"I hope I am too," he said. This time, the doubt in his voice was unmistakable. That worried me more than anything else. Even Weevil wasn't sure he was right this time.
Both Weevil and I were asleep when the wagon stopped sometime later. It was completely dark outside now, meaning we had traveled much farther than I had expected. Scourge testing was available in Windywood, the nearest town to my home, but that was only an hour away by wagon. We were nowhere near Windywood anymore. Nowhere near home.
One of the wardens seemed to be tending to the horses while the other had gone off, probably to notify a doctor of our arrival.
"Be ready," I said to Weevil, drawing the knife from my boot.
But Weevil shook his head. "This isn't the time to fight, Ani. Not yet."
So I replaced the knife, but made sure it was in the boot with my uninjured ankle. Then I stood in the wagon, partially to test my other ankle--which hurt and had started to swell--and partially so Weevil would not offer to help me up. I was pretty sure he understood that too, because although he stared at me with concern, once he saw that I could walk, he didn't offer any help.
Warden Brogg opened the door and had his ax raised against us, which made me smile. Was he expecting us to charge at him, yelling some crazy battle cry? Then the knife shifted in my boot, and I remembered that until Weevil had advised otherwise, charging at him had been my exact plan. The crazy battle cry was optional.
Brogg's eyes shifted to the ropes that had been on me before. "You were supposed to keep those on."
I smirked at him. "You were supposed to tie them with real knots."
Weevil nudged me with his arm, a warning not to start any arguments now. But then he smiled too, as if he wished he had thought to say it first.
"If you hadn't fought us, we'd never have tied you in the first place," Brogg said. "For your own sakes, take my advice and cooperate."
My eyes narrowed. "If I had obeyed your orders before, would I still be here right now?" When he failed to answer, I nodded. "Just as I thought. Cooperating would only make your life easier, not ours."
"We are cooperating." Weevil's voice was low, and he spoke slowly. "We'll come out together, without fighting. In exchange for that, wherever we're going next, you must keep us together."
He took my hand. I started to pull away, but he mouthed the word "together" and redoubled his grip.
I nodded back at him, and when Brogg gave us permission, we jumped out of the wagon. My swollen ankle landed badly and Weevil started to help me straighten up, but I pulled my hand away and balanced myself.
"That's better." Brogg cocked his head forward. "Now walk."
It hurt to walk evenly, but I forced myself to do it. I couldn't stand the thought of Weevil reaching out to help me again. I felt his eyes on me, and if I looked, I'd have seen the worry in them. He knew I was hurting, but I gritted my teeth and refused to look back at him.
Or maybe his worry wasn't about my ankle. Maybe his thoughts were the same as mine. What if I do have the Scourge? What if they're right? Because if I was being honest with myself, I knew it wasn't impossible.
I hated having to be honest with myself.
We had driven into a large courtyard with an even larger building straight ahead. It was square and plain with an enormous green cross flag of Keldan hanging from the roof. A government building, then. The closest one of this size I knew of was in Marisbane, very far from my home.
Considering that we were near government offices, the building didn't seem particularly well guarded. This struck me as odd. Surely, others suspected of having the Scourge had been dragged here in the last year. Didn't they resist the test? Maybe not. Maybe pinchworms always did as they were told, like fence-trained sheep. Well, let them bring in a few River People, and they'd think differently about the need for more guards. If they had brought five of us in, as the governor had ordered, we'd be in a full battle by now.
"We want to speak to whoever's in charge," Weevil said. "Is that you, or the man who played batball with my head?"
"Warden Gossel is my superior," Brogg said, "but until you're tested for the Scourge, no one can set you free." He led us to his left toward a series of much smaller, empty-seeming buildings, including a narrow one that was undoubtedly meant for us. It was a lone prison cell, with a thick log roof and metal bars along one wall.
I dug in my feet and shook my head. "This is a place for criminals."
Either Brogg didn't hear me, or he didn't care. He unlocked the door and held it open for us. "You'll stay here until morning, when the physician will test you. There's only one blanket. I suppose you two can fight over who gets it."
"We don't fight," Weevil said.
We didn't used to, I thought. But we will. That seemed inevitable now.
I went into the cell first. It had a small bed, ideally sized for anyone who was the approximate height of the average rabbit. A chamber pot was in the corner along with a bucket of water that probably hadn't been changed in several days. I wouldn't touch either of those. This cell was clearly designed for only one person. For that reason, I was grateful to Weevil for making the deal he had with the warden. We'd have been split up otherwise, and I couldn't bear the thought of finishing this night without him.
Once we were locked in, the warden stood on the opposite side of the bars and stared at me. I stared back, determined not to be the first to look away.
"What were you really doing up in that tree?" he asked. "Spying on us?"