“It’s a miracle.” He wrapped his arms around us in a monstrous hug. Together, we watched the plants grow to maturity. White flowers lost their petals to ever-expanding green bulbs. Like a filling wineskin, they grew so fast I expected them to burst. The color faded to yellow then brightened to orange before stretching into deep red, round fruit.
I plucked one from the stalks, caressing the flawless skin with my thumb. “Aria, would you like the first bite?”
She opened her mouth so wide her entire head shook. The moment her little teeth pierced through, juice squirted across the room, making both Marsh and I flinch. As she chewed, more ran down her tiny face, dripping off her chin. Marsh plucked two more, one for me and one for himself, and we celebrated our discovery together as quietly as possible.
“Aria,” I said softly after swallowing my mouthful, “you have a very special gift. For now, we cannot tell anyone about it, understand?” I touched her nose, and she nodded happily.
“We’re going to tell Lord Calish,” Marsh said. “No one else can know. It’s important we keep this to ourselves.”
“He’s right, Aria. We have to keep this secret.”
“Mother Una! Mother Una!” Kii called for me.
“I’ll be right back.” I got up, wiped my mouth free of juice, and stepped outside.
The tomato plants inside the tent were not the only things inspired. The grass, suddenly knee-high, swayed in the breeze, and the seeds the children just planted had grown to full maturity.
“Everything just started growing like it was alive!” Kii said, disturbed by what she’d seen, and she wasn’t alone. Everyone stood at the edge of the greenery with terrified expressions. Davin had scurried up to the top of the rabbit hutch.
Marsh laughed with the wonder of a child. “Would you look at this!”
“Everything’s all right,” I said loudly. “It’s just, um, plants,” I said awkwardly. “I’m sure there is a reasonable explanation for this. Now, go about your business. I’m sure everything is fine.”
“A reasonable explanation?” Marsh mocked my words.
“Oh, shut up.” I smacked him playfully. It was a good thing our property was so large and there was a bluff behind us. If anyone paid attention, they’d notice the excessive growth radiated from the tent.
“So, it looks like we’ll be having something with a tomato base this evening?” Qarla asked.
“It would seem so.” I tried to act just as surprised as everyone else.
As much as I wanted to hug Aria, I restrained my excitement. Instead, we collected piles and piles of tomatoes while eating some of them straight off the plants.
Discovering the Grower’s identity and how to control her gift had incredible promise, but it also lifted a heavy burden.
Now we could move.
Chapter 42
Once the children had their fill of freshly picked vegetables, they played an epic game of hide-and-find. They ran around looking for each other long after the sun set behind the hills. I think they preferred playing in the dark; it gave an advantage to the younger children whose immaturity did not help them in the light. They assigned me the job of the official counter and to act as the freedom spot. The three finders covered their eyes and the others hid while I counted to thirty. Anyone making it back to me before they were spotted claimed victory, but if found, they were kept captive by the finders. The first three captured served as the finders of the next round. In hindsight, it would have been better to make the freedom spot someone or something other than a pregnant woman. I’d been toppled over so many times by children with a finder hot on their heels that I didn’t find my responsibility nearly as restful as they promised it would be.
When I saw the top of Calish’s hat bounce up and down the length of the berm, I announced my retirement. His homecoming was a convenient excuse. His horse didn’t slow to wait for the bridge to be set for him. Calish’s face pinched as he kicked the sides of his steed to pick up speed.
What is he doing?
He leaped across the gulch and circled wide to avoid running into the cliffside. Graken and his horse came in hot on their tail.
So much for the gulch being too wide to cross without a plank.
Before his horse came to a full stop, Calish flung his leg over the horse to dismount. He landed hard on both feet and flung his reins at the dirt instead of handing them off as was usual. He hurled his hat next. When he lifted his knee high to stomp the crown to meet the brim, Graken stopped him. I took a few cautious steps toward them but knew better. I learned long ago if Calish was angry, he needed to be given a lot of space. His officer had yet to learn this rule. Calish shoved him back, something the man didn’t expect. He pointed a stern warning at the guard, and for the first time, I saw Graken take a submissive step back.
