Page 67 of The Outcast
“Did you talk to Khan and Magni about the Explorer Academy?”
“I did,” Aubri said. “They want us to continue but we’ll need to present a plan on how to improve safety for the females involved. Sparrow said that she doesn’t want one crazy person to ruin it for everyone either.”
Just then the large wooden doors with the beautiful carvings opened and Freya walked into the library. “Ah, so this is where you’re all hiding. I just took breakfast to Sparrow. She’s feeling better.”
“I was gonna do that. Does she need help with anything?” Aubri asked.
“Not at the moment, I think. I’ve told her to take it easy and get as much rest as possible.”
“Can I go and see her?” I was already halfway out of my seat.
Aubri followed. “How about we all go? That way she can be part of the conversation regarding the future of the academy.”
Thor snatched little Violetta from Aubri and made the little girl laugh when he ran up the stairs with her while making funny faces. Freya and I exchanged smiles.
“It’s good to see my brother connect to the child in him. He should do that more often,” she said.
Sparrow was nibbling on a muffin when we entered after knocking.
“Good morning.” Thor brought Violetta over and it made Sparrow light up in a broad smile and coo, “Oh, hello, precious girl. How are you this morning?”
“Rumor has it that this little terrorist woke up her poor parents at half past five,” I said and pulled a chair over to her bedside. “Which is why I suggested that they should take a nap while the rest of us look after their beautiful offspring.”
Violetta knew Sparrow well and was happy when Thor sat her on the bed. With curiosity the girl reached for the tray with Sparrow’s breakfast. Eying a knife and other items that could be dangerous for her to play with, I removed the tray.
“Here, little one,” Aubri handed her a slice of orange to suck on. “She loves fruit.”
“How are you feeling?” I asked Sparrow, who smiled at me.
“Better.”
Aubri made herself comfortable in the large bed, on the other side of Sparrow, with Violetta between them. “We’re sorry for arriving in a group like this but we figured that you wanted to be involved in our talk about the academy. We have to come up with a plan and present it to Khan and Magni before we can proceed.”
“What about Indiana?”
“He left around seven this morning for a business deal on the East Coast. But Banni and I recruited Thor and Freya to help us come up with a plan.”
“I’m happy to be of service,” Thor said. “The question is how do we guarantee that nothing like this ever happens again? What kind of vetting can eliminate a mentally ill person like Keith?”
“The problem is that Keith gave us a false name. I realized that once I dug out the financial records connected to his address. I assume his rejection from the army made him think that we would reject him as well,” Freya said.
“Of course we would,” I exclaimed.
Sparrow’s fingers ran through Violetta’s baby hair as she spoke in a sad tone. “He told me that he was lonely.”
Freya nodded. “Yes, it’s not hard to imagine why he thought escaping to France would make everything better. It doesn’t sound like he experienced much happiness or help in the Northlands.”
Aubri scoffed. “If you’re about to give me another one of your lectures for executing him without a trial then I’m leaving. I did him a favor. He was in severe pain when I killed him.”
Freya’s tone rose in pitch. “Because you shot him in his crotch.”
“Because he was burned badly and freezing from the cold water. He crawled to the drone begging for us to put him out of his misery and I complied.”
Freya sucked in her lips as if she was biting back a counter-argument.
“I showed him mercy, Freya. Trust me. You weren’t there.”
With a sigh of resignation, Freya breathed, “I hope you’re right. Anyway, we’ll need to develop a personality test that can catch mental illness, but we might have to think outside the box.”
