Inside, the light reflected on two sets of orange eyes.
Alex gasped. Their beds had disappeared along with all of the other lovely things from the mansion, though it was clear Mr. Today had had some kitchen goods and furniture in this shack for the purpose of the governors’ visits. Now there was merely a small single bed that looked quite precarious. The two huddled instead on the floor, looking terribly harmless. Was it really just earlier today that the girl had spit in his face?
“Sheesh,” he said, when he could breathe properly again. “You scared me. I’d forgotten about you guys.” He took a few steps closer and got down on his haunches. “What a time to wake up, little boy. Don’t be scared,” he said. “I won’t hurt you. I was, um, just lying about the weapon.” He didn’t know if they understood him. “But don’t tell anyone,” he added. “Get it? Heh.” It was a terrible joke, he knew, and totally inappropriate. But he wasn’t exactly thinking properly at the moment.
The eyes moved, and as he leaned forward he could see the outlines of their bodies. Their neck bands glinted in the candlelight. The two drew back against the wall, so Alex stood again and backed up a few steps.
“Okay, guys, look. This is crazy. You don’t trust me. I don’t want to get spit on again. But I want you to know that I don’t plan to hurt you, not ever, and you can leave anytime you want. Your raft is . . . probably outside somewhere.” He scratched his head. “How about this: I’ll stay over here in the living room with Meghan,” he said, “and you two just do whatever you want. You’re really the least of my worries right now.” Alex fought off a violent yawn. “Though it would be really nice if you’d tell me what’s up with the thornaments.” He laughed a little at coining the phrase and realized he was growing delirious with exhaustion. “Just . . . don’t kill me, all right? I’m sort of valuable right now, it seems.”
He looked at the door, remembering Sean’s suggestion to lock it. Sighing deeply, he pulled a rickety chair to the door and wedged it under the knob, securing them in for the night. Then he rummaged through the kitchen cabinets for water and brought some over to Meghan, trying to rouse her, but unable to do so. He dripped a bit into her mouth to moisten it, drank some himself, and left the rest on the counter for the Silents. Then he collapsed in a softish chair nearby, too tired to scrounge around for something to eat, and fell asleep.
» » « «
When he awoke, it was a bright new day. But everything came flooding back too fast. Meghan was still unconscious, Sam and Lani were still missing, Simber was still at the bottom of the ocean, and Mr. Today was still dead.
Alex sat up, disheveled. He looked at his best friend, who hadn’t moved, and felt completely lost without his other friends. He wandered all around the little gray shack, looking at the meager, colorless furnishings and focusing his gaze out the windows at the bodies strewn about. His eyes landed on the footpath, where Jim the winged tortoise had fallen, probably just like Simber’without warning.
Alex leaned against a window, buried his face in his hands, and realized two things:
There was no cure for this pain.
And his life would never be the same again.
In the Middle of the Night
In the middle of the night Sean Ranger had found Eva Fathom lurking on the outskirts of the fighting. She seemed relieved to see him, though he was never quite sure if she was faking it. She pulled him aside.
They walked together a few steps, and then Eva whispered, “Aaron killed Marcus and he’s holding Haluki hostage’they’re in Haluki’s governor’s house.” Her voice was urgent. “He’s planning his takeover of the palace. He has weapons and guards.”
“What about Ms. Morning?”
“I haven’t seen her.”
Sean let out a held breath. “Where could she be?”
Eva shook her head. “No idea. Who is down among the Artiméans?”
“Alex’s friends Samheed and Lani’Haluki’s daughter’are missing, unrelated to this conflict. Several of our older Unwanteds have been slain . . . and Mrs. Haluki is seriously injured. I’m afraid she won’t make it’not without magic. And then there’s my sister . . .” Sean squeezed his eyes shut and massaged his lids with his fingers. It felt like his eyes were filled with sand. There was so much wrong, it was almost beyond measure.
Eva squeezed Sean’s arm. “I’m sorry for you,” she said. “Everything has gone horribly wrong. I never expected . . . this. We just need to press on.” She hesitated, and asked, “What about Alex?”
