Island of Graves (19 page)

Aaron didn't have to be asked twice. He'd wanted to have a look at that instrument since the day they'd brought it into the shelter. “Yes, of course!” he said. “I promise not to break it. I'm really . . .” He stopped.

“You're what?” asked Ishibashi.

Aaron blushed. “Never mind. I was about to brag, but that seems like something that would disappoint you.”

Ishibashi put a hand on Aaron's arm. “You are making good choices. Perhaps your brag can be told in a different way, modestly. Think about it while you sweep.”

Later, when Aaron had taken a long look at the telescope, he asked Ishibashi if he could take the entire telescope apart.

Ishibashi gave him a skeptical look. “We tried that already,” said the old man. “What basis do you have for suggesting it?”

“Something
has been put together wrong deep inside,” Aaron said. “And I think I will be able to figure it out if all of the pieces are laid out. It's easier to build a machine than fix it. For me, at least. That's—that's part of my applecorn, I guess.”

Ishibashi gave Aaron a discerning look. “Have you successfully built a machine before?”

Aaron looked down. “Yes, I have.”

“Please tell me about it,” said Ishibashi, “so I may determine your skill level and decide if you are capable of working with such a delicate instrument in the same way.”

Aaron told Ishibashi about the oil press he'd made using bits and pieces of cast-off scrap metal. He explained how he could see the design in his mind, and that's what made him able to put it together.

Ishibashi seemed satisfied. “Was this your brag?” he asked.

Aaron nodded.

“You found a way to tell it, then, didn't you.”

Aaron nodded seriously. “I guess I did.”

Ishibashi stood up. “Very well, Aaron. You may take the telescope apart. All of the tools are at your disposal—there's no need to ask this time. I wish you well.”

Aaron nodded. He was already trying to figure out where to start. As Ishibashi walked away, Aaron paused in his excitement to look at the man. And he realized that as harsh as Ishibashi had been with him at first, Aaron was really growing to like him, and more than that, to respect him. Respect was something Aaron rarely had for anyone. Even the feelings he'd had about Justine were based on fear.

What he felt for Ishibashi had perhaps started out with fear, because Aaron hadn't understood what was expected of him. But once Aaron had learned to change, the fear was taken away. Now Aaron found himself thinking of ways to make the scientists respect him. It was a quest that never got old, for there was always something new to work on.

Part of Aaron had no desire to ever leave them. And today, when Ishibashi had called him away from his work on the tube, Aaron secretly felt a little bit glad. Because if he succeeded in fixing the tube . . . he might actually have to go back to Quill.

The thought of that turned him cold.

Maybe that was important to his applecorn.

W
ord had spread quickly through the leadership body of Artimé about Alex's failed attempt to take out Gondoleery, and when they'd heard that Alex hadn't taken the opportunity to kill her when he'd had a chance to, some of them couldn't understand why. Now, because of Alex's mistakes, some former Unwanteds were dead.

It was a serious story. Once the shock wore off, Alex expected people to become even angrier with him. He was angry with himself—why hadn't he at least used a permanent freeze spell? It was a terrible mistake made under duress, but
one a seasoned leader shouldn't have made. He didn't blame his friends for being mad. But to Alex's surprise, instead of people's anger toward him increasing, their negative feelings turned to deeply thoughtful concern for their world. They took responsibility too. Most of Alex's friends rallied around him, and they offered to help however they could in this time of need.

Samheed wasn't one of them, though. He remained upset and wouldn't speak to Alex. But Simber, who hadn't said much since the debacle, stood by the head mage. The cat let go of his previous strange behavior and once again began to offer a word of advice to Alex whenever a situation called for it, just as a faithful companion should do when times are tough. And Sky was there by Alex's side, like she'd been time and again.

Day in and day out for many weeks, Alex consulted with the people, creatures, and statues he trusted the most, trying to come up with a new plan—one that would actually work this time. And while Alex was anxious to stop Gondoleery as soon as possible, he didn't want to be sloppy about it or rush through anything again. Not this time. That could be a fatal mistake. But Alex's real problem was that there was no plan to
rush through. He didn't have anything in place. And he was certain that Gondoleery
did
.

The leaders reconsidered isolating the palace and attacking within its walls, but once more nixed that idea at Gunnar Haluki's urging. There were so many innocent workers inside whose lives would surely be in danger, he said. So while Alex didn't completely rule that idea out, he considered it a last resort.

As the days passed, a strange wind began blowing over the entire island, causing dust from Quill to fly up in squalls. At first the Artiméans didn't think anything of it. But after several days of it, they began to get suspicious.

“It's Gondoleery, no doubt,” Liam informed Alex. “That's what Sully said, anyway.”

Sean agreed. “Eva Fathom told me in one of our secret meetings that this could be next. Gondoleery is probably just beginning to figure it out. I bet it'll get worse. Is there anything you can do?”

“I've been reading a lot,” Alex said. “I found Mr. Today's journal from when he created Artimé, and I think the sound barrier spell that he used to keep Artimé hidden can be reinforced to block the elements as well. I'm putting it in place this afternoon.”

» » « «

Luckily, Alex's plan worked, and Artimé was cut off from the
squalls, though the people of Artimé could see the occasional dust devil swirling just beyond the invisible barrier. And if they stepped through the barrier, of course, they'd be shading their eyes from the blowing sand like the Quillens were already doing.

Amid conversations about protecting Artimé and ending Gondoleery's reign, Alex continued tinkering with spells, trying to batten down the hatches of Artimé to protect it as much as possible from Gondoleery's wrath. But he didn't like having to do it. It reminded him of when he first came to Artimé and had to hide in the magical world, fearing the people in Quill. Would there ever be peace throughout their world? Or was Alex just too idealistic for thinking it was possible?

