Renegade (The Elysium Chronicles #1)(22)

She turns and smiles, then grimaces when she sees me. “Evelyn. You are a filthy mess. Kindly go to your rooms and prepare for the evening meal. Father and I wish to discuss something of great importance with you.”

“Yes, Mother.” I curtsey and turn to leave for my private quarters. The Guard stays behind with Mother at her request. Though that unnerves me, I’m grateful for a few minutes of solitude.

After washing, I change into one of my favorite dresses—a red taffeta dress with a fitted bodice, open back, and a semi-full skirt. Then I reapply my makeup: just a dash of rose dust on my cheeks, a candy red on my lips, and a darkening of my eyes.

The combination of the dress and makeup makes me feel pretty, but also powerful. A tiny bit rebellious. It shows a bit more skin than Mother will approve of, but not enough that she’ll do anything about it.

The perfume bottles in front of me on the vanity call to me—all different colors and shapes of bottles. Some have intricate and delicate metal work, others are squat and somewhat ugly. I frown at them. Why do I have so many? I don’t wear perfumes; my flowers coat me in my favorite fragrance.

Something tells me it is important.

I run my fingers over the pendant, and the image of a beautiful bottle floats into my mind’s eye.

I open my eyes and find the bottle in the collection. Curious, I remove the stopper and lift it to my nose. The scent wafts up to me, and the memory of me sitting by the fountain in the Square filters into my mind.

I stared at the concrete floor, feeling a little lost. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I knew no one trusted me. I had no friends, and Mother thought I was a traitor. She’d forbidden any of the others to even look at me while she decided what to do with me.

I couldn’t remember anything. Not even what happened to traitors. There was a niggling feeling that I should know, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remember.

The man I now called Father sat next to me. He’d been one of the top scientists. He’d been the one that developed the pressure nanos before he’d Coupled with Mother.

At first he said nothing, but finally, he said, “I convinced her,” so quietly I almost didn’t hear him.

I looked over at him. “I’m sorry?”

He smiled sadly down at me. “I convinced her you were special. She’s making you ours … hers, really. But I’ll always be here for you, too.”

I blinked. I didn’t understand.

He patted my hand. “You won’t, Evie,” he said as if he could read my mind. “But don’t worry. You can trust me. Always.” He glanced around while I tried to wrap my eleven-year-old mind around what he was trying to tell me.

Then he pulled open his sport coat and pulled a beautiful little perfume bottle out of the pocket. “Here,” he said, “take this.”

I took it and immediately lifted the stopper to my nose.

He smiled at me. “And now, you’ll always remember what you need to.” He touched my necklace and his smile was wistful. “The pendant to recover what is lost. The fragrances to fill the empty spaces. It’s all we can give you now.”

Pain throbs in my temples, my fingers gripping tightly on the bottle’s cap. I remember. Father. I close my eyes and mentally thank him for giving me my memories. I guess I should be surprised, but I’m not.

I breathe deeply, the fragrance of the bottle overpowering my senses, filling me with the memory. It washes away the pain, and I look again at the bottles with a calculating eye. So many memories. So much lost.

So much to regain … again.

Unless they Condition me again. Take them all away. Like Gavin said.

My heart hardens. Not this time. Not. This. Time.

The door to my room opens and a Maid walks in.

“Miss, Mother is expecting you,” the Maid says, politely averting her gaze to just over my shoulder.

I replace the stopper on the bottle and sweep past her, my shoes clicking on the floors as I make my way to the dining room. As in the rest of the Palace Wing, the floors and walls are made of marble, and the lighting comes from crystal sconces set every five or so meters along the wall.

I pause at the door. This must be important. They’re using the good china. The silver sparkles in the light of the crystal chandelier hanging above the marble table. Father is already there. To my surprise, so is the young Guard. He sits next to Mother and she is smiling at something he is saying, but Father seems upset with something. His customary smile is replaced with a scowl.

Cold pours over me. It has to be about what happened in the cell. Why else would the Guard be here? I glance around the room in confusion. There are no other Guards or Enforcers.

What is going on?

Mother glances over. “Evelyn. You are late.”

The Guard and Father stand as I make my way over to them. “I apologize, Mother. I wanted to take my time to look my best.”

She purses her lips and Father chuckles. “No need to apologize, Evelyn. A woman is never late. Isn’t that what you are always telling me, my dear?” he adds to Mother, a little sparkle in his eyes.

Mother nods and gestures for me to take the seat next to the Guard, who waits for me to sit before taking his. Father does the same and, the minute he does, the Servants are placing food and drinks all over the table, more than we could possibly eat. Caviar and crackers. Bean salad. Marinated tempeh with red peppers and broccoli. And other things that I can’t name. I immediately think of Gavin practically starving in his cell, and try to formulate a plan on how to get him more food.