They were in danger. A Judge had seen the kid, and now he thinks, she is from the Eden, there is no way he would not mention this to his coworkers. Even if he said, he would come back, even if he would go through with his promise, he probably would keep that up until he got enough information to arrest her – it was already weird, that he found her here so easily, after seeing one photo of her. As if he knew exactly, what he was doing. The chance that he was genuinely interested in Doussay was close to zero.

   Her entire body was pounding with her fast heart rate. She’d woken up by the sound of the door: she was already left alone in her office. Her fingers began to shake violently, her chest tightened, and her palms and feet were really cold as if she was once again soaking in the icy rain.

   Do something… do something… do something… but what? How can she save John and herself, and how to protect this floor? Flee? Should she just grab him, and escape? But to where? And how could she just leave everything behind?

   She was so stupid. She thought she was doing a good job here, being a responsible leader, a trustworthy person… It turned out, she wasn’t… she wasn’t good to be a leader… a lioness.

A lioness.

   Doussay’s head was a mess, she couldn’t think of anything for more than one second, but as soon as this word popped up in her mind, suddenly she heard it again. The voice of her mother. She was talking about lions and lionesses.

About how the lionesses were the hunters of the pack, responsible for taking down their prey.

   The idea was like a rising sun after a long night, suddenly making everything clear. Or was it her last straw that she needed to catch? It was both. Her only hope and last chance.

   She shivered, and tried to focus on one thing at a time to stop her trembling fingers and legs. Her steps were so slow, and she couldn’t do anything about it; her high heels were like enormous rocks now, pinning her legs to the floor, making it hard to move.

   She reached her drawer, tore it open, and inside, she found one of the gifts she got from a client: a feminine, corny dagger, with a gold handle, a thin and sharp edge, and a pointy end. It was very elegant, but she couldn’t really do anything with it – it wasn’t possible to carry it with her at the base. And gold only had some worth in the Main City.

   She took out the dagger, forced herself to run towards the door, yanked it open, and looked at the distant stairs. The place was already empty.

   The skirt was flip-flopping around her legs, and her ankles twisted a couple of times in her high heels, but she didn’t feel the pain, she only looked forward, and then went up the stairs. These stupid shoes! They’ve not only slowed her down, and made her clumsy; they also made so many noises! Her harsh breathing was also too loud, and filled her whole head; she couldn’t hear anything else, just her own body’s noises. So annoying!

She reached the halfway point of the stairs, and turned right to go one more floor above.

But there was the man.

   He was still going up the stairs at a calm pace, and turned back when he heard the steps behind him. Doussay froze for a second, as they looked at each other in the dim light of the narrow corridor. He seemed surprised, then his gaze left Doussay’s eyes, and stared somewhere below at her right side…

   There was no more time to think or hesitate. Doussay launched herself towards the Judge, and used the shock that she saw in his eyes – this was her only chance since the officer was much stronger physically; if he wakes up before Doussay reaches him, everything will be over.

   Doussay basically fell onto the man’s chest. Kyan lifted his arms up, however, not to push her away, but to embrace her by her waist, before she could fall to the ground by bouncing on him, and his hands gripping Doussay’s dress.

   But he was wrong, for there was no bouncing. They looked at each other from very close; she felt the hot breath on her lips, felt the muscles under her left hand, which was unintentionally grabbing onto his coat, and she was staring into the Judge’s unbelievably blue eyes, which were wide open. He wanted to say something, she heard a quiet moan, and for some reason, she felt like he wanted to kiss her…

   Until he looked down. Their chests were strained to each other, but between them, stuck in the momentum, there was Doussay’s hand, holding a golden handle. The tip of that handle pressed deeply into her right shoulder, and even in this tight embrace, it shook with her whole arm.

   The blade disappeared in the Judge’s body, in the left side of his chest. First, there was a second silence, as if this moment was stopped by some higher beings. They looked at each other again, and the shock was still there in the man’s dilated pupils.

