by Kevin George
Blake nodded. “You put me in charge here for a reason,” the old guard said without apology. “Figured we were beyond any veil of secrecy about what happens beyond our city.”
Edmond snorted, stepping a few feet away before reading the note. In it, those Above mentioned their appreciation for the City Below’s recent contribution of humans, despite them being dead. Above was reciprocating with the food and snow as a gesture of continued good faith in the hope of more Below citizens being sent ‘Beyond the Light’ to ensure proper food production. Just as Edmond began to feel better about the chances of reconciling with Above and its new leader, he read the next paragraph several times, his top lip curling a bit higher each time he read the words.
“Hopefully my show of mercy and kindness can lead to a similar deal that Below once had with my father, the great Louis. Those of us now in control of The Dome might be willing to forgive the intrusion of Below guards, who dared to invade our sacred home and cause damage to—”
King Edmond’s hands shook so severely that he couldn’t read another word. He forced a chuckle of confidence and ripped up the note. Zander hurried toward him and stooped to gather the shredded pieces of paper.
“Why would you do that?” Zander snapped. Edmond glanced around, accustomed to his guards admonishing anyone who’d dared question the king. “The deal he offered seemed more than fair, especially considering the predicament of our food supplies. This was our chance to return to a sense of normalcy, a positive reaction from Above after we took the first step sending them our dead.”
Deep down, King Edmond knew Blake was right, but he wasn’t about to placate the nephew he never knew he’d had. Louis died because of his own failures—an ending that still brought a smile to Edmond’s face—and Edmond wasn’t about to honor his brother’s memory by sucking up to Louis’s bratty son. Besides, Edmond knew the Dome’s future was as doomed as One’s was, and he wasn’t about to spend his final years fixing a relationship that wasn’t important for the city’s long-term future.
Not that he could admit that to Zander, at least not right now. King Edmond pointed to the food.
“Distribute it among One’s guards,” he ordered Blake. “But we’re not making further deals with Above. Anyone that dies of natural causes can be sent up there, but nothing more.”
“I don’t think that’s the—”
Edmond spun quickly at Blake. The older man sneered. Despite Blake’s age—one of the oldest remaining in the city—both knew the guard leader could destroy the king in a physical altercation. But they also knew that wouldn’t bode well for his future. The sneer still on his face, Blake lowered his head in deference.
“My apologies, Your Illustriousness, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t try to convince you that—”
“Then be remiss,” Edmond snapped. “Above attacked us first. Yes, they provide us food, but we provide them the means with which to nurture that food. They continue to blame us for what happened Above? For whom they kidnapped?”
Zander’s eyes hardened and his nostrils flared. He took a deep breath before growling the next two words. “My daughter, don’t forget, a kidnapping you didn’t tell me about until after she was rescued. I was supposed to oversee your entire guard force in One, yet you only trusted Ryo and those other—”
“Careful what you say next,” the king warned.
Zander’s expression softened, but only slightly. “I was going to say those of his kind. Men of lower-steppe pedigree, men that shouldn’t be allowed in One, let alone fulfilling the most important guardly detail in the city.”
King Edmond sighed. “I know where you and other One guards stand on this topic,” he said, unable to hide irritation in his voice. “But you need to trust that the Lord and Jonas have a plan for us all. One day, you’ll understand my decisions will benefit those who’ve been loyal to my family for the longest.”
“Like me?” Zander snorted, his voice oozing derision. “Sent in here to deal with an empty elevator? Tying my hands instead of letting me deal with a child leading Above? Sending my daughter away to be married and stashed in The Fifth without giving me a say in deciding her mate?”
“Decisions fit for a king to make, not a guard, regardless of your status,” Edmond snapped, suddenly wishing he had brought Ryo with him, especially as Zander’s eyes burned with hatred. “The prince and I agreed that Paige was safer far away from the place where she was kidnapped. And I believe it was always your desire to have her wed someone of great importance, was it not?” the king asked.
