Twell and the Rebellion by Kate O'Leary Read Free Book Online Page A

than provoke her, because her mouth twisted at the corners
and she hissed, “Maybe there’s still hope for you.”
    Before I could answer, she
turned away because a really bossy voice (yes, even bossier than
Mira’s) was interrupting. Standing before us on a raised platform
was a woman in uniform who captured my attention at once because
her body language defied me to do anything else. Darting, rust
coloured eyes scanned our faces as if daring anyone to interrupt
her. Her face was thin and sharp and her body slim yet sturdy. She
held herself as though an unbendable rod ran from her toes to the
crown of her head. Her ordinary brown hair was twisted into three
tight neat rolls at the nape of her neck and not even one measly
hair in any of those rolls was out of place.
    I sneaked a peek over my
shoulder at Mira who had come up beside me. Not to my surprise, she
was staring at the woman as though she was a heavenly being. Order
and discipline were Mira’s best friends, so of course she’d be
impressed by the formidable female officer, while I was already
planning how many different ways I could avoid her.
    “ I am Officer Maza. You
will report to me every day before morning meal and every evening
before sun-down.” Her voice was low, toneless, and as devoid of
emotion as her expression. If her demeanour was the example we were
supposed to follow, then I was seriously contemplating running
screaming into the desert already. There was no way I would or
could ever want to be that robotic.
    “To your left are the
training arenas where you will undertake the last of your training
regimes,” she continued, gesturing with her right arm to three huge
domes looming up to the right behind her. They looked like enormous
beeval bug cocoons, sandy coloured to blend into the deserts around
them and criss-crossed with a darker skeleton of framework that
held the structures together.
    “ To your right are the
female quarters, while the male quarters lie on the other side of
these domes. The meal hall is in the middle, as you can see.” She
pointed at a long rectangular building to the side of the domes.
“Ladies, you are forbidden to visit the male quarters, as are they
to yours. If we catch you fraternizing in this way, you will be
disciplined.”
    I groaned aloud until
Sazika elbowed me hard in the ribs. I jumped extra high for not
knowing she’d been there. Darn her powers. Maza’s sharp narrow eyes
immediately swooped over the heads of each cadet until they came to
land on me, her eyes locked onto mine. I froze, both shocked she’d
pinpointed the sound to me and that no one else was voicing their
protest. Did they not just
hear what she said?
    “ We understand you are all
a few moons away from your official partnering ceremony and that
you have the right to spend time with your partners should they be
here.” Maza gazed at me so hard while she spoke, I barely realized
I was holding my breath.
    “ You can spend meal times
with your partners, as well as free time in the evening. However,
we will be watching your behaviour, so I recommend you conduct
yourselves wisely during your interactions, unless you want them
restricted. We simply cannot afford the distraction of hormones at
a time like this.”
    It was ironic that last
year I’d been hoping the threat of war would bring the partnering
to a standstill. In fact, I’d almost been prepared to run away at
one point rather than face my obligations. Now here I was, working
out the distance from the male quarters to ours and wondering how I
was going to get around the rules. The idea of not being alone with
Jonaz for another three moons seemed unbearable.
    “ Please check your
organizers for your room number as well as your schedules,” Maza
clipped out to finish. “Make your way to your quarters now to
orientate yourselves and then report to the meal
quarters.”
    I tapped into my wristband in
time with every other cadet and only then did the silence break, a
murmuring hum