War Prize

Chapter Eleven: KATIRINA

        The Mobile was elegant. It was sleek. It was long, and luxurious; painted the color of wealth.

        KingsVillage, the city that surround the royal castle, was breathtakingly beautiful. It is filled with the colorful people of Gallium. The houses are stacked upon each other, each one trying to touch the sky first.

        And the Castle itself was awe inspiring. It is a giant that sat hundreds of feet above the city, and sank its claws hundreds of feet into the ground below it, and its back faced the gaping mouth of an ocean. It was awe inspiring. It was intimidating.

        But once I was within the beauty all I saw was the ugliness underneath. 

        The Mobile is stuffy, overfilled with the smell of sweat, and masked with scent of stale perfume. It's seats stained, and faded. It's doors locked from the outside, and has windows that hide what is within. 

         KingsVillage, the City of Color, the City of Wealth, the City of Happiness, is a lie. It is a city built of plastic and sand.

         And the Castle itself is a large gilded cage. Used to keep the people of plastic and sand out, and me inside.

         The Mobile shifted over the the stone road, throwing me into the ceiling as it bounded toward the Castle at an alarmingly fast pace. I clenched my hands into fists, as the distance between me and that monstrous castle shortened. My stomach clenched as the Mobile crested yet another hill, I got another glance at the Castle. I could feel my hands begin to sweat. I unclenched them and wiped them on the leather seats. The seats were coated in a thin layer of dust that then proceeded to stick to my hands. I tilted them palm up to see the grey filth that covered them. It was satisfying to know that all the work put into getting me clean could be squandered by an act as simple as wiping my hands. I tilted my head in thought. This is who I am. The slave with dirt on her hands. I am not the girl in the pretty dress that I had seen in that mirror. I am like the city, with painted on beauty, to hide the dirt beneath.

           I glanced up, as the Mobile once again reached the top of a hill. I could see the Castle, with its glittering windows and bright flags, and I wondered why I was made pretty in the first place. Should I not be seen as dirt. All my previous masters had me displayed as such. So why was this one having me displayed as shiny?

         Clara, who seemed to be unaffected by my growing hysteria, was chattering next to me. I envied her ability to be speaking about everything, yet saying nothing at all. Currently she was telling me how many windows the Castle had.

         "It is truly spectacular." She she says, trying to gain my full attention. So I turn my head and give it to her.  "There are three hundred and thirteen windows. But only one hundred and fifty-three of them have a view over the city. And only seventy five, of those one hundred and fifty-three, have something decent to see." Her eyes widened dramatically. "But there are only twenty-five rooms available to those not of royal blood, and you many just have one of those twenty-five." She squealed in excitement. "Isn't that simply spectacular!"

        All I could do was nodded in response. I glanced at the Castle again, as we rose over another hill. It is a very large building. I felt the warm banned on my wrist, contemplating whether jumping out of the window would be bearable to me. I shook my head. The thought left a foul taste in my mouth. The nuns the orphanage had always said that "Life, no matter the pain, is too precious to throw away. You need to fight through the pain, because there is always going to be someone in the universe who is suffering more than you. So if you can't fight for yourself, fight for them".

      My eyes drifted up to rest on the Castle. There were no longer anymore hills to block my view of the monstrosity. My mind drifted to  the girls, my fellow slaves, who my master would hurt to discipline me. I also thought of the people I had killed, about their families who would never know what happened to them. I even thought of my old master, and the pain he caused where ever he went.

     I was glaring at the Castle now.

     Thinking of my new master made me confused.

     Thinking about the secrecy surrounding why I am here made me irritated.

     Thinking about my gilded cage made my blood boil.

     I raged internally over the unfairness of the world.

     I hated this beautiful planet, that painted over its ugliness. That painted over its pain.

     And as the Mobile entered the Castle's walls, I knew I was not going to jump out of one of the three hundred and thirteen windows. Nor am I going to consider jumping out of one of the hundred and fifty-three that had the view over the city. And if I receive one of the rooms that hold one of the rare twenty-five that had the best view, all I will do is look. I will only look, because I have too much to live for. And I am going to live, because one day my gilded cage will open, and I will be free.

     I glanced at Clara. She was laughing in happiness now, practically bouncing off the dust covered seat in joy. I smiled alongside her, because for the first time since I became a slave, I could almost taste freedom.

    And I wasn't going to let anyone stand in my way of achieving it.