by Halie Fewkes
I couldn’t help laughing at her shock, and her cheeks flushed red as I squeezed her hand. “Yes. The secret is, you listen to what’s in here,” I said, setting a hand over my own heart. I knew it sounded dumb, but it was advice that I held dear enough to share. “You’ll never in your life regret a decision you believed was right.”
Ebby continued to stare at me like I’d asked the impossible.
“So ignore everybody else, and tell me what you want,” I said. “Do you want to stay, or do you want to leave with us?”
She bit her lip and stared for another full minute before saying, “I want to stay. Please though, get my friends out. You only have three days.”
I gave her an encouraging nod and felt a sense of warmth toward her as she broke into a grateful smile.
“I’ll do the very best I can,” I said.
Chapter Fifteen
Ebby
Allie and Archie had gone, and Ratuan’s team of five was back in their cell for the night as everybody around them settled down to sleep. Ebby’s hand was warm in Ratuan’s, but her chest ached with longing, wishing she could be their sixth member instead of leaving every morning.
“It’s official. Everybody older than eight can swing a stone club fifty times without resting,” Eric told Ratuan with a gleam of pride, giving Steph a triumphant high-five.
“Production has also finished sculpting a club for every kid,” Steph said, “and enough keys to get every door open in thirty seconds — just like you ordered.”
“And you thought they couldn’t do it,” Eric sniggered.
Ratuan wore a proud grin as Eme said softly, “Two new girls came down to Magic with powers today too. One of them is just water, but you need to see what Arctica can do. I don’t know what it is, Ratuan, but you’re going to like it.”
Ratuan raised surprised eyebrows and asked, “The same Arctica we put in charge of the babies and toddlers?” Eme nodded and Ratuan tilted his head thoughtfully. “Alright, I’ll pay her a visit as soon as we’re done here. I also learned a couple things from Leaf’s friends.” Ratuan settled his gaze on Leaf and said, “Giving them the Dincaran spiders was a good idea. I was glad to speak with them alone.”
A proud smile crept onto Leaf’s face. “It was nothing,” he said, scuffing one foot against the other. “I like to help.” Ebby decided she liked this red haired boy who was just about her size. She would like to get to know him.
Ratuan’s hand grew icy on hers, even though his face showed no signs of change. It felt like jealousy, like he’d heard her warm thoughts toward Leaf and didn’t like them.
“But you knew I didn’t want outsiders knowing about Ebby,” Ratuan said, letting go of her hand to step closer to Leaf. “Now because of you, they know she’s here.” Leaf’s cheeks reddened as he opened his mouth, and Ratuan struck him across the face with the full strength of his right arm. “You made a decision that was not yours to make!”
Leaf fell back against the stone wall with a startled yelp as Eric and Steph stumbled to their feet uncertainly and Ebby threw a hand over her mouth. Ratuan put two calming hands out to the boys on either side and said, “I am more than proud of the two of you and all you’ve done up in Strength. But listen, we each have a role to play down here, and we can’t operate as a team if everybody thinks they can call the shots. I am the leader here for a reason, and you all know better than to undermine me.”
Leaf set a small hand on the side of his face and cringed back against the stones as Ratuan grabbed him by both shoulders and said, “Listen, I’m not mad at you.” Leaf grabbed Ratuan’s wrists helplessly while tears threatened to spill onto his cheeks. “I’m not mad. But there are a thousand kids down here, Leaf, and we would be nothing if not for discipline. You’ll sleep alone in the corner tonight, alright? I hope that doesn’t seem too harsh, considering how serious this is.”
Leaf glared up at Ratuan, and for a moment Ebby thought Leaf might try to stand up to him. But he shook his head to say it didn’t sound too harsh, and Ratuan gave him a smile both encouraging and strangely caring. “I’m sorry it has to be like this, but it’s just for one night. I know you don’t make the same mistakes twice.”
Leaf shook his head again and Ratuan let go of his shoulders. “Good. Now, Ebby and I are off to congratulate Arctica. Nobody talk to Leaf until tomorrow morning. We’re a group, and if you want to act alone, then you sleep alone.”
