The August 5 (29 page)

When he got to Sebastian's Circle, Ellie was perched on the edge of the bench. She shivered in the shadow of the old oak tree. The hood of her green wool coat was pulled up, and she was wearing black leather gloves and a scarf, but she was clearly miserable. The bench across the path was in a beam of sunlight, and he found it endearing that she was so particular about waiting for him in the correct location.

“Hey,” he said. “Are you all right?”

“I hate the world,” she said miserably. “I hate my place in it.”

He sat down beside her, unsure of what to say.

“Do you know how many explosions there were?” she asked. “They're calling it the Night of a Hundred Fires. Abel's Toys was the only business hit on Dawson Street, but I heard the porters talking and they said the cottager districts were decimated.”

“I guess it ended the Cessation,” he said.

Ellie nodded. “It's horrible that your father gets to win this way. Oh, and Kristin and I are expelled.”

“Wait, what?” Tommy asked.

“It happened yesterday,” Ellie said. “That's why I wanted to meet you up here. But it seems so unimportant compared to what happened last night.”

“It
is
important!” Tommy said. “What's going to happen?”

“I'm all packed,” Ellie said. “After we're done here, I'm taking the ferry to Norde. I'm going to stay with Kristin's family. With Hywel missing, I don't have anywhere else to go.”

“Oh, Ellie, I'm so sorry,” Tommy said. “I wish there was something I could do.”

She scooted closer to him and grabbed both his hands with her gloved fingers. “I only have a few minutes, but I need to tell you something.”

“All right,” he said. He was feeling a little choked up. Ellie was smart, tough, and spoke her mind. And now he had no idea if he was ever going to see her again.

“I didn't really trust you,” Ellie said, struggling with her words. “Not for a long time. You were the son of the chief administrator.”

“Do you trust me now?” he asked.

“Yes, and I should have said something earlier,” she said. “I should have told you.”

“Told me what?”

“I was with Mr. Hywel the night before he disappeared,” Ellie said. “Since I became his ward, I handled his paperwork and calendar. I spent a lot of time in his office. Honestly, I probably knew his business better than he did. He was an extremely disorganized man. Anyway, we were planning on going to Norde for the summer holiday, but that night, he got a message from your father.”

“From my father? What night was this?”

“Two nights before the August Rising,” Ellie said. “I don't know what your father said to get him to go all the way to Aeren, but he immediately changed his plans and left for Shore Manor.”

“Wait, he went to Aeren the day before the Rising?” Tommy asked.

“Toulson Hywel wasn't in Sevenna City when he was kidnapped. He wasn't on Norde. He was with Colston Shore at your manor on Aeren.”

Tommy stared at her. “What does that mean? He was kidnapped by cottagers on Aeren?”

“I don't know,” Ellie said. “You were there that day, right? You never saw him?”

“No, I didn't,” Tommy said. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he remembered the carriage in front of the manor house when he and Bern had set out for Giant's Ridge. The Zunft symbol had been removed, and he'd found that strange at the time. He'd seen two figures standing near the window of his father's library. Could it have been Shore and Hywel? There was no way to tell.

Tears filled Ellie's eyes and she wiped them on her sleeve. “I'll miss you, Tommy,” she said. “If things ever get better, come and visit me on Norde. Or send word to Kristin's family, and I'll come back for a visit. We'll meet here and freeze together on this bench.”

Tommy put his arm around Ellie's shoulders and hugged her. “Don't worry, we'll see each other again,” he said, wondering if it was a promise he could keep.

 

 

Back at Tauber Hall, he opened the door to his rooms and had an unpleasant shock when he realized that someone was already there. Bern sat in his chair with his feet up on Tommy's desk, pretending to read a book.

“Get your feet off my desk,” Tommy said. He couldn't believe that he'd forgotten to lock his door. “And turn the book right-side up.”

Bern grinned sheepishly at the cover and then tossed the book onto the desk.

“Hey, little brother,” Bern said. “Where have you been?”

“I went for a walk,” Tommy replied.

