Page 19 of Inceptive (Ingenious #3)

19

WILL

L ater that night, Dante lowered the ramp above the tunnel’s gate that led inside the basin, and Will and Zach followed the walkway to the gatekeeper’s cave. It was time to tell the farmers what was causing the sickness. Zach noted that the water level was knee-high at the gate, and at least a month was left before the tunnel would be open.

Franklin, the tunnel’s gatekeeper, recorded all events and would know everything happening. Wearing a nightshirt and holding up a lantern, he answered the door. “Zach? Where’s the body?” Franklin looked behind him at Will, who was feeling queasy from the rotting stench after the clean air of the sanctuary. “You need to shackle and chain your servant?”

“Will’s not sick.”

“I’m cured,” Will mumbled.

Franklin lifted his bushy gray brows. His gruff voice softened. “Of course you’re cured. Come in, come in. I’ll put on tea.”

As Will followed, Franklin snapped a collar around his neck and jerked on the chain. Will fell to his knees, choking and clawing at the collar.

Zach gripped the chain to give him slack. “He’s not sick. Unlock the collar before you choke him to death.”

“Choking to death is quicker and kinder. All the servants are dead or dying. Brought in some type of festering from the ships. What I want to know is why medical screens didn’t detect it before the auction. We’ll be lucky to harvest a tenth of our cane. Never seen the likes of this in all my forty years in the basin.”

“Were you here when the pteryox arrived?” Zach unlocked the collar with the key given to him.

“It was during my third year of gatekeeping when they snuck in here. At that time, slinks were destroying cane planted close to the swamp. They dug up bulbs and snapped at servants. Pteryox hunted slinks and saved acres of cane. As long as they left us alone, we left them alone.”

Will rubbed his throat. “Their yellow feces is the source of the poison. My people didn’t cause the illness. And it’s technically a protein. When enough poisonous protein builds in an Islander’s blood, it kills.”

Franklin looked at Will, then Zach. “Have a seat. I’ll brew a bigger pot.”

The gatekeeper listened, his tea cold and untouched by the time Zach had finished. He nodded, accepting every word as truth, including Dante and the blood transfusions. “We treated the dying as best we could. The servants without symptoms quarantined themselves in cabins to prevent exposure to the sickness. Nothing stopped it. We collected sleepwalkers every morning and shackled them in a separate cave so they didn’t wander away and drown or feed the predators. We burned the deceased in a kiln.”

“A kiln burns hot enough to kill the protein,” Will said. “How old were the ones who died?”

“All servants were repeaters, about thirty years old with mild ruts. Married, with kids to support, therefore, hard workers.”

“Are there any servants in early stages I could speak to?” Will asked. “I’d like to know if people were falling sick on the Island before they left.”

“Believe me, we questioned every servant. Same answer was that nothing was unusual. The last two alive are aged twenty-five and twenty-seven. I expect to find them dead tomorrow morning. They don’t eat or drink. They don’t piss or soil themselves. Their bodies just rot inside.” He sized up Will. “You don’t talk like a servant. What’s the story behind Zach bidding on you? Farmers returning from the Trading Post mentioned Riley was robbed and beaten up.”

“We’re both running from marriage, and all Zach needed was someone to watch his back until the tunnel reopened,” Will said, keeping his true identity secret.

“Hmmmph. Explains why Zach donated blood to save you. He owed you. Rest of us farmers don’t owe Islanders our blood.” He spat on the floor. “Good riddance.”

And a good decision on not revealing he was the viceroy’s son.

Will and Zach returned to the sanctuary with the understanding that Fort Hope would refuse to donate a drop of blood to adults or their spawn. Dante’s creations had no choice but to migrate to the basin and wait out the decimation from the protein and starvation. Whoever of the Islanders survived—likely none—might receive a transfusion. Franklin offered to organize the housing units and open vacant caves for storage. Plenty of cane would be available for walkways and new cabins on stilts.

Unfortunately, Will’s secret was out the next day. He was the son of the viceroy.

Belle delivered a message that morning from Franklin that a crew of farmers, searching for useful items in Zach’s cabin, had found the letter Will had written to his father the first week of his indenture, absolving Zach of all guilt if Will died on the farm. Servants had gossiped over the years, and the farmers knew the viceroy’s son preferred men.

Either Zach moved out of the sanctuary immediately, or he’d lose the respect of his people. They believed that Will would somehow alert the Islanders about the coming migration.

Without giving Zach and Will time to prepare an argument, a meeting was scheduled in Franklin’s cave at noon, promising Will’s safety if he attended.

The meeting began with Zach yelling at the farmers. “Will isn’t a traitor who’ll reveal our plans. He’s an ally.”

“His father could have planted his son in the saloon, drugging farmers and seeking information on the town before an invasion,” a farmer yelled back.

“He was escaping a bad marriage,” Zach argued.

Another farmer stood. “I say that indenturing himself to you was planned. Riley was robbed and beaten, conveniently setting you up to buy Will. And that bird of his is a thieving spy who stole my string of sausages.”

Everyone nodded.

Will had listened to enough. “And I was conveniently mauled by a pteryox, and Zach conveniently saved my life. What the fuck is wrong with you people?”

Silence.

Then Franklin turned to Zach. “Mayor Zach, your farmers don’t want the viceroy’s son spying on us. We’ve voted that you move out of the sanctuary and live in the basin with us. No visits either.”

When the meeting ended, Zach walked Will to the top of the ramp, out of hearing of the angry farmers watching from below. They crossed their arms to keep from embracing.

His throat tight, Zach said, “Damn their stubborn asses. Say the word, and I’ll live in the sanctuary with you until the main road is passable and Dante lowers the outside ramp for us to leave.”

“We both know you’re obligated to prepare lodgings for your people. You’ve a body full of work, and they need your help.” His breath hitched. “I want to kiss you so badly. I’m scared and lonely, and everyone hates me.”

“You’ll have Belle for company. We’ll send messages through her.”

“She’ll tell you when it’s time to leave. Be ready. See you in about four weeks. Bring vine pods.” Will walked up the ramp. If he touched Zach, he’d start bawling.