Once I was alone again I took a pair of the underwear and pulled them on under my dress. I began to plait my mid back length hair, There wasn't much I could do with it, other than plait and twist it. Perhaps it would be enough. Perhaps they wouldn't notice that it had never been cut, a relative tell tale sign of an underground dweller. I didn't care either way. I was certain now that as soon as I'd returned from dinner I would plot my escape.
A short while later Thomas returned, this time with a young woman, I recognized her as a under-grounder almost instantly. She wore the tell tale wrist bracelet we were all forced to wear, although her hair was cut short now.
“Mae here is going to apply so make up and see to that birds nest. You're from the same place. I thought you might like that Imogen.” He smiled as he walked to the door. “I will be right out side.”
Thomas left the room and I sighed with relief. I couldn't figure him out yet.
“Thomas is harmless. I promise, he makes this place bearable” Mae spoke softly as she placed a small cloth bag on the bed.
“Are you a...”
“A slave? Yes. I got of lightly I guess. Being a royal 'servant' as they call us is better than being the 'slave' of one of the drunkards in the pub. You may need a license, but none of those men bother listening to the laws.” Mae removed the plait from my hair and began to brush the long auburn strands.
“They took my bracelet” I whispered, palming the spot where my identity had once been. I wasn't sure when it had been taken.
“I noticed. It's no worry though. Thomas says you are to be treated like a twin.” Mae inquired, she whispered so low that even I could barely hear her.
“They injected me with something. I've changed somehow. They need to keep a close eye on me. I am their genetic property” I replied, matching her volume level.
Mae stopped brushing and took a step back. Her eyes widened and she gasped audibly.
“10 others before you received that serum Imogen. They all died miserable deaths.” her eyes watered, as did mine.
“I know” I replied sullenly, again depressed about the members we'd lost. Their lives cut short at 18. All for a serum to make these already genetically superior people even more powerful.
Mae cut my hair until it was just below my shoulder blades. She put it up in a bun, then finished preparing me for dinner. When she left Thomas walked in and motioned for me to follow.
“Lets make our way to the dining hall shall we”
I nodded, scared that if I opened my mouth, the words that would fall out would be far from good. I walked a little behind Thomas on the way to the dining hall. I studied my surroundings as we walked, looking for possible escape routes but there was nothing. I was going to dread scaling the wall. But I'd do it.
“After you” Thomas said as he opened the large oak door. I walked inside. The room was larger than the entire lunch hall in the underground. It held three tables, although two were considerably smaller than the main one. It was set up for a feast, there were 12 place settings. I gulped with nervousness. A few moments later the room had filled up, but the main seats were still empty. I knew we were waiting on the King, Queen and their son and daughter.
I was surprised when they walked in. The king looked kinder than his wife, and younger too. They walked across the floor hand in hand closely followed by their son and daughter. The son looked much like his father. He was tall, with dark brown hair that fell in soft curls around his face. He was an attractive man, but then all of the twins seemed to have this beauty about them. His sister was equally as gorgeous, but they couldn't look more far apart if they'd tried. She was much shorter, and curvier, her long blond hair flowed down her back.
As the two walked across the floor to the table the boy's head turned to stare at me intently. He did not know me or why I was here and once we were sitting he made that fact very clear.
“Whose the girl” He asked his mother, pointing at me like I wasn't there.
“This is Imogen. She has joined us from her studies. Highest in her class. She will be you and your sisters guardian” The queen explained with a sweet smile.
The man screwed his face up and pointed toward me
“She's a child!” he announced angrily “and we don't need protecting! We've made it 25 years and we'll make it 25 more.”
The Queen frowned at her son and shook her head
“out of pure luck Oliver. There is a pretty price on both yours and Ocelia's heads. The underground scum want you dead.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. She was lying through her teeth. We'd grown up with nothing but the ability to feel. These people had grown up around food and money and a sense of entitlement. We on the other hand lacked all the material things they had, but we also loved, we cherished, we certainly didn't want anyone dead.