Ratuan startled Ebby as he grabbed her hand again and gestured to the cold metal bars to ask, “Shall we?”
Ebby’s heart hurt as Leaf sank down in the corner and pressed his forehead to his knees, but she quickly squeezed Ratuan’s hand and focused on ghosting them both through the barred doorway. Ratuan led her off down the tunnel, and she focused on not letting her thoughts stray while his hand was in hers.
What would he do if he knew how much she’d just told Allie?
You can hear me if I think like this? Ratuan asked in her head as they walked.
Ebby glanced at Ratuan and nodded to him.
You’re not upset with me, are you?
She could never be angry with Ratuan. It would be too devastating. But at the same time, she couldn’t really say she was happy with him.
I know you didn’t like that, but I didn’t hurt him. His pride is just wounded, that’s all.
Ebby shrugged and hesitated, replying, I just think there might have been a better way to handle it.
Ratuan stopped her and looked straight into her eyes with an intensity that made her blush and feel guilty for questioning him.
Listen, I like Leaf as much as anybody else. But remember when we talked about me controlling the board?
Ratuan waited until Ebby whispered, “Yes,” then he thought, Please, just keep trusting me with it. This is what everybody down here needs — a real leader who can strike fear and respect. Anything less than that, and we’ll all fall apart.
Ebby nodded that she understood, but she found her eyes on the ground as Ratuan squeezed her hand. “You ready to meet some more Dincarans?” Ratuan asked aloud. She let herself smile at his excitement to show her off and then nodded as Ratuan pulled her over to a cell of kids she hadn’t seen yet. “Ebby, this is Carder, Tess, and Nathan. Back there is Jules and Codiea...”
Chapter Sixteen
Allie
What did Ratuan say when you were with him?” Archie asked as we wedged ourselves back through the tight fissure that led to our friends. I’d already recapped to him my conversation with Ebby.
“He wants me to get Sir Avery here to talk to him. Needs his help.”
“He’s all sorts of clever, Allie.” Archie stopped moving and I didn’t know if he was stuck or just thinking. “I talked to several of those kids, and Ratuan’s figured out the secret to… undying loyalty, I think. Part of it is painting all those spiders on everyone and getting to know them individually, but… I don’t know. He’s just got something figured out. Those kids would die for him if he asked them to.”
I stopped moving too, wedged uncomfortably between jagged walls as my breath left my chest in dread. “Ebby thinks that’s what he’s going to do.”
“What?”
“Ratuan is a chess mastermind, but he wins by sacrificing all his pieces. She thinks it’s about to come true in real life.”
Archie fell silent and I pushed myself into the opening that marked the midpoint of our struggle. “I don’t know what to do, Allie,” he said quietly. “I tried to convince Ebby to come back with us, but she’s too afraid to leave Ratuan. We could fix all our problems by telling the Zhauri where she is, but we would also be two of the worst people in the world for it.”
I stared hard as Archie dragged himself through the tight crevice. “Not to mention,” I said casually, “she doesn’t want to leave just yet, and if she stays with Prince Avalask, he’s willing to negotiate over the Dincaran kids. If the war ends, you and I will have no value left to Sir Avery or the Zhauri. That’s a good thing, Archie. Leaving her here
is our best-case-scenario.”
Archie pulled himself free and stood face to face with me in the close-quartered air pocket.
“If we don’t get Ebby back, we don’t have any bargaining power to get Tral away from the Zhauri,” he said.
“Yes, but there will be other ways to rescue him. I mean, what if Ebby’s already friends with Prince Avalask’s son?” I avoided his eyes so close to mine. “A friendship between those kids will save thousands of lives if they play it right.”
Archie finally took a deep breath and said, “I know.”
“Then what could Sir Avery have possibly promised you, Archie?” I asked. “What is worth more than all of that?”
“You are,” he said softly.
I had just opened my mouth to respond and literally choked on my own breath. I threw an arm over my mouth as the horrible spit-in-windpipe tickle brought on a bout of hacking coughs.
