The August 5 (32 page)

30

“DO YOU WANT
me to go in with you?” Ellie asked.

“No, I need you to back me up out here,” Tommy said, brushing aside the leafy branches to get a better look at the house on the other side of the hedge. They were crouched outside Colston's town house in Sevenna. It was still dark, and most of the houses along the street were dark. But the volt-lamps had flickered on inside the library. Colston was awake, and Tommy needed to enter the house while his father was still reading at his desk.

“How am I supposed to do that?” Ellie asked crossly.

As if in answer to her question, Tommy searched the ground at the base of the shrub. His fingers picked through the brown leaves while Ellie stared at him in confusion. Since they had left Aeren with Hywel in tow, they'd endured a whirlwind of nighttime boat rides, hiding in basements, and endless conversation with Tamsin and her network of people. There were heated discussions, particularly among Tamsin, Tommy, and Ellie over the future of the cottagers, Colston, and Hywel. Since Hywel was often too weak to speak for himself, Ellie had been a stubborn advocate for him. But Ellie was also a realist, and she knew that lives would be lost unless they came to an arrangement. Finally, both she and Hywel agreed to Tamsin's proposal.

Tommy had to admire Tamsin. She was gambling with the situation, but she was so confident about how her plan would play out that she swayed everyone with her conviction. Tommy had his doubts, but he kept them to himself. He
wanted
her to be right, he
wanted
his father to fall, he
wanted
the world to change. And that was enough to convince him to confront Colston. For Tommy, this meeting with his father was the crucial moment. If he failed, then Tamsin's plan would crumble. With his fingers in the dirt, Tommy finally found what he was looking for. He plucked a palm-size rock from under the hedge and showed it to Ellie.

“Tamsin arranged for the bodyguard to be detained in South Sevenna so Father's alone in the house,” Tommy said. “But if there's a problem, you need to go back and tell Tamsin and the others.”

“But how am I going to know if there's a problem?” Ellie asked.

“I'll throw this through the window,” Tommy said. “If you see the glass smash, there's a problem.”

“Usually people throw rocks from the outside,” Ellie said.

“Well, it's my best idea,” Tommy said.

“A rock is your best idea.” Ellie sighed. “I think we're in trouble.”

“It'll work,” Tommy assured her. “Really, it will.”

She cuffed him gently on the arm and nodded toward the house. “Well, do it then.”

Keeping his head lower than the windows, Tommy ran for the cellar door at the back of the house. The hinges of the door were well oiled and didn't make a sound as he slipped inside. He climbed the stone steps to the cold kitchen and padded quietly down the corridor to his father's library where the door was open a crack. Clutching the rock in his hand, Tommy hesitated and peered through the opening. His father sat behind his desk, writing in a thick ledger. When Tommy was a child, he had imagined Colston's Honor Index was kept in such a ledger, and it had given him a sense of security that all the evils of the world could be tabulated and controlled. It was time to let go of such childish notions. His father couldn't see his own transgressions. Even his worst sins were filtered through a veil of self-righteousness. In Colston Shore's mind, his honor was pure and untarnished.

When Tommy pushed the door open, Colston glanced up in surprise. It was unusual to see Colston in a moment of vulnerability. With his unblinking eyes and pursed lips, he reminded Tommy of an owl, which made him less intimidating. But his father's face darkened when he recognized his son standing in the doorway.

“What are you doing here?” Colston asked angrily. “I was told you went to Aeren.”

“I did,” Tommy said. “But now I'm back.”

“You're not enrolling in Seminary again,” Colston said. “Bern told me what you've been doing. You've consorted with the enemy and alienated yourself from your peers. You've made your choices and now you have to face the consequences.”

“What have I been doing that's so wrong?” Tommy asked.

“Why did you come back?” Colston asked, ignoring his question. “You are to return home immediately. You may not return to Sevenna until I give you my permission.”

“You're so confident in your power,” Tommy said. “It amazes me. You expect the world to bow to your wishes.”

“I am trying to keep chaos at bay,” Colston said. “If the cottagers got their wish, society would disintegrate and violence would destroy us.”

“You don't know that,” Tommy said.

