Rise of Keitus (20 page)

Jacob and Tani met eyes, and Jacob was glad to see his disgust mirrored in her expression.

Not to be outdone, Kevin and Aloren started hugging and saying how much they loved each other.

Watching his brother get all affectionate was one thing. But the girl he liked with the guy he couldn’t stand? Jacob turned and walked into the kitchen to find Mom.

Tani followed. “So gross,” she said.

Mom looked up from her book. “What is?”

“Oh, just the love birds saying goodbye.” Tani leaned against the counter.

Jacob grabbed an apple. It would’ve been easier to handle if Kevin had turned out to be just as big of a jerk as he’d pretended to be. “Pretended” was Aloren’s word. Jacob still thought Kevin was a jerk. But he was a hard worker, and the people in Taga Village really appreciated him. He’d proven he was dependable and trustworthy.

Mom stood. “I’m not comfortable leaving them alone like this. And it’s time for you all to go anyway.”

They returned to the living room.

Kevin kissed Aloren one last time, promising to continue working with the people in Taga Village. Sammy kissed Matt, promising to continue doing homework. Tani curled her lip, staring at the others, and turned to Jacob. “Sorry, but I’m not going to kiss you.” A wicked smile crossed her face. “But I do know someone who would just
love
to come and do it!”

“Who? Shirley?” Jacob scrunched his face when Tani’s smile got bigger. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

Mom gasped. “Oh, Jacob, we forgot. You’ve got to change before you leave for Troosinal.” She hurried out of the room, then returned, carrying an armful of clothes. “I washed these up—they were pretty disgusting. Amazing the people of Troosinal would sell dirty clothes.”

She handed things out and Matt, Jacob, and Aloren went upstairs to change, the boys to their rooms, Aloren in the bathroom.

Jacob put Tani’s gift on his desk—it was best not to attempt to bring it—and grabbed the piece of paper Dad had given him the night before. He folded it up and put it in his backpack. It contained a list of names of people who worked with Dad in Troosinal, just in case Jacob needed the information. Jacob and the others would be arriving an hour before an important meeting took place and would meet Dmitri and Kelson there.

They returned to the living room, hugged and got kisses from Mom, then Matt and Aloren each took one of Jacob’s hands—they’d practiced a few times and knew what to expect.

“Matt,” Sammy said. “Don’t get used to holding hands with Jacob.”

“Oh, I won’t.”

Kevin laughed. “The same goes for you, Aloren. Don’t let your hand get used to being in Jacob’s.”

Tani rolled her eyes. “You guys are ridiculous.”

Jacob didn’t mind holding Aloren’s hand. As soon as this thought crossed his mind, he felt a flush spread over his face. Not wanting the others to suspect, he rolled his eyes and scoffed loudly, hoping to cover his embarrassment. Good thing he was the only one there who could see emotions!

Jacob pushed his wayward thoughts aside and warmed Matt and Aloren’s hands. The living room disappeared, and a second later, they appeared in the makeshift home Jacob had been preparing.

“Wow,” Matt said. “You’ve really done a lot here since the last time I saw it.”

“No kidding.” Aloren stepped away from the others and started exploring.

She already knew where the bathroom area was, but went there anyway. Jacob and Matt followed, and peered into the room behind her.

She folded her arms. “Not as nice as the bathroom in the tree or your parents’ house, but better than Macaria.”

Not wanting to use the hole in the ground, Jacob had converted a bucket into the toilet. It even had a seat on it. Jacob had brought a lot of bags to dispose of the contents. He was already looking forward to seeing this experience end and having plumbing again.

He and Matt followed Aloren as she finished inspecting the rest of the place. She quickly claimed her section of the main area—luckily, it wasn’t the one Jacob wanted—and disappeared behind the sheets, probably to rearrange what Jacob had done.

“That one’s yours,” Jacob said to Matt, pointing at the other area. “Let’s not get too comfortable, guys. We need to leave for the meeting soon.”

“I thought it didn’t start for an hour,” Aloren said, her voice muffled by the hanging blankets.

Jacob looked at his watch, glad he’d been able to bring it with him. “Thirty minutes. We’ll need to leave in five, since it’ll take a while to get there, and I’ll need to find my way. And we’ll want to be early. I don’t want to make a bad impression on Dmitri and Kelson before we’ve even begun. That would ruin the entire trip.”

