CHAPTER 26

Meira stood at the wash basin in her room at the HH headquarters in the Bottom Rung, the only light coming from a feeble candle in the corner and a beam from the moon shining through the window. She wiped the grime from the mines off her skin with tired fingers. She spent every day the same: Mornings and afternoons deep in the mines, and evenings gathering information and plotting the safety and survival of all her brethren with hearts in their palms.

Every day was a challenge, but today had been exceptionally difficult. That morning, the mining crew had divided into their teams and headed to their assignments like normal. The vast majority mined the bottom of the pit, making the cavern inside the mountain ever deeper. A few, including Meira, were managers and inspectors, watching over the work, the pace, the methods, and the morale of those who spent so much time in this drudgery. Then, there was a small special team that Meira sent out each day.

To everyone else, this team was surveying the outside of the mountain, making sure all was safe, secure, and sturdy as the digging continued downward. Reality was very different. This special team was assigned to do something far more extraordinary, and only Meira knew that each of their hands was marked with a heart. Only she knew their real assignment. Her role as an inspector inside the mine was only a cover so that this team could continue to operate on Silas’ orders.

Today, one of the regular, sweat-covered and dusty miners voiced his aggravation. “Why do they get to go outside everyday while we work in here?” he asked gruffly, slamming his pickaxe into the rock and leaving it there. “Why are they so special?”

“Yeah, why don’t we get to rotate? I think it’s our turn to go out there,” said another. Discontent rolled through the crew rapidly.

Meira jumped up on a nearby ledge so she could be more easily seen and heard by the crowd. “Listen up!” she called. Only those closest to her quieted. “I said, listen up!” she shouted louder. Now she had about half of their attention. She glanced around, groping for ideas.

A basket only half full of debris sat on the ground near the mob. She jumped off the ledge, landing inside the metal container. She tugged on the chains once, rose in the air above the crowd several feet, and then tugged again. The basket stopped with a jerk and swung slightly. “Listen up!” she shouted again, but she really didn’t need to. Her antics had won their attention.

“I hear you. It doesn’t seem fair that we are inside while they get to be outside in the fresh air. Work hard for His Majesty today, and I will see what I can do to get us a holiday soon when we can all be outside and not work for a day. As to the task of that special crew, it is specialized and needs additional training. If you want to go through this rigorous training, talk to me after today. His Majesty may be displeased with you for wanting a new assignment, but I will do my best to present your concerns to him in a way that will not anger him. Now get back to work.”

She could see her words had hit their mark. Their once-angry faces were now deep in contemplation, weighing whether fresh air was worth the potential of incurring King Damien’s wrath. The day had gone by without further incident, but she could feel mutiny bubbling just below the surface.

Now, in the relative safety of headquarters, she was glad that she was so exhausted. She would sleep well, unlike the nights when she still had energy and her mind tossed from one thing to the next.

A throat cleared behind her, and she crashed backwards with a gasp, upsetting a basket of threadbare but clean towels. “Shhh . . . ” the man said with a finger against his lips.

“Silas!” she whispered. “What are you doing here? I thought you didn’t want them to see you yet.” She jerked her head to the side, indicating the rooms nearby which were filled with members of the Hidden Heart.

“I had to come see you tonight. It’s urgent. And none of them will know I’m here,” he said with a sad smile. “Soon though. I’ll meet with them soon.”

Meira’s pulse was finding a steady rhythm again, and she wrung out her wash rag and left it hanging on the side of the basin. “Why have you come?”

“There are three on the mountain.”

“Three?” she gasped. “Three? Which twin is here?”

“The girl.”

Meira nodded, taking in this information. “Does this mean it is almost time? You have said when the four are united—”

Silas interrupted her, “No, it is not time yet. That is why I have come, to give new instructions. The boy is in a cave to the north, a prisoner to Leeto. Soon Leeto will want to bring Tali to the mountain, and this must be stopped. It is not time for all four to be here.”

Meira’s heart started thudding again, but it was different than the quick bursts when she had been surprised and frightened. Now it was the heavy drum beat that warned of coming adventure. “What do you need me to do?”

“I’m sending you to rescue the boy. Take him to your mother.”

A buzzing filled her ears. “I get to go see my mother?”

It had been years since she had left her mother, since she had left their little hut made of dried palm fronds and fallen sheets of palm bark. It had been years since she had walked in the sea and breathed salt air and stared into a purple and orange sunset while sitting on soft, warm sand.

She shook her head to release the images that tugged so painfully at her soul. “But I’m needed here. We are doing such great work. The mines are nearly ready, and we are discovering more hearts every day. They need me, Silas. The people in those rooms need me to lead them.”

Silas put one rough hand on each side of her face and spoke with urgency. “Meira, this place has changed you, and I need you to remember exactly who you are. Your mother and the sea will remind you of that softer light that once shined in you. You have done great work here, and I am so pleased with how you have taken charge and turned my plans into reality, just as I asked. Now it is time for you to leave the rest up to me. Go, and be reminded of the girl who played and sang and twirled without the weight of the people’s fate bearing down on her shoulders. That is the girl—now woman—I need for the next step. Your story is not over, but it must continue at the sea. It’s time for you to go.”