   Doussay’s chest felt so cold, as if she lost all of her blood from her body by reciprocating his gaze.

   Then when this moment faded, those eyes became glassy, and slowly started to close. At the same time, Doussay began to feel the Judge’s weight, he was leaning forward to her more and more, and because they were standing on the staircase, and he was on the higher step, Doussay was about to fall backwards.

   There was no way for her to hold him. She screamed, as they fell back, she felt pain, but her eyes also closed, something hit her head, and her back, and her right knee, and she felt the sharp edge of the steps behind her waist, however, there was a bigger issue: the Judge’s unmoving body on hers, which was so heavy, it pressed her onto the stairs, and she had no space to breathe.

   Silence. For a second, she was just laying there, struggling to fill her lungs with oxygen, or push the man down, still closing her eyes, and nothing came to her mind, but then she felt some dull rumbling noises and vibration, and soon enough, she heard a deep voice over her head somewhere.

 “Madam D? Wha… what… what happened…?!”

   The heavy weight suddenly disappeared, and she took a breath as if she had just been pulled out from the water before she drowned. Her eyes popped open.

   She was lying on the bottom of the stairs in the halfway rest, where there was the door to the second floor’s casino. Her hair was spreading on the floor below her, and her legs were up somewhere on the stairs, so the blood flew into her head. Not for long though; when she opened her eyes, a face appeared in her field of vision. She recognised the boss of the casino.

   Boss Gil pulled her up, and the world had twisted around her by the sudden change of position.

 “Madam D… what the hell happened? Did this man… was he…”

   There were a few other men from the casino. The guests were already out, only the workers stayed on the floor in this part of the night. Thank God…

   Things started to clear up in Doussay’s head. The panic and the narrow sight disappeared, and she realised the situation she was in. Her hand wasn’t shaking anymore, and she was still hardly gripping on the dagger’s handle. The blade was stained with red blood, which also left black marks on her dress, especially on her chest, but she felt it on her fingers too. The strong smell of iron was something that she was very familiar with, since she was living in the Outer City.

She looked over to the other side of the corridor.

   The young, lovely Judge was lying there, his eyes closed, his face pale, but because he had a black uniform, it was hard to see the wound: the dagger made a clear, tiny cut in the fabric, it was almost unnoticeable.

Only the widening pool of blood under his body showed, that he was stabbed to death.

   Doussay’s stomach sank. As the panic she felt for John and herself was not there anymore, she only now realised, what she had done. The guilt like lightning startled her organs, and she wanted to throw up, but she took some deep breaths through her nose to calm herself.

   The few men who came to help her were asking questions, and whispering among themselves, seemingly just as nervously and frightened as she was when she rushed out of her room.

 “I… this man…”

   Everyone fell silent, and listened to her words attentively. She looked up, and talked to the boss – he was one of those people Doussay could trust as a man.

 “Did he hurt you? Did he threaten you?” He asked quietly, and his thick fingers landed on Doussay’s shoulder.

 “Yes… he found out about…” She said with a cracking voice. She didn’t have to finish her sentence. Boss Gil knew about the kids and the situation on the third floor. There was no way to hide a pregnant woman on these floors without the help of some of the men from here. This was their biggest secret, but Doussay was simply… not strong enough to carry things by herself, she was only fourteen, when the previous Madam died, and she took the responsibility of the leader.

 “Little D…” He called her by her old name with a serious voice, and his look was just as strict. “You can’t do this anymore. You are too reckless with your actions, and you don’t have any protection. Now we have a dead Judge…” His voice got very low, and he looked towards the body at the wall. Doussay couldn’t look. “We need changes. I will give a few of my boys to you as bodyguards. And there should be a couple of new rules for your floor. I would be relieved if you would have more men in there as well. I can help you find some residents.

 “Our rooms are full.” She said quietly, looking down at her stained, red dress. The skirt’s frills were like flower petals, and she felt absolutely not beautiful sitting in there. “I mean…”

   She suddenly realised something, and went pale. She had no idea if the Judge was sending a message already to his colleagues.

