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“Rath!”
I call out for him, push my arm through the bars and try to grasp at him. He doesn’t even look at me. He is too busy being congratulated by all the other korabi warriors. I am left to rot in the rear, stuck with the burden of expected loyalty.
Seven
Humiliated
Lyric
My final journey ends outside the human quarter, deep in korabi territory. I have always known that Megaris is a city divided. There is the human perimeter, where my kind live and serve, suffer and die. Then there is the inner core, where the korabi rule in perfection, I assume. I had not given much thought to where the korabi live, it was always beyond my knowledge and therefore, interest. Out of sight, out of mind, I suppose. Though seeing what I am seeing, I have no idea how I ever failed to think about how the korabi must live.
No human is ever allowed inside the inner walls. Not even to serve. I might be the only person to ever be brought through the double gates. One set opens and we are swallowed up by a dark interior. Then another set of gates opens before us. Light streams in. Not the cold, cool shine of Megaris I am accustomed to, but a rich golden glow. A light rain mists the distant hills, creating a rainbow over the valley.
As we rise up the hill toward the royal residence I see what changes the light. The human quarter of Megaris, the place which has been my world for a lifetime, is covered by a series of shades which block the sun. How did I never notice the filtered light? The forest made it dapple, but here, in the korabi quarter there is an almost liquid, thick, viscous quality to the sun.
Over to my left rolling plains stretch out, grassed and dotted with a series of small and charming houselets. Every place has an area allotted to it, and each of those allotments has little korabi running about in it. I can only just see them at a distance. They look happy. They look innocent. They are completely aware of the human in the golden cage being dragged toward…
“What the fuzk…”
The idyllic country gives way to a construction which has none of the innocence or any of the beauty of the houses. The royal palace is beyond impressive. It is a many pronged construction made out of shining obsidian stone and ornamented with complex golden inlays over almost every surface. It is what a book might look like if it were manifested into existence, wearing its tales on its surface.
I think I’m losing my mind. I’m past fear and well into the real acceptance of whatever may be. I thought I might be able to escape, but there’s no escape. We hover along roads paved with precious metals and bordered by riotous growth of plants and flowers which are never permitted to grace the human quarter. All nature is forbidden to the people who serve the korabi. If those stuck in what they believe to be the most beautiful city in the world could take their augs from their eyes and see what real beauty is, there would be an instant rebellion.
We are moving through a commercial area now, buildings and wide sidewalks teaming with happy, smiling korabi citizens. Do they know what exists in the forever shade beneath their city? Do they care?
They barely seem to notice me, a naked human trapped inside a golden sphere. If this is Rath’s parade of triumph, it is an anticlimactic one. The korabi are not interested in humans. At all.
I end up slumped in the corner of the cage, hardly an interesting sight to behold even if they cared about beholding me. I am being given an opportunity to think for a second. Rath implored me to trust him right before he thrust me into this humiliating vehicle. Do I trust him? Computer says no.
We sweep past the commercial district and into what seems to me to be a royal complex. It is larger in area than seems necessary, and absolutely packed to the brim with muscular korabi males and females, all wearing various levels of armor. They are impressive, and I have never seen so many before. There must be hundreds of them. Maybe thousands.
I have never seen any more than a handful of korabi in one place before. This is overwhelming. Unlike the people buying things, these korabi look at me. They are interested in me. They cluster around the vehicle, keeping a safe distance, but undeniably staring at me. Most of them do not have Rath’s eye augmentations. They have a range of colors, both in skin, hair, and eye. But they are all massive and strong, and any single one of them could destroy me.
