ashen city (Black Tiger Series Book 2)

by Sara Baysinger

  She rolls her eyes. “It doesn’t matter if it’s not right. If the Proletariats weren’t compelled to do their menial labor, they would stop. They would rise up against us and the entire government would collapse.”

  Now she sounds just like Forest.

  “The government stood before without this…system,” I say. “If our people used to be able to work in equality by choice, why couldn’t they do it again?”

  “It would take a lot of work to completely transform a system.”

  “But with a good leader who knows what she’s doing, it could happen.”

  She narrows he eyes. “What’s the point of changing the system if the system is already functional?”

  “Because it’s wrong! It’s wrong to take people our age, compel them into a career, and make them work tirelessly the rest of their sorry lives, making them think that what they’re doing is for the good of everything. It’s wrong to do that to the Proletariats, while also giving them limited food and water, while the Patricians are living like kings, reaping the food the Proletariats work so hard for! Don’t you think it’s wrong?”

  She pulls her knees tighter to her chest, bites her bottom lip, and stares blankly at the ground.

  “Yes,” she finally whispers. “I always felt a little bit guilty about it. My tutor stressed that it wasn’t right. She would brainstorm with me on how to fix things. But…Titus told me it was the only way.”

  “But it’s not. And you know it. And you know how to fix it, don’t you?”

  Her eyes snap to mine. And I realize, yes. She knows exactly how to fix it. But Titus has been ruling her life this whole time, not giving her the opportunity to lead, or even to offer suggestions. She’s been his pawn, his back up, his hostage. He’s given her more classified information than he’s given his congressmen, but she has less power than the lowest Proletariat.

  “Aurora,” I say scooting closer. “If you had the chance to lead Ky, do you think you could do it?”

  “Of course. I was trained to lead Ky. That’s been my entire upbringing.”

  “And…and you think you know how to fix the system?”

  She blinks. “It would take a lot of work. It would mean gutting the current system. But, yes. There is a solution. I’ve thought it over and over. There definitely is a way, as long as the people cooperate.”

  “Which they will once they’re all given the antitoxin.”

  She looks at me and nods. “Exactly.”

  I laugh in relief and cover my mouth in shock, because the Resurgence has been pushing me to be leader this whole time, me—who’s completely incapable of taking on the task of leading a country, but it has to be me because I have the Alpha Blood in my system, and, besides, Patricians will only take a Whitcomb.

  But here’s the ultimate solution. My twin, who no one even knew existed. And she was actually trained to lead. Just like Jonah said. Would she be a willing candidate? Or is she too close to Titus to fight, like Forest?

  “Aurora,” I say. “If you think the way Titus is leading is wrong, would you—would you want to take him down?”

  Her brows flicker. And she looks away. “He’s my brother, Ember. So, no. I don’t think I could ever harm him.”

  “But what if he wasn’t harmed? What if we just…arrested him? Locked him up like he did to you for so many years? Would you be willing to do that?”

  “I—I don’t know.” She blinks several times, clearly uncomfortable, clearly on the verge of being overwhelmed.

  But my heart is pounding now, because I think I just thought up a perfect solution.

  “Aurora,” I say. “Do you want to go with me and Rain tomorrow? You can compel the Defenders right there to work with us. You can—”

  “Stop,” she snaps, cutting me off.

  I halt midsentence.

  “You’re asking too much of me.” She digs her fingers into her hair. “I said I don’t know if I could take Titus down. I didn’t say I would. He’s my brother, and I love him. And I will not work for you. I mean, I don’t even know you. So, no. I won’t go with you tomorrow. Because I’m not ready to lead an army against my own brother with a sister I just met two weeks ago.” She glares at me, her eyes shining. “I need to hang back. I need to stay here and think about…everything.”

  I nod. I guess her coming to the realization that Titus was cruel, not protective, is as much for her to take in as it was for me to learn he was my brother. That day that I learned everything was almost too much. So maybe she’s right. Maybe Aurora should hang back. And maybe—hopefully—when I return, she’ll be a more willing leader than I ever was.