 “I need the doc.” She said more loudly, and desperately looked over to the Judge’s body, then tried to get up. The boss helped her stand up. “I need to contact him… can you hide that until he arrives? I… I have one more thing to do…”

 “Alright. Contact him fast. Once things are settled, let’s talk about the changes. Did you hear her? Get that thing in the room! Get a mop! Quick!”

   Doussay was a bit uncertain with her steps; she felt like her legs couldn’t support her anymore, even so she had her high heels taken off now. But she reached her room without any incidents. She quickly shut the door, and while she started to undress herself, she was looking for her communicator. Her panic began to dwell up again, but she managed to stay focused this time, as she knew exactly, what she had to do.

 “Madam D… do you have any idea about what the time is?”

Doussay was in mid-changing, so she hurriedly answered to Dr Ye’s greeting.

 “I don’t, and I don’t care. Dr Ye… please, you have to help me.”

 “Tsk… what now? Are you pregnant again?” He didn’t mean her, but her girls, obviously. Doussay was always very careful not to get pregnant, not even once. “Can’t that wait until morning?”

 “I need you to fake a death certificate… and to find a few adoptive parents. At least six. In an hour, but a half an hour would be better.”

 “… a six WHAT? Wait… who… what the fuck, Doussay! What happened?”

 “I can’t explain it in detail until you come here.” She said more firmly, and was done with her change, wearing a night dress, and putting a new robe over it. She tied the belt into a bow.

   Time was clicking, and the doc probably felt that something really troublesome had happened. Doussay was reckless indeed, but she never made such calls before, even when there was an emergency. This was also the first time that she asked for an immediate job.

   Doussay, as they broke the line, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. The pain in her heart started to sting, but there were no other options.

   She took out a little bundle from another drawer, and walked through the office, going to her bedroom.

   Her bedroom was the largest on the floor. She could’ve easily made another room in it – as she sometimes planned. As John was spending way more time in her room, than he should’ve… he could’ve gotten a little segment of it.

   But it doesn’t matter anymore. Doussay stood at the doorway, and looked into the dark corner, where her bed was standing. As she lit up the oil lamp on the nearby shelf, she was frozen for a moment, when she saw John.

   The boy was sitting on the edge of the mattress, and when they locked their eyes, he quickly stood up, and ran towards her. The little boy hugged Doussay’s waist tightly, and burrowed his head into her belly.

 “Sorry… I’m sorry… I did something bad, right? I should’ve stayed in my room… I’m sorry.”

   Doussay bent over, and took the boy into her arms. He was quite heavy, a much taller kid for his age, but he was still just five, so when she lifted him, and he embraced her neck with his thin arms, and her waist with his thin legs, it wasn’t too hard to hold him. She put one of her arms under his bum to support him, and kissed his forehead.

 “You didn’t do anything wrong… it was me, who made a lot of bad things today.” She said quietly, and slowly walked to the bed again. As she sat down with John, she showed the bundle to him, and he looked at it uncertainly. “This is yours. This is the only thing I can do for you now… I’m sorry.”

   The boy took the bundle, and let Doussay’s neck go to use both of his hands for the zipper. Inside the bundle, there wasn’t much: a photo of Mary and a blue ID card. John looked at it in the dim light, and when he lifted his head, his eyes were sparkling with tears.

 “What’s this?”

 “That’s your ID card. It was your mom’s. When she… passed, I asked Dr Ye to give a fake number on her death certificate, so this number is still alive. She still has her original flat at that address. But… I also asked Dr Ye to find you a parent. So you don’t have to live alone.”

 “I don’t want to go.” He shouted suddenly, and threw the ID card away, to just hug Doussay again. His embrace was much stronger now. Doussay’s heart was aching, and once again she had a problem with breathing.

   Memories were flowing before her eyes, and this feeling of parting ways was like a dark shadow unexpectedly covering her from behind. She hugged this boy just as hard, and rested her chin on the little trembling shoulder. She gently started to stroke John’s back.

