivering. Crossing my arms, I tuck my hands in the crook of my armpits while jumping up and down. For a while, I pace the dingy cell, lunging with an imaginary sword. When I’m tired, I curl into a ball. Waiting. Occasionally, the sounds of feet outside the door make me brace myself, but each time, they keep going. I fall back to sleep at some point, and when I wake again, I’m not alone. My skin prickles.

“I was just wondering what it is you dream about,” says the raspy voice of the Census agent. “Puppies?” He sits in a metal chair, uncrosses his long legs, and leans forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. The collar of his exquisite white shirt is unbuttoned. Red, angry abrasions stand out on his throat. His steely smile is meant to intimidate, and it works.

I sit up and lean against the wall. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I nod. “I sometimes dream of rainbows, too—puppies and rainbows—just like you, I’d imagine. Where am I?”

He grins. “You sleep soundly. I thought for sure that you were faking it when I first came in.”

I shrug. “Tranquilizers do that to me. It feels as if we’re underground.”

He cocks his head to the side. “As a matter of fact, we are. You are my guest in Census.” He takes off his gloves, pulling each of the black leather fingers until the wrinkles straighten. His moniker shines in a golden circlet from his left hand. Its halo denotes the Fate of Virtues—gold for firstborn or unprocessed. Because he’s around twenty-five, I know he’s firstborn. If he had a golden halo moniker, and he was eighteen or younger, he’d either be firstborn or he may not have been Transitioned to a silver halo of a Virtue-Fated secondborn. That happens on a secondborn’s Transition Day.

My eyes widen. By any stretch of the imagination he should be in the capital right now, catered to by an estate filled with secondborn servants. Most of the firstborns who possess a Virtues moniker are from the aristocracy—or else they’re the judges, legislators, ruling clergy, dignitaries, or supply-chain holders. Plenty of firstborns and secondborns reside in the Fate of Virtues, born to serve the ruling class, but they don’t possess monikers from that Fate. They have stone- or sword-shaped monikers—monikers from other Fates.

My family is Sword aristocracy, on par with firstborns from the Fate of Virtues because my mother is the Clarity, but other firstborn Swords are of lower rank than those with Virtues monikers. I can’t imagine why he’d be a Census agent. Most of them are firstborn, but they’re from lesser Fates—like the Fate of Atoms, the technology caste, or the Fate of Seas, the fishing villages—that notoriously don’t produce the kind of wealth and status as firstborn Virtues.

“What do I call you?” I ask, trying to adopt a serene mien.

“Pardon me for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Agent Kipson Crow, firstborn of the Fate of Virtues. I’m from Lenity.”

Purity is the capital city of Virtues. Lenity is its sister city where most of the largest estates exist. “What are you doing here, Agent Crow? Shouldn’t you be in the capital, passing laws for secondborns to follow and hoarding your wealth?”

The kohl-black lines around his eyes crinkle as he smiles. “I find that I have less interest in passing laws than I do in enforcing them.”

“What do you want from me, Agent Crow?”

“Please, call me Kipson. And what should I call you?”

“You can call me by my name.”

“Which is?”

“You know my name is Roselle St. Sismode.”

“Do I? I’m still trying to establish who you are.”

“No you’re not.”

“Are you calling me a liar?” He’s more incredulous and amused than indignant.

“You believe that I’m Roselle St. Sismode, so what is it that you want from me so badly that you’d keep me locked away at the bottom of the Base?”

“Maybe I want to get to know you better.”

“Why? I’m secondborn. You’re firstborn. There’s no purpose.”

“You intrigue me.”

“How so?” I ask.

“The Roselle I always watched seemed like such a little robot on virtual access,” he replies, speaking of the drone cameras that have followed me for most of my life, streaming video for anyone to view through access channels. I was given some privacy for a few hours a day, but for the most part, my life was an open book that sadistic voyeurs like Agent Kipson Crow frequently studied. “I thought I knew her, but you cannot be her. She’d never attack me. She’d yield to her superior.”

“You shot me in the heart, point-blank. Some instincts cannot be suppressed, like survival.”

“What a dangerous thing to say—even treasonous,” he replies with chilling amusement.

“Why are you here at a Swords Base, Agent Crow? You didn’t just choose to be here, did you? That doesn’t seem to fit you. Your position in Census suits you very well, but not here. It seems beneath you somehow.” I watch his face for subtle cues, as Dune taught me to do when interrogating an adversary. Agent Crow doesn’t give me much, a flicker of something in the squint of his eye. “You’re not here by choice. You enjoy your role as hunter, but you . . . you had to come here . . . because . . .” He looks down at his moniker. “Because your moniker was not always golden. It used to be silver. You were secondborn.” My heart is beating like a frightened rabbit’s.

