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“I’m listening,” I said. Augustine took a seat on a block of marble and I sat behind him. We were on a small incline, and could look out over the colorful lanterns and murals of Gostras, and hear the music down below. People were dancing in the square.
“I had a brother,” Augustine started. “We lost touch during the chaos, but a decade or so later, we found each other again. By some twist of fate, he’d also been changed. He was too independent to stay with me in the strip, preferring to roam and explore. But he’d visit every year. When King Richard started the compounds, there was fighting. Skirmishes in disputed territory. But nobody could really oppose Richard’s forces, so we learned to stay out of the way. My brother had a different idea. He decided to join.”
“We kept our yearly visits, and he’d tell me about life inside the kingdom. We pretended he was a spy, deep undercover, and I let myself believe that, for a while. Even after he took his first chosen. Said the king would be suspicious if he didn’t play along. That’s about when we started arguing. Years later, though, he stopped visiting. He smuggled out a handful of letters. I’m passing them along to you. I don’t understand all of the details, but it seems he began to enjoy his life in the citadel, and the benefits that came with it. He asked me to visit, to join him. He was in love, he said. And he found something that would change everything. Then the letters stopped. From the few bits of intel I managed to intercept, it seemed he’d been killed.”
I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.
“He was killed,insidethe kingdom. That alone should have been a bigger deal, as elites were promised safety and protection. I knew the king was responsible. I blamed myself. I never knew there was a child. There was always something familiar about you, even in Crollust. But when you came to the strip, I suspected it then.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“You have his nose. His eyes. But more than that, it’s something about the way you carry yourself, how you look when you’re worried, and when you smile.”
“He’s my father,” I said. It wasn’t hard to piece together. His story matched up too closely with what I’d learned from Master Svboda; and it was a tale few people knew about.
“You promised me family,” Augustine said. “The antidote, a way to bear children of my own. But you see, we’re already family. You, this kid inside you. The last family I have left. Tied by blood.”
“You’re my uncle,” I nodded. I felt like I should have been stunned, or horrified, but I felt relieved. My anxieties melted away, because I knew instinctively, my baby would be safe.
“I didn’t ask for your first born to punish you,” Augustine said softly. “I only wanted to protect you, and the child. Reuniting a family that my pride tore apart. He will be safe with me. But so will you. You may visit anytime, and you could even move in if you wanted to. Spend a few months a year in the strip, like a vacation. I’ll give Damien and you an apartment as a wedding gift.”
“It could be a girl,” I said. “And I’m not sure Tate is the best kind of role model.”
“Send as many tutors or caretakers as you want,” Augustine smiled. “And she’ll be allowed to visit the compounds, the citadel. Maybe we’ll travel together. She’ll have the best education in the kingdom, but she’ll be from the strip.”
“And when she’s fifteen—”
“Ah, now here’s the clever part,” Augustine said. “Maybe your new plans for the kingdom fall apart. Maybe things don’t change as much as you expect them to. The choosing, the renewal ceremony, or whatever new kind of system you dream up to replace the covenant… as a resident in the strip, she will be free of any social compulsions.”
“Free to participate,” I mused. “But exempt from all laws.”
“Exactly,” Augustine said. “As a precaution. You don’t need to tell your prince, that you sold your first born to help save his kingdom. Nobody should bear that kind of burden.”
“You want me to lie to him?”
“Tell him the truth,” Augustine said. “That she’ll be safe in the strip, with her doting great-uncle. Who is reasonably concerned about her safety, given what happened to his brother, under your father’s watch.”
I nodded. He was right, that wouldn’t be a difficult pitch to sell, and it wasn’t exactly lying. We’d already discussed trading information and resources with the strip. Not a compound exactly, but something else. It wasn’t inconceivable that I’d want my child to have a broader upbringing than the one I’d experienced.
“There’s one last thing,” Augustine said. “I haven’t received a wedding invitation yet. I’m not sure how they do things in the citadel, but there’s an old custom I’d like you to entertain. You never had the chance to meet your real father, but I’d be honored to walk you down the aisle in his place.”
“I’d like that,” I said, with a soft smile.
Augustine escorted me back to the edge of the city, and gave me a brief hug before saying goodbye. I invited him to join us, but he promised to stay longer on his next visit. When he left, I felt a rush of relief and hope. I’d been carrying this fear, this burden, since learning I was pregnant, and the secret was eating me up inside. Augustine had confirmed the terms of our deal, but in a way that eliminated all my worries.
The others were preparing to leave when I rejoined them. We said our thanks and shook hands as we returned to the vehicles. I asked Damien if he wouldn’t mind trading places in the car.
“Going somewhere, at this hour?”
“Please, I have an errand to run.”
“Will I get it back at least?”
I leaned up to kiss him on the cheek after pocketing the keys.
“No,” I whispered. “But I’ll make it up to you.”
“Don’t be late for the wedding,” Trevor called out after us. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”
