The Renegade

Chapter 16

 We leave Ila with the red-haired girl and Ior sneaks us back to the bunkhouse. Luk would rather stay behind and fight for his daughter than go back with us. My mind froths with information and sounds and images. The Grand Adoption. The screams of the child. The boy torn from his aunt or sister or mother. We slip back into the bunkhouse and as I lay on my bed, my eyes refuse to shut.

I don't understand Domus.

For Luk's sake, I keep trying to grasp their values, but how they act contradicts what they believe. They believe in family, yet they steal children from the people who love them. They value relationship, yet they show no forgiveness for others' transgressions. They have created both someone as conniving and possibly even cruel as Father Paul and someone as kind and strong as Luk. None of it makes any sense to me.

I want out of here, but where can I go? What good can I do? Luk will never leave Ila, and there aren't any other societies just waiting to take in Doman and civilian refugees. I don't trust the Domans except for Luk and maybe Ior, but where else can I go? I ache for the innocent civilians and Underlings who died because of what I did. The deaths I couldn't stop. But could I ever go back?
Somehow, in the midst of these ponderings that have no answers, I fall asleep.

"Good morning!" A high pitched voice awakens me from a dreamless sleep, and I groan. How much sleep did I even get since our midnight outing? Two hours, maybe three? My leg aches as I sit up, rubbing my eyes.

"What's going on?" Hayl asks from the bed above me, just as groggy as I am.

"I'm delighted to announce that you've been invited to join the Family for a special announcement," the perky voice says, and Audra stands in the middle of our bunkroom, clapping her hands together. Her manicured nails are painted purple to match her outfit. Even though the windows show that it's barely daybreak, she looks like she's been awake for hours.

A special announcement. She must mean the Grand Adoption. My heart sinks--that's the last thing I want to watch. At least they've spared Ila--for now. I glance at Luk on his bunk at the far end of the room. His eyes are electric and tension leaks from his squared shoulders.

Audra claps her hands again. "Come along, get ready!"

I swing my legs over the side of the bed and reach for the jumble of orange clothing. I've taken to sleeping in just a sports bra and a pair of ratty shorts because at least I feel like myself even though the minimal clothing reveals my scars and bruises. I don't care about modesty anymore.

We don our orange clothing and white sneakers with only mild complaints. There's no point to arguing with Audra--she has armed soldiers to reinforce her commands. As soon as we're dressed with Audra watching our every movement--her eyes occupied for a particularly long time on Luk's unclothed torso--she leads us outside.

Luk approaches me, walking by my side as we leave. "This is the adoption event," he whispers. "Ila could be in this."

"But she's not, right?" I ask, remembering the red-haired woman who snuck Ila back into her quarters.

"As long as Paul wants me on his side, he'll keep her safe," Luk says, his jaw tensing.

"Do you want to work with him? Luk, he destroyed the Underlings," I murmur, my voice sharp.

"He also let me escape with Ila and took us in when we escaped," Luk answers, sunlight glinting off his cheekbones as we exit the bunkhouse. "Plus, he's my father, Ren. We may not always agree, but he's the only family I have left besides Ila."

How does Luk keep forgetting that he's apart of me now, that something has forged between us that is almost as powerful as a blood tie? But I don't have time to plead with him to remember because we approach the Head where hundreds of Domans gather.