A
note from Kiera:
Alicia and Alex Cohen were twenty-two and twenty-four respectively when their
father died in World War Four. Alex had just finished studying at Julliard
while his sister was getting ready to enter medical school. When he got the
notice that his name was being changed to Singer, and that he was now a Five,
he didn’t understand it, and disregarded the letter. The caste system was only
something those in the upper tiers really knew about until after it happened.
His new fiancée, Elle, thought
nothing of it, not caring that she was supposedly a Three now, but when the
system rigidly locked down and her teaching license was revoked, she was
heartbroken. Alicia was immediately kicked out of school and told she was an
artist.
The Singer family tree is the most
typical of those in Illéa. They’ve almost entirely married within the same
caste and died relatively young. Even though their status is low, the Singer
family is attractive and talented, so they do as best as a family of Fives
could expect.
America’s parents met while working.
When Shalom sold six pieces to a wealthy Two, the man held a party to show off
his new purchases, and Shalom was there to explain his art. Magda was hired to
play piano in the background, and he was instantly drawn to her talent. She
ignored his advances, hoping to marry up a caste or two, but eventually
succumbed to his charm and attention.
Once Shalom and Magda started having
children, the stress of the finances drove a wedge between them. While there
has always been love in their marriage, there has also been a constant worry
over money. Magda’s greatest triumph to date is America gaining the status of a
Three, and while America is away at the palace, Magda rubs it in the face of
any of the families that have ever been unkind to them. It’s only in the
quietest times of their life that Magda can truly show Shalom that she still
loves him.
America looks at love much the way
her father does. She looks at a lot of things the way her father does and has
always favored him.
Had the caste system not fallen into
place, America’s last name would be Cohen.
