Luminary (12 page)
“How old was your father when the guards captured him?”
“Very young.” Peter takes a ragged breath. “He never spoke of it, but I know he was terribly mistreated while he was there. The king has no mercy. None.”
“Your grandparents had no choice.”
“When they finished rebuilding the town, our parents were expecting us,” Diana says. “And the new king was in place. This one is even crueler than his father.”
“I heard he killed his own father to ascend to the throne,” Peter says.
“That’s terrible.”
“That is King Jason.” Peter is so angry his entire face is as red as his eyes.
Diana swallows hard. “When King Jason discovered that our grandparents had developed pharmaceuticals, he insisted they stop and instead develop weapons.”
“Using pharmaceuticals?” The thought is terrifying.
“They refused,” Diana says. “They could not do it.”
Peter’s hands clench into fists. “So they killed our mother.”
I gasp. “But you were just babies.”
“Barely a month old,” Diana replies. “And they threatened to kill us too. So our grandparents went to work. They spent years developing all kinds of pharmaceuticals that did many things, but they told the king they hadn’t found the right formula for the weapon he wanted.”
“The king made sure they wrote down everything they did,” Peter says. “And he had his own experts brought in to supervise them. Of course, those ‘experts’ only knew what our grandparents taught them, so they reported back to the king that they were working on a solution, but their attempts were failing.”
“What about your father?” Losing a wife like that had to have been devastating.
“My grandparents taught him enough to make him too valuable to kill, but not enough to allow him to know how to make the weapon.”
“He was never the same, though.” Diana bites her lip. “Grandfather and Grandmother told us that before our mother died, he was happy and funny, loved life. All we ever knew was a sullen, angry man. I am sure he cared for us, but he was too broken to show it.”
“Our grandparents raised us.”
“But they never taught us anything about their work.” Diana shrugs. “They didn’t want us to endure what they had endured.”
“They always hoped we could find a way to escape here.”
“Did your grandparents help you escape, then?” Hope bubbles in my chest. If Diana and Peter’s grandparents are there, they will be allies.
“In a way.” A tear slides down Diana’s cheek, and the bubble of hope I felt bursts. “The king got tired of waiting for them to complete his project. So he—”
Diana cannot speak. She does not need to, though. “He killed them?”
“He killed them all.” Peter spits out the words. “Our grandparents and our father.”
“You were spared?” I ask.
“We were forced to watch them die,” Diana chokes out through her tears. “They were burned alive, tied to a metal pole. There was no way to stop them.”
Burned alive. That is beyond cruel. What kind of king is this? “What did you do?”
“Nothing for a while,” Diana says. “We knew we needed to escape, but . . .”
Peter sits up straighter. “But I didn’t want to leave.”
“What?” I lean forward. “Why?”
“Helen.” The one word is almost a sigh. I recognize the look in his eye.
“You loved her.”
“I love her.” Peter closes his eyes.
“Why not bring her with you? Escape together?”
“It isn’t that simple.”
“Does she love you?”
“Yes.”
“Then what is it?”
“Helen is the king’s daughter.”
I
allow this news to sink into my brain. Peter is in love with the king’s daughter. The king who murdered his parents and grandparents. “How?”
Peter shrugs. “I don’t want to talk about it. And you must not let anyone know you know this. When the king discovered we wished to be together, he decreed my death. Helen found out and risked her life to help me escape.”
“How did you do it?”
“I climbed out on the roof of one of the factories. Helen tied sheets together so I could scale down the city walls. It was late at night. It’s a miracle the guards didn’t see me. But I made it.”
“What about you?” I look at Diana. “What did they do to you when they found out?”
“Nothing.” Diana stares out the window. “They knew I had nothing left. There was nothing to be gained from hurting or killing me. Not until Peter was found.”
“They were sure they would get me back,” Peter says. “And when they did, then they would have hurt her. To punish me. So I knew I couldn’t get caught. I would not allow Diana to suffer for me. I was going to keep going, but the folks here told me there was nowhere else to go and that Athens would attack whether I was here or not. A few of them weren’t happy I was here. But most of the people made me feel welcome. So I stayed, and I hoped that the king would let it go. It was a stupid hope.”
“I kept working at the factory where I worked for the last year.” Diana looks at me. “No one spoke to me. It was like I had a disease. But no one touched me either. For that, I am thankful.”
“But then you discovered the plan to attack New Hope and retrieve your brother?” I recall her story, hiding in the back of a car the soldiers drove here from Athens.
“Yes.”
“They’ll just come again.” I see now why the villagers are so upset. But they have no right to be upset at these two. They are innocent. Staying in Athens would have been a death sentence.
“They won’t stop until someone stops them,” Peter says.
This is what Carey and Kristie said. But I do not feel any closer to comprehending how to stop them now than I did before I came in.
“Be careful in there,” Diana says.
“You can’t trust anyone.” Peter leans forward. “They may act friendly, but they’re all master deceivers. You can’t imagine
the things that have been done to the people of Athens.
They
can’t imagine. Most of the citizens are completely fooled. I think they are drugged.”
“Drugged?”
“Yes, the people who worked with my grandparents learned enough to make mind-altering pharmaceuticals.” Peter shakes his head. “I am sure the people there are drugged.”
“Or just frightened.” Diana places her hand on Peter’s.
“Whatever the case, you will find no allies there.”
“What about Helen?”
“Don’t bring her into this.” Peter takes in a shaky breath. “She has been through enough.”
There is more that Peter and Diana are not telling me. About Helen. But I do not ask. I’m sure that information is not necessary to know in order to help New Hope. And I’m also sure that information is painful, both to Peter and to Helen. Some secrets are best left unsaid.
“One asset you have is you’re from the State,” Diana says.