“Don't I?” Colston said. “Do you remember what they did to your mother?”

Tommy's heart lurched. “That was one man. Not an entire group of people. He wasn't representing an agenda. He was deranged.”

“Who told you that?” Colston said. “Your cottager nanny? She has poisoned your mind against your own people. I respected Rose's dying wish, but it has cost me my son.”

“Mrs. Trueblood hasn't poisoned me against you,” Tommy said. “I have my own mind. Now that I've witnessed the things you do, I'm horrified.”

Tommy had never seen his father so angry. His hands were clenched on the desk and his shoulders rigid with fury.

“I am the last thing standing against the destruction of Seahaven. Everything I do, I do to protect you and Bernard.”

“You commit crimes in the name—” Tommy began.

“What crimes have I committed?” Colston interrupted, rising to his feet and practically shouting.

“I know what you did to Hywel,” Tommy said.

The silence was powerful. Colston stared at his son, unable to keep the surprise off his face.

“What did you say?” he asked.

“I found Hywel in the cellar off Miller's Road,” Tommy said. “I know it was you all along. Were you going to let him starve to death? And it's not just Hywel, of course. It's what you've done to the cottagers. How many are missing? How many have you executed? Are you keeping them locked up in the compound? Are they even still alive?”

“I had nothing to do with Hywel's kidnapping,” Colston said. “If he was taken on Aeren, that's news to me.”

“Except he was with your guards that day on Miller's Road,” Tommy said. “I saw it myself.”

Colston's hand shot out to open a desk drawer, but before he could open it, Tommy tossed the rock into the air and quickly caught it. His father paused, squinting at the object in Tommy's hand. When he had his father's attention, he threw the rock into the air again.

“What is that?” Colston asked.

“An ordinary rock,” Tommy said. “But it has a lot of significance. Don't move again, or I'll show you what it means.”

“I won't play games with you,” Colston said icily. Tommy wondered what was in that drawer. A handgun? A knife? A letter opener?

“If you don't sit down and keep your hands on the desk, I throw this rock through your stupid beveled window,” Tommy said. “And that is the signal for the men waiting outside to come in and drag you out. They
hate
you. So if you don't want to be tied to the back of a wagon and dragged through the streets of Sevenna, then I'd suggest you sit down.”

Colston stood completely still. Then he sank into his chair with an air of defeat. Tommy was shocked. He could feel the shift of power in the room and it made him dizzy.

“What do you want, Thomas?” Colston said.

“I have a proposition,” Tommy said.

Colston clasped his hands on top of the desk. “Fine, what is your proposition?”

“We'll make a trade,” Tommy said. “You'll bring every political prisoner from the compound to Seminary Square at dawn tomorrow.”

“You want the prisoners?” Colston asked. He obviously hadn't been anticipating that request.

“I have a list of the cottagers that I expect to see tomorrow,” Tommy said, pulling a folded square of paper from his pocket and tossing it onto Colston's desk. Tamsin had copied the names from the list at the shrine, and added one more at the top: Gavin Baine. “Once we have the prisoners, we will give you Hywel. Every person on this list should be accounted for, or I will go public with Hywel and you can face the consequences.”

“How do I know you really have him?” Colston asked.

“He said to tell you: ‘Next time you can find a different negotiator for your secret meeting with the cottager rebels.'”

Colston smiled grimly. That was the last thing that Colston and Hywel had discussed alone in the library back in August, and something only the two of them would know about.

“You're giving Hywel to me, to do whatever I want with him?” Colston said. “Did he agree to this?”

“It's the only way to save the innocent lives of the prisoners in the compound,” Tommy said. “If we went public with the information without the trade, we couldn't guarantee the safety of the prisoners.”

“I'll still remain in power, Thomas,” Colston said. “Getting the prisoners back will ultimately change nothing.”

“It will change something for the families of the missing,” Tommy said.

“Don't you care what happens to Hywel?” Colston asked. “You can't imagine that I'll permit him to have a fulfilling retirement.”

“Sometimes sacrifices must be made for the greater good,” Tommy said.

“I know, Thomas. Why do you think I've done the things I've done?”

