Finally, he reached his room, flung the door shut, and pulled off his clothes, quickly putting on the old ones he hadn’t worn in a couple of days.
Jacob pulled the Key out of the pocket of his footman pants and secured it to a loop on his traditional peasant garb. Then he ran back to the door, holding the note with directions to the meeting in his other hand.
He put the Key in the hole that appeared, called out the name of where he was going, then turned the Key and created a link between his room and the meeting place.
Chapter Seventeen: White Box
Jacob stepped inside, immediately overwhelmed by the chaos and mayhem that greeted him. The king’s men were everywhere, attacking, swords clanging, people screaming and falling to the ground. Het and Isan were in the middle of the mess. Where was Dmitri? And Matt and Aloren?
No longer caring if anyone saw or recognized him, Jacob stepped around the bodies, searching through the overturned furniture, trying to stay out of the way of the king’s men.
“Jacob!” someone—Matt—called.
Jacob spun and saw Matt poking his head around the side of an alcove. He dashed that way, joining his older brother, relief flooding over him so intensely that it made his throat choke.
“You’re all right?” he asked. “Aloren?”
“She needs a doctor,” Matt said. “We have to get her home right now.” He moved away from Aloren—he’d been crouched over her. She was pale, unconscious. And Matt didn’t look any better, aside from being awake. The blood had drained from his face, his shirt torn and red in several places.
“No, no,” Jacob said, moaning. They should never have split up. He might have been able to prevent this! “There’s Kaede Sap at the shelter. We need to take her there.”
“Hey, you!” shouted someone from behind.
Jacob turned and ducked as a soldier swung an ax through the air. It clanged against the stone wall, sparks flying. He kicked the man in the shin, but the soldier didn’t even notice. He raised the ax again. Just then, someone flung the door open, banging it against the wall. Kelson!
Aloren’s dad jumped into the fray, sword flashing, attacking, and the soldier raced to fight him, apparently thinking Kelson was more of a threat than three teenagers. Dmitri joined Kelson and they fought back to back.
Jacob turned to Matt. “Can you walk?”
“I—I think so.”
“We’ve got to get you two out of here.”
Matt nodded and Jacob helped him to his feet. Just then, Jacob noticed a gaping wound on his brother’s head. He flinched—Matt was much worse off than he’d thought.
Together, they lifted Aloren. Her head flopped forward, hair dangling in front of her face. Her feet dragged as the brothers pulled her out of the alcove.
“Over there.” Jacob pointed to a door. He’d Key them to the shelter.
Just as they reached the door and Jacob put the Key in the lock, the same soldier spun and caught sight of them.
“Stop those children!” he called.
Several soldiers dashed forward, but Jacob had already created the link. He and Matt stumbled through and slammed the door shut.
Matt fainted, pulling Aloren down with him. Jacob nearly fell himself—he was still holding on to her. He checked that both were breathing, then rushed to the table and their supplies. He tossed things to the floor, searching for the package of Kaede Sap. Shortage of sap or no, he wasn’t about to lose Aloren and his brother.
Then he remembered he’d hidden the sap under a brick in the room. He fell to his knees, pried the brick up, and pulled out the sap. It took him precious seconds to mix everything together—this was his first time doing it, and he hoped it didn’t require anything special.
The sap ready, he rushed back to Matt and Aloren, pouring some liquid over Matt’s head wound. He checked Matt’s stomach and chest—the wounds there were all superficial and would heal on their own. Jacob turned to Aloren. Blood was everywhere, her breathing very shallow. He’d never seen someone so pale.
The worst wound was on her stomach, and another on her arm. Jacob poured sap over both, then forced some into her mouth. He dripped the rest of the mixture into Matt’s mouth.
Then he grabbed their hands, being careful not to burn them in his rush, and returned to the present time. They appeared in Jacob’s room.
“Mom! Mom, come fast!”
Jacob didn’t wait for a response from her, but flung the bedroom door open, pulled the Key out, and hopped across the hall to the bathroom door. He created a link to Kenji’s place with that door so Mom would be able to follow.
