chapter 7:2
526 Words
7.2 | A World Soaked in Blood
Dedicated to loazel
Although Markos had told her what to expect, Nika
didn't feel prepared as she waited for her interview
with the Ministry.
To quell her nerves, she gazed through the wall of
glass separating the antechamber from the outside
world. It was a murky night, blanketed with low
clouds and light April showers.
Stretching out before her were the glittering lights
of a mountain town. At the north end, the hilltop
manors of Lirovin Square rose like Mount
Olympus. Nika stood only a few blocks down the
way, inside the Hall of Valentine-which had been
named after a former Daemonstri king and now
served as the formal courts and offices of the
Ministry. In the southern sector, the square fortress
of the Vigil's base dominated the scene.
This was headquarters, a nameless, unmarked
location on a map, the capital of North America's
Daemonstri populations. It was home to the
Ministers, the High Keeper, and a few thousand
Serafi and Nefili citizens, and all of it was hidden
by human governments in accordance witha
centuries-old treaty.
"Nika."
Jade's voice echoed through the marble foyer,
ripping her away from the window. She found her
roommate standing in the usual grungy attire, her
tan skin looking a little pale.
"It's your turn."
Nika glanced toward Elliot, who sat on a bench
near the grand doors to the assembly chamber.
Both he and Jade had been questioned by the
Ministry already.
"How was it?" Nika asked.
Jade shrugged. "So easy I was yawning my way
through it."
Nika rolled her eyes. Jade had been fidgeting like
an addict before she'd been summoned.
"Wish me luck," she said, approaching the doors.
"Wish me luck," she said, approaching the doors.
"I don't believe in luck."
It didn't matter if she had. No amount of good
fortune would bring ease to this interview.
Nika entered, instinctively craning her head to
admire enormous, vaulted ceilings with wooden
beams that streaked like dark stars across a white
sky. The Hall of Valentine was long and narrow,
with towering heights and glass windows.
Moonlight peaked through the clouds and
illuminated every shaded corner of the room.
Massive stone pillars lined the walls, curving along
the shape of the roof, and a glass chandelier
dangled from above, giving off a warm, orange
light that clashed with the silvery glow of the
moon.
As Nika's legs carried her forward, it felt like
swimming through the throat of a giant fish.
The witness chair was positioned in a pit-like
section at the center, surrounded by a dais with
thirteen imperial seats-six on the left, six on the
right, and one at the head. Each was occupied by a
Serafi member of the Daemonstri's governing
body.
On her left sat the purists, Elliot's father among
them, and on her right sat the equalist Ministers,
including Nika's own father.
The purist faction believed in the supreme rule of
Serafi over all populations, and advocated the
blood status ideals that had marked Nika as a
blight to society. They despised the idea of inter-
racial breeding, and as the daughter of a Serafi
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