Calish snatched his hat off the ground and dusted it off rudely before setting it on top of his head. Behind me, the children’s game continued, and a scream of joy escaped one of them, causing Calish to glance our way. Our eyes met, and he nodded, a woeful expression painfully pulling at his face.
My husband didn’t come to me. He headed for the contractor who suddenly appeared uneasy. Calish put on a good show and looked a bit relaxed when he spoke with him. He rested his hands on his belt line and forced a few laughs. When the two men had completed their short discussion, Calish extended his hand, but instead, Albet hugged him. They bid each other farewell as Calish signaled for Graken to take over for him.
Calish unfastened his saddlebags and carried them aimlessly to another part of the yard. Graken and our resident guard escorted the contractor and his wife to Calish’s heavy-breathing horse, all the while making pleasantries as if any of what was happening was normal. Holding the few things they had, Graken helped the couple up onto the saddle. Calish waved a final goodbye to Albet and his wife, and they rode out across the bridge placed a moment ago.
If Calish was willing to send two Citizens into the dark with our only armed guards, there must be good reason.
I waited to be summoned.
Calish rubbed the lower half of his face the way our father did when at his angriest. He meandered around the far side of the property and stopped when he reached the drying walls of our new home. He tapped it with the toe of his boot. Then the swing of his foot gained more power. More anger. What initially looked like a test of the wall’s integrity became an all-out assault on the project. He kicked it so hard, his hat fell off his head. The silver tip of his Authority-issued boot chipped a fist-sized hole in the cob, which evidently did not do enough damage to please Calish. He strode over to where the pickaxe lay and heaved it up. Weighing it in his palms, he approached the wall like an executioner eager to right a wrong. He grunted like an ox and cursed the gods as he destroyed the structure that took days to build. Unlike the children who continued to play in the pasture, Calish’s uncontrolled rage stole the attention of everyone else.
When he’d taken down all he wished to or, better yet, had the endurance for, he threw the pickaxe end over end somewhere beyond the decimated structure. Exhausted, he braced himself up on what little remained of the walls and sobbed.
I’d never seen him like that. I’d seen him angry but never so violent. I was scared. Sterle and her friends, Qarla and her family, Marsh and Trisk, Kii, Braylie, Huxtyn, Fyn, everyone old enough to recognize such outrage froze. Whatever happened affected us all. He destroyed the place that was to become our home. Why? I willed my feet to move forward, everyone’s eyes watching my every weary step.
“Calish?”
He didn’t respond. The man who always held the most hope for our lives was an utter mess, tears and snot running unapologetically over his anguished face.
“Come on.” I tugged him around the shoulders gently. “Let’s get inside.” He nodded and grabbed his hat, wiping his face with the back of his sleeve.
Marsh handed me a lit lantern as we passed, without asking anything or offering a smart remark. He knew whatever happen
ed was bad. We all did. I thanked my brother for the light, pulling back the canvas door for Calish to enter.
“What are all these plants doing inside here?” he whined as if things couldn’t get more complicated.
“We discovered who the Grower is today. We were in here when we figured it out…” My voice trailed off.
He sobered up. “Who is it?” He couldn’t help but rub a plant’s leaves between his thumb and forefinger.
“Aria.”
“Aria? The one who doesn’t speak?” He pulled off a tomato and turned it in his hand.
I sat on a crate. “It only works if someone is touching her. She can’t do it on her own. And get this, the happier she is, the faster they grow. It’s unbelievable, Calish.”
“Who else knows?” he asked, pouring some water for himself.
“Just Marsh. We told her we were going to tell you but no one else. If anyone found out—”
He scoffed, just as the glass reached his lips.
“What?”
He drank, wiping his mouth clean on the edge of the bedsheet. “Maybe you should go get him. We need to talk.” He tossed his hat haphazardly on a pile of supplies in the corner.
