She gritted her teeth as she hoisted another sandbag onto the bank; her back muscles screamed.
She knew Aliah better than that. Sileas had to be wrong.
CHAPTER 11
Aliah
The rain was coming in torrents by the time he reached a large cave buried beneath a thick growth of ivy. It was past Lael's south boundary fence, in the Borderless. Its location made it the perfect hiding spot since community laws prevented anyone from venturing outside of Lael.
Water seeped into his leather boots and his hooded cloak had done little to shield him from the rain as he ran. He breathed heavily and pushed aside the thick ivy from the mouth of the cave, then slipped inside the narrow opening of the rocky hide-away. A dim light at the end of a long tunnel illuminated the interior just enough for him to reposition the ivy concealing the entrance with cold, numb fingers.
He blew into his cupped hands as he ducked his head to avoid hitting the low ceiling while he walked towards the light. Tufts of moss splotched the wet walls and floor of the cave, muting his footsteps and filling his nose with a damp, earthy smell.
Turning left at a fork, he followed the narrow tunnel until it led to a large cavern. Voices of children and their soft laughter echoed in the dark recesses, thawing the chill around his soul.
"Aliah!" A small tow-headed child ran to him and wrapped her chubby arms around his leg. He tousled her soft curls, and winked at her as she peered up at him with large, grey eyes, before she ran to join the rest of the children huddled around a fire in the center of the cavern.
Low wooden benches lined two curved walls, serving as both bed and chair. Three large, metal buckets filled with water stood on one side of the cave while several more were placed on the opposite side.
Aliah made his way over to an older woman who sat rocking an infant. "Mother," he whispered. Her dark curls were damp against her neck and she turned her face towards him. She smiled and two deep dimples appeared in her cheeks. She had always been beautiful.
"How are you? How's Shai?"
He ignored her question and pulled the blanket back from the infant's face and sucked in a deep breath. The baby had pink cheeks, dark hair, and eyes that made Aliah's heart skip a beat. They weren't the typical Laelite grey but a piercing shade of blue that sparkled in the firelight. Like Shai's.
Aliah chewed his lip and watched his mother stroke the infant's cheek.
"He came with the other children Ellersly brought tonight," she said softly.
Aliah paced the earthen floor. The baby was a surprise, and that meant there were twenty-two children he was responsible for. He knelt in front of his mother.
"Do they still have their pendants?" The question caught in his throat. He knew the answer.
She gave him an apologetic smile. "The pendants were left behind. This is the only child Ellersly didn't bring from Lael. Somehow he was taken from the Camps, so he wouldn't have a Laelite pendant yet." She smoothed the baby's black hair. "We are all better off without those cursed things."
Aliah rocked back on his heels then sat hard on the ground, his head in his hands. "I sent Ellersly a message to get the children out of Lael, but removing their pendants was never part of the plan. Whose suggestion was that?”
“It's better this way," his mother said, without looking at him.
What kind of an answer is that? Aliah raised his head, his eyes following Mara's peaceful rhythm as she rocked the baby. Her gentleness had made her the favorite Mother among the children when she was in Lael. Aliah hardly remembered the day she was escorted from Lael to live in the Borderless, but even now his chest ached with the hollow feeling her absence had made.
He picked up a handful of gravel, and squeezed it until the stones bit into his skin. Then he dropped each pebble one by one onto the ground beside him.
"I hate the pendants.” He told the ground. “I hate that they control who lives and who dies. But the worse thing is what might happen to these children. Their pendants should never have been left behind."
He thought of Shai, in the House, without hers. It was strange to think of her without it since the only ones who wore no pendant were those who were exiled to the Borderless.
Mara met Aliah’s eyes. "The pendants don't control life. You have to believe that."
"Well I don't." He didn't tell her the thoughts he had sometimes, the fragments of pictures in his mind, of a time when no one wore them. Before Lael had become dreary and grey.
He blinked away the thought. He was being silly. There was no before. Lael had always been grey and the pendants had always been part of life. He touched Mara's arm. "There's... there's something I want to talk to you about. It’s why I came."
