Alex turned away. The words stung. But he knew Sean was right. Where was his head? All these people coming through the gate had lost family and friends too. And now it was up to him to rally them . . . or Aaron would win, and all would be doomed. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “You’re right, Sean.”
Sean’s face softened. “Okay. We’re all dying of thirst. That would be a good thing to start with. Is there any water in here at all?”
“Yeah, some.” Alex looked around at his meager surroundings and took a deep breath. “Give me a few minutes to come up with a plan.”
Sean nodded. He punched Alex in the arm. “That’s the way. I can hold them off that long.” He turned and went back outside, calling people to line up and organize into rows. Alex watched him almost naturally, fluidly, taking over for Claire and Florence.
And now Alex had to take over for Mr. Today.
He turned when he heard a noise. In the kitchen, the female Silent was struggling to pull water jugs out of the pantry cupboard. She was still a bit weak, but she was doing well, all things considered.
Alex caught her glance and reached to take the jug. “Thank you,” he said softly, not wanting to scare her. Her strange golden-orange eyes reminded him of the way the sun set over the silent Warbler Island and shimmered on the water. Then he cocked his head to the side and realized what she was doing. “Can you . . . understand me? Us?”
She hesitated, and then looked away and pulled out another jug of water. When she set it on the counter in front of Alex, she bit her lip and nodded.
Alex stared.
Sean pounded on the window and held up four fingers. Alex nodded to Sean and then flashed a quick grin at the girl. She could understand them! That offered him a small ray of hope. She hid her face and grabbed another jug.
Energized, Alex called to Henry. “Hey, little buddy, I need your help.”
Henry patted Meghan on the shoulder comfortingly, and a moment later he was by Alex’s side. Alex handed him two jugs of water, grabbed four jugs for himself, and pulled the door open with his foot. He held the water up in the air. A murmur of hope rippled through the haggard ranks of Unwanteds’at least they had water. For now.
May Quill Prevail
Once the palace guards had left, Aaron and his team took turns sleeping and watching over the prisoners. By midmorning, Aaron had moved his meager book bag full of things into the palace and cleaned himself up, putting on his best clothes and topping them reverently, Justine-style, with a black cloak he found in a closet of the palace. He found paper and a pencil on the high priest’s desk, next to a strange little gargoyle statue, and went back to Haluki’s house to prepare his speech, making High Priest Haluki sit at his own desk to write everything as Aaron demanded him to.
At eleven thirty, the high priest’s vehicle stood outside waiting for Aaron.
The new associate high priest, looking at his reflection in the window, smoothed his hair down. Then he gathered his team together. “Crawledge and Eva will stand with me as I deliver the speech. They are both well-known and trusted faces in the community, and those who loved Justine will feel confident in their presence alongside me.” He turned. “Liam and Bethesda, you stay here and keep watch over the prisoners.” Then he regarded the entire small group. “I’ve spoken with Gondoleery, and we believe it’s best to keep her and the rest of the Restorers out of sight for now. But they will act as eyes and ears, and report back to me the reaction to these interesting events.”
“What about the governors?” Liam asked. “Are they in support of this?”
“Haluki dismissed them weeks ago. No wonder it’s been dead as the Ancients Sector around here’they’re all sulking in their houses. Which means their support or opposition simply doesn’t matter,” Aaron said. “There’s no law against the high priest appointing a new role. And associate high priest trumps governor.” He tilted his head and shrugged. He’d once aspired to be senior governor. Now he’d surpassed that goal. “So there you go. I’ve got it all’on paper, even.”
Their eyes perked up at this. Only a few select people in Quill were allowed to write things down. Teachers, mostly, and the governors and high priest, of course. “That’s pretty clever,” Liam said.
Aaron didn’t reply. He thought the comment stood alone just fine. He glanced at Eva Fathom to see if she was going to give him any trouble.
She wasn’t, and instead smiled at him. “Shall we go, then? If we leave now, we’ll be just a few moments late. That’s what the High Priest Justine always preferred.”
Aaron nodded. His stomach stirred as the others wished him well, and before he knew it, they were on their way to the amphitheater.
