Eyes of the Sun (14 page)

Myler snarled. “Keep your stupidity to yourself.” He suddenly bit his hand, drawing blood, eyes flitting between the men in front of him, obviously watching for a reaction. Eachan ignored him, but King Dmitri and the others gaped in apparent shock.

Eachan chuckled. “You did ask for the ones with mental problems, didn’t you? Well, good luck. Myler is as crazy as they come.”

King Dmitri half smiled and took Myler by the arm. “This way, sir.”

Myler looked back at Eachan as he passed. “Someone has better manners.”

Eachan waited until they were out of sight and then blew out a breath in relief, feeling his shoulders sag. Myler was one of the most difficult villagers he’d dealt with, and he wasn’t sorry to see him go.

The black man retrieved a frail woman with wild eyes and even wilder white hair. She clawed at the man, shrieking and kicking as he carried her up the stairs. He cringed, but continued anyway.

Eachan watched as others took the rest of the villagers from the cellar. He shut the door, then followed them all back upstairs.

Jacob created a link to the inside of what appeared to be a dungeon and they took their prisoners through the door, then returned to say thank you.

King Dmitri put his hand on Eachan’s shoulder, and Eachan hid the cringe that nearly overcame him. He almost asked the king not to touch him, but held back. King Dmitri couldn’t possibly understand Eachan’s feelings of unworthiness. He pushed his thoughts aside and nodded when King Dmitri thanked him.

“Are there others?” King Dmitri asked.

“Yes. It’s difficult to gather them without causing suspicion, however. Since . . . since . . .” He motioned to Jacob. “Well, the Lorkon don’t trust me as completely. They’ve hired other spies, and I’m guessing you don’t want them being alerted to what you’re doing here.”

King Dmitri shook his head. “No, indeed, we do not.” He appeared to release a great breath. “We’ll return when we’re ready for more.”

Eachan nodded, then closed the door behind the king and his people. He waited a moment, then checked outside. Just the city. No Ember Gods. No king. No Jacob.

He shut the door and sank into a chair. King Dmitri was lucky that this sort of thing came more easily to Eachan than it would to others. He’d played dual roles many times in his life. He only hoped the situation wouldn’t sour for him in the end.

Chapter Ten: The New Girl

Jacob and Dad stared at the people they’d just brought from Maivoryl City. “Man . . .” Jacob glanced at Dad. “I really hope they straighten up in the end. They’re . . . well, leftovers.”

Dad smiled. “Not very kind, but I know what you mean.”

Jacob turned to look at the villagers again. Dad had them put in the dungeon in Azuriah’s basement, behind doors with small windows. The people were weird and unstable, especially the one Eachan had called Myler, who acted like more of a leader than the rest. Dad decided to keep him separate from the others until he’d first, been given the medication, and second, had been monitored for a while.

Jacob’s lip curled with disgust. Myler had spent the last several minutes biting his own arms and hands. He seemed to know it bothered people and watched for their reaction, then laughed when they acted upset.

Jacob did his best to ignore him, but it was hard.

Dad sighed. “Well, let’s call Aldo and the Fat Lady.”

Jacob nodded. He pulled a container out of his pocket and opened it, releasing Early. “Tell Aldo and the Fat Lady we’re ready for them.”

“Okay!” Early disappeared with a flash of light, then reappeared moments later. “They’re on their way.”

“Good.” Jacob turned to Dad. “Can Early go play now? She’s been stuck in her container a lot today.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Early did somersaults in the air, patted Jacob on the cheek, then flitted off again, and Jacob pocketed her container.

About five minutes later, Aldo and the Fat Lady entered the dungeon, carrying a table between the two of them. On top of the table were cups, bowls, and a wooden spoon.

“We’ll finish mixing the medicine here,” Aldo said as they maneuvered the table to the center of the room near Dad and Jacob.

He and the Fat Lady combined powders and liquids in the biggest bowl, using the spoon to mix everything, then poured the stuff into the small cups. Aldo rubbed his hands together.

“We’re ready!” Eyes twinkling, he looked up at Dad. “Who goes first?”

