Read Sovereign (Sovereign Series) for Free Online Page B

little, and I keep my attention on the guards burying Cornelius as
Nathan resumes his speech.
    “As
your new leader, I will continue to ensure safety and health.  If you have not
already learned so, I am a very different man than my father was.”  Understatement
of the decade .  “As such a few things will change as we all settle into
this great new era of our colony’s history.” 
    A
few people here and there muster an applause.  I can’t find it within myself,
so I abstain.  Finally, I force myself to look at Nathan, and his gaze is once
again already on me.
    “First
order of business, we are lowering the age requirement for placement to
seventeen.  Effective tomorrow, every seventeen-year-old will be integrated
into their pledged divisions.”
    A
collective gasp escapes the caretakers standing behind us.  They didn’t see
this coming, that much is clear.  The weight of everything takes a moment to
register, but then it hits me hard and fast. 
    It’s
not just me he’s fast-tracking, it’s all of us.  Dylan, Alyssa, and everyone
else our age.  I can’t help thinking this is all my fault.  Alyssa will be bred
like a pet, and Dylan will be moved into the science division.  Although, it
could be worse for Dylan, honestly, since he’s sure to thrive there.  That
department includes chemists, physicists, doctors, and inventors.  Though he’s
skilled at technology and innovation, he’s pledged to chemistry.  Science is
great for Dylan, truly, but if he goes down tomorrow, there’s no way he’ll be
building my new pair of wings.  There goes my exit strategy. 
    Alyssa
is stunned, and I can’t think of a way to comfort her.  The panic in her eyes
makes me feel like she’s only a child, and I’ve forced her to grow up almost a
whole year too soon. 
    With
no closing, nor dismissal, Nathan leaves the stage and retreats to the
underground facility where Dylan and I will be tomorrow.  I try to find comfort
in knowing we’ll still be under the same roof, but I know it will be infinitely
more difficult to see or speak to him.
    Right
now all I can think about is the fact that Alyssa is about to be changed
forever, and this might as well be our last night as friends.  As the crowd
starts to shuffle around and head back to their buildings, I reach down to grab
Alyssa’s hand but stop short.  I picture myself giving her a simple squeeze to
let her know I care, and that I’m sorry, but I can’t make myself do it.  I wish
I could. 
    Dylan
pushes his way through the crowd and a wave of relief takes me over.  “Oh,
thank God,” I say softly. 
    “What
for?” he asks.
    “Didn’t
know if you made it out okay.”
    “Out
of where?”  Alyssa looks perplexed.  I didn’t bother telling her he’d visited
my room because I thought she’d get the wrong idea.  I wish I hadn’t said
anything.
    “I
got questioned by some guards after lunch.  They were asking about Cori.”  I’m
grateful but don’t really know why he’s lying.  He’s probably ashamed.
    “Oh,”
she mumbles, “That’s terrible.  What happened?”
    “Guys,” I interrupt.  “I’m s--”
    “We
know,” Dylan assures, not wanting me to finish the sentence anymore than I do. 
    We
head back inside together, and I realize it’s already dark, and I’m freezing. 
Alyssa’s eyes float over to Dylan several times and I can’t imagine how much
she’s going to miss him.  I hurt for her, truly.  Even though the outcome a
year from now would have been the same as tomorrow’s, I somehow feel like I’ve
taken their innocence in one fell swoop.  Maybe in another time, in a another
place, these two could have been happy together.  Somewhere they would be
allowed to touch each other, and allowed to love each other.  A world where
Nathan didn’t exist, and neither did I. 
    Perhaps
everybody here is better off with me gone after all, like I’d always thought. 
I just wish I wasn’t making such a mess of things before