Free Escape Under the Forever Sky by Eve Yohalen Page B

the palace?”
    â€œWell, perhaps the most powerful position was minister of the pen.”
    I could just see it: a man in a little room surrounded by cups with pens of every variety—ballpoint, fountain, felt-tip, quill . . .
    â€œOkay, I’ll bite. What did the all-powerful minister of the pen do?”
    â€œNow you will begin to understand the wisdom of King Haile Selassie. You see, Lucy, although theemperor was able to read and to write, he never did so. Never. Instead, all documents were read to him, and all his orders were transcribed by the minister of the pen. And His Highness was just as careful with his speech. When His Majesty spoke, it was in a whisper so quiet his lips barely moved, and the minister of the pen had to put his ear inches from the emperor’s lips in order to hear him.”
    â€œBut why would he do that? Didn’t he worry that people would think he couldn’t read?”
    â€œAh, Lucy, you are thinking like a modern American girl. The literacy of His Most Unparalleled Highness, the Supreme Chosen One, was not of primary importance to his subjects. What do you think would be more important?” Now Iskinder stopped building.
    â€œI don’t know.”
    â€œThink, Lucy.”
    â€œUm, infallibility?”
    â€œYes, go on.”
    â€œPower?”
    â€œExactly! If Emperor Selassie used the minister of the pen to speak for him, he could always blame anything that did not go well on the minister’sgetting it wrong. When things did go well, His Royal Highness could take all the credit.”
    â€œYou talk about Selassie with so much respect, Iskinder. But what about how he wouldn’t let most people own any land? And how he let all those people die during the big drought because he was too embarrassed to ask the rest of the world for help?”
    â€œThat is true, Lucy. But Ethiopia is a proud country. Yes, we were occupied by the Italians during the Second World War, but we are still the only country in Africa that has never been colonized. Emperor Selassie was a symbol of our independence. Did you know that at one time he was the longest-serving ruler in the world? That meant if he was in a room with other heads of state—other presidents, kings, and prime ministers—he was treated as the most important person there. You see, even though we are a democracy now, for many people life is harder today than it was forty years ago, during Selassie’s reign. Nothing is simple, Lucy.” Iskinder’s voice drifted off, and he stared at our finished work.
    â€œIt was a very beautiful palace,” he said quietly, almost as though he had forgotten I was there. Witha flick of his index finger he knocked over a king of diamonds, sending all the other cards fluttering down after it.

    Iskinder was right. Nothing is simple.
    Why can the lion lie unafraid in the grass? Why does a man spend his days on his knees cleaning dog urine off other men’s shoes? Why does an adult tolerate the rudeness of a child?
    Why kidnap an American girl in Ethiopia?
    Power
.

Chapter Twelve
Day Three

    T HE BEAMS OF early-morning light crisscrossing the room were so beautiful I could almost forget the ugliness of my situation. Almost, but not quite. The beauty was shattered by the cold, hard fact of E-Day, Escape Day. I had to get ready. I sat up carefully, because my bruises still hurt. My contacts felt worse than ever, and I rubbed my eyes to loosen them.
    No
.
    One of my lenses popped out.
No, no, no!
    I froze, knowing the worst thing I could do was move quickly and risk stepping on it or flinging it from wherever it had fallen. I’m so nearsighted that even with one lens still in, I can hardly see. For a fullminute I sat perfectly still, my eyes squeezed shut, panicking.
This isn’t happening. I can’t get away if I can’t see
. I had to find it.
    Very slowly I examined my lap and the area around me on the mat. Nothing. Without moving my