  It’s not until I’m lying in bed, thinking back on our conversation that I realize how incredibly foolish I was in asking her to come with us. Because I invited her to come along, with me and Rain as her only captors, to the wide open Community Garden where she could have easily run away.

  And she didn’t even want to try to escape.

  Which means, she actually sort of wants to stay with the Resurgence.

  And that one glimmer of hope is enough to make me believe that my evil twin might not be entirely evil, and might actually be crossing over to the right side.

  PART IV

  the tree

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  The next morning, we pack up some food, I pull my newsgirl cap over my short hair, and the Fearless Six, Rain, and I say our goodbyes. I try to talk Elijah out of going with the Six this time, but he refuses.

  “This is my purpose, Ember,” Elijah says, more serious than I’ve seen him in a long time. “I’m finally doing what I’ve always wanted to do and make things right.”

  Dad squeezes us both tight.

  “Please come home,” he says against my hair. “I wish I could come with you, but—”

  “Your arthritis.”

  He nods and looks at his hands, his knotted fingers, then looks back at me and Elijah. “We’re so close to taking back our country. I would like to see both your faces when all of this blows over.”

  He acts like it’s all going to blow over within the week. Like we’re going to succeed. I feel like we’ve still a ways to go if we want to be successful. Of course, this remedy with the antitoxin Levi’s cooked up in his head could actually make our taking over the government much faster and more effective than I ever thought possible.

  Jonah Walker is the next one to embrace me. It’s strange. I still see him more as the brave Resurgence leader than my own flesh and blood. But I’m beginning to develop some niecely affection for him.

  “Keep an eye on Aurora,” I say, pulling away. “She’s quick and sharp.”

  “I know, I know,” Jonah says. “That quickness and sharpness runs in the family.”

  “But, also, keep talking to her.” I chew my lip and look at him. “She sort of opened up to me last night. And I think there’s hope for her.”

  He grins, relief obvious in his green eyes. “I always knew there was.”

  Rain leaves Julius behind, and I almost wish we could bring him along, but a tiger that size could probably get in the way of our plans. Besides, we’re returning in less than twenty-four hours. No need for him to join us.

  “Okay,” Rain says once we’re in the van. “This is going to be much harder than last time. Since Aurora’s capture, Defenders are on the lookout.” He looks at me. “And they have pictures of you—your new self—all over Ky. So one glimpse of you and you’ll be arrested.”

  Wow. Without even knowing it, I’ve become Ky’s most wanted. The thought brings a smile to my face. I never thought being a rebel could be so thrilling.

  We part ways with the Fearless Six at the Community Garden. I embrace Elijah one more time.

  “Take care, Little Squirrel,” I say.

  “Emberrr!” Elijah’s voice is laced with warning as he pulls away. “If you call me Little Squirrel one more time—”

  I slam the door in his face and grin as I watch the van pull down the street. Please keep my brother
safe, I pray. Then I turn down the Community Garden road and enter the territory that was once my home.

  I can hardly contain my sense of excitement and sense of homecoming as we walk down the road toward the heart of the Community Garden, where the Defenders are located. This is my home. Where I grew up. All my memories, all my friends, live here. I scan the Garden, the twenty-mile square patch, just now turning green with the promise of spring. Spring. How fitting that spring is the time we choose to take down the chief and establish a new government. Because spring is a sign of new life. A sign of promise. A sign of hope.

  It’s almost like God is the sower and Ky is the garden, and he’s come to plant new seeds, to prune the old system so it’ll bear better fruit for the future. I think I like imagining God as a gardener. Gentle hands bringing forth life.

  We decide to leave the civilians alone, so they don’t get killed in the upcoming war. Let them live their ignorant little lives, and when the antitoxin is released through the air, they can decide whose side they want to be on themselves.

  “Doesn’t look like Titus touched it,” Rain says. “I mean, I took at least ten field managers, but, apart from your orchard, none of them are burned.” He releases a simple laugh. “I don’t think Titus has even discovered that I stole his Defenders and field hands yet. Come on. We gotta hurry.”

