The Unwanteds (31 page)

“And the twin, Aaron?”

“In custody for now. Beside himself over Justine’s death but trying hard not to show it.”

“How did Samheed know he wasn’t Alex?”

“Alex is left-handed. Aaron was ready to throw a scatterclip, probably aiming at you, Father. He held it in his right hand.”

Mr. Today pulled on his hair. “Of course,” he murmured. “Identical twins—sometimes a righty and a lefty. I had forgotten that. He’s brilliant to have noticed.”

“Samheed knows Alex well. Perhaps now he will try to be a bit more like him.”

Meghan stirred and opened her eyes. When she saw Gunnar Haluki pacing the floor, she sat up, alarmed. “What is he doing here!” she cried out, waking Lani in the process.

“It’s okay, Meghan. Gunnar is on our side, and always has been,” Claire told her. “We kept it a secret to protect him.”

Lani sat up and looked around. Gunnar Haluki stopped in his tracks.

“Hey, you,” Lani said, a sleepy smile spreading across her face. “You’re pretty sneaky. I couldn’t find you last night. Sorry about your shoulder.”

Gunnar pressed his lips together, perhaps to stop them from quivering, and reached out his good arm to her. Lani stumbled over to him and buried her face in his shoulder.

Samheed awoke, his face throbbing, his voice hoarse. “What’s going on? Good grief, what happened to Alex?” He blinked his good eye in surprise when he saw Lani embracing
her father, and then glanced at his beside table, where Mr. Appleblossom’s small, icelike sword gleamed in the morning light. He bit his lip, wincing at the pain but smiling inwardly as he remembered the words from his mentor, and his own ultimate save in recognizing Aaron. Perhaps it had been enough. Gingerly he rolled onto his side to watch and listen.

Mr. Today gazed over the small group with a tired half smile.
All in good time
, he thought. He rested his eyes on Alex, whose pale face set the mood for days to come. But deep down Mr. Today knew that Alex would mend and that the boy would rise up, stronger and wiser than before, preparing to take on a new role from an ailing mage.
It had to happen this way
, Marcus thought.
For him. For Artimé
.

Alex stirred and opened an eye. When he caught sight of Mr. Today, he whispered, “Don’t forget … to go back … and feed the guards.”

Mr. Today, overcome, nodded his assurances.

“And … Aaron?”

Mr. Today hesitated. “We’ll take care of him, too.”

Alex closed his eyes again and slept.

Over the next days the mess of broken-down vehicles was cleared from Artimé. The remaining Quillitary, none the worse off for the dip in the ice, had been immediately freed from the sea, and those who had been attacked with permanent spells had been disarmed and released one by one, with the understanding that everything had changed, Quill had been defeated, and the war was over.

Samheed was up and around after a day or so, and he joined Lani and Meghan at Alex’s side whenever the protectors would allow them to visit. “I heard what you did,” Alex told Samheed. “Thank you.”

Samheed smiled grimly. “I’m sorry … about everything,” he said.

Alex smiled and held out a weak hand. “I still get to punch you, right?”

Samheed laughed and shook it. “And I still don’t guarantee what will happen if you do.”

Although Alex didn’t know it, Mr. Today spent his nights watching over the boy until he fell into an exhausted sleep, at which time Simber took over, both of them keeping their
worries to themselves. And when Alex finally came around for good, even the enormous stone beast shed a private tear, or perhaps even two.

Every day Mr. Today, Gunnar Haluki, and Simber took a trip to the palace to check on the guards. And finally, one day, seeing no reason to keep them entombed in the palace, Mr. Today removed the spell from the palace entrance and set them free. Gunnar Haluki was grateful. So were the guards. Simber … well, not so much.

And as it happened, no one but Lani knew for sure who had uttered the curse that had eliminated the High Priest Justine. At least, that’s what Lani thought. Though she wondered deep down if her father knew it had been she. They never spoke of it.

“So, Senior Governor Haluki was the friend you mentioned to me in the boat?” Alex asked as he slurped soup, feeling decidedly better, though still keeping to his bed for the most part.

Mr. Today smiled. “Gunnar Haluki and I were fast friends back when Justine took that turn for the worse. Gunnar, a young
governor, also bought into Justine’s plan at first. We desperately wanted her to be right, just as you did with Aaron,” Mr. Today said.

“And though Gunnar and I kept our relationship a secret from everyone else once I moved to the Death Farm, I kept no secrets from my friend. We shared our changing thoughts whenever we met together in the wee hours of the night in my office. And that is how we formed a plan together. Gunnar worked his way up the seniority ladder until he was next in line to the high priest, putting himself into the best position to stop the madness.”

The mage leaned back in his chair, reminiscing. “If Artimé could have lasted five more years without being discovered, my twin sister, Justine, would have either retired or died, for despite her strong appearance she was frail as could be. And my dear friend Gunnar would have taken over, and together we would have tried to right all the wrongs done by Justine. And,” he admitted, “by me.”

Alex nodded, fascinated, yet exhausted by the simple act of eating lunch. “But then I came along,” he said, a bit sheepish.

