Today will be hard, I think, because I won’t be doing what I always wanted to do. We have always been close, and since my mother’s death, we have drawn even more tightly together. Though Bay and I are not mirrors of each other, we’re still as near to the same person as two completely different people can be. But we’re fraternal twins, not identical, and no one has ever had any trouble telling us apart. We are both tall and carry ourselves the same way.
We stand side by side and hand in hand, our brown hair threaded with blue ribbons and braided in intricate plaits. Is she afraid that I’ll go back on my word? I won’t. She is usually calm and serene, but today she seems tense. The Minister raises his hand, and we all fall silent.īay presses her lips together. We live underwater, but we’re still human we need walls and air to protect us. The tentacles of our streets and thoroughfares web out from the larger round hubs of the neighborhoods and marketplaces. And Atlantia does resemble a giant sea creature sprawled out in the ocean. She’s not the only one who loves our underwater city or refers to it as alive.
It is the never-ending sound of air pumping through the walls and out into the city so that we can survive.īay knows that, but she’s always been a little crazy about Atlantia. I know she wants me to say that I do, but I shake my head. “Do you hear the city breathing?” Bay whispers. I feel sorry for everyone else because they don’t have a brother or a sister to wait with them. Two bowls rest on top of the altar-one filled with salt water from the ocean that envelops our city, one filled with dark dirt brought down from Above.īay and I wait in line with the other youth our age. The Minister stands at the altar, which is made of precious wood carved in an intricate pattern of straight lines and swirls, of waves that turn into trees. The colors of flower petals Above, of coral formations Below. The glass shines like a blessing-amber, green, blue, pink, purple. The temple’s largest and most beautiful window, the rose window, has been lit from behind to simulate the effect of sunlight through the panes. Statues of the gods adorn the walls and ceiling, and it seems as if they watch us, too.
Dignitaries perch on their chairs in the gallery, watching, and people crowd the pews in the nave. My twin sister, Bay, and I pass underneath the brown-and-turquoise banners hanging from the ceiling of the temple. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their contents. Summary: “Rio has always dreamed of leaving the underwater city of Atlantia for life in the Above however, when her twin sister, Bay, makes an unexpected decision, Rio is left stranded below where she must find a way to unlock the secrets of the siren voice she has long hidden and save Atlantia from destruction”- Provided by publisher. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture.
New Zealand * India * South Africa * ChinaĬopyright © 2014 by Allyson Braithwaite Condie
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