Zander snorted and stepped back, crossing his arms. “Her husband’s importance, as you describe it, is certainly debatable,” he spit. “And some question if Paige being sent away was a decision made by you and your son, or by the prince alone.”
The king’s top lip curled on one side. “No decision of that magnitude is made without the Lord and Jonas agreeing to it. . . without me agreeing to it.”
Zander frowned and nodded, though it was clear he did not agree. “The same way you agreed to the rest of the. . .”—he paused to clear his throat—“. . . changes to The Third and Fifth?”
Edmond stepped uncomfortably close to Zander, who uncrossed his arms and placed them at his sides, taking a step back until he bumped into the wall. Still, he loomed large over the king and did not break eye contact.
“Are you questioning the decisions of the Lord and Jonas? Is that what you think is best for your future?” the king asked. “For your daughter’s future?”
Zander’s nostrils flared, but he quickly turned his head to the side. “I’m only trying to keep Your Illustriousness well informed of the guards’ general state of mind regarding recent changes. Plus, I’m nervous for my king’s well-being now that his closest protectors are so untrustworthy.”
The king shook his head. “Men are trustworthy when they have something to gain from keeping me safe. That’s how it’s always been and how it’ll always be. Ryo’s increased status is what makes me trust him most.”
Zander sighed, shaking his head. “I hope the Lord and Jonas is right about him. Still, I wouldn’t be doing my duty if I didn’t ask—again—for permission to travel Above and confront the Dome’s leader to work things out. He’s only a boy, and I’ve spent my life helping shape boys into the kind of men the City Below needs to thrive.”
“Can’t risk that, can’t risk sending you Above to be used as a pawn, not when the boy is already cracking,” he said, nodding toward the food inside the elevator. A thought suddenly popped in his mind. “We must force him to make the biggest concession yet to let him know who’s boss.”
Edmond grabbed a scrap of torn paper from the floor and snapped his fingers at Zander, who hurried into a nearby room and came back with a pencil. The king leaned the paper against the wall and scribbled a note.
“I’m letting them know what—or, more specifically, who—we’re demanding to make things right between Above and Below,” the king said, unable to suppress a grin of self-satisfaction.
When he was done, he handed the note to Zander, who quickly read it.
“The one responsible for all that happened Above?” Zander asked. “You want him sent back to us? I thought Ryo didn’t know if the teens killed him or not.”
King Edmond shrugged. He entered the elevator, and he and Zander worked together to drag the food and fresh snow into the hallway. Edmond left the note on the elevator floor before pushing the up button and stepping back into the hallway. He began heading back through the QZ when he suddenly stopped, keeping his back turned to Blake.
“I’ll plan for a few more to travel Beyond the Light, if only to show them what they’ll be missing if they don’t acquiesce to my demands,” Edmond said.
“Illness checks finally allowed in The Third again?” Zander asked.
Noting the doubt in Zander’s voice, the king called back, “I’m in charge of the city, every part of the city. The only things allowed are those that I say are allowed.”
Ed
mond stomped away, hoping he was right about still having total control. He pushed away all thoughts about Above and his nephew, instead focusing on the real problem he was about to deal with. Being in the Quarantined Zone made him think about Oliver and the amount of time he’d spent in there, fighting off death. Not for the first time, he wondered how much easier his life would’ve been had the prince never returned from his trips in the tunnel, or had he never recovered from his burns. . .
Focusing on the past won’t help resolve problems for the future, he told himself. Since sending Oliver to lead the rear sections of city—since the prince had decided on his own means of ruling—the king thought he’d have plenty of time to gradually rebuild his relationship with him. Now, the timetable had been dramatically pushed up, and the only way to handle his son’s anger and past reluctance was to prove why the king had had to keep the queen alive. Hopefully he’ll recognize and appreciate the concessions I have made.