“Your answer is to employ a baby to protect us? I doubt they want us dead mother and even if they did. The damn law states that they are to stay in the underground unless bought or face death. You should remember that law. You made it.” Oliver pushed his chair out and pulled the napkin of his knees. He went to stand up and leave, but the queen called his name loudly twice, he conceded and sat back down.
I sat quietly next to Thomas, Certain that if I said even one word it would be wrong. Waiters brought food in to us soon after. Steam rose from the plates, and it occurred to me that I'd never eaten a hot meal before. Would the lust of a hot food cause me to bury my face in the plate? After the decadence of the hot shower, it was likely. However, guilt would surely follow.
A waiter served me a plate of what looked like artwork on a plate. It was colorful, and smelt delicious, even though I had no idea what it was.
“Let us eat” the queen commanded as she lifted her fork.
I picked up my own fork and took a small morsel from what looked to be some kind meat. I placed it in my mouth and almost let our an audible sigh. It was juicy and succulent and put every single can of beans I'd forced myself to eat to shame. The inevitable guilt followed, but my hunger overrode it and I polished off the entire plate before anyone else had. I placed my fork down on the plate and nervously looked around the room. Everyone was still eating, and chatting to the person beside them. Everyone but him. The prince. Our eyes met then he frowned at me.
“What does your twin do?” he asked inquisitively
My body tensed up, the question had caught me completely off guard. Of course, I was supposed to have a twin. According to all these people I was one of them. I swallowed deeply.
“He died when I was young” I replied. It was the only option, the only way to stifle any questions.
“That’s unfortunate. Perhaps he'd have been better suited to be any kind of guardian” He laughed at himself and took a sip from his glass of wine.
“You're a pretty arrogant boy aren't you” I scathed, forgetting where I was, and my place here.
Silence fell around the table and I heard Thomas suck in a deep breath. I didn't falter, even though my heart raced with fear, I continued to eyeball the prince. Surprisingly his serious stare turned to a wide grin. He looked down at his plate and nodded.
“Forgive me. You're right. I'm being arrogant and childish.” he said finally.
He looked to his mother and cleared his throat.
“Mother, may I take my guardian up to the watch tower? I should give her a proper tour of my favorite haunts should she want to protect me adequately.” He spoke softly, his tone completely different to a minute or two ago. I sat confused for a moment, caught of guard by his sudden 180.
I moved my focus to the Queen who feigned a smile in my direction. Her eyes burned in to mine however and I could tell she was warning me not to try anything.
“Of course.” She replied, she turned to face her son, and nodded.
Once dinner was done and the queen had dismissed the diners, they all left. Until finally it was just Oliver and I in the dining Hall.
“There is something strange about you” He mused. “you look like a girl, your sound like one” He moved toward me, a little closer than I'd expected “You smell like one”
his left hand took my right and he circled my palm.
“You feel like one” he breathed.
“I am one.” I said without skipping a beat.
“I know. Still there is something I'm missing. You speak like someone with no fear. You eat like a hungry horse and you looked like you might have wanted to hurt me at dinner”
“I have plenty of fear.” I admitted a little to freely.
Oliver took a step back, his hand still held mine, his touch was warm. He studied me for a minute or two before smiling again.
“come on. Let me show you the watch tower”
I followed him, through the mansion until finally we began climbing a steep staircase. The stairs were rickety and seemed to go on forever.
“All this technology and you insist on this rusty thing” I complained.
“I like this rusty thing.” He retaliated, chuckling after he spoke.
“Prince of the city and you love rusty things. Interesting.” I teased.
“I'd be careful if I were you Imogen. You have hair that has a rusty accent.”
I felt my apples of my cheeks burn like fire, and I was suddenly very glad for the dim light in the stairs. I'd never been caught off guard by a boy before and Oliver had done it twice in one night.
Finally Oliver pushed open a door and walked outside. The watch tower gave a wide view of the city. The lights looked magnificent from here. I sighed.
“It's beautiful” I admitted, as I took in the atmosphere.
“The city looks nice, yes. That isn't why I like it up here.”
“oh?”
Oliver pointed in the distance. I looked, and smiled. He was pointing to the underground.
“You really do like rusty things.” I replied.
“It reminds me how imperfectly we've re-built the world.”