Aloren suddenly squealed, and Jacob and Matt ran around the blanket into her section. She was jumping up and down, arms shaking, hair whipping around, the color for intense excitement—bright green—in the air around her.

As soon as Jacob saw the color, he knew she was okay, but Matt didn’t. “Aloren! What’s wrong?” He grabbed her arm, stopping the jumping.

“Nothing! We’re going to meet our dad tonight, Matt! Tonight!”

“Her name is Rora,” Jacob said, “and his is Ondel.” He couldn’t help but smile at her excitement, though. “And we’re meeting him in half an hour or so, not tonight.”

“Let’s go now!” She grabbed their arms, pulling them with her past the blankets. “Come on!”

Matt caught on to her excitement quickly, but Jacob dug in his feet and stopped them.

“I’ve got to make sure I know where we’re going.” He pulled out his trusty map and studied the different sections. “Dmitri said—and that’s what we’re calling him while we’re here, okay? No more Dad stuff—that we’re going to meet in Horse. Which makes sense—that’s where all the royalty live.”

“The meeting is at the home of some rich people?” Matt asked. “I thought Dad’s group was made up of poor citizens.”

“For the most part, yes, but there are a couple who turned against the king.”

Aloren looked over his shoulder at the map. “What area is the castle in?”

“It’s not in any section. But its walls border Horse.”

“Where are we on that thing?” Matt asked.

Jacob pointed. “Here, in Cow.” He pointed to Horse. “We’ve got to cross the main road, Ramantus Way, which can be tricky. That’s where all the jerks hang out.”

“Isn’t the city older than Ramantus?”

Jacob nodded. “Yeah. The main road and the river behind the castle change names with each new king. Makes it really, really confusing if you don’t know the history of the city.”

He put the map away. He wouldn’t need it again until they’d gone through a large portion of Pig.

Jacob stepped to the door. “Ready?”

Aloren’s excitement quickly vanished. She smoothed her skirt and tucked her hair under her scarf. “I am.”

Jacob looked at Matt. “Where’s your hat, Ondel?”

“Oh, let me get it.” He ran back to his sleeping area and came out putting his hat on. “Sorry.”

“Rules here say you wear it all the time—even indoors. You’re going to have to adjust to that.”

Matt nodded.

Jacob turned and faced the front door. “I have to be really careful when locking up so people don’t see me doing it—no one around here locks their doors, and they definitely don’t have keys as cool as the Key of Kilenya.” He glanced at the others. “Keep watch when we get out, okay?”

Jacob unlocked the door with the Key, then ushered the others onto the street and glanced around, making sure no one was watching, then turned and locked the door again.

“Follow me,” he said, stepping to the right.

The street was dirty, as usual. He’d gotten to the point where he recognized some of the people who lived around them. The usuals were out. One woman glared at him while her sister smiled. He’d met them first. The smiley one was actually the one he avoided—she was too friendly. Her sister at least maintained the same air as most everyone else in Troosinal.

Jacob waited for Matt and Aloren to catch up, then whispered to them as they walked along the street which led to Pig. “Matt—I mean, Ondel—you’re going to have to stop smiling. I’m serious. People who smile here are either crazy or about to manipulate someone. They won’t trust you, and will most likely report you to the authorities.”

Matt nodded, all trace of his usual grin wiped away.

Jacob only got lost once while getting through Cow to Pig, and it wasn’t his fault—someone’s cart got stuck in the mud, and city officials were forcing people out of the area.

He stopped the others before they reached Ramantus Way. “This road is big. And I mean, really, really big.” He looked at Matt. “It’s like crossing the freeway back home.”

“They had roads that big back then?”

Jacob nodded. “The middle of it is made up of a canal that takes water from Ramantus River and directs it to all the sections of town. We’ll cross the canal by bridge. There are lots of them, but they’re not safe—they’re falling apart. And I’ve seen people get tossed over them.”

Aloren put her hand on her mouth. “That’s awful!”

“The whole city is awful. So stick close.” He looked at Matt. “When I say it’s like the freeway, I don’t mean it’s organized or anything like that. The only thing they have in common is the size.”

