The Olive Conspiracy (12 page)

Just in case, each of the guards carried
buckets of water, including Rivka. Everyone followed her to the
peak of the hill—everyone except Isaac.

As she trudged up the hill with her guards,
Shulamit heard a strange puff of noise behind her. She turned
around to see Isaac testing his flames in the air. Black smoke and
tiny, glowing sparks, like little orange jewels, flew from his
mouth.

He noticed her watching “I’ll wait for your
command,” he called out.

She nodded in response, then kept
hiking.

Once atop the hill, she stood gazing out over
the land. The farm was a healthy size, and hopefully its absence
would create a barrier the bugs would be too confused to cross for
a while. She knew it wouldn’t last forever though. They’d smell
food on the other side, and then they’d come.

But this was their best hope—for
now.

Halleli stood beside her. “I want to remember
it. I’m so scared I’ll forget and then it won’t exist
anymore.”

“
You should draw it when we get
back to the palace.”

Halleli was silent, tears streaking her
cheeks.

Rivka busied herself checking the horses,
making sure they were ready for the journey that would take them
back to the palace in time to sleep tonight. Hadar joined her,
already instinctively treating her as her commander.

The air was so still and so peaceful, Shulamit
almost couldn’t believe what they were about to do to
it.

Well, there was no reason not to start now.
“Isaac, go ahead.” She was surprised at how confident she
sounded.

Down in the grove, the great dragon nodded,
then reared back on his haunches.

Brilliant yellow flame shot from between his
jaws. It consumed the tree in his immediate path and began to move
down the row to the next.

His wings were starting to work again, but they
were frail like a chicken’s. He was able to get about his own
height into the air again before he was forced to land. Here he set
another tree ablaze.

Soon, more trees were on fire. Everything was
orange, and the air was full of the scent of burning
wood.

Halleli was crying. Shulamit hugged her, and
then she was crying too. Her shoulder was sticky from the other
woman’s tears, but she ignored it and held her closer.

Hadar stood on the top of the hill, her hands
on her hips as she watched the inferno consume the
grove.

Finally, as if she’d seen enough, she walked
over and joined the other two women, putting her arms around both
of them.

Shulamit’s breaths were deep and even. The
decision had been made, and it was all over. Hadar and Halleli
would come to Home City and rebuild.

But the danger was only halted, not
stopped.

Shulamit watched the fires leap into the air,
licking the blue sky. If only there were a way to surround all her
country’s farmlands with such fire, benevolent fire, protective
fire, that would keep out all who threatened them. She imagined
them, guarded like a sleeping goddess on a hilltop, protected from
harm.

11. A Night for Heroes

Shulamit and her found family did their best to
make the ride back to Home City as cozy and rejuvenating as
possible. Isaac rode on Rivka’s shoulder as a lizard so that Hadar
and Halleli would have the other cushioned seat to themselves, and
he and Rivka entertained and distracted the two women with stories
about their days on the battlefield together.

In between, Shulamit told them all about Aviva
and how they’d met because as the palace’s Second Cook, she was the
only person to figure out that the queen—well, Princess Shulamit at
the time—was sensitive to certain foods.

“
I can’t eat chicken or any other
fowl,” said Shulamit, “and wheat gives me stomach
cramps.”

“
Wheat?” exclaimed Halleli with
surprise. “But it’s in everything!”

“
Tell me about it!” the queen
agreed. “No pita, no challah, no sufganiyot at Chanukah, she has to
make me my own separate batch of tabouleh without the
bulghur…”

“
What about beer?” asked Hadar.
“Does the fermentation get rid of… whatever it is?”

Shulamit shook her head. “No, but I mean,
that’s not something I miss.”

“
What about the princess?” Halleli
shifted against the cushions to get more comfortable. “Can she eat
any of this?”

“
She’s really too young for us to
know,” said Shulamit, “but we’re being careful.”

Isaac sang for them to pass more of the time;
his voice was deep and luscious and he knew it. Shulamit could tell
he was deliberately choosing cheery or exciting songs that wouldn’t
send Halleli into fits of tearful nostalgia, and she was grateful
for his foresight.

The sky was already a rich lapis-blue deepening
into black by the time the royal carriage and its guards on
horseback arrived at the palace with their wagon and donkey cargo
in tow. Members of the palace staff were gathered to meet them, and
Shulamit was glad to see their happy faces in the light of the
hanging lanterns when she stepped out of the carriage.

Especially two faces in particular. “I missed
you guys
sooo much
.” Shulamit enveloped Aviva and the baby
in a meaningful hug. Aviva felt warm and squishy, and Naomi smelled
like bananas. Shulamit sighed, happy to be reunited.

“
Wow…” A breathless voice came from
the carriage. Shulamit turned around to see Hadar helping Halleli
out into the courtyard. The two farmers blinked around themselves
with wonder at the palace’s grandeur, standing out against the
black night with its white walls and red-tiled roofs.

“
New friends?” Aviva inquired,
handing Naomi over to her other mother.

“
New friends like
us
,”
Shulamit replied, saying further things with her raised
eyebrows.

Aviva’s eyes bugged out and her mouth bloomed
into a grin. “That’s great! I—”

Shulamit made a face. “It’s
sort of
great. I’ll explain in a second.” She unpeeled herself from
domesticity and walked over to the guards on duty. “Please get
everybody out here. Everyone who’s not sleeping, I mean.” Some of
the guards, cooks, and cleaning workers had early morning shift,
and it would be unnecessary cruelty to disturb them.

The guards nodded, and scattered.