Mara's eyes widened. "What? You have it? You have the Book?"
Aliah's shoulders drooped under an invisible weight. If he felt any heavier he'd sink into the ground. The only thing that mattered to her, the only thing she ever liked to talk about, was the Book.
Aliah shook his head. "The Book, the Book."
She gave him a confused look.
"You don't remember? The Book is in a vault in Lael. No one can get to it except for the Leader and the Mother who does the Readings."
Mara nodded her head "Ah, yes. It's a beautiful Book isn't it? You know who wrote it don't you?"
Aliah sighed. "Yes, I know who writes in it. He's the same one who punishes us if we break any of his Laws. I don't think it's very beautiful."
"No, no. It was never meant to record infractions. Elchai is good and kind. He wrote it for the future. He wrote it before everything… fell apart."
Elchai. He cringed at the mention of that name, but remained silent and let his mother talk even though he disagreed. Anyone who discouraged Mara’s gentleness and sent her away to live outside of Lael wasn't a good and kind leader, but a tyrant. But Aliah never argued with his mother. Ever since her exile she lived in a reality only she could see.
Mara rose to her feet, holding the infant tightly against her. "This one's a Kentite. I'm sure of it."
Aliah dropped his chin to his chest. A long, slow sigh escaped from his lips. "Why do you think that? Does he have a brand?"
With trembling fingers Mara unwrapped the thin blanket the infant was swaddled in and exposed his tiny chest. Aliah peered over her shoulder at the baby’s rosy skin, unblemished by even a single freckle.
Aliah shook his head. "He's not a Kentite. See? No brand. The Sectors of Edan don't exist. It's just a story."
"No. This one was born in the Camps. His father wouldn't have been able to brand him there. But look at his eyes. His heritage is Kentite for sure. Sector Seven, the same as Shai." Her eyes searched his, insistent.
Aliah frowned. The Sectors had been a story passed around long ago. A history lesson, a forbidden subject in Lael. No one but Mara spoke of those old stories. Until Zev.
He stood up and brushed the rocks and dirt from his trousers then took one of her hands in his. "You once told me that every Edanite child is branded by their father according to their Sector.” He swallowed around the lump in his throat. “But if the Sectors once existed, they don't anymore. You've told me many times about the War that destroyed every Edanite a long time ago, Mother. The Sectors are gone. There's nothing out there but the Borderless land."
"No, Aliah... I..." Aliah shushed her and squeezed her fingers. He dropped her hand then turned to face the fire.
Her voice behind him was soft.” I thought you protected the Sectors, but if you don’t, then why did you bring all these children here? Why did you bring me here? I was happy living out there in the Borderless. Away from Lael."
Away from me. Aliah pinched the bridge of his nose to lessen a dull throb that pulsed behind his eyes. "I did it to send a message... to the Leader. Because of Shai. She was sent to live on the Hill... until she goes with the Leader on Recruitment Day."
"The Hill House? Oh Aliah, no!"
Aliah spun around; his mother's eyes shone with tears, her f
ace looked rosy in the firelight. It seemed that every time he saw her she lost a little more of the drab, grey pallor of her skin and eyes.
"I know, Mother. That’s why I planned this.” He spread out his hands. “It’s part of the plan to get her out of Lael before he comes for her. I need to take her somewhere safe... She's the reason I became a Watcher. So I could protect her," he whispered, the effort hurting his throat. "And she doesn't even know."
Mara’s eyes widened. "You need to show her the Book. If she sees it, I mean really looks at it, she’ll understand." She stepped towards him. "You'll just have to show her. You have a good heart, Aliah. Your father would be so..."
"Don't! Don't talk about him, Mother. Please don't." He turned on his heel and walked towards the narrow tunnel. "I will see you tomorrow night," he called over his shoulder. Raw emotions pricked his eyes. And the past seemed intent on haunting him.
Mara's voice followed him down the dark corridor and out to the entrance. "Just look in the Book, Aliah. Then Shai will understand. You will understand."
His eyes stung but he shoved grief and regret deep inside the hole that had swallowed his heart. He stepped outside the cave and repositioned the ivy.
