Read Online Solstice by Jane Redd - Free Book Online Page B

tremor in my voice would give too much away.
    “She naturally attracted trouble,” he continued, “caused men to fall in love with her. Made them lose their good sense and led more than one man to his downfall.”
    More than one man? The book I’d read only mentioned one boyfriend—perhaps he was the one she’d truly loved. I tried not to compare him to Sol.
    Sol’s voice continued rhythmically, like he was reading. With his brilliant mind, he probably was reading, straight from his memory. “Even if she’d turned in the man she loved, she still would have been imprisoned. The population was on a moratorium during that year. Not even married couples were allowed to reproduce.” His tone was gentle. “The Legislature probably only kept her alive long enough to deliver the child. At least they were merciful on that issue. The child lived.”
    The child who had been Naomi. That’s why I’d received the book as an inheritance. Naomi must have sensed something like this might happen and wanted to send me a strong warning. I couldn’t let my feelings for Sol be discovered, or I would never succeed where Rose had failed.
    Despite all of the education I’d received about how the Legislature was protecting us from our worst selves, it just didn’t make sense that one of my grandmother’s crimes had been her beauty. My consternation was threatening to become anger. I let my breath out slowly, trying to dissipate the unwelcome emotion. Do not show anger, even if you feel it, Naomi had told me more than once, her hands cradling my face as she looked sternly into my eyes. But this anger kept growing, despite my determination, becoming almost too big to hold in.
    Sol pulled his hand away, and the shadow on the other side of the wall moved. It was closer now, darker. “Jez, listen to me.”
    His voice fell a notch, and I had to strain to hear. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
    My breath caught at the irony. “Too late.”
    “No, it’s not,” he said, his tone urgent. “You’ve done nothing but accept your inheritance. Don’t compound it. Do what they ask. Make them believe you don’t remember the book.”
    “All right.” Even from the other side of a thick wall, where I’d gotten him sent, Sol was trying to help me. “What about you?”
    “I’ll be fine.”
    A soft scrape came from Sol’s side of the wall.
    Then a whisper. At first it sounded like, “I’ll miss you,” but I wasn’t sure. The shadow was gone. Sol was gone. Without a word of goodbye.

Ten
    The Council was made up of fourteen judges. Eight men and six women. They wore stiff-looking black robes, severely short hairstyles, and all appeared to be rail thin. No overindulgence in this group. I forced myself to stay in the present and not think of my grandmother standing before her own council.
    I tried to stay calm. I had to get through this—I had to get to the University and become the scientist I was meant to be.
    An inspector ushered me to my seat with no explanations of what to expect. At least a dozen other adults sat in the room, all staring at me. I glanced at them quickly, wondering what their crimes might be. It seemed we’d all be present to hear each other’s cases—apparently there was no privacy. While we waited for the hearings to begin, I looked around the spacious room, taking in the marble pillars, the thick beamed ceiling, and the high, arched windows that framed the gray drizzle outside.
    Finally, someone moved. The woman in the middle of the judges’ bench clasped her hands together. She seemed to wear a permanent frown, which deepened as I met her gaze. I kept my expression neutral, although I was sure that she could see right through me.
    Her long, skeletal fingers unclasped, and she said in a high, reedy voice, “Jezebel, offspring of Naomi and David, please step forward.”
    Already? I’d hoped to at least watch a few of the others go through their hearings so that I could prepare a little. I wanted to make sure I