Noah woke up in a place he had never seen before. The walls were white, and so were the beds.
But Noah didn't care. He was staring downward, his eyes hollow, looking at nothing. He wanted death to find him now — or if he was in heaven, he wanted to see his parents again, just one more time.
A woman with a striking silhouette, gray hair, and reddish eyes sat on a bench close to Noah's bed. She was reading something in a folder. "A child was found on the side of a beach in Port Maria — one of the most trafficked ports on the entire continent. Who are you?" she said without looking up.
Noah glanced at her for a few seconds, then let his eyes fall back to their hollow position.
"A child with no manners…" the woman said and grabbed Noah's chin.
Noah seized her wrist and began freezing it. She quickly let go.
"Interesting," she said, rotating her wrist. "My name is Ada. Ada Steelheart. What happened to you?"
Noah held back his tears and looked at her. He opened his mouth and told her everything that had happened on the island.
"You call those things curses. Here we call them sins — the walking manifestation of humanity's sin. And the sin you describe is the Skin of Cain: the greatest and oldest sin of them all." She took notes on a machine Noah had never seen before. It had buttons you pressed, and letters appeared in a small window like magic. The woman called it a laptop.
The woman opened her mouth to speak, then closed it.
"Where am I?" Noah asked.
"You are in a hospital in Larentsia, the capital of Monteloence." She pointed at a map. "Do you know how to read a map?"
Noah looked confused. "What do you mean this isn't called the United Kingdoms? And where is Almeria? Canada and Mexico are gone too."
The woman looked at him as though he were mad.
"My grandparents had a map — it looked the same, but all the names were completely different."
"Well, perhaps it was a false map. The world hasn't changed in many years — not even after the Fifth World War, except that all weapons other than swords were destroyed by unanimous vote, to prevent large-scale destruction of the world. All nuclear weapons and firearms were eliminated. Every schematic for any weapon other than swords was burned or erased from history. Now we live by the Knight Code. Many people prefer it that way."
"What is the Knight Code?" Noah asked.
"The Knight Code is the set of rules all Knights follow. By the way — you called us Exorcists, but here we are all Knights. There are ranks, but we are all Knights."
Noah stayed silent. The woman stood and handed him a pair of trousers and a shirt. Noah looked under the covers. "Oh. I'm naked."
"We had to remove your clothes. You had no serious injuries — though I'm not sure how, given that you took a hit from the Skin of Cain. Your clothes were filthy and soaked in blood, so…"
They looked at each other. Noah confused: "What is it?"
"Was your father as gifted as you are?"
"Pardon?"
The woman flushed and looked away. "Nothing! Please get changed and step outside. I need to take you somewhere."
Five minutes passed. Noah came out of the white room and was met by a cluster of nurses and female doctors. They all looked at him and said strange things like, "He is so cute — how much do you think he'd sell for?" and "I might take out a loan just to get him."
Were they talking about him? It felt as though they were looking at and discussing an object, not a human being.
"Kid," he heard the woman call.
"I'm not a kid. My name is Noah. Noah b—… just Noah."
The woman smiled. "Well, Noah, you have two options — one far more exciting than the other. You become a Knight, or…" she paused, lighting a cigarette and inhaling, "you become a slave."
"A — a slave?" Noah did not like the sound of that.
"Yes. In this world governed by women, men either become expendable soldiers sent to fight in wars we started, or they are purchased. Any woman with enough money can buy a man. If you are purchased, you belong to her. She can do whatever she wants with you, and you cannot refuse."
Noah stopped walking. His eyes went wide. The woman exhaled a slow stream of smoke. Noah reached over, took the lit end of the cigarette between his bare fingers, and extinguished it.
"That smells horrible." His eyes fixed on her.
A stare that sent a shiver down her spine.
She smiled and tossed the cigarette aside. "What do you choose, you little monster?"
"I choose to be free."
She smiled and walked toward a car. "Get in. You need a sword."
Two hours passed.
Noah was baffled by how something made of metal could move as fast as — faster than — a horse. So many buildings that seemed impossible to construct. Nearly everything looked like magic, but it had all been built by human hands through hard labor — or rather, through slaves. From what Ada told him, those born with gifts were almost exclusively female, and men tended to be physically weaker. This had led women to view men as lesser, and so men had become slaves. Their only role now was to follow orders.
What a sad life.
Their destination was a cave with a staircase descending into the earth. As they reached the entrance, Ada held up three fingers. "There are three levels. The first is for Guardian-level Knights, the second for Paladin-level Knights, and the third for King-level Knights. Now close your eyes and let your guardian angel show you your path."
Noah closed his eyes — and instead of a path, he began to remember. His parents. His grandparents. The people of the island. Without realizing it, he began walking, step by step, his eyes still shut, moving through memories of laughter, of tears, of warmth…
And the pain of losing it all.
Noah felt his hand close around something wooden and pulled. He drew out exactly thirty-three inches of blade. He opened his eyes.
What he saw was a sword with a wooden handle, runes etched from tip to base along every edge of the blade. Warmth radiated from it.
He looked around. The place where he had found the sword was a kind of shrine, and three more shrines stood against the other walls of the room.
