Luminary (23 page)
Another explosion and then . . . water? It feels like tubs full of water are pouring from the sky. So much water that I can barely see in front of me. People are peering around, from the king to Berk to the guards, unsure of what to do.
I think of the three men in the furnace. The Designer walked with them and saved them. He did the same for Berk.
He sent the rain to stop the fire. I gulp in a lungful of air and breathe out my gratitude.
The rain does not last long. But when it subsides, everything and everyone is soaked. The pole where Berk is tied is slick. The wood is covered in a stream of rainwater. Even the king appears less powerful, less intimidating with his tunic stuck to him, revealing a more corpulent figure than is obvious from the layers of clothing he wears. A round belly protrudes and his hair lays in strings along the sides of his head.
But he does not appear defeated. He does not see this as an intervention from the Designer, like the king in John’s story did. He does not repent. He looks beyond the crowd toward the city with expectation.
“Your Majesty,” a guard shouts from behind us. “An audience has been requested.”
“Who would request an audience with the king on this day?” The king’s outrage was poorly performed, from my perspective. But the people do not see his hypocrisy. They agree with his words. They are outraged.
“Representatives from New Hope, sir.”
I turn and see Kristie, Carey, Rhen, John, and half a dozen other villagers.
“You dare come in
today
and demand an audience?” The king shouts loud enough for even those at the far edges of the crowd to hear. “Today, when my daughter is being laid to rest and her killers are being punished?”
“Her killers are
not
being punished,” Carey shouts, and the king has to bang his scepter on the platform to silence the crowd’s response.
“Are those two the prisoners I allowed to go free?” The king
asks this of the guard beside him, but he does not lower his voice.
“They are, sir.” The guard responds with equal volume.
“I show you kindness.” The king’s face is red as he glares at the older couple. “I allow you to go free because I pity you, because I want you to live out the short time you have left with your people, and this is your repayment?”
“We desire peace,” Kristie says. “We do not wish to fight.”
“You sent in these spies to murder us!” the king roars. “We will not believe anything you say. You do not want peace.”
“These young people were used as pawns by your king,” Carey yells. “They no more killed Helen than I did.”
The people begin to shout, scream, demand retribution, death to these villagers. The king is triumphant. His eyes glow; his head is high.
“I warned you of these people.” He looks at the crowd. “They will stop at nothing to achieve their goals.”
The people raise their fists in agreement.
“Therefore, they must be stopped,” the king shouts above the crowd. “They must
all
be stopped.”
W
e have been allowed to return to New Hope.
Our restraints have been undone. Guards have walked away from us. The king told the crowd he will not “reward” us with a public death, but he will send us off with the others from New Hope, “to perish corporately.” Our crime, he argues, is a result of the planning of the entire village. As such, the whole village must be punished.
We do not speak as we leave. What is there to say? I have seen the arsenal in Athens. Their technology far exceeds that of New Hope. We can try to escape. But the nearest village is so far away. We would need more transports, more food, more time. We lack all of that.
I want to try to speak with Alex, to pull him away from his father’s influence, make him understand the truth, to defend us. Alex is good. I have seen it. Berk believes Alex deceived me, that he was part of his father’s plan all along. But I refuse to believe that. Berk does not know Alex the way I do. He protected me from his father’s wrath. He cares for me. I am sure of it.
“We need Alex.” I break the silence, and the entire group looks at me as if I spoke in another language. “The king will not attack us if we have his heir. And once he is no longer under the influence of the Athenian drugs, I know Alex will help us. That was his plan before. We were going to escape to New Hope and help the village protect itself against Athenian attack.”
“Thalli.” Berk’s voice has an edge to it I have never heard before. “You are so sure that Alex was drugged. But isn’t it just as likely that you were, and that all the good you think about Alex is a result of that influence?”
I think back on my time in Athens, to my time with Alex. He was kind. I believe that was real. “I heard him defending me to the king, and he did not realize I was listening. He was telling his father
not
to drug me.”
