“People are going missing every day,” Tamsin whispered. “There are rumors they are leaving to join the extremists, but I don’t believe that. Are they being brought here? Have you heard anything?”
“No, I haven’t,” he said. “But those rumors are lies. The Zunft are kidnapping those people. I could have stopped such tragedies. I could have saved those people.”
“Papa, I’m confused,” she said. “If I say ‘candlelight’ and ‘no candlelight,’ do you know what I’m talking about?”
“Yes,” he said quietly. “Be careful though.”
The room had a low ceiling with wooden rafters, and their voices didn’t echo. There was one guard near the door at the far end, but he didn’t seem particularly interested in them.
“I feel like I’m at a crossroads between these two paths,” she said. “I have a friend who doesn’t believe in ‘candlelight.’ You know him. He worked with you before.”
“What’s his name?” Henry asked.
“Gavin,” Tamsin whispered.
“Ah,” Henry said. “Of course. And what of ‘candlelight’? Is there someone leading you down that road?”
“Just myself. And you.”
The door opened and another guard entered the room. The two stood there talking and glancing over at Tamsin and her father. She’d been warned that the visit might be short because the guards started her allotted time from the minute she arrived at the gate, not when she first saw her father. But she couldn’t bear to have it end so quickly. She’d barely had time to talk at all.
“We don’t have long,” Henry said. “But I want you to stay away from Gavin. He’s a traitor who deserted me in my time of need. If men like Gavin had stood with me at the Grand Customs House, I’d be leading Seahaven right now instead of rotting to death here.”
“Gavin betrayed you?” Tamsin said. Gavin had told her that he hadn’t participated in the Rising because he thought it would be suicide, but she had no idea that her father was angry about it or considered her friend a traitor.
“You’re clever,” Henry said. “People flock to you. You have this energy, like an inner flame that people want to be near. You’ve been that way since you were young. There was always a string of children following you no matter what you did.”
“I was the eldest,” Tamsin said. “That’s why.”
“No, you’re a natural leader,” her father said. “You take after me. We’re destined to be leaders. We’re worthy of legends.”
“What do you want me to do?” Tamsin asked.
“You must continue what I started,” Henry whispered. “You must use whatever means necessary. Seek out the families of those arrested with me. They will rally to your cause. Do not spend time with turncoats and cowards.”
The guards moved toward them with a sense of finality. The meeting was over.
“Go quietly, without saying goodbye,” he whispered, his eyes flashing with anger. “Take up my sword, daughter. Don’t let me die in vain.”
16
CRIME RATE FALLS IN SEVENNA
The city of Sevenna is enjoying the lowest rates of cottager crime in almost a century. Incidents of larceny, assault, and arson have all fallen dramatically. Zunft officers attribute this success to increased patrols and the decisive leadership of Chief Administrator Shore.
—Zunft Chronicle, October 5
“Hey!” the guard shouted, putting a hand up to stop Tommy from entering the lecture hall. “Where’s your student’s card? And why aren’t you wearing your uniform?”
“Oh, sorry,” Tommy said. He reached into his jacket and pulled out the folded paper that had his name, physical description, and the official Zunft seal. No one had ever checked his card before a lecture and he’d never heard of wearing school uniforms to ordinary classes. But inside the hall, the lads were decked out in their Seminary attire.
“If you’re not wearing your uniform, then I have to see your identification,” the guard explained.
“Did something happen?” Tommy asked.
“More cottager violence in Mast Square,” the guard said crossly. He brusquely took Tommy’s card, but when he read the name on the card, his demeanor changed. “Are you the chief administrator’s son?”
“Yes,” Tommy said. “I’ll wear my uniform next time.”
“Off you go,” the guard said with forced cheerfulness. “Have a nice day!”
Rannigan was striding up the steps to the podium as Tommy slid into an open seat near the door.
