Sunset Rising

He seemed kind enough, but he was definitely conscious that I came from the Pit. I felt it when he questioned if he could trust me to be alone in his apartment; I heard it when he congratulated me on pointing out some of the obvious flaws in his story. He thought of me as an inferior. I wanted to tell him that we are educated in the Pit. Maybe not in elaborate schools like the bourge attended, but our common rooms in the Pit served as classrooms during the day when the adults were working. Although in the Pit, the most valuable lesson was to learn to think on your feet. Every urchin needed a quick mind to get him or herself out of situations that might otherwise result in a beating or death.

Maybe that was the problem with the Ke

My stomach growled, reminding me I hadn’t eaten anything in more than a day. My last meal had been the breakfast Jack had given me before he left for his interview with Leisel. I looked under the bed, relieved to find the tray of food right where I had hidden it. There was an egg, one and a half pieces of bread, and almost a whole piece of ham left. I was about to take a bite of the bread when I remembered Jack. He had been kind to me, so maybe I should share it. I returned to the living room, the dress dragging behind me, rustling.

“Decided to join me?” he asked without looking up from his computer.

“What are you doing?”

“Writing my farewell letters.” He put the computer down and raised his eyebrows at the sight of the tray. “You’ve been hoarding food?”

“It’s what every good urchin learns from an early age. That or starve.” I offered him some of the food.

A barely concealed look of disgust crossed his face. “Cold eggs and ham. No, thanks.”

“Suit yourself.” I guessed you had to be an urchin to appreciate that a meal was a meal no matter what temperature it was. I picked up the piece of bread and sat in the chair across from him. I almost choked on it when I heard the apartment door unlock. Leisel walked in, a Domer following closely behind her. Jack was instantly on his feet.

“Well, here’s the happy couple!” Leisel said with a smile. “Oh, and look, you’re sharing a meagre breakfast. What is that anyway? Cold ham?”

“What do you want, Leisel? Come to finish off the job yourself?”

“Well that’s hardly the response I expected from my jilted fiancé. What, no mourning the loss of my love?” Leisel sneered. Jack just glared at her. “I thought not. I knew you never loved me, Jack, and as much as I would love to finish the job myself, I would never deprive my father of that pleasure. He’s really mad at you. I mean, it took some convincing to get him to let me marry a Ke

“Leave them out of it, Leisel. They had nothing to do with it. This is between you and me.”

“I think we both know that’s not true. Your family has been trying to take mine down for hundreds of years, and now my father has a legitimate reason to destroy you all. Starting with you.”

“Why? Why are you doing this to me?” Jack asked between clenched teeth.

His hands were balled into fists at his side, and every muscle in his body was tensed and ready to spring across the room at her. The guard standing behind Leisel tensed up too, his hand reaching for his weapon. Without really thinking about it, I jumped up and grabbed Jack’s arm with both my hands. If he went for Leisel, there was no doubt in my mind that the guard would kill him, and I didn’t want to be left here all alone. I didn’t want to be executed alone. I hung on tight.

“Su

I wanted to slap the sarcastic expression off her face. “Shut up, Leisel,” I snapped. My words shocked even me.

“So the urchin has a voice. Not that you need one. I mean no one is putting you on trial for anything. You’re going to die simply for wearing that dress and marrying above your station. And, by the way, I lied to you—that dress looks way better on me.”

Jack scoffed. “You wish!”

Leisel looked taken aback but she recovered quickly when her guard stepped forward to be at her side. “Keep your little insults to yourself. I only came to say thank you. Thank you so much for playing your roles in my little plan so flawlessly. I really do wish I had been there to see the look on your faces when Su

“So what’s your plan, Leisel? You might as well tell us. We’re going to die anyway,” Jack said.

“Why not? My plan has always been to become president. I mean, who came up with the rule that a woman can’t be president? You know, when I went to my father saying that a Ke

Summer! All that time I had been thinking about how Leisel betrayed me and never thought that she probably went back on her word about Summer, too. A knot formed in the pit of my stomach. I did this all for nothing. Now I wanted to kill Leisel myself. I dropped Jack’s arm and headed straight for her, but he grabbed me around the waist, preventing me from reaching my target.

“Let me go!”

“She’s not worth it, Su

“Listen to him, Su

Leisel placed her hand over the guard’s, a familiar gesture that was hard to miss. She caught me staring at them.

“Desmond has been a huge source of support to me. Without him, my plan would never have succeeded. He’s captain of the guard on this level.” A smile played around her mouth. Now I knew how she was able to get rid of all the guards so I could come to her apartment this morning. “When I’m president, we’ll live in a world where he and I can get married. You see, I do want change in the Dome.”

“I still don’t see how you’re going to become president. Your father won’t agree to that,” Jack said.

“Are you kidding me? After the public betrayal I’ve gone through? The humiliation of being the jilted bride… the broken heart I’m suffering…” She pouted, shaking her head. “When I tell my father I never plan on marrying again, he’ll understand completely. I mean, who’s left for me to marry anyway? I’d have to start scraping the bottom of the barrel to come up with someone who’s eligible, and Daddy would never stand for that. I’ll convince him the only way to keep a Holt as president is to let me succeed him.”

“I guess you have it all worked out then. Thanks for stopping by.” Jack gestured like he was dismissing her.

“Oh, don’t be like that, Jack. We did have a few good moments during our… relationship.” Her voice was a purr.