Girl of Steel and Stone

Chapter 3

And the next chapter! All characters are going to be introduced now... Enjoy, like and comment! ;)

Chapter three

Finding the Dining Hall was as easy as I thought it would be. I was warned to leave by the sound of doors opening and closing, by the sound of boots hitting the floor, by the sounds of chatter. Of laughter.

Lazy descendants, indeed.

I quickly put on my boots and opened my door before locking it behind me. Men and women – teens still, for the most part – walked through the corridor and descended the stairs until we arrived at the first floor again.

This time, the doors at the left of the stairs were open and the sound of hundreds of people wafted into the hall.

I followed the masses and entered, only to have my breath taken away. The Dining Hall was huge. Here, no trace of the luxury outside. No, here only long wooden tables and benches. A buffet across the Hall displayed all kinds of food that made my mouth water and at the same time made bile rise up in my throat. So much food, when we had to do with so little.

I wasn't the only one taken aback. Next to me stood at least half a dozen others staring at the buffet with the same expression of mixed feelings on their faces. Their gaunt but toned bodies showing their origin as clearly as a beacon. Villagers, all of them. Probably just arrived.

I shook the feeling away and started towards the buffet, ignoring everyone around.

'Hey!' someone called out. 'Another villager whore!'

The insult registered and I felt my stomach tighten while rage rose. Whore? Raped, that was what we were. Not goddamned whores! I clenched my fists, trying to stay cool. Fighting rebels in a battle of life and death? No problem, I kept my cool, didn't make it personal, became a killing machine. But richborn kids insulting me? That made me lose my cool like nothing else.

I walked past, ignoring that one comment. But I knew that one more insulting word from that skinny guy's mouth would end with his head on the table, a knife against his throat.

'What? You deaf, whore?' the guy said. I took a knife in my left hand, my right hand reaching for his blond hair.

Someone grabbed my arm before I could touch him, though.

I turned, my knife pushing slightly against his wrist.

'Don't bother, girl,' the man said. He was a villager. His entire body tense and his eyes scanning the area without a break, a scar marring his handsome face. 'He'll be out before you know it. And if you really want to make them all pay, end up at the top of the list, that'll make 'm raging.'

'Next time he calls me a whore, I cut out his tongue,' I hissed. 'I don't care if it is nothing on the long run. He's going to pay.'

'We all want to, believe me. But at the end of the year? You'll be alive while they are walking around like zombies after the Passing. Don't bother with him. Death has his eyes on him, anyway. It's just a matter of months, maybe even weeks.'

I let my knife slip back into my sleeve and pulled my arm roughly out of his grip. I turned towards the guy who was looking at the man with a dark expression and grabbed his hair, pushing his nose in his plate. Keeping him there for a second I hissed; 'Next time, it'll be worse, and that's a promise, asshole.'

I let him go and continued my way towards the buffet, ignoring the silence coming from that area. I'd be damned if I let him do that without minimal payback.