“So now you have to wear uniforms to prove you’re Zunft,” Rannigan said, surveying the lecture hall. “You lads look…”
“… smarter than usual,” someone piped up in the back, and everyone laughed.
“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Rannigan said. Then he opened his lecture book, signaling the end of informal banter. Tommy didn’t really see why the uniforms were a solution to cottager violence. It seemed more like posturing than an actual safety measure.
“Continuing from our discussion of the estate system from last week,” Rannigan said, picking up his wooden pointer from the podium. “We talked about how the system reflects natural law. How a man’s land and manor are inherited by birth. We talked about how cottagers owe labor to the Zunft in exchange for use of the land. The Zunft Chamber was set up after the War for Aeren. The Zunft had secured its power, but now it was embroiled in factional discord and infighting. A great power struggle emerged among the ten great estates.”
Rannigan unclipped the map of Seahaven that hung from a roller above the stage. It was a detailed map drawn by a master cartographer. Tommy loved maps, particularly the old ones that listed all the ruin sites and standing stones. He sat up straighter as Rannigan took his pointer and tapped Norde, the largest island in Seahaven. Before the professor could speak, a student hooted and called, “Norde forever!”
There was a moment of silence while everyone waited to see if Rannigan would punish him, but the professor smiled. “Apparently we have a Norde man with us today. Any others? If you hail from the land of pine trees, fish, and frozen toes, raise your hand.”
All the boys from Norde stomped their feet and whistled. With an amused expression, Rannigan pointed to Catille, which had a distinctive half-moon shape. Tommy had read about the steep mountains rising out of its rugged coastline, but he’d never visited the island himself.
“What about the mysterious southern isle of Catille?” Rannigan asked. “Do we have anyone from the wild, dangerous jungle?”
A lone boy sheepishly raised his hand, and Rannigan acknowledged him with his pointer. “Good man. You’re the future of the Zunft down south.”
Rannigan smiled directly at Tommy when he said, “And to our west, the green hills of Aeren—”
About twenty of the students in the class were from Aeren, and they clambered to their feet, whooping like excited children. Tommy clapped with them until Rannigan motioned for everyone to sit down.
“Lastly, we have Sevenna Island, seat of knowledge, home to civilization,” Rannigan said, but he raised his hands before the students from Sevenna made any noise. “Let’s show our allegiance to this great island by sitting quietly and listening to the rest of this lecture.”
The students laughed and Rannigan tugged the bottom edge of the map and sent it spinning up around the roller. Rannigan paced along the edge of the stage before diving back into the history lesson.
“After the War for Aeren, the Islands were divided into two estates. If you want to learn more about these families, read The History of the Ten Families by Alexander Carver. It’s an excellent read. Also, you should note that of all the lads in this room, only two of you are members of the original ten families: Thomas Shore and Dennett Crane.
“By the beginning of this century, those ten estates had been broken into smaller entities, but at its inception, the Zunft Chamber was established to create fairness among the ten estates. An adjudicator would see to it that all houses be heard in the Chamber. The
houses would appoint one member as the chief administrator, a position that would shift depending on political alignments. No one person should be chief administrator indefinitely because that would lead to corruption and, ultimately, the downfall of the Zunft. Today, the Chamber is much larger. We have fifty estates that are represented in the Chamber.
“The system is simple yet it represents the apex of political thought,” Rannigan said. Tommy couldn’t help but think this was anything but simple. How could there be an apex of thought? Wouldn’t people keep thinking of new things as old ideas morphed into new ones?
“Chief Administrator Shore is enlightened and compassionate. He knows that the market cannot survive under the heavy hand of subsidies. By ending the sale of cheap bread, he is ultimately protecting all of our futures. No doubt we will continue to see unrest, like the bread riot last week in Mast Square. The problem is simply this: the cottagers are being forced to work harder than they’ve become accustomed to doing. Their reactiveness is sad but not surprising.”
