Page 64 of A Dead Man's B-Side
After a moment of silence, he clapped his hands, and the sound made a few of us flinch, myself included. “Now, if you all are done with the third degree, I have a few things to get through.”
He cleared his throat and got comfortable, leaning back against his armchair and taking a deep breath before starting, “The Founder’s Society dates back centuries. Maybe not so specifically under the structure of Castle Hill, but it existed under different names and different times. Throughout the years, one axiom was formed. It is indisputable and foundational.
“Think of it as a guideline of sorts. Nosce Teipsum. It translates from Latin to ‘know thyself’. If you do not look within and understand your own nature, you are an incomplete being. The reason I’m telling you this is because Castle Hill is and has always been an engineered networking pool that has, for generations, groomed heirs to preserve their bloodlines and their legacies. The Founder’s Society simply… filters the best. Of course, before you, the board appointed their own heirs, biasedly considering them the best, but things have changed. Despite that, the velvet rope separating you seven from the rest of Castle Hill is this very Society.”
He looked to each and every one of us, giving us all a second of eye contact before diverting his attention to the next, “The reason why this is important is because your first official business as representatives of the Founder’s society, assuming your last task was completed, will begin soon, once I’ve hashed out all the details. If you can complete the task as a group with excellence, only then, willI begin teaching you what the Founder’s Society has to offer. Applying the advice I’ve just given you to all future scenarios, in the literal sense, is crucial. I will be assuming any rivalries or conflict among you have been hashed out.” For a barely-there moment, I glanced at Rain, and she did the same; our eyes met, there and gone. “From this point forward, you move as one entity.
“Your education is secondary. Because the board does not concern itself with test scores. Whether you have what it takes to negotiate, manage assets, pick up multilingual fluency, and perfect etiquette. Because power, true power, does not prove worthy at a desk. It does so when you are willing to do whatever it takes to get it. That is, after all, what separates the closing of a textbook and the closing of a deal.”
When no one protested, Thaddeus’s eyes turned dark as he leaned forward in his seat, suddenly more invested in his own words. “I will only say this once, and it is something I cannot stress enough. You are all responsible for each other.” The room was silent, the heaviness of his words settling on all of us.
If Rain was taking his words seriously, she would forget the target practice she was seeing Marigold to be.
A fleeting thought passed through my mind. I watched Marigold as she knotted her fingers through the holes in her sweater over her uniform and wondered if what I’d done was the right thing.
Well, no, that would be hypocritical. If it was the safest thing, more like.
In favour of my own interests, always in favour of my owninterests.
Rain wouldn’t move against Marigold after Thaddeus’ words, nor would she move against me. But after our deal, I hoped I had gained enough of her attention.
The Founder’s Society was about wit, cunning. We were an unlikely crew, a fractured circle, but there was bound to be a mental hierarchy, and although I didn’t prefer to be at the tippy top, I also didn’t like the idea of being looked down upon.
“Do you understand what I am saying to you all?” Thaddeus’ voice pulled me back to the scene in front of me.
We nodded.
And he began hislesson.
My shoulder was beginning to ache about a half-hour in, and my mind along with it.
I always knew the world was a corrupt place that catered more to those causing it harm than good. But hearing the words coming from one of its very sources was placing my conscience on a balance scale.
To hate this world and all that it stood for. To stand with the grassroots that slaved away at the foundation of every industry just to survive.
I shifted a little when Thaddeus spoke about the financial benefits of creating wars and the opportunities for shifting powers intheirfavour as if he were reading it off the morning paper, trying to hide my discomfort. Like a hypocrite sitting among the faithful.
The other side wanted to close that door and let the hungerfor power absorb me. Change me until I fit in. Until I could wash away the scent of my youth, sewer heat and cold sweats. Why couldn’t I take the opportunity that was given to me when the world never offered otherwise?
At the end, Thaddeus paused, sighed, and stood, walking towards Ajax and holding his hand out. The boy seemed to understand and pulled out the vial we all knew was filled with someone’s blood out of his jacket pocket, placing it carefully upon Thaddeus’s awaiting palm.
The older man didn’t pause to inspect it, only moving down to August. “You all are now under my guidance. And the only advice I would prefer you keep at the top of your list of priorities is to rely on each other.” August followed Ajax’s actions, and when Thaddeus moved to Wolf, he spoke again, “You are extended pillars of the board, and if one crumbles, the rest will soon follow.”
For reasons he never divulged, whether it was cold feet or caution, Wolf hesitated. Rain tightened her fist, her thumb pressing into the side of her closed hand as she watched him.
In the end, Wolf pulled out the vial tucked in the inside pocket of his uniform jacket, placing it onto Thaddeus’ palm.
As he came around to collect our completed work, Thaddeus didn’t approach me, and for a moment I wondered if my position was in jeopardy.
It was funny, really. I hadn’t wanted to accept the invitation, but as Thaddeus overlooked me, a hunger for his attention, for a place in the Founder’s Society, bit at my gut.
Why isn’t he collecting my vial?
Did I already fail?
At what? How?
Anxiety filled me and I wasn’t able to focus on his words, the familiar fear I’d grown up with nipping at me. My fingers itched to pull at something. To knot my fingers into my sleeves.