Berk steps closer to me. “What happened between you and Alex?”
I stand straight. I do not like his tone, his possessiveness. “I spent time with him—just like you spent time with Rhen.”
“That is not the same.” Berk’s jaw twitches.
“I trust Alex.” I look away from Berk but see distrust in Carey’s and Kristie’s eyes too. “He tried to protect me from his father’s plans. He stood up for me against him.”
“You don’t think they had surveillance on you?” Berk says.
“My guess is they saw you coming to listen at that door and planned the conversation accordingly.”
“King Jason is ruthless.” Carey shakes his head. “He released Kristie and me, knowing we would return for you. He wanted us to come so he could incite the people against us. I have to agree with Berk. Neither he nor his family is to be trusted.”
“What about Helen?” I ask. “She did nothing wrong. She loved Peter—truly loved him—and she helped me. And was killed for the king’s purposes.”
The events of the last few days have been so draining, I have not truly had time to acknowledge that Helen is dead. My chest feels heavy with the weight of that knowledge. I think of beautiful Helen, hurt by her father, grieving for so much, wanting nothing more than to be free and to love a man of her own choosing. She would want her brother to know the freedom she will never have. She would want me to defend him.
“I know this has been difficult for you.” Berk’s voice softens. “You should never have gone.”
“I had to go.” I stop walking, forcing the others to do the same. “And I did it to help New Hope. You needed to know more about Athens and who they are so our village could be better prepared to defend ourselves against them. I did that. I know more about this city than any of you. And our best chance of protecting New Hope is by bringing Alex there.”
Kristie and Carey look at each other, then at me. The others in the group glance back at the walls that surround Athens.
“There is a risk in taking him, I realize.” I gaze at each person as I speak, willing them to consider what I am saying. “But no greater risk than returning to wait for the Athenian army to attack us.”
“No greater risk?” Carey says. “Have you forgotten the prison? Helen? There is huge risk in returning to Athens. You can be sure they are watching us now, making sure we return. I wouldn’t be surprised if they aren’t tracking our movements. We have no idea all they are capable of.”
I consider this. Of course they are watching. Carey is right. But there must be something we can do.
I recall the conversation I had with Helen. “The secret exit. Helen’s mother said there is a secret exit at one of the walls.”
“Then why didn’t she use it?” Berk asks.
“She wasn’t sure where it was. And she knew guards were everywhere.”
“So the queen and the princess were afraid to use it?”
I do not like the way Berk is speaking to me, as if he thinks I am ignorant. “They had an unhealthy fear of the king.”
“Unhealthy?” Berk is yelling now. “Thalli, the man is a murderer.
Their
murderer. Theirs was not an unhealthy fear. It was very healthy.”
I will not argue with Berk. He is convinced that he is right. They all are. But I know I need to find that exit. I know I need to get Alex. But I will never be able to convince them.
I walk along in silence. I will go back to New Hope with them. Then while they sleep, I will return to Athens.
I
did not escape. I returned and was surrounded by the people of New Hope. They wanted to know everything. They wanted to debate how to plan for an attack. Somewhere in the middle of the debate, I fell asleep. I did not mean to, but I was more tired than I realized.
I woke up to feel Berk’s arms underneath me, carrying me to my quarters. I recalled that I was angry with him, but I was too exhausted to pull myself away. I dreamed I returned to Athens, that I had found the entrance in the wall, that no guards were there. I woke before I found Alex.
John told me the Designer sometimes speaks to his people
through dreams. Was this dream from him? I recall exactly where this spot was. I know just how to get there. I even know how to get in. But it could be just a dream. I could escape only to find myself trapped outside the walls for days. Or worse—I could be caught outside the walls and killed.
I sit up, my head swimming. I ate last night, but I am still so hungry.
“Thalli?” A knock sounds on the door. It is John.
“Come in.” I rub my eyes and smooth down my hair.