Rannigan launched into a mind-numbingly detailed story about a mill and the process through which grain was stored and then divided according to a complicated equation based on the growing capacities of the ten oldest estates … and Tommy stopped paying attention. Rannigan had called the violence in Mast Square a bread riot, which wasn’t true at all. Lose fifty honor points for lying to your class.
“So that’s your assignment for the week, gentlemen,” Rannigan said. “An essay on the economic benefits of ending the subsidy. Have it on my desk by the start of next week’s class. You’re encouraged to visit shopkeepers and include interviews as source material.”
Tommy filed out of the lecture hall with the other boys, who were laughing about some wild match on the Litball field the night before. The boys crowded together as they exited the hall, and hemmed in on all sides by bodies, Tommy had a flash of fear as he remembered the horses running the crowd into the wall in Mast Square.
“Tommy, we’re heading to the dining hall. You in?” Kristoph asked. He was one of Bern’s friends. He was also a foul-mouthed boy who criticized anyone and anything, as long as they weren’t within hearing range. Ellie and the other girls were some of his favorite targets.
“Thanks, but I’ve got another lecture,” Tommy lied. The students were still bunched up at the door waiting for their turn to exit. Tommy resisted the urge to shove everyone out of the way and sprint into the sunlight.
“We’ll see you at the Estoria?” Dennett said. They had finally exited the hall, and now outside, Tommy felt himself relax.
“Yes, tonight,” Tommy agreed. He’d promised Bern that he would go out to a cabaret with him and his friends. It was the third time that Bern had asked him. Tommy had made excuses twice before and didn’t think he was going to get away with it again without serious grief from his brother.
Tommy planned to go back to his room and study, but there were people milling about in front of Tauber Hall. Zunft soldiers guarded the entrance and a rover was parked near the outer wall. A group of boys who lived in his dormitory stood huddled in a tight group near the door. Ellie was standing by herself under the large oak in front of the hall.
“Could we go into our rooms already?” a student shouted.
The doors flew open and a man in a long coat and bowler hat burst through. He was immediately followed by two guards carrying a stretcher, which was loaded into the passenger compartment on the rover. The person on the stretcher was covered by a sheet up to his neck, and Tommy couldn’t see his face.
“Finally!” one of the lads yelled as the soldiers moved away from the entrance. Tommy, who had been paying attention to the guards, jumped because Ellie was now standing inches away from his elbow. Her eyes were red, like she’d been crying.
“Are you okay?” Tommy asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Can you go for a walk?” Ellie asked.
Tommy worried what Kristoph and the other lads would say if they saw him, but he knew they should be in the dining hall by now. Besides, he had been dying to talk to Ellie and Kristin about what had happened on Saturday in Mast Square, now that he’d had time to sort through it in his head.
“Sure. Let’s go,” he said, leading her toward Dawson Street Gate, which was the farthest entrance from the dining hall. The guard at the gate nodded to them as they left the confines of the Seminary and crossed onto Dawson Street, which was crowded with shoppers. A fiddler played in front of Abel’s Toys, and the lively music followed them as they headed toward Sebastian’s Circle, the little park that was known for its tulips in the spring.
“That was Charlotte on the stretcher,” Ellie said.
“Is she sick?” Tommy asked.
“She’s weak,” Ellie said furiously. Then her face softened. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that. She can’t take being an outcast. Everyone hates us, and she blames herself. She says she feels sick all the time. I can’t remember the last time she ate more than a slice of bread.”
“I’m sorry,” Tommy said. “I wish the situation was different.”
“Really?” Ellie retorted. “Then why don’t you do something about it?”
Tommy felt his cheeks go red. Why was she mad at him?
“Sorry,” Ellie said, resting her hand on his arm. “That was rude. I’m worried about Charlotte.”
“Just because I’m Colston Shore’s son doesn’t mean that I can snap my fingers and make things different,” Tommy said.
“I know,” Ellie said. “I really didn’t mean it.”
