There were a lot of them, regardless. The paintings seemed to wrap around the entire hallway.
I only wished thatwe’dhad such awesome paintings of our founders. We used to have a photo book, but it got destroyed thanks to a leak in the museum about sixty years ago, so I had never gotten to see their faces and neither had my parents. In the beginning, there had been only seventeen families who came to scope out the jungle and figure outthe most conducive place to settle. More joined them shortly after they proved that their concept of living in the trees and relying on nature was possible.
I got lost in a world of my own as I continued looking curiously at all the men and women, so much so that I failed to notice when my escort stopped and I walked right past him.
“Um, Ms. Lockwood,” he called.
I stopped and spun around, making my way back to where he stood in front of a grand mahogany door. A silver plaque was fixed to the center that read“Springs”in elegant lettering.
“This is your destination,” the man announced, then turned and headed back toward the elevator.
I took a step backward, hesitating. Everything about this area was just so… swanky. And the regal, mahogany door made me feel intimidated. I might be about to meet Anna’s family, if they were at home. Her father reallymustbe high up in their society to have his own turret, especially since there were only thirteen in total. I guessed it made him among the top thirteen most important people in the whole of Fairwell. As that thought sank in, I felt the urge to procrastinate even longer, but I pulled myself together. Glancing at the time on my e-ring, it was already 8:15 p.m.
I reached to press the small button above the smooth, silver door handle, and a chiming sound immediately rang out on the other side.
My heart thudded hard against my ribcage as I waited, and then I heard footsteps. A few seconds later, the door clicked and swung open, revealing Anna standing in the doorway, wearing a casual pair of white baggy pants and a loose green sweater. Her short brown hair was swept back in a purple headband. She smiled widely when she laid eyes on me.
“Welcome to my abode!” she said dramatically, then pulled the door open wider, allowing me to step inside.
I found myself in a small entryway with a tall shoe rack leaning against a pretty, light-gray exposed stone wall. In fact, the stone wall seemed to be prevalent throughout her home. There was a staircase immediately to my right whose walls were stone too, as were the steps, which were adorned with deep red carpeting. It reminded me of some kind of medieval castle, yet the lighting overhead was modern with dozens of spotlights fixed into the ceiling, which was painted a sheer white.
“If you don’t mind, please take off your boots,” she said, drawing my attention back to the towering shoe rack.
“Of course,” I replied. I pulled them off and placed them on the floor near the rack, as they were a little too tall to fit on the shelves, and it was already crowded with shoes. This family sure had a lot of shoes…
I followed her up the spiral staircase. A large, cathedral-shaped window quickly came into view, cut into the stone wall. When I reached it, I came to an abrupt stop.
Peering through the glass, I was met with a magnificent view of the other twelve turrets. The Springs’ turret was close to the edge of the fortress’s outer perimeter, from what I could tell, along with nine other turrets which, together, formed a rough circle. But it was the three other towers that drew my attention the most.
They were the tallest and closest to the center of the fortress, forming a triangle around the sturdy column that supported the glass weather observatory (which rose even higher).
Anna noticed me fall behind and retraced her steps, coming to stand next to me with a chuckle.
“View’s pretty awesome up here, huh?” she remarked.
“Yeah,” I replied, slightly breathless. “I guess these turrets are reserved for the most high-ranking officers ofFairwell?”
“Yes, you could say that,” she replied, her tone trying to come off as modest but failing—I could see the pride gleaming in her eyes. “They’re all the most high-ranking members of the Governors Board—Fairwell’s governing body.” She paused as she noticed my focus on the three tallest turrets, then added, “Those three are known as the C-Suite, by the way. Haas Turret, Willoughby Turret, and Burchard Turret.” She pointed to each of them as she spoke. “Named after the current three most important people on Fairwell.”
Burchard… I had seen a painting of a Burchard out in the hallway. And the name Willoughby also rang a bell. It was the name of Hayden’s island.
“And what do they all do, exactly?” I asked.
“In order of rank: Burchard is the COO—Chief Operations Officer. Willoughby is the CFO—Chief Financial Officer. And Haas is the CEO—Chief Executive Officer—which is basically like the President. The head honcho of this whole show.” She paused, wetting her lips thoughtfully as she gazed out at the tallest turret. “That position has been held by his family since the very beginning of Fairwell.”
I frowned. “How so? Do you not have a democratic government, where leaders are elected and changed occasionally?” I knew about different types of Old World governments from the history classes my grandmother had given me.
“Well, as I’m pretty sure I explained to you earlier, rank on Fairwell is based on the number of coins in your account. The harder you work, the higher you climb. Judging a person by monetary value may seem crass, but it’s an effective means for proving strength of character, motivation and ability. Admittedly, in the Haas’s case, as with most of the officials living in these turrets, their wealth has been largely inherited. The Haas were the richest when they arrived—multi billionaires of the Old World… and they have remained so over the centuries.”
I blinked. “So, you’re saying that all a person has to do is be lucky enough to inherit a bunch of coins from his or her parents, and suddenly he or she is fit to rule?”
She smiled. “Oh, no, that’s not how it works at all. The personmustbe fit, of course. The balance in one’s account pushes one to the top, but they must also be fully capable of acting in that capacity… which the current Haas in power certainly is. Mr. Jacob Haas is whip-smart and an incredible visionary. An incredible human being all around, honestly. I’ve talked to him personally many times, and from the attention he gives you, and the focus he puts into your conversation, you’d think you were the only person in the world at that moment in time. He somehow always manages to make time for his team even though his schedule is ridiculously busy.
“If he was anything but incredible, the Governors Board holds the power to boot him out, subject to a judicial review of any alleged discrepancies and insufficiencies. Over the years, many such attempts have been made to remove the family from power, but criticism has never held up to scrutiny.
“The Haas train their kin well, you see… and I’m guessing they’ll be in power for a long time to come. Which wouldn’t be a bad thing, honestly, as they’ve helped us thrive for centuries. They’ve led us to where we are today.”
I blew out slowly as Anna trailed off, trying to wrap my head around the concept. The idea of this monetary ranking system still didn’t sit well with me, even though I was relieved to know that the person actually did have to be qualified to lead.