“Myler, right?” Jacob asked.

Dad shook his head. “No, I think we need to try it on one of the calmer villagers first. Just to see what happens.”

They picked a man who hadn’t acknowledged anyone or seemed to have even noticed he wasn’t in the same place anymore. Using the Key, Jacob opened the cell, then he and Dad entered, helping the man out. The Fat Lady held him down on the floor with one beefy hand while Aldo swirled the contents of a cup.

“Jacob, take one of his legs and Dmitri the other,” he said.

They complied, getting to their knees, and as soon as everyone was ready, Aldo poured some of the medicine into the man’s mouth. All of it dribbled out, staining his cheek green as it ran down his skin.

Aldo frowned. “That didn’t work.” He reached to pour more in, but just then, the man spat at Aldo and started thrashing, knocking Jacob and Dad away.

“Hold him tight!” Aldo shouted. “This isn’t going to be fun.”

Jacob couldn’t help but notice that all the other villagers had left their cots and were standing at their doors, watching, even the quiet ones.

“Uh, Aldo?” he said. “Maybe we should move the man somewhere else.” He motioned to the windows.

“Too late now—they’re going to have to watch the whole process. Otherwise, we’ll never get them to take the medicine willingly. I’d rather not have to fight all of them.”

He grabbed the man’s jaw and pulled it open, then poured more of the medicine in. Jacob and Dad held the guy’s legs down, having to use the weight of their bodies to keep him in place.

The man spit the medicine out again, and for the third try, the Fat Lady plugged his nose while holding his chest down so Aldo could pour the last of the cup’s contents in his mouth. Aldo quickly jammed his jaw shut.

Finally, the man swallowed. Right away, he fell limp, sagging against the floor. Jacob released his leg and he and Dad got back to their feet.

“Now what?” Jacob asked.

“It’ll take overnight to work, if it does,” the Fat Lady said. “Let’s grab his cot—we’ll have him sleep right here, where the others can see him at all times.”

Jacob and Dad pulled the cot into the main room. “Someone will need to guard him, right?” Jacob asked.

She nodded. “That’s what Aldo and I are here for.” She chuckled. “Aside from giving him the meds, of course.”

The Fat Lady left and returned, carrying a huge duffel bag she’d brought to the village earlier when Jacob Keyed her there.

“All right, we’ve got things covered,” she said. “We’ll let you know how it goes.”

Jacob Keyed Dad home, then returned and went upstairs in Azuriah’s fortress to study more languages with the Shiengol.

The next morning, Jacob and Dad eagerly rushed to the fortress, wanting to find out what happened during the night with the medicine.

The moment they stepped into the basement, they were accosted by the villager who’d been medicated.

“Hi!” he said, bouncing over to Jacob and Dad. “My name is Trunt!” He shook Dad’s hand several times, a huge smile on his face. The green emotion surrounding him was so strong, Jacob almost couldn’t see the man through it.

He turned to Jacob. “You’re such a good young man.” He grabbed Jacob’s shoulders with both hands, fingers pressing into his skin, peering into his eyes. “I want you to marry my daughter when she comes back.” He looked to Aldo and the Fat Lady, still maintaining his strong grip on Jacob. “She will, won’t she?”

The Fat Lady nodded. “Yes, honey, she will.” She motioned to Dad and Jacob to follow her and Aldo into another room. It took some work, but Jacob was finally able to pry the man’s hands off him.

Once in the room, the Fat Lady turned to Dad.

Dad stroked his chin. “Well, he’s different.”

“Yes. Very.”

Aldo paced the small room. “How do we know if this is his real personality, or if we overdid the medication?”

“We could ask the other villagers,” Dad said. “Though, they’re still . . .
off
, so might not answer correctly.”

The Fat Lady nodded. “It’s worth a try.” She led them out of the room and over to Myler’s cell. “Yo, Myler. Come here.”

Myler got off his cot, red eyes darting around his cell. He put his scarred and bloody hands against the window frame. “What?”

“Tell me about Trunt,” she said.