“Yes.” Peter’s eyes brighten. “They have been waiting thirty-five years for someone to escape from the State, the way our grandparents did.”
“They never learned how to communicate outside of our town. The king wants very much to know what the State knows, things my grandparents didn’t tell them.” Diana nods.
“But I don’t know about technology.” I regret, once again, not paying attention to my lessons on the learning pad. Should I let Rhen go in my place? I shake that thought immediately. She is needed here. I am the most expendable of the escapees. “I am a Musician.”
“You need to make them believe you know more than you
do, then,” Peter says. “If they find you useless, you will end up like my grandparents. They need to see you as valuable.”
“But they’ll find out I am not.”
“You know more than you think,” Diana assures me. “You were raised in the State. You have been surrounded by technology Athens is desperate to have.”
Diana is right. “I spent the last few months inside the Scientists’ Quarters. I was tested for all sorts of things. I saw some of what they were looking for, what they were using.”
“Perfect!” Diana claps her hands. “Tell them about it. Tell them everything you recall. Make yourself sound brilliant.”
I sigh. Now I truly wish it were Rhen going. Or Berk. He actually could tell them what they want to know. But that, of course, is exactly why they shouldn’t go. These people do not need to know what the Scientists know. This king sounds as evil as Dr. Loudin, as destructive. The more ignorant he remains, the better for everyone.
“But what do I do?” I ask. “How do I help New Hope?”
“Earn the king’s trust,” Peter says. “He will never choose to have peace with New Hope. But if he can be convinced that it is in his best interest to be at peace, then he might leave us alone.”
“How do I convince him of that?” This is the same man who kills people who don’t do what he says, whose father taught him that New Hope was to be conquered. How do I combat that?
Peter looks at Diana. “That, I don’t know.”
“But you found a way to escape from the State.” Diana smiles. “This should be easy compared to that.”
Somehow, this encouragement does not help me. I leave the room, thanking the siblings, even more frightened about this task I have chosen to undertake.
I
have something for you.” John has taken me for a walk to the nearest pond. John loves to be near water. He pulls out a wrinkled sheet of paper. It has writing on it. I can barely read what it says.
“What is this?”
“Psalm 23.” John looks out over the pond as he speaks, reciting the words from memory. “ ‘The L
ORD
is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.’ ”
The words settle deep into my heart in a way no other words
ever have. I feel as if this was written just for me. John takes my hand in his as he continues. “ ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the L
ORD
forever.’ ”
We are silent. I look at the pond, the green grass that surrounds it. “I will fear no evil.”
John squeezes my hand. “It is when we walk through the darkest valleys that we sense the Designer with us most strongly.”
“So how do I do it?” I permit myself to feel the fear I have been hiding from the others. “How do I not fear evil?”
John folds the paper and closes it in my hands. “You think on these words, not on the fear. Let the Designer comfort you. Let him prepare a table for you in the presence of your enemies.”
I hug John. He has lost weight in the weeks since we left the State. But he is strong in ways I will never be. I pray I can know the Designer like he does, have the faith he has.
“Looks like you have another visitor.” John pulls away and points behind me. Berk is walking up. He does not speak until John is far enough away he will not hear our conversation.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
Berk has not spoken to me in two weeks, and this is how he breaks the silence? I want to scoop up the muddy earth at my feet and throw it at him. But I squeeze the paper in my hand, remind myself of what John taught me, of the peace I felt when I was with him.
“I have to do it.”
“Why?”
“This is our home now.” I wave my arms toward the village.
“But what if something happens to you?”
“Like you really care.”
Berk takes a step back. He closes his eyes and sucks in a loud breath. “When will you let this go, Thalli?”
I stare back at him, wanting to say so much but unable to allow even one word to pass through my lips.
“You have to let me go.” Berk looks at me, his pupils so wide the green around them is a thin line. “I know more about what the Scientists have been working on.”
“That’s why you can’t go.” I fold my arms tight against my chest. “You know too much. You would be forced to help them accomplish what they cannot be allowed to accomplish.”
“I wouldn’t need to tell them everything. Just enough to prove I know what I am doing. Like Peter and Diana’s grandparents. They never used what they knew to develop the weapon the king wanted.”
“And they were killed for it.”
“After how many years, Thalli?” Berk’s voice is louder now. “I won’t be there that long.”
“I am going.” I look at Berk. His pupils are smaller now. I see the gold flecks in his eyes and want nothing more than to lose myself there, to forget this task.
“Why not let Rhen go?”
“Rhen doesn’t question authority. Not much, anyway. I question everything. And for this particular job, that is a good trait. I will dig into as much about Athens as I can. I won’t even have to try. I’m already asking a hundred questions in my head.
I had to stop myself with Peter and Diana. I could have spent a week in there, delving into their memories, finding out every last particle of information there is to find. But I cannot put off going to Athens any longer. They need to be stopped now. And I am the best option for stopping them.”
“But if they find out who you are . . .”
“I will do my best to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Berk runs a hand through his brown hair. “But you can’t be sure. They could kill you as soon as you walk up to the gate.”
“And they could kill you before I get there too.” I take a step closer to Berk, place my hand over his heart. I feel it beating, feel the connection that no amount of time or frustration or jealousy could ever completely dissolve. “I need to do this.”
“You
think
you need to do this.” Berk places his hand over mine. “You’re trying to protect us, Thalli. To save us. But you don’t need to do that.”
I stare into Berk’s eyes. “Of course I do. New Hope is in danger and someone needs to go to Athens to try to help them. You are sick, John is old, Rhen is needed here.”
“No.” Berk pulls me to him, crushing me in his embrace.
“You are not thinking logically.” I am speaking more to myself than to him. “You’re thinking with your heart.”