Rise of Keitus (28 page)

“What’s that?”

“He says Fornchall is a front for several hidden cities that didn’t exist back at the time when he lived in Maivoryl.”

Jacob couldn’t believe how lucid and mature Early sounded. It was usually hard to get anything out of her, but she had changed over the past couple of months. “That’s insane. Explains why there aren’t many people in Gevkan. What are they hiding?”

“The Lorkon captured hundreds and hundreds of humans—some of them are really sick and others are completely fine. They’re being kept as prisoners for some reason. Maybe farming something for the Lorkon. Dmitri is going to see if he can release them, and has been trying to decide if he should talk to the Fornchall city council about it.”

“Tell him he’d better not—until we have more information, it’s not a good idea to let the Lorkon know how much we’ve found out.” Jacob ran his fingers through his hair. “Do you have any updates on Akeno’s group?”

“They’re fine. The mud bubbles have all been destroyed. What’s there now is just a huge pit. And his group has destroyed several Molg tunnel entrances. It hasn’t been difficult—aside from the one attack they had. The entrances are on the far side of Dunsany Mountain, so the Lorkon haven’t noticed yet, and the Molgs don’t normally go to the edges of their caves.”

Early flitted to the window and looked out. Jacob could tell she was getting to the end of her attention span.

“What about Ebony’s group? Have they reached Fornchall?”

Early glanced at Jacob. “They’ve caught up with Dmitri. They’re no longer in separate groups.” She flitted to him. “Oh, yeah. They might have you Key some of them back.”

Jacob nodded. “That would be good—having too many might cause problems. ‘Course, it might be good, too, in case anyone attacks.”

“Can I go now?”

Jacob chuckled. “In a minute. Deliver a message to everyone. Tell them that Keitus and his soldiers found Dmitri’s secret group. They attacked, and Aloren and Matt were both hurt really badly and are in a hospital on Earth.”

Early nodded. “Okay.” She patted Jacob on the arm and disappeared.

Jacob then remembered that his mom had wanted him to get Dad’s phone. He dashed to his parents’ room at the end of the upstairs hall and grabbed the cell from where it sat on the nightstand, still plugged in.

There were two text messages.

Doctor coming out to talk to me soon.

And then:

Call when you get this.

Jacob dialed his mom’s number. “What’s going on?”

“Matt and Aloren are in critical condition and will be in the ICU for several days at least. You can come get me now—I’ll be flying back and forth. They’re heavily medicated and need to rest.”

“All right.”

Jacob Keyed himself to the hospital, found Mom, then Keyed both of them to Kenji’s place.

Mom sat at Kenji’s table. “We need to decide whether Jacob will return to Troosinal.”

“I have to,” Jacob said. “I’ve put way too much work into things.”

“I understand, but if something happens and you get injured as badly as Matt and Aloren, you won’t be able to return home.”

Jacob was surprised at how calm she sounded. “I’ve been thinking about it,” he said, hoping his tone came across as mature. “And honestly, it would be best if I returned. I’ve made a couple of friends—people who seem to know what’s going on there. And I’ve already served the king once. I don’t know how much longer it’ll be before he allows me into his workroom, but I’m progressing. And this is why I’m back there. Matt and Aloren were only going to support and help in the process.”

Kenji nodded, and Mom again surprised Jacob by agreeing as well.

She got up from her chair and threw her arms around him. “But promise me you’ll be careful.”

Jacob nodded. “I will. Of course.”

Mom looked at his clothes. “And promise you’ll change into something less bloody . . .” She motioned to the door. “I’ve got another set at the house, if you want to use them.”

Jacob nodded. “Don’t worry about washing these—I’ll take them with me.” That would give him a reason to go to the laundry to see Hayla. And he knew she wouldn’t question the blood: the footmen worked with injured and sick people all the time with the king’s tests.

Jacob Keyed Mom home, changed his clothes, then returned to Troosinal and his room right after he’d left. He put on his footman suit, then relaxed on the bed, trying to fall asleep. Even though it was early evening, he was completely exhausted. Right as he was drifting off, Sarot entered the room.

“Thojac!” he said. “Have you heard?”

Jacob raised himself to his elbow. “Heard what?”

“The secret group that’s been fighting against the king has been found!”

He said it with such excitement that Jacob sat up all the way. “Isn’t that a bad thing? Don’t we want them fighting?”

Sarot shook his head. “Of course not—it just makes things harder for everyone. The less attention we bring to ourselves, the less the king notices.”

Jacob closed his eyes. He really didn’t understand Sarot’s way of thinking. It was so very narrow! They obviously didn’t want freedom very badly. No wonder Dmitri would eventually give up.

Sarot changed and got into bed. He rambled for a while about how boring his tasks had been that day, about the girl he liked, and a bunch of other things. Jacob didn’t pay attention, and Sarot didn’t seem to need confirmation that he’d been heard.

At least an hour later, Sarot stopped talking, and soon his deep breathing let Jacob know he’d fallen asleep. Jacob pretended he was also sleeping when the other two footmen came in—as usual, they were noisy, loud, and crude. But Jacob tuned them out easily. He was too preoccupied with everything that had happened that day.

A couple of days passed. The only thing that was noteworthy was when Jacob went to the laundry to give Hayla his old clothes and receive new ones. She smiled at him a lot, and he couldn’t help but feel warm all over as she asked how he was doing.