“No.” He glared at her for several seconds, then apparently decided he needed to perform for his audience. He flopped down, hitting his chest repeatedly with his fists, bouncing on the cement floor.

The Fat Lady rolled her eyes and turned around, nearly bumping into Jacob. “That didn’t work.”

“I can go ask Eachan,” Jacob said.

“Yes, why don’t you.” Dad stepped back, allowing Jacob access to the door.

Jacob Keyed himself to the town hall. He stepped into the front room and was about to call for Eachan when he heard shrieking coming from another room. He recognized the voice as Eachan’s and backed against the wall, looking for a hiding place.

Jacob spotted the staircase leading up and inched that way, hoping not to step on a creaky board in the process. The screams originated from a room next to the stairs.

“That will be all for today,” Sanso said, his voice drifting out of the room.

The hair on Jacob’s neck rose—he was ten feet away from the stairs. Deciding being heard was better than being seen, he dashed across the floor and jumped up the stairs, Keying himself back to the fortress at the first door he reached.

“Whoa,” he panted. “That was close.” He leaned against the door, holding his chest. “We’ve got to find a better way to contact Eachan than just walking into that place.”

An alarmed expression crossed Dad’s face. “What happened?”

“Apparently, Eachan was receiving one of his ‘punishment’ sessions with Sanso. He was screaming, and they finished right when I got there. I barely made it to a door before Sanso saw me.”

Dad lowered his face into his hands, rubbing his eyes. “I can’t wait until this is all over, especially for that poor man,” he said, his voice muffled.

“Me neither.” Jacob’s breathing finally calmed. “You know what?” He shook his head at himself, frustrated he hadn’t thought of it earlier. “Why don’t I just Time-See to Eachan from now on before Keying there like an idiot?”

Aldo nodded. “Good idea.”

Jacob did so, watching as Sanso finished searching the upper rooms and then left the town hall. Jacob made sure the Ember God really was gone before he Keyed himself back.

Eachan jumped when Jacob stepped through the door. “So, it
was
you,” he said.

Jacob blew out a breath. “Sorry about that. I didn’t think to make sure you were alone first.”

“How can I help?”

Jacob had a hard time ignoring the new wounds on Eachan’s forearms. His stomach churned as he thought about the pain Eachan had to endure every day. How did the man survive? “We want information on Trunt. What was he like before he went mad?”

“Overly happy and very annoying.” Eachan rolled his eyes. “It might have been better to have him stay crazy, but you and your group probably won’t mind having an exuberant person in your midst.”

Jacob smiled. “Then the medicine is working. The guy grabbed me and told me he wanted me to marry his daughter.”

Eachan laughed. “That would be very awkward for you—she’s twice your age.”

Jacob joined Eachan in laughing, then thanked the man and returned to the others. “We’re good. Apparently . . .” He noticed Trunt watching them from his cot, which was still in the middle of the room. Jacob lowered his voice to a whisper. “Apparently Trunt was always like this.”

Aldo clapped. “Great!” He turned to the villagers. “Who wants to go next?”

Jacob was astonished to see that everyone but Myler volunteered—perhaps seeing Trunt return to his original state was enough to shake them out of the cloud they’d lived under for who knows how long.

Administering the medication didn’t take much time after that. Dad decided that they’d leave Myler as he was and focus on the rest of the people first. They came willingly and swallowed the medication. Trunt was there to encourage them and shake their hands when they had downed the stuff. He helped get the three people—two women and one man—back to their cots so they could rest until the medication had completed its work.

Dad asked Jacob to find Mr. Coolidge, and they handed Trunt over to him. “Find out what he’s willing to do,” Dad told Mr. Coolidge.

After the teacher left, Dad turned to Aldo and the Fat Lady. “We’re really lucky Mr. Coolidge has adopted our cause. In fact, he’s adopted it so much that he’s been studying the histories of this world, and I think he might know more than I do now.” Dad chuckled, then quickly sobered. “The other day, he told me he’s willing to do anything we ask of him. He’s been such a benefit to our situation.”