“I had an older sister once. She died.” He sounds remorseless.

“What happened to her?”

“She had an accident. Unlike me, Sabah couldn’t swim, you see. No one ever taught her—the firstborn—poor lamb. My parents were so cautious with her, worrying that every little thing would hurt her. They found her one morning floating facedown in the duck pond.”

He killed her—it’s in his eyes. I didn’t think I could actually fear him more, but I do. “How unfortunate. So your parents—”

“Thought it would be better if I pursued my interests outside of Virtues for the time being.” They can’t condemn the murderer in their midst because he has been elevated to their only heir. The bloodline has to continue with him or it dies, too. His parents’ property and holdings would be reapportioned. A small stipend would be set aside for them. Maybe they’d reside somewhere in the Fate of Stones or the Fate of Suns, but they’d never get to stay in the Fate of Virtues without an heir or the permission and ability to have another.

“What interests did they think you should pursue elsewhere?”

“Oh, I have many passions. Hunting thirdborns is one. Torture is another, but you suspected that. I can see it in your eyes—so blue, your eyes, so vast. You see everything, don’t you? You recognized me immediately as your overlord, and it frightened you, so you reacted.”

“I see you,” I murmur. But it’s more that I feel him. He has a presence that screams cruelty. It reaches out with icy fingers and chills me to my marrow.

“My parents want me to get it all out of my system, particularly before I wed and become leader of the family. But I have a little secret.” Agent Crow leans nearer to me, whispering. “I don’t think I’ll ever lose my taste for pain.”

He gets to his feet and slowly takes off his coat, draping it over the back of the chair. He undoes the golden halo cufflinks from the eyelets of his shirt, one by one, pocketing them in his black trousers before rolling up his sleeves. His fingers go to the buckle of his belt, unfastening it with agonizing deliberateness, pulling it dramatically from his belt loops. It’s the same belt I used to strangle him.

I stand, planting my feet shoulder-width apart. My arms settle into a defensive position. The fear is harder to control. “I’m not going to let you torture me, Agent Crow. We both know you don’t have cause. My identity is no longer in question. This isn’t an interrogation.”

“You attacked me, Roselle. Your aggression is suspicious. Soldiers witnessed your reaction to being tranquilized, which is standard procedure in the event that identity cannot be verified. It gives me grounds to pursue this line of questioning.”

“You could simply verify my identity through a hair sample,” I reply and shift away from his attempt to get closer.

“I prefer a blood sample.”

I wait for his move. He winds one end of the belt around his fist, throws his arm back, and snaps it forward. The first thrash connects with my forearm, raised in a block. My coarse blue sleeve absorbs some of the sting, but it’ll leave a mark. I hardly feel it, though. I allow the lash to wind around my arm, and then I grab the strap with my other hand before he can draw it back, yanking him toward me.

Bringing my bare foot up, I kick him as hard as I can in the stomach, releasing the belt. He reels back, his face a mask of surprise and pain. I don’t wait for him to recover. As he bends at the waist, I drive my foot up, kicking him in the chin. He stumbles back. I roundhouse kick him in the head. He staggers sideways.

The door of my cell opens. Glancing to my side, I see a woman dressed in civilian clothing, accompanied by a Census agent in a black leather coat similar to Agent Crow’s. A handful of secondborn soldiers, some of whom I recognize from the wreckage of the enemy attack, are with them. The one who stands out most is Hawthorne, almost a head taller than everyone else and scowling.

Wiping his bloody mouth on his shirt, Agent Crow shouts at the intruders near the door. “I’m interrogating a detainee!” He snaps the belt in his hand with a loud crack.

“Looks like you didn’t bring enough agents for that,” Hawthorne replies, gesturing at the growing red welt on Agent Crow’s cheek.

“Sorry to interrupt, old man,” the agent by the door interjects, “but it seems the identity of the detainee is no longer in question. Her hair sample, taken when she was brought in, has been verified. She’s Roselle St. Sismode, secondborn to The Sword.” He holds up a holographic chip. It shines in the dim light. “I have her new moniker here.”

Agent Crow seethes. His blond hair is a mess, falling over his brow. “I didn’t submit her hair sample, Agent Losif. How was it verified?”

Agent Losif shifts back and forth on his feet. “This is Agnes Moon.” He gestures to the attractive woman standing beside him. “She’s a secondborn advocate stationed in Swords. She has petitioned for the release of the Secondborn St. Sismode.”

