Page 86 of The Verdant Cage
The only window in the basement leaks in gray, ghostly light when morning comes. Today’s Thursday, and there’s no sun in sight. If the Astronomer House was correct, and they almost always are, tomorrow will be lousy with it.
Tomorrow night, the celebration.
The end of my life inside the Wall. I plan to go as soon as the tablet is charged.
Eero stirs next to me, groaning as he rises. “Nothing like sleeping on a stone floor with a bloody back.” He starts to stretch and then thinks better of it. “At least it’s cold.”
I check everyone’s wounds before examining the stitches on my belly and the cut at my shoulder. We’re all sore but not showing signs of infection. There’d been enough ointment for all of us. We’re going to heal.
“At least you got some sleep,” Sal grumbles.
She and Meryl are lying near the door, Sal’s arm thrown gently over the Entertainer. She is dropping a soft kiss on Meryl’s head when footsteps clomp down the stairs. Sal helps Meryl up and away from the door as quickly as she can, both of them growing pale with the pain of sudden movement.
The door opens.
Gryphon and Leonidas stride in. Gryphon has a black eye and a split lip. Leo looks like he slept on a bed of feathers. I’m surprised Jarek didn’t punish him for almost showing the whole village the green beast in action.
“Gryphon!” Meryl cries, stepping toward him.
His jaw cuts a hard edge. “We’re here for Rose. The rest of you await judgment.”
See?I want to tell the others.You’re finally witnessing his true colors.Instead, I steel my nerves. No way am I walking out that door with the Betrayer. “Why am I being taken away?”
“The Record Keeper believes you—and more specifically, our wedding—are important to preserving village unity.In light of recent events. So you must prepare.”
My chest burns. He hasgotto be kidding. “I’m not leaving the others down here. Certainly not to marryyou.”
“You have no choice.” Leo smirks.
Gryphon’s eyes pierce me. “Guardians are stationed at the Apothecary cottage. There’s a concern that your aunt, uncle, and gran are supporting your rebellion. Any further…disrespect on your part will be considered proof of their participation.”
They’re holding my family hostage. Why am I not surprised?
“Go,” Sal tells me. “We’d rather be down here than doing our chores, anyhow. Isn’t that right, Oscar? Eero? Mer?”
They nod, their eyes shining.
Still, I can’t imagine leaving them behind.
“Please,” Gryphon says, his gaze weighted.
His earnest tone might have worked, if he hadn’t recently sliced my shoulder open after, oh, kissing the girl who’d made my school years torment. Not to mention that he apparently suspected Jarek’s plan all along and never said a thing to me. Suddenly, I feel small and foolish, but a heartbeat later I’m furious again, burning mad that I allowed myself to confide in him over Jonas and the vault.
I loathe Gryphon Tzu more than ever before.
But I don’t see that I have any choice but to go with him. I turn to the others. Fierce Sal, talented Oscar, innocent Eero, and clever, optimistic Meryl. It’s her that I entrust Lucky Bunny to, hoping his charm comforts them as it has me. I shove the tiny carving into her hands as a promise.
“I won’t forget about you down here,” I tell them all.
“Remember the plan,” Oscar says, tipping his head. “And trust the process.”
“What’s he mean?” Leo barks. “What plan?”
“To atone for our mistakes, of course,” I say with false piety. I push past Leo and am halfway up the stairs when I hear him tell Gryphon he’s going to stay back and teach the others a lesson. I’m not positive what the response is, but when Leo appears rubbing his rapidly swelling cheek, I have a good guess.
“Bring them food, water, and a bucket,” Gryphon snarls at the Guardian at the top of the stairs. “Leo, my father will want a report on their condition immediately.”
Leo glares at Gryphon and then storms off. I wonder what would happen if I did the same, just walked through the chapel’s front door and didn’t look back. I decide to test it. I make it nearly to the entrance before Gryphon grips my arm with viselike strength.
