Page 4 of Sparktopia
When we leave Finn’s quarters and I go one way while he goes the other, I can’t entirely suppress the feeling of being set loose. Of being untethered and adrift.
Like he’s my everything. And he is. He’s my anchor to this world. His is the only family I have left. Yes, I have friends, but family is something different.
I take one more look over my shoulder and smile when I find Finn looking over his shoulder taking one more look at me. Then he winks, looks forward again, and walks up the stairs that lead to the heart of the Extraction District.
A moment later he has disappeared around a corner and another long sigh leaves me. But I gather up the skirts of my gown and head towards the bridge that will take me across the cyan-blue canal and deposit me into the Maiden District where my duties as Maiden-in-Waiting number nine await.
I resist the urge to stop in the middle of the bridge to enjoy the view. It’s late afternoon now and I’ve always liked the way the light bounces off the tower and shimmers across the canal at this time of day. But the smooth, sandy beach awaiting me on the other side of the canal is a whole other temptation. One I don’t have the strength to fight.
Once in the sand I kick off my slippers and carry them as I walk parallel to the flagstone pavers that lead into the Maiden District.
Even after ten years, sinking my toes into the sand on my way home every evening is a luxury I don’t take for granted. There are other beaches in Tau City, of course, since there are miles of canals winding through the districts. But none of them are like the one reserved especially for the Maidens. It’s groomed twice a day and the sand is so white it sparkles.
Another ache fills my heart when I have to step back on to the rocks and leave the water behind. Which is silly. I’ve lost nothing. There is no reason for the ache.
But logic doesn’t seem to apply when it comes to matters of the heart. Finn and I are soulmates, but so far, we’ve been denied our full love. And even though we’ve managed to sustain our attraction and longing over the past ten years, I feel like there is always a limit. That even the love of soulmates can wobble when the star-crossing goes on for too long.
Three more months, Clara. That’s it. Just three more months and the stars will align instead of cross.
Hopping on one foot, then the other, I put my slippers back on as I approach the Maiden gate. I am waved through with a nod by a guard and then hurriedly make my way through the entrance and towards the stairs that will take me up into our tower.
Haryet Chettle—Maiden number eight—and Gemna Hatley—Maiden number ten—also live in the upper levels with me. On floors eight and ten, respectively, because those are their numbers. Imogen Gibson was Spark Maiden number one in our group. She went into the tower on Extraction Day itself, of course. The leftover nine all came to live here and this is where we’ve been ever since.
Each Spark Maiden gets her own floor filled with rooms. All kinds of rooms. Dining rooms, and dressing rooms, and bathrooms, and bedrooms, and entertaining rooms. In the first year, every floor had a different party going on in the evenings, some loud and exciting with lots of drinking, others calm and meant for dining and stimulating conversation.
But the parties ended years ago now. After Lucy Fisher, Spark Maiden number four, was Extracted. That’s when it kinda hit home that something was wrong in that god’s tower.
Haryet, Gemna, and I still live up on our assigned floors at the top. It didn’t even occur to us that we might move down. Or maybe it did and we just didn’t want to tempt fate by lowering our numbers, even in this small, silly way.
We have been best friends for ten years now. Not a single night has gone by since we moved into the Maiden Tower that we didn’t say goodnight to each other. It’s crazy how much time I’ve spent with these two women and I’m not gonna lie, I think I will be a little lost without them once I move in with Finn.
Though it will be the good kind of lost. The kind that comes with brand-new beginnings.
The other Maidens who came before us are gone, of course. We are the last ones left after all that crazy bell-ringing in the middle of the night. This is how our god in the tower lets us know that for whatever reason, he needs another Maiden to keep the Spark flowing through Tau City.
So all the floors below us are empty now. And since the communal rooms are so massive, and the ceilings so high, even the soft steps of my slippers are enough to cause an echo all around me as I climb the stairs.
I hate the silence, but it’s as if the god himself is listening to my thoughts, because suddenly there is a commotion of noise coming towards me from a hallway.
I pause, not understanding what this commotion might mean. But then feel foolish as a large group of Spark Maiden wannabes comes into the living space. At this stage of the Choosing we call them Little Sisters and they are bright, and young, and excited because regardless of what kind of luxury they grew up in, the Maiden Tower is a whole new definition of extravagance. They all want to be here to experience it.
Almost everything in the Maiden Tower is decorated in the same color palette—cream and other light-colored neutrals, with just a little touch of sun-faded blue sprinkled about. The dormitory, where these Little Sisters will spend the rest of the Choosing time, is the only exception to this scheme because the color palette is reversed. Everything is blue in their dorm with just little touches of the neutrals that dominate here. Blue is how they segregate ‘them’ from ‘us.’ Because blue is the color of spark and as Little Sisters, they have not yet perfected the spark inside them.
As a Maiden, however, I could light up the night if I want to.
Not as spectacularly as Spark Maidens with lower numbers, of course. Being number nine means that while my spark display was definitely better than most during our group’s final Choosing, it was nowhere close to the fireworks Imogen Gibson could set off with her performance.
All these Little Sisters are wearing blue day dresses, mostly long ones woven out of linen, and each of them have a little accent scarf or a belt made of leather as an accessory. Dressmaking is considered a desirable skill for those wanting to be Spark Maidens. So all these girls made these dresses with their own hands. In fact, they are probably wearing their finest work since it’s the very first Choosing, and therefore, the very first time they are on public display.
Tonight is their first gala and they are practically bursting with excitement. Some of them are even displaying tiny bits ofspark, mostly as static in their hair or a miniscule glint of light in their eyes. But it really is just tiny bits because they are probably trying to hold it in. Tonight, at the gala, they will light themselves up for the very first time—at least in public. And no one wants to give away what they have planned to astonish Finn’s father, Aldo, the Extraction Master.
Spark display is the number one criterion for being Chosen as a Maiden and my time at the first gala is probably my fondest memory of this whole journey.
Compared to most of my fellow Maidens, my spark is rather limited. And back then, as a Little Sister, it was only in my fingertips. But that night, during the first gala, I managed to make spark drawings in the air with my blue light. I drew stupid things—hearts, and simple flowers, and arrows. But no one had ever done that before. Yes, it was basic—especially compared to Imogen, who actually blew a bubble of blue light around her entire body and floated up in the air for six whole seconds—but it was also surprising, so it made people gasp with delight and clap their hands with laughter.
It made them happy. I was the girl who made them happy.
“Ladies, simmer down and please stay in a triple line!” The Matron in charge of the Little Sisters calls this out as she claps her hands. She’s an older woman who isn’t around much, so her name escapes me at the moment. Sometimes, when a Maiden’s duty is over, she joins the Order and becomes a Matron. Their job is to train up the Pledges and keep the Little Sisters in line. This one’s tone becomes sharper when a group in back takes too long to form up. “Do I need to remind you that you’re being judged on this?” Though I can’t see the Matron’s face, I can almost hear the raised eyebrow.