Jacob grabbed Aloren under the armpits and dragged her across the hall. Just then, Mom dashed up the stairs and gasped.
“Oh, no!”
“Help me!”
She grabbed Aloren’s ankles and they lifted the girl, carrying her the rest of the way into Kenji’s home. The Makalo had already jumped up from his usual spot at the head of the table. He helped Jacob and Mom get Matt.
The three of them got to work right away. Kenji mixed Kaede Sap while Jacob and Mom did their best to clean the wounds.
“I wish Ebony were here,” Kenji said. “She’s so much better at this than I am.” He brought a small bowl to the table where Aloren had been laid. Mom disappeared into one of the back rooms and returned carrying strips of cloth.
Kenji used up the Kaede Sap, applying it to Aloren’s wounds, cleaning with the cloth Mom had brought. He was only able to cover a very small part of her stomach wound with the sap they had.
“Not enough, not enough,” he said. He turned, his face a slight green shade. “We’re not going to be able to help them. They won’t make it through the night without a full amount of Kaede Sap to heal their wounds, and we don’t have that much.”
“What do you suggest we do?” Mom asked.
“They need to be hospitalized.”
She nodded. “All right.”
Jacob grabbed her arm. “We can’t just take them to the hospital. They look like they’ve been in a knife fight, and things like that don’t happen in Mendon.”
Mom wrung her hands. “You’re right. It’s way too suspicious.”
“We’ll Key them to a hospital in a much bigger city—like Chicago or Detroit or something.”
“Okay. You decide where. We’ll keep working with them.”
Jacob raced through the open link to his house and the family computer. He did a quick search for hospitals in Chicago and picked the first one that came up, then returned to Kenji’s.
“Sorry, Kenji—you’re going to have to stay behind.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Jacob grabbed Aloren and lifted as best he could, pulling her arm across his shoulder. Aloren’s head flopped to the side.
Mom did her best to pick up Matt, but wasn’t able.
“It’s okay, Mom,” Jacob said. “Help me with Aloren—we can return for Matt.”
He closed the link to Mendon and opened a new one to the hospital he’d found, specifying an empty bathroom closest to the emergency room. Mom and Jacob stepped through the link, then followed the posted signs to the emergency room. Jacob was relieved when the woman behind the registration desk rushed around to help.
“Oh, dear, what happened?”
Aloren groaned, and Jacob and the woman put her into a wheelchair.
“Gang attack,” Jacob said. “We’ve got one more.”
He and Mom returned to Kenji’s. They each took one of Matt’s arms and pulled him into the hospital, Jacob grabbing the Key and closing the link behind them.
Because Aloren was in such bad condition, the nurse checked her in right away. Matt they took back next—almost everyone else in the emergency room was there for something less severe. And though people looked annoyed at being bumped, some of them glanced sympathetically at Matt and Aloren.
A lot of the people stared at Jacob and he winced, realizing he still wore traditional Troosinal garb. How ridiculous that would appear to nor
mal people in America.
Mom and Jacob weren’t allowed with Matt and Aloren, so they paced the lobby. Jacob jumped every time a nurse called someone back, hoping for an update.
Finally he couldn’t tolerate it anymore. “What have you heard from Dad lately?”
Mom shook her head. “Nothing—Early was due for a report soon.”
“Can I—”
“Yes. Go back and find her. We need to let everyone know what happened.”
Jacob nodded and turned to go, but Mom took his arm. “Take Dad’s cell with you. I’ve got mine—I’ll let you know when they update me.”
Jacob nodded. He returned to the bathroom and Keyed himself home.
His carpet had blood on it. That weirded him out and he wondered if they’d have to replace it, since no one would have time to clean it for a while. Gross. He grabbed his bag of seeds, calling for Early.
As soon as she arrived, he asked for an update.
“Your dad is out of prison now. And he met with the people in charge at Fornchall. They’re trying to come to an agreement, but something has come up that your father doesn’t know what to do about yet.”
