“You must get up, miss!” Hanna said, trying to tug back the covers. I resisted her efforts, pulling the duvet up around my shoulders. “Mr. Thorn is waiting for you downstairs. He wants you to get ready for an important outing.”
“I’m not interested in any of his outings,” I grumbled. “You can tell him I’m not going anywhere. Say I’m sick or something.” Hanna shook her head vigorously.
“He was very explicit, miss. He even gave instructions as to what you should wear.”
Hanna lifted a shiny, flat white box sitting on the floor beside the bed and placed it on my lap. I tore off the gold bow and waded impatiently through the layers of tissue paper before lifting out a garment unlike any I had hanging in my closet. Hanna gasped in admiration when she saw it. It was a vivid cherry-colored gown made of the softest crushed velvet. With its dramatic bell sleeves and brocade armbands, it was something you might imagine the Lady of Shalott wearing. With it came a delicate belt made of rings of beaten brass.
“It’s beautiful,” breathed Hanna, momentarily forgetting where it had come from. I wasn’t so easily seduced.
“What’s Jake up to now?”
“It’s for the parade,” Hanna said. She dropped her gaze and I had the distinct feeling she was holding out on me. I folded my arms and gave her a questioning look.
“The prince wishes to present you to the people today,” she finally revealed.
“What people?” I rolled my eyes. “This isn’t some medieval kingdom.”
“His people,” Hanna explained quietly.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”
“Because I knew you would get upset. This is an important event; you cannot refuse.”
I hunkered down determinedly under the covers. “We’ll see about that.”
“Don’t be foolish, miss.” Hanna leaned toward me earnestly.
“If you don’t go willingly he will drag you there himself. Today means a lot to him.”
I looked at Hanna and saw how fearful she was of Jake’s wishes being defied. She’d be horrified if she knew about the trip to the Wasteland. As always it made me wonder what the consequence of my noncompliance might be. No doubt Hanna would be held accountable. My resolve faltered and I threw off the covers, climbed out of bed, and dragged myself into the shower. When I emerged, I saw that Hanna had made up the bed and carefully laid out the gown along with the black satin shoes that went with it.
“He doesn’t really expect me to wear that?” I asked. “It’s not a costume party, is it?”
Hanna ignored me. Her eyes were still darting nervously toward the door as she hastily helped me into the dress and hooked it up at the back. Despite being made of velvet it felt as delicate and weightless as a second skin. Hanna made me sit while she tugged at my hair to create elaborate side braids, deftly weaving satin ribbons through them, before lightly dusting powder on my face and midnight blue eye shadow on my lids.
“I look ridiculous,” I said irritably, examining myself in the cheval mirror.
“Nonsense,” Hanna replied briskly. “You look like a queen.” I didn’t want to leave my hotel suite to participate in what promised to be another one of Jake’s garish events. My room was the only place where I felt halfway comfortable and secure, but a jittery Hanna took me by the arm and ushered me out the door.
In the lobby there was a small party waiting for us, most of whom I recognized from the night of the banquet. When I stepped out of the glass elevator, the cluster of people waiting fell suddenly silent as they examined me. I looked around for Tucker but couldn’t find him. Jake, who had been pacing agitatedly up and down the lobby, came toward me looking relieved and approving at the same time. He shot Hanna a vicious look, no doubt blaming her for our delayed arrival.
Jake took my hands and held them up in order to take in my appearance. A smile of appreciation lightened the usual surliness of his face.
“Perfect,” he murmured. I made no move to acknowledge his compliment. Jake himself was dressed so formally in his gloves and tailcoat he could have belonged to an eighteenth century portrait. His hair was immaculately tied back and his coal black eyes were alight.
“No biker jacket today?” I asked drily.
“We must choose our fashion to match the occasion,” he replied amicably. He was relaxed again now that I’d made my appearance. “You forget how much of the world I’ve seen. I can pick and choose my fashion choices from the last two thousand years, but I find anything preceding the last century to be a little dated.”
I spotted Asia in the lobby throwing me toxic looks. She was wearing a slinky copper gown with a plunging neckline and slits that reached the tops of her toned thighs. Her pearly lips shone like mirrors as she sidled up to Jake wearing a sulky pout.
“It’s time we got going,” she said. “You ready, Princess?” I knew she wouldn’t rat us out to Jake for fear of exposing herself, but it still made my skin prickle uncomfortably when she addressed me directly.
A pink convertible limo was waiting for us outside. The driver got out and robotically opened the doors for us. When we were seated, Jake said something to him in a language I didn’t understand and he started the engine.
We drove until we came out onto an open road. It was the first time Jake had voluntarily let me venture outside the underground tunnels. At first all I saw was a scarlet sky, lit by ferocious reams of fire. A seething mass crawled across it, marring the horizon. It seemed almost alive, twitching and writhing, until I realized it wasn’t a shadow like I thought, but a swarm of locusts. I’d never seen anything like it before. We drove as if in slow motion, steam rising from the pavement. After what seemed an eternity the car finally turned onto a road, flanked by the charred ruins of various vehicles. It was a desolate landscape that called to mind the setting of a sci-fi movie, where the hero finds himself forced to survive the aftermath of a nuclear war.
I couldn’t say for certain where we were. Other than my brief and botched excursion into the Wasteland, I had never been beyond the tunnels. I was puzzling over our location when through the haze I started to make out bedraggled figures lining the road. Then I saw the crowd — hundreds, thousands of them — waiting for us, enveloped in smoke and ash. A sea of faces turned expectantly toward us, searching for something. They stared with vacant eyes and waited. What were they waiting for, I wondered. Some kind of sign or signal, but of what? I noticed they must have been wearing the exact same clothes they’d died in. Some wore hospital gowns or shirts smattered with blood and dirt. Others were well dressed in business suits or evening gowns, but they all shared that withered, vacant look of the walking dead.
Within seconds the crowd came to life and began jostling one another for a better vantage point. Their sunken eyes watched me with a burning curiosity. As if in response to an unseen cue, they began cheering and clapping, reaching out to us with skeletal limbs. I shrank back in fear, for once thankful that Jake was with me. Though I resented him and knew this hideous parade was his doing, I found myself drawing closer to him. Ironically, he was the closest thing I had to a security blanket in this place and right then his presence was the only thing keeping me sane.