I turn to Emma, on my other side. She’s looking at me like she’s never seen me.
“Emma, it’s me. Cipher.”
She stares at me blankly.
No, no, no.
I clasp her shoulders and look into her eyes with desperation. “Emma, Emma... Do you remember anything?” I ask. “Do you remember the Yellow Tower? The Blue Tower? Me?”
“Why are you here?” she asks.
“I saw your name on the board... I came as soon as I could.”
“My name?” she asks. “The board?”
“What are you doing?” This time it’s Jafari’s voice, loud and low as he enters the room through a door at the side. He hurries to me, fists clenched. “Did you follow me?”
I shrug innocently but don’t answer.
He looms over me like giant. “How did you get in?” he demands. “The door only opens from inside.”
“Rahab let me in,” I say, my voice cracking only a little.
“You lie.”
“I swear. I told her I wanted to find Axe’s quarters. She opened the door.”
Jafari shakes his head like he still doesn’t believe it, but he steps past me. “Whatever, none of my business. I’m just a runner. The Alpha will deal with you.” He leaves through the door and sprints down the stairs without another glance back.
“What business do you have with the Alpha?” Emma asks.
“It’s about the Scouring,” I say somberly.
Emma and the other girl exchange a look, then both nod.
“Come,” Emma says. “The Alpha is this way.”
We enter a smaller, round room. Like the larger antechamber, it has an expansive view over the towers and the Scouring. But instead of a completely open wall, there are five perfect squares revealing the view. Half of the room is a raised platform with a chair like a throne at the back. Axe sits there, leaning back with one leg draped over the throne’s arm. He’s still Max, the same boy from Blue. Even if he is the Alpha.
“So the wind-boy has come.” He drops a red grape into his mouth. He takes his time chewing. “What do you want?”
Emma stands close by my side, and behind her, between the door and me, the other girl is now idly wielding a fireball above her palms. Guess there’s no retreating now. Axe will test me. He senses weakness.
“It’s about the Scouring.” I keep my voice easy. “Last time Red brought three back, and lost two, right?”
“The two we lost were weak.” He sounds defensive.
“I thought one of them was the Alpha.”
“A weak Alpha,” he says. “Why do you think Red’s numbers were dwindling?”
“Because Black is so strong.”
“We’re stronger, as long as we have a strong Alpha.”
“How did Black take two of us last time?”
“They attacked with twelve at once,” he says. “A full force. We were fighting Blue. We’d caught a few, but when Black came, two didn’t stay close enough.”
“The old Alpha and Rose?”
“Like I said, they were weak. I had already captured three. We couldn’t afford to lose more. Besides,” he motions to Emma, “our new catch is quite something, don’t you think?”
I look at Emma. She still registers zero recognition of me. It’s devastating to see the face I know so well, but for her to see nothing.
“Can’t keep your eyes off her!” Axe laughs.
When I turn back to him it’s easy to keep my face blank, because I feel numb. “How did you capture her?”
“You know Blue,” he says. “They always think they can outmaneuver us, think they’re so smart. Maybe they are, but you’ll learn here that sometimes strength and passion are all you need. No need to overthink things. This girl was near the front of the fight. I made a mad dash at her. She and a boy went down easily. All it took was a couple hits. They were easy as potato sacks to haul out of there.” He lifts his arm, flexes his bare bicep, and sighs. “It was a good workout.”
My pulse is rising, anger swelling. “You hit her?”
“Of course. Good thing I did, too. Otherwise she would have run away when Black’s ambush came. But don’t get yourself worked up. She got a clean slate when she took the collar to serve me.”
The collar. Could that mean it wasn’t a full reset? I know Axe won’t explain it, but maybe I can fish for information. “The other boy who was caught from Blue wasn’t wiped,” I say. “Neither was I.”
“Yeah, everyone knows that, wind boy. You’re the first one to just waltz into the Red Tower without a fight. And now you’re bringing back dragon teeth.” He leans forward in his throne. “What’s your secret? Going to ride a dragon next? Try to fight for my spot as Alpha?”
