The man looked up from the table where he was eating a lunch of Favored food. “Well?” he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “What kind of response did you get? Lots of cheers?”
Aaron’s face burned. “My people are exactly as responsive as we trained them to be,” he said. “What more would you expect? A shout? A rousing song? None of that’s allowed, so of course their silent stares indicate all are properly ready to proceed with this plan.”
“Fair enough.” The general finished chewing and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “When the wall is down, and when you have solved my oil problem, we’ll talk about this plan of attack.”
“Good,” Aaron said, but he’d forgotten about the oil problem. He looked down his nose and said with a hint of disdain, “I’ve prepared the Necessaries to start the work on the wall. Your Quillitary is instructing them now, so I’m assuming you have an excellent idea of how to carry out the task after so many years of wanting the wall down.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’ll get to work on the oil problem and will return with a solution after your work on the wall is done.”
The general, his eyes narrowed and the wound throbbing at his neck, nodded. “I’ll be waiting.”
Aaron glared back at him. “Not for long, I assure you,” he said. “So be ready.”
The general laughed. “I give the orders, High Priest.”
Aaron scowled. He turned, Liam followed, and they walked out of the house and across the Quillitary grounds, back to the road. They climbed into the vehicle and chugged back up the dusty road to the palace.
As the barbed-wire ceiling’s shadows rolled across Aaron’s cheek, his mind whirled with the overwhelming promises he’d made. Not only did he promise to tear down the wall, but now he had to fix the oil problem—a problem that had existed since Quill began over fifty years ago. What had he gotten himself into? His breath came out in short bursts as he tried to control the panic that welled up inside him. He was so tired of this feeling. Would it ever end?
Liam looked at Aaron curiously but said nothing.
When the vehicle came to a rest in front of the palace door, Aaron and Liam climbed out. Aaron paused in the driveway as the vehicle pulled away, and looked at the forty-foot wall. His moving gaze stopped when he reached the filled-in spot, where he’d once opened a window to the sea. How strange it would be to see the water again. Despite the heat, Aaron shivered.
Liam paused at the door and stood uncertainly, waiting for him.
“Send someone out to collect all the cashew fruit and other nuts growing in the Favored Farm,” Aaron said brusquely. “Every last one. And deliver them to my office. Oh, and tell the Farm guards to plant more immediately. We’ll need a constant supply.”
Liam knit his brows. “Yes, sir.”
“And then make sure the Necessaries understand their instructions from the Quillitary so they can get moving on the teardown.”
“Yes, sir,” Liam said again. He hesitated, and added, “Are you sure about this? The wall coming down, I mean?”
Aaron looked sharply at Liam. “What do you think? Of course I’m not sure! This plan could ruin me. And it could ruin you, too. So if you do not wish to participate, you may gladly take yourself back to the Ancients Sector once and for all, and you’ll be dead by morning.”
Liam stood, mouth agape. He couldn’t stand Aaron’s arrogance and considered walking away. But then he closed his mouth. If he left, there would be no hope for Artimé. For the sake of Eva and for the hope of Claire’s forgiveness, he uttered the words as Eva had taught him. “You have my utmost loyalty.”
“I should hope so,” Aaron snarled.
As Liam turned to go, Aaron grabbed his arm. “Wait. I’m not finished,” he said, his voice strained.
“I’m sorry. What can I do for you?” Liam could see the fear in Aaron’s eyes. It was there all the time now. For a moment, he almost felt sorry for the high priest.
“I want you to steal as many magical components from Artimé as you can get your hands on, and bring them to me. I need to know how they work, and the words you have to say with them, so you’ll have to find somebody over there who you can torture for secrets. I don’t care what you do or how you get them—just get it done.”
Leaving Liam speechless as he had done so often lately, Aaron fled into the palace, wondering if he was making an extremely dangerous mistake, and hoping with everything he had in him that his reign—and his life—was not about to end.
Underwater Exploration
When the figure disappeared behind the rock, Sky ran back toward Alex. “What do we do? Go after him?”
“It depends,” Alex said, thinking frantically. What would Simber do? Alex hated not having him around to consult with. The wind gusted, spraying them all with rain and salt water from the sea. “If this place is like Warbler, there could be thousands of them.”
Florence interrupted. “There aren’t thousands. This island isn’t big enough to hide them all, and it’s solid rock—there’s no going underground here. I can see over many of the boulders, and I don’t see anyone else.”
“That doesn’t mean they aren’t there,” Samheed said, his voice anxious. He gripped Lani’s hand. “We should get out of here now.” Samheed and Lani were rightfully afraid after having spent a month captured underground on Warbler.