Chapter 2: A Simple Difference in Opinion

Valene 

When the school day ended, I was glad that Harlyn had decided to go home for the day. It was a school night after all, though it was Thursday-a day everyone seemed to consider synonymous with Friday. Especially Harly. 

To me, the days blended into one another like an artist would their paints to create the perfect color that would perfectly mesh with the thoughts they were trying to convey on canvas.

Perhaps that was the wrong example to compare me to. Artists were free to release whatever imaginative creativity they saw fit. I was no artist, and I was nowhere near as free. 

There wasn’t very much freedom for a vassal, and while I was not to be considered the same as the rest, my role was essentially the same as the others. There were one or two freedoms allowed to me that no other knew about outside of Master Wade and Harlyn. Master Wade made it a point to try and make me feel as…free as he possibly could without anyone else noticing it. The need for no one to figure it out was the reason as to why a lot of my freedom was placed into effect at night. Was I bothered by this? Maybe I should have been, but…I wasn’t. Having freedom at all was a generous gift in itself for someone like me, and as a vassal, I took whatever liberties were offered to me with no complaints.

On this day, in particular, I took solace in my room, located down in the basement where most Vassals’ rooms were usually found. 

While it may have been seen as a form of…neglect? Or…exclusion, I quite liked the solitude of being away from everything else in my downtime. Being a human serf was not a simple role in the society of Inhumans. If I were being honest, I did not much understand those who willingly decided to become one. 

As vassals, our whole lot in life was to place ourselves at the feet of our Keepers. Anything that would cost them their well-being, we were to oblige ours in their place, whether it was to taste their food to make sure that it wasn’t poisoned, be the food, or stand in the line of fire whenever their lives were on the line.

Inhumans possessed natural abilities of self-healing, so naturally, one would find it asinine to jump in the way of a bullet. Right? Well, it was quite obvious that most inhumans didn’t think so. In their minds, if you chose not to take the bullet, you thought that your life was more important than theirs. Then you’d take an even harsher punishment than the bullet meant for them once they recovered. There were times that a bullet actually killed an inhuman, and in those rare times, it was because that bullet was laced with a poison that could kill them. When that happened, the vassal’s life was automatically forfeited for not protecting their Keeper. This was the only logic that I could find in their ideals on the matter of us jumping in front of harm’s way for them. 

I’m sure that if anyone knew the full risks that this life entailed, they’d probably think twice about it. For those of us born to the life, however, well…there was nothing else but to make do with the life given to us. We knew nothing else outside of the inhumans, and being thrown into a world without them could be crippling. I’ve seen the damage done to a human serf abandoned by their Keeper. It wasn’t pretty.

I was fortunate, however, that my life as a vassal wasn’t nearly as bad as those surrounding me.

I’d been at the Delta and Beta’s homes, and their vassals were always on the tails of their Keepers, afraid that one step out of place would mean their hide. The beta was not so bad. The beta had always been kind to me as far back as I could remember; I chalked it up to him being by my Master’s side on the day that I was adopted.  He was kind to his humans for the most part, but he was still far more strict than my Master was with me, although I dared not use his leniency as an excuse to be lax in my role as a vassal. 

I leaned back in my large bed, pulling myself away from the ups and downs of my role in life, and refocused my gaze on the book that I was once reading and the box of Ho-Hos I was working on. Then, I felt it, another presence. I looked up at my door, but no one was there. Harlyn was the only one home at the moment, and I could usually hear her voice before she arrived. So, it wasn’t her.

Thinking that I may have been hearing things, I returned my attention to the thick novel that I was reading. Then suddenly I heard a sound from outside of my window. Again, I paused, then I turned around and peeked out of my curtain. A forest of trees was not even a yard off from my window, and the trees were thick, so there was very little that could be seen, and that was saying something as I had perfect vision.