I smile, considering what to say. He’s revealed a weakness. “I’ll tell you,” I say, “if you let me borrow your servant for a while.”
He laughs. “You’ve got guts, kid. But I don’t play games like that. You want something from me, you fight for it. You’re in Red now, not Blue. Don’t forget it.”
“Fine. Then I have a challenge for you.”
“Oh?” He stands and strides toward me. “You wanna go now?”
I hold my ground. “You think anybody will care if you fight me here, on your turf?”
He stops in front of me, with a snarl under his scraggly beard. “I’ll beat you anywhere, any time.”
Got him.
“Let’s make it a bet,” I say. “Neutral territory. In the next Scouring, you get six on your side, I get six on mine. Three pairs each. Whoever brings back the most captives wins.”
He looks surprised. “You’re serious?”
“Always.”
“Why should I risk it?” he says. “I’m already the Alpha.”
“You can stay the Alpha. I just want your new servant.”
He pauses, glancing at Emma. “What are you offering in return?”
“If I lose, then I’ll be your servant.”
He grins and reaches out his hand. “You’re on.”
We shake. He squeezes hard, making the bones in my hand groan for mercy. The expression on my face must be amusing, because Axe looks as pleased as I feel about our deal. Soon enough, one of us will be disappointed.
22
JAFARI IS WAITING for me when I return to the Barracks from the meeting with Axe. He tells me I’ve been summoned, just as Rahab warned. He leads me away through the winding red tunnels, mostly going up. We stop in front of an unmarked door in a long unmarked tunnel. How the runners manage to learn their way around this place amazes me. Jafari knocks and the door opens.
A girl stands inside. She wears a red dress and has mousy brown hair and eyes. I recognize her as Apple, the one who took care of Hank and who performed in the Arena. Axe picked her to join the Scouring group even though she didn’t seem very strong.
“Welcome Cipher,” she says, with her hands folded in front of her. “Come in. Runner, you may go.”
Jafari bows low, then races off. I follow Apple inside.
The room is small and simple. The walls are reddish, rough rock. Two chairs sit in front of the fire burning merrily in the hearth. It looks like my Mom’s old room, where we talked before she was captured. It could even be the same room, except that the window looks over the mountains instead of the Scouring.
“Have a seat,” Apple says. “You know why you’re here.”
She must be the one Rahab told me about. She’s in the Scouring group, and she’s not paired yet. I sit in the chair closest to the door. “You want to pair with me?” I ask.
“Want is not the right word, but it’ll do.” As she sits across from me, her brown hair bounces lightly on her shoulders. “I have chosen you.”
“You didn’t get many choices.” I mean it as a joke but she doesn’t smile. “So what now? Touch my collar?”
She blinks in surprise. “You know how it works?”
“I had a servant in the Blue Tower. She had to wear a silver link that looked just like this
. It seems like these work the same way. You’ll know what I’m feeling, and I’ll have to do what you command. Right?”
“I think so. This will be my first Pairing since...”
“Since what?” I ask.
She looks down at her folded hands. “I was wiped.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“Don’t be. It happens to all of us.”
Not me. Not yet. But I don’t say that. “Why did you choose me?” I ask.
“Your friend, Hank, told me about you, and what you did for Blue. The other girls look at you and see a weak body. They think your powers with the wind are no help to you here. Or they are intimidated. They’ve seen how you stand up to Rahab. Most boys in Red don’t bring any powers with them. You might be the first, but...like I said, I don’t remember much.”
“Did you have any competition over me?”
Apple slowly she lifts one hand, palm up. Her eyes concentrate. A flame the size of a peanut appears above her hand.
“This is the most I can make,” she says softly.
“But I saw you in the Arena,” I say. “You were controlling more than this.”
“No.” The flame above her hand extends up, thinning out like fine, glistening twine. “I can stretch the fire far, but that weakens the power. It wouldn’t stop much in the Scouring. It wouldn’t have stopped you when you were in Blue.”