I scoffed audibly and turned on my heel to face Oliver. I was about to slap him hard across the face, offended that my existence meant his world was imperfect. I caught myself before I could and instead I took a deep breath and turned back to face the underground.
“Perfection is unattainable.” I said finally.
Oliver sided up next to me and leant against the wall of the watch tower. I could feel his eyes on me, boring holes into my skull.
“I know you're not a twin” He whispered so quietly that I barely heard him.
“I don't know what you're talking about.” I croaked, straightening my posture, I cleared my throat and looked back at Oliver.
“I check the buy logs after one of our men goes to the underground to buy slaves.” Oliver pulled out a piece of paper. He handed it to me and pointed at it. “You were the only one bought today.”
I took the piece of paper and stared at it. My name was in black and white. I screwed the paper up and chucked it at Oliver. The Queen would have someone's head if she knew that this information had been so easily attainable. Knowing her she'd assign the blame to a slave.
“So what. I'm a slave.” I conceded. At least if I admitted it, if the Queen needed someone to blame for the truth escaping, she could blame me.
“My mother isn't in the business of housing slaves as twins.” He commented .
“I want to go back to my room” I whispered, afraid to speak again. Oliver was in no way being threatening, but I felt scared regardless.
Oliver ignored my fear, because he began to speak once again
“Old history books are a rarity here. But I've found a few. Mostly through an old professor friend who employed a slave to collect him books from the underground.” Oliver walked over to a small lock box and bent down. He opened the box and walked back to me with a book.
“Slavery has been around for centuries Imogen, but that doesn't make it right.”
He handed me a book on the civil war, and the end of slavery. It was a book I'd read during my time in The underground.
“My mother thinks she's moving civilization forward, she thinks she is making things better by introducing more laws. All she is doing is forcing us down a sad winding path, destined for war eventually.”
I frowned and handed the book back to Oliver.
“I've read it.” I murmured before rubbing the spot where I'd received the shot earlier, the mark was gone now, but I remembered the pain none the less.
Figuratively, yes she was taking the new world back to a dark place, back to a place where people were treated as property. But she was also moving forward, She'd had me injected with some kind of serum, and now I was stronger than 10 men combined.
“You can trust me Imogen, I want to help. Why is my mother showing you mercy?”
I watched him for what seemed like a long time. Something inside of me told me to trust him, He was on my side, even though he was here.
“I was the 11th serum receiver Oliver” I breathed out, the words lifted something from my shoulders, a burden, the worry, something.
I looked at him, his face dropped and he shook his head. It was like something clicked in him and he pointed to the door.
“That isn't a true story. You're just messing with me. The immortal serum is a lie!” he shouted.
I shook my head, and stared down at my arm. Immortal Serum?
“Immortal serum?” I whispered. “I can't die?” Not being able to die scared me. Life was so fraught with pain, the idea of being forever forced through it was frightening.
“Imogen! Enough, go to your room” He shouted again, his eyes were dark and his brow creased with frustration.
“I'm not lying Oliver. 10 others died before me, and I survived. I am very strong now, let me punch you to prove it!” I yelled angrily
“Leave” He ordered.
I nodded, and turned on my heel. Ugh! He was insufferably annoying. I ran down the stairs as fast as I could. Frustration coursing through me. I must have lost my footing at some point because I suddenly I was cascading down the staircase like a waterfall hitting the rocks. I could barely feel the pain, but I couldn't stop the descent either.
My life wasn't flashing before my eyes, but I wondered if this might be how I would die, maybe I wasn't immortal. Finally with a thump I stopped falling. It took me a second to realize that it was because I was at the very bottom of the stairs. I groaned and slowly sat up. My body felt tired, but surprisingly not broken. The red grazes on my skin were disappearing before my eyes. I kicked my self back until I was hard pressed against the wall.
“Imogen! You're okay?!” Oliver shouted as he stepped of the last rung on the staircase and darted over to me.
I didn't speak, instead I just stared at the particularly nasty graze on my knee that was healing at an incredible rate. Oliver looked down and the gasped. He watched as the once gnarly graze disappeared in to nothing.
