The Core

Lark was shown where the shower was and she was given more clothes from Rhiana. The bathroom consisted of a small toilet that had turned yellow, a broken mirror over a ratty sink and a rusting tub. The shower head was awkwardly position on top of the shower. The walls were the same gray color as the rest of the cabin but peeling in more places, presumably from the water. Lark wrinkled her nose and turned to Taylon.

He smiled, amused by her repulsed reaction. “Make it quick. Water turns off fast here and I still need a shower,” Taylon said, shutting the door behind him. With that, Lark set her borrowed clothes down on the sink and turned the water on. The pipes hissed and creaked until a tiny stream of water trickled from the head.

Gingerly, she striped her clothes off and stepped into the shower. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” she muttered. The shower was far from warm and the water barely got her many layers of curls wet. She closed her eyes trying to imagine her golden bathtub and lavender scented soap back in her room. Lark opened her eyes to reach for a cracking bar of soap. Instead, she reached for a bar of cracking soap with a revolting brown cockroach perched on it; a pest that even The Core couldn’t rid the world of.

With a piercing scream, she leaped out of the shower and back onto the cold wooden floor of the bathroom. The door was thrown open and Taylon’s figure stood in the door way. “Lark! Why are you screaming?” He looked down at her and then his face turned bright red, only because he knew how embarrassed Lark will be. “Oh, excuse me,” he said, turning his back.

Humiliated, Lark grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her naked body. “I, uh, I.. there was a bug,” she muttered, glancing down at the ground. Taylon attempted to stifle a laugh, but it erupted out of him. “Stop it! It’s not funny! Can you get it out?” Lark hollered, jutting her lower lip out in a pout.

Taylon smirked and turned around, walking over to the shower. The bar of soap was on the floor and the cockroach had traveled back up the wall. He grabbed the roach with his bare hands, squished it and turned around. “Lark, the mighty Advisor, is afraid of a cockroach,” he said, shoving it in her face.

Lark threw her hands over her face and shrieked again. “Taylon! STOP! It’s icky!” She screamed, backing up towards the door. She had never been so thoroughly disgusted in her entire life. She didn’t even want to shower anymore, her skin was crawling.

“Icky? That’s your adjective?” Taylon said with a chuckle, tossing the dead bug into the toilet. He washed his hands off and then turned to Lark. “Are you finished in here?” He asked. Lark’s face was flushed red and she casted her silver eyes to the floor. She scooped up her belongings and nodded. “You better leave before another cockroach comes,” Taylon said, taking his fingers and tickling up Lark’s arm. She smacked his hand away and then scurried out of the bathroom.

After dressing in warm pajamas, Lark padded into the kitchen and plopped down by the fire. Tonight was a sort of everyone-eats-for-themselves since everyone was coming home at different times. Lark took this to her advantage and skipped her attempt at stomaching the food.

Tyrion and Helena were perched on the couch in front of the fire with Rhiana by their side. Tyrion’s eyes were rolling back into his head as he slowly drifted off to sleep. His mother racked her fingers through his silky blonde hair and Rhiana hummed with her hands around her stomach.

Lark had always admired the relationship between mother and child, she found it strange though. She had never really known her mother in that sort of relationship; it was strictly learning the ways of the Advisors. Lark had the hardest time understanding how these two beings got so attached to each other, Lark didn’t even notice when her mother stopped returning to her. It was simply the way things ran around The Core.

“So, Lark. You enjoy hunting?” Helena asked, snagging Lark away from dull and strange memories of the time with her mother. She looked at Helena, who had a skeptical look on her face, and nodded slowly. “Hm, so you have no desire to attempt the cornbread again?” She said, with a smirk sliding onto her face.

“No,” Lark said with a huff, “I’m much more useful in the forest.” Helena did her best to stifle the look of disdain that was taking over her features. She didn’t understand this girl and why she didn’t do what she was supposed to do. She needed to be in the home, not in the forest.

“Are you?” Helena asked, arching a brow. “Strange, I always found it more useful for women to be in the home. Men need a warm meal when they get back and someone to look after the children. You are thinking of children, aren’t you?” Lark and Rhiana shifted uncomfortably at this question for at that moment, both thought of Taylon.

Lark didn’t quite know how to answer this question. Of course she was thinking of children, she knew that she needed an heir for The Core to continue. She knew that after her child was of age, she would be disposed of and all would continue without her, it was simple really. But, that was the most she had ever thought of children. She mulled over this slowly which brought up the thought that The Core was already in the process of selecting a new Advisor and she wouldn’t have to provide an heir for she was no longer an Advisor.

