They didn’t tell me much, kept making these little lock-and-key motions with their fingers in front of their lips. So I took that to mean that Xi has forbidden them from talking about it.
They did gossip about the world though, which I took as a way for them to explain it without answering any of my questions. I heard all about Sophie Beaumont’s boyfriend cheating on her, and Lola Devereaux’s mother, who was thought to have died in a car crash—only to reappear days later, unharmed. Turns out, it was actually her twin sister!
How crazy is that?
And then, some guy named Rafael Montague was stalking some girl named Delilah Vega, who lost her memory after falling off a horse while riding through the woods. Rafael found her, took her to a secret cabin near a lake, and pretended like she was his wife! Luckily, detective Bianca Romano broke all the rules of her department to find clues, and saved Delilah from a fate worse than death just as she was about to marry Rafael for real!
I let out a breath, feeling grateful that Rafael was caught and Delilah wasn’t tricked into marrying him. His trial starts tomorrow and all the maids are praying to Xi that he’ll be found guilty of kidnapping because Delilah belongs with her true love, Dominic Castille, heir to the Castille fortune.
Wow. What a world.
I mean, kidnappers, twins, amnesia—it’s a lot. But I can’t help being intrigued. In fact, I don’t just want to see this world—I want to experience it. I know it’s only one night, but I want to make the most of this opportunity.
A knock at the door pulls my attention from the mirror. When I turn, my dress lags a fraction of a second behind me, twirling against my legs. I pick up the train—which doesn’t actually drag on the floor, just barely kisses it once the boots are on—and walk over to the door.
I open it and find Xi staring back at me. “Hi. Where’s Finn?” I lean over, peeking behind him, but Finn’s not here.
“He’s still dressing. He’s had a long day, but he’s very excited about your date in the upper tonight.”
“Me too.” My heart thumps, as if to provide proof. “I’m actually a little bit nervous. That world… it sounds so fascinating. Twins, and amnesia, and kidnapping! Fake wives and detectives! I didn’t even know what a detective was! I might like that job.”
Xi’s brows furrow a little, like he’s puzzled. So I jump in real quick, putting up a hand to stop his coming objection. “I got the hint. The maids weren’t supposed to be talking about the upper world to me. But they weren’t. Not really. They were gossiping among themselves and I was eavesdropping. So please, don’t be mad at them.”
He smiles at me. “Never mind them. This night is about you, Jasina Bell. You and Finn Scott.” He offers me his arm. “Come along. I’ll escort you downstairs where Finn is now waiting.”
As we walk down the stairs, Xi is quiet. Allowing me to exist in my own thoughts. And in these thoughts, I start to feel different. There’s no one here but Xi and me, but I feel like the center of attention. It’s the dress, I think. And the escort. Being walked down the stairs. This is what it’s like to be a Spark Maiden.
Dressed, escorted, cared for. That’s what it means to be a Spark Maiden.
And while I’m over the fact that my old life is gone and so are my opportunities to be one of ‘them’—one of the Chosen—I can’t help but dream about it a little. I can’t deny that it would’ve been nice to have been Clara. Not her end, obviously. But she had all those years in the Maiden Tower. This very tower—in another factory—but still the same.
It must’ve been grand. And she was one of the last who will ever know that privilege. What it’s like to be… royalty, I guess. She got as close as she could to the title of princess in a factory city. It’s not that I’m jealous, it’s more that I’m… anxious. And I have regrets.
Not many, but some.
I think about how I took all my pledge years for granted. Which is strange because I was a down-city girl. But I wasn’t there topledge. I was a spy. So while I ate the little petits fours cakes and sipped the tiny cups of tea as I practiced how to be poised, proper, and polite—I didn’t enjoy it. The cakes and tea were nice, but I was gathering information to put into my weekly reports. Stupid details that now, when I think back, make no sense in the grand scheme of things.
There’s a little nagging thought inside me that it was wasted. That I was just being used by Auntie Bell. Those reports stole my time. My joy. And they never mattered in the least.
None of it did.
All those crazy up-city people were trying to make a god, for fuck’s sake. It was never about stopping the Extraction, it was about… starting aharvest.
It’s a shock to realize these two things are connected.
This time, whatever this is, I’m going toenjoy it.
“Ahhh,” Xi says, once we round the corner of the stairs and the lobby comes into view. “There he is. Waiting for you.”
Finn turns at the sound of Xi’s voice, but his eyes immediately land on me. And that smile… wow. It’s enough to make the spark butterflies living inside me flutter a bit.
“Jasina,” he says, walking towards the stairs. This is when I notice what he’s wearing. It’s not what I expected, yet it’s exactly right. His suit is linen, like in Tau City, but the details make it something new.
The jacket is longer, reaching mid-thigh, fitted in a way that accentuates his lean muscles—broad at the shoulders and tapering in at his waist and showing off his athletic frame.
The fabric is sand-colored, warm and natural. But along the lapels and cuffs there are some gold details. Embroidered swirls in designs that remind me of the stars for some reason.
Beneath the jacket, he’s wearing a deep sapphire blue tunic with an open neckline, hinting at his body underneath. Gold clasps shaped like desert leaves, hold the fabric together in places. And the trousers are different too—still loose and practical, but now made from a fine silky fabric and fresh in style, reminding me that we’re not in Tau City, but Xi.