Ada entered the room clapping. "My, my — we finally have a King among a river of Queens. Your angel is strong, little monster. Tell me — what is your power?"
Noah explained what his power did, what his gift was capable of, and its side effects.
"That is strange. No gift has ever had side effects before. The closest thing I can think of is a girl I know. When she uses her fire gift, the heat exceeds the surface of the sun. She killed her entire family when she was young — incinerated to ash in seconds. Her flame is extraordinarily powerful, and she has learned to control it, but… you know. When you are the reason your family dies, there is only so much anyone can do."
"I'm sorry if this sounds heartless, but why are you telling me this?" Noah said, examining his new sword and trying to read the inscriptions on the blade.
"Well, little monster — oh, how about Ice Cube? Because you're small and your power is ice. Eh? Eh? What do you think?" Ada grabbed Noah by the shoulders and gave him a light shake.
"I… don't care? Is that a nickname — Ice Cube?" Noah was confused.
"Yes. Anyway, Ice Cube — I'm telling you this because on your thirteenth birthday…" she paused. "How old are you right now?"
"A week ago I turned nine, I think."
"Well, Noah, you will join the Academy, and you will be paired with another student — most likely a girl. The girl I mentioned will be joining at the same time as you. So keep that in mind." Ada looked at him with a smile.
Noah glanced around. "Uhh… where am I staying?"
"Ah…"
Two more hours in the same magical metal car, and Noah and Ada came to a stop before a mansion. Nearly all the staff were men.
The gates opened as though on their own, letting the car through, while everyone bowed and said, "Welcome back, Lady Steelheart."
Noah stepped out and looked around. "Hey, Ada — do I have to do that too?"
Ada considered it, then said, "No. It would be funny, but no. Here is the arrangement, Noah: you live freely in this mansion and attend a Knight's Academy, on the condition that you become my adoptive son and keep my other son company. He is five years old. You will have three sisters and a brother." Ada smiled.
Noah felt a little uneasy and gripped his sword tightly.
"You don't have to call me Mom. Ada is fine. I don't think I can be what your real mother was to you. She was a safe place for you, and I don't want to take that from you," she said, placing a hand on Noah's head.
"T-thank you," Noah said, containing his tears.
A few seconds later, a small boy came running toward them and threw himself at his mother in a hug. He looked roughed up.
A girl appeared at the top of the entrance stairs. "There you are, Mom. Your son was trying to read the Knight's books." She looked past Ada toward Noah. "Who's the other rat?" Noah's eyes narrowed. He already hated her.
She was around five foot seven, slim, with blond hair and crimson eyes.
"This is your new brother. His name is Noah," Ada said. The girl did not look pleased.
"Another good-for-nothing man. You can't just pick up every stray dog off the streets and call him your son." Two more girls appeared at the doorway. They were older than the first, one with black hair and glasses, the other resembling Ada. Both looked disgusted at the mere sight of Noah.
"Beautiful family you have here, Mrs. Ada," Noah said, looking at the three girls.
"As you can see, men do not register as full human beings to most women. This is — and will always be — the treatment all men receive here."
Without a word, Noah handed Ada his sword — mostly because he had no idea how to use it yet — and smiled.
"My father once told me I was a free man." A thin layer of crimson water began forming over Noah's fists. "Which one of the three of them is the strongest?"
Ada looked at Noah and understood exactly what he was about to do. "I'd assume the one with the glasses. That's Nina — my eldest daughter."
Noah's breath turned to white steam despite the bright midday sun. He vanished and reappeared in front of Nina in an instant, smiling, and drove his fist into her face. She flew.
The other two stared at Noah in disbelief. "A — a gift? In a man?!"
"I'm no stray dog. My name is Noah. It's a pleasure to meet you, big sisters," Noah said, his eyes shining with blue light like two full moons.
A few minutes later, in a dining room larger than Noah's old house, Noah sat drinking a scalding cup of tea.
"Now that everything has settled — introductions. This little one is Leo." Ada gestured to the small boy. "The girl who called you a stray dog is Hailey. The one in the middle who looks like she's listening to very loud music is Aria. And the one you punched is Nina."
Nina slammed the table. "No — he punched me. He needs to be executed, or better yet, tortured and thrown in ja—" She stopped. Noah took a calm sip of his tea. She looked at his eyes.
"N-never mind." She sat back down.
Ada placed her hands on Noah's shoulders. "And this is Noah. Or: Ice Cube."
Nina pressed her fingers to her temple, a large bruise forming on her cheek. "Great. She gave him a nickname."
Noah glanced at Ada. "So it's not just me?" He looked at the girls across the table.
All of them nodded.
Ada looked around. "Well — these are her bones," she said, pointing at Hailey.
"My power lets me create bones," Hailey said.
"She is the shadow," Ada said, pointing at Aria.
"I can manipulate shadows at will," Aria said, sipping her tea.
"Nina is the flower."
"I create rose petals hard enough to cut through metal," Nina said.
Noah pressed his palm to his forehead. "And I'm Ice Cube because I can create ice… YOU HAVE NO ORIGINALITY, WOMAN!" he said, pointing straight at Ada.