“You shouldn't have left the dinner party without an escort,” Bern informed him. “Father was furious. He had a rover waiting to take us home.”

“Well, I made it fine,” Tommy said.

“The cottagers went back to work today,” Bern said. “Everything is going back to normal.”

“And is all forgiven, just like Father said?” Tommy asked.

“They should be happy they get to come back at all,” Bern said.

Tommy didn't want to talk about politics with Bern. He wanted his brother to go away so he could think about Ellie leaving and how he felt about it. Her news about Hywel seemed especially strange. She had acted like it was a major revelation, but he wasn't sure what it meant. Maybe the investigators should search for Hywel on Aeren, but there hadn't been any new demands for a few weeks—at least not that the
Zunft Chronicle
had reported. Hywel was probably dead by now.

“Are you listening to me?” Bern asked impatiently. “We need to get going.”

“Where?” Tommy hadn't been listening.

“To the headmaster's office,” Bern said. “They're meeting with everyone.”

“Why?” Tommy asked, following Bern out into the corridor. He locked the door. When they were halfway down the corridor, he went back to double-check that he'd locked it.

“You're so annoying, Tommy,” Bern said, when Tommy caught up with him. So Tommy went back a third time and checked the door again.

They took the path around the Green, which was crowded with lads enjoying the unexpected sunshine. Many were playing Litball, their jackets strewn on benches despite the chilly temperature. A few boys greeted Bern, inviting him to come and join the game.

“I'll be there later,” Bern called.

“What's this meeting for again?” Tommy asked.

“It's a check-in after all the drama,” Bern said. “Father arranged it, I'm sure.”

They reached the new administrative building, which was one of the most modern buildings in all of Sevenna. While most of the structures on campus had been built a century ago, this building was less than a year old. It seemed out of place to Tommy, like a shiny silver coin mixed in with a handful of old money. Bern yanked the front door open harder than necessary. He paused inside the threshold and glared back at Tommy.

“You've handled everything wrong,” Bern said. “You were so easygoing as a child. We used to get along so well, and you've changed.”

“We got along because I did what you said,” Tommy pointed out. “You can't expect me to do that forever.”

“Do you remember playing toy soldiers?” Bern asked. “You were the blue soldiers, and I had the red ones. What did you call them? The Annihilators?”

“That was your army,” Tommy said. “Mine were the Falcons. And I only played blue because you took the red. They were nicer by far.”

Tommy had an unexpected memory of their mother standing near the stained-glass window that she had installed in the playroom when they were little. In the afternoon, a kaleidoscope of light flowed through the colored glass, casting mottled blocks of color on the floor. That had been the boys' battlefield—a tapestry of light on a lazy summer afternoon. Bern would get angry, and Tommy would let him have his way, and they'd go back to their innocent games.

“Sitting with the girls,” Bern said. “Making yourself an outcast with the lads. It should have been so easy for you. We are the sons of Colston Shore! When you do the wrong things, it makes my life harder.”

“This has nothing to do with you,” Tommy said.

“We're brothers. Twins! Everything that you do reflects on me and on Father. And you're embarrassing yourself. So you deserve everything that happens to you.”

Tommy scowled at his brother. “Same to you, Bern,” he said inadequately.

It was a stupid retort because Bern lived a golden life. At any rate, nothing bad ever seemed to happen to him. Bern opened the door wider and let Tommy go ahead of him into the foyer. They climbed the stairs and entered the gaudy waiting room. Golden couches faced each other across a mahogany table. Gilded molding accented the room and official state portraits hung on the walls. Even the wallpaper had a thread of gold running through it. No wonder Rannigan was so keen to have an office here, Tommy thought.

A soldier waited near Olberg's office, and Bern half-saluted him when they entered the lobby.

“Mr. Shore,” the soldier said to Bern. “You can send your brother in now.”

“Is the guard a friend of yours?” Tommy asked. He suddenly felt uneasy.

“The headmaster isn't meeting with other students,” Bern said. “He's only meeting with you.”

“You lied to me?” Tommy asked. “Why would he want to see me?”

