Enclave (12 page)

All that being true, I still didn’t want to hear any of their plans. I was still a Huntress, not a traitor or a revolutionary. “Could you just give me the salve? Please?”

Her face fell in disappointment, but she did as I asked, and then I backed out of her space like she had a disease I could catch. I only wanted answers. I didn’t want to join some secret rebellion. Obedience was ingrained too deeply in me.

Determined to put some distance between Banner and myself, I hurried toward the kitchen. I had yet to eat my evening meal. I wanted to search for Twist to see if I could parlay the favor into information, but he’d get suspicious if I did it tonight.

Copper ran from pot to pot, stirring and poking and slicing. I ate my meal standing up, much later than the other Hunters, and I had been right; it was good. She’d done something different with the fish and mushrooms, maybe augmented by something the Burrowers had sent. The place was full of brats, in fact, a testament to how long I’d waited. They all snickered to see me sharing their mealtime.

A girl grinned up at me. “Remember how you said on naming day you’d never eat with us again?”

I smiled. “Joke’s on me.”

I didn’t feel like being social tonight so I went to my pallet and just lay down. Unfortunately, I wasn’t destined to be left alone. Before I’d been there long, my curtain rustled, indicating I had a visitor. Throat clearing followed.

With a faint sigh, I climbed to my feet and stepped out.
Fade.
I’d forgotten I’d told him to meet me in the common area.

“What did you say to Banner?” he demanded. Rage pulled his mouth into a taut line, and he spoke through clenched teeth. “She’s been crying and she’s scared to death.”

“Nothing!”

“She wouldn’t be this upset over nothing. Did you go to Whitewall? Or the Wordkeeper?” His hands fisted at his sides as if to keep him from reaching for me.

“No!” I leaned in because I didn’t want to chance anyone overhearing. “Look, I’m not going to tell on her. I just … I don’t think it’s a good idea, that’s all.” Her willful hoarding was risky and dangerous.

“Why should I believe you? You ran to them on your naming day. You didn’t even sleep when we got back from Nassau because you were so scared of exile. Is that the way you want to live? Do you think it’s
right
?”

It hurt that he didn’t trust me, more than I’d expect, especially after all we’d gone through together. I had saved his life, and he’d saved mine. We’d protected each other every step of the way. I would never do anything to hurt someone he cared about, even if his friend’s behavior was reckless and unwise.

“The rules exist to protect us.” But I didn’t speak the words with conviction anymore. I’d seen too much.

Some of the anger drained out of his face. “She’s really upset. Would you mind coming with me to talk to her? I promise we won’t involve you in anything.” He shrugged. “I just thought, after everything, you might—”

“No. I can’t. But I’ll go with you to reassure her.”

But we didn’t find Banner in her personal space. Nor was she in the kitchen, the common room, or the workshop. Thimble stared at me strangely when I popped my head in for the second time, but I just waved and went on. Fade’s scowl grew in proportion to the mystery.

“Builders never leave the enclave,” he said flatly.

“I know. Maybe she’s bathing?”

“Let’s find out.”

It was the only place we hadn’t looked. He walked with me, but he couldn’t go in. I slipped into the room, finding it darker and colder than usual. The steady
plink plink
of water added to the hiss of the torches. I found Banner in the corner. Fully dressed, she sat hunched over, paying no mind to the trickle dropping on her head.

“Don’t worry. Please. You were right. You can trust me.”

When I knelt down to touch her shoulder, she fell forward in a pool of blood. Banner wasn’t just upset; she was dead.

Recompense

Nobody cared. The elders sent her body out into the tunnels as a gift for the Freaks. That was all. People talked about the shock, but everyone agreed she must’ve killed herself. A girl in the baths with two slit wrists? What else could it be? They speculated that perhaps she’d snuck around and gotten herself in trouble. Bred without permission, maybe. That kind of offense got you exiled.

Almost
anything
could get you exiled. As a brat, I hadn’t realized the magnitude; I didn’t dare articulate my thoughts or my fears. The safety of the enclave was starting to feel like a prison. Life went on for all us, and only Fade wore his grief nakedly. He didn’t talk to me anymore outside of patrols, as if I might’ve had something to do with it. And that hurt, more than I wanted to admit.

After the naming ceremony, Twist came looking for me. “Thanks for taking care of the gifts.”

So much had happened I’d almost forgotten I had an ulterior motive for doing that. I’d wanted to find out what they’d done to the Burrowers. I wasn’t sure I did anymore. The knowledge might only prove a burden.

But since I had him here, I figured I’d try. “I’m glad I could help.”

I fell into step with him as he talked, venting about the strain of working for Whitewall. Twist didn’t have any friends that I knew of, so maybe he didn’t have anyone else to talk to. Listening cost me nothing.

When he wound down, I said, “I saw the team come back with a lot of stuff. I guess you have to sort and organize it for the Wordkeeper.”

He sighed. “Of course I do. They don’t trust anyone else.”

“How much did we pay for it all?” I tensed.

“A few bags of fish. The way I heard it, those Burrowers are smart and wouldn’t let the Hunters in until they passed the trade goods through a narrow gap in the wall.”

Relief spilled through me. I’d nearly let suspicion poison
everything
. Just because the elders had made some tough decisions, it didn’t make them brutal or merciless. A weight lifted from my shoulders.

I talked with Twist a bit longer, so he didn’t suspect I’d been after that information all along. Since I liked him—and few people did—I didn’t want him to think I’d only been using him. In the kitchen, we went our separate ways: him to other work and me to patrol.

Fade waited for me beyond the barricades this time, one foot tapping with ill-concealed impatience. As soon as I scrambled over, he spun and led the way into the dark. I thought we needed to talk, but plainly he disagreed. The hours passed with excruciating speed, between the silence and the tension.