“What’s that?”
“He says Fornchall is a front for several hidden cities that didn’t exist back at the time when he lived in Maivoryl.”
Jacob couldn’t believe how lucid and mature Early sounded. It was usually hard to get anything out of her, but she had changed over the past couple of months. “That’s insane. Explains why there aren’t many people in Gevkan. What are they hiding?”
“The Lorkon captured hundreds and hundreds of humans—some of them are really sick and others are completely fine. They’re being kept as prisoners for some reason. Maybe farming something for the Lorkon. Dmitri is going to see if he can release them, and has been trying to decide if he should talk to the Fornchall city council about it.”
“Tell him he’d better not—until we have more information, it’s not a good idea to let the Lorkon know how much we’ve found out.” Jacob ran his fingers through his hair. “Do you have any updates on Akeno’s group?”
“They’re fine. The mud bubbles have all been destroyed. What’s there now is just a huge pit. And his group has destroyed several Molg tunnel entrances. It hasn’t been difficult—aside from the one attack they had. The entrances are on the far side of Dunsany Mountain, so the Lorkon haven’t noticed yet, and the Molgs don’t normally go to the edges of their caves.”
Early flitted to the window and looked out. Jacob could tell she was getting to the end of her attention span.
“What about Ebony’s group? Have they reached Fornchall?”
Early glanced at Jacob. “They’ve caught up with Dmitri. They’re no longer in separate groups.” She flitted to him. “Oh, yeah. They might have you Key some of them back.”
Jacob nodded. “That would be good—having too many might cause problems. ‘Course, it might be good, too, in case anyone attacks.”
“Can I go now?”
Jacob chuckled. “In a minute. Deliver a message to everyone. Tell them that Keitus and his soldiers found Dmitri’s secret group. They attacked, and Aloren and Matt were both hurt really badly and are in a hospital on Earth.”
Early nodded. “Okay.” She patted Jacob on the arm and disappeared.
Jacob then remembered that his mom had wanted him to get Dad’s phone. He dashed to his parents’ room at the end of the upstairs hall and grabbed the cell from where it sat on the nightstand, still plugged in.
There were two text messages.
Doctor coming out to talk to me soon.
And then:
Call when you get this.
Jacob dialed his mom’s number. “What’s going on?”
“Matt and Aloren are in critical condition and will be in the ICU for several days at least. You can come get me now—I’ll be flying back and forth. They’re heavily medicated and need to rest.”
“All right.”
Jacob Keyed himself to the hospital, found Mom, then Keyed both of them to Kenji’s place.
Mom sat at Kenji’s table. “We need to decide whether Jacob will return to Troosinal.”
“I have to,” Jacob said. “I’ve put way too much work into things.”
“I understand, but if something happens and you get injured as badly as Matt and Aloren, you won’t be able to return home.”
Jacob was surprised at how calm she sounded. “I’ve been thinking about it,” he said, hoping his tone came across as mature. “And honestly, it would be best if I returned. I’ve made a couple of friends—people who seem to know what’s going on there. And I’ve already served the king once. I don’t know how much longer it’ll be before he allows me into his workroom, but I’m progressing. And this is why I’m back there. Matt and Aloren were only going to support and help in the process.”
Kenji nodded, and Mom again surprised Jacob by agreeing as well.
She got up from her chair and threw her arms around him. “But promise me you’ll be careful.”
Jacob nodded. “I will. Of course.”
Mom looked at his clothes. “And promise you’ll change into something less bloody . . .” She motioned to the door. “I’ve got another set at the house, if you want to use them.”
Jacob nodded. “Don’t worry about washing these—I’ll take them with me.” That would give him a reason to go to the laundry to see Hayla. And he knew she wouldn’t question the blood: the footmen worked with injured and sick people all the time with the king’s tests.
