Meredith paced with worry.

He wasn’t here. He hadn’t come for nearly three months now. The facts gnawed at Meredith until she felt as though the anxiety would overwhelm her again. He has to come. He must fulfill the Contract. He must!

The fact that the Contract still persisted meant he was alive. The fact that the Crone was still making deliveries meant they weren’t yet free to do as they wished.

The Crone. Everyone in the kingdom knew about her. Haunting the hills and villages for the Unwanted. Some said that she ate the babies or ground their bones for vile potions. Others believed that the Crone took them to hell and turned them into demons. One thing everyone agreed, she had a malevolent power. Her curses were real.

Meredith worried a fingernail with her teeth.

The Crone collected babies; it was true. Somehow, she was able to gather them from several regions of the kingdom in the same evening; crossing leagues in an instant. The babies were brought to Meredith and hidden among the other children at the orphanage. Meredith sincerely hoped there weren’t going to be any more babies delivered for a few months. Her orphanage was at capacity. She was running out of supplies for all the newborns and it was difficult to hide the number if the Auditors came for a visit. How was she going to explain if they came today?!?

Meredith fought down another surge of anxiety.

The Crone brought a message with the last delivery; cryptic. “Our time left is short.” Time left? For saving the Unwanted? For the Contract? Before they were discovered?

Meredith didn’t even know the full extent of the Contract, or the purpose beyond her part in it. The Crone delivered the babies. Meredith kept them alive and hidden until he came. He took some and left others in her care. She didn’t understand why he chose the ones he did. She didn’t understand what was so different between them or if there was a quota he had to meet. She didn’t know his name or where he came from or what he did with the babies.

She wasn’t allowed to ask.

The children left in her care became part of the orphanage. Some were adopted. Some would grow up and leave when they came of age. Her task was to keep them alive and teach them to survive in the world. If he left them in her care, she didn’t have to hide them. The Auditors were never interested in smaller numbers of children placed at the orphanage. The kingdom understood that many still followed the tradition for the Unwanted babies.

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Meredith groaned in frustration. Yes, the new King had a grand plan. Removing the law restricting the number of children per household, abolishing the tradition of death-by-exposure for unwanted babies, and instituting actual paying jobs for females in select cities…were all grand, optimistic ideas. The populace was not quick to accept the new changes.

The King had created the orphanages; several of them across the kingdom. The King hoped that establishing the orphanages would provide a place for the Unwanted besides rocky hillsides and open graves. They were an alternative that still allowed families to remove a mouth they could not afford to feed. Sadly, the tradition needed more time to change. The Unwanted were still cast aside in many villages.

Many of the orphanages were corrupt. The King’s monthly stipend was an easy income for those who refused to care for their charges. The children given to the orphanages were often ignored, starved, and abused. People working in orphanages did not want the job. The stipend was payment for having to take such a lowly position. No one wanted these babies, so who cared if they lived or died? Rumors even hinted at an underground slave market taking those who were old enough to walk.

In reply to the corruption, the King sent his Auditors to check the orphanages for strange behavior, poor conditions, abuse, and to gather followers for his idealistic goals. Auditors were due to visit Meredith’s orphanage any day now.

If only she didn’t have so many babies this time around! If only he would come and take some of them away! If only she knew what day Auditors were coming! If only she knew what she was supposed to do!

Meredith took a slow, ragged breath. She would continue her duties until the Contract was fulfilled or it unraveled.

There was a small chance he had been captured, or was locked away and unable to come. There had been some sort of uproar near the southern border recently, though Meredith didn’t know many details.

The kingdom to the south was relatively unexplored and recently set up a treaty with the King for adventurers. Many of the King’s council were against his grand ideals including helping their neighbors who would “just as soon shoot an arrow at our back when they become strong enough.”

Out of spite, certain politicians were circulating rumors that stolen children were being mixed with Unwanted and traded across the southern border. The guard along the border were told to keep a lookout for suspicious activity. Perhaps, he was caught in some sort of skirmish over there?

Surely, if he was unable to fulfill the Contract…well, the Contract would unravel and she’d know.

Maybe that’s what the Crone’s comment meant? Maybe they caught him and found out about this orphanage! Would they come here? What would she do if they came? What would happen to all the babies? How could she keep them alive if any were taken away? How could she keep her part of the Contract?!?

Meredith fought the anxiety. There were so many unknowns.

Oh, where was he?!? If only he would come and do his part!