“Jeneth, those questions and many others will be answered tonight at the welcoming ceremony. Right now, all you need to do is make yourself at home.”
“This isn’t my home.” Her voice is firmer now, stronger.
“Jeneth, shut up.”
The other girls step back instinctually and press their backs to the walls.
Ezbeth’s demeanor remains calm and cheerful.
“I know it doesn’t feel like your home now. But it will. That I can promise.” She strides to the door, turning back before she leaves. “You have some time to rest—use it. We’ll come for you shortly.”
Their captors exit and the girls can hear the bar being slid into place outside, locking them in. Silence falls on the lodge. The little wallflowers, as if drawn by magnetism, gather in the center and embrace each other wordlessly, their tender sobs the only communication any of them can manage for some time.
“Enjoy your quarters, boys. We worked hard to provide them.” Nisaq’s deep voice booms as he walks through the chamber, situated in the completed wing on the west side of the Temple. Narrow shafts cut through the sandstone reveal thin fragments of the outside world. “Take a bunk, whichever you like, they’re all the same. And probably more comfortable than what you’re used to sleeping on.”
The wide-eyed boys scatter around the room, staking tentative claims on the bunks.
“I think, with a little time, you’ll grow to like it here,” he says, letting his sparkling gaze dart about the room from face to terrified face. “For now, just relax. I’ll be back very soon.”
The door closes with a thud and they are locked inside.
Braylon is up first, coursing along the wall, peering out the thin vertical windows.
“We’re up high,” he says, “and I don’t think any of us could fit through these windows anyway.”
William furrows his brow. “What are you talking about?”
“Running. That’s what I’m talking about. Getting out of here.”
“They’ll kill us,” William says plainly. “You heard what he said to you back there. He’ll lock you up somewhere and kill you.”
Lathan starts crying again, begging for his parents through choked, ragged breaths. Jack puts his arm around him, and scrawny Lathan pushes him away and buries his face in the mattress.
Aiden chimes in. “William is right. There’s too many of them, we’re not strong enough. Besides, we can’t run and leave the girls.”
Braylon ponders this. He moves to the door and slides his hand along the doorjamb, squinting, trying to see through to the hallway. Cupping his hands, he puts his ear to the door and listens.
“I think they’re gone.”
“They’re not gone. They’re going to kill us.”
“They’re not going to kill us,” says Jack. Everyone turns and looks at him. “They would have done it by now… right? Why would they bring us all the way here just to kill us?”
William’s mind wheels with murderous conspiracy. “What if they kill us tonight at that ceremony they talked about?”
They look to Jack, who remains silent.
Aiden sinks to the floor and buries his head in his hands.
“So were just supposed to sit here,” Braylon spits, accusatory. “Sit here and wait for them to come back?”
“Where would we run?” asks Creston from the corner. “We don’t even know where we are. There’s nothing but forest. Does anyone even know how to get back to the village?”
Braylon swivels to face him. “The village is gone. It’s burned and gone, and so are our parents.”
His words cut deep and Creston withdraws, tears welling up all over again.
“Don’t do anything stupid, Braylon. Maybe we’ll have a chance to run, but this isn’t it.”
“Jack, what do you think?”
Jack works the puzzle in his mind, playing out different scenarios. None look promising. “I think our best chance is to do what they say. At least till we know what’s going on.”
“So none of you want to fight?”
The boys are shamefaced at this. Braylon glowers at them and kicks the edge of his bed, splintering the wood and knocking out one of the crosspieces. It flies across the room and chocks off the wall. The door bursts open immediately and Nisaq storms in, flanked by two warriors. He seizes Braylon and jerks him toward the door.
“Let me go.”
“I don’t like doing it this way. I warned you.” Nisaq shouts in his face, nose to nose. “You’ll go in the pit tonight and see how you like it. Would anyone like to join him?” He cocks his head around with wild eyes flaring.