Read Intermix Nation for Free Online Page A

motion. You and I, we must think beyond
ourselves, and do what is right for the greater good.” Nikolaus
touched her arm, but Nazirah shrugged his hand away. Frustrated,
Nikolaus rose quickly, stepping over her legs towards the exit.
“I’ll expect you outside in front at 5:00am sharp,” he said from
the door. “Don’t be late. And try to get some sleep.”
    And he left Nazirah, curled on the floor, to
pick up the pieces.
    #
    The old bus turns sharply onto the prison
grounds, jolting Nazirah back to the present. Nazirah notices the
large woman staring suspiciously and shifts uncomfortably in her
half-seat. Nazirah tries to conceal her face more with the
headscarf, praying the woman won’t recognize her.
    Niko wasn’t entirely correct in his
assumption that Nazirah would go unnoticed. Sure, she is small, but
everyone in the country knows her. The camera crews and reporters
that showed up at their parents’ funeral saw to that. Nazirah’s
face, wide eyed and grieving, was plastered on every newspaper and
television in the country for weeks. She was portrayed as the
young, orphaned intermix, daughter of dangerous anarchists … the
living consequence of territories interacting.
    All the while, Chancellor Gabirel Morgen
preached from his Median pulpit. He spread vicious lies and
propaganda about Riva and Kasimir, calling them rebel parasites
that had to be dealt with to ensure the continuing peace of
Renatus. He needed a scapegoat to pin the rebellion on. And her
parents, interracially married with intermix children, scum of the
earth and leeching the country’s resources for their own welfare,
were perfect targets. It was a warning to everyone in the
country.
    Don’t challenge the authority of Mediah, or
this could be you.
    The Chancellor’s only son, Adamek, part-time
playboy, part-time soldier, was touted as a war hero. Already
infamous, training to eventually take his father’s place in
government, Adamek was no stranger to slaughtering citizens in the
name of justice. And now, he bravely took matters into his own
hands, putting an end to the Nation threat once and for all.
    How or why Adamek Morgen, Medi, son of the
Chancellor, renowned sociopath, had turned himself over to the
rebellion … Nazirah has no idea. As far as the rest of the country
knows, he is still in Mediah, killing and whoring and doing
whatever it is he normally does. Even though Nazirah’s brain tells
her Nikolaus is an idiot, her heart cannot believe he’s dumb enough
to trust Adamek without substantial proof. But Nazirah doesn’t know
what that proof could be, and she frankly doesn’t care. All she
knows is that Adamek will walk. And she is helping him do it.
    The large woman nonchalantly reaches her
heavy, hennaed hand out and gives Nazirah’s own a reassuring
squeeze. Shocked, Nazirah glances at her, but her expression is
unreadable. The woman addresses one of her children, the eldest
daughter. The girl stares curiously at Nazirah and slowly offers
her one golden bangle. Nazirah looks between the two of them,
hesitating for a moment before accepting the token.
    “Thank you.”
    Nazirah slips the bangle on her wrist,
hoping they understand. The girl looks at her happily and returns
to playing with her brothers. The gift is exactly something Riva
would have made a younger Nazirah do, and the moment is
bittersweet.
    They are waved through several guarded
gates, electrified and barbed. The bus finally passes the last
checkpoint, braking in front of the prison entrance.
    Stepping outside, Nazirah feels nauseous,
even though she hasn’t eaten in almost a day. Lunch with Cato is a
distant memory. Nazirah didn’t see him last night, like she planned
to. She just sobbed in Niko’s office alone for a long time,
eventually dragging herself to bed two hours before she had to wake
up again.
    Nazirah stares at the looming fortress,
stomach in knots. She searches for the woman who sat next to her,
but she’s already gone. Nazirah gathers her