Rhian, Delphia

The defects were happy.

Their bellies were full, their shoes were shiny, and they were counting down the days until they’d be standing at a safe distance watching Councilwoman Blanchett get blown to bits.

If you were paying close attention during The First One, you might remember me mentioning this.

Anyhow. According to Riz, that was their big plan. The Councilwoman would get up in front of everybody, embarrass herself by coming up with some pathetic excuse why the Tear was missing, and then, BAM. They knew there’d be casualties, but they believed the Barrens who prayed to Delphia and put their faith in the institute of Palisade were equally guilty.

Even the Liaison was in on it, and it was completely mental.

When I got back from shopping, Gus still hadn’t returned from his special task with Blue Jacket. I wasn’t thrilled, but my hands were tied at the minute. I had no clue where they could have gone, and I wasn’t in a position to go snooping around. Reckoned if he wasn’t back by nightfall, I’d figure something out. So, I spent the rest of the day concocting ideas while enjoying some quality time with Sheep and Turtle. It wasn’t wise to introduce Riz to the other Animals yet. It wasn’t even wise to act like we knew each other around the lair. Those introductions would have to wait.

I’ve said it afore but I’ll say it again, Partisans have excellent hearing. And like I’ve also already said, it’s more a curse than a blessing in a lot of situations. One of them is when you’re trying to share a secret in a place full of people with excellent hearing.

I sketched a curly-haired stick figure standing in the middle of a crowd of other stick figures. Then I drew her head exploding.

“Seriously?” Sheep asked.

I shrugged and nodded.

“That seems extreme,” Turtle whispered. “There’s no love lost between us, but…”

I probably shrugged again, whispering back, “There’s nothing more dangerous than being bored.”

Sheep plucked the pencil from my fingers and jotted down a few words.

The only word I recognized was “the”. Scrunching my nose, I looked from the page to Sheep and back again. “So, the thing about that is, I can’t actually read.”

“Seriously?” Sheep repeated.

Turtle frowned, and Sheep shook his head. They both seemed concerned, but that was all right. Neither of them looked at me with the pity face.

I hated the pity face.

After sighing, I explained, “Look, the Assembly left me out of most scholarly activities and whatnot. Michael–one of my mates back at Palisade–reckons the reason for that is they didn’t want me running around any more clever than I already am. Besides, every time I try learning, the letters swim around on the page, and just when I think I’m getting something right, everything goes topsy-turvy again. But never mind. That’s what I have Gus for.”

“Why do you stay?” Sheep asked, keeping his voice low.

The night we met, Delestade said it would be safe to tell the Animals the truth about why we were there, and that he’d asked us for help. It was a relief. I hated lying, especially to friends. And let me tell you, I was a few days away from doing enough lying for a lifetime.

“Eh—I know it might seem I’m the type of person who ought to have defected by now. Especially on account of my father and all. Everyone’s waiting for me to do it, frankly. Truth is, I’ve spent so long hunting defects that I'd never rest knowing what’s coming for me. At least when I’m done with my day, and I’m back at Palisade, I can relax—as far as someone like me can relax, anyhow. I’ve got my room, and Michael, and Gus, and I reckon I depend on having some stability in my life.”

“That’s fair,” Turtle said. “It’s not easy out here. Your friends, though—they’re happy?”

“Michael bloody loves being Michael. He’s a Commander. The youngest the Amali have seen, plus he’s an Immaculate. He’d never leave. And Gus? Well—his parents are Legacies, so…”

Sheep whistled. “An Immaculate. Don’t see many of those. Where from?”

“Leberecht,” I said.

Turtle’s eyes widened. She adjusted her spectacles when they slipped. “I’ve never met anyone from Leberecht. I’ve always wanted to know if the rumours about the roads being paved in gold are true. Are they?”

I shrugged. “Michael doesn’t talk much about home. He misses his family.”

For the record, Michael was born to Barren parents. It’s rare. End of story.

“Anyhow,” I said. “Seeing as you asked why I stay, it’s only fair I ask why you left.”