It had been awhile since he'd seen his mother. She looked different. It was her eyes mostly. But then, before tonight, he'd only seen her from a distance, sitting with her homeless friends around a camp fire as he went on the fire-raids and confiscated Laelite items from the exiled. It felt good to be with her again even if their conversation left him troubled.
Why did she keep insisting that he read the Book? He couldn't get his hands on it if he tried. No, the only thing worth worrying about right now was Shai. He needed to get her away from Lael before she was taken from him for good to live with the Leader somewhere in the Borderless that stretched for endless miles.
He pulled the edges of his cloak tighter and wrapped his arms around himself as he bent his head against the biting wind. By the time he had slipped back through the cut in the fence, the bleak sun had begun to rise.
Now there were only twenty days left. It was time to kidnap Shai.
CHAPTER 12
Shai
The sandbags held and the rain finally relented at dawn. Shai walked back to the Hill House alone, with her soggy leather boots smacking the muddy road. She got as far as the bottom of the hill when the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She pushed off her hood and turned slowly around.
Aliah stood on the side of the road a few feet away, watching her. He walked towards her, the grey light of the early morning casting long shadows across his face.
"How long have you been watching me?" Shai asked and squared her shoulders. He shrugged and came closer. Gooseflesh formed along both arms and she sucked in a breath.
"I heard you had some trouble so I came to find you." His face came so close to hers that she could see the tiny lines that creased the corners of his green eyes. A small smile teased at the edges of his mouth, making her heart hammer. Heat rushed into her cheeks. His intensity pulled at her, drew her in. The heat in her cheeks became a full-bodied flush. Her knees wobbled. Brain-fog from lack of sleep mixed with the sudden shot of adrenaline. She stepped back and managed to drop her eyes.
Breathe...
She had twenty days remaining in Lael. She wasn't about to get caught up in confusing feelings for her best friend. It would only make it worse when she had to leave him.
"A little trouble? You could say that. Missing kids... flooded river...and Sileas's infraction. Where were you?" She sipped the air, forcing her breathing to slow down. Then she raised her eyes to his. The pale light of the rising sun washed his face in a rosy glow, lightening the green of his eyes. He smiled.
What does he find amusing? She crossed her arms in annoyance, as well as to still the fluttering in her stomach.
He came closer and draped his right arm across her shoulders. His face became sober. "Walk with me."
She shouldn't be with him. Not after last night.
She shook her head. "Look at me, Aliah. I need to go to the Bath House. I'm cold and wet. Not to mention dirty."
The weight of his arm around her increased as he pulled her against him and began to walk slowly, forcing her to walk. "Look, I want to apologize." He paused and the fluttering in her stomach became a pulsing frenzy. Being caught this close to each other would get them both into trouble.
She stepped away from him, dodging his arm as he tried to pull her towards him.
"I don't need your apology, Aliah. I need an explanation. Sileas said you found her when she broke into the Chapel. She showed me a letter you gave her, a Recruitment letter!" She spat out the last word then took a breath before continuing. "You Recruited her, Aliah? What is going on? Why do you keep sneaking off at night into the woods? Tell me!"
A hurt look crossed his face and guilt gnawed at her. But it was easier to be angry with him than to keep trying to push aside the strange feeling in her stomach.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Shai. I never saw Sileas. And I never gave her a letter. I sent a letter to you, asking you to meet me so I could talk to you. I don't want any more secrets. And I certainly didn't come back here last night. I left after I carried you to bed."
"You don't want any more secrets? That's funny, Aliah." She looked down at the ground and pushed at a pebble with the toe of her boot. "Well since we're telling secrets let me tell you something. I've been having those visitations again. Even after you made me promise to send him away." She looked up at him but he looked away, his face unreadable. He never spoke of the past, keeping it sealed like a tomb.
"I'm telling you right now, Shai. I never gave a letter to Sileas. And I'm not a Watcher... not like you think. Don't you trust me?" The question hung in the air. Was he lying to her now? He ran his hands through his dark hair, making it stand on end, something she would have teased him about before.
