The Devil's Smile

Chapter 11

Red hadn't answered that time. Someone else new things too which lowered my need to ever learn I was good with that. As we walked around to see a petite girl with huge mane of bushy dirty blonde curls. She was doing well to keep pace with my many best friend. Her huge azure eyes give her face acute but slightly weird looks she seemed friendly enough though.

“So where do they dwellers who last longer than a year go?” I asked.

Red had told me on the way over that we would be first considered recruits for the first year and then after that we would become resident dwellers

Another building the girl answered. “To the east of the Academy estate. I heard that is also underground but slightly nicer. My cousin was here for many years and now she serves in Soldon.”

Then she looked at me and asked ,”is your hair really blue? Or did you die it with gaja berries?”

We were in the female wing now and it was about the same level of awesome the previous room just add in 20 or small block boxes masquerading as bedrooms.

“It is all natural,” I answered. before I could say anything more Red was dragging me across the boxed room closest to the door where I dug my feet in and pointed at the name tags on the small edges above the doorway. Then I said to her I think we have to find our names I said tentatively. I recognised her mood so I was treading lightly. Next time she actually growled then like weird forest cat.” We need to be near the entrance so that we don't miss any calls.”

With a half I was dragged along the cordoned of rooms until finally Talulah Archer came into sight. There was only one name above her door which was odd. It looked like the 2 chosen from each villages were rooming together except for those who had one male and one female.

With a shrug I followed her in glad to see there were two beds in the tiny box. Guess they forgot about me stop it happens. This was the start. I could feel it. The start of Charmaine Archer ceasing to exist at all.

Red face went deathly white. She shot putted her bag across the room and I watched as it slammed against the wall before falling into the tiny bed on the left side.

“Was that really necessary…”

She cut me off. “The bells. It's the goddamn freaking bells.”

“I hate this place,” I groaned as she pulled her leg out and used her food to nudge me towards the door.

“Seriously Red did you just kick me?”

“Why aren't you moving? Why is your stupid bag filled with stupid pot still in your stupid hands?”

I launched at tickling her in all the places. Which was every place with exposed skin. She was the most sensitive person when it came to tickling. She was the one who had told me this secret while we were coming down in the Bullock carts.

You need to chill the hell out! If demanded while she is noted and fought off my hands trying to stay matte. I swear to gods you look like you are 40 years old right now!

Footsteps sounded outside our little box and I knew that Red or Sarath would actually kill me equivalent to our first assignment so I straighten my clothes dropped my stupid back on the other day I am followed my best friend from the room. I remain quiet and demure not voicing my many opinions on water sheet hold it was that they had showed us into. I thought that this was supposed to be an honour? I would have preferred to stay in the village if anyone wanted to know my opinion at all. I hadn't stayed because I wouldn't leave my sister but it was still my preference. And at that point of time there was a pain racking at the back of my head. I did not understand what was it that caused the pain but then I realised that this was not supposed to be happening. I was here for some reason other than this but I could not remember for the life of me what that reason was.

The trip up the stairs did seem a lot shorter than going down. We emerged from our rat hole in the wall and since I expected to see Sarath standing there hands on him cybers astonished enough to trip and knocked down 15 or so dwellers because there were 3 demigods waiting for us.

The dwellers who tumbled with me jumped quickly to their feet all of them looking around trying to figure out who had knocked them down. I was doing it too looking around with the confused expression on my face because survival was kind of important. The 3 demigod stepped forward moving just a little closer to us and I found myself caring less about my tripping and more about how shiny these people were.

These were 2 men and the lady. The female in the center was dressed in shimmering white her dress floor length demo how slim and tall she was full her hair was bound in golden girls her eyes were dark and stormy grey scary and exotic all at once. I couldn't look away.

“Welcome dwellers,” she announced coolly. “I am Lyn. The head of dweller relations committee here at Godville. You are honoured to be here this day to serve demigods and the gods.”

We are honoured. Was this speech for real?

“We only allow the best dwellers in all of Vandelay to attend our demigods in Godville. Dwellers who have demonstrated their intelligence skill grace and discretion. You speak to no one or what goes inside these walls. We are not to be seen or heard. You do your job right and you will be rewarded. After you spend 7 years here you will be offered a position with a family of worth in Soldon, Dwayne or Tridon this is your future don't mess it up.”

