The Uprising (Book #3 in The Inception Trilogy)

chapter seventeen

(**unedited** but when is it not so... it's a long-ish chapter, though, so hopefully that makes up for it if sentences don't make sense, oops. i hope you enjoy anyways. love you all xx)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

EVELYN AWAKENS WITH A jolt of panic, feeling the empty space next to her in the bed. As soon as she darts upright, Max is there with a hand on her shoulder, looking at her with concern. She sighs in relief, though her nightmare haunts her still. Waking up believing she had been alone did not help the stress in her bones.

"Here," Max says, handing her an outfit. "The guards just gave us all outfits for today. Casual, from what I can see. Like we're going on a stroll through the gardens," he adds in a terrible British accent.

She can tell he's only trying to lighten the mood, so she shoves his chest playfully and slides out of bed, taking the outfit. "Maybe they'll offer us some scones and tea."

"I think that's just a stereotype."

Evelyn shrugs in reply.

She notices the three kids are already dressed, sitting on the bed they've designated as "theirs" and playing a weird hand clap game. Killian is dressed as well, staring at the window and scowling at the bars placed upon it.

Way to make your guests feel welcome,Wolf, she thinks bitterly to herself.

"There's a washroom across the hall," Max tells her, buttoning up the last couple buttons on his fresh shirt. "Just knock on the door and tell the guards."

Evelyn groans but bites her tongue, refraining from speaking her thoughts. She hates feeling like an animal, a prisoner. Almost like she's a toddler having to ask to go to the restroom. It's insufferable and belittling.

Nonetheless, she wants to take advantage of the shower, as bad as that may sounds. She has no idea when she might get another, or how filthy she'll be at the end of the day, if there's going to be a bloodbath like she expects. So she knocks on the door, grumbles that she needs the washroom, and she hears the lock click open before she's facing four guards. One grabs her forearm and drags her out, pushing her into the washroom directly in front of their room.

She takes her time in the shower, the hot water feeling too good to part with. She washes her hair twice, though she had a shower yesterday, and she tries to absorb the feel of the mint shampoo in case it's months until she has her next head wash. She can never be too sure nowadays, despite how often she tries to clean herself.

She gasps when she sees a razor, almost squeals. She never thought she would miss shaving her legs until she couldn't do it anymore. She has to run over her legs a good four times before they feel decently smooth, and she rubs her hands up and down them a while, relishing in the feeling. She'll have to make Max feel them. She used to always do that back at home because, since she rarely ever shaved, she always felt accomplished when she did. Plus, shoving her leg in his face always annoyed him and what's better than annoying your sibling?

She smiles to herself and reluctantly steps out, drying off and then wrapping the towel around her. She can't stop rubbing her legs together. She almost laughs at herself. She wrings out her hair, tousling it around to get it mostly dry, but it'll be hours until it dries fully on its own. She doesn't mind. It'll allow her to hang onto this cleanliness a little longer.

There's a fist pounding at the door. "Hurry up in there!"

"How rude," she tuts, loud enough for the guard to hear. "You have no idea about the business a lady has to go through when showering."

She hears the guard choke, whether on a laugh or his own spit she can't tell. It makes her chuckle anyways.

"J-just hurry up," he snaps after a long moment.