I did as he asked, knowing our brother would be close. If he wasn’t invited in, he would have eavesdropped anyway.
Marsh, who was probably the least graceful person ever born, entered the tent timidly. Like me, he knew something was wrong and it was serious. I searched my memory, wondering what I did this time to make him so upset. Marsh feared he was somehow responsible and prepared for the worst—I didn’t have to assess him to know that look.
“Have a seat,” Calish invited us to our choice of two overturned crates. He had already removed his cufflinks; they clinked together as he turned them over in the palm of his hand. “Reinick is a madman.” He stared at his links.
“Tell us something we don’t know,” Marsh quipped.
Calish lifted his eyes. He was not trying to be funny. “He rolled out a plan today.” He shook his head. “It’s the most”—he paused—“to say it’s horrendous is an understatement.”
“Just spit it out, little brother. We can take it.”
“There’s going to be a massive war waged against the Citizens by the Authority.”
“The Citizens?” Marsh and I echoed in unison.
Calish nodded his head and wiped away a tear that had fallen from his eye. “All men and boys will be given a choice. Join the Authority or be an enemy of it.” He cleared his throat. “They were going to only take sons old enough to be coined or older, but according to Reinick’s advisors, even the young ones can be useful.”
“Useful?” I asked.
“As slaves to the Authority. If anyone resists, there will be no mercy shown. They’ll be executed on the spot. No trial, no chance to change their mind. It will be instant submission or immediate death.”
“Wait.” Marsh rattled his head. “I don’t understand.”
“Any able-bodied male old enough to fight is being recruited by the Woodsmen. With that drug they gave to Tenor, they’re able to claim their loyalty damn near immediately. Reinick has decided he will take all the men, leaving no one for Kash to woo. Those who prove themselves will become part of Reinick’s army; everyone else will be a slave to it. The Authority is made stronger, the survivors are under complete control, and the city gets rebuilt.”
“What about the women?” I asked.
“They will depend on the Temple for their needs. Noran had already committed to care for the fairer sex.”
My legs stood on their own accord. “And what if they fight?”
“They won’t, Una. They will be without a home, without their men, and their children will be taken from them.”
“They cannot take everybody,” Marsh defended. “People will join the Woodsmen out of pure defiance to the Authority.”
“Every male will be Authority, or he will be hunted.” Calish bit his lower lip. “Including you, brother.”
“I’m not going to serve Reinick!” he growled. “I will hang in the streets before I swear my loyalty to that son of a bitch.”
It took me a moment to sort out what I’d been told. “Calish, what about our children?” I barely got the words out. “They cannot take your sons, you’re the Lord of the Authority. There must be some immunity.”
“These boys are not ours by law, Una. They’re simply orphans.” The tears began to fall freely from his eyes, now focused on the trinkets resting in his hand. “I tried to claim them. I fought for them to be spared. According to Reinick’s standards, they are all mature enough to be taken.” He hurled his cufflinks to the far side of the tent.
“He’ll take Sterle’s friends and Qarla’s sons. He’ll take Tenor. He’ll take them all.”
Braylie. Huxtyn. Mace. Kort. Cazret. Ky. Davin.
My boys.
Marsh rose. “I’ve got to…just…I’ll be back.” He stumbled outside.
“Can they do that, Calish?”
“They can, and they will.”
“What if they have too many men to care for?”
“They’ll weed out the ones they want to keep. They’ll do the same with the slaves once they’ve served their purpose.”
Weed out?
“We need to leave. Now,” I whispered, horrified by the prospects of things to come. I no longer worried about another woman’s sons. I only worried about mine. “We’ll go to the Resistance.”
“Don’t you think I’ve thought of that, Una? It’s a two-day trek, and we have fourteen children! I don’t trust anyone to ride with us. If their loyalty is to Reinick, they’ll turn us in and skin us alive for the world to see. The best chance those boys have is to bring them forward. They are safer with them than with us, Una. How fucked up is that? For everything I’ve tried, I’ve failed! But if it’s between you or the children, I choose you. Every chance, Una, I’ll choose you.” His voice quivered then broke. “I can’t save them. I can’t save anyone.”