“I am glad to have you back.” John smiles. Despite all the turmoil of the past few weeks, he looks so peaceful. So happy. “You were strong and courageous.”
“The Lord prepared a table for me in the presence of my enemies.”
John lets out a loud exhale. “Praise be to the Designer.”
“Were you here last night?” There were so many people crowded into Carey and Kristie’s house, I could not see them all. “Did you hear the debate?”
“I was, and I did.”
“What do you think?”
“I thought you were unusually quiet.”
“I need to go back and get Alex.” I wait to see how John will respond to this. He does not even appear to be surprised. “Did they tell you?”
“Berk told me his thoughts about this. But I want to hear yours.”
I tell John everything I know about Athens and about Alex. I tell him my plan to find the entrance. I tell him about my dream.
“And if you find this entrance, how will you find Alex
without being caught? And if he is under the king’s influence, how will you convince him to escape?”
I have thought of all this. But I have no answer. “The alternative is to wait here for an attack that will surely kill us all.”
John is silent, his eyes closed, as if he’s truly considering my idea. Minutes pass. When he opens his eyes, they are clear, bright. He leans toward me. “What if, instead of sneaking in, you walk in?”
“What?”
“I have been praying all night,” John says. “I agree that you must go back. Waiting is not beneficial. But no more deception. I think you should walk right up to the gate and request an audience with the prince.”
“The guards will kill me before I even speak a word.”
“That’s possible.” John nods. “But they might do the same were they to catch you trying to sneak in. Or trying to speak to the prince. Or trying to sneak him out. Right?”
Of course he is right. “So you think I should just walk over there and knock on the gate?”
“I think you should take a horse and ride up to the gate.”
He says it as if it’s not a life-threatening proposition. “I cannot ride a horse.”
“Sure you can.” John smiles. “It’s easy.”
I think of all the times I questioned John’s sanity while we were still in the State. And I think of all he has taught me and my confidence in the fact that he is most certainly sane. And wise.
“What will I tell the others?” I think of Berk. He will never agree to this plan.
“Let me handle the others.”
“How will I get a horse?”
“There happens to be one just outside.” John winks at me.
After John leaves, I bathe and dress. I think of the last time I went to Athens on my own. It seems a lifetime ago. I pray I have another lifetime to spare.
H
orses are terrible transports. I like them when I am beside them, feeding them apples. But sitting on top of them . . . why would anyone willingly do this? The entire lower half of my body is sore. As the horse goes faster, I am jostled up and down on this hard saddle. I try to keep my arms relaxed at my sides, the way John showed me, but when it goes too fast, I am forced to pull back on these reins. This is so much different than holding on to the ropes behind the chariot. At least in that, I was standing, not sitting. My legs were not forced to straddle a hairy beast, who could, at any moment, fall or jump and kill me.
But at least I am not walking. Even with last night’s sleep to aid me, I would not be able to make that return trip on foot. The days without food in the black chamber have taken their toll on my body. I cannot stop eating. John packed me bread and cheese and a container of milk. I am trying to save some, but I am so hungry. I force myself to put the food away. Fear of eating with only one hand on the reins protects me from completely succumbing to the temptation to eat everything in the sack at my side.
How I was able to ride out of New Hope with no one seeing me or stopping me, I do not know. John simply walked out with me, holding the horse. He gave me some lessons on how to manage the beast, then he sent me off. I looked back once to see him walking back to the village center. No one was around him.
Will Berk be angry when he finds out where I’ve gone? Maybe he is still upset with me. He shouldn’t be. If anyone has the right to be angry, it is me. But I do not want to think about that now. I ride over a hill and see the walls of Athens looming in the distance. I do not know what to do. How far should I go before I stop? My thoughts are interrupted by a shadow hovering over me. The sun is bright today with no clouds on the horizon. I look up to see what caused the shadow. I pull back hard on the reins when I realize what it is: a transport.
My
transport. The one I rode here when I first came to Athens. When Alex rode up to me on his horse. The transport moves backward, but it remains high above my head.