“We left together,” Turtle answered. “Not for the same reasons, though. My story is much simpler—I was tired of being held back, and I didn’t exactly have an exciting life ahead. They assigned me to the Councilwoman’s office. Paper-pusher. Most likely, I’d have ended up as her secretary.”

“Aye, that sounds terrible.”

Turtle nodded. “I wanted to see the world.”

“Just out of curiosity,” I wondered. “How much of the world have you seen?”

“There were the years we spent on the Isle of Audio—that’s where we met Bear and Llama—but I’ve still never been anywhere other than Delphia.”

I thought about it for a moment. “Where would you wanna go first?”

“Stracha. I’ve heard it’s really beautiful, and I love animals.”

“It’s bloody gorgeous," I said. "Nothing like it.” I paused for a moment and turned to Sheep. “What about you?”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Stracha sounds nice.”

“No, I mean—why’d you leave?”

“I was training to be a Consulate,” Sheep said. “We were on a job here on the Isle of Inspiration, as usual, collecting a few Partisan conscripts from the orphanage. While on that job, I met a Barren woman—Annalise. We sparked quite the romance, and over the next two years, I did everything I could to be assigned back to the Isle so we could see each other. During that time, she became pregnant with my child. We named her Liliane, and she was born in her mother’s likeness.”

“Barren?” I asked.

“Exactly,” he said. “I’d finally finished my training, and I was once more assigned to the Isle of Inspiration. As usual, I went to Annalise’s home, but to my surprise, there was a new family living there. Over the next few days, I questioned everyone I could about what happened to Annalise and Liliane, but nobody would tell me anything. Considering how scared they all seemed, it didn’t feel right. By chance, I ran into the former nanny one day, and I confess, I did something I’m not proud of.”

“Peeked in her head?” I asked.

“Yes, exactly. Then I knew why everyone seemed so scared, and I learned what happened to Annalise and Liliane. I discovered the Councilwoman sent her people to collect them, but the nanny didn’t know where they were taken. Nobody I subsequently read the minds of, or threatened for information, had any idea. If they are not dead, I assume they are still somewhere else in Delphia.”

“Hells,” I said. “That’s heavy, mate.”

“Well, I should have known, and I should have been more careful. I was so angry that I shot myself in the foot, as they say. I went to the Councilwoman, and I demanded she tell me where she’d sent them. As a result, she assigned me to the Welcome Wagon.”

For most Partisans, the Welcome Wagon was a decent gig. Safe, and most newcomers were excited to be there and were happy being shown around Palisade for the first time. The Welcome Wagon got to see most of us at our best.

“Basically, she landlocked you,” I said.

Sheep nodded. “Turtle and I became friends during that time, and eventually we shared our mutual desire to defect, and—well, here we are. I have two principled reasons to hate Adelaide Blanchett, but I don’t want that.” He pointed to the stick-woman with the blown-up head. “I don’t want that, but I would give almost anything for a chance to speak with her again.”

The whole time we were talking, I was still concocting ideas. I brought Turtle and Sheep into a deeper huddle. Kept my voice at half a whisper. “What if we could make that happen?”

“How?” Turtle asked.

To stop the Councilwoman from being blown to bits, all we had to do was stop the Councilwoman from being at the ceremony. And seeing as I knew where she’d be the night before, and given the talents between the Animals, it wouldn’t be too tricky staging a kidnapping. Now, you might be thinking, “Why not just tell her everything?” and maybe we ought to have just told her everything. But you have to remember, the Councilwoman was a goddess-be-damned idiot. There was only a 20/80 chance she’d believe me without proof, and my plan to get proof might fail. Also, when? And finally, she hated me. Now, you might be asking, “Why does she hate you so much, Rhian?” and the truth is, I don’t know—but if rumours were to be believed, she was fucking my father once upon a time. That shite gets complicated.

Besides, Sheep needed to speak with her so he could find his daughter.

Anyhow, we made a plan to kidnap the Councilwoman the night before the ceremony.

But you know what I like to say about plans...

