They stopped again that night and Cress was given some
bread, dried fruit, and water.
She listened to the sounds of camp outside the van and
tried to sleep, but it came only in fits.
They started early again the next morning.
She became less and less sure that Thorne come for her.
She kept seeing him embracing that other woman, and
imagined that he was glad he no longer had to bother
himself with the weak, naive Lunar shell.
Even the fantasies that had consoled and comforted her
for so many years aboard the satellite were growing
feeble.
She was not a warrior, brave and strong and ready to
defend justice.
She was not the most beautiful girl in the land, able to
evoke empathy and respect from even the most hard-
hearted villain.
She was not even a damsel knowing that a hero would
someday rescue her.
Instead, she spent the agonizing hours wondering whether
she was to become a slave, a servant, a feast for cannibals,
a human sacrifice, or whether she would be returned to
Queen Levana and tortured for her betrayal.
Eventually, late in the second day of her entrapment,
the vans stopped and the doors were thrown open.
Cress cringed at the brightness and tried to scuffle away,
but she was grabbed and hauled outside.
She landed on her knees.
Pain shot up her spine, but her captor ignored her
whimpering as he tugged her to her feet and bound
her wrists.
The pain soon faded, trounced by adrenaline and curiosity.
They'd arrived at a new town, but even she could tell this
one had never been as wealthy or populated as Kufra.
Modest buildings the color of the desert stretched down a
sand-spotted road.
Walls of red clay, painted indigo and pink, had long been
bleached in the sun, there roofs covered with broken tiles.
A fenced area not far away held half a dozen camels and
there were a few more wheeled, dirty vehicles stationed
along the street, and—
She blinked the sun and sand from her eyes.
A spaceship sat in the center of town.
A Rampion.
Her heart skipped with frenzied hope, but it was
quickly smothered.
YOU ARE READING
Cress
Teen FictionTheir best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she's being force to work for Queen Levana, and she...
