The distance between the compound and my saviors felt eternal when I first traversed it. Now, it seems like only a matter of moments before we find ourselves at the concertinaed edges of my old prison. Zev raises his hand, and with what must be a much more powerful version of my ring, blasts a wide entrance through the westernmost wall of the compound.
“Let’s go,” he says, voice steady and no-nonsense. I hesitate, but as Zev steps through easily, and then Alin, I have no choice but to follow.
Inside the compound, the only people who have noticed our intrusion are the two watchmen at the gate, and a young woman with a basket of wash on her hip. Startled at the sight of the two gods accompanying me, she lets her load fall, white garments spilling like snow over the desert floor.
“We should go inside,” I say, making a beeline for the main building, even as the young wash-woman flees ahead of us and the two watchmen fall unconscious at the hands of my gods. “Before there’s too much chaos.”
By the time we enter the main shared space, it’s too late. The wash girl must have announced our arrival loudly and widely, because people are scattering far and wide ahead of us. I search through the parting crowd quickly for my parents, but don’t see any trace of them.
“Where should we go to publicly address all of them, Jubilee?” Zev is asking me, but I’m already gone. I run down the exterior steps quickly, barely noting the way my new boots kick up a quick path through the desert sand. The few dozen members of the Church seem to have multiplied in the chaos, with strangers and old friends alike peppering my path as I try to make my way back home.
“Jubilee,” elder Mathison says, stepping in front of me and cutting me off. I come to a quick stop, my right hand begging to come up in self defense, despite the threat only existing in the elder’s unhappy expression. “Is this where you’ve been? Conspiring with our enemy, working against your own family to bring your Church down?”
“No,” I protest, glancing over my shoulder, trying to carve a straight line home in my eyesight even as the elder keeps marching deliberately toward me. “I wasn’t—”
“You know better than to lie, youngling,” Mathison growls, grabbing my left arm in a vice grip. Half instinctively, I thrust my right hand out at her, and the elder collapses to the ground without reverie. My mouth drops as I watch her fall and seize once or twice on the dust, but I have no time to make sure she’s okay. I leave her where she fell, hoping that my gods are true to their word and that she’s genuinely only knocked out. I continue my path back toward the sleeping chambers, hoping against hope that my mother and father are back in their private quarters even this late in the morning, even with the chaos unraveling outside.
“Jubilee!”
A hand grabs my upper arm, and it’s only by reflex that I don’t shoot my own father down with my magic ring. Instead, I fall easily into his embrace, grabbing him tight, curling into the false but familiar safety of his arms.
“Where have you been?” he growls after a moment of peace, holding me at arms’ length. “Your mother and I have been worried sick about you.”
“Where is Mother?” I ask, glancing around us. People are still running in every direction, with elders trying to corral their charges back into submission, and my gods nowhere to be seen.
“I’m right here, baby,” my mother says, appearing behind my father, and grabbing my hand reassuringly. “Where did you go? Did the enemy take you?”
“I ran away,” I say, cutting quickly to the chase, feeling the weight of every passing second on my shoulders. “I had to get out of this compound, out of this Church. I found people to help me, they helped me start a new life outside of these walls. I want you two to come with me.”
Mother and Father glance at each other quickly, then back at me.
“There is nothing for us outside of these walls,” Father says, a concerned furrow in his brow. “Jubilee, you belong here, with us. The Seven can keep us safe here.”
“I know that’s what you both believe,” I try again, grabbing my mother’s hand tightly, my eyes darting between their cold faces. “But it’s not true. There’s a whole world out there, and it’s not as bad as the one you fled. There’s a chance for us, if we take it. A chance at happiness on our own terms. No more elders, no more rules, no more Seven.”
Again, a quick glance between the two, then back at me.
“The Seven protect us here,” Mother repeats. “Our happiness is in the Church. What are you talking about, baby?”
Jubilee, we have to go soon. The message vibrates through my skull, loud and uninvited. I hold my left hand up close to my cheek, voice cracking on unshed tears. “I’m not ready yet. I need more time.”
“Mark, Irene,” sister Adelaide appears around the corner, frowning when she sees me standing with my parents. “The elders have asked us to reconvene in the safety shelter. They say Jubilee is a traitor, not to be trusted—”
I reach my right hand out pettily, letting the older woman collapse to the sand even as I fight to prove my innocence.
“No, I’m not,” I insist, grabbing my mother’s hand again. She holds my gaze, letting me hold my grip for a moment, but I can see in her eyes that she’s already gone. “Mother, please.”
“This is where we belong,” she murmurs, and the weight in her voice tells me that she genuinely believes it, no matter the cost. “You belong here too, baby. Stay with us. The elders will forgive you.”
We both hold each other tight for a moment, refusing to let go, both equally convinced the other is in the wrong. But I know with each passing moment that I’m chipping away at their standing in the Church, and that even hours and hours of talk won’t be enough to sway them. They’re in too deep.
“I can’t,” I say at last, slipping my hand out from my mother’s grasp. “You all go, though. Stay safe. I won’t bother you again.”
Another moment, this time no physical touch or words spoken, just eye contact none of us are willing to break. After a minute, though, we don’t have a choice.
Jubilee, we have to leave now, Zev’s voice rings through my head, as another elder grabs my parents away. We just got word that one of the Seven is on their way. We’ve got a few rescues, we can’t risk staying longer.
“Okay,” I say, fingernails digging into my palms as I watch my parents walk away, neither looking back. “Let’s go.”