A million thoughts ran through my mind. There were faces and names I’d learned over the seasons, stories I heard of heartbreak and loss in the lines waiting for a meal. I tried to ignore it, but then I thought about my children.
They trusted me.
They chose me.
I promised I’d never leave them.
I couldn’t run without my sons or my daughters. They’d be slaughtered by the Woodsmen.
These are my sons. My daughters.
“Tell Graken we’re going to the Valley of the Three Rivers: you, me, Marsh, Graken, and the children. The four of us should be able to protect them.”
“Una, the Three Rivers doesn’t exist.”
“I know, but they don’t have to know we know that. It’ll be our cover story. We’ll say we need more room for the house we need to build. We survived by the river, but the river here is not safe or secure. Say I’m afraid we’ll be attacked once the orders are made public. We aren’t given any protection; I’m sure they’ll be happy to see me leave. We’ll have both girls and boys with us. If they run into us, we can claim it as an innocent misunderstanding. When we get to the Resistance Camp, Lark will clear Graken’s mind if Nik doesn’t accept him,” I begged. “This can work.”
He stared at me, his knee bobbing impatiently.
At least he’s thinking about it.
“Can we bring the contractor?” I asked.
Calish shook his head. “No, I set him up with Reinick,” he confessed. My reaction caused him to go further into detail. “I had to do it. I told them about the cob building. I suggested they use his skill to build barracks for all the newly enlisted. Don’t look at me that way, Una. He and his wife will be well cared for. At least this way they can be together. If I didn’t act quickly, they’d take him anyway, and she’d be alone out there. After all my counterarguments, I had to appear to go along with the final decision. The fate of those who don’t has been made quite clear. It’s not as if I sacrificed them. I gave them the best chance I
had to offer.”
“Do you have a plan?” I asked, hoping not to sound presumptuous.
“Graken doesn’t know what’s about to happen. I considered taking the children to the camp as you said, but it would do no good if we left a trail of healthy growth beneath us.”
“But now we know who the Grower is, Calish. If we keep her separated from the others, it won’t be a problem anymore. It only works if she touches someone she likes or likes her, I think,” I said with a grimace.
Calish knelt in front of me and took my hand. “But can you travel in your condition?”
I nodded. For me, it was well worth the risk.
“Then we’ll leave before the sunrise. I suggest you get some rest.” He stood and left the tent.
Sitting alone, surrounded by four-foot-high tomato plants, my gaze fell on Marsh’s bow and arrow quiver still lying at the foot of the bedding.
Take the shot.
My throat closed against the cry rising in it. The steps to that command were in motion—I could feel it.
I slid an arrow out of the quiver, rolling the waxed shaft between my fingers and thumb. The fletching of each one came from a different species of bird. I hadn’t noticed it before. Pressing my lips together, I turned the arrow toward my gut and ran the pad of my thumb over the knifelike edge of the arrowhead. A single tear fell from my eye, turning the darkened flint a deeper hue of black. I wiped it away, watching the smear dry as if it was never there.
So light, the instrument was. I laid it across my knees, pressing on the overhanging ends.
Strong, too.
I gnawed on the inside of my cheek, coming to terms with my own end.
“Nobody leaves this life alive,” Hawk once said.
Neither will I.
I felt my stomach and curled my body around it. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered to the person within.
Then I prayed.
After tucking the arrow next to the others, I lay down and thought about the day ahead of us. Just because we intended to flee to the camp didn’t mean we would all arrive. My fingers rose and fell over the scars on my arm. Every one of them was worth the price I paid to receive them. “Please keep them safe,” I prayed, knowing the rules of their marks would mean nothing once Nik welcomed them in.
Scavenger Girl: Season of Toridia Page 48