Relic

XXXII: Aprilus 24 Year 242, A.H.

The surface of the crevasse finally approaches. Uncertain how I’ll hoist my exhausted body over the lip, I see that Jasper left an ice screw behind. Hooking the tip of my axe into the hole of the ice screw, I test its strength and then pull myself the final distance. Too tired to care if I get caught, I lay at the rim, panting.

I hear footsteps running toward me. “Are you all right?”

“I am now,” I answer, without looking up. A hand reaches under my armpit and pulls me to standing. It’s the white-haired Boundary Climber. Again. He’s everywhere, it seems.

“You shouldn’t have been down there. It’s too dangerous.” He’s almost yelling at me.

“I know. The Lex prohibits it, and I’m sure the Scouts will be thrilled when they hear about my Lex-breaking.” I’m so exhausted I’m shaking, but a new energy courses through me. “They’ve been waiting all Testing.”

“It’s not that, Eva.” He looks at the area around my Claim. “I mean, it’s pitch-black down there and your ice screw pulled out of the masak. You could’ve been killed. He would kill me if anything happened to you.”

“Who? Who would kill you?” Fear and sadness vanish. I wonder who would have possibly struck a deal with a Climber to protect me such that he would kill them if they failed. Until a few ticks ago, I might have suspected Jasper. Now I can only think of one person. Suddenly it all makes sense: the jealous glares, the hushed conversations, the resentment. I was never really in danger. “My father?”

The Climber looks away. “I can’t … I’d get in trouble if you got killed in the crevasse. It’s my job to make sure no one goes down there, right?”

I don’t believe him, but I’m too tired to argue right now. And anyway, I don’t think he’d tell me even if I insisted. “Right. Well, I guess you can take me back to the Scouts to face my punishment now.”

“You aren’t the only one who’d get punished, Eva.”

“So you’re not going to turn me in?”

“As long as you don’t turn me in.”

“It’s a deal.” I decide to try my luck. “Can I ask you one last question?”

“It depends on what it is.”

“Were you telling the truth about the New North people liking my Chronicle?”

“I always tell the truth.”

He gives me a little bow and walks off to continue his rounds. Legs wobbly, I walk the short distance back to camp. I skirt around the perimeter so no one watches my approach. Then I sidle into my igloo to examine my new Relics.

I peel off my sealskin outer coats and lay out my mat. Opening my pack, I pull out the Apple amulet first. The talisman is rectangular and black, with a small metallic square poking out of the bottom. I notice that the metallic square is hollow, as if designed to slide into another object like a puzzle piece. The amulet itself hangs on a long black cord, so Elizabet could wear it close to her heart.

Returning to my pack, I slide out the diptych. I run my fingers along its smooth silver surface, tracing the Apple image on top. I linger on the tiny bite taken out of the Apple symbol. I’m nervous. The Apple diptych is the most blasphemous and dangerous of any man-made object. The Triad seeks them above all other Relics so they can protect the people of New North from their dark powers. I run my fingers along the gap where the two sides of the diptych meet. I’m sure there must be an opening somewhere; our diptychs have a little catch where we can raise the top open. Feeling a little groove under my fingertip, I hook my nail on it. I’ve broken so many rules already, I feel as if I’m in a dream. I have no choice but to open this altar.

There it is. The notorious blank surface to which the pre-Healing people prayed. On the other side are little squares with letters and numbers. Did they write out their supplications to Apple this way? No one really knows. I wonder if Elizabet believed that Apple answered her. It saddens me to think of her spending her final ticks sending messages to a god that was false.

It feels wrong not to turn this over to the Triad. But what are my choices? I can’t divulge my discovery without also revealing that I broke The Lex and reentered the Site. Not only would I be disqualified from the Testing, I would risk severe punishment to the Climber, myself, and my family. The only Testor in the history of the Testing who entered a closed Site and tried to submit a late-found artifact was exiled to the Boundary lands—along with his family. I couldn’t do that to my parents, make them give up the Founding status my family has held since the Healing and the Chief Archon title for which my father worked so hard. They’ve been through too much already. Only the Gods know what the Triad would do to the Climber.

I decide to keep the altar hidden for now.

Maybe the coming days will show me a way to share my discovery without bringing harm upon myself. But even if they don’t, I feel a curious peace. They are a part of Elizabet, after all. Even if I lose, I want to keep a part of her with me always.