Mr. Today chuckled softly. “Apparently, my plan with
Gunnar wasn’t meant to be. When the now-infamous Stowe twins emerged, they caused all sorts of problems.” He winked. “Gunnar, because he was loyal to me, agreed to be wolf-charmed in order to hide his identity in Artimé and keep his eye on you without looking suspicious. He used that very special tube that sits protected across the lounge from my office to go back and forth from Quill to Artimé. It leads to a variety of horrible places, like a hidden closet in Gunnar’s government office, and another in his office at home, and many more.”

Alex stifled a yawn. “You’re really clever, Mr. Today,” he said sleepily.

“And you are tired. Get some rest, my boy. I’d like to see you walking around on the lawn again soon.”

“Yes, sir,” Alex said, his eyes already closed. But one thing remained on his mind. “I want to talk to Aaron,” he murmured.

The mage closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. “I suppose you must, eventually,” he said. But Alex was already asleep.

O
n the eve of the annual Quill Purge, Alex and Aaron Stowe stood face to face at the entrance to Artimé, the most neutral place they could agree upon. “Thank you for meeting me here,” Alex said.

Aaron nodded coolly.

“Are you well? Is your leg all right?”

“Top form,” Aaron said. He folded his arms to his chest.

“Have you seen Father and Mother?”

“No, and I never plan to. They are beneath me,” Aaron said. “Have you?”

“No.” Alex had no desire to see them. His sunny, all-forgiving attitude had been jaded by the war, and by circumstances, and he’d matured a lot after all he’d been through in the past year. Survival depended on shrewdness and good judgment as well as skill. He knew that now.

“So. What do you want? I don’t have all day.”

Alex smiled inside, knowing he’d won an invisible battle by making Aaron ask the question. “I want to know what to expect from you. Are you a friend or an enemy? Will you be a part of Artimé now that you know it is real? Or are you still set on rebuilding that mess you have in Quill?”

“I don’t plan to reveal my intentions to any Unwanteds, ever.” Aaron scowled, trying to look fierce, but with the desolate, bruised land of Quill behind him, it wasn’t very convincing.

“I see,” Alex said. Despite all he’d been through, he felt a twinge of pity in his heart for his brother, even though Aaron had tried to kill him. “I guess there’s nothing more to say, then.”

Aaron hesitated. “I guess not.”

“Well, I’ll miss what could have been.” Alex gazed into the hardened eyes of his twin.

Aaron stared back and didn’t waver. “You do that.”

Alex stood for a moment longer, and then he nodded and turned on the ball of his foot in the gravel. He walked back into Artimé without looking back.

Aaron watched him go, and then he turned toward Quill and strode back to his old, rusted-out jalopy, one of the few that remained in working order after the battle. He got in, started it up, and chugged up the road toward the palace.

What Remained

M
r. Today, on the day of the yearly Purge, called a meeting on the lawn for all of Artimé.

“Friends,” he said, “I am pleased to tell you that the new high priest of Quill, Gunnar Haluki, and I have come to an agreement: Our two lands will live separately, in peace.”

The new High Priest Gunnar, standing behind the crowd in human form this time, glanced at his daughter. Lani swiveled around and flashed a smile.

“Our border will remain open,” Mr. Today continued. “Residents of both places will be free to come and go as they wish, though it may be some time before anyone wishes to step into the other place. Some may never wish to.

“As this is quite an unfathomable place for many of the residents of Quill, I ask that you treat our visitors with the same respect you give me. The new high priest assures me that he will request the same.”

An agreeable murmur moved through the crowd.

“We’ve also agreed that if Quill chooses to continue to Purge their Unwanteds each year, those Unwanteds will be welcomed here with open arms, as always, with the understanding that they will not be put to death.”

Mr. Today continued earnestly as the noise died down. “For those of you who eventually wish to find your families and return to Quill, you are free to do so, though be prepared for disappointments. Likewise, for those whose ties have been severed completely, there are no demands on you. Healing is a slow process, and for some, impossible.” The old mage’s eyes grew misty as he looked out over the survivors, many of whom still carried visible wounds.
Even more
, he thought,
catching Alex’s eye,
still carry invisible wounds that no magical spell can take away
.

He continued. “And for those who wish to invite their families to Artimé, you are also free to do so. As you know,” he said, and took a deep breath, tears streaming down his cheeks freely now, “we never, ever run out of room in Artimé.”

Mr. Today blew his nose into his hanky. Loudly. And then he looked out over the throng of Unwanteds and said, “And with that we leave our sorrows for another day, because today is a day to celebrate.”

A cheer rose up from the crowd as they began to chant, “To-DAY, To-DAY, To-DAY!”

Marcus Today raised his hand and smiled, softening the chant. He went on to say, “Friends, this is the traditional day of the Purge, and High Priest Haluki, having had little time to make changes, has carried out the Purge as usual—that is the wish of his people. And before you scowl at the practices of Quill, please remember that changes take time. Today we welcome the thirty-two new members of Artimé, seated in the front row.”