The men were clearly arm candy. The one on the right brunette with longer hair that he had tied at his nips started handing out sheets of parchment to us. We all knew how to read. It was one of the few things that the villages made sure every child could do. Read and write the common language each ring had its own dialect but everyone spoke the common language. The language of gods.

It was a timetable, schedule, and assigned job list. I ran my eyes over the list, noticing that Red had library and kitchen duties, as well as classrooms 324, 381 and Study hall 9. She also got the female dorms 11-17. I searched for my name next hoping that I would at least get close to working with her. They were going to have us working for the entire day and every single day and I was already fearing that I would never see her again.

Finally I found it we passed all the girls name. Charm Archer. Ohh crap make sense for my curse to screw me like this. I was assigned to the arena and training duties and classrooms 386 and 2210 study hall 7 and male dorms 125.

I guess that explains the name on the bedroom Red said her face drawn as she cleaned her face straight around the paper. They think you are a boy.

Shit.

Red shoves me. Just take it Charm they said that you can't ask for any changes. This is all preordained by gods.

I snorted unable to keep my voice down. Actually this is pretty ordained by our i***t village leader who was probably too drunk to notice that he filled in my name wrong.

It's no big deal. Red was lying through her teeth now trying not to cause a scene as Lynn split up into 2 groups to tour the ground sending the boys off with one of our henchmen and the rest of us with the second. Just borrow some clothes from one of the mail jewellers maybe I had to? They probably won't even mention the fact that you look like a girl because that's super rude.

Rude like I don't know shooting across both through my chest?

It didn't go through your chest.

I think snacked of you here's. From my head I mean not my chest. I trailed out because one of the girls hurrying along with us was giving me strange look. I blinked momentarily stumbling over my own feet as something else occurred to me. Dammit. Boobs. Red. I can’t be a guy. What about my boobs? Or is it rude to mention that a guy has boobs clear as the sun writes their standing.

Charm! Rate was catching my army every few steps now because I couldn't seem to keep my footing with all the excitement and I by excitement I definitely meant terror.

Can you stop talking about boobs please? We are getting weird looks.

ohh yeah I drawl change the subject. Real smooth Red real smooth.

she rumbled with that chilling forest crack cat growl again making me shut up stop okay so maybe she was right. I couldn't change the dorm assignment but maybe the demigods would request a change themselves after discovering that I was a girl?

And this is dining hall. Henchman number 2 announced to the group pushing too heavy doors apart to give us the glimpse into the massive hall with floor to ceiling windows and heavy velvet curtains. They are bronze chandeliers hanging from the ceiling with so many candles back into their brackets that I was sure that it had to be a hazard of some kind most likely the fire kind. Doesn't send thousands of circular wooden teak wood like space apart the room with long barapani empty aluminium dishes stretching along the one wall kitchen area barely visible behind it.

The final prep kitchen is on this level allowing the Demi gods to request certain dishes outside of the set of menu each meal time but the most work is done below in the basement kitchens. No recruits are allowed in the basement kitchen full resident dwellers only.

Back away from the doors letting them fall shut and proceeded to drag our group from one end of the Academy grounds to another. We also told the female dormitories and the bathing chambers attached to the ends of each dormitory corridor I could only pray to the gods that the male dormitories were set up in a similar way but that was kind of you tell because the gods had allowed me to get assigned to the male dorm in the first place. Next correction. They didn't really allow it so much as they never paid any damn attention to me in the first place.

I mean I got it I did. I wasn't that important. I was just a little dirt dweller with the science danger signed hovering over my head. Why would the gods bothered to watch over me unless it was just for entertainment?

Oh my god.

Red! I bounced up from my bed the one we had collapsed against as henchman number 2 a short break after the touring. Do you think they do it deliberately? Next time who? She blinked her head open snipping up her eyes flying open. She had fallen asleep apparently she jumped up with me finding feet to her eyes darting about while what who?

“The gods!”

“The gods what?”

“do you think they do this crap to me deliberately all the accidents?”

Red frowned her posture deflating as she sank back on to the bed her hands wiping her eyes. Dammit Charm why would they do it deliberately. Of course they don't do it deliberately.