“Vali.” I heard Harlyn calling my name in a sing-song voice. Part of me tried to pull away from my paranoid thoughts, but a greater feeling forced me to keep watch outside my window anxiously. Through the reflection, I saw her peeking her head past my door frame and into my room, but I was too distracted to regard her at the moment. 

“Yea?” I finally replied. When I saw that there was no one there, I settled back into my spot, a little more flustered than I was before. I unwrapped another chocolate, creme-filled treat and bit into it to settle my nerves a little.

“Hearing things again?” She asked with amusement. 

I half-chuckled and shrugged. “I guess,” I said and returned my gaze to the pages of my novel.

Ever since I was a child, I thought I’d caught a glimpse of something or heard a noise behind me. There was never anything to be found whenever I brought it to my Master’s attention. After a while, I had just stopped saying anything about it. It had become the norm for me over the years, though admittedly, at times when the feeling was a little too loud to ignore, I’d become anxious. This was one of those times. I always felt like someone or something was watching me.

When I pushed my paranoia to the back of my mind, I realized that Harlyn had not said another word since she entered my room. I lifted my gaze haphazardly towards the girl that I’d always considered a little sister in some ways and serviced her with a small smile. “Hi,” I said, breaking the silence between us..

“Found another box of sweet treats, I see.” She grinned. “After a while, you’ll look like a Ho-Ho.”

I chuckled sarcastically and lazily lifted the novel. “Sweets go well with a  bit of light reading,” I replied.

“Light reading?” Harlyn incredulously replied as she hopped onto my queen canopy bed. “That book is as big as your head.” She teased in her petite English accent.

With a lighthearted laugh, I marked my page and closed my book. Sitting up on the bed with my legs folded beneath me, I gave Harlyn my full attention-well most of my attention. The other part was focused on the rest of my chocolate cake treat.

“What’s up?” I asked. She was reluctant to speak, and suddenly I realized why, but I did not verbally assume. “Is everything alright?” 

“Yeah! Sure!” She said a little more chipper than she probably should have if her goal was to try and convince me that she was alright. “Only…” She added. “So, Talon may have mentioned to me that…I may have been harsh with my comment earlier,” 

I let her statement linger in the air. I knew exactly what comment Harlyn was referring to, but I certainly wasn’t going to make it easy for her. This was one rare moment where she’d actually think enough of me to apologize. I wanted to relish every second of it. Naughty little me.

“Comment? I haven’t the slightest idea what you mean,” said I with a touch of sarcasm. 

“Oh, stop that, Vali!” Harlyn nudged me. “I know you’re being sardonic.” She impatiently retorted. 

I gave her an amused expression before picking my book back up. Maybe I could split my attention between her and this novel; the book was getting quite good after all. “I’m still listening,” I reassured her.

Harlyn cut her eyes. “About what I said earlier…of course, you know that you are the exemption.” She said to me,

My gaze slid up to her. “Exempt? From what?” I asked. 

“Not being completely useless.” She said.

I laughed, knowing this was the completion of an apology in Harlyn’s eyes. “I wasn’t aware that you called us humans completely useless,” I said. “I thought we just thought a lot of ourselves.”

“Well, yeah, that too.” Harlyn shrugged. When she saw the amused expression on my face, she chuckled and playfully hit my leg. “You know you’re my favorite human.” 

“Well, I appreciate that,” I replied, putting my book away again. I knew I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on it while Harlyn was around. So, while she was there, I thought I’d, in turn, thank her. “I appreciate you sticking up for me today,” I said.

“What-you mean with Penelope?” Harlyn scoffed and grimaced. “Don’t thank me for that. Any Keeper worth anything would take up-”

“No…they wouldn’t,” I interjected. “Humans are simply not worth being stood up for. You know that, Harlyn.” She sighed. “So…thank you for thinking enough of me to do so.” 

She smiled. “Always. I’ll always be there for you, Vali.” She grinned. “You are a human, after all. I have to protect the weak.” She teased.

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.” I returned. “Did da-” I’d have to catch myself often when it came to referring to Master Wade. The man had raised me as his for over half my life. Sometimes it was hard to not call him dad. “Did you speak to your dad about the party?”