“The serum. It's real?” he asked, this time willing to believe me. I scoffed and stood up.
“It's a pity it took falling down all these steps to make you listen. If you don't mind, I'd like to go back to my room now” and figure out how to break out of this place, I thought to myself.
Oliver walked over to the door and punched it. He jumped back and grabbed his hand. If I hadn't have been there he probably would have let out some type of yelp. Instead he turned back and looked at me.
“10 others before you.” he murmured, his eyes watered.... watered!
“Yes. So I’ve been told by more than one person too. You're the prince, how could such news get past you, but make its way down to the underground”
Oliver turned away and shrugged, it was obviously he was in some kind of shock.
“My mother is very good at hiding things from me. She knows I disapprove of many of our laws. They served their purpose 150 years ago, and helped us all rebirth humanity. But they are old and outdated now. Hell, if the woman can have scientist create a super girl then clearly our civilization can withstand a return to how things use to be”
“So your old fashioned then” I whispered, surprised.
Oliver nodded and pointed back up the stairs.
“Hence my secret collection of old books and my love of all things rusty.”
I studied Oliver for a while, utterly confused by what was uncharacteristic behavior for twins. It wasn't really through any fault of their own, but most of the twins lacked a certain ability to feel emotions freely. Bob had long thought that each embryo made was tweaked slightly to somehow dampen the twin emotions. I'd long thought his theory crazy, until I'd met them for myself. Oliver was different some how though, he'd pushed through his own genealogy and felt things that seemed far beyond everyone surrounding him.
“You're not like them” I stated softly. “You feel freely”
“There doesn't seem any point in smothering it, although my mother has asked that I do.” Oliver replied with some hesitance. He walked back to the door and opened it.
“Don't smother it. Please” I said simply, as I walked out of the watch tower door.
I heard Oliver follow behind me and close the door. He ran to catch up with me and then sighed deeply.
“So what does one do when one has immortality.” He whispered, leaning in closer to me.
“One obeys her owner” I replied, the lie rolled right off my tongue like it was second nature.
“You can tell my mothers servants those words. A strength like yours could be handy in reshaping the rest of our history.” Oliver said after he checked that no one was in ear shot.
“Even if my life has been barren and simple, I'd have it back in a second given the opportunity. Going against the crown is like asking to be slaughtered. At least if I just run, I have a chance” I explained as we reached my bedroom door.
“Your forgetting that the serum flowing through your veins is an immortality serum, You cannot be killed. Your body will repel death.” Oliver mumbled “You could just run home, back to the underground, but next week some other poor sap is going to turn 18 and be bought, Maybe they won't have your luck. Maybe they'll be made slaves of the town drunk. Or maybe they'll be forced into the army. Almost all of them will be dead before the year is out.” Oliver shook his head as I opened the door.
I frowned and thought of Zander.
“Are you trying to make me feel guilty enough to stay and try and change the world Oliver?” I questioned, almost 100% sure I knew the answer, Still I asked it anyway.
“Yes. Is it working”
I nodded glumly. I wouldn't see my home anytime soon after all. I was the wrong person for this job,
but fate had given it to me regardless.
“Good, May I come in?” Oliver asked after I stepped inside. The request shocked me. There were people walking the halls. Important people, people who would go straight to the queen if anyone so much as noticed him walk inside. She'd said at dinner I would be their guardian, to protect them from a non existent threat. I didn't think that she'd react kindly to me taking her son in to my bedroom.
Oliver didn't really give me a chance too decline. He checked that the coast was clear then ducked inside my room and closed the door behind him.
“Thomas will be back you know. For some reason they insist on locking me in here, even though I could escape at any moment” I said as I walked over to the wardrobe. I flicked the now scratched and broken heels off my feet and took a look in the mirror. Apart from the slightly askew hair, and the torn dress, I looked fine. Not one scrape or bruise in sight.
“How do you propose we change the world Oliver?” I asked.
Oliver didn't answer right away, his plan had been flawed from the start. Immortal I might be, but for how long and how was my sudden acquisition going to help at all.