Soon, the palace courtyard was filled with
people, milling underneath the palms, confused and excited. Through
the middle of the crowd emerged Mitzi, fluttering around like a
confused bird in her flamboyant dressing gown, with Tivon, off duty
and from whose room she’d likely emerged, in her wake. Her piercing
gaze darted from person to person. “What is it? What’s going on?
Majesty? Riv, is the palace under attack?”

Rivka held up both hands. “Everybody’s
safe.”

“
Oh, well,
that’s
good to
know!” Mitzi huffed indignantly, then settled back against Tivon’s
chest and waited with everybody else.

Shulamit stepped out in front of her family and
staff. “My friends,” she began, “these past two days, I’ve been
with the farmers up on the mountains. I’m sorry I didn’t make it
home last night, but we were busy doing everything we could to try
to stop those bugs. I’m happy to say that we managed to buy
ourselves three or four weeks, and hopefully, well before then,
Queen Aafsaneh of the City of Red Clay can come to our aid. She
spent literally my entire lifetime on that vineyard before she
married King Jahandar, and she is a trained and excellent witch.
She is, right now, our best hope.”

She paused, glancing behind her at the two
farmers. They were huddled together in the darkness beside a banana
plant.

“
Tonight, I want to recognize one
of the bravest acts I’ve ever seen, and the two amazing women who
shared it. These women are my heroes right now. They let us burn
their grove to make a bare-earth barrier to hold off the bugs.
Their names are Hadar and Halleli, and I invite you all to
recognize the amazing sacrifice they made for their fellow
farmers.”

Rivka nudged the bewildered young women closer
to the queen so that they stood directly in the lantern light. They
approached Shulamit nervously, but she stepped in between them and
nodded to each of them. “This is Perach!” shouted Shulamit, the
smile of strength on her face.

Cheers rose up from the staff and royal family.
Everyone from the highest-ranked guard—Rivka, who was clapping
loudly and nodding along with her claps—to the girl who had just
joined the cleaning crew the week before was making noises of
gladness and appreciation. Aviva ran up to the impromptu royal
platform and tackled both Halleli and then Hadar with big,
welcoming hugs.

Shulamit wiped tears from her eyes, and smiled
at her.

Aviva was looking at the newcomers with a
sparkle in her eye. “I bet you two need dinner!”

***

Rivka pushed open the door of a spare room in
the guard quarters. “Here’s where you’ll be sleeping.” She held the
lantern she carried into the room so that its light could splash
over the walls. “If you need help carrying in your things from the
wagon, start making friends with the other guards and they’ll be
happy to help.”

“
Thank you,” said Halleli as she
followed Hadar into the room. Isaac and Rivka remained outside in
the pleasing autumn nighttime air.

Hadar set her own lantern down on the floor
beside the bed. She kept turning her head from side to side as if
planning. “Halleli—how do you feel about moving the bed there,
under that other window?”

“
Oh, I’m fine with whatever.”
Halleli traced her fingers over the walls. “It’s very
clean.”

“
I’m sure you two will keep it that
way.” Rivka smiled behind her mask, then swatted idly at something
fluttering near her shoulder. Her smile faded. That better not be
one of those bugs from the mountains. She’d checked all the luggage
when the trees were burning, twice, and then once on the way back
to Home City.

Hopefully it was just a moth. The wings seemed
rounder than the grove bugs’, at any rate. “Will you be okay if
Isaac and I go off duty now?”

Hadar nodded, adding, “Yes. Thank you for the
room. And the job.”

“
Yes, thank you,” Halleli
agreed.

Rivka sensed the moth again, this time tickling
her ear on the other side. She tossed her head like a horse, hoping
her wild hair would send it fleeing.

“
I may come take you on an
adventure in the morning, Hadar, so be ready.”

Hadar grinned at her. “Sure!” She and Halleli
were already taking up positions on opposite ends of the bed so
they could lift it and move it.

Rivka closed their door and turned to face
Isaac, who greeted her with a smirk. “What?”

Then she saw the rose petals. Two of them,
dancing in the air as if blown on the wind—of which there wasn’t
any. She watched them as they circled each other, then rose up
again to frolic teasingly around her head. A third joined them,
caressing a bare patch of her neck, then her ear, before joining
the other two.

Soon, a wreath of flower petals was revolving
around her face. Isaac’s left hand delicately tickled the air, each
finger moving independently, as he watched her from half-closed
eyes.

Rivka grinned. “Where are you getting
these?”

“
Bush by the fountain,” he replied
nonchalantly. “I picked them up while you were showing those two
around.”

“
Oh, so you planned ahead.” She
wiped away sweat from underneath her mask. “You trying to tell me
you’re all better now?”

Isaac thumped his chest with his right hand.
“Try me.”

“
You know, I think I will. C’mon.”
Rivka turned and walked away from the barracks, toward the stream
behind the palace.

“
I like the sound of this.” She
heard his voice and step, and didn’t need to turn around to know he
was following her.

The rose petals followed her too, swarming
around her head and sometimes darting down to tap her face. She
snatched at them, catching a few. They felt soft and sweet in her
fingers.

Behind the palace’s back wall there was a patch
of grass leading up to a stream. Lush foliage here and there
blocked it partially from view, and here was where she led him.
Here, banana trees leaned over the water, and the air was filled
with the songs of chirping frogs. They were tiny, but insistent
that the night belonged not only to sleep, but also those who were
awake.

The moon was only three days old, but Isaac was
clearly visible in the starlight when Rivka turned to face him.
“Headache’s all gone?”

“
I feel great.” His voice was
confident and booming. “I’m sure Aviva’s cooking
helped.”

“
Well,” said Rivka, limbering up
her body, “prove it!” She leapt to one side, hoping he’d get the
idea.

Isaac’s creek of a smirk became a wide,
grinning river, and he raised his eyebrows. With one great motion
he hurled his great mass at his wife.