Empire

Chapter nineteen

We have been in Emor for two days, long enough for them to put us back together and make us look presentable. They even managed to heal my arm somehow. I still wish I knew what was in their medicines.
They will be announcing the winners tonight, I don't really care if I won right now, I just want to go home.
Instead of getting our own room this time everyone is staying in the same building. There are two rooms, one for boys one for girls, plus a kitchen and a few bathrooms. I'm not sure why they changed it but it doesn't really matter.
There a few gardens outside the building and I spend most of my time walking in them. The gardens are full of flowers and trees that I don't recognize and I like studying them.
There's a white flower with three petals that looks familiar and I wonder what it does. Can it heal people? Or is it poisonous?
I'm watching a bee buzz around it when Tretan comes up behind me and sits on the ground.
"Susan..." he hesitates "I wanted to say that I'm sorry, for what happened on the plantation."
He means when he got angry, I'm not sure what to say so instead I just look at him. His eyes look sad, with none of the rage left, but they don't look guilty either.
We just sit for awhile, the silence is nice.
"You are forgiven." I whisper.
It's not me who can forgive him though, and he knows that, that's why I don't see guilt in his eyes. He's already been forgiven.

We have to get dressed up again for the announcement of the winners. Indigo gives me a white dress to put on, it's very simple and reaches to the floor. A red, yellow, and black braided belt goes around it representing Germany's flag. Magenta puts almost no makeup on me and Maroon braids my hair elegantly.
All the other girls are wearing white as well and the boys are wearing black with something on them signifying their country. Flair's belt is the most elaborate, it is red, white, and green and made of tiny gemstones. Indigo says they are all diamonds but they've been died different colours.
We are arranged in a line beside our teammate, with Emor going first and after that in the same order as our first interviews. A door in the building we stayed in opens to where the announcements will be.
It is a large circle auditorium with a stage in the middle and twenty eight seats around it. The rest of the building is empty. We walk in a circle around the stage taking our seats.
A man with a mask appears on stage and starts speaking "The top five teams are usually the winners of the competition and the ones who receive the prize. But this year there was a tie for one of those positions so six teams will receive the prize." He pauses for affect but nobody seems to care "In fifth place is Emor, with the team of Zia and Edwin just above them. Jamaica is in third and Simeon and Audrey are second. In first place with 1120 points each is Nigeria and Germany!" He starts clapping and then goes away.
No one makes a sound. We won. That means no taxes for our villages, I am happy about that. But I don't really feel triumphant.
In a few minutes officials enter the room and escort the teams that didn't win out of the building. Then we are escorted out of the building as well. Two trucks are waiting for us. Suddenly it hits me that I'm going home! I will be able to see my family, and walk in the forest alone. I will be able to watch things grow again and not be scared that I am being watched. I feel joy bubble up inside me and explode in a giggle. It is the best feeling I've had in months and I try to relish it.
A man is waiting in front of the trucks "Tretan and Susan, you go in this one," he points to his right "Simeon and Audrey, you go in the other truck."
Takira goes with us and so do Edwin, Zia, Flair, Amandi, and Grey. Javan and Tayo go with Simeon and Audrey.
The inside of the truck is the same as the one that took me from home, everything is dark and the windows are black. The darkness makes me uncomfortable, I can't see where we are going. My backpack is waiting on my seat with my things from home and my Bible still in it. I whisper thanks to Indigo, Maroon, and Magenta for thinking of it.
I look around at the people in the vehicle with me, other than Tretan I'll probably never see any of them again. I don't really want to say goodbye, maybe I could write to them. I will miss Flair the most.
The drive lasts about an hour and we spend most of it in silence. I wonder why Flair and Grey are with us, if they were going to their home they should have stayed in Emor.
When we finally stop it takes awhile before they open the doors. When they do I see that we're not at the airport as I was expecting. A concrete wall surrounds the place where we are, and low ugly buildings are situated in the middle. There are no planes anywhere that I can see.
I turn to the driver "Where are we? I thought we were going home!"
He looks at me blankly and then says "The Empire requires your service for awhile longer."

The End.

Book two is out and available to read on my profile!