» » « «
Aaron Stowe, the new self-appointed associate high priest of Quill, looked at the crowd standing in the hot sunshine. They were quiet as always. His parents stood in the same spot where he and Alex had stood with them at their Purge. A year and a half had passed since then. It seemed like forever. Mr. and Mrs. Stowe stood alone now. Aaron squinted. His mother was obviously very pregnant. He hadn’t known. Not that he cared about such trivial things’it would be seven or eight years before the baby would be of any use. It could easily die by then. He frowned and shook the thought away.
Aaron turned his musings back to the past several months, from his ousting at university to his building up of the Restorers to his killing of the mage of Artimé. It was an incredible journey’if only Justine could see him now. His hard work and vision had paid off, not to mention his cunning. No one here needed to know how he’d done it. Just that he’d done it. He focused on the complacent faces before him, cleared his throat, and spoke.
“Greetings, people of Quill. I am Aaron Stowe, newly appointed associate high priest.” His words carried beautifully in the amphitheater, and he sounded noble and ominous’two very important traits of a leader.
He continued. “My friend Gunnar Haluki sends his regards and regrets that he cannot be here at this time. Unfortunately, his wife was murdered by a gang of ruthless Artiméans in a street squabble last night. Even though she’d been living peacefully among them, they turned on her. One never knows whom one can trust. Does one?”
He felt like he’d said the word “one” too many times now, and he faltered for a moment, but then he pulled the paper from his pocket. When the crowd murmured at the sight of it, his confidence returned.
“Here is a letter from High Priest Haluki’s own hand,” he said, holding it up. He called forth a scholar and showed it to him, who then verified it before the crowd.
Aaron cleared his throat. “The letter reads: ‘Dearest people of Quill, I am pleased to announce the creation of the associate high priest position, allowing a second ruler equal power over Quill. I am proud to fill this appointment with a capable young man’someone whom the High Priest Justine held in high esteem, and someone I hold great respect for as well. I have worked with him extensively and have the utmost confidence in his ability to lead Quill while I am unable to carry out my duties during this unfortunate time.
“‘ To avoid punishment, you will give Associate High Priest Aaron your dedication from this moment forward until further notice. I am certain that with your unquestioning support he will lead you to the pinnacle of the world in strength and intelligence.
Very sincerely yours,
High Priest Gunnar Haluki.’ ”
“Quill prevails when the strong survive,” said the crowd in monotone unison, almost as if they approved of Mrs. Haluki’s death. There was no backlash, no surprised faces, no shock or horror.
Aaron folded the paper and placed it into his pocket, satisfaction warming him from the inside to match the outside heat of the day. It had gone as smoothly as he could have possibly imagined.
“Now,” he said, “my first declaration as associate high priest is regarding all Necessaries who have realized their heinous mistakes and have returned home from the disaster called Artimé.” He paused to see how many people shifted eyes
and shuffled feet. It was a large number. “You will have a chance to redeem yourselves. Report to me at the palace gate at daybreak tomorrow, ready to work, and I will grant you the right to live here once again.” He could almost feel the relief flooding over the crowd, and he knew he had won many points from both Wanteds and Necessaries alike.
“And,” he continued, “for every Unwanted of Artimé whom any of you recruits to Quill’s quest to be world pinnacle, I offer you a bonus food item of your choice once per month. And you will continue to receive this benefit for as long as that Unwanted works his hardest for the greater good of Quill’and does not reproduce. That could be months of extra food on your table, or even years.”
The crowd’s silence was different this time. No longer did they wear the bland looks of sleeping fish on their faces. Now they stood straighter, their eyes opened wider. Never before had they been given an incentive for anything. Never had they been granted a choice in things to eat. A small murmur buzzed through the crowd of Quillens, especially from those who had lived in Artimé and had relaxed their stiff personalities a bit over time. Those Necessaries began to think of all the possible Unwanteds they could convince to come to Quill, now that Artimé was a mess. And though these Necessaries weren’t nearly as hungry right now as the ones who’d stayed in Quill, they had been back in Quill several hours now’long enough to have heard the rumors and whispers about life under Haluki’s rule.
