Chapter 3

Thalia opened her eyes and glanced again at the walls that surrounded Edenhold, their towering presence a reminder of the line between peace and chaos. They had stood firm for generations, keeping out the violence of the outside world, keeping in the harmony they had worked so hard to create. But walls, no matter how strong, could not contain something that was inherent.

She thought again of Kai. He wasn't a bad boy. He wasn't like the men from the old world, the ones who had ruled with fists of iron, who had turned violence into a way of life. Kai was intelligent, thoughtful even. But something had changed in him since he and the others were separated from the girls. As soon as the boys were placed together, isolated in their own world, the old patterns began to emerge—anger, tension, the first sparks of aggression.

The council would likely blame him for his outburst today. And what then? Exile.

Thalia felt the familiar cold dread fill her chest. The thought of Kai—of any of the boys—being sent out into the wilderness beyond Edenhold's walls was almost too much to bear. The world outside was savage, full of men who had given in to their basest instincts. No structure, no peace, only raw survival.

And yet, what was the alternative? To keep them here? To risk their aggression spreading to the others, breaking apart the fragile peace the women had fought so hard to maintain? Thalia knew why the rules existed. She knew that, in the council's eyes, one boy's life was not worth the risk of destabilizing everything they had built.

Still, the question burned in her mind—was there another way?

She knew she was not alone in these doubts. Though the council spoke with one voice, there were whispers among the women—whispers that perhaps the system wasn't working as perfectly as they wanted to believe. There were rumors that other fortresses—places like New Solace and Valora—had experienced similar problems with their boys. Some had begun to question if they could ever truly eradicate violence from men, no matter how careful they were.

But Thalia knew that any change to the system would be met with fierce resistance. The very idea that violence was innate—that it couldn't be bred out—was too terrifying to confront. It would mean accepting that the control they had fought so hard to gain was never truly theirs to begin with.

A knock at her door pulled her from her thoughts.

"Come in," she called softly, already knowing who it would be.

The door opened, and Lena stepped in. Lena was one of the few women in Edenhold who shared Thalia's growing unease about the state of things. She was quite a bit older than Thalia, and her long, silver-streaked hair gave her an air of quiet authority. Her presence was calming, but tonight there was tension in her movements.

"You're still awake," Lena said, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her.

"I couldn't sleep," Thalia admitted. "I keep thinking about Kai. About what happened in the yard."

Lena nodded, her face serious. "I heard. It's not just him, Thalia. The boys are... changing. Faster than we expected."

Thalia sighed, leaning back in her chair. "Do you think the council will exile him?"

Lena's lips pressed into a thin line. "They might. They're running out of patience. I overheard them after the incident. They're scared."

"They're scared of him?" Thalia's voice rose in disbelief. "He's just a boy."

"They're scared of what he represents," Lena said quietly. "If Kai can't be controlled, what does that say about the rest of them? About everything we've built?"

Thalia's thoughts drifted back to Kai's early years, when he had been one of the best-performing boys in the entire program. He was special—born from a carefully selected union. His father had been one of the most docile men in Edenhold, chosen for his calm nature and complete lack of aggression. His mother had been a strong militia woman, known for her leadership and discipline, a woman who had earned the respect of everyone within the walls.

Kai had always seemed to embody the perfect balance. He was intelligent, with a natural strength inherited from his mother, but also tempered by the calm disposition of his father. For years, Thalia had watched him grow, excelling in both physical training and emotional control. He had shown compassion, empathy, and had been slow to anger—everything the council hoped for in the next generation of men.

The council had high hopes for him, seeing him as a potential role model for the younger boys. If Kai could succeed, if he could navigate the transition from boy to man without falling into the same patterns of aggression, it would prove that Edenhold's system worked. It would validate everything they believed in—their methods, their rules, their control.

Thalia fell silent, the weight of Lena's words sinking in. That was the heart of it, wasn't it? Kai's outburst wasn't just about one boy's anger—it was about the system itself. If he couldn't be controlled, it raised a question no one wanted to face: Was violence truly something they could eliminate? Or was it something deeper—something that no amount of breeding or rules could ever change?

"What if they're right?" Thalia asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "What if... what if it's in them? In all of them?"

Lena crossed the room and placed a hand on Thalia's shoulder, her touch gentle but firm. "If that's true, then we need to start asking ourselves a different question."

Thalia looked up at her. "What question?"

"What are we willing to do to keep the peace?"

The silence that followed was heavy, but Thalia didn't have an answer. The walls of Edenhold had kept them safe for so long, but if those walls couldn't hold back the nature of violence itself, what could?

Lena sat beside her, the quiet between them stretching on. They both knew the council wouldn't budge easily. The women in power had built their lives around the idea that Edenhold could create a better world—a world free of the brutality that had defined the old world. To admit that their experiment was failing would be to admit that their entire way of life was under threat.

But how long could they ignore the truth?

"How long do you think we have?" Thalia asked finally, her voice low.

Lena sighed, her gaze distant. "I don't know. But I can feel it too. Something's changing. The boys... Kai..." She paused, shaking her head. "The longer we try to ignore it, the worse it's going to get."

Thalia nodded slowly, a sense of resolve building in her chest. She didn't know what the future held, but she knew one thing: Kai couldn't be abandoned. She had raised him, trained him, and watched over him for years. If anyone could find a way to help him, it had to be her.

The night stretched on, but neither woman spoke again. They sat in silence, each lost in their thoughts, as the quiet of Edenhold seemed to close in around them. Beyond the walls, the world remained wild, violent, and unforgiving. But inside, for now, there was peace.

Thalia could only hope it would last.