He emerged from the QZ and headed down One’s ramp, nodding to the thinning, malnourished guards he passed along the way. Rations had been cut back severely and he could see the results in the gaunt faces of every man he passed. Guards nodded as he passed, a rare few dipping into proper bows, a few others looking at him with disdain. Edmond wanted to stop and talk to each one, to promise them that major changes would be coming that would benefit them all. A part of him wished Ryo or his other royal guardsmen were by his side; another part of him wondered if that would’ve made things worse.
He proceeded to the Main Tunnel entrance, where he found Ryo and a few other guardsmen waiting. Without a word, he stepped into the tunnel and saw a hovercraft speeding into the distance. He recognized the long, flowing hair of one of its passengers.
“My wife?” Edmond asked Ryo.
Ryo quickly turned his head. “Insisted she travel on her own,” the lead guardsman said. “She wasn’t pleased to be leaving her room.”
“It’s a good thing I don’t concern myself with what pleases her,” the king growled. “I thought I told you to accompany her.”
“You did, Your Illustriousness, but. . . the queen insisted on other guardsmen, two of my best,” Ryo said. “My place is beside my king.”
King Edmond snorted as he climbed aboard a hovercraft. “Your place is where I tell you.”
Ryo nodded as he and the other guardsmen boarded the hovercraft, which soon sped down the tunnel.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Oliver’s thoughts raced as quickly as the hovercraft on which he was driven. Speeding through the Main Tunnel, he worried about leaving The Fifth, worried that his people there would think he was leaving for good, worried if they’d work as hard without him pounding at rocks beside them, worried what sort of reaction he’d receive from those in The Third (since he hadn’t set foot outside of the section for months, let alone inside). All of his thoughts and concerns faded as the hovercraft sped beyond The Fifth and approached another familiar section of tunnel.
The Fourth, as mysterious and unknown as ever, was of much greater interest to Oliver than it ever had been. He stared at the massive blast door and wanted desperately to stop and press his ear to it, to see if he could hear anything from within or figure out a way to open the door. Demanding the driver to stop would send his people the wrong message, of course, since he constantly preached the idea of looking to the future instead of the past. Still, he couldn’t look away from the blast door or turn off his curiosity. He’d heard plenty of stories about noises coming from The Fourth, stories he would’ve ignored once upon a time the same way he’d ignored stories about tunnels and Above.
Oliver was relieved when the driver sped past without slowing. The Fourth faded from his mind and he thought about his destination and—more significantly—who would be awaiting him. Nerves caused his stomach to swirl and he lifted his helmet long enough to take a breath of fresh air, or at least a breath of air as fresh as he could expect. He could’ve sworn he smelled a faint sulfuric scent—impossible, I’m too far from One for that, he told himself—not to mention feeling a noticeable increase in temperature.
He had little time to consider what that meant as they approached several groups of Thirders walking to and from The Fifth, none appearing as miserable as they’d been when Oliver first saw them. He returned waves and cries of hello as the hovercraft sped past, feeling guilty that he didn’t have time to stop and talk, or pick up workers and drive them the rest of the way. He also waved to the pair of older Fifthers that had volunteered to stand guard in front of the tunnel grate. Oliver saw nothing but a blur of blackness as he tried peering into the grate, but he couldn’t help thinking about Irving and the Tunnelers and the entire world beyond the city walls. He wanted to stop and talk to the guards—making his father wait even longer made that idea more appealing—but told himself the sooner he dealt with the Lord and Jonas, the sooner he could forget his previous life and continue to focus on the future, continue to prove himself to his wife. . .
Minutes later, he spotted increased movement in the tunnel ahead. As the entrance to The Third grew larger, so did the line of men cutting across the width of the tunnel beyond the entrance. Oliver scanned the middle of the line and eventually spotted Aytyn, standing exactly where Oliver had instructed. Though Oliver had been suspicious when his father’s royal guardsmen arrived at The Third months earlier—with instructions to do ‘as the prince ordered’—Aytyn and his men never questioned his orders and never strayed from the post to which they’d been assigned.
