Restored (A Caleo Selection)

23 ~ A Scar So Deep

Time passed slowly.

There wasn't much of interest in my comfortable little prison. I went through my father's old notebooks, but many of the pages had been ripped out. There were several books on the bottom of the cabinet, mostly historical or political ones, and I took my time reading through each one.

After that, there was little to do. There was no way to keep track of time without the light of day, which was maddening. I discovered a large stash of non-perishable food in the back of the cabinet, but since I didn't have a clock, I was constantly questioning whether I was actually hungry or not.

I slept whenever I could. It was the only way to stop wondering what was happening up there for a while. I never heard footsteps or any noises from above me, and I didn't know if that was a result of a very soundproof room, or if nobody ever came out here.

I desperately wanted to know how Leo was doing. They'd probably put on a big show of sending out people to look for me, just for the sake of the people. It was rather unsettling that there had been three different breaches in security, only in the past few weeks. Was Leo torn up about me, or was he running the country as he should? Maybe he'd even called off the Selection and picked one of the remaining girls just to settle things.

I doubted that last thought was a possibility, but then again, Leo had wanted the Selection just to be over soon. He'd said so himself. He definitely liked Hazel, and she would be an absolutely perfect queen. Was she with him, comforting him now?

I was insanely sick of not knowing anything.

One thing consoled me: at least none of the other Selected girls had to endure this. I was used to this cruel punishment of loneliness -- none of the others were. All of them, even tough Thalia or strong Reyna, would have fallen apart under these circumstances. My friends were okay, and that kept me going.

I couldn't think about them for long without the depression suffocating me, though. After so many years in solitude, I'd actually made some good friends in those last months, and now I was taken from them once more. Now that I'd had a taste of freedom, my prison became all the more intense.

On what I estimated was the fourth or fifth day of my captivity, I was flipping through my father's journals once more when I heard a sharp beep and the door slid open. Hyperion, Iapetus, and an elderly woman I did not know filed in, and I stood, holding my head up, trying to look as dignified as possible.

"Enjoying yourself, Callie, my dear?" Hyperion's gaze swept over my stupid gown, and he laughed. "It is nice to see you attired appropriately again."

I kept my mouth shut, unwilling to give them even an inch of satisfaction.

"Are you so disrespectful? Do you not realize who has graced you with her presence?" Hyperion took the hand of the woman. "For shame."

I studied the woman, who did not smile. Her hair was gray and her face was wrinkled, but she was wiry and strong-looking. Her eyes were the same cold brown as Hyperion's. The same as my father's.

The same as mine?

I gripped the folds of my skirt. "How kind of you to visit, Grandmother."

"Calypso." Gaea stepped forward, and I saw Iapetus shift nervously. "If I'm being honest, you remind me of myself at your age."

I laughed. "Aren't I fortunate."

"Truly." My grandmother's gaze was hard and piercing, and as she watched me, I got the sense that I was being analyzed and picked apart down to my core. I felt like she could see my thoughts, and I pinched my arm to remind myself that she couldn't do that. My thoughts were in my head, and they were mine alone.