Agent Crow narrows his eyes at the curvaceous redhead. “Her authority isn’t recognized here.” The agent’s cool demeanor returns. I stay rooted in the same defensive position. He’s unpredictable because he believes his power to be absolute.

Agnes straightens, holding up a wristband with a shiny blue face. She waves it in Agent Crow’s direction. “I really don’t want to interrupt either, but I have orders to redirect Secondborn St. Sismode to a debriefing and a press conference in front of the Fates.”

“On whose authority?” Agent Crow barks.

“The Clarity Bowie. He has given direct orders that Secondborn St. Sismode is to deliver a broadcast regarding the attack against her Fate. I’m sending you the authorization now.” She touches the face of her wristband. A blue light shines up from Agent Crow’s. He sets his belt down on the metal chair. Touching the surface of his communicator, he scrolls through whatever message Agnes sent him.

“This detainee has given me cause to believe that she has consorted with Fate traitors. I’m conducting an interrogation to ascertain her level of involvement with the attack against the Fate of Swords.”

“Do you really want to upset the Clarity of Virtues?” Agnes asks, her eyebrow darting into her red bangs.

“I will take my chances,” Agent Crow glowers.

“We’re under orders to remove the detainee from your custody,” Hawthorne says, raising his rifle and aiming it at Agent Crow. “Step away from the girl.” Gilad raises his rifle as well, and two other soldiers from their unit follow their lead.

The agent directs a cold stare at Hawthorne. “You’re the soldier who brought her in. Shouldn’t you be out rescuing your brethren from the city that fell on them? Or better yet, finding the ones responsible? I have plans to interrogate this one for what she knows of the attack. It could be useful information to your secondborn commanders. I will share the information. It could mean merits for you.”

I hold my breath. If they take Agent Crow’s bribe, I’m on my own.

Hawthorne doesn’t lower his weapon. He looks at me. “Roselle St. Sismode, I order you to come with us.”

Warily, I start toward Hawthorne at the door. I don’t take more than a step before Agent Crow barks, “Stop!” I halt. “She can’t leave here without her moniker. Only we can give her that.” He moves to the agent at the door and opens his palm. Agent Losif drops the shiny holographic identifier into it. Closing his fingers around it, Agent Crow lifts his other hand for the moncalate used to implant a moniker beneath flesh.

Goose bumps rise on my arms. Agent Crow opens a slot on the surgical tool and loads my moniker into it. The click of it being chambered makes me flinch. Agent Crow’s eyes meet mine. A mixture of emotions hides there—rage, lust, aggression. I suppress another shiver.

He lifts my hand, rubbing his thumb over the skin between my thumb and finger. “You have a birthmark,” he says. He places the tool beside my birthmark and depresses a button. A puff of white air emits from the nozzle aimed at my skin. It instantly numbs the area. A thin laser cuts a line on the back of my hand. I bite my lip as it burns, but the pain isn’t unmanageable. Small curls of smoke rise to my nose. Agent Crow inhales deeply, watching me.

The laser extinguishes and a little clamp appears from the cylindrical body of the tool. It latches into the flaps of skin, pulling them apart while a tiny claw on a steel arm reaches inside to extract my fried moniker. The claw drops the broken, bloody chip onto the floor. It retreats back inside the metallic body and retrieves the new identifier, shooting it into place.

My eyelids close a fraction at the intense stinging of the new chip settling onto my sinew. Agent Crow watches, savoring my pain. The claw and the clamps retract into the body of the tool. Red laser light seals my skin closed, leaving a pink incision scar that throbs.

Agent Crow lifts my hand to his lips, kissing my incision. I try to pull my hand from his, but he holds it fast, smiling. “I will dream of you, Roselle,” he promises. The flow of my blood feels thready.

My new sword-shaped hologram shines for the first time. It’s no longer golden. It’s silver, denoting the Transition to a processed secondborn. Agent Crow flashes me a grin. I wrench my hand from his and move to the doorway. Hawthorne, Gilad, and the other two soldiers surround me. Agent Crow’s attention shifts to Hawthorne. “I never forget a face,” he says, “nor an insult.”

“Neither do I,” Hawthorne replies, his rifle still pointed at Agent Crow. Agent Losif and the woman with the moon moniker are the first to leave. The soldiers from Hawthorne’s unit direct me out. Hawthorne doesn’t lower his weapon until he’s clear of the cell. When he turns and looks at me, his expression is grim. “Move,” he orders.