She lets the flame go out. The room goes dimmer.
She’s right. I remember girls from Red in the Scouring, flinging fireballs the size of pumpkins. My wind overpowered them. But I also remember fighting in the Scouring when I didn’t see any fire coming from Red. I still don’t understand why. “How much difference is there between the girls’ powers?” I ask.
“A lot.”
“Why? What causes it?”
She twiddles a ring on her right index finger. “I should not say.”
“Did Rahab tell you not to?”
“Not exactly.”
“Please, help me understand,” I say. “I won’t tell anyone.”
She spins the ring around and around. Her cheeks are red as if she’s embarrassed. “We are not supposed to speak with boys about our ways.”
I reach out and take her hand, then guide it to the metal band around my neck. “I’ve had a servant with a link. I know what it’s like to be the master. You may be able to make me obey, but you’ll also feel what I feel. Trust me, I’m not just going to be any boy to you. The more I know, the better we can work together. And if you have something sensitive to tell me, you should do it now before you have to feel my reaction. That can be very...uncomfortable.”
She pulls her hand away and resumes the ring twiddling in her lap. Her cheeks are still flushed. My hopes sink, but then she replies softly. “You will tell no one what I tell you.”
“I promise. And you can enforce it.”
“Okay,” she sighs. “Here’s what I know. Rahab says our power depends on three factors. First there’s our innate gifting—our capacity for passion. That sets each girl’s baseline and the ceiling. Second is the state of our memory. The more we remember, the more power we wield. The last factor is the hardest to understand. It is for the whole Red Tower. It depends on many things, like how united we are, how many dragon teeth we find, and how much passion we bring to our tasks. Above all, the stronger our Pairings, the more fire the girls can wield. The six rings given to the girls of the Scouring group collectively determine this final factor.”
“Fascinating,” I say. This could explain why sometimes Red slings fire all over the Scouring, but other times resorts to nothing but axes. “Why doesn’t Rahab explain this to everyone? Why keep it hidden from the boys?”
“It is not Rahab’s role to explain this. The Alpha knows. Perhaps he says nothing because he is ashamed of our weakness now.” Apple pauses, meeting my eyes. “You should know something.”
“What?”
“I’m the weakest girl in the Scouring group.”
“Really?” The word slips out before I can stop it. “How do you know?”
“The girls always know. I can’t explain it. The rings give us the ability to tell who’s strongest with the fire just by looking at each other. It’s as easy as seeing which boy is the tallest in a room.”
I have no reason to doubt her. She’s the weakest. It explains her feeling embarrassed. But it doesn’t make sense. Why would Axe pick her? Unless... He picked her when he knew I still needed a pair, and that none of the girls in the Scouring group wanted to pair with me. Rahab knew about this, too. She said a girl would summon me. Now Apple—the weakest girl—has done just that. They are trying to sabotage me.
“I understand if you don’t want to pair with me,” Apple says, still studying her hands and spinning the ring around her finger. “Like you said, we have little choice.”
This can’t be right. We do have a choice. I still have this body and heart and mind. And Axe has no right to his position. He cannot beat me with tricks. Apple has some power. It will be enough. We will win.
“Look at me,” I say.
She raises her head. There are tears in her gentle brown eyes.
“We will figure this out together,” I say. “Between my power and yours, we are going to be the strongest pair. Okay?”
She smiles. “Hank said you were a natural leader, even if you pretended you didn’t want to be.”
Hank. He seems to believe in me more than I believe in myself. “So are you ready?” I ask.
“Yes. Can you scoot closer?”
I slide my chair beside hers. She reaches around the silver collar and places both hands on the back of it, at the nape of my neck. She leans her forehead against mine. Energy moves from her to me, and back. She smells sweet, like baked apples. I can’t help but smile at the thought. Apples. Sweet, innocent, and always good. Maybe she is not the strongest with the fire, but she will be my pair.
