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“Wait!” someone shouted as we entered the trees.
Even before looking over my shoulder, I knew who it would be.
Sure enough, Lachlan ran toward us through the field.
We stopped and let him catch up, though I was tempted to run instead. “Please,” he said, “let me go back with you.”
A lump rose in my throat. Graham stared open-mouthed, reminding me I hadn’t told him Lachlan’s story. I knew what he would say, but I wouldn’t do it. It wasn’t remotely an option.
“Please. I need to find Cait,” said Lachlan.
“Who’s Cait?” asked Graham.
“A friend from prison,” I said. “She and Lachlan were . . . engaged?”
“Nearly.” Lachlan fidgeted with his ragged sleeves. “Look, I have to go back with you. Maybe you can use your authority to let me see her. If you just—”
“We can’t take you,” I said. “I’m sorry, but we’re not going back to Cambria yet.”
He gripped his fingers into fists and clenched his jaw. “I thought you understood. You acted like you cared. Was that a lie?”
“No!” How could he accuse me of being insincere when I’d felt his suffering, and Cait’s, so personally? “We have work to do, that’s all. I want to help, but it’s not an option!”
Graham turned to Lachlan. “Will you excuse us for a moment, please?”
Lachlan shrugged and walked off into the field, resting his hands on his hips in irritation.
“Would it be such a problem if he came to Tramore with us?” asked Graham once we were alone. “If he calmed down a bit, he might even be able to help our cause.”
“It would be terribly unwise. For his sake and ours.”
“But—” his eyebrows drew together, and he searched my face as if he’d caught a glimpse of a secret floating too close to the surface. “Why?”
An anchor’s weight of guilt pulled on me. “Do you want to run out of water again? We already lost our food and half our barrels–and there’s no way I’m taking anything from these villagers who have barely enough.”
“What about on our way back to Cambria, after visiting Tramore?” Graham asked. “We could get more food and water there, couldn’t we?”
I closed my eyes and took a breath. If I didn’t allow it, Graham could get more suspicious. But I hated to make another promise I didn’t intend to keep.
“Fine.” I let the air out between my lips, giving in to another lie. “But I want you to tell him.”
“Thank you.”
I looked away. I didn’t want to see the joy on Lachlan’s face when Graham told him we’d come back for him. It would only end up as a painful memory.
Please tell me I’m doing the right thing.
ChapterThirty-Two
The sailboat glided swiftlyover the waves, carried by an insistent westward wind. Time passed by relentlessly, falling between my fingers like sand, just another element out of my control.
Graham stood behind the sail again with my book in his hand. He’d soon know this boat as well as I did, as obsessed as he was with mastering sailing. I sat on the bow, facing the oncoming sea, and re-opened the Academy’s book.
For this purpose, the Academy has pledged not to reveal the possibility of the existence of other societies or the technologies they possess. Our banished traitors would surely attempt to venture out into the world, attracting the notice of foreigners who would harm our great establishment. Perhaps even the unsatisfied minority within Cambria’s walls would grow restless with ignorant curiosity. Such is mankind.
If the day comes when our citizens no longer respect the edicts of Kendrick Irvine, or if they express an unhealthy interest in the outside world, the Academy has sworn to protect our society at any cost, including
The book ended mid-sentence,leaving half a page of glaring white. I turned the page, and the next, but each one after this point was blank. The breeze whipped through my hair, making a mess as tangled as my mind.
