In the city of Vir girls are property, bred and raised to be the perfect wives. To serve and obey and honor the men that rule their city.
Elaia has always been content with her place in society. She is a perfect daughter, and with any luck she'll b...
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------- ELAIA -------
The next week passes in a blur as Castine and I try to figure out how we're going to get out of here. So far, we've brought Trinia and Naya in on our plan. Castine said telling anybody else would jeopardize the confidentiality of the plan.
When Sunday finally arrives, we head out to the garden with the girls and I make sure to bring the pin with me, so that we can speak freely without the fear of getting caught. We gather around the table furthest from the facility, and Francisco comes to stand near our group like he always does.
"No Albia today?" Naya asks, raising an eyebrow at Castine.
She shakes her head. "No. Albia has been acting strange lately. Displaced. I'm worried that they're getting to her, and we can't risk our plan getting out," she says.
Naya glares at her. "Cas, we're not leaving her behind," she says, folding her arms over her chest.
Castine shakes her head. "I'm not going to leave her behind. But we can't let her in on our plan yet, or else somebody might find out," she says, keeping her words down. "What would happen then?"
Naya lets out a frustrated sigh, folding her arms over her chest but she doesn't say anything more on the matter.
"Anyways," Castine says, changing the topic. She readjusts her skirts and I can see in her eyes how irritated she is by them. "Getting back to the point, we need to find a way out of here. We're going to need a seriously clever plan if this is going to work," she says, keeping her voice low.
I sigh, wondering if escaping is even the right thing to do. How are we going to get out? Where will we go? We can't just run off and expect that everything will be fine. And I can't just leave Kres behind. This makes no sense. "Are we really sure this is even the right thing to do?" I ask quietly, interrupting Castine.
She stops talking, glancing over at me as if I'm crazy. "How else are we going to avoid getting sent to the factory?" She asks bitterly. "If they start sending girls there, we're going to be the first on their list." The edge in her voice makes me shrink back a little.
Castine is right. We have to find a way out. If I get sent to the factory, I'll be returned to my family as an empty, thoughtless shell of a girl. I'll be a doll and nothing more. I don't want to end up that way.
I absently listen as the other girls speak, thinking. Every girl is expected to spend three months here. Because Castine and Naya are from the outside it's possible they'll be stuck here longer than even Trinia or I will be. Even though we've been sent back, we were still raised in the city and in Sebastian's eyes that makes us managable.
Every twelve weeks there is a graduation banquet where all the girls that have graduated from the facility are celebrated. They even give us a delicious meal and dessert and little ribbons that they pin to our dresses. On that night all the girls currently attending the facility are allowed to attend, and the families of the graduating girls will be here also. There will be lots of people coming and going. Mr. Morrison will be preoccupied that evening so it would be the perfect chance for a few girls to slip away from the festivities and escape. This just might work.
