“It was Harold’s idea to hold the vote,” he tells me. “He said what we all knew deep down, which is that you’ve lost control of Steadfall. When Deckard was still around, he managed to keep things under control, but you made a big mistake when you forced him to leave. Harold helped us understand that we can do better, that we need to focus on defending the town in case aggressors show up. There’s—”
“No way,” I say firmly, pushing past him and hurrying back toward town.
“Asher!” he calls after me. “Wait! I’m not supposed to let you go that way! Asher, it’s over!”
“Try and stop me,” I mutter darkly. A moment later, I hear footsteps coming up behind me, and then a hand grabs my shoulder.
“Please,” George starts to say, “just—”
Swinging around, I punch him square in the jaw, sending him slumping down to the ground. I let out a gasp of pain as I look at my hand, but I figure one more injury is just another for the list. With George unconscious on the ground, I turn and resume my march toward Steadfall, and soon enough I can see the main perimeter fence up ahead. I keep walking, determined to show them that they can’t keep me away, but suddenly a group of men comes to meet me and we stop just a few meters apart. My heart is pounding now, but I know I can’t let them see my fear.
“Asher,” one of the men says, “you need to—”
“This is my town,” I say firmly. “You don’t like it, you can leave.”
“Only one person is leaving today,” he replies, “and that’s you. Sorry, it’s just the way things have to be.”
“Because of some speech Harold gave?” I ask, trembling with anger. “Where is he? I want to see his face!”
“What he said made sense,” Carly suggests, loitering a little further back.
“And then he came to see me and…” Pausing, I realize exactly what must have happened last night. Harold persuaded the people of Steadfall to rise up against me, and then he came out to my makeshift camp and had a little fun. Suddenly I’m able to see how cold and calculated everything has been, and how he’s systematically worked to overthrow me. “Where is he?” I ask.
“He’s busy with—”
“Where is he?” I shout. Hurrying forward, I try to force my way through, only to be pushed back until I trip and fall to the ground.
“I tried to stop her,” George Umbolt says as he finally catches up. He’s rubbing his jaw, clearly in pain, and he seems a little dazed. “Watch out, she’s got a pretty strong right-hook.”
“Where’s Harold?” I ask, struggling to my feet. “I want to speak to him now!”
“Harold says that it’s best if you leave without any further trouble,” one of the men says calmly. “We don’t want any trouble, Asher, but you’re out-numbered here.”
“Harold!” I shout, convinced that he’ll be able to hear me. “Get out here! Face me!”
I wait, but there’s no reply. He’s obviously hiding in one of the huts, letting everyone else do his dirty work while he laughs at me. As I stare at the sea of angry faces, I start to realize that I’ve been played by a master, that in the short period of time since he arrived Harold has managed to push me out of my own town and humiliate me in the process. Sure, my control of Steadfall was hanging by a thread, but I was getting ready to push back. It’s hard to believe that I let myself get manipulated so easily.
“This is my town,” I stammer, although I can hear the desperation creeping into my voice. “Steadfall’s mine, I started it…”
“We’re sorry,” Carly replies, “but this has been building for a while. We’re better off without you.”
“Do you really believe that?” I ask her.
She opens her mouth to reply, but then she hesitates. “Well… I mean…”
“Yes,” one of the other men says, and there’s a murmur of agreement from several people nearby. “We all know this is for the best. We want you to leave peacefully, Asher, but if you try to force your way back in…”
“Don’t make us hurt you,” another voice says. “Just accept that this is over, and walk away.”
Spotting movement at the back of the crowd, I see that Ellis and Joe have returned. I guess they no longer have any reason to stay away, not now that their actions are so well-aligned with the prevailing mood of the town.
“Is it true?” Carly asks, with tears in her eyes. “Asher, did you kill Alison?”
“In self-defence!” I reply.
“Alison was a good person,” Carly continues. “You shouldn’t have… I mean… It’s kind of hard to believe she’d really want to hurt you.”
“She tried to kill me!”
“Liar!” a voice calls out, and I turn to see Ellis glaring at me. “She’s a liar,” he continues. “She attacked Alison for no good reason.”
“It’s true,” Joe adds. “I was there.”
“There was talk of letting you stay as an ordinary member of the town,” one of the others tells me, “but we figured you might cause trouble. We’ve got a lot of plans for how to fortify the town and improve its defenses, so we’re going to focus on that and—”
“Defenses against who?” I ask.
“Someone’ll attack us eventually,” Carly suggests. “Harold said that the bigger Steadfall gets, the more it’ll become a target.”
Staring at her, I realize that they’ve all fallen for the garbage that Harold has been spewing. I always thought I was pretty good at recognizing people who wanted to manipulate me, but somehow that asshole managed to slip in under the radar and expertly throw me out of my own town. Spotting Leanne and Ben watching from the rear of the crowd, I suddenly feel an overwhelming sense of anger. Finally, unable to hold back any longer, I push past the group and start heading toward town.
“Asher—”
“Steadfall’s mine!” I say firmly. “Where’s Harold? We’ll settle this!”
“Asher!”
I turn as soon as George grabs my shoulder, but this time I’m also grabbed from other directions. I try to fight back, but I’m quickly manhandled away and shoved to the ground. Unable to control myself, I scramble to my feet and try again, only for George to grab my arms and hold me back. When I try to push him away, several other men from the town come and grab my legs, and suddenly something hard hits me on the side of the head. I slump down, slipping quickly into unconsciousness.
When I wake up later, groggy and with a pounding headache, I find that I’ve been dumped several miles from Steadfall. A small parcel of food has been left next to me, along with an old canopy and a knife, but the message is clear. I’ve been thrown out of my own town, and I’ll be killed if I try to go back.
Chapter Thirty-two
Rain comes crashing down, filling the evening air with a constant spitting and hissing sound. Having found shelter under a tree, I’m huddled and shivering as I watch the glow of Steadfall just a few hundred meters away. One of the first decisions I made, many years ago, was that a fire should be left burning all night, and that during storms the fire should be protected by a series of canopy-made screens. I thought it was important that the light should keep burning, but now the fire seems to be taunting me, reminding me of the place I’ve left behind.
Except I haven’t left it behind, not really.
I’m going back.
Having spent all day coming up with a plan, and trying to think of alternatives, I’ve finally faced the truth. I can no more walk away from Steadfall than I can stop breathing.
The key to all of this is Harold, so my next move is obvious. I have to get rid of him, and then I can start to undo all the damage he’s caused. He might have isolated me and made the rest of the inhabitants turn against me, but I still have a chance to make them see the truth. People will start to understand that I was right all along, that I had the town’s best interests at heart, so long as I’m able to show them that Harold has been manipulating the whole situation. I hate the idea of committing cold-blooded murder, but Harold has to be eliminated. Back in my military training days, I was taught to keep emotion out of decisions, but I’m starting to think that I need to let the emotion flow for a short while, just so I can do what’s necessary. Then I’ll put my emotional side away again, and focus on moving the town forward.