we haveâthat and our freedom.â
âFree? Here in the trees?â Charlie said with questioning eyebrows.
âFree,â Ash repeated, her lips in a tight line. âIf we survive the hunt, Artemis leaves us alone. I hope she keeps the deal even with us sticking one of her men.â
âShe leaves you alone forever?â I said.
âUntil weâre eighteen,â Ash said. âThen weâre Goners on our Leaving Day.â
Charlie shook his head. âThen you die?â
âNot the lucky ones.â Ash pulled out her knife and twirled it expertly in her hand. It flashed in the lantern light, spinning like a bullet. âWe raid the WCâthe work campâfor weapons and extra mash. Itâs easy for us to get in and out. Weâre protected in our tree community, unlike anywhere else on Nostos. As Wild Childs, we stay alive for a reason. Weâre stolen children once used as bait to hunt the great beastsâand we survived. Queen Artemis respects this, as did her ancestors. When the first group of Wild Childs started growing up, Queen Artemis of long ago sent an army to round us up. She got most of us, but not all. Those caught were sent to their death on a great hunt. Those that didnât get stuck were sent to the WC. So, the Wild Child leader in charge went to her and made a deal to save us. If we turn out our own to the ground for the WC on their Leaving Day, then the queen lets us all live. Payment for being left alone. Thereâs no other place safer on Nostos for Earth kids. The Goners either get to the WC safe and work there ⦠or they donât.â
âThey get stuck and grounded as inââ
âShot and dead.â Ash lowered her head. âThe queen gets them either wayâby hunt or by slave. Life in the WC is still imprisonment, but itâs a life.â
âNot all the queens have honored this deal,â Apollo said. âMy grandfather told me hunting stories about it from when he visited here as a young man.â He bent his head. âHe loved the hunt.â
âWell, Leandro doesnât ⦠or didnât,â I said. âIn the Lost Realm, he told me he got in trouble for refusing to hunt kids. Itâs how he got his broken arrow scarâthe queen branded him a failure.â
Ash handed me a wrap from a trunk filled with squirrel mash and ache cakes, bringing me back to this realmâs unpleasant reality. âTime to leave.â
First, I needed more from her. âWhyâd the old queen make that deal to save you?â
She sighed and talked fast, filling us in. âHundreds of years ago, the son of that ancient Queen Artemis wanted to become a Wild Child. He hated how his people stole kids from Earth, and he went runabout to join ranks with the Wild Childs. His mother sent in her soldiers to bring him back, but there was a fight and the son was accidentally wounded by a soldierâs arrow. The prince nearly died but the Wild Childs healed him and the queen agreed to let her son live a double life as prince and Wild Child. Now every Queen Artemisâwith some exceptionsâcarries on the tradition of letting the Wild Childs live.â
âFirst they have to escape the hunt and live to become a Wild Child,â Charlie said.
âYeah, until their Leaving Day. Then the hunt restarts,â I said, my voice rising. âYouâre no different from this world, Ash. You throw your friends to the wild beasts, and if they donât get
stuck,
they get to live as slaves in the WC?â
âThey live, blockhead,â Ash said in a clipped voicewith flared eyes. âOne Goner at a time saves us all. One for the many. You better be a Goner now too or weâll all be. Three for the many.â
âIâd rather be a Wild Child,â Apollo said quietly, fiddling with his square buttons. âBetter to be imprisoned on your own terms than by someone
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