Jacob waited until there was a break in traffic, then led the other two into the busy street. He’d nearly made it all the way to the canal when he and Matt realized Aloren was no longer with them.

Panicked, they turned and started searching the throngs of people, carts, and animals. The brothers were separated several times, and Jacob got slapped by a woman when he stepped in front of her. He caught up with Matt right when a huge guy was chucking him off the road.

Jacob pulled Matt to his feet, and from then on, they stayed together, searching side streets and alleys for Aloren. “Rora!” Jacob called. He wished he could use her real name, but they couldn’t risk it—who knew who was watching.

Matt jabbed Jacob in the side, pointing at a door in an alley that had just shut. “I saw her! I saw her skirt—someone was pulling her into that place.”

Jacob didn’t question, but raced forward and threw the door open, revealing a staircase. At the top, he saw Aloren struggling in the arms of an old man. Her hair had fallen out of the scarf and the colors swirling around her were bright yellow—she was very scared. “Jacob!” she called to him. “Help!”

Jacob and Matt dashed up the stairs, catching up with the man easily—he was drunk. They grabbed Aloren, pulling her out of his grasp, and he started screaming and yelling things at them Jacob couldn’t understand. The man grabbed Aloren by the hair, yanking her backward. Aloren screamed and Matt punched the man in the face, knocking him to the ground.

He glared up at the boys. “She’s mine!”

The brothers didn’t respond. They rushed Aloren back down the stairs and out into the alley.

“Are you okay?” Jacob asked.

She nodded, but the colors in the air around her showed she was still very nervous. She tucked her hair up again, then squared her shoulders. “Let’s go meet my dad.”

This time, Jacob and Matt held on to her arms as they forged through the crowds toward the canal once more. Aloren’s face was so white, Jacob wasn’t sure if she’d even remember how to cross Ramantus Way later.

People in Troosinal didn’t understand anything about flow of traffic. They drove on whichever side of the street they wanted, not paying attention to what anyone else was doing. Wrecks were frequent, and so were the accompanying outbursts of shouting, swearing, and tantrums.

Finally, the three reached one of the bridges that crossed the water.

“Dude, I’m not stepping on that thing.”

Jacob frowned at Matt. “If I can do it, you can. I hate heights, remember?” He looked back at the bridge, realizing Matt was right. The thing was made of cement, but huge chunks of it had fallen into the canal below and had been replaced with sticks and branches in some places and sheets of wood in others. There were so many holes, it was almost comical to watch other people skirt around, trying to get across.

“Let’s just go,” Aloren said. “We’re going to be late.”

Jacob had crossed this particular bridge just once before and hadn’t been very sure-footed. The hardest part was the section where there was significant damage to the cement underneath and the handrails on both sides had either been broken off or had worn away.

Aloren took the lead, surprising Jacob. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from her—there weren’t many others on the bridge, but enough that he worried some guy would haul her off again. That gave plenty of motivation for him to stay as close as possible, Matt trailing behind.

With his focus on her, Jacob hardly noticed when they’d gotten past the worst of the bridge. Then they were on the other side and had to deal with the second half of the busy Ramantus Way. Jacob and Matt locked arms once more with Aloren and pushed forward.

They reached Horse without further problems, and Jacob led them off the main road onto one of the quieter streets. He leaned against a wall, breathing deeply.

“And just think—we get to deal with that every day from now on.”

“Cheerful thought,” Aloren said, her eyes still big.

Jacob pulled out his map, trying to remember where the meeting was being held. Dad had said it was halfway through Horse, close to the street that led to the castle. It took Jacob a moment to spot the location on his map.

“We’re going to have to run if we want to be early,” he said. “This area is a little safer than others, but since we’re not dressed like nobility, we’ll need to be cautious. Just stay close and yell if anything happens.”

Jacob tucked the map away, made sure the others were following, then led them down the street at a jog.

Ten minutes later, they arrived at the designated meeting spot. A man waited at the door and Jacob gave the password Dad had made him memorize—twenty-three, fifty-two. He looked over his shoulder, expecting to see Dad come around the corner at any minute. Would he recognize his father?

The man laughed a familiar laugh, then said with a familiar voice, “What are you looking for?”

Chapter Thirteen: First Mission