“Will do.” He turns and walks away, and Liv offers me a warm smile. “Welcome to Arcadia.”
My brow furrows. “Arcadia?”
She nods. “That’s what we call camp. It’s not much, but it’s home.”
“Oh.” I’m unsure how to respond. “Thank you.”
She jerks her chin at me, still cutting fruit. “Let’s put you to work.”
I set my items down on the nearest table before walking over to her. “How can I help?”
She appears genuinely pleased at my willingness to pitch in.“How about you set the tables?” She nods toward a stack of stainless steel dishes, utensils, and linens, so I get to work.
The young man next to her hums a tuneless melody while he cooks, but hasn’t acknowledged my presence whatsoever. I find myself studying him in between place settings, and the woman notices.
“I’m Liv. This is my baby brother, Charlie.” Charlie doesn’t so much as lift his head at the mention of his name, but Liv continues on. “He was born deaf, and as I’m sure you know, the Brotherhood has no place for people with disabilities.”
Truthfully, I hadn’t really thought about the fact that I haven’t met a person with any kind of disability since I was a child. I had a cousin who was born with Cerebral Palsy, actually.I wonder what happened to him…
I return my attention to Liv, who gently bumps her shoulder into Charlie’s. He finally looks up and notices me, and Liv signs something to him. He smiles and waves at me. I return the gesture and signnice to meet you, one of the things I remember from my childhood. His face immediately lights up and he signs more things to me that I don’t understand. “I’m sorry,” I say. “I don’t really know that much Sign Language.”
“That’s okay,” Liv says, signing something else to Charlie, who looks at me again and signs more. “He says he can teach you, if you like.”
I smile at him—the first genuine smile to grace my face since I arrived here. “I would like that.”
He gives me a kind nod and continues cooking, back in his own world.
Liv looks at her brother with pure adoration before her face hardens. “During the Reckoning, the men who came for us decided it would be prudent to cut out Charlie’s tongue. You know, since he’s deaf and doesn’t really talk, they said he didn’t need it.”
I immediately feel squeamish, imagining such a gruesome act. “I-I’m sorry that happened to you,” I manage.
Liv nods once, her playfulness from before long gone. “He recovered, physically anyway. Hasn’t really been the same since then, though.” She looks at her brother again, and it’s obvious she loves him very much.
I’m bombarded with thoughts of my own baby brother, who I haven’t seen for over a decade.Would I even recognize him if I saw him?I push any thoughts of my family—ofbefore—away. Gabriel is my only family now.
“How did you end up here?”
Liv smiles, but it’s not a happy one. It’s dark, slightly unhinged. “I killed the two men who hurt him with a kitchen knife”—my eyes drop to the knife in her hand as it slices roughly through the apple on the wooden cutting board—“then took one of our horses and fled into the woods behind our house.”
Her story sounds like something straight out of a horror movie. “How old were you?”
“Fourteen,” she answers. “Charlie was nine.” When I can’t think of anything to say, she continues. “We were some of the lucky ones. We survived in the woods for a few weeks, avoiding capture, until Maverick saved us.”
“Saved you?”
“He found us, brought us back to his camp, took care of us. We’ve been a part of the Resistance ever since.” She looks up from her task, offering me a proud smile.
Wheels turn in my head as I recall every interaction I’ve had with Maverick. He infiltrated the masquerade and took me away. He’s clearly respected around the camp. He knows everyone. “So Maverick is, what? The leader of the Rebels?”
Liv shrugs. “I guess so. We’ve been together for so long he’s like a big brother to me at this point. But big decisions, like when and where we move the camp, are up to him and the rest of the council.”
He seems young to be the one in charge of everything, especially when there are older people here, like V. “How old is Maverick?”
“He just turned thirty-one. We had a big celebration.” She smiles at the memory. “He hated every second of it.”
He’s the same age as Gabriel,I think. For whatever reason, the broody rebel captain seems much older than my husband. “Sounds fun?”
Liv laughs. “Oh, we had a great time. He just hates being thanked for everything he’s done for all of us.”