Jacob Keyed Mom home, changed his clothes, then returned to Troosinal and his room right after he’d left. He put on his footman suit, then relaxed on the bed, trying to fall asleep. Even though it was early evening, he was completely exhausted. Right as he was drifting off, Sarot entered the room.
“Thojac!” he said. “Have you heard?”
Jacob raised himself to his elbow. “Heard what?”
“The secret group that’s been fighting against the king has been found!”
He said it with such excitement that Jacob sat up all the way. “Isn’t that a bad thing? Don’t we want them fighting?”
Sarot shook his head. “Of course not—it just makes things harder for everyone. The less attention we bring to ourselves, the less the king notices.”
Jacob closed his eyes. He really didn’t understand Sarot’s way of thinking. It was so very narrow! They obviously didn’t want freedom very badly. No wonder Dmitri would eventually give up.
Sarot changed and got into bed. He rambled for a while about how boring his tasks had been that day, about the girl he liked, and a bunch of other things. Jacob didn’t pay attention, and Sarot didn’t seem to need confirmation that he’d been heard.
At least an hour later, Sarot stopped talking, and soon his deep breathing let Jacob know he’d fallen asleep. Jacob pretended he was also sleeping when the other two footmen came in—as usual, they were noisy, loud, and crude. But Jacob tuned them out easily. He was too preoccupied with everything that had happened that day.
A couple of days passed. The only thing that was noteworthy was when Jacob went to the laundry to give Hayla his old clothes and receive new ones. She smiled at him a lot, and he couldn’t help but feel warm all over as she asked how he was doing.
“What do you think about working in the castle?”
“Oh, I love it,” Jacob said without thinking. He nearly kicked himself. He did not “love it.” It was totally and completely awful. The last two days, he’d only been given really stupid assignments, and he was getting sick of being treated like a servant.
“That’s really good.” She smiled at him, her blue eyes sparkling. “I . . . I like having you work here.”
Jacob felt a blush creep across his cheeks. He looked down. “Thanks.”
He left in high spirits, amazed at how awesome it was to get the attention of a cute girl. He’d felt the same with Aloren, but never quite this much, since she’d never returned any of his feeling
s.
Jacob went home that evening to give his body a break and get an update on Matt and Aloren. They were still in the ICU. Aloren had an infection that the Kaede Sap hadn’t been able to clean out, and Matt’s brain injury had swelled so much that it got worse for a while. Mom said that for a full day, they hadn’t been sure he’d live.
Jacob felt bad she had to carry the brunt of this stress. She reassured him it was all right—the doctors were now projecting positive outcomes for both Aloren and Matt. But Jacob still felt awful about the whole situation.
Early updated him on Dad and the others. Dad still hadn’t found a way to get to the prisoners in a diplomatic fashion, and Jacob figured they’d have to break their way through physically.
Akeno’s group was still searching for the next Molg tunnel. Ebony had Jacob Key to a warehouse in Fornchall so he could take a bunch of Wurbies home. He did, then visited his brother and Aloren.
Aloren was so drugged up, she wasn’t really there, and Matt didn’t talk in complete sentences. What he did say made no sense. Jacob tried to talk to him, telling him about Hayla and the castle and the royal family. It didn’t seem to work, so Jacob just rambled about his mundane assignments.
He returned to Troosinal feeling discouraged, but determined to work hard. Dmitri hadn’t been thrown in prison. It seemed that he’d had a frank conversation with the king where he promised some things that seemed to make Ramantus feel better. Jacob didn’t know what the promises were, but he figured Dmitri only made them to protect more innocent lives.
Jacob’s first assignment the next morning was to carry luggage to the prince’s quarters again. As soon as they entered the room, Dmitri turned to Jacob.
“This is the last time we’ll speak. Kelson and I are leaving Troosinal.”
The worry lines on the prince’s face softened, and he looked away. “I’m to be united with my beloved Arien.” He patted Jacob on the shoulder. “Take care of yourself. This isn’t a safe time for anyone fighting for the right.”
Rise of Keitus (Kilenya Series, 4) Page 21