Soundless

Masters, Sheng declares. Look who I’ve found.

I clasp Li Wei’s hand tighter as I face the elders for the first time since I left the village.

Most of them are here, including Elder Chen and Elder Lian. Several apprentices and a few school servants are gathered around them. My heart sinks when I don’t see Zhang Jing. I’d hoped Jin Luan was wrong about her. They all stop what they’re doing when we enter, turning to stare at us. Beneath their scrutiny, I feel almost more vulnerable than I did when I stood on the dais and faced the whole village. These are my peers and my mentors, the people I’ve worked with every day. They thought the best of me, but then, because of my actions, that viewpoint changed. The impact of that weighs heavily on me.

When no one acts right away, I release Li Wei’s hand and approach Elder Chen deferentially. I bow three times, low, before speaking. Greetings, master. I beg your pardon for leaving without permission. I have come now to tell you all the things I’ve observed in my time away.

Elder Chen studies me for a long time, and I tense, fearful of what he will do. He might very well have Li Wei and me thrown back outside into the chaos, and it would be completely within his rights. Perhaps I didn’t cause our village’s initial difficulties, but my actions are certainly what have caused our current ones.

Is it true? Elder Chen asks at last. What you told us in your painting?

Every word, master, I reply.

He studies me a bit longer, and then, to the complete astonishment of everyone in the room, Elder Chen bows to me. It appears we may owe you a great debt, he says once he straightens up. His eyes fall on Li Wei. Both of you. Now. Let us talk about what you know.

CHAPTER 17

I’M HONORED AND FLUSTERED but also self-conscious, because by this point I’ve already told the village all I know. The current actions of the township and the army are as much a mystery to me as to everyone else.

Li Wei steps forward, bowing to the elders before speaking. If you’ll allow me, I can add to what Fei has told you. I spent the night as one of their prisoners, marching up the mountain pass. I couldn’t understand the guards, but a few of them can sign. I also met a prisoner—one of the plateau villagers—who has learned to read lips. Between them, I know some of what is happening.

By all means, Elder Chen says. Continue.

Once they realized Fei had made it back up here, they decided to do a forced march up the passes with the soldiers and some of the other village’s prisoners. They’ve apparently had this explosive powder for a while and could have cleared the passes long ago.

This leaves all of us dumbfounded for a moment. By now, I shouldn’t be surprised by the township’s cruelty . . . but it still comes as a shock. We’ve been beholden to the zip line system for so long, given no future except to mine for our survival. If the passes had been clear, we would have had access to trade and travel, not to mention the fertile valleys our ancestors allegedly grew crops in. But then, if we’d had those freedoms, the king and the township would have lost their source of metals.

Why open it now? I ask. It costs them their hold on us: If we can leave the mountain, we no longer have to mine for our food. They no longer get their metals.

That’s why they brought the soldiers and the other prisoners, Li Wei explains. They plan on doing one big push in the mines, using our people and the other displaced miners to get as much metal as possible while the soldiers stand guard and enforce their rule. They want to deplete the mine as quickly as possible, even if it kills the rest of us in the process.

All this because we found out the truth? I say in disbelief. Because I came back and told everyone what was going on?

Now Li Wei turns unexpectedly hesitant, glancing between our audience and me. It’s more than that.

What more can there be? I ask incredulously.

The soldiers interrogated Nuan, he says. They know your secret.

He is speaking carefully, I realize, to protect me. At this point, however, the secret he’s referring to is the least of our worries. I can hear, I tell the others, bracing myself for the disbelief to come. Most of them look as though they think they misunderstood, so I elaborate: It’s true. I have my hearing, just as our ancestors did.

What kind of lies are you spreading now? Sheng asks.

I’m not lying, I reply. I don’t understand how it happened, and I know it sounds crazy. But I can do any test you like to prove it.

It’s true, Li Wei confirms. I’ve seen her prove it. He gives my hand a brief, encouraging squeeze.

The others’ faces are a mix of reactions, both wonder and outright skepticism. Elder Chen looks thoughtful. Did it happen the day you stayed back sick at the school?

Yes, master. It had come to me the previous night in a dream. I was adjusting to it and had a headache. I pause to reconsider my words. Actually, I’m still adjusting. It’s a very . . . disconcerting experience.

Many in the room still look skeptical, but Elder Chen appears to take me at my word, and that faith in me means more than I can say. I would imagine so, he replies. And you think this has something to do with the township’s reaction?

Li Wei nods. When Nuan told them Fei could hear, panic arose among some of their leaders. Apparently the king has been afraid of this happening, that one of us would regain hearing. It’s supposed to be an omen of something, but I’m not sure what. I couldn’t follow all the other prisoners’ signs—they’re different from ours. But the king fears what Fei’s hearing could mean, and that’s why he wanted the mine emptied as quickly as possible. Fei’s hearing is a sign of some change, of something returning that could be a threat to him.

I remember Nuan’s reaction to my hearing and the sign she made. I mimic it and ask Li Wei, Was this part of what they thought was coming? What they feared?

He nods. Yes, something with wings. But I don’t know the sign.

I hear a sharp intake of breath and turn toward Elder Lian. She has gone very pale and looks at Elder Chen, who seems equally shocked. Do you think it could be true? he asks her.

It could be, if what has happened to Fei is real, Elder Lian says.

An apprentice leans on a rack of scrolls in the back of the room, causing them to fall with a clatter. It is out of everyone else’s eyesight, and I jump, startled by the noise.

Elder Chen smiles when he sees what made me flinch. I’d say what’s happened to her is real. And if the rest is as well . . . this could change much.

My patience is rapidly disappearing, and I’m itching to know what he means. I’m grateful that he believes us, that the others here have accepted us for the time being, but now that we’re out of immediate danger, I am growing restless. Zhang Jing is not here. Based on what Li Wei has said, the odds seem good she may have been rounded up with the others being forced to work in the mines. The thought of my sister captured and terrified nauseates me. I worry also about what will happen if they learn her sight is diminished. If they want to empty the mines as quickly as possible, they’re only going to want to keep the healthiest workers. I can’t abandon her and keep myself in this safety.