To them it almost felt like this new leader was going to share some of the wealth . . . not just with the Wanteds, but with the Necessaries who were willing to work for it. And that was unheard of.
Aaron didn’t fear their reaction. He allowed the murmur of the crowd to build and settle again on its own. He smiled a rare smile at them, and they seemed to move toward him just slightly, as if they wanted to hear more.
That was precisely how Aaron wanted to leave them.
» » « «
Back in the Haluki home, with Haluki closeted and Bethesda nodding off to sleep, Liam Healy, hands shaking in light of what he was about to do, quietly opened the pantry door and knelt down. He removed Claire’s gag and held a cup of water to her mouth. Weak, she didn’t argue. She drank it down.
He replaced the gag, looser this time, closed the door, and locked it again just as Bethesda stirred and looked up. “Everything all right?” she asked, smacking her lips together in a disgusting sort of way.
“Same as always,” Liam said as calmly as he could, his heart in his throat.
She yawned and laid her head on the table to sleep again.
Inside the closet, for the first time since she’d entered the house, Claire Morning felt the faintest glimmer of hope.
Two rooms away, Haluki mourned for his family and his dearest friend alone.
» » « «
On the way to the palace after the speech, Eva Fathom turned to Aaron from her usual spot in the high priest’s vehicle. “You were very well-received, as expected, Associate High Priest Aaron Stowe,” she said evenly, as the old Secretary might have said to Justine.
“Quite,” Aaron said. “And we’ll be cutting the ‘Associate’ part. For simplicity’s sake, of course.” Secretly he was enormously pleased. “And as for you,” he began, turning to her with an eyebrow raised. He regarded her for a long moment.
Eva froze. It brought back the memory of Justine telling her she’d be eliminated soon. She watched the barbed-wire shadows flying over her skin and felt a frightening sense of déjà vu. “Yes,” she said.
“I promised you that your loyalty would be rewarded with getting your old job back.”
“I remember,” Eva said. She waited in deepest dread for him to say, “But . . .”
But he didn’t. Instead he said evenly, “I’d like to take you on as my secretary if you are willing.”
Eva felt a flood of relief build up inside of her, aching to be let out with a large sigh or a laugh or a whoop. Instead she answered affirmatively in the traditional way of Quill. “May Quill prevail with all I have in me.”
Aaron Stowe, the Wanted’former assistant secretary to the High Priest Justine; former future senior governor; former outcast, conniver, and head of the Restorers; murderer of the highly acclaimed Mr. Marcus Today; and current not-really-associate high priest of Quill through despicable means’looked out his window at the tops of cornstalks and coconut trees and enormous berry bushes of the flourishing Favored Farm as the Quillitary vehicle sputtered and chugged along. And he smiled.
He had just one final visit to make today.
Alex’s Message
He couldn’t think of a time when he’d been more nervous, except maybe at his Purge. Now Alex stood before the tired faces of hundreds of despondent Unwanteds, crammed into a small plot of cement and weeds, all the way down to the shoreline and spilling out the gate into Quill. All of them, filled with respect for the land and the fallen leaders they once served, were loyal despite the dire circumstances. They waited, exhausted but patient, to hear a single word of hope that would help them get through the day and keep them from desperate measures’like looking for shelter in the place that once sentenced them to death.
As the water was passed around, each Artiméan took a few swallows, no more, without having to be told, everyone confident in their fellow Unwanted to be reasonable. Sean Ranger pulled Alex aside and gave him the latest news, confirming that Mrs. Haluki had indeed died as Henry reported, and that the rest of the injured had found secret respite in a sympathetic Necessary’s home on the outskirts of one of the quadrants. “And then there’s the high priest,” Sean said. “Aaron’s got him captured, but we’re not supposed to know that. Most of Quill doesn’t know that. Aaron has just declared that Haluki appointed him as some sort of associate high priest, with equal power.”
Alex stared at Sean. “You’re not serious.”
“I am.”
Alex stared thoughtfully at the gate, not really seeing it. “Wow.”
“I know.”