“Don’t act like that’s a shock,” Archie said with a laugh. I could barely move back half a step in the cramped space. “You know how much you mean to me.”
I closed my mouth to stifle three smaller coughs as my face reddened from embarrassment and the duress of choking. It took me a moment to draw a full breath and say, “Does ‘you and I are just friends’ sound familiar?” I coughed one final time, taking the extra second to collect my flustered thoughts.
“That’s not what I want,” Archie replied. “I’ve told you before though, it’s too dangerous to be—”
“You don’t have to humor me,” I said, sounding more scathing than I intended. “I understand why you only want to be friends, and I honestly don’t blame you. It’s my hot temper. It’s the way I live and fight like a man. I’ve never been… quiet… Nobody wants a girl like me.”
Archie narrowed his eyes like I’d lost my mind. “That’s what you think the problem is?”
I scowled furiously as he just looked bewildered.
“Look. I’ve never cared that you’re loud. And maybe you do fight like a man, but I’m not…” he hesitated, looking for the right word, “I’m not intimidated by that. I would never want you to be weaker, or less of a match. Sparring would never be fun again. And, I mean, you’ve had a temper since we were kids fishing in the creek. I know that about you. I always have. None of that bothers me.”
He was so close I could feel his breath, and when I glanced up to meet his eyes, jitters attacked me inside and out.
But nothing this good could ever happen to me, and I knew it. So instead of closing the remaining distance between us, I froze exactly where I was. “But?...”
“But…” Archie paused and his smile hardened. “Just being my friend is like tanning on the banks of the Breathing Sea. Being more than friends is like diving in. And I want you to know I’d do anything to change that.”
I think my heart might have melted on the spot.
“So that’s what Sir Avery’s promised you?” I asked, wondering suddenly if this might be an elaborate dream. “Some sort of safety, where you and I can be together?”
I could see hesitation in his eyes as he nodded. He wanted me. He wanted to be with me and had an adorable sheepish look in his eyes like he was nervous to say it aloud.
I blew air through my lips in disbelief. “Archie, we don’t need Sir Avery’s blessing to be together,” I said, nearly giddy with relief. “So what? We live dangerous lives. There’s no reason we shouldn’t just live them together.”
Archie shook his head sadly and I reached to grab his hand, stopped again by his shield. “I’m more dangerous than anything else in your life,” he said.
“Right, you’ve got a dark past, blah blah blah,” I said, drawing a surprised chuckle from him. “I don’t want you to explain yourself right now,” I said, “but after we get these Dincaran kids home, we should spend some time with just the two of us and figure this out. If you want to,” I added, still not sure I believed that he wanted to.
“I would love nothing more than to try,” Archie replied.
“So…” I said slowly, “you’re agreeing with me, that we need to get the Dincaran kids out more than we need Ebby? We’re taking Prince Avalask’s side?”
Archie sighed. “Yeah, I guess we have to.”
“Then we need to let Prince Avalask know the kids are making their escape in three days. We’ll avoid a lot of bloodshed if we’re quick.”
Archie nodded at the fissure behind me and said, “You’re the one blocking the way.”
I strained to pull myself out through the fireplace, but my face immediately reddened in horror at what I saw.
Emery, Nessava, Celesta, Corliss, and Robbiel were seated with their legs crossed, like kids at story time around the cold fireplace. As I dragged my last arm into the open space, they all began to applaud.
“A truly heartfelt performance!” Corliss cheered, making everybody laugh as she clapped loudest of them all. She’d arrived to visit her fellow Tallies yesterday. “I had a tear in my eye, you two. Bravo!”
“Oh shanking life,” Archie muttered from the crevice behind me as he tugged himself free.
Karissa was the only one still on her feet, not looking the least amused. She glared straight at Archie, and said with her voice dangerously low, “You haven’t told her?”
I expected Archie to brush the comment off with a humorous one of his own, but he froze beside me, and even more strangely than that, nobody else piped in to tell Karissa to cool it.