  Dressed in the traditional farmer’s clothes—plain woolen pants and shirt, I look just like all the other farmers here. My short hair is pushed up under my cap, and I almost look like a boy. Rain, on the other hand, is dressed in the Captain of the Defenders uniform. He looks odd without his vest and newsboy cap on. Instead he has a box-like hat on his head, red uniform that’s very straight cut and makes him look stiff and serious and slightly terrifying. The uniform doesn’t suit him.

  “Remember, little apple-picker,” Rain says. “Feign confidence.”

  Shoving my hands into my pocket, I take on a more confident pose, try to look a bit more like a boy with long strides.

  “Very good,” Rain says. “Now we just have to keep up this pose for ten more miles until we arrive at the Garden barracks.”

  Ten miles. That seems like an eternal road when you’re in possible danger. And at this leisurely pace we’re taking to avoid raising suspicion, we won’t get there until evening. So we walk.

  We walk and walk and walk, stopping only once to ask someone for a glass of water. Well, not really ask. More like compel. But I prefer to act like we asked. I would have asked nicely. Rain, I’m afraid, is too used to taking advantage of the Proletariat, no matter how against the system he is. Then we walk again. And we walk and walk and walk.

  The spring sun makes its journey across the sky, and long shadows stretch across the dirt road. Shadows of trees. We’re passing the pine trees, now. I used to wonder what good the pines were. Everything in the Community Garden is grown for a purpose, and that purpose is usually food. But pines don’t provide food. I used to think maybe it was the chief’s one sign of mercy to give us gardeners something green to look at during the winter, but that didn’t explain why hundreds of pine trees would be chopped down and shipped to Frankfort every year. In the winter, of all seasons.

  Then I discovered they were used for decoration. They were shipped to Frankfort and used as what Rain calls Christmas trees, until the festivities were over. And then the trees were used for firewood. It’s sick, really, how the Patricians just take what they want with no regard to the rest of the Ky. But then I wonder, if the Patricians didn’t have any use for these trees during Christmas, would the pines even be grown here? Probably not. And these life-giving trees, the only sign in winter that there is a color green, wouldn’t exist in Ky. The pine forest is thick with growth. Hundreds and hundreds of pine trees going a mile on either side of the road we walk.

  I inhale deeply, the smell of home. The heady scent of wet dirt from last night’s rain mingled with the smell of pine still hangs in the air, cleansing my lungs. So beautiful. So much life. I think, when all this blows over, if Aurora does somehow decide to take position as chieftess, I would like to return to the garden and live a simple life again.

  Speaking of which…

  “I think Aurora is crossing over.”

  Rain looks at me, distracted from whatever thoughts he was thinking. “What are you talking about?”

  “I think she’s coming to the realization of how evil Titus is. I think she wants to be on our side, but she just needs to sort through her thoughts.”

  He barks out a laugh. “And what gave you that impression?”

  “We kind of…bonded last night, in a weird way. She told me how Titus locked her up in a room for sixteen years, although she still seems slightly convinced that he was protecting her. But she’s opening up. And she told me that if we took down the chief—if we promised not to harm him—she might be willing to take the place as chieftess and turn things around.”

  Rain snorts. “Please don’t tell me you bought into that act.”

  “Well…I don’t know. I mean. I think she’s telling the truth.”

  Rain stops. Looks down at me. “Are you out of your shoddy mind? This is Aurora we’re talking about. Your evil twin. Titus’s favored sister. She’s no better than him, trust me.”

  “You don’t understand,” I say. “Titus had her. Locked. Up. You think the Defenders are brainwashed? Aurora was brainwashed by her own brother. He made her believe that the way he was ruling was the only way. And he had her believe that locking her up in a room by herself for sixteen years was for her own protection. Don’t you understand? She’s realizing what a monster Titus is. Her eyes are opening up, and I really think she wants to help us.”

  He laughs a short, mocking, irritating laugh, and resumes walking. And I want to smack that stupid Defender hat off the top of his head. I jog to catch up.