One afternoon Alex sat on the lawn not far from Henry's garden boxes—his greenhouse, Henry called it—which the young healer had constructed to hold the plants he'd received from Ishibashi. Alex wondered what all the plants were for. He'd have to ask Henry sometime. The sun shone and the sea sparkled, and the wash of waves on the shore was deceivingly
peaceful if Alex didn't look toward Quill, where an occasional burst of brown swirling dust was visible.

He kept waiting for Necessaries and Wanteds to grow concerned enough about the dust storm to seek shelter in Artimé, but they didn't come. Clearly, as Sully had told them, Governor Strang and Gondoleery had done an excellent job of scaring the Quillens into thinking Artimé was more dangerous than their own crumbling world. Alex shook his head, deep in thought. He had to come up with a plan—and soon. Gondoleery was growing stronger every day.

Simber, Lani, and Ms. Octavia approached the greenhouse garden area and joined Alex to brainstorm once more and see if anyone had come up with a good idea. They were in the midst of discussing Gondoleery's growing abilities in elemental magic, trying to predict what else she might be able to do, when Samheed walked up.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and said, somewhat gruffly, “Mind if I sit in?”

Simber, who knew that the two young men were in a long-standing argument, looked pointedly at Alex.

Alex's brow furrowed. “I don't know if that's a good idea, Samheed,” he said in earnest. “I mean, I get that you're still
angry, and if you want to talk more about that, fine, but not right now. We're trying to solve problems here, not rehash old ones.”

Samheed looked at the garden box on the ground, where a meandering iridescent vine had curled its way outside of its designated box and was beginning to wrap around Samheed's shoe. “I don't plan to bring that up,” he said, shaking the vine off his foot and stepping away from its path. “I've got an idea, though, if you'll listen.” He looked up at Alex. “You'll probably think I've lost my mind once you hear it.”

Doubtful, Alex held his old friend's gaze. They'd been through a lot together since the Purge, both good and bad, and it had been really hard for Alex to hear Samheed say he didn't know if he could trust him as a leader anymore. But Samheed surely knew how to pique Alex's interest. “All right, sure,” Alex said, relenting. “Have a seat. What's your idea?”

The group made room, and Samheed sat down. “Well, I got to thinking. Since Gondoleery is starting to kill off Necessaries, maybe we could get them to join us and revolt against her.”

Alex shrugged, a bit disappointed that was the best Samheed had come up with. “Yeah, we thought of that already. But the
people of Quill are dead inside, and Gondoleery and Strang have been filling their heads with lies about how dangerous we are. We don't think we stand a chance of convincing them to join our side now.”

Lani added, “You weren't there when Alex and I talked to Sully the driver. But he said that the people of Quill think the creatures of Artimé are all very dangerous. They believe our creatures and statues want to attack them, based on what Aaron and Gondoleery and Strang told them about Eva Fathom's death.”

Simber snorted. “Well, maybe they'rrre rrright.”

Ms. Octavia batted at the cat with her nearest tentacle. “Stop it. You're gentle as a lamb.”

Simber growled but didn't respond. He nodded to continue the conversation.

“I know about the rumors,” Samheed said to Lani. “I was talking with Liam about it.”

“But you still think it could work, convincing them to join us?” asked Alex, incredulous.

“No,” Samheed said. “Not that way, anyway.”

“Then how?” asked Lani. “I don't get it.”

“Well,
this is where the crazy part comes in.”

“I was wondering,” Alex muttered.

“Quiet, Alex,” said Lani. “Go ahead, Sam.”

Samheed seemed uncertain about continuing. He made no eye contact, choosing instead to stare at a spot in the garden box. “See,” he began, “Liam also told me that the people of Quill have really only been roused out of their complacency once before.”

Ms. Octavia leaned in. “Have they? That's news to me.”

“Yes,” Lani said, tapping a finger to her lips. “That's right, they have.”

“I'd forgotten that,” Alex admitted. “It's true. According to Liam, anyway.”

“Right,” Samheed said, gaining a bit of confidence. “It was when Aaron was high priest and he began rewarding them with food. They responded to that in a way they never had before, and they were pretty loyal to Aaron after that even though he didn't pay much attention to them from that point on.”

“So we should start offering them food?” asked Ms. Octavia. “Well, certainly, if it'll work. We have enough to spare.”

“But the creatures and statues,” Lani reminded the octogator. “The Wanteds and Necessaries are afraid of you. If we give them food, they'll think we're tricking them. So much of Quill is based on fear.”
She glanced at the instructor. “It's hard to understand if you've never lived there.”

“Right,” Samheed said. “I thought of that too.” He slid his fingers over a particularly wide blade of grass, making it squeak. “But,” he went on, “they responded to Aaron, right? And Alex looks exactly like Aaron. So I was thinking maybe Alex could, you know, pretend he's Aaron. He wouldn't even need a disguise, really.”

“That's brilliant!” Lani exclaimed. She turned to Alex and grabbed his arm. “You could go into Quill and act it all out. You know—you're Aaron and you've returned to your people, and you start giving out food and doing what Aaron would do to get them to respond, and you show them you're friends with Artimé now. And you prove to them that we're safe, and convince them all to rise up against Gondoleery!”

Alex looked skeptical. “What happens when they discover I'm
not
Aaron? When they find out I lied to them and tricked them? Then what? Because you know they'll find out eventually.”

“Oh, good grief, Alex,” Lani said, frustrated. “Do you have to wreck every single good idea we have?”