Rite of Revelation (Acceptance Book 2) Read online

  “So now what?” Patrice’s voice invades my little slice of perfection. We end the kiss and there she is, standing close enough for a group hug, and a smug squint of her eyes confesses her timing wasn’t accidental.

  Daniel pulls back a little, but doesn’t let go of my waist. “We need to talk to Eric.”

  Daniel leads me over to the boulder and everyone sits down in a little circle.

  “So where are we going?” Elizabeth sits on her blanket lacing up her shoes.

  “There are rumors…the guards like to tell stories when we pull duty in the middle of the night. Back when everyone migrated to the major cities and the Territories were formed. Not everyone left.”

  “But that’s not new information,” Patrice cuts in. “We all learned in history class that there were people who didn’t want to let go of the old ways. They all died out decades ago.”

  “Yeah, the same books that claim we’re all a bunch of deranged criminals, too dangerous to live with everyone else?” Elizabeth rolls her eyes and stands up, rubbing shaky hands down her pant legs. “We all know every word from the Cardinal is the truth spoken. Didn’t your Rejection teach you anything?”

  Patrice stands up, her hands clenched in small, shaking fists. “I guess it taught you how to be a sarcastic bi—”

  Daniel, Eric, and I move as a unit to create a living barrier between Elizabeth and Patrice. Thomas wraps his arm around Constance as if to protect her from a fist fight. Daniel turns to me and raises his eyebrows, but I shake my head. I don’t have any answers for him. Patrice is livid she was Rejected and she has every right to be. Each of us is at least a little bit responsible that she’s out here instead of back at home with her parents. Each of us, except Eric. Which is maybe why he’s the only one she’s looking at now.

  Eric puts an arm around Patrice and walks her to the other end of the boulder, whispering something into her ear. Daniel takes a few steps as if to follow them, and possibly detach Eric’s arm from his shoulder, but I put a hand on Daniel’s arm and shake my head again. We don’t need to break up another fight.

  Elizabeth straightens out the pants and shirt that look almost natural on her and sits back down on the blanket. Eric walks back with Patrice and an understood truce washes in silence over us. Thomas nods at Eric to continue.

  “The circulated story is that anyone who stayed out of the cities died out within a generation or two. It’s easy to believe that survival would be nearly impossible outside of the Territories. But I don’t believe it anymore.”

  I sit up straighter and lift my knees up under my chin.

  “After all, we did okay living in the PIT without any of the standards of living we thought were essential before getting there. No indoor plumbing, low-nutrition food, limited clothing and housing. If we survived, who’s to say others couldn’t do it, too?”

  “Wait, are you saying there are people out here living the way we did in the PIT? Who would do that?” I can’t tell if Elizabeth’s wide eyes are a sign of disbelief or hope. I’m not really sure what I’m feeling either.

  “Maybe not,” Eric replies, a little overeager to have Elizabeth speaking to him. “They’ve had a hundred years or more without anyone limiting their actions. They could have communities as advanced as what we’d find in any Territory.”

  “So that’s where we’re going. To find these people? Put all our hope on a rumor told around the guard room?” It’s the first thing Constance has said all morning.

  “Yes.” Daniel answers her question, but he’s looking at me. “It’s the best shot we’ve got, rumor or not. And if it’s true…”

  “And if we can’t find anyone?” I’m not sure I can hope yet. “What if there’s no one out here but us and the Cardinal guards hunting us down.”

  Daniel runs the back of his fingers down the side of my check. “I’d rather die out here with you, than alone in the PIT.”

  I scoot over and press the side of my body to his. He’s right. “I’m in.”

  Eric stands and brushes off his pants. “We need to pack up and get moving. We can take advantage of what’s left of the daylight and move a little faster. We won’t be able to stop again until we’re well into the hills.” He shakes out his blanket and rolls it into his bag.

  Everyone finishes packing up and getting down a bit of food. I can’t tell if the mood is hopeful or resigned. I guess it doesn’t really matter so long as we keep putting one boot in front of the other.

