Preserving Hope (22 page)

After what seemed like hours, she finally turned to him. “Why are you avoiding me?”

Will sighed. He’d spent little time with her in any fashion, especially in this setting. She surely knew why, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. “I’ve not been avoiding you, Elizabeth. I’ve been Trading in other towns and cities, and working to build all of the water systems. It’s not a case of avoidance. It’s a case of my being prevented from being around you.”

She glared at him. “Are you afraid of him?”

“Who? Your father?”

She snorted. “No. Maynard.”

Oh. “I am always worried about what he might try to do to you. I also recognize that the more I make my concerns in that regard clear, the more likely he is to act at Arthur’s direction. They suspect there’s a bond, though they most certainly have no idea as to the nature of that bond. And they see me as the ultimate threat to their control of this community.” He opened his mouth to speak to what Arthur and Maynard might do to pressure him to alter his behavior and weaken his role in the village, but knew that would only further dampen her mood.

She knew it anyway. “He doesn’t see me as anything other than a prop to use to grow his own power. I know that. If you’re the threat, and you care for me, then they’ll threaten or actually hurt me to subvert you.” Her mood darkened further. “Is it even possible for me to succeed in changing him?” Elizabeth sighed deeply. “I doubt he’d change even if I died, even if I died because of his need to control.”

“Don’t say that!” Will snapped. “Do
not
speak of dying!”

“Nobody would care but you and Eva, Will,” Elizabeth said.

And he knew she was right. “You need to leave, Elizabeth.
Before
they try to hurt you.”

She shook her head. “This is my home, awful though it might be. Until he changes, or until one of us dies… I’m staying.” She glanced at him. “Don’t force me to do anything else.”

He nodded. “Happy birthday, Elizabeth.”

She said nothing.

Will spoke to Arthur that evening. “She’s eighteen now, Arthur. She needs to learn a trade of some kind. Every trade here is looking for more people. Let everyone know that she’s able to work with them. She can sow seeds, she can forage, she can—”

“She is not to work outside these walls. She can work with the animals.”

Elizabeth, thankfully, took to caring for the animals with the closest thing to enthusiasm that she could muster. Will, who watched her over the next several weeks as she cared for the cows and goats that supplied their milk and the chickens that supplied their eggs, saw an occasional smile, which quickly faded to a gloomy frown.

Everything changed in an instant, as two words echoed from outside the gates.

“Roland’s back!”

The cry came from one of the foragers, who rushed through the gates to alert the rest of the villagers. Will, who had been talking to Winter the metalworker about building metal ducts they could run under the ground, glanced up. He saw Elizabeth look up as well, turning her attention from the fresh straw she had been carrying into the stables.

Roland entered the village, carrying with him a large bag constructed of some type of animal hide. His face was joyful, and Will watched him look around the village in amazement, taking in the elaborate aqueduct system and the coursing waterfall near the stables. As Arthur and the others gathered around, he began to share his story.

“I traveled west this time, heading for the coast, and then journeyed north until I reached a port city. I had previously only traveled south along the coast, and thus spent much of my time along the great sea in the lands once conquered by the Romans. As many of you know, the other Travelers and I have always been treated with great suspicion. We’ve been told thousands of things
might
help one develop the abilities we’ve seen, or that might do nothing, or that might make you desperately ill or even leave you dead. But we’ve never been told, with certainty, that a very specific item
does
work and
will
work.”

He took a deep breath. “But this time, that changed. I was told of a specific root. And this time, I resolved not to leave the place I found, there to the north, until I had watched the practitioners consume it consistently over many months. I would not simply purchase a large number of items and hope we might figure out the secret on our own. Once I’d found it to be safe, once I’d watched the people actually consume this substance themselves without harmful side effects, I began taking the root myself, ground into a powder and downed with water. My friends, it works. Over these past two years, I have taken this root daily, and I return to you as one now able to read the thoughts and emotions of others.”

Bedlam erupted, as the fifty adults all shouted in unison, demanding to know the answer. Will, suspicious and concerned, reached out to Roland with Energy, and found to his surprise that the man did have some very rudimentary Energy capabilities, enough to perform telepathy and empathy, but no more.

It seems he’s telling the truth
, he projected to Elizabeth.

She didn’t respond, and he caught sight of her face. She seemed paler than usual. Elizabeth was worried, and he could just pick up a flicker of a thought from her.
He knows.

Roland held up his hand. “We may have been told of this root before, and it’s even possible we’ve tested it. But unless things have changed during my absence, we have not tested any plant or root or berry or any other substance over an extended time period. This is the key. The development is subtle, and takes patience and perseverance before results come, but they do come.” Roland reached into a bag at his feet, and pulled out a craggy mass of plant roots. “The secret key to the abilities we’ve sought for so long. I give you… the root of the zirple plant!”

The crowd pressed in on him, everyone eager to get their hands on the zirple root. “I have gotten seeds as well. We can grow and tend these plants to ensure we have a constant supply; they do require a damp environment to grow, and so our improved water situation will help in that regard.” Roland handed out roots to each member of the community, starting with Arthur. Will glanced at Elizabeth, and she slowly turned to face him. He needed no empathy skill, whether formed by the root of a zirple plant or the nano-based concoction fed to him in the distant future, to know what her face meant.

This plant was indeed part of the concoction she’d been using for over a decade to develop her abilities. And with this revelation from Roland the Traveler, her usefulness to her father, and this community, was coming to an end. Though her will to live had long been fading due to the maltreatment by her father, she still held out some hope that her situation would improve. She’d long feared that a discovery of this nature would result in Arthur discarding her, for she’d no longer be of any use to him.