Her arms suddenly stiffen. She tilts over and almost collapses to the floor. I manage to catch her fall and lay her gently on her back. She’s still conscious, eyes open wide.
“What happened?” I say. “You okay?”
She looks to the side, glaring sternly into the fire. “I remember.”
23
APPLE AND I sit beside each other in quiet for a long time. The three suns fall lower in the sky, beyond the mountains outside. We gaze into the fire together. It’s easy to forget how many colors live in the flames. There’s red, yellow, and orange. There’s even blue where it burns hottest, near the coals. Surprisingly, despite how long I stare, this time no vision comes.
“I was in an orchard, an apple orchard,” Apple says, breaking the silence, but with her eyes still on the fire. “The apples were red and round and large on the trees. They shined in the morning sun. I had a basket in my arm. I could feel the warm breeze out of the east as it grazed against my skin and as I picked them from the trees. I chose the best one to eat as I worked. It was larger than my fist. I savored each bite, so juicy and sweet, before stowing the half-eaten apple in a pocket of my white apron. I could see nothing but rows of trees, but I knew, somehow I knew, that my home was not far away, with my parents and my brothers, and that there was a village somewhere beyond that.”
Apple winces at the memory. Her voice is barely audible above the crackling fire.
“The first change I noticed was the smell,” she continues. “It came faintly on the wind. But it was unmistakable: smoke. There should not be this smell of smoke in the morning. But the smell passed, and I went back to picking my apples. My basket was almost full. It grew so very heavy, and I would fill it many more times this day. I walked back toward my home to unload this basket. And as I went a new smell came. It was smoke again, but metal, too. The sharp, intense smell of metal, like freshly oiled steel. Never had I smelled such metal. I quickened my pace but froze when I heard the scream. My mother’s scream. She was shouting, No, no, no!
“I snuck forward. I saw them from a distance. Soldiers. I cannot remember
their faces, only their dark uniforms and their black boots. There was more shouting, then gunshots. They dragged the bodies to the ground outside our home. One of my brothers ran, but he fell, too. And all of it washed over me like a fire as I looked down at my basket of apples. They were so red, blood red.”
Apple’s chin falls to her chest. She takes deep breaths.
“You don’t have to continue...” I say softly.
But she does.
“There was a small shed. It was close to me, so I hid inside. Thin columns of sunlight shined through the slits in the shed’s wooden walls. There were baskets and pruning shears and sprays for the trees. We had begun storing our apples there. To protect our harvest, like always, we had small containers on the ground in each corner, where we kept rat poison. I gathered it up, every last drop. I used the shears, delicately, to poke little holes in the apples in my basket. I poured the poison into every one. My hand didn’t even shake as I did it. I was more careful than I had ever been with any task in my life. When I was done, I huddled in the corner, hugging my knees, staying as quiet as I could. A hard voice outside said something I did not understand, but the language was familiar, Russian, I thought, and it sounded like orders being given. There was more motion, then boots clopping away. A shadow passed and blocked the sunlight coming through the slits. I closed my eyes, wishing to be anywhere else.
“The door suddenly kicked opened, and a single soldier was there, gun raised. He saw me immediately. I will never forget the look in his eyes, like a rat chancing upon a fresh apple. I hated that look. I hated him, for what he and the others had done. There was nowhere to run. Instead I rose slowly and lifted an apple and held it out to him. The soldier hesitated, but then he stepped past me, took an apple from the basket, and bit into it fiercely. He chewed, swallowed, and took another bite. He ate down to the core, watching me the whole time with a hungry look in his eyes. After he tossed the apple to the ground, he grabbed me and dragged me outside. No one else was in sight. I screamed for help but no one answered and no one came. The ravenous look in his eyes began to change, going pale and weak. He raised his gun at me and shouted something. I only smiled at him as he fell on the ground, twitching once or twice before going as still as a dead rat. I hid in the orchard until dark.”
The Red Tower (The Five Towers Book 2) Page 12