There was an awkward silence and Tommy tried to think of something to say, but Ellie spoke first: “Kristin told you who I was, right?”
“Hywel’s relation?” Tommy said. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone. I wanted to ask you how you were holding up on Saturday, but…”
“Things got incredibly insane?” Ellie finished his thought for him.
“It didn’t seem real until a few hours later, and then I realized I was covered in bruises,” Tommy said.
“Did you see Kristin?” Ellie said. “She must have gotten hit on the side of the head and didn’t even know it. Her ear puffed up and turned purple.”
“Is she all right?”
“She pretended to be sick to avoid a family gathering,” Ellie said. “She didn’t know how she would explain it to her parents.”
“In class today, Rannigan was talking about what happened in Mast Square,” Tommy told her. “He called it a bread riot.”
“Well, he’s a bully and a liar, so I guess we know how much his thoughts are worth,” Ellie said.
When they reached the park, they crossed under a wrought-iron trellis and into the stillness under the trees. Ellie wandered over to a bench that was partially hidden from the path by a hedge. Tommy sat down on the other end of the bench. He leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees. A pair of squirrels played chase around the trunk of a tree, and they watched in companionable silence.
“I saw how Rannigan treated Charlotte,” Tommy said finally. “Kristin said it was even worse when they were alone together. Can’t she report him or something?”
“To whom?” Ellie asked. “He’s a likable guy and friends with all the other professors. If she told anyone, they either wouldn’t believe her or wouldn’t care.”
“There have to be decent men among them,” Tommy said.
“Maybe,” Ellie agreed. “But being decent isn’t enough. Someone would need to be brave enough to stand up against Rannigan.”
“Will Charlotte go home now?” Tommy asked.
“She doesn’t have much choice,” Ellie said bitterly. “I hate the smug justifications of the men in power. They make the rules, so trying to argue with them is pointless. They create their own logic.”
“What about you and Kristin?” Tommy asked.
“Thankfully, I don’t have a professor like Rannigan breathing down my neck,” Ellie said. “And I’ll never leave voluntarily. They’ll have to kick me out.”
“Y
ou’d rather put up with the grief than go home?” he asked.
“Well, considering I don’t have a home,” she said. “I was Hywel’s ward, not a close relation. With him gone, it’s not like I can stay in his house.”
“Have you talked to that investigator, Sanneral? Is there any progress?”
“You know him?” Ellie said. “The man couldn’t investigate his way out of a paper bag. I can’t believe our system favors men like that.”
“I met him at the same party where I first talked to Kristin,” Tommy said.
“I was called to the headmaster’s office a few weeks ago,” Ellie said. “He asked me a few questions. Dumb questions. He struck me as exceedingly incompetent.”
“I’m sorry you have to go through this, Ellie,” Tommy said.
“Honestly, it doesn’t seem real,” Ellie said. “I have to remind myself that Mr. Hywel is a prisoner somewhere. I can’t get my head around it. I didn’t know him very well. I was only his ward for a few months before he vanished, but the thought of him trapped somewhere is horrible.”
“I hope he’s okay,” Tommy said.
“I’m not sure your father does,” Ellie snapped. There was an awkward silence, and then she spoke again. “Sorry, I tend to open my mouth without thinking.”
“You don’t need to apologize,” Tommy said. “Whenever we’re not in Seminary, you can say whatever you want. About my family. About my hair. About the horrible state of the world.”
“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about your hair,” Ellie said.
Tommy’s hands flew up to the sides of his head while Ellie laughed again.
“Kidding! You’re such a girl!” she howled. She was the least self-conscious girl Tommy had ever met. Most Zunft daughters tried to act formal or flirt in this really forced way. Even Kristin had seemed a little unnatural, at least at the dinner party. But there was nothing false about Ellie.
“Can I tell you a secret?” he asked.
“Do you think you can trust me?” she said.
“Actually, I do,” he told her honestly.
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