Betrothed Episode One Read Online Free Page A

an Illuminate,” he
spoke through bared teeth now, and he gestured to the purple pin on
his breast.
    I looked
at it, then looked at him nonplussed. “Oh,” I managed, “what’s an
Illuminate?” Again, I should have kept my stupid mouth shut, but my
lips wouldn’t oblige.
    He
either looked like he wanted to kill me or he’d seen the most
curious thing in the universe, I wasn’t sure; this guy was hard to
read. The only emotion I could pick up was arrogance. And in that
second, he turned it on full bore.
    He
looked me up and down, his gaze not exactly flattering. “Where have
you been that you do not know what an Illuminate is and how to
treat them properly?”
    “ I’m a newfound one,” I stuttered.
    “ ... I see. Well, here is a lesson you shouldn’t forget,
newfound one, if you see this pip,” he pointed to the relatively
plain looking brooch, “you move. No questions, no attitude,” he
hissed. Then he brushed past me.
    Attitude? He was the one accusing me of having attitude? He
was the greatest bully I’d ever met!
    Still, I
shuffled backwards, mortified, not by him but by the way everyone
else looked at me. It was as if I’d committed the greatest faux pas
this side of spitting in the Queen’s soup.
    As the
Illuminate walked away, he tipped his regal head back and didn’t
once look my way. I was worse than insignificant to him: I was
non-existent.
    I
blinked quickly and turned, taking a calming breath as I tried not
to look at the accusatory glances around me.
    Sometimes I thought this future was incredible – modern in
every way imaginable. From faster-than-light travel, to planets
tethered together – they’d managed to achieve so much.
    And then
I was brought right back down to Earth. For all this incredible
universe’s achievements, it was still riddled with outdated
traditions. From royalty to whatever the hell that Illuminate guy
was, there was still class inequity. Even in my day back on 21st
century Earth we’d been trying to make that a thing of the
past.
    As I
looked around me, I realized how entrenched it was in the
future.
    Far
ahead, the Illuminate strode, his head tilted back as he didn’t
even bother to acknowledge the people shuffling out of his
way.
    What a
jerk. Everyone else here may not be able to see that, but I could.
I didn’t care what this guy did, but no one earned the right to
treat people like that.
    I stowed
my mutinous thoughts as the lines reformed. It didn’t happen right
away, though – everyone waited until the Illuminate was far out of
sight, his polished boots echoing down the enormously long
corridor.
    When the
lines did reform, I was shunted to the back. Various aliens kept
shooting me accusatory glares, as if I’d killed their puppies or
something.
    I meekly
took my place at the end of the line, waiting around until some new
people joined it who hadn’t been around to see my apparent social
transgression.
    As I
stood there at the end of the new line, I stewed. I entertained
every unkind thought about that jerk I could, then I moved on to
how much I hated this universe.
    If only
I’d never contracted that virus 400 years ago, I wouldn’t be here
now. I would have lived out my existence in the 21st century. I
would have had a great life, I’m sure. Better than this,
anyway.
    Eventually, after what felt like half a day, I reached the
front of the line. The single clerk who sat behind an enormous
polished wood desk barely looked up at me.
    I had to
shout to be heard.
    “ Place your hand on the bio scanner,” the alien woman
snapped.
    I did as
I was told.
    A few
seconds later she brought up one of her twenty arms and pointed
down one of the twenty corridors branching off from behind her
desk.
    “ Ah,” I began.
    “ That way,” she snapped, then leaned past me to wave on the
next person in the queue.
    I stood around for a little, unsure of what to do, but when
everyone continued to ignore me, I shuffled towards the hall she’d
pointed