“We live to serve the Lord and Jonas,” Aytyn had told him the day he’d shown up. “They have ordered us to protect and serve the Jonas Heir in The Third and Fifth. Our allegiance is now sworn to you and you only.”
In the months that followed, Oliver’s interaction with them had been limited, but he’d never heard reports of a single negative incident involving the former One guards. There were times when Oliver truly believed Aytyn and his men meant their words, that they would actually side with him and The Third and The Fifth if trouble from One ever arose.
Might finally test that theory today, Oliver thought with a frown, eyeing the squadron of armed Thirders that stood between the guardsmen and The Third’s entrance. Oliver knew the Thirders would not fare well in a fight—whether Aytyn’s men betrayed them or if such a fight came from One—but he understood and supported their presence. Especially since it’s important to her that The Third has its own show of strength. . .
The Third’s entrance was no longer guarded. Citizens passed in and out without trouble, a freedom Oliver never expected to see in his city, but one which he was extremely proud to help enact. His driver parked the hovercraft near the entrance and Oliver leapt off, straightening his helmet as he strode toward the line of guardsmen. Aytyn nodded to the Jonas Heir, but the others remained turned toward the line of hovercraft that sped toward them from farther down the tunnel. The squadron of Thirders also stepped forward, standing directly behind Oliver.
“Weapons at the ready,” Oliver ordered, a command immediately followed by the Thirders. The royal guardsmen were more hesitant but eventually did as they were told.
“Those are our fellow guards,” Aytyn said hesitantly, clearly conflicted. “I don’t want to fight them.”
“We don’t want to fight them, either,” Oliver said, nodding back to the Thirders. “But we will if that’s what it comes to. Are you sworn to protect me?”
Aytyn nodded, raising his weapon and turning to the approaching hovercraft.
“There will be no problems started by me or any other man or woman that stands beside me,” Oliver said. “I can’t say the same about them.”
The line of hovercraft glided to a stop less than a hundred feet away. One guards poured off their craft, lining up in perfect formation, surging forward but stopping well short of Aytyn and Oliver’s guardsmen. The enemy guards raised their spears to mirror Oliver’s fighters, but neither side made another move beyond an exchange of sneers. Oliver watched the next hover
craft approach, alone, manned by two dark-skinned guardsmen and carrying a single passenger. Even from afar, Oliver recognized the passenger’s long hair blowing behind her, though her head remained turned, never once looking at the guards gathered ahead.
Queen Raefaline’s hovercraft glided to a stop farther back than the guards’ hovercraft. Oliver waited for her to climb off and approach, but she remained still, staring at the tunnel wall, shrouded mostly in shadow. Oliver tried to touch his face but was blocked by his helmet. His hands shook and he rubbed them on the side of his pants. Months had passed since he’d last seen her—months spent focused on becoming a better person—but time hadn’t eased his hatred for her.
Oliver blinked hard, finally forcing himself to look away. Ten feet separated Aytyn’s guardsmen from the first line of One guards, ten feet between the old way of life known in the City Below and the new way of life Oliver was trying to build. Nobody said a word. Oliver looked for anyone from the other side that might be his father’s representative, but nobody stepped forward.
“What is the meaning of this?” Oliver finally asked. “Why have so many of you come here? Where is my father?”
Nobody answered. Another hovercraft appeared moments later, followed by several others, the king’s new royal guardsmen speeding toward them, the final craft in line driven by the massive form of Ryo, the king being his only passenger. They arrived soon after, at which time the guardsmen circled King Edmond and pushed through the rest of his guards until reaching the neutral zone between the two armies. The royal guardsmen spread out and formed a line while Ryo and the king stepped forward.
Ryo headed straight for Aytyn, all eyes turning on the two behemoths and their impending clash.
“Stop right there,” Edmond said before Ryo reached the other side of the empty space between the groups. Ryo did as he was told, though that didn’t stop him from smirking at his counterpart.