“let me worry about that part for now” He replied completely unfazed
“You know what you are talking about is treason right? Even being the son of a Queen isn't going to save you if we don't succeed. You're trying to take down your own family” I frowned and walked over to my window. Perhaps I could do this another way, perhaps I could use my strength to break all of the underground dwellers out. We could start anew somewhere far away. It seemed as good a plan as any.
“This is the right thing to do Imogen, we both know it. There are easier options, for both of us. But those options are selfish and not for the greater good.”
I scoffed. Oliver was infuriating, but right.
“i'll give you a week to come up with something pretty boy, on one condition” I said with a fake smile.
“yes”
“If you can't figure something out then, then I get to leave and you'll help me stay hidden. Got it?”
Oliver nodded and then looked out the window.
“If we fall short, we are all as good as dead anyway, maybe I'll run with you”
Oliver walked back to the door and opened it.
“I've never met anyone like you Imogen” He murmured. “I would really hate to see you leave”
He walked out and shut the door behind him. It had been a confusing 24 hours. Yesterday I’d tried my best to ignore what was coming. It had been futile, because every second that went by, went by with another thought of the inevitable.
I thought of Zander who'd been drafted into the army. We'd been best friends all our lives. He was my brother, even though no one underground is really related. I remembered how When the royal treasurer bought me Zander had cried out and begged them to take him instead of me,but his request had fallen on deaf ears.
Zander would have been more noble than me, he'd have stepped up the minute Oliver had mentioned changing the future. Zander was all about changing the world as it currently was. All I wanted was to go home, even if it meant being hungry and cold for the rest of my life. I was too selfish for this.
My thoughts were interrupted by Thomas. He walked through the door with small box and placed it on my bed.
“I just passed Oliver in the hall. He was smiling, Oliver doesn't tend to smile much Imogen, I might warn you now, that fraternizing with him will look poorly on you. The queen knows who you are, she will not like it” Thomas warned, his voice quiet and raspy but then he winked and smiled.
I frowned, conflicted by the mixed signals he was giving me, but decided it best not to ask questions. It was becoming more obvious to me however that there was something about Thomas, and I needed to figure out what.
“There is a tracking bracelet in the box. It's prettier than your ID bracelet, no one will suspect, but the queen demands it.” He added, as he patted the box.
“Thank you Thomas.” I replied. I walked across to the box and opened it. Inside there was a small silver chain with a turquoise stone. I slipped it on my wrist and looked up at Thomas
“You're right, it is pretty” I admitted, admiring the jewels.
“Just remember that it will tell the queen exactly where you are at all times. It's been coded to your DNA. No one else can wear it. If they do, it will kill them instantly” Thomas warned.
I nodded, there wasn't much else I could do or say. Of course the queen would put stop measures in place. I was her property, and my blood was carrying something very important to her. Desperate to change the subject I looked up at Thomas and smiled.
“Thomas, where is your twin?” I asked softly.
Thomas clenched his teeth and shook his head
“She was a traitor to the crown. She ran from her marriage and copulated. She was sentenced to death” He murmured, the tone of his voice spoke louder than the words. He sounded lost, sad even.
“I'm very sorry Thomas.” I replied, I put a hand on his shoulder to reassure him. He jumped back at the touch and shook his head.
“It was a very long time ago. She is long forgotten” He said quickly. With that he left the room.
Bob had said that twins who had lost love ones were generally more open to feelings than those who were still around each other. Something about the grief sending them through a set of stages that brought about a psychological change. Maybe Oliver had lost someone too, maybe that was why he was so open with his feelings.
I walked back over to the window one last time and let my fingers brush against the cool glass. The only home I'd even known glowed dimly in the distance and even with thoughts of a new life I had to fight the urge to just run back to the people I knew and loved.
I walked over to the bed and pulled the covers back. I let my hands run over the crisp cotton sheets as the smell of clean linen wafted in through my nostrils. I put some pajamas on and threw the torn dress into the clothing hamper by the closet. Sleep sounded good right now, although I worried if years of sleeping on a flimsy foam mattress meant that a little luxury would be too much for me to get used too.
I needn't have worried. As soon as my head hit the pillow I fell fast asleep
***
Double Update! Hope those of you who are reading this are still enjoying it
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