Of Secrets and Truth

It seemed strange to be in this part of the mansion, where cobwebs decorated the walls and dust painted every surface. Natalie wrinkled her nose, stifling an impending sneeze. Even after months of working as a maid for the Proxy, Bronte Shaw, she’d never been in this wing. As right hand man to the Electonate of the country, Ambrose Mortimer, Proxy Shaw owned one of the largest mansions in the city. All the servants of the mansion had explicit instructions given to avoid the lower left wing. She’d snuck in early this morning after Proxy Shaw had left and drugged the taskmasters of the servants. She had to find out what the Proxy had hidden down here, to keep her promise. 

 She couldn’t help but wonder why it was off-limits. It was as decrepit and run-down as Langerville City had been after the last war. In fact, she realized as she glanced down the long hallway, this area hadn’t been touched since the wars. The floral wallpaper, once a popular style, now hung with the bomb debris of that time. 

Though only three years old during the Thousand Wars, she would never forget the acrid taste of bomb smoke and the chemical smell that stung her nostrils. Fear rippled across her back and she shivered involuntarily. She figured she had about thirty minutes before someone realized she was missing. At first glance, the area appeared empty, so she began to search. 

Her mother and father had both speculated about what Bronte Shaw had hidden back here—people as prisoners, weapons like the ones that had ended the wars, hordes of war spoils, or worst of all, experiments. Everyone had heard the rumors of the Proxy’s gruesome curiosity. Electonate Ambrose Mortimer was a cruel dictator and Bronte was privy to all the sordid secrets of the Electonate’s Cabinet. Natalie had witnessed diseases created by the Cabinet, the water and food supply poisoned, and many families separated—all to crush the will and hope of the people. The Electonate had succeeded, even in her own family. 

Natalie’s fingers trembled as she ran them down a beautiful wood buffet table, leaving streaks in the thick layer of dust. Then she noticed the massive padlock on the door next to the buffet. It was shiny and new, despite dust-covered padlocks on the other four doors. The hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up. What did the Proxy have hidden away back there?  

Feeling a warm touch on her back, Natalie jumped. Gurgling out a mix between a yell and a gasp, she crumpled to the floor, throwing her hands up, “No, no, please! I’m sorry, I just got lost!”  

Two small hands gripped her upper arms. “Natalie! Natalie, it is just me!” A small voice whispered, fingers digging into her arm, “Shhhhhhh, please.”  

She opened her eyes to see Sebastian. Relief washed over her like a flood. “Seb! What are you doing here?” 

The young boy’s blue eyes darted around the abandoned hallway and back to the hidden drawing room door they’d come through. “I’ve come to get you. You’ve got to get out of here now! The Proxy is on his way here and he’s not alone.” He swallowed visibly hard. His voice was barely a whisper, “The Electonate is with him.”  

Natalie’s almond-colored eyes widened and her fingers went to her mouth. The Electonate had never come in the three years she’d worked for Proxy Shaw, after her sixteenth birthday. Natalie’s parents were right. The Proxy must be hiding something back here, something powerful, and her gut told her the Electonate was coming to see this part of the mansion. 

Seb knelt by her, sweeping his long brown hair away from his eyes. He drew in a shaky breath. “I heard the cooks whispering about some sort of insurrection. It sounded bad. The Electonate is furious. Some sort of secret is being spread and he wants it quashed immediately. He canceled all his plans and came from High North, and,” Sebastian’s voice was barely audible, tears shimmering in his eyes, “He’s burned cities on his way down, anywhere the secret was being shared.”  

She went quiet for a few moments. Fear and curiosity battled in her mind. What secret would send the great Electonate into such a panic? What else would he do? He was a loose cannon when threatened. It was always the Proxy who maintained an eerie coolness. Hesitation flickered in her mind. Her parents had tried for years to undermine both the Proxy and the Electonate, to no avail. Terrible sickness had captured them like a thief, robbing them of the ability to even leave the house. Worse than the sickness had been the complete loss of hope for any sense of a future.  

Many families in Langerville suffered from poverty and disease, a consequence of the wars and evidence of how bad things were. After the wars, nearly everything had been taken from the people. Jobs were controlled, education was minimal, and the government only allowed basic jobs. Reading, writing, and serious learning were things of the past. None of the rising generation knew more than what the Electonate’s cabinet fed down to them. Natalie’s mother had taught her to read a little when she was young, but she wasn’t sure if she even remembered how to anymore.  