 “I’m sorry, sweetheart. It is not because of you… you have done nothing wrong.” She said while battling with her emotions. “But it’s… for you… to protect you. Please, listen to me… and don’t forget what I’m saying. This place is not safe for you, do you understand?”

 “Where could I go? I live here! You told me, there is no more place to go for a kid like me!”

   He was crying, yet his little head was clear and sharp as always. Even when he was overflowing with emotions, he still remembered. Doussay closed her eyes.

 “True, but we still can make it possible. Me and Dr Ye… that ID card will be yours, and if someone takes you into their family, you will be protected, unlike if you stay here.”

 “I don’t want to go. I want to stay with you!”

   He was also much more vocal about his own feelings than Doussay was at age ten. But she couldn’t say anything that could make this little guy calm down, not when she was also a mess inside. She didn’t want him to go either, but she couldn’t be selfish, once again.

   It wasn’t even an hour when the doctor arrived, he was still sleepy, he still had his bedhead, and he forgot to wear his white lab coat; he almost fell into Doussay’s office, tripping in the doorway.

   Doussay was sitting beside her desk, and John at the other chair, hanging his head down, looking at the ID card in his hand. He changed from his night dress to pants and shirt.

 “DOUSSAY… I will truly leave you alone after this one! Do you hear me?! How dare you to…”

   The doctor was shouting until he noticed the kid, and his angry face lost its grimace by regaining some calmness.

 “Oh, hello. Are you ready?”

 “Did you find a family?” Doussay drew his attention to herself, and Dr Ye looked at her, and surprisingly, he laughed harshly.

 “Are you crazy? Obviously, I didn’t. I haven’t even tried. Once again, do you know what time it is? Where did you expect me to find six families at 1 am?”

 “Then…”

 “I will take John with me.” He sighed, and seated himself on the third chair, without being offered to do so. “I ran into Boss Gil. I saw the person…” He didn’t say “body” in front of the kid. “I knew you would lose your mind once in the future, but to lose it so soon…”

 “It doesn’t matter what you say,” Doussay murmured. “What happened has already happened. It was self-defence.

 “Surely. And you will need a lot of self-defence later, Doussay. Do you know who that person was?”

   Doussay’s stomach turned again, and her heart grew cold, as the doc looked at her with an icy gaze.

 “Who…?”

 “He was a trainee in the Trial Court to be the next Arbiter. He was the most successful candidate; it was 90% certain that he would take the job next year. If you think the Trial Court will not investigate this case, you’re delusional.”

   For some reason, this information didn’t awaken any panic, only a slight pain in her head.  She just fell into her fanciful thoughts for a while. So this is why he was in the Main City, despite being a member of the Trial Court. At least, she knew now, he wasn’t lying about that… she tried to look at this very logically, and not thinking about the emotional damage, that she caused to herself.

 “Then it’s even more urgent to find parents for the kids.” She said at the end calmly, looking at the doctor again, who raised his eyebrows, and showed a sarcastic smile.

 “And you think, I will do all the work, right? Doussay, just because I’m a doctor, doesn’t mean I can do any shitty things you want.”

 “It’s just six kids.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Five, if you take John. But is it allowed for you to adopt him? You don’t have a partner, do you?”

 “You know what? I have!” He sounded offended. “Don’t worry about it. He’s not your responsibility from now on. But I cannot grant you that I find five more. Also, five more ID cards, right? You know how much money is that? Do you even have that much?”

 “You don’t have five?” She asked frowning, and the doctor rolled his eyes.

 “How would I not have? I put away tons of ID cards from these little shenanigans of yours. I had to fake your stupid papers too many times. But to change the name that is attached to the numbers is a lot of work, and calls for the right people, whom I have to please after they helped me with it. They’re already very angry at me for asking to change names for ID cards so much, that they will ask for double-money next time. If I say, we need five… or six more, they might just shut the door on me.”

