Chapter 18

That evening he pulled out the Page for the first time in weeks.

Find the Cauldron

Paul stared at the page for a long time, but the words didn't change. Daniel came in and went over to his bed.

"Have you seen the Cauldron spawn?" Paul asked.

"Yes," Daniel said, "they are dead."

"I know they are stupid," Paul said, "but dead?"

"We burn wood to warm the greenhouse where the peacocks roam. The cauldron spawn chop the wood. I saw one cut off his own hand and throw it in the fire. Then it tried to pick up the ax like it still had two hands. There was no blood, no cry of pain."

"Why would the Book allow such a thing?"

"How could a dead man displease God?" Daniel said. "If it weren't for how stupid they were, I think we would all be cauldron spawn. As it is they are only good for the most basic of tasks."

He rolled over and went to sleep.

Daniel's work must be even more taxing than Paul's. He had taken to coming in and going immediately to sleep. This was more conversation than they had had in a week. Paul hadn't even had a chance to tell him that they were to find the Cauldron.

Something woke Paul up in the middle of the night. He rolled over to see Daniel slipping in under his blankets. Something in Daniel's face stopped Paul from saying anything.

For the next few nights, Paul laid awake while Daniel slipped out of the stable and went somewhere. Daniel didn't have a Book or the Page to tell him what to do. Someone must have told him to go in the middle of the night. Paul had a vision of the young woman, the Master's daughter sneering at him while he lay helpless in the snow.

Feeling sick to his stomach, he turned to the Page.

Wait. Follow.

The next night, Daniel slept through the night and the night after that. Paul was beginning to think that he had imagined everything. But then Daniel slipped out in the night and Paul crawled out of his blankets. He stuffed the Page in his shirt and followed after.

He immediately wished that he had put on a cloak or something, but it was too late now. Daniel walked through the icy night as if it were summer. He came to a door in the house and slipped through it. Paul followed, and the heat was welcome, but he didn't dare lose track of Daniel. Neither did he want to be seen. He was certain that they would not be welcome in this house. Daniel walked quietly but confidently through the halls to a door. A woman inside with a grey badge and a red stripe was waiting for him. For a moment Paul thought it was her Daniel was meeting, then she pushed the door open and the young woman was standing there, nude, waiting for him. The look on her face wasn't one of delight, but of cruelty.

She pulled Daniel into the room and Paul caught a glimpse of his face. It looked one of the Cauldron spawn, like he had lost all ability to think for himself. Paul must have made a slight noise because the woman who waited outside the room made frantic shooing motions at him.

Too late, Paul realized there was someone behind him.

"What are you doing here?" The voice compelled an answer from Paul. He turned to see the red ribbon and gold house badge of the Master, as he heard his voice say that he was following his friend who was even now in the Master's daughter's room.

By following Daniel, he had doomed them both.

"So, you are waiting your turn to defile my daughter?"

"No, Master," Paul's voice said, "she doesn't like me."

The Master's face went hard and bleak.

"You will stay silent, unless I speak to you. When questioned, you will say that you have subverted the Book. You are a Chooser and you wish to displease God."

Paul tried to open his mouth to argue, but he couldn't speak. The Master turned away and walked to the door and banged on the door after telling the servant woman to stay.

He hadn't told Paul to stay. Paul retraced his steps through the house, ducking into alcoves to avoid the people who ran toward the noise at the other end of the house. Once outside of the house he ran to the stables and packed their gear. There might be a way to rescue Daniel, but only if he stayed free himself.

Paul loaded the pack on his shoulders and walked to the door. He would escape, then the Page would help him rescue Daniel. He opened the door, and the Master stood there with a cruel smile on his face.

"I knew you would try to flee," he said. "You all do. Dump out your pack." Paul felt his hands turning the pack over and watched as all his and Daniel's gear poured out on the threshold. It looked like rags in the snow. The big knife that they had taken from Callam's gear thudded out last. The Master picked it up and looked at it.