Page 30 of The Verdant Cage
After running several minutes in the direction Gryphon indicated, the homey smell of woodsmoke hits my nostrils, the muffled clank of the relocated Blacksmith’s hammering reaches my ears, and ahead, I spot a break in the forested darkness. I’m nearing the village. Thank the Wall. I can only imagine the petty horrors Misia would inflict on me if she arrived home and I wasn’t there.
I’m feeling proud of myself for what I’ve just accomplished, maybe even a little puffed up. I may not recognize the person I’m becoming, but I think I could grow to like her.
I’m about to break out of the forest when a sound twenty or thirty feet to my left freezes me in my tracks. Albert, following me again? But then I spot a flash of gray followed by young Wendy of the Plumber House stepping into view. I duck behind an elm tree to watch. I don’t know the girl well, just that she’s nine or ten, small for her age, and seems shy.
Like me, she has no business being in the woods.
She stops, sniffing the air like a prey animal, then spots something that makes her squeal in terror. I follow her gaze, thankful I’m hidden by foliage. My blood runs cold when I spot Jarek trotting toward her on horseback, his expression like thunder.
If Wendy hadn’t walked out of the woods first, I would have stumbled right into his path! I’d be whipped and likely kept under lock and key. My legs grow wobbly with relief. That’s why it takes me a moment to notice the basket of apples the Plumber girl is carrying.
Curse the clouds! What has she done?
I’d attended Wendy’s birth with Gran. The child was breech; Gran was thankful for my help. The birth took many hours, and when Wendy finally appeared, she was blue. Gran slapped her until she cried. We all wept tears of joy.
Wendy is a wanted child, a loved child. A child who knows the rules.
She shouldn’t have those apples.
I melt further into the bark.
Jarek blows the whistle around his neck. It’s a shriek that brings Leonidas to his side within seconds, the younger man’s horse snorting and lashing its tail. I don’t know why I’m relieved that Gryphon wasn’t in a position to answer the call.
“Bring me those apples, girl!” Jarek shouts, dismounting. There’s no need for him to raise his voice. He’s ten feet from her.
She drops to her knees, not out of defiance but fear. She’s shaking so hard that I can see it from my hiding spot. She glances over her shoulder. The movement seems involuntary. I follow her gaze. My chest tightens as I spot the brother and sister from the Glassworker House hiding in the foliage.
It must’ve been a prank, a child’s silly dare to sneak into the forest and grab the fruit. They’re all three braver than I was at their age. Actually, they’re braver than I was forty-eight hours ago.
“I’m sorry,” Wendy’s saying. “I was fetching them to share, I promise.” Her voice trembles. “We haven’t had anything sweet since—” She’s about to say the wedding,my wedding, but catches herself.
Jarek’s fury grows. I see it in his face, but his voice is soft.
“Bring them here,” he repeats, the measured gentleness of his tone embroidering my skin with unease. “You weren’t foolish enough to take these from the evacuated orchard, were you? If so, you could be contaminated with the Vex.”
She shakes her head, and I can tell she’s struggling not to glance back at her friends again.
Don’t give them away!
Wendy stands, legs wobbly, and closes the remaining distance between herself and Jarek. Her head is bowed, like she’s approaching a king of old.
That doesn’t sit well. We’re all equal in the Valley.
Wendy places the apples in front of Jarek.
“Choose one for me,” Jarek says. “The sweetest you have, child.”
Her back is to me and Jarek’s face is shadowed, so I can’t see their expressions, only Leonidas’s, still on horseback. His mouth twists into a bitter, secretive smile.
It takes everything in me not to run out there and scrape the smug expression off his face. But me stepping out of the woods right now won’t lessen her punishment, only ensure mine. What could the penalty be for her, in any case? She’s a child. She’s made a mistake. Someone her age certainly won’t be beaten. In fact, maybe this incident will force Jarek to bring back Circling.
That was our old method of justice—what we did before the whipping posts. We’d surround an offender, speaking, singing, and sharing why we love them, leading them back to the person we knew they could be. It was a response to wrongdoing that sought to restore harmony, not inflict suffering. How nice it would be to return to that!
My stomach slides sideways as I realize in horror what I’m doing.I’m talking myself into living small and within the rules again.The habit is ingrained so deep, it’s like muscle memory. If I’m to be worthy of my new companions’ trust, I must stand by those who need me, no matter the personal cost.
I square my shoulders.
I’m stepping out of the trees when a hand clamps around my wrist. Eero has my arm, his face pale, pointer finger over his lips.Ssh.