“He’s okay, as far as I know,” Sean said. “Can you get word to Haluki about his wife and Lani somehow?”
Eva pressed her lips together, thinking hard. “I’m not sure Aaron trusts me enough at the moment to let me in. But I’ll try.” She turned to go, and then looked back. “I heard there’s nothing left of Artimé . . . ,” she said, trailing off with the hint of a question in her voice.
“There’s the gray shack. Not much else, though.”
“My daughter, Carina . . . ?”
“Still fighting.”
Eva turned again and nodded, nothing else to say, and began walking. Exhausted from running back and forth, she limped through the shadows back to Haluki’s house once more, hoping rest was somehow in her near future.
» » « «
As the clash in Quill between Aaron’s Restorers and Artimé’s spell-less Unwanteds lost steam overnight, the injured finally limped home, dragging or carrying their fallen with them, while the strong fought on.
Most of the Necessaries who had made Artimé home over the recent months witnessed what had become of Artimé, and now watched the Unwanteds fall. Sadly, it wasn’t hard for them to turn their loyalties again. They avoided the fighting and went back to their homes in Quill, frightened of being punished, but having nowhere else to go. All of them were more than willing to do whatever it took to allow them to stay in Quill.
Aaron had lost seven Restorers so far in the skirmish. Artimé lost more than thirty. Without magic, Artimé was woefully unprepared in the way of weapons. The night wore on with no relief, both sides seemingly fighting without any real leader present. Finally, when Gondoleery had lost two of her strongest fighters and several of her weapons, and Mr. Appleblossom could stand it all no more, they came together and called for a truce. Most of the Restorers wondered bitterly where Aaron Stowe had been all this time. And most of Artimé had the sinking suspicion that they had lost a lot more than just magic and some fighters.
» » « «
Eva made her way to Haluki’s house once again. At the door she reported to Aaron that Mrs. Haluki was barely clinging to life and that Lani was missing. She hoped that the information would gain her some more credibility with Aaron’she needed to be on his good side again. And it worked, at least for now. He let her in.
When the palace guards knocked on Haluki’s front door a few hours before dawn, concerned and looking for their high priest, Gunnar answered it.
“I’m fine’thank you for checking in with me,” he told them as Aaron, hidden, trained the pistol at his head. “I have a family emergency and some things to take care of here. But I’ve appointed an associate high priest’you know him. Aaron Stowe, former assistant secretary to the High Priest Justine.”
The guards glanced at each other uneasily.
But Gunnar continued with an air of authority. “He’ll be moving into the palace and will be running things for me from there. Please show him your utmost loyalty. And prepare an announcement to be delivered to all of Quill at daybreak. The entire community must meet at the amphitheater at noon.”
The guards looked puzzled, but it was not their place to question the high priest.
“Hurry along now,” Haluki said. “That’s a lot to do before morning.”
“Whatever pleases the high priest,” they murmured. Frederick, the gate guard, gave one last glance over his shoulder as they walked away. Gunnar, sweat pouring down his neck, merely waved them onward. And then he closed the door and
turned to his captor.
“What about my son Henry?” he asked Aaron. His eyes flitted to Eva Fathom, who had emerged from her hiding place in the hallway, and he raised an eyebrow in surprise. She shook her head the slightest bit.
Aaron kept the pistol pointed at the high priest, but turned to look at Eva. “Have you seen the Haluki boy?”
“No,” she said. She’d passed many of the injured as she traveled back and forth, and the boy had definitely not been among them. But she wasn’t about to say anything about that now. She had another agenda.
“I thought I saw Claire Morning out there fighting,” she said carefully.
Aaron Stowe laughed. “I doubt that.”
A noise came from the kitchen, like somebody dropping a box or bumping against a door. Liam shot a look of alarm at Aaron, which Eva noticed. Aha, she thought. Aloud she said, “I’m sure you’re right. It was dark, and we both know my eyes aren’t as good as they used to be. Is she dead, then?” She wondered if Aaron would lie to her.