  Seven

  I step over a fallen, half-rotted log, but my shoe slips on the damp leaves that cover everything. Daniel grabs my arm and steadies me before I hit the ground yet again. None of us are too steady on our feet with how little we’ve had to eat over the past four days. Or is it five? I can’t keep track. Our irregular sleep pattern blends one day into the next with nothing but more walking through the forest.

  Eric’s compass tells us we’re heading west, but we don’t really know where we are. We’ve been climbing for a while and when the sun goes down, so does the temperature. The night wind stings my face, but our brisk pace keeps me warm enough. For now.

  “I’m so cold. Can’t we stop and make a small fire to warm up a bit?”

  I feel bad for Patrice, really I do. This is her first time away from the comforts of home. But I’m not sure how much longer I can take her constant complaining, Daniel’s sister or not.

  “Here, take my jacket.” Eric slips off the red monstrosity he’s been wearing and slips it over Patrice’s arms.

  Daniel growls next to me, so low I’m probably the only one who heard it. We can’t afford for the two of them to get into it. We need to keep moving and putting distance between us and the city.

  I slow our pace a bit so there’s more distance between us and Eric and fall in line right in front of Constance and Thomas.

  “What do you think, Rebecca?” Constance calls out from behind me. “Do these communities exist or are we chasing a fairytale?”

  It’s a serious question, but Constance’s voice is light and cheery, like we aren’t marching through the woods at night toward our potential death. I pull out the last of my reserves to match her energy.

  “Yep, great big old cities filled with hot showers, feather beds, and buffet restaurants as far as the eye can see.”

  Daniel laughs beside me. “What, no shopping malls or spa treatments?”

  “I’ve got my priorities, but a clean set of clothes for after that hot shower would be just about perfect.” I look over my shoulder. “What about you, Thomas? What does your perfect city look like?”

  “Okay, let’s see. I’m going to join you at that buffet, and I don’t even care what’s on it. I’d eat a squirrel right now if we could catch one.”

  Genuine laughter fills our little space in the trees and it feels good. There hasn’t been much to laugh about in too long.

  “After that buffet I’m going to hunt down a little house,” Thomas says, a laugh still floating on his words. “Nothing fancy, mind you. I’m not greedy. Just a little cottage would do, big enough for me and Constance. Our own space, like the bunk in the PIT, minus the leaky roof and bad neighborhood.”

  I can picture it in my head. A clapboard house with a stone walk up to the front door. Cozy rooms painted cheerful colors like yellow or the green of spring grass. A place just for me and Daniel. I never allowed myself to imagine the two of us actually spending a life together, but I can imagine it now. A perfect little house for two rises to the top of my priority list.

  Daniel squeezes my hand. Is he picturing the same thing? “You’re awfully quiet, Constance. What does the perfect city hold for you?”

  “Kids.” Her voice is as soft as the wind. “Lots and lots of kids.”

  My chest constricts. For Constance, the fairytale city can never give her what she really wants. A child of her own. It’s the reason she was sent to the PIT, and while it’s a horrible reason to throw away a person, escaping the Cardinal’s rule won’t change the fact that she’
s barren.

  “Don’t stop dreaming on my account,” Constance says, her bubbly voice back to normal. “We all have our dreams, some more attainable than others. But we can’t predict what life is going to hand us. This little group knows better than most that you can’t predict the future and your reality can change in a heartbeat.”

  She’s right. Two weeks ago, our current situation would have sounded completely implausible.

  “After all the surgeries, when the doctors said I would never have children, my mother told me that life for me wouldn’t be about dreams and making plans. I don’t think she was talking about the PIT, though her words fit. She said much of life is deciding what you can live with and making peace with everything else.”

  We walk in silence, the wet leaves dampening our heavy footfalls as the first hints of daybreak peek in through the dense trees. After the PIT, I know exactly what I can live with. But Cardinal help me, I’m really bad at the making peace with everything else part.

