“Stop.” Aaron clenched his jaw. “Not another word about it. And you’ll address me as High Priest.”
Eva closed her lips. The two of them stood facing each other in silence. Finally Aaron stepped aside and strode past her, down the stairs and toward the front door.
Eva whirled around and watched him go. As he closed the door, she hurried after him, hesitating briefly and then blindly rushing outside.
“High Priest, wait!”
Aaron didn’t stop walking.
Eva ran to catch up to him as they reached the portcullis. “Listen to me, please!” she said. “Don’t do anything to Artimé. Not just yet. We’ll work together to figure out the right time. I’ll help you, I promise. Just . . . wait.”
Aaron stopped walking. He turned, his boots grating against the gravel road, and looked at her.
“Please,” she said again.
Aaron held her gaze for a long moment. And then he looked at the guards who stood at the portcullis. “Guards,” he said, wincing and clutching his shoulder, “take her to the Ancients Sector.”
Eva’s heart froze. “What?”
Aaron didn’t look at her. “Get busy!” he barked. The guards jumped to attention, grabbing Eva Fathom by the arms.
“No!” Eva cried out. “Aaron, no!”
But Aaron Stowe, high priest of Quill, turned away from her pleas and continued walking through the open gate toward Haluki’s house.
Eva, eyes wide with fear, strained her neck to watch him go, remembering his remorse when he’d done this to his own father. But this time he didn’t turn back. He didn’t change his mind.
The guards nudged Eva toward the palace. When she refused to walk, they picked her up by the elbows and carried her to the Quillitary vehicle near the door. They opened the door, put her in the backseat, and instructed the driver on what he was to do with the woman.
Eva, silent, faced forward as the jalopy sputtered and chugged down the driveway. The shadowy lines of the barbedwire ceiling of Quill crossed over her paper-thin skin, each one marking a year of her long life in service, many for the bad and fewer for the good.
When they passed the high priest on the road, Eva didn’t look at him. And when he was left in the dust behind them, Eva looked at the driver and took in a short breath of recognition. She gathered her thoughts then leaned forward. “Sir,” she said in a quiet voice, “is there any chance you’ll take a risk for me today?”
The driver slowed. He glanced over his shoulder at her. It was the driver Eva had given extra fruit and vegetables to. He hesitated. “There’s a chance.”
Eva closed her eyes for a moment, and then she opened them again and spoke. “Before you drive me to the Ancients Sector, could you please make one stop?”
The driver pinched the bridge of his nose and scratched his head. “All right, as long as it doesn’t take too long.”
Eva blew out a breath of relief and looked at her hands. “I assure you, good sir, that it won’t.”
Panther Goes for a Walk
From Haluki’s house, Aaron took the tube to the kitchenette, where he listened briefly but heard no one. “Good,” he muttered. “Perhaps they’re out on the lawn.” He pressed all the buttons at once, then found himself in the jungle.
This time he stayed in the tube until he located the rock. He spied Panther lounging on top of it. The panther sprang to her feet and made her way nimbly down the rock face, jumped to the ground, and bounded over to Aaron, mouth wide open and hissing.
Aaron stepped back, alarmed. This didn’t look like affection.
“It’s all right,” the rock rumbled. “That’s how she shows appreciation.”
The panther pushed her face into the tube and bumped Aaron’s hand, still hissing.
Aaron pulled back from the fangs. “Are you sure?” he asked, his voice shaking. “Nice panther.” He patted the creature’s back gently as she tugged his clothing, pulling him out of the tube and hissing at every move he made.
Aaron stepped out, trying to make small talk with the rock while also trying not to appear afraid of the panther, even though he was. Soon the panther bounded up a tree and showed off her ability to balance on even the thinnest branches.
“Interesting,” Aaron muttered. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. Did the beast expect him to praise her or something? He didn’t understand these creatures. “Anyway,” Aaron continued, “I’m back, and I thought I’d take a walk. Maybe Panther can come with me so I don’t get hurt this time.”
The rock seemed to think about it. “That would be nice. Okay, Panther?”
The panther hissed.
“Well, I guess that’s a yes,” the rock said, chuckling. “Don’t go too far. I like Panther to stay nearby so she doesn’t wander too close to . . . you know what.” He pointed his peak toward Artimé. “Stay on the jungle paths and you won’t get lost.”
Aaron nodded. “Got it, chief.”
The rock chuckled, pleased by the title.
Aaron and the panther set off into the jungle, Aaron trying to stop the anxious energy from boiling over. He also needed to put aside his thoughts about what he’d just done to Secretary. He could hardly believe he’d done it. But she had crossed the line so many times, and Aaron had been too lenient with her. He’d let it go too far, hadn’t he? Once the insults began, there was nothing else he could do, no matter how she pleaded. She was dead wrong, and she wouldn’t stop bugging him with her wrongness. It’s not like she didn’t know she was over the line. More than once.