Aaron hesitated. “Enough,” he said, changing the subject. “Haluki, if you keep playing your part this well, you will live. Perhaps even long enough to keep your son from being an orphan, now that your wife isn’t long for this world.” His voice was so cold, he cringed at his own words.
Haluki stared at Aaron, giving him no indication of how Aaron’s declaration shocked or hurt him. “I will follow your wishes for the sake of my family,” he said with utmost dignity. And then, unable to contain himself, he added, “Aaron, you truly have some redeeming qualities, but they are growing more invisible at each passing day.”
Aaron glared at him, his face growing hot. “Tie him back up,” he said to Liam.
Haluki ventured further. “There is a natural path to success, Aaron. But you’re too angry and bitter to follow it.” He held his arms obediently behind his back for Liam. “You just flail around stubbornly in the brush alongside it, angry with the world for not making the path exactly where you wish to walk.”
Aaron, unsure what the high priest was talking about, felt his mouth twitch and his breath quicken. “Gag him!” he said to Liam. He put the gun down on the table and stormed out the back door, not caring now who saw or heard him.
He took a deep breath of the rank night air and coughed, and then he determined that getting the Necessaries back to cleaning would be his first act now that he was in charge of Quill. That’s right’he was in charge of Quill! Not Haluki! And Associate High Priest Aaron Stowe didn’t need some stupid former high priest telling him how to act, as if he were a child.
A New Day
Alex heard a soft tapping noise. When he looked up at the window next to the door, he saw a face staring back at him. He turned quickly, knocking over a small side table and sending it clattering to the floor, and hurried to the door, shoving the chair out of the way and opening it wide.
“Henry,” he said. He was glad to see the boy. But then his heart fell, knowing he’d have to tell Henry that his sister, Lani, was missing.
Henry came inside, a strange look on his face. “My mother is dead,” he said.
Alex gripped the door handle. “What?”
“She died,” he said. “I can’t really . . . you know. Can’t believe it. She was fighting for Artimé. She’s a hero.” He shook his head. “That’s what my dad would say. That’s what the nurses said too.”
“I’m so sorry,” Alex murmured.
Henry looked around, a dazed expression on his face. “I’m really seriously so thirsty, Alex. There’s no water anywhere. It’s so hot here now. . . .”
Alex, taken aback by Henry’s strange reaction, worried that the boy was in shock, or dehydrated, or a perhaps both. Quickly he closed the door and urged Henry toward the kitchen. The jug on the counter was empty. He scrounged around in the pantry and realized there were several more jugs of water in there. He puzzled over them at first, wondering why Mr. Today would have so many here in this shack, but then he guessed that Mr. Today must have gotten a large supply of water every time the governors came, so that no one had to cart it all the way out to the Death Farm each week. Mr. Today had no use for it after he transformed the world again once the governors left, so clearly he stored it. It was a relief to see it.
Alex opened a jug and poured Henry a glass. He watched Henry slam it down and he filled the glass again, not really knowing how to hold all the grim news. “I’m . . . I’m really sorry about your mother,” he said finally, and his chest ached as he wished he didn’t have to tell Henry about Lani. Alex felt like he needed a second body to hold all of the extra sorrow. “Are you sad?”
“Yeah. But everything is so sad, you know? Mostly it just feels weird.” Henry gulped his second glass of water down, a little slower this time, and caught his breath before continuing. “Before she died she told me that she wanted to fight for Artimé even though it’s all gone, because she knew that you would be able to fix things.”
“Oh,” Alex said. “Oh . . . wow.” He didn’t know what else to say. He ripped his fingers through his tangled hair. “Buddy, I don’t know . . .”
Henry looked at Alex. “Where’s Lani? I thought she’d be with you and Meghan. Hey, Meghan,” he said, looking over at her. He waved.
Alex turned sharply. His eyes widened. “Meg,” he breathed. He rushed over to her. “You’re awake.” He grabbed her hand and held it, held her gaze. Her eyes flooded. “Don’t be sad,” he said. “Don’t worry. We’ll fix you. I promise.”
She nodded her head, touched the spikes around her neck, and mouthed, “I can’t speak.”