“Thank you all for listening,” I said, “but now that the laugh is over, why don’t you go back to your own business?”
Karissa’s gaze turned sharp. “You need to know what Archie’s hiding and how much it affects you.”
“Archie’s dangerous, I get it,” I said, “but I live a plenty dangerous life already. I don’t understand what you’re all worried about.” I threw my hands out to stop everyone who looked more than happy to explain. “And he and I will talk about it in our own time.”
Karissa scowled and turned suddenly invisible.
“We also have another problem to worry about,” Archie said, glancing at me to say thank you. “We have three days before the Dincaran kids try to make their escape, and it’s going to be violent.”
“Well, we can’t exactly subdue them,” Robbiel said. “They’ve got more than enough mages to fight their way out, and Ratuan set up leaders to replace him if he goes suddenly missing.”
I gave a discouraged nod and added, “Ratuan is trying to arrange for Sir Avery to show up too, which would stop Prince Avalask from doing anything at all. But if we talk… to…”
I trailed off as something brushed the wall beside me. Karissa must have moved to our side of the room, and my shoulders tightened in warning.
A high pitched squeal startled us, and everybody sitting leapt to their feet. Karissa became suddenly visible, peering all around herself like she was on the hunt.
“One of those kids followed you back,” she said. “I caught hold of her, but she… vanished in my hands.”
“Well that sounds like two powers to me,” I said.
I could have heard a drop of water fall three rooms away, such was the silence that fell around us.
“Ebby?” I said to thin air. Nothing changed and nobody moved until Archie jumped beside me at the sight of Ebby, appearing behind my legs like she trusted me enough to hide behind.
“I’m sorry,” she said immediately as everybody’s eyes widened. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I was just…” she clasped her hands together and held them tightly to her chest in fear. “I’m sorry.”
“We can’t have her here,” Emery said, looking angrier than anybody else with his palms full of fire. “I know half of you enjoy running around trying to change the world, but she is in the middle of a tug-of-war between Sir Avery and Prince Avalask. We can’t have her here.”
“Being in the same room with her doesn’t hurt anything,” Karissa said flatly, standing up straight and pushing her large dark curls back from her face as sh
e turned to Ebby. “Are you alright?”
Ebby nodded but stayed as far behind me as she could. “I’m sorry,” she said, glancing up at me. “I just, I wanted t-to know more about you.”
“What exactly were you trying to learn?” Emery demanded. “And who did you plan to tell?”
Ebby shook her head quickly. “Nobody. I just wondered…”
“She needs to go,” Emery said to me. “There are not many of us left, and I don’t want us ripped apart by feuding Epics.”
Ebby’s eyes caught on the table next to Robbiel and grew wide in shock. She finally stepped out from behind me in astonishment. “Is th-that… Is that a book?” she asked, moving toward it like she’d never seen one.
Robbiel looked startled to realize his hand was resting on it as she took hesitant steps toward him and asked, “Written in Human?”
Ebby pressed two fists over her mouth before whispering, “Can I hold it?”
Robbiel handed her the book with hesitation, and watched as Ebby cradled it in her arms like a precious baby. Corliss superficially coughed into her arm, “We’ve lost Robbiel,” as Robbiel broke into a smile.
Emery rolled his eyes to the ceiling and said, “We can’t keep her.”
Robbiel ignored Emery and said, “I have other books I could give you. This one is Karissa’s.”
“She can borrow it,” Karissa said. “But bring it back. It’s my favorite.”
Ebby gripped it tightly to herself and said, “I will. I’ve read books before. I know how to treat them.”
“Great,” Emery said. “Could you leave now?”
Ebby nodded quickly, but a young Escali with ragged clothes and a mess of royally black hair appeared next to her. He had to be Prince Avalask’s son.
Emery stabbed a knife into the wooden table beside him and muttered, “Oh shanking life.”
“I’ll leave,” Ebby said, glancing at me one last time before turning to the new Epic. “Come on, Vack. We can go.” She held her hand to him, but Vack didn’t take it.