“Yes.” She answered. “He said we’d talk more about the specifics when he returns home this evening.” 

I nodded. “Cool.” 

“Meanwhile, what are you going to do for your anniversary?” She asked me. “I know that you have something in mind.” 

Honestly, I wasn’t sure that my anniversary, as they called it, would be worth celebrating. “No, actually. I don’t have anything in mind.” 

“Surely, you must have something.” Harlyn pressed. I didn’t understand why she cared whether I wanted to celebrate my anniversary or not. It wasn’t like she seemed to care about the day in question on any other occasion. 

I loved my adopted sister, but…sometimes I got the feeling that she really didn’t like me as much as she said. Or at least her like for me was heavily stipulated; that stipulation being that as long as I was in the shadows “where I belonged,” she could tolerate my existence.

As oxymoronic as it may seem, I did not question her love for me, regardless of her superficial attitude concerning attention. Attention, hm, it dawned on me after this thought that…maybe that was the reason behind her curiosity about my plans. 

Maybe she didn’t want me to one-up her. That thought in itself was laughable, considering my role in life.  I was not allowed nearly as much freedom as Harlyn was; as such, it would have been virtually impossible for me to one-up her on anything. So, maybe that wasn’t why she asked…maybe she really did care. As sad as it may have seemed, I didn’t know one way or the other, which, in part, was why I kept my confusing thoughts to myself.

“Truly, I don’t.” I finally replied. “There’s nothing that I really am in the mood for, so-”

 “Not even going to a cabin with the family and friends that you care about?” 

When she said this, my eyes shifted from my book to her greenish-brown gaze. I couldn’t tell whether she was heckling me or not. “Not even that,” I said, brushing off my curious thoughts along with her question. “Realistically, I have no friends, and you needed an idea,” I said. “So, I gave you one.” 

“Right, sure you did.” Harlyn hardly believed me, and it was evident through the sarcasm in her words. “Well, you’re always welcome to come with,” she said as if I’d had a choice in the matter anyway. Although Alastair Wade was technically my Master, Harlyn seemed to frequently get her way when it came to having me to herself. Sometimes I felt like a little toy doll being tugged in either direction. 

I loved Harlyn, but when it all boiled down to it, I preferred to be Alastair’s vassal. Things were far less complicated with him. I followed him around as a servant, did as he asked, and then I was dismissed so that I could tend to my own devices. With Harlyn, I never knew what she’d have in store for the day. That sort of lifestyle would probably have been exciting for any other vassal, but with me, simplicity was key to my peace of mind.

“You know that Talon will be there, and his vassal is the talk of the human town.” She grinned.

I scoffed. “Is that so?” I replied with noticeable sarcasm.

“Oh, come on, Vali!” Harlyn dramatically countered. “I’m inhuman, and even I’ve thought about jumping his human bone!” She laughed. “You know it's rumored that a few felines have tasted that human steak, and it was not disappointing.”

Talon’s Vassal was extremely attractive, yes, and other she-wolves may have tested the ride. Harlyn actually messing around with him, however,  was something that I could hardly wrap my head around. Although I loved Harlyn dearly and dared to think that she cared for me as well, even I was well aware of her slight superiority complex when it came to humans versus Inhumans. So naturally, when she said this, I chuckled.

“Surely you, being a human, would feel the same.” 

My response was utter disinterest, I shook my head and turned my attention to my novel once again. “It may surprise you to learn that I don’t feel the same.” 

I could tell that Harlyn didn’t like my answer. “Well, I think you should talk to him! I think that you both would make nice human vassal babies.”

“Thanks, but no thanks.” immediately, I declined the idea. There was something about her wording that rubbed me the wrong way, but I didn’t let her know that.

“Why?” She asked.

“Because,” I said. “While Toby may be attractive, I am not attracted to him.” my answer was followed by a shrug. “He’s just not-” 

“Good enough?” Harlyn finished my sentence but not with the words that I was going to use. 

