Chapter 34

“You don’t look well,” Keetha said.

“I’m sure I don’t,” Amnon replied, resting himself on the edge of his desk. He could feel the adrenaline flowing through his body.  It hadn’t let up since he left Saw.  He gripped the desk’s edge to keep his hands from shaking.  Amnon wanted to appear strong for Keetha, but his body was in rebellion.  He was sure if he let go of this desk, this anchor, he would fly around the office like a madman.

Amnon tried to keep his breath even and calm.  He looked Keetha in the eye and said, “I just got back from a meeting at Dol’s office.”

Keetha looked out the window.  The morning’s light reflected reds, golds, and oranges from the cluster of buildings around the plaza.   “Star’s not halfway up the sky.  I guess Lillian has put a sudden spring in the old man’s step.  I assume there was something important?”

“You could say that.  The meeting was called by Dol, but Dol wasn’t there.”

Keetha observed Amnon’s countenance.  She could tell something was amiss and Amnon was playing coy.  She checked him for any sign of humor or irony.  Finding none she ventured on.  “Where was he?”

Amnon shrugged.  “I was told he has taken ill.”

“Told?  By who?”

“By Saw Yatha.  He was the one who ran the meeting.”

Keetha furrowed her brow, “That’s odd.”

“Just wait.  Dol, if you can believe it, gave Saw the authority to be his mouthpiece until he recovers.”  Amnon paused as he let that detail register with Keetha.

Keetha pressed her lips together into a frown and tilted her head.  “Saw?”

“Right,” Amnon said.  “Then, he commands the justices —”

“The justices?”

“I’m telling you, something is off, but I can’t see where it’s headed.  All the usuals were there plus the justices.  Saw tells me the reason I was called in, and I assume everyone else, was to witness what was said to the justices so we could make the necessary departmental preparations.”

“What did he tell the justices?”

“She will be convicted today, possibly sentenced.  I don’t see how they can get that far on such short notice, but… Regardless, we need to be be ready to move on our plan by the end of the day.  Most likely it she won’t be able to be transferred until morning, but we need to be ready for anything.”

Keetha’s face changed.  She’d had the look of a person who couldn’t look away from a disaster unfolding before her.  Suddenly, her eyes took on sharp focus and her jaw set.  “What do you need me to do?”

“I need you to go, secretly, but that goes without saying, go to the team, let them know of the change, and get them into position.  I have to keep things moving on this end so that this department doesn’t provide unnecessary friction.  I think that will raise suspicion should everything fall apart.  How long till you can make a believable escape?”

Keetha checked her device.  “Immediately.  I would need to shuffle some communications, but I don’t have to be anywhere.  The only delay would be getting a hold of Drex, pull him back to the house.”  She rolled her eyes.  ”And I suppose making sure the Golds haven’t gone wandering again.”

“Right.  Good.  Then, get on it.”

The two of them faced each other; neither of them moved from the moment.  It was too precious, almost sacred.  Somehow Amnon sensed that this would be the last time his life would be normal, that his relationship with Keetha would be what it was, that the life he knew would be the same.  He knew that the moment they separated, they were traitors to the Chieftain and only a victory would protect them, a victory that seemed a long way away.  Amnon’s look of confidence was quickly replaced by worry.  

“This is still the right thing, right?” Amnon asked, his tone much softer and frail.  His spine relaxed, and his shoulders slumped.  He knew what her answer would be, but he needed to hear it.  He needed to hear the words so that when the worst had come, he would have something to hold on to, some purpose to keep up the fight until the fight was done.

“I don’t know,” Keetha said.  This was not what Amnon expected.  His eyes flashed up to hers.  Keetha’s face had the familiar look of optimistic courage.  “But I know that what Dol has brought to this realm is the wrong thing,” she continued with a smile.  “There are probably many other ways to bring him down, but this is the one we were presented with.  This is our time.  We have the means and the opportunity.”  She paused.  Amnon’s grip on his desk had not let up.  If his anxiety didn’t relax, he wondered if he could squeeze it flat.  

Keetha stepped to him and rested her hand on his face.  Her hand was cool on his face.  Refreshing.  He felt her breath on his face, and it smelled sweet.  Just having her this close to him relaxed his nerves and gave his mind peace.  “This is what we must do if we are to see Merlain free again.  This is what our fathers wanted.  They are not here today because of Dol’s evil.  Who knows how this will turn out, but with Lillian free and, if the code in Evan’s fetterseal works, this is the most opportunity we could ask for.  Is it exactly what we planned?  No, but nothing goes according to plan.  Is this happening on our terms?  No, but was it ever going to?  We only have to take advantage of the opportunities before us.  We can’t change the past, and we can’t force the future.  What we can do, all we can do, is what is in front of us.”

Amnon took her hands in his.  “You’re right, of course.  It’s just when you read stories of our heroes, it seems like they did the inevitable, like they were the person for the moment and there wasn’t a shred of doubt what they would do and how it would go.  It’s almost like it had been worked out beforehand and they just had to go through the steps.  Should this turn out to be one of those moments, it doesn’t feel like that at all.  All I can see are the thousand ways it ends badly.  There’s only one way through, and it seems as thin a chance as a thread of your hair.”

“Well,” Keetha smiled, “that’s why we have each other.”  She ran her fingers through his hair, smiling.  Amnon could see in her eyes that she was looking far beyond him.  She was looking into the future.  Once the picture was fully formed in her mind’s eye, she continued, “If it was up to only one of us, we would likely flinch at the critical moment.  With all of us counting on each other, who knows, but in a cycle’s time, we could be living free again.”  Keetha held Amnon’s jaw in her hands.  Her eyes gleamed with hope.  “Can’t you imagine it?  The Merlain people smiling again, able to breathe free air, able to live without fear.  More than that, can you see the generations of children who will never know tyranny?  They will hear of these days as if they are only a scary story and couldn’t possibly have ever been true.”

Amnon nodded.

“If we don’t move now,” she continued, “we lose all right to complain about the way things were.  We had the chance and we let it go by.  And we’ll have to live with that knowledge for the rest of our lives.  That would be a pain worse than death, if you ask me because we couldn’t tell anyone.  We couldn’t get empathy.  We would just have to carry the thought that we could have done something and let it go.  We would shrivel up on the inside.  We would walk around, but dead on the inside.  Listen, I’m scared too, but I’m not so scared that I don’t want to act.  How about you?

Amnon connected with her gray eyes.  He saw in them the resolve he needed.  It was the trait in her that he respected the most – her ability to do the right thing because it was the right thing.  “Thanks,” he said finally and he found the strength to stand on his feet.  “I have felt like this a few times already, but I think this time is really it.”

“What do you mean?”

“If we do this, there’s no going back.  Whatever our life is now, we forfeit until Merlain is freed.”

Keetha gave a small nod.  Then, “Well, let’s make sure it gets freed.”

Amnon stood and wrapped his arms around Keetha.  They held each other like that for a moment.  “You’re the best, you know,” he said pulling away from her.

“And don’t forget it,” she winked.