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Once Sheep and Turtle had gone, I worked on the group portrait of the Animals.

About an hour later, there was a quiet knock at the door. I opened it, waited a little minute, and when I didn’t see anyone on the other side, I closed it and rolled my eyes.

A pale Celestian appeared beside the bed.

“Hello.” I kept my voice down on account of we’ve gone over this a thousand times.

“Why don’t you ever look happy to see me?” Riz whispered.

“The invisibility gives me the willies. And besides, you remind me of someone.”

“Who? The half-breed?” Riz snorted. “Don’t tell me you two are—?”

“What? No—what? What makes you say that? And how do you even know I know him?”

“Come on, Rhian. People only make that face when they hate-hate someone, or they love-hate someone. And people don’t normally climb through the windows of people they hate-hate, unless they’re sneaking in to kill them. Is he dead?”

“All right,” I said. “You’ve made your point. Now, how can I help you?”

“On the contrary; I’m here to help you.” The Celestian brushed his inky hair out of his eyes. “I brought you a present—a few presents, actually. They’ll be so busy in the next couple of days, I doubt they’ll notice anything’s missing, but be prepared. This could blow up in our faces at any moment.” There was a pause. “Blow up… faces… see what I did there?”

I narrowed my eyes.

“Okay, okay.” Riz handed over a mid-sized burlap sack.

I poked around inside.

“One of those keys is for the secret passage. It'll take you straight into the Liaison's estate, and his office is immediately to the left,” he said. “The other one—well, good luck finding the door. The clothes might help you or your friend fit in. And the rest speaks for itself, doesn’t it?”

It sure did.

“I’m impressed,” I said. “Say, any idea where Gus is?”

“No, sorry,” Riz replied.

I believed him. “All right—well, the plan to meet him near the Drop on the day of the ceremony is still the plan. But if everything goes to hell, you’re gonna have to work it out along the way, like the rest of us.”

Riz shrugged. “It’s better than nothing. By the way, thanks for helping.”

“Oi—relax with the thank-yous. We’re not in the clear yet. Besides, I couldn’t do it without you."

The Celestian beamed. “Is this where we become best friends?”

If Gus could have a new best friend every five minutes, so could I.

“Sure," I said. "But before you go, new best friend, I have another favour to ask you.”

“I don’t know if I’m comfortable with the way these scales are tipping.”

I held up the parchment with the stick-woman and the blown-up head.

“Fine, one last favour.” Riz smirked, snapped his fingers, and the top left corner of the parchment caught on fire.

Bloody show off.

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Just as I was actually starting to worry, Gus walked through the door.

He had bags under his eyes, and his shaggy hair was droopier than usual.

I set aside the portrait of the Animals and watched him drag his feet over to the bed. Patting the spot beside me, I waited for him to sit.

“All right, mate?” I asked. “Where have you been?”

It took about three seconds, but Gus put on a smile and nodded. “Aye, I’m all right—did you get the samples? I should get cracking on the papers.”

“Aye, I got the samples,” I said, turning to face him.

I ran my fingers through his sandy curls a few times, resting my hand gently on the back of his head. Looking straight in those giant puppy-dog eyes, I wasn’t buying what he was selling—not for a second.

“Where were you?”

“It’s all right, Rhian. They just wanted to ask me some questions.”

There’s nothing just about the way telepaths ask questions. Those goddess-be-damned mind-fuckers. I should have known. They always went for Gus.

“I didn’t tell them anything—they didn’t get anything out of me,” he said. “We’re safe.”

I didn’t give two sloppy shites about any stupid information, or what they did or didn’t get out of my actual best friend. “What did they do to you?” I repeated.

Gus shook his head against my hand. His eyes had glassed over, and his throat apple bobbed when he swallowed. I pressed my forehead to his.

“Nothing I haven’t seen or been through a thousand times before," he said. "It’s all right, Rhian—I’m fine.”

I pulled him in close for a hug. For the rest of the night, I held Feargus Finlay while he cried.

And that’s the thing about happy people.