“Well, Father heard about you snooping in his office last night—” Bern began.

“I wasn't snooping!” Tommy interrupted. “I can't believe you ratted me out.”

“It wasn't my fault,” Bern protested. “Father kept asking questions, and I couldn't lie to him.”

“You just lied to me,” Tommy said. He thought about ducking out the door, but the soldier seemed to read his mind and moved closer to him.

“Headmaster Olberg is waiting for you,” the guard said.

“This will make you a better Zunftson,” Bern said. “And a better brother.”

“How is your Honor Index, Bern?” Tommy asked. “You're a liar and a vandal. I think you're on the negative side of zero.”

“At least I'm not the one spending time with the enemy,” Bern said, turning away from his brother.

“You are. You can't see it,” Tommy told him. But Bern was already out the door. Tommy imagined him bursting through the front door as the lads called him over to join their game in the sunshine. The guard jerked his head toward the headmaster's office, and Tommy followed him inside the office. Compared to the garish waiting room, Olberg's office was unexpectedly plain. The heavy drapes pulled across the window made the room feel claustrophobic. A volt-lamp glowed on the desk, which was cluttered with books and papers. Dozens of official portraits hung on the walls and the painted faces of the Zunftmen seemed to gaze down on Tommy in judgment.

“Please, sit down,” Olberg said. He nodded at the soldier. “Shut the door behind you.”

Thomas took the chair directly across from the headmaster. His heart was beating uncomfortably fast, making him dizzy and disoriented.

“I assume you've heard about the end of the Cessation,” Olberg said. “Welcome news, indeed.”

“Yes, sir,” Tommy said. There was an awkward silence as Olberg waited for Tommy to say something more. There were dark circles under the headmaster's eyes and he shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

“Yes, well, I suppose you're wondering why you're here,” Olberg said. “I received an order from the chief administrator, and I am compelled to act upon it. In the past, Seminary had autonomy from the Zunft and the actions of the Chamber, but with its dissolution, well, now it's a different world.”

“My father sent you an order?” Tommy said. “What does that have to do with me?”

Olberg sighed. “It's about you, Thomas. Your father says you are guilty of actions unbecoming of a Seminary student. You are to be expelled immediately.”

His father had cast him out and he hadn't even bothered to tell Tommy himself. Tommy felt like a stray dog who had been kicked away from the door.

“What actions?” Tommy asked in a quivery voice.

“I have no idea,” Olberg said. “As far as I can tell, you've been a fine student so this must be a personal matter. If I had authority to protest the matter, I would. But I don't, so here we are.”

“What am I supposed to do?” Tommy asked. His checks flushed, and shame overwhelmed him. He tried to reassure himself that his father was wrong, not him. But suddenly his future seemed like a scary black void.

“A guard is waiting outside to take you to the ferry,” Olberg told him. “You are to return to your family's estate in Aeren. At least that's what it says in the message.”

Tommy stared at Olberg. “And do what?”

“I don't know, Thomas,” Olberg said with genuine sympathy in his voice.

“I'm not guilty of anything,” Tommy said. “I haven't done anything wrong.”

“Like I said, I can't choose to ignore this,” Olberg said. “I have no recourse or appeal since the Chamber no longer exists.”

Tommy blinked quickly, but tears pooled in his eyes. Horrified that Olberg might notice, he turned away slightly in his chair. He wanted to run away and lose himself in the city, but there was a guard in the hall and one waiting for him downstairs.

“Take a minute, Thomas,” Olberg said quietly. “Get your wits about you. It's a lot to deal with.”

Blinking quickly, Tommy's eyes darted along the portraits on the wall in front of him. There were few splashes of bright color among the mainly dark masculine colors depicting the former headmasters and professors of this renowned institution—where he was no longer welcome. A daub of purple caught his eye and he turned toward it. The painting showed a tall, thin man with prominent cheekbones above a red beard. In the painting, he was wearing a bowler hat and a shiny purple vest. He looked oddly familiar … particularly the purple vest. Not many Zunftmen would be seen in such a thing.