  * * *

  The sun is fully up, and I’m fully exhausted. Up ahead Patrice trips and hits the ground on her hands and knees. Eric and Daniel both jump to help her, but Eric backs off with a death glare from Daniel. Despite orchestrating our escape, there’s still an uneasy alliance between those two. Eric’s attention to Patrice is only fueling the animosity.

  Daniel helps Patrice to stand, but her legs are wobbly. She’s spent.

  “Let’s take a break.”

  Everyone sinks to the ground where they stand at Eric’s words, creating a circle of bodies among several large boulders. After walking all night, we’re all running on empty.

  Thomas crawls over to a tree and strips some of the moss off the bark. Like he’s done at every rest stop, he grabs two rocks, makes a small pile of debris and strikes the rocks together repeatedly until a flicker of a spark shoots off and grabs on to the dried moss. Without taking his eyes off the smolder, he grabs a handful of twigs and sticks them into the flame, making a cone shape for the fire to climb.

  Eric and Daniel walk over with an armload each of various sticks and branches, and within minutes we’re all sitting around a steady blaze, our hands stuck in front of us to soak up the warmth.

  “Where did you learn to build a fire like that?” My father would sometimes build a fire in our fireplace, but he only stuck the fabricated logs in and lit it. Thomas’s fire required knowledge and skill that would have been useless in the Territories.

  “My father taught me when I was a kid.” Thomas’s voice is low against the crackle of burning wood. “I didn’t exactly grow up like the rest of you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Remember when we left Ricksburg and there were all those rundown buildings at the edge of city?”

  I nod, but Thomas isn’t looking at me.

  “That’s how I grew up. My father worked in a little repair shop that fixed items for people who couldn’t afford to buy new when something broke. I would sit with him in his workshop and watch him tinker with everything from ancient Noteboards to coffee pots. When I got older, he taught me how to search out what was broken and figure out how to fix it. And when there wasn’t enough money to keep the heat on, he taught me how to make a fire so we didn’t freeze in the winter.”

  I reach out a hand to his arm. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be.” Thomas prods the fire with a long stick and sparks shoot up into the air around us. “The Assignment made sure my family would struggle to get by, but we had a good life. My father is the smartest man I know. He could fix anything, and he taught me more than I ever learned in school. Even without tons of money, there was so much love. No one in my house ever treated me like I was less because of the scars left over from my illness. We didn’t have much to eat or new clothes, but we had plenty of laughter. Growing up in my family made me who I am today. I’m not sorry for that and you shouldn’t be either.”

  It’s like Thomas and I grew up on different planets. My father’s job provided everything we needed, even if it was never enough for what my mother wanted. But we never had laughter.

  We all stare into the fire, but without anything more to eat there’s really nothing else to do but try to get some rest. Daniel takes out our blankets and the others settle down as well.

  Thomas stands, brushing the dirt away from his pants. “I’ll go get a bit more wood for the fire and take first watch.”

  “You should stay right where you are.”

  My head jerks up at the unfamiliar voice. A man stands a few yards away, a bow and arrow pointed directly at Thomas’s head.

  Eight

  Daniel jumps to his feet and pulls me up without asking, shoving me behind his tall frame. “Patrice. Here, now.”

  The sharp cold whip of his words isn’t Daniel. Gone is any softness. His voice demands compliance and Patrice doesn’t question it. His arm moves her next to me and I wrap my arm around her shoulder. Now isn’t the time for petty arguments.

  Eric, Elizabeth, and Constance run to our little group, but Thomas is still frozen in place as a second man steps from behind a tree and points his arrow at us. I grab Daniel’s hand from behind and stare through a gap between his arm and Elizabeth’s. We found them, or rather, they found us.

  “Hi there, my name is Thomas—”

  “Shut up.” The taller of the two men pulls his bow tighter and lifts it so the taught string is pressed against his bearded face. “Get over there by the others.”

  Thomas backs up and joins our group without another word.