She thought of the attachment that Rhiana had to Taylon and that Helena had to her children. She also thought of Rhiana’s relationship with her husband. They would do anything for each other and Lark couldn’t imagine wasting her own life for someone else. She didn’t want that kind of attachment to anyone at all; it was foolish. The way things were done in The Core made more sense to Lark. There was no love to complicate things. You found a mate, bore a child and you all moved on.

She shook her head slowly in response to Helena, “No, I suppose I never thought of children really. I’m not too fond of the idea, actually. It seems a bit foolish to me, the concept of putting all of your emotions into one small and fragile being. It’s why the human race is trivial . You let your emotions rule instead of focusing on success of your race.”

Helena refused to criticize Lark too harshly because she knew Rhiana would interject in protection of the child. She simply nodded slowly and raised her eyebrow a little higher. “Well, that is definitely different. Did you know this, Rhiana?” Helena asked, turning towards the woman beside her.

Rhiana was startled at being drawn into the conversation versus being an innocent bystander. She didn’t understand what it was that Helena meant. “Pardon?” She asked, confused. Lark was also perplexed as to why Helena had moved her suspicions to Rhiana.

“Well, it just seems that Taylon has taken quite a liking to a girl who has no way to support him and no concept of making him a family,” Helena said. “Certainly not something I would want Andor involved in.” Lark’s chest swelled with an emotion she hadn’t ever felt before, but it had something to do with Helena calling Lark and Taylon into question.

Before Rhiana could speak, Lark interjected. “May I?” She asked without waiting for a nod to continue. “I understand your curiosity as to what my opinions are on things. However, I don’t think that anything you have to say will change my opinion. Nor do I think that it’s really your place to judge Taylon and me, if there was something going on. I can assure you that there is nothing going on because, as I have already stated, I refuse to get involved in such a stupid, useless and foolish endeavor. Thank you, goodnight.” Lark said. Her face was flushed with anger. She stood abruptly and waltzed away into the sleeping room, slamming the door behind her.

Lark flopped onto her cot and heaved a heavy sigh. She hated being judged for every little thing she did. She was never under a microscope in The Core and she was certainly respected much more than these people respected her. She sighed, looking at the empty cots around her. A part of her wondered why she left.

Light flooded the room when Taylon walked in, he flicked the switch in the room and the lights came on after a few flickers. Taylon kept his eyes glued at the floor as he finished getting dressed. The silence made Lark uncomfortable, so she sat up in her bed. “Did you hear that out there? It’s absolutely ridiculous! It’s like I’m some foreign being that does everything wrong! I mean they judge so harshly, especially about you and me.”

Taylon’s back stiffened and Lark watched him slowly loosen each muscle. His jaw remained locked tight and he pulled his shirt over his head, messing his hair up. He turned to look at Lark slowly. Something inside her willed Lark to get up and walk over to him, so she did. She reached up to fix his hair, but he shrank away from her.

“Yeah, they have no right to judge us. There is nothing going on between us, right? That would be stupid and foolish? Or was it useless?” He asked, no longer able to suppress anger. Taylon had been certain that Lark and he were on the same page. Hearing what she had to say really shocked him.

“Oh,” Lark said, stepping backwards. “You heard that.” Taylon searched Lark’s face for something other than utter shock, but saw nothing. Lark searched Taylon’s face for something besides anger, but she saw nothing other than that. She gulped and her checks heated again.

“I didn’t hear the whole conversation, but I heard enough. How could I even begin to think that Lark, the mighty Advisor of Secrets, would step off her pedestal to be with someone like me? And I’m a human, no less!” He said, throwing his hand in the air. All of the feelings rushing through him were ineffable and he turned away from Lark.

“No, Taylon. It’s not like that,” Lark said, desperately reaching out for him. Her fingertips grazed his, but he closed his hands into a tight fist. “You don’t understand what it’s like for me. Where I’m from there is no concept of a relationship, it’s purely for procreation,” Lark muttered. “I didn’t notice or even think that,” she stopped, at a loss for words.

“Oh don't try your little tricks, Lark. That’s just more stuff The Core has branded into you. Have you ever thought once for yourself or were those generic lines always in the back of your mind?” He asked, whipping around to match his eyes with hers. Lark was taken aback by his sudden outburst.

The anger swelled inside her, “How dare you question my motives. Clearly I thought for myself, here I am! It’s not generic, it’s true! I wasn’t taught to look for love or affection, I’ve only read of it,” she said, but Taylon rolled his eyes. “Are you going to let me speak!?”

