Free Preserving Hope by Alex Albrinck Page A

Maynard. Please, Will. Please, help me to save her.”
    Will nodded agreement and put a comforting hand on her arm. He would help save Elizabeth. It was why their children had sent him here.

VI
    Servant
     
     
    They traveled in silence for several moments.
    The emotions triggered in Eva by these memories were overwhelming Will. Clearly this woman had suffered tremendous anguish as a byproduct of her part in this shameful history. “That’s what the silver coin was for, wasn’t it?” Will asked, his voice quiet, as if it could have been heard by any of the drivers riding in the trailing carts. “You were paying for her time yesterday.”
    Eva nodded. “Yes. The dream Arthur spread in all of us… it was more intoxicating than the ale we brew back home. After most of the original ten left, it took several years before a small handful of people gradually started to realize that what we were doing was wrong. We wanted to leave too. By then, though, we’d realized that we couldn’t abandon her. In a sense, those who left were cowards too, weren’t they? They feared fighting the majority, even though they were right. I know that in my case I realized that I was wrong to side with Arthur at the beginning, but I wouldn’t make my mistake worse by running away from it. I owe it to her to do what I can to make her life more bearable, until such time that we can truly free her from this condition.”
    Her voice dropped into a whisper. “It sounds bad, Will, but it’s worse than you think. Some people here enjoy watching her suffer. They’re monsters and I’m surprised that I haven’t killed any of them. Maybe one day, I’ll finally lose control and do just that. Some people think that the more she suffers, the closer we are to a breakthrough. Her suffering isn’t what makes them happy, it’s what they think her suffering means . Most people here, though, are simply glad that it’s happening to someone else, and not them. They fear that if they say something now, it will be them being marched into that building, and forced at sword-point to consume whatever is chosen by their tormentor.”
    “That’s awful!” Will said, unable to restrain himself. “How could any of you not recognize what you were doing to that little girl?”
    “She screamed so loudly,” Eva muttered, as if she’d not heard him, and was merely reliving the memories alone. “She’d scream when she saw what had been picked, and when she was told how much she’d need to take. If she refused, she was hit. For those who didn’t hit her on the occasion of a refusal… well, Arthur isn’t the forgiving type, especially with little girls who are impacting his clientele. He and Genevieve got into huge fights, public fights, about Elizabeth’s treatment. As I mentioned, she moved into the room next door and Elizabeth went with her. They wanted no part of Arthur anymore. He didn’t stop, however; he still makes sure people are well aware that hitting Elizabeth is both acceptable and encouraged.”
    Will shook his head. “How can you have allowed it to continue?”
    Eva glanced at him, glaring. “He’s a manipulator, Will. He could convince you that you are in the sweltering heat when your feet are covered in snow. He convinced nearly everyone, somehow, that the physical assault on Elizabeth would strengthen her to be able to do more research. In other words, by hitting her, they were helping her, and by extension, help everyone reach their ultimate goals. In reality, everyone in this place is evil, greedy, a coward, or some combination of the above.”
    “Which of those describe you?” Perhaps he was being harsh, but it was impossible for him to react with total compassion when hearing descriptions of how horrid her life was. He now knew why his children and Adam had made him promise not to use his new abilities to kill anyone before he’d left. At the moment, it took every bit of self-control he had not to teleport back to the village and