At last as we turned back toward the enclave, he spoke. “Do you believe them?”

“Who?”

“The elders. The gossip.”

“About what?” I thought I knew but I wanted him to spell it out.

“Banner. They’re saying she killed herself because…” He trailed off, unable to say it aloud.

He’d been close to her. That made him a likely candidate for the sire of her unborn brat, if the story was true. I didn’t like how that made me feel. I cast back to the day we’d found her, remembering the cuts on her wrists, how the skin looked—

Sickness overwhelmed me.

“No,” I said quietly. “I don’t.”

He froze for a long moment and then spun to face me. “Why?”

I could see in his eyes he’d noticed right away. I just hadn’t wanted to think about it until he forced me to remember. “The cuts were wrong.”

If I wanted to die, I’d use one long motion, no stop and start of the blade. The ones we’d found on Banner showed where the knife dragged and paused. Someone had killed her; I didn’t know why. If they’d found her hoard, she should’ve been exiled.

But maybe it ran deeper. Maybe the elders knew something about the silent rebellion. In that case, Banner would’ve been killed as an equally quiet warning.
Associate with them and you’ll wind up like this.
It was nothing they would want to confront openly because that would mean admitting some citizens mistrusted their leadership. Acknowledging discontent would only breed more. I understood the way they thought.

“They added all of her things to the archives,” he said softly. “And fed her to the Freaks.”

I flinched. “I’m sorry.”

“What are we going to do about it?”

“What
can
we do?”

In answer he turned and headed for the barricades. I feared he might do something stupid, and I couldn’t think how to help him. If I pushed, I’d end up like Banner. And so would he.

A few weeks later, as promised, they rewarded me for my contribution to culture. With Banner’s death hanging over me, I didn’t want the credit, but there was no refusing. They held a feast, and the Wordkeeper sat me beside him in a place of honor.

Once everyone had assembled, he rose. “We’re here to honor Deuce, a Huntress who, despite considerable risk, brought back a bag of artifacts. She did not attempt to keep anything she found for her own personal pleasure. As one should always do, she thought first of the enclave.” The Wordkeeper droned on about the importance of putting the group before self. He also mentioned how I’d been principal in a trade that gave us access to more artifacts than we’d ever seen before.

I felt strange, being lauded for something that had been coincidence. I ducked my head, hoping the enclave wouldn’t hate me for making them listen to the Wordkeeper, but everyone seemed happy to take the day off. When he finished, he threw his hands skyward in a dramatic gesture. “Let the celebration start!”

An answering roar went through the crowd. Pipes and drums echoed through the enclave. The torches smoked; people whirled and stomped while brats ran around underfoot. Roasting meat and mushrooms smelled unbelievably good, and there was fish too. For once, they didn’t limit us and I took seconds of each dish. Brats immediately snatched my plate, running off to lick it and then wash it up so someone else, someone less honored, could use it.

From the sidelines, I watched the party until a Hunter came to get me. Gazing up at him, I realized he’d been patrolling longer than Fade. As a brat, I’d watched this one train and he was smiling at me. What was his name? Silk had introduced me, but that first day, I’d been so nervous, I couldn’t remember more than half of them.

Crane,
I remembered belatedly.

“Come on,” he said. “You’re going to miss it.”

“Miss what?”

“We’re doing a demonstration.”

A thrill went through me, despite my dark mood. How could I have forgotten? At any feast, the Hunters assembled and sparred as part of the entertainment. Citizens often bet on the outcomes. Rising, I tried to look serious when excitement bubbled inside me.

I glanced at the Wordkeeper, who had been sitting with me, watching the others dance. “May I be excused, sir?”

“Certainly. Fight well, Huntress.”

I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of hearing people call me that. Hurrying, I kept pace with Crane. He led me to the training room, where everyone else stood already waiting. As we slipped in, Silk was handing out the assignments, telling people who they’d face first in the tournament.

The elder Hunter beside me whispered, “It’s by elimination. The winner of each round progresses to the next until only two remain.”

That much I remembered. When Silk paused before me, she said, “Deuce, your first opponent will be Pinwheel.” It was a terrible name, and the girl who owned it scowled at me. She was tall, which meant she had a good reach—better than mine. I could see her assessing me in turn.

“Pin,” the other Huntress muttered, not that Silk cared. She had already moved down the line.

Once she finished, she went and got a box. “The senior Hunter will choose a number that determines the order in which you’ll fight.”

I stood by while Pin picked for us. No question I was low in seniority, even if I’d completed a dangerous mission and brought back some artifacts. She held up the wood chip so I could see it read “5.” Good, other people had to go before us, but not so many I’d have too much time to get nervous.

Pin slipped over beside me. “Don’t worry. It’ll all be over soon.” But her tone was friendly. I wasn’t used to that.

“Make sure you give them a good show,” Silk ordered. “Now move!”

I followed the throng of Hunters into an orderly formation to the side of the training area. The rest of the enclave filtered in, forming a circle around the fighting ring. As a brat, I had pushed my way to the front, kneeling down so nobody complained about me being in the way. I’d watched so many of these tournaments, and now I was finally going to compete. For safety’s sake, we didn’t use weapons.

Random pairings meant no consideration had been given to skill level. I watched as a slim Huntress faced an older Hunter. She fought hard, but his experience dominated. In the next match, two Hunters circled each other, but the elder had the greater reach and better timing. Speed would help the smaller one in time, but at the moment he lacked the experience to parlay it into a win.

So the first two went quickly. The opponents were too unevenly matched for it to be otherwise. Anything else would’ve amounted to fakery, and the Hunters had too much integrity for that. The next two pitted veteran Huntresses and Hunters, and they were so fierce and graceful, they had me bouncing on my toes, cheering and oohing along with everyone else.