“I was going to say…he’s not my type, but then again, if he’s been ran through as much as you say, I daresay that I could do better.” I teased. “Maybe I-”

“Tell me, Vali,” Harlyn interjected. She was famous for that. “Do you think that there’s any human good enough for you?”

To be frank, I assumed that she was combating me with teasing, so again, I responded with an amused expression and simply shook my head again. Not because I thought that no human was good enough for me, however. It seemed that maybe she may have assumed that this was what I meant.

“Would you date an Inhuman?” 

This question surprised me. My eyes darted up at her. “I never thought about it, to be honest.”

“But you would…” she asked. “Think about it?”

I didn’t know how to answer that question if I were being honest with myself. The idea of an Inhuman and me; I was sure that it wouldn’t be the most successful relationship. Either way, I was not quick enough to answer the question as Harlyn shot out another.

“Do you think you’re good enough for one?” 

“Harlyn, I-”

“To think that you’re good enough for an Inhuman is to think that you are better than a human.” This was her logic, and I was not going to argue about it. “I find a human attractive that you don’t. Do you think that you are better than me then, Valene?” 

Valene, I should have caught that playtime was over the moment she called me by my birth-given name. I chuckled at first and returned my eyes to my story; I simply could not believe that she’d have me answer that question. There was no way that I should have had to. But apparently, I did.

A deafening silence followed, and I looked up to see that she was staring at me blankly…waiting for my answer. 

“You can’t be serious!” I tried to laugh it off, but still, Harlyn sat there with an unnervingly stoic expression on her face. It was then that I stopped laughing. “Harlyn…I…are you serious?”

“Do you…think…that you are better than me?” She asked again.

“Wh-no! No, no! No, of course not, Harlyn! You know-”

“Sometimes, I think…that you forget that you are not an Inhuman. That…maybe you think that you are better than most of us-you are, by the way, better…than quite a few, at least.” 

I didn’t know what to say concerning her comment. Even though her words were meant, in part, to be a compliment, they were still heavily laced with condescension. There was no way to counter without being combative, and I didn’t want to have a confrontational conversation with her. To be honest, I was too surprised to have such a conversation anyway. I sat there in silence, leaving her space to speak as she chose; I could tell that she had something else to say anyway.

“I wonder about you sometimes, Vali,” Harly said to me while we sat there, my gaze on her while hers stared distantly at my bed. She began to pick with a tiny piece of lint that was stuck to my comforter. “The little gold blood human. Gold blood,” Harlyn scoffed. “What a self-righteous name that is..still sometimes I wonder if that name has gone to your head.” She laughed, but it wasn’t sincere. “That, more than anything, makes me wonder about you. What you’re thinking in that head of yours…what you’re really thinking.” Harlyn said. “I think…maybe she thinks that she is superior to us. I mean,” she stared at me. “You do have that air about you, you know that?” 

I shook my head, “No, I didn’t realize that. I apologize if I offended you and your friends, Harlyn. I-”

“Don’t bother with the apologies. I don’t want them,” Harlyn cut me off. “What I want…is for you to do what I said.” 

“And what is that?” I asked, suddenly frustrated by the demeaning tone that she had taken with me. It was hurtful, to say the least, but this…this was Harlyn Wade.

“I want…you…to talk to…Talon's Vassal.” 

“Harlyn, I-” 

Her stare told me enough about how she felt concerning my feelings on the subject matter. Harlyn didn’t care a lick about how I felt; she wanted me to know this without verbally conveying as much. Her order for me to talk to that boy was meant to demean me at this point, and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, it was hurtful. And all because I disagreed with her on the concept of attraction.

I couldn’t even finish my sentence for fear that maybe in my doing so that this conversation would become riskier than it was already panning out to be. So, we simply sat there staring at one another, one wordlessly challenging the other until we heard a rumbling voice a few feet away.

“Good evening girls….”