  All this time we’ve been looking for these people. The rumored cities living outside of Cardinal control. They were supposed to be our saviors. I never stopped to think they might not want us.

  The shorter of the two men steps forward, his weapon sweeping around our campsite. His clean, smooth face pegs him at about our age. “All of you, down on your knees. Hands on your head.”

  Daniel steps forward, out of reach of my hands. Constance grabs my arm and the pressure of her hand is the only thing keeping me still. “We aren’t here to hurt anyone. Mind telling us who you are?”

  “We told you to shut up.” The younger man lifts his bow, his stance matching that of the older man.

  “Okay, you win.” Daniel backs up, his hands in the air. He gets down on both knees and motions with his hands for the rest of us to follow suit.

  The older, bearded man walks around behind us, his guarded eyes taking in everything from our ill-fitting clothes to the cluster of blankets, still laid out from where we all were about to sleep just minutes ago. He swings back around to the front, but pauses in front of Patrice, his expression frozen in indifference. “You.” His booted foot nudges Daniel and Eric aside to stand right in front of her. “Up, now. Move over there.”

  Both men have their weapons trained on Patrice like she might attack them any minute. She whimpers once, but gets up and stumbles out in front of us. Every muscle in Daniel’s back, neck, and arms tenses like a cat waiting to pounce on an unaware mouse.

  “Where did you get that jacket?”

  Eric moans so low the men can’t hear him.

  “I…” Patrice turns to us, her eyes pleading for help, several tears spilling over to run down her cheeks.

  The younger of the two men drops his bow and moves to stand inches from Patrice’s face. “It’s a simple question. You aren’t a Cardinal guard. Where did you get one of their jackets?”

  “It’s mine.” Eric stands up, his arms lifted above his head.

  Before any of us can move, the men shove Patrice aside and point both their weapons at Eric, motioning with the sharp point of their arrows for him to step away from the rest of us.

  “Over there, by the rocks. On your knees. Face the rocks.”

  “No, what are you doing?” Elizabeth jumps up and runs to her brother, but a quick elbow to her cheek sends her falling to the ground with a thump. Daniel turns and wraps both arms around me. I’m frozen in place, my mind screaming to get up and sa
ve them. Both of them.

  “We don’t recognize the Cardinal’s authority. His evil minions aren’t welcome here.”

  The older man kicks Eric in the back, forcing him to his knees. Patrice sobs from where she fell across from us. Elizabeth crawls a few inches, but her blinking eyes have trouble staying open. Both men lift their bows, and level them down at Eric.

  Despite Daniel’s strong arms, I shove up and run toward them. “Stop it. You can’t.”

  They ignore me and lift the weapons up to aim right at the back of Eric’s head.

  “You’re worse than the Cardinal.”

  Both men spin, their arrows now pointed right at my head. I skid to a stop, my arms flying up over my head. I’m faintly aware of Daniel and the others shouting from their position a few feet away, but I can barely hear them over the pounding of blood in my head.

  “What did you say?”

  My throat is swollen shut, stopping any air from getting in or words getting out. I open my mouth, but close it again like a fish pulled from a cold creek.

  “She said you’re a bunch of numb-skulled bullies that make the Cardinal look like a benevolent ruler on high.”

  I spin on my heels to stare at the girl, probably our age, walking out of the forest into the clearing. Her hair is a wild, curly mound surrounding her head. Green eyes narrow at the two men, their weapons still pointing at my head.

  “Put those down, you idiots.”

  “He’s a Cardinal guard.” They lower their weapons, but keep them pulled tight, ready to fire.

  “Is he now? You searched him and found a shock stick?” Her empty hands rest on her hips. Her own bow sticks up over her shoulder, held on by a series of straps. “He’s got a Noteboard order to transport a bunch of PIT prisoners to the middle of nowhere?”

  “No.” The older man drops his arrow into a cylinder hanging off his hip then points to Patrice. “But that one over there is wearing his jacket. What do you call that?”