The Reckless - SAMPLE

V

Lei was very chatty. It wasn't a problem, only I wasn't very talkative, so I was getting a little more than I could listen to. "I mean, I definitely get why we've changed so much," she said, taking a bite of her apple. She had been snacking all day. "The Old Country was awful."

I nodded, sitting crisscrossed on her bed. She sat in front of me, talking about the old country. She'd been learning about it for years in her lessons in the castle, but I didn't really find it all that interesting. "Like, they were always fighting about petty things, like land and girls. Now, men fight over things like power. It's like we were set back into the fourteenth century!"

People in towns and cities without a lot of money still had to go to school, but not all schools had quality teachers. It depended on how much money they had. Naturally, I didn't know much about what she was talking about. "The war that ended the Old Country was so bad, though. Did you learn about that?"

"No," I said, picking at a basket of chicken bites she'd set to the side. "I mean, we've all changed and it's no big deal anymore. History is old news."

"But it's so cool! I wish I lived then. You know, before all the radiation issues." I didn't even know what that meant, but I nodded to humor her. "They said we ruined the air long before the radiation from the war. But they had all this cool technology, like televisions and computers."

"We have computers," I pointed out. "And cameras." Though I wished they didn't have cameras.

"You really should go to class with me. The teachers here are really good, not just knockoff teachers who didn't even get a good education." My jaw clenched in annoyance; she'd made a few references to how bad other teachers were, but I knew it was only because her family didn't fund schools enough. "We learned about how the radiation from the bombs and stuff fried all the technology. It was really interesting."

"But how did humans survive?" I pointed out. She frowned, taking a drink of water. "I mean, shouldn't radiation have killed us?"

"Well, a lot of places are still off limits because it's so bad," she said, shrugging. "That's why there are only four countries now. Only one side of the world made it."

She'd been thinking about this topic for about an hour and I was beyond sick of it. Kali had gotten bored and left about three hours ago because all Lei was doing was talking, rather than playing games or something like Kali wanted. "What did Alex say after I left?" she asked, licking her fingers after grabbing a bite from the basket.

I thought about our conversation. I knew he'd be enraged that I'd even mentioned his father's dislike for him, but at least he knew why his dad hated him. It was obvious he thought King Ansel only hated him because he wasn't like him, but there was more you could see if you weren't in the middle of the feud. "Nothing. Just made sure I was behaving."

"You guys were in here for a few minutes," she said, her eyebrows raising.

"You know..." I trailed off, sighing. "He insulted me, I insulted him, nothing much."

She looked at me flatly for a few moments before bursting into giggles. "You insulted my brother? That's amazing," she said, laughing hysterically. I didn't know why it was funny, but I let her laugh. "I'm surprised you got away with it," she said a few seconds later, her laughter dying. "I mean, he doesn't really take insults well. Kind of a baby, really."

She began pulling pins from her hair, taking the braid out. "Will you go turn the shower on so it can get hot?" she asked, smiling. "When you go, could you stop by and tuck Kali in? I think she really likes you."

I sighed silently and got up. I didn't like doing things for people. I couldn't be selfish as a maid, which was kind of annoying. All I got to do was run around performing pointless tasks. Lei wasn't stupid; she could operate her shower.