Over the next hours Aaron watched and remained silent as half a dozen more groups made their way to the palace. When the first groups returned, their grumbling was louder than ever. Aaron pulled an orange from his bag and peeled it slowly, watching and listening.
“We’re supposed to live together peacefully? With Unwanteds? That’s absurd!”
“Haluki has lost his mind.”
“I fear for the future of Quill, I really do.”
“What does he mean, live in harmony? What’s harmony?”
“I want my Necessaries back!”
“We’ll starve to death if we keep this up. Nobody’s brought us a decent meal in weeks.”
The voices faded.
Aaron popped a slice of the orange into his mouth and closed his eyes, letting the delicious juice trickle through his teeth and around his tongue. He chewed and swallowed, and then he opened his eyes to find an elderly woman staring at him.
“Oh, hello,” he said.
“Where did you get that orange?”
Aaron wasn’t about to tell her. “Would you like some?” He tore half of it away and handed it to her. “How was your visit to the high priest? Any news?”
She eyed him warily. “You’re that boy . . . ,” she began, but the orange overpowered her thoughts. She reached for it. “Thank you,” she said, her words sharp and clipped, but she tore into the orange and tried not to devour it in one mouthful. “There hasn’t been much food delivered lately.”
Aaron nodded sympathetically. “I know.” He handed her the remaining slice. “What does the high priest say about it all? I’m sure he’s doing everything he can to get our Necessaries back.” Aaron looked off in the distance nonchalantly, but he was more than eager for a specific account from the palace.
The woman frowned. “He’s not doing anything of the sort. All he can talk about is peace,” she spat. “That’s all fine with me as long as everyone knows their place. But High Priest Haluki sees no problem with Necessaries flocking to Artimé and staying there. And that’s where I have to disagree.”
Aaron gave her a concerned look. “But . . . ,” he said, as if he were just thinking of it, “who is going to do the Necessaries’ jobs if they don’t come back? Isn’t he going to force them to return?” His eyes flamed. “We’ll all starve to death!”
“Exactly!” the woman said. “We’ll die!”
Others returning from the palace slowed to listen, including two governors’ sons whom Aaron knew as Crawledge and Prize. They recognized Aaron and at first regarded him with contempt, but soon focused instead on the orange slices in the woman’s hand.
“What kind of leader lets his workers go free and his best people starve?” Aaron asked in a voice of wonderment, loud enough for everyone in sight to hear. “The High Priest Justine wouldn’t have let this happen.” He shook his head.
The small group of people nodded, some still skeptical of the speaker, but most were riled up enough to band together with anyone who thought the same thoughts as they.
“I wonder . . . ,” Aaron said, but then he stopped and looked at the people. “Well, I shouldn’t say anything. High Priest Haluki and the Quillitary have decided my ideas are worthless.” He bent down to pick up his backpack, as if to leave.
“What ideas?” the original woman asked. “I suppose if you have some, it wouldn’t hurt to hear them.”
Aaron shook his head sadly. “No . . . it’s nothing. I’m not to be trusted.” He reached into his backpack and silently doled out oranges to everyone standing there. “I have some beans as well’I’m happy to share with everyone, as the former high priest would have expected.”
Even the most reluctant ones stepped closer to Aaron now as he gave handfuls of beans to those standing there.
“I do miss the way things were,” one of them ventured softly, as if afraid to be heard. “The High Priest Justine was a noble woman.”
Aaron nodded solemnly. “Indeed she was.” He smiled sympathetically at each face. “All we can do now is try to survive until someone comes to save us, I guess.”
He touched the shoulder of the old woman. “I’ll be here again a week from today. If I have found any extra food, I’ll gladly share again.”
With that, Aaron turned and walked away from the palace and the group of complainers, who now were silent and thoughtful as they looked down at the treasure in their hands, then up at the young former up-and-comer who had given them the means to survive.
As Aaron walked toward the Favored Farm to pick his daily food, contemplating just how well his work had gone that morning, his thoughts were disturbed by approaching steps in the gravel and a familiar voice that sent shivers up his spine.
“Greetings, Aaron.”
Aaron looked up, his eyes overwhelmed by the bright colors of the man’s robe and his crazy shock of hair. Aaron scowled and slowed his pace, ready to defend himself if he needed to, but Mr. Today merely smiled brightly and kept walking toward the palace.
Righting Past Wrongs
Marcus Today entered the gray palace office of High Priest Haluki for their weekly peace meeting. “Hello, Gunnar, I brought you something,” he said with a smile. He reached into a pocket of his robe and produced a tiny gargoyle statue. When he set it on the high priest’s desk, it grew to the size of a cat. It blinked a few times and yawned, covering its mouth politely, its ears perking up. A sharp horn made Haluki think twice about patting it on the head.