“Let me guess, that’s Soldel’s academy?” I pointed toward the show-pony.
Emmy shook her head. “Nope. Good guess, but that’s the Minateurs’ council chambers and training facility. They recruit sols during their graduation life-cycle at the academies. After that, it’s another four life-cycles of training, and then they either become council members dealing with the disputes of the gods and the nine rings, or else they go into patrols. The patrols walk the streets, respond to distress calls, and keep the peace. It’s a very honourable life-path and only the best of the best get to be a Minateur.”
“Quick question.” I leaned forward, trying to stretch out the ache in my back. It was taking forever to get to Blesswood. “How did we become friends? I’ve spent my life cycles trying not to become the great disaster of this era, and you’ve spent yours overachieving and learning way too much about the nine rings. They never specifically taught us this in school, so explain how you know everything?”
For most dwellers, there was absolutely no point learning about the inner workings of any rings except the one you lived in. There was no time off to travel; we weren’t even allowed to travel without a tonne of tokens, thirty-five permits, special permission, and a sacrifice to the gods, or some crap. We weren’t sols. We had no rights, and therefore, no need to learn anything more than the basics.
The basics being how to stay the hell out of the way of the sols, unless we were called upon for service.
“The information is there if you want it,” Emmy told me. “I’ve been preparing for Blesswood my entire life. Did you know Teacher Howard was a former Blesswood recruit?”
Teacher Howard? Oh, right, he’d stopped by for one cold season in our sixth school cycle. We’d had a lot of teachers actually, when I thought about it.
“Six stitches and a mild concussion?” I double-checked that I was thinking of the right dweller.
Emmy was trying not to roll her eyes, which was fair considering I’d just summarised an incident that could have occurred with one of at least three other teachers.
I continued. “He loved yellow pants, wore the same socks over and over—despite the fact we could smell his feet even out in the snow—told crazy stories, learned the hard way to never take a weaving class with me. Or at least learned the hard way to never hand me cutters and belts at the same time?”
Still no eye roll. She was practising super-dweller patience.
“Yes, Will, that’s him. He did something to annoy an important sol in Blesswood and as a punishment, he was directed to teach throughout the nine rings. A position of honour, but one which took him far from the blessed capital that he had been working his whole life to get to. He took a liking to me, said I reminded him of his sister, who now serves one of the most gifted of the sol families. He taught me so much. It’s because of him that I worked so hard, studied, and made it my goal to be recruited.”
“And somehow your clumsy-ass best friend got herself invited along on the journey. Very little work and at least one almost-world-ending-disaster per sun-cycle her only claim to fame.”
“I don’t think deliberately altering your records is a somehow thing, Will.” Even as she said it, she was hugging me, hard. “At eight life-cycles I didn’t love you like I do now.” Her voice was muffled against my shirt. “Nope, at eight I was determined to go no matter what. Then you happened, and I knew that one sun-cycle I would have to leave you. It broke my heart. Every morning when I woke up, I questioned whether it was worth it. I would start off wanting to turn it down, and then I wouldn’t be sure. No matter my doubts, I never stopped trying my hardest to be chosen. It was like I had to prove I could be the best, and then if I turned it down I’d know it was my choice.” She pulled back to face me. “You getting chosen with me was the best thing that could ever have happened. For once your clumsy curse was a true gift.”
A gift.
Those weren’t words which had been used to describe my curse before. Nobody would have dared, even to make me feel better. Only sols had gifts, and my curse was enough of a slap-in-the-face-of-the-people as it was.
“Did you ever consider turning it down, Will?” The question from Emmy was a little hesitant, like she had been thinking about it but was afraid to ask. “I mean … I know things have happened so fast, but … did you consider turning it down?”