"Aliah, didn't you hear me? I've seen him again! Don't you have anything to say about it?" She didn't know why she wanted to pick a fight with him. Maybe so it would be easier to say goodbye. She clenched her fists at her sides, fighting tremors of anger and regret.
Movement in her periphery stopped her mid-thought. A row of thick bushes ten feet to her left ran from the back corner of the Hill House all the way to the river. A dark figure disappeared into the bushes.
“Watchers!” She narrowed her eyes as she stared at the place where the figure went, then glared back at Aliah. "You know why they're here! Just trying to catch us breaking some Law! And you're one of them!"
The accusation stung like venom in her mouth. Instantly she ached to take back the words. Sorry she had hurt her best friend, yet furious that he wasn't denying it.
But Aliah had started running towards the bushes. His unbuttoned cloak flapped behind him, his feet barely touching the muddy ground. When he reached the row of bushes he pushed some aside then kneeled on the ground, his back towards her. When he hadn't moved after several minutes, she walked slowly towards him. He remained in the same position with his head bowed over something on the ground.
"Aliah?" She crept closer to him. His silence sent her pulse racing. Sweat trickled down her back in spite of the chilly morning air. Something wasn't right. An eerie stillness pervaded the atmosphere.
"Aliah." She reached out to touch his shoulder but he flung his left arm out to bar her.
"Stay back!" His voice was rough and edged with something that spiked fear in her. She stepped backwards then hesitated.
Aliah rose to his feet, pulled the hood of his cloak over his head then slowly turned around. The hood concealed his face.
"Go inside, Shai. Lock the door. Stay there until I send word." A shiver convulsed her. What was going on? What did he see?
"Aliah, you're scaring me. Tell me what's going on!" She moved closer to him but he snapped his head up causing the hood to slip back. The early morning light slanted across the right side of his face. The green of his eyes wer
e flecked with something dark, cold. He pulled the hood down again but not before she glimpsed the red rims of his eyes, the paleness of his skin. She shuffled back another step then stumbled on a rock and reached for Aliah to steady her.
He pulled away from her. "Go inside, Shai!"
Her stomach twisted. Tears stung her eyes then slipped down her cheeks. She swiped at them with the back of her hand.
With his back to her, Aliah bent down again. He struggled with something as he stood back up. She sucked in a gulp of icy air. A pair of legs dangled over one of Aliah's arms and a head, shrouded in a dark hood, hung over the other arm. Against her best friend's chest was a slender body. Who is that? Are they sleeping? Why would anyone sleep in the bushes?
Aliah turned to slide himself and his burden through the bushes. A twig caught the person's hood and twisted it sideways, revealing thick dark hair and a slender face. Horror gripped Shai, turning her palms slick with sweat. Nestled in the crook of Aliah's arm was the gentle-featured face of a young girl. Even with pasty-grey skin and blue lips, Shai recognized her.
Sileas.
Her large, grey eyes were open. Staring, glassy. It was not the face of sweet slumber. A sharp gasp escaped Shai and she turned and ran, tripping over loose stones. She fled to the House, stumbled through the door then rammed the thick steel bolt into place.
Heaving and gulping great breaths she slid against the door and crumpled in a heap on the floor. She refused to let any tears fall. An ache grew inside her, coiling tighter and tighter until it sprung loose inside her like a rabid animal. She had never felt this before. Its darkness enveloped her, swallowed her whole then spit her back out. It tossed her around before leaving her whimpering on the hard wooden floor.
Then she remembered something. She'd comforted Aliah the last time she'd seen that look on his face, long ago.
He must be feeling what she was experiencing now: the ache of grief.
Oh Sileas.
CHAPTER 13
Aliah
Sweat ran in rivers down his back and chest, soaking his white shirt until it stuck to him like a second skin. Mud was caked under his fingernails even after he scrubbed his hands and arms in the river. He swallowed around the giant lump in his throat.
Sileas was a sweet kid. Burying her in a shallow grave near the swollen river seemed heartless. He grimaced, then sat on a large rock near the edge of the hole he had just dug using his hands and a thin stone. That was the word: heartless.