“No! I don’t want to hear all these lies you have to say. If you didn’t want affection, you wouldn’t have done half the things you’ve done. As much as you hate to believe it, you’re just as human as I am. Don’t act so goddamn righteous!” He hollered, stepping towards her.

“Well, I would not want affection from someone like you anyway! You barely let my get a word in edge wise! I can’t even explain myself to you! You won’t listen, you’re so dense!” Lark hollered back, pushing Taylon away from her. He grabbed onto her wrists and pulled her closer.

Her body so close to his was intoxicating and his eyes locked onto her plump pink lips. He longed for nothing more than to touch every each of her body tenderly with hands. He wanted to kiss her cheeks, jaw, eyelids and raise goosebumps on her porcelain skin.

“Tell me how you really feel, Lark. If I kissed you right now, would you kiss me back? If the answer is yes, don’t deny that you were looking for something more than what The Core could offer you! You’ve found it, are you going to push it away because it’s unfamiliar?” he asked, lowering his voice from its previous volume.

“Let me go,” she spat, looking at the ground.

Taylon let go of one wrist and locked his fingers under Lark’s chin, he turned her face to him. “Look at me,” he demanded, “Answer my questions. If you can say no, I’ll let go. I won’t argue and I won’t bother you. But don’t lie because you’re afraid.” Taylon did his best to keep his eyes locked with Lark’s, but she couldn’t keep her eyes in one spot. Her gray eyes flickered back and forth between Taylon's lips, his eyes and every other feature Lark was attempting to memorize at this moment.

That was when Taylon pressed his lips against Lark’s. Her lips were soft and sweet and he pressed against her, willing her to enjoy this. Lark’s immediate reaction was to remain still with her eyes open. “Close your eyes,” Taylon whispered against her lips. The feeling of his breath against her cheek sent tingles up and down her spine. His moved his hands to around Lark’s waist, pulling her body tight against his. She closed her eyes slowly and her knees felt weak; she practically fell into him. She kissed him back, then. They molded together and she fit quite nicely within his arms. The tingles she felt at first turned into waves of electricity until Taylon pulled away from her with a smile. They both stared for a few seconds, their breathing heavy and mixing together as they were still only inches apart.

Lark’s hand flew up to Taylon’s cheek and the sound of slap echoed throughout the house. Taylon’s cheek stung and he moved his jaw slowly. A hand print slowly formed on his face, a bright red reminder. “You have a lot of audacity,” she spat, before turning and walking to her cot. “Turn the lights off or leave,” she mumbled and then faced away from him on the bed.

“Ow,” Taylon whispered under his breath, flicking the light switch and climbing into his cot across from Lark’s. The house fell silent for a few moments after that. Electricity still flowed throughout Lark’s entire body and couldn’t stop the feeling of want that welled up inside of her. After a few moments of silence, Tyrion was carried into the room.

Both lay awake pondering what had just occurred. For Taylon, he was ecstatic at the feeling of Lark so close and so easily under his control. Despite the slap, Taylon knew he had won. He had won in the sense that he had gotten exactly what he wanted since he had seen her angelic face.

However, every fiber of Lark’s being was terrified. She had never been so easily swayed and she loathed Taylon’s control over her. She wouldn’t allow herself to get that close to him ever again, it simply wouldn’t do. She wouldn't allow herself to feel that sinful electricity that made her long for so much more, but she wasn't exactly sure what that was.

“What was all that about,” Lark heard Rhiana’s voice in the kitchen. It was soft and difficult to hear over Taylon’s heavy breathing so she closed her eyes to hone in on one sense; a trick that Taylon had taught her. “It was a rather loud argument,” Rhiana said.

Helena shrugged, “That girl has too much influence on Taylon.”

Lyrius voice came over them both, “Helena it was provoked by you. It wasn’t polite to interrogate a guest like that. It was not your place in my home,” he said, reprimanding her. Lark heard her stomp her feet and smirk slid onto Lark’s face.

Andor’s voice spoke next, “A guest? Lyrius, don’t be foolish. She’s not a guest, she’s not from here. We should treat her as more of danger. Look what she’s done to Taylon in such a short time. He’s wrapped around her pinky finger, what if we’re all next?”Lark bit the inside of her cheek and wondered why Andor was allowed to be in this conversation. He wasn’t even head of the house or Lyrius’s son. He had no right to be a part of the decisions made in this house. She shook her head and continued to listen; her dislike for Andor grew at that moment.

“This is not time to talk of this. We all need to sleep. When they go hunting tomorrow, we can talk more. I do not think the girl is a danger to us,” Lyrius said. “But you are right, Andor. One can never be sure.” With that, all the feet moved in the direction of the sleeping room. The house was plunged into darkness and silence.