“What do you think about working in the castle?”

“Oh, I love it,” Jacob said without thinking. He nearly kicked himself. He did
not
“love it.” It was totally and completely awful. The last two days, he’d only been given really stupid assignments, and he was getting sick of being treated like a servant.

“That’s really good.” She smiled at him, her blue eyes sparkling. “I . . . I like having you work here.”

Jacob felt a blush creep across his cheeks. He looked down. “Thanks.”

He left in high spirits, amazed at how awesome it was to get the attention of a cute girl. He’d felt the same with Aloren, but never quite this much, since she’d never returned any of his feelings.

Jacob went home that evening to give his body a break and get an update on Matt and Aloren. They were still in the ICU. Aloren had an infection that the Kaede Sap hadn’t been able to clean out, and Matt’s brain injury had swelled so much that it got worse for a while. Mom said that for a full day, they hadn’t been sure he’d live.

Jacob felt bad she had to carry the brunt of this stress. She reassured him it was all right—the doctors were now projecting positive outcomes for both Aloren and Matt. But Jacob still felt awful about the whole situation.

Early updated him on Dad and the others. Dad still hadn’t found a way to get to the prisoners in a diplomatic fashion, and Jacob figured they’d have to break their way through physically.

Akeno’s group was still searching for the next Molg tunnel. Ebony had Jacob Key to a warehouse in Fornchall so he could take a bunch of Wurbies home. He did, then visited his brother and Aloren.

Aloren was so drugged up, she wasn’t really there, and Matt didn’t talk in complete sentences. What he did say made no sense. Jacob tried to talk to him, telling him about Hayla and the castle and the royal family. It didn’t seem to work, so Jacob just rambled about his mundane assignments.

He returned to Troosinal feeling discouraged, but determined to work hard. Dmitri hadn’t been thrown in prison. It seemed that he’d had a frank conversation with the king where he promised some things that seemed to make Ramantus feel better. Jacob didn’t know what the promises were, but he figured Dmitri only made them to protect more innocent lives.

Jacob’s first assignment the next morning was to carry luggage to the prince’s quarters again. As soon as they entered the room, Dmitri turned to Jacob.

“This is the last time we’ll speak. Kelson and I are leaving Troosinal.”

The worry lines on the prince’s face softened, and he looked away. “I’m to be united with my beloved Arien.” He patted Jacob on the shoulder. “Take care of yourself. This isn’t a safe time for anyone fighting for the right.”

The city was completely left to its own devices against an evil king. But they didn’t even care—they were more willing to fall into depression and discouragement than to do anything about their situation. Even Dmitri’s group—most had been killed, but the rest had scattered and refused to help any longer.

Jacob waited nervously for the castle’s reaction to the prince’s escape—he was sure the king wouldn’t respond well.

Two mornings after helping Dmitri, Jacob entered the servants’ kitchen, and from the hushed whispers and gossip, knew things had finally happened. It surprised him to learn from Sarot that Dmitri had actually left the morning before—it took a full day for things to trickle down through the ranks. Apparently, the king hadn’t told anyone but Het and Isan, who’d searched the city thoroughly.

“The king is devastated. He wouldn’t talk to anyone at all yesterday, and no one knew what was going on.” Sarot took a bite of bread. “If I were you, I’d avoid him as much as possible. You might get thrown out of service for not reporting for an assignment, but that’s better than getting killed by the king.”

Then the king and his two sons disappeared, and most of the footmen didn’t have any assignments. Bekett did his best to keep them busy, but without the royal family to serve, there weren’t many tasks. The head butler ended up assigning Jacob to work in the stables for a couple of days. Things there were chaotic too, because Kelson had been in charge and was now gone.

Jacob had been in the stables for nearly an hour on the third day when Bekett rushed inside.

“Thojac, I’ve got an assignment for you.” He handed the usual slip of paper to Jacob, then left.

Jacob rolled his eyes—why couldn’t Bekett just tell him what the assignment was without wasting so much paper? It was ridiculous. He unfolded the sheet and read what Bekett wanted him to do. A package was arriving for the king. Since the king wasn’t present, Jacob would need to take the package to the king’s quarters and guard it until the king returned. Jacob raised an eyebrow. That might end up being a really long time.

He dropped the pitchfork he’d been using and walked out of the stables to wait near the servants’ door. The package would arrive at any time, according to Bekett’s note.

Fifteen minutes later, the usual delivery coach pulled up and Jacob took the package for the king. He looked at it in shock. It was one of the all-important white boxes the king wouldn’t allow anyone but himself to touch for more than a couple of seconds.

Jacob turned to go into the castle, but hesitated as a thought entered his mind. The king was gone, the princes with him. No one in the royal family knew this box had been delivered. Dmitri’s group had placed these packages on high priority and had spent a lot of time trying to get their hands on one of them, and here Jacob had one in his possession. Should he take advantage of this opportunity and open the box? Would his magical abilities allow him that much?

Jacob looked around. He couldn’t risk ruining everything he’d worked toward by opening the package right there, or be seen hesitating. If someone caught him, he’d be fired for sure and wouldn’t ever get into the king’s workroom. Resolving to complete his task to the best of his abilities and to open the box in the king’s quarters if necessary, Jacob started walking toward the servants’ entrance.

But just then, Bekett rushed out—through the main entrance. Jacob’s mouth popped open. If the king were there, Bekett would be put to death immediately.