With Lunae gone, Fulch wondered if he should reveal his powers, but luckily Narutay stepped in.
“What was all that about?” he said. Artitay looked angry.
“Your excellency, you heard what I said, why’d you go against us?” Artitay said.
“I don’t believe it! Where do you get this information from?” Narutay demanded. Artitay looked puzzled.
“From the gifted one, of course, he also warned us that they convinced you to go against the water, but I can’t believe it,” he said, but Narutay realized not all did. They were ready to strike; he knew that he had to play his cards right.
“No, of course not, I’m sorry, my friend, I’m just in disbelief, you may go now,” Narutay said. Artitay ordered everyone out, but some were reluctant. Once alone, Narutay looked terrified.
“We have to get out of here, now!” Narutay said. Fulch nodded; he had questions, but they would have to wait until they were safe. Fulch wanted to tell Narutay about his powers, but he knew that he didn’t have enough information to make that decision. They walked out of the hall, and two soldiers were waiting for them.
“You must come with us,” one said. Narutay didn’t know what to do. Fulch looked over at Nartuck and realized that this man might be useless. So he decided to jump in.
“Please, we are going to see the factory. I must bring this technology back to my people,” Fulch said. This made the guards unsure what to do next. Mainly because the Porpura people had been trying to share their technology with the Piskalians for some time, and this was a big move for them to expand.
“Please, this is a big step, and I don’t want him to feel pressured,” Narutay said. Right at that moment, Artitay showed back up.
“You two! What are you doing? Back to your posts at once!” He said. They were clearly aggravated by this and left. He bowed and walked off. Fulch was taking inventory of these men, putting them in categories of who to trust and the ones they couldn’t. He remembered what the Master had said to him so long ago.
“Watch and observe, see their eyes, look deep inside, you’ll know who to trust,” the Master said, putting his hand on young Fulch’s shoulder. That was the first time he went on a mission with the Master, and then Fulch felt utterly sad at that moment.
“I have a place we can hide, but we need to leave the city,” Fulch finally said. Narutay looked at him, and this was the first time Fulch looked into his eyes. He was scared and desperate; nothing in his eyes showed that he was deceiving him.
“Okay, we can go through the servant hallways; we shouldn’t be disturbed, and they lead right out of the palace,” Narutay said. Fulch laid out his hand, waiting for him to show the way. Narutay walked with haste, and quickly Fulch followed. Then Narutay came to a wall and pressed it, and a door opened up. They walked in, the door closing behind them. The hall had a purple light to it, and it seemed to calm Narutay down; he took a deep breath loud enough for Fulch to hear.
“We should stay quiet and move fast,” He said. Fulch was having a hard time seeing; the only thing that helped was seeing the water flow in Narutay. Luckily, they passed the hallways with no one noticing them, and soon they were out of the palace.
They seemed to be surrounded by farmland. As they were walking through, Fulch recognized some of the food, but there was one that caught his eye. He looked at it, and inside it looked like boiling water. Fulch had to focus hard to see things normally. It was blue with bulges of purple and yellow. Fulch stopped walking and just stared at this strange food.
“Ah, I see you have noticed our fruit. Frayusha, it’s called. I named my daughter that. It’s our holy plant, it lets you see the water,” Narutay said. This fascinated Fulch.
“We have to take some,” Fulch said. Narutay looked around.
“We have to do it quickly,” He said. He went up to the bush and checked to see its ripeness, and when he found ones that were the desired touch, he took them off the bush. Luckily, Fulch used his sack to put some in, and as they were finishing up, someone noticed them.
“Hey! Stop!” the man said. Narutay yelled for them to run, and they did. Soon they were out of the city, and Narutay was laughing.
“I cannot believe this!” he said. Fulch was confused. Narutay seemed hysterical.
“You must breathe,” Fulch said. That is when Narutay fell to his knees, laughing and hyperventilating.
“Frayusha, my daughter, how will I know she’ll be safe. She is all I have, and he will exploit her. She is strong willed, yes, but also very naive. We must go back!” Narutay said, grabbing onto Fulch’s clothes. Fulch wanted to lash back at him, but soon realized he needed a softer touch.
“If we go back, we will put her in more danger. We need someone on the inside if we mean to take back control,” Fulch said, unsure where these words had come from, but did not fight himself because they seemed to be working. This seemed to calm Narutay down, and he stood back up.
“Take me to this place, and I’ll tell you all you want to know,” Narutay said. They left the farmlands and were at the forest’s edge. Fulch looked around and was uncertain where to go.
“Which way?” Narutay asked, clearly worried. Fulch looked back at the city and realized they weren’t that far. So he tried to find the droplets of water he saw the first time. He picked a direction, hoping it was the right way. As they were walking, they heard soldiers yelling at each other to find the Narutay.
“Run!” Narutay said, and they were off. Fear consumed him, making him push Fulch and telling him to go faster, and he kept questioning where this place was. When all seemed lost, the soldiers were gaining on them. Fulch finally saw it.
“Over here!” Fulch said, running into the cave. Narutay looked back and didn’t see Fulch entering the cave. When he looked for him, he didn’t see him.
“Don’t leave me, please!” Narutay screamed out. Fulch peeked outside of the cave, and relief fell over Narutay. He then went into the cave and watched the soldiers go by without even noticing the entrance.
“Sorry, my friend, I should not have doubted you,” Narutay said. Fulch chuckled.
“Don’t call me friend yet, I’m still trying to determine if you should live,” Fulch said. Narutay was cautious, knowing full well that the wrong thing said would lead to his death.
“You want to know about Shardoe?” He said. Fulch tensed up.
“Was that the man we saw in the hall who told you goodbye?” Fulch asked. Narutay nodded.
“We call him the gifted one because he can speak with the water. He’s been training our priests to use the water. He has this ability to enable them to enhance their water abilities. He’s been guiding us for twenty years now. Frayusha doesn’t trust him; she has always spied on him, and she was the one to come up to me and warn me that he can control the water. I, of course, thought she was imagining things, but after you two were coming to kill me, that made me certain,” Narutay said. Fulch contemplated what he was saying and wished Lunae were there.
“So this Shardoe, where did he come from?” Fulch said, hoping to get more of the back story. Narutay looked ashamed.
“I never found out where he came from. I have asked over the years, but he always brushed it off. I truthfully was more concerned with what he could do for us that I didn’t care. I was greedy,” he said. This made Fulch think; he desperately wanted the Master here, he knew more about the history of the water best.
“We need to get to the temple for answers. We’ll wait for Lunae to return to us, and then we’ll go,” Fulch said. Narutay was uncertain if he was still in danger of being killed, but he knew he had to tread carefully. Fulch wondered if Lunae was safe. There were so many questions, and he needed to know if she was alright. He just prayed the temple would give Lunae answers.