“Well,” Alex said, clearing his head. “I guess he’s really going after it. I’m pretty sure he’ll go full speed ahead and do everything he can to keep us from existing, then.” He was surprised at how calm he felt about it. Maybe it could be chalked up to knowing where Aaron was and what he was doing that gave Alex a bit of serenity. “How are you getting this information?”
Sean hesitated. “I’d rather not say at this moment.”
Alex frowned. He got an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach again. Sean was up to something, always sneaking into Quill and not telling Meghan what he was doing, but Alex didn’t have time to worry about him right now. He remembered what Mr. Today once said about being honest if you wish to prevail, so he looked Sean in the eye. “Sometimes I wonder if I can trust you.”
Sean held his gaze. “I swear you can trust me, Alex. I swear it on Meghan’s life.”
Alex regarded him for a long moment, and Sean’s gaze didn’t waver. Alex held out his hand and Sean took it, shaking it firmly. No further word was needed. With that, Alex turned to the crowd, stood on a chair that Henry had brought from inside, and requested silence by holding up his hands. They shook the slightest bit.
Alex waited for the news to travel that he was about to speak. And without an amphitheater or the magic of Artimé to help his voice carry, he knew he’d have to take it slowly and speak as loudly as possible so everyone could hear.
A wave of emotion rolled through him as he looked over the bruised and battered people. When it was quiet, he set his jaw and began.
His voice didn’t crack. He didn’t break down. He just spoke from the heart, like Mr. Today would have.
“Greetings, warriors,” he said. “You’re all so brave and loyal, just like our fearless leader, Marcus Today, taught us all to be. And, well, just like he was until . . . the end. Let’s all take a minute to remember the moment we first met him.”
The Artiméans bowed their heads, remembering the day they’d been saved by the eccentric magician
with that electric shock of white hair, who had come out of the gray shack to greet them and had said those fateful words: “How does it feel to be eliminated?” Year after year he did it the same way, always delighted beyond measure to save the lives of the creative and artistic, and to not only save them, but to make them, mold them, into amazing people. He taught them to think and to live and to create. To fight for what they believed, and stand up for their rights, and not fear the unknown. To feel love and warmth and acceptance after being told so often, so much, that they were useless trash, not even good enough to line the roadway of Quill.
Alex embraced the numbness he felt inside him’he was thankful for it, for once, because it allowed him to do the job he had to do now.
“Friends,” he said, breaking into the memories of hundreds of people. “Mr. Today is gone, and so is our world. We don’t have any other choice except to ask for one another’s help now.” He paused, scanning the crowd. “We’ve lost members of our families at the hands of the people of Quill, and some of our residents are missing. We also can’t forget our Silent visitors who, by chance or by fate or whatever, have joined us under some pretty weird circumstances, and we need to continue to treat them as family, despite our, um, momentary lack of lavish decor.”
A few in the crowd nodded, and Alex caught the eye of Mr. Appleblossom, who touched his fist to his heart and nodded encouragingly. That gave Alex a surge of confidence to go on. He repeated the act back to Mr. Appleblossom, finishing the nonverbal rhyming couplet.
And then he went on. “Friends, my brother, Aaron, has taken control of Quill and has announced his position as associate high priest, supposedly working in tandem with High Priest Haluki.” Alex looked down, not wanting to see the skeptical looks from the crowd that he expected there to be. But then he looked up again, knowing he needed to stand strong. “But I don’t believe he’d ever work side by side with anyone as good as High Priest Haluki. I admit it’s hard to speak badly of my brother. But I have to’I can’t think of any reason why I should protect him anymore. He chose his own way, and it’s the opposite of everything I believe in. And now I’ll just repeat what you already know: Aaron has all this evil junk in his heart, and I know he won’t stop his attacks until he can figure out how to take control of us. It would be his best day ever to finish what Justine thought she’d started with the Purge. And Unwanteds,” Alex said, his voice growing louder, “we can’t let that happen. We’ve got to stick together so we can stay strong.” He pointed at the shocking starkness of their land and said, “This is what Mr. Today saw when he first dreamed of Artimé. Now we have to begin from scratch, just like Mr. Today did’from this plot of land, this little gray shack’only we’re not alone. There are hundreds of us! We have each other, don’t we? Surely we can hold together.”