She’d volunteered—no, promised—her parents she’d fix it—that she’d find something to bring the Proxy down and find some sort of hope. This was her first chance and now she feared it would vanish like a cruel magic trick. Waves of desperation crashed through her like a hurricane and she closed her eyes to dam her tears.  

She heard a soft voice humming in her mind. It reminded her of a melody, a lullaby almost, and calmed her fear. It was sweet and soft yet firm and unyielding. The voice didn’t speak words, but it was familiar and comfortable. She could not remember when, but knew she had heard it before and it had comforted her when she was young. 

She stood suddenly, squaring her shoulders. Resolve cemented as hard as concrete down her back. Without meeting Seb’s eyes she said, “I have about fifteen minutes then.” She reached for the shiny padlock when Sebastian snatched away her hand, squeezing too hard.  

“You can’t be serious, Natalie. If they catch you in here, they’ll kill you without a second thought. What does it matter what’s back here anyway? You can’t do anything about it.”  

Gently prying his white-knuckled grip loose, she met his frantic eyes. “Because I promised, Seb. I promised my parents.” Shaking his head, he stepped away. She followed him, wrapping her arms around him, “Go, Seb. You need to go.”  

He pulled back, lower lip trembling, and said, “I wish I were strong enough to protect you.”  

Her heart warmed at the courage of this eleven-year-old boy. He was as much a brother to her as her friend. “My mother said we are always protected in some way, the only protection that matters.”  

“What does that mean?” 

“I’m not sure. She’s always talking about some invisible force or magic. Something I don’t understand. Like there’s something or someone else out there.” Recalling the voice only moments earlier, she shook her head as if snapping out of a trance. “Sebastian, you have to go now,” she said, her voice rising with urgency. She pushed him back toward the drawing room.  

His eyes glimmering, he whispered, “Be careful please, and hurry. Listen for the dinner bell because I’ll ring it when they’re at the front door.”  

Natalie turned to the door across the hallway,  quickly pulling her lockpick set from her blue apron pocket. Her fingers shaking, she dropped the picks more than once, cursing under her breath and wishing she’d practiced more. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, thump-thumping.  

The lock clicked and she pried off the padlock. Potentials rushed through her mind as she slowly turned the door handle. It creaked as she opened it, a puff of dust obscuring her view. Then, nothing.  

Absolutely nothing. 

It was empty.  

She stood in the empty room, hand still on the door handle. This just couldn’t be. There was no way the Proxy had locked these hidden rooms for nothing. All her work was for nothing. No promises kept.  

Frustration simmered in her stomach and she rushed to the next door. Adrenaline made her fingers dexterous and she had the second padlock off in no time. The second door revealed another empty room. 

With her frustration at a full roiling boil, she unlocked the third door. Though not empty, there was nothing of consequence as she rummaged through six dilapidated crates containing machinery parts, rusted metal tools, and old, incomplete guns.  

As she started to unlock the fourth door, a faint whisper tickled her chest. She heard a chime in the distance—the dinner bell. Seb! They were here! The color drained from her face as she heard voices and stomping feet coming through the front door. A storm of panic washed away the frustration as she realized she did not have time to get out before they found her. Racing through the hallway, she replaced padlocks on doors and closed the secret entrance before running back to the unlocked fourth door. Carefully, she placed the padlock back on the handle and jumped inside the room, careful to not quite shut the door so she wouldn’t be locked in.  

She heard Proxy Shaw’s voice first: a smooth, buttery tone that usually had a charming effect on people. The Electonate’s voice, however, made her stomach turn. Like metal scraping across gravel, it grated on her ears and bile burned in the back of her throat. They said his vocal cords had been damaged and it made him more terrifying.  

“I cannot overstate the gravity of this situation, Bronte. You know exactly why I’m here. This must be stopped now before anyone learns anything else.”  

Through the crack of the door, Natalie saw them enter the hallway. The Proxy, as handsome as ever in the patterned suits he preferred to wear and Electonate Ambrose Mortimer.  She’d never seen him in person, only photos of him. He was larger than she anticipated in height and width. She gaped at his shoulders. The Proxy, Bronte Shaw, was not a small man by any means, but the Electonate towered over him. She had heard rumors of gruesome scars on his neck, though portraits made them seem minor. This close, Natalie could see they were much worse than the photos indicated. 

“Ambrose, this will die down soon. I’m sure of it. No one has found anything; no one knows anything.” The Proxy’s voice was smooth as always.  

“There is suspicion. There is belief, and that is enough. You know as well as I do, as soon as the people have knowledge, as soon as they start to believe in whatever higher power they decide to blindly follow, we lose control.” The Electonate slammed his fist on the beautiful buffet table, sending a puff of dust into the air. Natalie winced at the new crack on the corner of the antique. 

