Each step I take hurts me, but I have no choice but to keep going. We reach the top floor and I’m taken to the turret room. There is a round table in the center of the room, bookshelves lining the walls, broken up only by windows that overlook the castle courtyard on one side and others that look out to all the sides of the city. Sanchez, I can tell, likes to see the world from a height, and this is where the decisions are made.
Sanchez and Jackson are sitting together, looking troubled. With Crevan’s position ambiguous after Sanchez faced him down, leaving the two remaining judges to deal with the aftermath of the announcement of Crevan’s sinister program, the Reduction of the Flawed, they are in the midst of a crisis. I should be the least of their worries, but I know I’m at the top of the pile.
“You weren’t feeling hungry?” Sanchez asks, frustrated, and I stare at her in shock. It was she who arranged for the food to be drugged. But why? And then I realize. She never wanted me to sign the deal. She screwed me over again. She wanted me to miss the deadline. Of course she wouldn’t want my ruling to be publicly overturned, for the same reason she wouldn’t allow the footage to become public: It would be the Guild’s downfall, the Guild she is now the head of. She got what she wanted; why would she help me?
Feeling less confident than I did before, now that my three backups, including my legal representative, have been knocked out many floors below, I slowly sit at the table, my wound aching. It’s me versus the remaining committee of judges; my fate is in their hands.
Sanchez places a document on the table before me, and a pen. A Highland Castle pen, from the tourist shop.
“As we discussed, the end of business today is your final date to agree to a new deal.”
“Shouldn’t I have legal representation?”
“I was told he couldn’t be stirred,” Jackson says. “And you sent away Mr. Willingham.” His patience with me has clearly come to an end.
“We discussed these terms with your representative already, and you had time to discuss them with him. Nothing has changed. You either sign the contract or not,” Sanchez says quickly, trying to hurry it all along.
I remain silent, my heart drumming. I think I actually really hate this woman.
“These are the conditions,” Sanchez begins. “Instead of a Flawed verdict, we believe the verdict should have been a six-month prison sentence in line with the ‘aiding a Flawed’ law. We withdrew the Flawed verdict; your grandfather and Mr. Angelo have immunity, as you were not Flawed; and you begin your prison sentence in Highland Women’s Correctional Facility on Monday for a total of three months. We removed the three months’ time served as Flawed from that sentence. You can expect to serve one month of your three-month sentence.”
I look at her in shock. “This is your act of mercy?” I look at Judge Jackson. “You weren’t there, but believe me, this wasn’t the deal she promised me.”
“I didn’t promise you anything. This is our offer, Celestine,” Sanchez says, pushing the pages closer to me.
Jackson has a gentler tone. “I know at your age prison seems like a terrifying ordeal, but it will be minimum security, for a period of no more than thirty days, and then you will be free to live your life as a regular citizen of Humming.”
I look at the grandfather clock against the wall. “But what about Carrick?”
“I told you, Celestine,” says Sanchez, “he goes unpunished for any involvement he had with you, but his Flawed branding remains in place. His case is not related to yours, there’s nothing we can do.”
“What’s going to happen to Judge Crevan?” I ask. “No prison sentence for him for what he did to me? No Flawed brand for his unethical, immoral mistakes?” I don’t let either of them respond. “You just wanted his job. You said it was about cleaning up the Guild, but really it was just about power. You wanted the power. You lose your son and gain a job all in one day. Is it really worth it?”
Sanchez closes her eyes and breathes deeply, as though trying to keep her patience with a petulant child.
Judge Jackson steps in, still calm. “Think about the opportunity you have been given. You have been given a gift by the Guild. An opportunity to see what life is like on the other side. A chance. Nobody gets that. Take what you have learned and go forward.”
“You’re absolutely right.” I finally look at Judge Jackson. “I’d like to tell you about what I’ve learned, if I may?”
I look at the clock again.
“I’ve learned a great deal throughout this experience, and one of the most important things you’ve taught me is about trust. Who to trust, and who not to trust. Before the branding I don’t think I’d ever been hurt by anyone, not in a real way. But since the branding, people have surprised me. It wasn’t me who changed. You put a letter on my sleeve and these scars on my body, and suddenly the whole world shifted. I’ve had to learn to adapt to that. I’ve been forced to figure out who I am, more than ever.
“Judge Crevan was right in his interview when he said that punishment helps people become more self-aware. I think of myself more, and think more of myself; but mostly I’m aware of my instincts more than ever. They’ve become my guide.
“Judge Sanchez came to me nearly three weeks ago, after the trial, looking to help me. She was concerned at that stage that my Flawed verdict was an incorrect verdict.”
Judge Jackson’s head snaps around to her so fast.
Judge Sanchez raises her voice. “Now, I don’t think that this is the time for more lies—”
“I’d like to hear this,” Jackson says firmly. “It seems many of this girl’s lies have turned out to be true.” He glares at her, then returns his attention to me.
I continue. “I did everything Sanchez asked of me. I went to her this morning with evidence powerful enough to remove Crevan from his position. Except the evidence was powerful enough to take down not just Crevan but the entire Guild, and so she decided to threaten Crevan instead, to take his job, not to help me, or to see that justice was done.”
Jackson looks at Sanchez nervously.
I look at Sanchez and smile. “Thank you for teaching me about trust.”
Sanchez shifts uncomfortably in her seat, just wanting this to be over so she can get on with it, not at all touched, moved, or guilty. I’m glad. It makes what’s going to happen next easier.
“The thing is, the Guild has trained me well. Did you think I didn’t know that this was what would happen?”
Her eyes narrow.
“Did you think I didn’t guess that you wouldn’t use the footage against the Guild? Did you think I would come straight to you from Mary May’s house and hand over all my copies to you? Did you actually believe me? Did you think that I wouldn’t know that you’d double-cross me somehow?”
I smile.
She braces herself.
“I was one step ahead of you. The whole time. Judge Sanchez, I’m Flawed. You shouldn’t have trusted me.”
I look at the clock. It’s 6:00 PM.
“I suggest you turn on the television,” I say.
SEVENTY-ONE
16 HOURS EARLIER