 “John already has his own, so he will be alright.” She said lifting her chin. “It doesn’t matter how much they ask for. Just call them.”

Dr Ye wasn’t pleased at all, and then he just angrily looked at his watch.

 “It’s time to go. I have to do something with your Judge…”

 “Ask Boss Gil to help. Maybe the incinerator will do.”

   They had to hide or toss the body somewhere very quickly before dawn. The incinerators of every district were guarded by soldiers, so it wasn’t easy to get there, but this was the most beneficial option.

 “If they catch me while I have that body on me…”

Doussay knew it was a very high risk.

 “Dr Ye… you are the only one I can count on with this.”

   The scientist was still not pleased, and Doussay didn’t expect him to be. But the man stood up, and turned away, while he responded.

 “I know. This is why I came here. Otherwise, I would’ve not even answered your call.”

   Doussay smiled faintly, and she also stood up. John was stubbornly sitting on the chair, and then, when Dr Ye urged him, he jumped on his feet, and almost ran to the door, not even looking back. He was hurting as well. Doussay wasn’t angry at him for not saying goodbye and it wasn’t like they would never see each other again… but she understood.

   When they left, Doussay was just standing in the empty office, trying to settle her emotions, before she realised, she couldn’t hold back anymore, and collapsed on the spot.

~¤ß¤~

   Reminiscing about that night didn’t help Doussay to accept John’s self-exile, but at least she rested a little bit before she scraped herself together again.

   She was grateful for the doc, who adopted John, and unexpectedly bounded very well with the kid: the scientist was the only reason that John could take the base’s courses, and study like any normal child. Doussay was still able to see John as well, but it was not too often, for the new rules they had to apply after that incident.

   The third floor truly needed to change. The Trial Court held a huge investigation at the black market not long after – they had no information about the kids, but some mercenaries, who were playing at the casino that day, told them they’d seen Kyan here.

   They haven’t mentioned to the Judges that he left with Doussay though. If it was to protect her, or they thought, Doussay would refuse to serve them, if they betrayed her, wasn’t certain. Nonetheless, they still caused a bit of trouble for the underground floors, and it was a miracle, that all the kids were gone by that time. The Judges came by often, almost every day for the next few weeks, asking many questions. But this became a burden to everyone soon, so they grew resilience. Even those, who said, they saw Kyan, refused to answer anymore. Or maybe Boss Gil paid for their silence, Doussay wasn’t sure. But when the Judges couldn’t find any more information, or Kyan’s body – some rumours started to spread, that he fled with a woman with whom he fell in love – they dropped the case, or at least, didn’t come back.

They’ve all got a pass from this situation. So after this, Doussay agreed to change her rules.

   Anyone who came here for work wasn’t allowed to leave anymore, to prevent mercenaries from doing what they’ve done with Mary, and to prevent people from spreading the word of the existence of the kids. Pregnancy needed to be handled much more carefully, and they weren’t allowed to keep the kids. Not long after this incident happened, the base changed the age limit from which children were brought to the Outer City. It was six years now, hence unwillingly, but the base made it easier for the girls on the third floor to save their children. Not as if there were many. Most girls were afraid to get pregnant, because of the lack of medical help, and some of them truly weren’t able to conceive anyway.

   The room they’d used for the kids back then emptied, but not for long before Mr Shaw moved in. The old man was almost caught by the Trial Court for making pornographic content at his flat, so he needed to flee somewhere. It was lucky timing for him.

   There were also bodyguards on the third floor. Entering the floor without having an appointment with any girls or boys was prohibited, and once someone stumbled in, they didn’t see the light once again.

   So, for a child to come here wasn’t that easy. But John was always a little rebel. Of course, he would sneak in for a last goodbye.

Doussay straightened her back, and looked into the mirror of her dressing table.

   John said she had changed. But what changed? She only saw the wrinkles in the corner of her eyes that was somewhat new. If anything, she was much more troubled. The makeup still held all her secrets, but she grew quite cold inside.

