Three
I get halfway back to Farah’s, then stop running, turn around, and start walking calmly back toward the Circle. If Jamon asks why I’m not at home, I’ll say Farah sent me back to the market to get something she forgot.
When I’m still several minutes away from the Circle, Jamon finds me. He says nothing except that I’ve been summoned to the hall, even when I ask him what the leaders decided.
I enter the hall to find a circle of about twenty chairs and the eyes of each occupant on me.
“Miss Fairdale, please join us.” Asim—an older version of Jamon with longer hair—sits in a chair larger than the others with cushioned armrests. He gestures to the center of the circle.
Okay, that’s not going to be awkward at all.
But I can’t disobey the Leader Supreme, so there’s nothing to do but s