The look on her face said she doubted his severing of ties with his only daughter would be pleasant — or far off.

XVI

Fear

Autumn dawned, and the villagers banded together as they had done while building the Wheel, this time focusing their collective efforts on getting an initial zirple crop planted and harvested before the grounds froze with the onset of winter. They wouldn’t be able to grow enough to both last the winter and provide enough for everyone to get the required dosage. That meant that they’d need to ration the usage of the root in some fashion.

They had established upon Roland’s return that the initial roots supplied to each villager were a gift, his thanks for the funds each of them had provided prior to the Traveler’s departure. Will learned that Travelers were provided basic funds by each member of the community to enable them to make the initial leg of their journey; thereafter, they were on their own, and needed to earn money to survive and purchase anything they found that might progress them toward their goals. In the initial journey taken by Arthur, Genevieve, and Eva’s brother, the product had been freely given since there was so much that needed to be tested. As such, the products had been considered community property, and were stored in the Schola. They’d agreed after that first journey that, since Travelers had to earn the money to survive as well as purchase anything they brought back, that such purchases were the property of the Traveler until they agreed to sell or give away what they’d brought back. Most Travelers accepted large payments collected from all of the villagers for the right to use or test what they’d brought back.

That, of course, added to the general anger over the lack of progress on unlocking the secret combination of supposedly-magical substances that would unlock the mythical abilities extolled by Arthur. People felt they’d gotten no payback for their initial investment in the Travelers, or for the group purchase of the substances they’d been led to believe would develop such abilities. That anger was directed at the child who’d had no part in deciding to send Travelers out into the world, or to fund the purchase of the various foodstuffs she’d be forced against her will to test for everyone. Arthur, who never owned any products sold back to the community, nevertheless collected a steady income, which had surged historically with each Traveler’s return.

Now, however, a Traveler had returned with proof such abilities existed. He’d read the minds of any who tried to trick him, and all had come away convinced, for the first time in years, that their patience was to be rewarded. They no longer needed to pay to have Elizabeth try out various combinations and concoctions without success. Roland had been given the secret, tested it, and brought the product back. The products in the Schola were rendered worthless, as was Elizabeth’s unique “service” to the community.

Roland was thus in a unique position of power upon his return and demonstration, and that became evident as they determined how to distribute the harvested roots. Technically, he’d granted the villagers the right to grow the crop using his seeds, but the output of those seeds still belonged to Roland. There were large offers of gold for the rights to the roots, seeds, and byproducts, but in the end, Arthur’s offer was the one Roland accepted.

Roland would get his necessary daily allocation of the root. Arthur would handle the distribution of any remaining product, which he would sell at his discretion. Roland would receive a portion of the money Arthur received for as long as the two men elected to maintain the agreement.

It solved several problems for Arthur. He would still be seen as the one who enabled the villagers to develop the mythical abilities he’d long proclaimed; he’d have a steady source of income; and he’d be in a position of power as the distributor of the root. The scarcity through the autumn and winter worked to his advantage. Will suspected that the scarcity would continue regardless of how much the farmers actually harvested.

Rather than set a price, or even allow the highest bidder to purchase the root on a daily basis, Arthur established a form of a lottery, with a chance at getting drawn selling for one copper coin. Arthur noted that he would draw unique names each day until the product allocated for the day was exhausted. The remaining chances would be burned, and Arthur would repeat the process again the next day. One of the carpenters, a man named Wright, benefitted from this system, for it was Wright who’d figured out the process to create the thin slivers of wood Eva used to track everything related to Trading missions. Arthur would use the same product to track the zirple chances purchased each day. Lottery participants would write their name on a separate sliver for each chance purchased. Given the predictable popularity, Wright made a small fortune selling the product to Arthur at the rate of a copper per ten slivers. It became his full time job.

It was no surprise to Will when Arthur’s daily zirple supply didn’t include enough for everyone; if there was an ample supply each day, people would only buy one chance, or question why they needed a lottery at all. The scarcity drove up the purchases of lottery chances, as people tried to ensure they were one of the ones winning each drawing by purchasing multiple chances. Of course, it didn’t escape Will’s notice that the winners rarely included any Traders, but Maynard won each day. Three people never won a daily supply of zirple: Eva, Will, and Elizabeth. They weren’t concerned, as all three had already developed Energy skills, and yet as the results of the lottery became noticed, the three became minor outcasts. Clearly, it was reasoned, a greater power had deemed them unworthy. Will found this amusing; the so-called greater power was Arthur removing the chances bearing their names, and likely removing all but one chance for each of the other Traders, before conducting the drawing. Arthur had a box he used to store the chances which he kept in his room overnight before conducting the drawings each morning. Will considered teleporting out all of the chances and sending back only those with Trader names, but decided that might raise some suspicions about hidden abilities or, at a minimum, potential thieves in the village. He suspected thieves wouldn’t receive as punishment mere slap on the wrist.

Elizabeth found herself hired — directly, now — by some lottery winners to prepare the daily zirple root mix, as the process was both complex and time-consuming. She’d spend most days at the newly-constructed zirple Store, working directly with Roland. The root had to be boiled to raise the temperature, charred on the outside, and then ground down by hand with a specific type of rock into a fine powder. The resulting measure, roughly the equivalent to two tablespoons, would be taken mixed with water. The taste was highly unpleasant, though Elizabeth confided that zirple wasn’t close to being the worst-tasting substance she’d tried. In the early days, Elizabeth spent much of her time after delivering the mixture caring for nauseated victims. None of the honored winners complained much, however, for their success in developing their “magic” was assured.