   There was a knocking at her door once again. Doussay immediately thought, maybe John had come back for something, but when she turned her head towards the opening door, she only saw one of her loyal bodyguards. He was bald and serious; he always looked like something painful was on his mind.

 “Madam… Sorry to disturb you. It’s about your little brother…”

 “Which one?” She asked with a faint smile, as she stood up, expecting something like one of the boys needed her help. But the next words made her froze in shock.

 “The one who just left a few minutes ago. Judges were around the free market, he ran into them.”

   She needed to keep everything in. She took a deep breath, but her movements became precipitant. She tried her hardest not to run, but in just one minute, she was already up on the free market’s floor, ignoring the pain in her overwhelmed lungs. Two of her men were coming with her, but she didn’t listen to their words, she didn’t know, what they were saying, as she looked around.

   The noises of the market were different. People always became quiet, when Judges were around. This made the sounds of an argument seem louder. Doussay couldn’t differentiate the speaking voices, so she swiftly approached the source of the sounds. 

 “Madam D… wait, don’t show up just now.”

   She was held back by one of her guards when she reached the corner of the main line of the market.

   From this point, she was already able to see the Judges. They were at the entrances, and circled two people among them. They were all tall and wore black, and she could only see the Judge’s hat, who stood in the circle with a person, who was still trying to clear his name, but with no avail.

   It was indeed John’s voice. Doussay’s whole body cramped into a solid lump, and she grabbed on her dress.

 “Don’t… Madam… you cannot do anything for him. He already admitted his sins.”

 “He needs help. Let me go. Let me go!”

 “I can’t… Madam, please…”

 “Don’t you hear me? You are fired, if you don’t get away from me.”

 “… Madam…”

   People, who were silently peeking towards the drama at the entrance, like Doussay, started to look around to search for the second argument on the street. Of course, they’ve all recognised Doussay, and she heard them whispering, but she didn’t care, her eyes were fixated on the Judges, and struggled with all of her might to get out from the guard’s tight embrace.

   But the circus ended over there. The Judges’ circle opened up, as they were done listening to John, and she was able to see him. The boy didn’t look scared at all, but he was pale, and she knew in her heart, that he was scared, no matter how much bravery he put on his face. He was in handcuffs, arms behind his back, and the Judges were not too kind to him, as they took a swipe on him.

   John lost his balance, but with that accident, his body and head turned towards the direction of Doussay, and even though there were a few dozen meters between them, they locked eyes. In the next second, he jerked his body. It was instinctive, probably, as he was forcing the Judges to stop; standing in his ground, and tried to set himself free to go to Doussay… just as she wanted to reach him at this moment.

   But both of them were restrained, and John couldn’t escape. They were only able to watch each other, and just before he disappeared, John’s face showed disappointment and despair.

   Doussay’s body became limp, and for a moment, the guard had to hold her as to not let her fall to the ground. Until she noticed a black figure. Her eyes were still staring at the entrance, where John vanished, but this figure appeared in the picture. He came closer to her, and became a full-sized man in front of her. She looked up, and then forgot to breathe.

It was him.

Lu Feng. The Arbiter.

   Doussay almost forgot everything else too, not just breathing, and stared at the handsome, cold face. The Arbiter halted in his moves one table away from the three of them, and only glanced at Doussay once before his icy green gaze swept through the guards.

 “What’s happening here?”

   His voice… Every fine hair stood straight on Doussay’s spine and arms, and the arm around her waist finally let her go. In the next moment, she fell to the ground, and sat on the dirty floor, couldn’t move, and couldn’t look away, and she gasped for air, as if she had been running for an hour.

   No one dared to answer, for which the Arbiter frowned. Then he took another step towards Doussay, and bent down slightly to reach out for her. Is this a dream? Is this really happening? Isn’t this just an illusion? Those thin, long fingers… he hid them in a black glove, but they were so perfect. She couldn’t help but be beautified by the closeness of them. Just like when it happened at the first time when she saw them.

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