“It's not the same,” Tommy said.

“It is,” Colston said. “And if you understood that, you might have made a decent Zunftman after all.”

31

THAT NIGHT,
the city was busier than usual. South of the river, Navid was running. By the light of a full moon, he dashed up alleyways, across rooftops, and past the wreckage from the Night of a Hundred Fires. Never once did he feel sleepy. Before he set out, Tamsin had given him a scrap of paper with a place and a time. His job was to show certain people the information on the paper. There seemed to be an endless number of cottagers to visit, but Navid didn't mind, even though his legs started to get sore. He had an important job and he liked feeling useful. Something big was coming, and that made him shiver with excitement. So he ran from house to house until dawn and he whispered a secret that was becoming less and less one with every step he took.

North of the city in the Zunft Compound, the guards were counting. They were busy unlocking cells, making marks on lists, and bringing the cottager prisoners into the walled courtyard. Rovers idled in a line outside the gates, and each pulled a trailer with a metal passenger compartment mounted on it. Although the prisoners weren't allowed to talk to each other, the sight of the rovers gave them hope that this dawn didn't mean the firing squad. Mr. Leahy and Gavin acknowledged each other across the muddy courtyard, but they kneeled quietly and waited to see what the new day might bring.

In a borrowed kitchen near the burned-out husk of the Plough and the Sun, Tamsin was planning. A teakettle whistled again and again as she and her mother and Greta Trueblood kept tossing yet another log onto the fire. Every few minutes, someone would knock on the back door and one of them would answer it. They would offer their visitors a cup of tea and thank them for coming out in the middle of this cold night. Tamsin would take a deep breath and begin talking: “He has lost the support of his people,” she would say. “These are his final days.”

On the south side of the river, Tommy was watching. He and Ellie sat on the cold stone floor of a warehouse, guarding a door. On the other side of that door, Hywel slept, still weak from his months in captivity. Ellie was the worst guard Tommy had ever seen. She had fallen asleep beside him with her head leaning against his shoulder. Tommy kept glancing at his chronometer every few minutes, and the night seemed to drag on forever.

But dawn came as it always does, and Navid appeared at five a.m. as scheduled. Tommy greeted him, and Navid gave him a shy smile. Tommy gently shook Ellie awake and helped her to her feet. Tommy stretched and yawned. His legs felt prickly from hours of sitting on the floor.

“You'll accompany Hywel?” Tommy asked.

“As long as I can,” Ellie responded. “He was much better last night. He knows what's happening.”

“And no arguments?” Tommy asked.

“He hasn't changed his mind,” Ellie said.

“Well, that's something,” Tommy said. “Tamsin and her people will be here any minute. Are you ready?”

“I'll get Hywel up as soon as you go,” Ellie said. “How do you feel?”

“I'll tell you when it's over,” he said.

“That's right, you will,” she said. She reached up, pulled off the red ribbon that held her braid, and shoved it unceremoniously at him. “I'll see you soon.”

He tucked the ribbon in his pocket, embraced her quickly, and then followed Navid down the corridor. The plan called for Navid to lead Tommy to Seminary Square using the underground coal tunnels so Colston's guards wouldn't see them coming. Hopefully, his father would keep his word and meet him with the prisoners. And if Colston Shore didn't keep his word, Tamsin had contingency plans.

With a lantern held high, Navid led Tommy through winding tunnels that ran under the streets of Sevenna. Tommy felt like a rat sneaking under the soldiers who were waiting to snatch him before he ever reached Seminary Square. As they crept through the darkness, a memory of Mrs. Trueblood swept over him. It was a few years after his mother died, and he was in the kitchen at the manor house on a cold winter's day. Tommy was crying because Father had taken Bern with him to Sevenna for a week and left Tommy on Aeren. Mrs. Trueblood had sat down with him on the floor in front of the blazing fire and gently held his hands. He still remembered what she had said to him, as if it had happened the day before and not a decade earlier:
Your mother was the strongest woman I knew. She could bear the weight of the world and still have room to love you. You are her son—in face, in mind, and spirit. Your father has given you nothing but his name.