Page 92 of Freedom Mine
Chapter Twenty
ALLI
Kayo was a different man now. Joking with the men, smiling more, despite the approaching deadline. He was up to something. Alli was sure of it, as were the men. They tried not to worry, but it was hard. It was their freedom, their lives on the line, not Kayo’s.
Then there was Jace. He behaved more like the old Kayo than himself. He walked around sullen, moody, and tight-lipped. She almost expected to see a bottle of brandy in his hand, though she’d never seen Jace drink. What’s more, he and Kayo barely talked to one another.
Whatever had happened between them had been brewing for weeks, but yesterday it had come to a breaking point. Ranth had to pull them apart before either one could seriously injure the other.
“Incoming!” someone yelled.
Alli rushed out of the house. The creditors’ deadline had passed a week ago. They’d all known this moment would come, but still, watching that landglider drive up was beyond terrifying. Alli wasn’t ready to leave, to return to that existence. She looked around. The men wore similar expressions. None of them was ready, not that they ever really could be. This was the only freedom she’d known in years, and it had been too brief.
Her gaze fell on Kayo as he walked out of the stables. She’d wanted one last night with him, one last time to feel what it meant to be held and touched by someone who cared about her.
“Line up, everyone,” Kayo said.
No one hurried at his words.
This couldn’t be happening.
Her legs moved somehow, positioning her between Ranth and Masher. She wondered if any of them would be kept together, or if they’d even remain on Varkos. That would be harder, knowing Kayo was nearby but not being able to see or speak with him.
Kayo wouldn’t look at her.
And so it began. He was distancing himself. She’d imagined this was how it would happen. But still, not to say goodbye wasn’t right. It was cruel, beyond belief.
With his shoulders back and his eyes forward, Kayo stood tall and cleared his throat. This wasn’t the same man who used to lose himself in the bottle, the man who tried to hide from his past and numb the pain of who he’d become. This was a man who had found himself again, no longer tethered to the guilt that had been burying him with each slave he purchased. A man no longer burdened the passage of each day he could not free the men to whom he’d promised freedom.
It was ironic, really. Their enslavement would free Kayo. He would no longer own anyone or have to bear the title ofownerthat he loathed. And yet, there was no guilt framing his expression or his stance. He looked almost too relaxed, like he had no remorse for their fate.
“Kayo?” Alli asked, her bottom lip quivering. Had he forsaken her?
“All will be well, Alli,” he said, his hand cupping her cheek, though no smile crossed his face.
Kayo stood before the group of eleven, with Jace off to the side, Jace’s eyes throwing daggers at him. “I wanted to say that I appreciate how hard you’ve all worked here, and I’m sorry for failing you. The mines have never been consistent. Luck, skill, and hard work only go so far. You will gain your freedom, someday, I promise it. I’m sorry I can’t be the one to deliver it to you. None of you deserves to be a slave. You should be home with family, or out there building your futures. Be patient, be smart, and when you do gain your freedom, never look back, only forward.”
Kayo headed into the house, as he’d done dozens of times before the men were about to venture into the mines. Except this time, an official from the Department of Property and Slave Transfers stepped out of the landglider with two armed guards trailing him.
A curious thing happened then, one she’d remember the rest of her life. As the official withdrew his datapad, Ranth, Liet, Masher, Diggs, even Bawson, shifted around her, hiding her from the official’s view. She couldn’t see over their shoulders, not with the tight wall they’d formed, but she could hear the man as he tapped on his datapad.
“I’m Officer Meilos, from the Department of Property and Slave Transfers. When I call your name, you will acknowledge your presence. Diggs?”
“Here.”
“Masher?”
“Aye.”
“Bawson?”
“Go drekk yourself.”
Alli clamped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. It was more nervous laughter than anything.
“Another remark like that will earn you some time in a cage,” Meilos said. “I suggest you control these slaves, Variz.”
“Kayo’s inside,” Jace said, stepping up to Meilos. “I’m the foreman. Jace Raulin.”
