The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann Page A

twenty. Like Strang had been, Aaron Stowe was a serious boy, quiet and completely dedicated to the service of the high priest of Quill, at all costs. He was just the sort of boy who grows up to be a dangerously powerful man.
    The vehicle clunked and groaned up the winding hill to the palace of the high priest, for on this day Aaron was being rewarded. First for his excellent work in solving the beef problem for the high priest, second for his insight into the matter of the Favored Farm at large, and third for his program, which outlined precisely how to run the farm most efficiently. It had been his last assignment in math class, and since all of the university students’ work was checked by the governors, it did not take long for Governor Strang to notice Aaron’s penchant for economics. And economics was something that the High Priest Justine was very fond of. Especially because it always benefited her.
    It had been Aaron’s suggestion to work the farm in the same manner as the people of the land of Quill, sorting the farm animals into three categories: Wanted, Necessary, and Unwanted. The highest quality of animals would be sequestered at the Favored Farm to breed and be fattened up, and the lower qualities of stock would be sent to the Common Farm to be bred and raised for consumption by the Necessaries. And it had been Aaron’s suggestion to send the Quillitary to the Common Farm to transplant the highest quality crops to the Favored Farm as well.
    Now that the Favored Farm was running without a single hitch and the process was complete, Aaron had been invited to the palace to have lunch with the governors and the High Priest Justine herself. It was an incredible honor. Aaron was pleased with his achievement so early in his instruction, but of course he didn’t even smile outwardly when he heard the news. After all, his full allegiance was to Quill. And since his parents were both Necessaries, he felt he had to make extra effort to prove to the governors that he was of the highest quality and worthy of his Wanted title.
    All these thoughts and more filled his mind, though at one point in the slow journey to the palace—going uphill demanded a good deal of effort from the vehicle—a nagging thought pestered his brain concerning a recurring dream he’d had lately.
    It frightened him more than he cared to admit to himself, because he thought he had managed to eliminate dreams entirely from a young age, once he had learned they were wrong. But several times since the Purge he’d awakened, horrified and feeling terribly guilty, because not only had he dreamed about something, but that something was his brother,Alex. A half year had passed since Alex had been eliminated, and Aaron admitted that he had felt a bit bad for at least an hour, until his mother had warned him to forget about it. And with his entrance to the university the day after the Purge, well, it really hadn’t been difficult to forget Alex. Indeed it was rare for Aaron to think of his twin at all, but on the rare occasion he did, Alex was the sort of faint and fuzzy memory after which one wonders,
Did that really happen?
    Aaron knew better than to tell anyone about these recent dreams, though. Now that he was held in such high esteem for a young student, it would be a definite career-killing sign of weakness were he to admit that to anyone. He shuddered to think it.
    Finally the vehicle came to a sputtering stop at the entrance to the palace. Aaron’s mind turned swiftly back to the affairs of Quill and his luncheon with the elite. He brushed the nagging thoughts away and walked briskly and with confidence to the Quillitary guards who stood watch at the palace door.
    “Your license, please.”
    Aaron pulled a folded document from his jacket pocket and handed it to the guard.
    “Code?”
    “Quill prevails when the strong survive.”
    “The governors await,” the guard said. He opened the creaking door, and Aaron stepped inside.
    Governors Haluki