“I know. Here, can you drink some water? Henry, grab that glass of water and bring it over.” Gently he hoisted Meghan up and took the glass that Henry brought. He put it to her lips and she swallowed, wincing, but she drank it all.
“Phew,” he said. “Okay, good. That’s one good thing. No, two. We’re on a roll,” Alex said, looking at Henry. “You guys are both alive. Finally some good news.”
Meghan gave Alex a quizzical look.
Alex hesitated, but he knew Meghan was wondering where on earth they were. So he gave both Henry and Meghan the full story as he knew it, leaving out nothing. He didn’t notice that the two Silents, as he’d begun calling them, had come out of the bedroom to listen as well.
When Alex finished, Henry was as quiet as the others. He looked up at Alex with solemn eyes’the same blue as Lani’s. “So you have kind of a lot of things to fix,” Henry said.
The overwhelming feeling took hold of Alex again. He stood up quickly, startling the Silents, and walked over to the window that faced the gate, letting his forehead rest against the glass. His breath steamed it up, and after staring through the fog it made, he wiped it all away with his sleeve. There was no way Alex could do all the things people were expecting him to do.
Fix Artimé? How? Mr. Today hadn’t told him this could happen. He probably didn’t even know it was possible, or surely he would have prepared him. All of those books in the Museum of Large’and an extra set of copies, even, for the library. . . . Mr. Today had been sure to make it possible to solve any problem, even though his organizing system left something to be desired. But could Alex get to the books? Of course not! They were in the mansion. And the mansion was gone.
He thought back to his times with Mr. Today. He remembered asking him how to bring creatures to life, and Mr. Today telling him no, that only his successor would get to know that.
“Well, here I am,” Alex muttered. “Thanks for stupid nothing.” He glanced over his shoulder to see if anyone had heard him, but Henry was talking quietly to Meghan and examining her necklace of thorns.
Alex surprised himself at how angry he felt toward Mr. Today. How could he leave him like this? How could he have done this to his world, and his people? The only conclusion Alex could come to was that Mr. Today couldn’t possibly have known that the world would end upon his death. Or maybe he was just so certain he wouldn’t die.
And maybe he’d told Ms.
Morning.
A fat lot of good that did him right now. Where in the world was she when everything was falling apart around him?
He stood at the window for several minutes more. Soon the previously embattled warriors trickled into Artimé’or whatever this place was called when there was nothing artful about it anymore. Do they go back to calling it the Death Farm? It felt that way now, anyway. Death surrounded them.
Alex watched anxiously as people returned. He didn’t know where they planned to go, exactly. They could fit some people in this shack but certainly not more than thirty without everyone stepping on everyone else. He was just glad to see so many alive. He saw Carina Fathom’the one he’d made the extra-strength heart attack spells for. Too bad she hadn’t been able to use them.
A few minutes later Sean Ranger came jogging through the gate. He went straight to the shack when he saw Alex in the window. Alex opened the door. “Shh,” he said. “Meghan woke up earlier’she’s just sleeping now.”
Sean’s relief was visible. But he had other things on his mind too. He looked around the shack, and then he looked at Alex. “What in the world have you been doing all this time? Napping? Having tea?” His face was scratched and smudged with dirt and his arm was bleeding. “I thought you’d at least have water ready for your people.”
Alex blinked. “My people? What?”
Sean stared at him like he was an idiot. “Alex, everybody knows Mr. Today was training you to take over for his vacation. Come on. You need to step up and lead. Just because he’s dead doesn’t mean you get a mourning holiday.”
The words dug in and pinched. Alex swallowed hard. “Um . . .”
Sean’s green eyes flared. “Look, Alex. These people outside have been fighting all night without sleep. If you don’t have anything to offer them, I guarantee they will go back into Quill and find people who do.” He shook his head at Alex. “Think, man! Come on! Do you really want them leaving here and going back to Quill? All the Necessaries have gone already! They can’t wait to get back to work for your brother. They’re practically salivating to go clean up piles of garbage and ask for seconds, just so they can get out of this burned-out, wasted mess of a place.”