  “Why don’t you believe me?” I ask. “I thought you trusted me.”

  “I do trust you. I don’t trust her.” He’s walking at such a fast pace, it’s hard for me to keep up. “You’re so naïve, Ember,” he says. He’s irritated now. Or angry. “So incredibly naïve. To think that Aurora could possibly want to be on our side, when all we did was kidnap her. I carved out her fingernail! And you think she just wants to work with us? You think she suddenly, overnight, changed her mind and wants to take down her own brother, whom she loves? She is the female version of Titus. She’s evil. She’s conniving. She likes to play games with people’s heads and that’s exactly what she’s done to you.” He smirks and shakes his head, shoves his hands into his pockets. “I can’t believe you actually trust her.”

  I grit my teeth. Is Rain right? Is Aurora just playing with me? But last night…there were tears—real tears in her eyes. And she seemed so unsure. And I could almost feel her grief. And the look in her eyes—the passion when she suddenly realized that she could change things in Ky for the better…it had to be real. I believe it was. If I can just get Rain to believe it…

  “Stop,” Rain whispers. “Stop walking.” He grabs my arm, his fingers biting into my muscles. His eyes dart around the area, then he looks back at his phoneband, which I’m just now realizing is not a phoneband.

  It’s a military band. I squint to get a better look. In the center of the small screen is one red dot. And a bunch of green dots are coming toward it.

  “Is that what I think it is?” I ask.

  “Defenders,” Rain says. “Are headed straight toward us.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  “Ember,” Rain says. “If they see you, they will automatically arrest you and report to Titus.”

  He releases me and we leap into the pines. It’s not the best hiding place, but it’ll have to do. And we run. We race. We sprint through the trees deeper and deeper into the pine forest. Rain rips off his military band and throws it in the opposite direction.

  “I should have known Titus would be looking for us.” He utters a curse as we weave through the pines.

  Voices echo behind us. T
hey’re close. So incredibly close it makes my heart beat too fast. We run and run and run, and my legs are aching and my lungs burn, and I’m already tired from all the walking we did all day. I’m just not sure I can take another—I trip. And tumble to the ground. In a matter of seconds, I feel hands around my arms, dragging me into the branches of one of the pines. Pine needles scratch my face, my arms, my neck.

  “Rain, wha—”

  He shoves his hand over my mouth. “There’s not enough room for us to both hide.” He removes his hand, plants a kiss on my lips that leaves me breathless, then slips out of the branches and dives into the branches of the next tree over. Through the thickness of the needles, I stare at the other pine until the branches finally stop moving and Rain’s eyes find mine through a small gap of the branches.

  And then a painfully familiar voice cuts through the silence, sounding too close to where we are.

  “Miss Carter.”

  Forest’s voice.

  Forest is here.

  Forest is leading an army of Defenders.

  “Ember and Rain,” he says again. “I know you’re both out here.”

  His voice is stern and distant and terrifying. In all the times I’ve known Forest, he’s never sounded so cold. He’s always been my safe haven. Gentle. Comforting. Constant. Now he sounds aloof and detached. Almost…resentful. My heart breaks.

  Craning my neck, I peek through the pine needles and find Forest standing three trees down, his hands on his hips. He wears his traditional politician clothes: black slacks, black vest over a white button-up shirt, fedora on his head, with gold locks peeking out by his ears. Defenders stand around him, guns ready to shoot. I don’t know how many Defenders there are, but from this angle I see at least ten.

  My eyes catch Rain’s again. He stares right back, and just his look is enough to keep me from blind panic.

  “Ember?” Forest’s voice rings through the trees with cool authority. I squat down, lean my head back against the rough bark of the tree, wonder how Forest went from being my one comfort to an enemy in such a short time. “Rain, brother? I know you both are out here. We found your Defender band, Rain. Still warm from wearing it. That was foolish of you to bring that back and expect not to get caught. As for you, Ember.” He sighs. “We saw you running with him from a distance. If you come out now, we promise no harm will come to you.”