  “I will not have that happen,” he continued. She could hear him grinding his teeth together. “Are you sure everything is still here?” 

“Whispers and rumors—that’s all. Even if anyone found anything, no one knows how to read or write anymore. They’re all too stupid to understand or do anything with the information.” Taking out a  key ring and flipping through a few keys, the Proxy said,  “But if this will make you feel better, I’ll show you everything is still here.” He reached for the padlock.  

Snagging the Proxy’s hand, Electonate Mortimer closed his grip so tightly even Natalie could see the Proxy wince in pain. “Let me be clear, Bronte. This ends before it begins. If this continues, and people find what you have hidden here—if people learn to believe in something—it’s over for them. I won’t hesitate to do what needs to be done. Do not let them hope.” Natalie shivered at the gravelly nature of his voice and the cold implication behind his words. He’d just come from burning several cities but that wasn’t what he threatened now. He meant massacre.  

“Fine. What would you suggest with these, Sir?” 

“Burn them. Burn them all.”  

Proxy Shaw unlocked and opened the door and they entered the room. She couldn’t see or hear much of anything anymore, so she shrank away from the crack, sliding down to the floor. Fear tasted bitter in her mouth and she realized she had bitten the side of her cheek until  it bled. What horror would the Electonate unleash on so many innocent people? What were they talking about in that room? What was in there anyway? 

All she could do was wait. With each passing minute, her mind went wild with imagination. She felt like one of those old jack-in-the-box toys, slowly winding up before she’d pop. After a few minutes, she heard the two men return to the hallway. This time she didn’t care to look through the crack; she just closed her eyes.  

“Yes sir, it’ll be done tonight as soon as I return from Long South.”  

“Not a minute later, and no mistakes, Bronte. Once this is gone, you will eliminate anyone who has even a hint of knowledge about any of this. Start with older, higher-ranking officials from the war days and city cabinet members. I don’t care how or how many, but you will end this today.” 

Their footsteps receding into the drawing room, one of the men slammed the door shut. Natalie released the breath she’d been holding in a strangled sob. Her parents used to be members of the city cabinet. Bronte Shaw would kill her parents if she didn’t find a way to thwart him. 

She approached the fifth door and unlocked the padlock. Expecting to be shaking with trepidation, something inside her calmed her nerves, shielding her. The same concrete resolve returned. She couldn’t help but note it was the third time she’d felt some presence with her.  

Swinging the door swung open with ease, she cautiously stepped inside the room. It was full to the brim of something she’d never seen before. On shelves lining every wall, on the table in the middle of the room, and in boxes and crates stacked on top of one another, were stacks of paper encased in bindings—books. 

Her jaw dropped open. This was the last thing she’d expected to find. Books didn’t exist anymore. They’d all been burned or destroyed years before the Thousand Wars had started. At least, everyone thought they had been. There was a reason almost no one knew how to read or write anymore.  

She walked to the bookcases and traced her fingers down the spines of the beautiful old books. The earthy scent of the rich leather bindings filled her nostrils. The words of the titles jumped out at her and she couldn’t help but almost laugh out loud. At face value, this room full of books was the least dangerous thing she could think of to hide away. Then she recalled Electonate Mortimer’s words, “As soon as the people have knowledge, as soon as they start to believe in whatever higher power they decide to blindly follow, then we lose control. Do not let them have hope.” 

She trailed the bookshelves around the room to the table. In the center of the table was one black book. Somehow she knew it was important. She picked it up and traced the gold lettering on the front.  

THE HOLY BIBLE.  

Something rumbled deep in her heart as she flipped through the gold-lined pages. Her fingers stilled as the whisper returned to her mind, urging her to stop and to read. As she glanced over the page, a group of words caught her attention. They were underlined by hand in a beautiful dark red color. Slowly, she read, “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.” 

A light exploded in her chest. There was a God. He existed. Her mother was right. He had been protecting her. He had been whispering to her all this time.  

This is why the knowledge had been taken from the people. This is why books were destroyed and why these books were hidden. This is why the Electonate planned to burn and murder her family, her friends, and innocent people. He didn’t want people to have knowledge, especially of a higher power. He didn’t want them to have hope. He knew full well it could be the thing to bring them together and bring him down. The most powerful thing the people could possess was hope and faith.  

Hope and faith because God existed.  

Tucking the Bible into her apron, she knew whatever came next, she could face it now. She would keep her promise to her parents. If she could get this Bible and the room’s secrets to someone with influence and power…