The Invasion of the Tearling

“Then why?”


He leaned forward, his remarkably light eyes gleaming in the candlelight. He steepled his hands, and Lily saw that his fingers were scarred and burned in several places. Whatever she had imagined when she thought of the Blue Horizon, it wasn’t this man.

“Tell me, Mrs. Mayhew, have you ever dreamed of a better world?”

“Who hasn’t?”

“Anyone who profits by keeping the world as it is. You and your husband, for instance.”

“I don’t profit by it,” Lily muttered, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

“Maybe not,” he replied, his eyes going to the cut on her forehead. “Profit is a relative thing. But regardless, there’s a better world out there. I see it all the—”

The Englishman broke off abruptly, tilting his head to one side. A moment later, Lily heard it as well: a siren, no more than a couple of streets away.

“Time for me to be going.” He began digging in the medical bag on the table. “I thought I’d need this, but the doctor seems to have done well. Did he leave antibiotics?”

Lily nodded. “I’m supposed to give her one shot per day.”

“Good. Don’t go shopping and forget.”

Lily’s cheeks colored, but she didn’t take the bait. “She can stay?”

“Until I find a safe way to get her out. A few days at most.” He pulled a small white packet from the bag and held it out to Lily. “Take this. Pour a bit in the bath for a few days.”

“Take it for what?”

He stared down at her, his face unreadable. “You put on a good show, Mrs. Mayhew, but men like your husband rarely limit the damage to the outside.”

Lily took the packet, trying not to touch his fingers. “I suppose you think I have options.”

“Oh, I know you don’t.” He closed the flap of his medical bag. “But don’t lose all hope of the better world. It’s out there, so close we can almost touch it.”

“What better world?”

The Englishman paused, deliberating. Lily had thought that his eyes were grey, but now she saw that they were actually bright silver, the color of moonlight on water.

“Picture a world where there are no rich and poor. No luxury, but everyone is fed and clothed and educated and cared for. God controls nothing. Books aren’t forbidden. Women aren’t the lower class. The color of your skin, the circumstances of your birth, these things don’t matter. Kindness and humanity are everything. There are no guns, no surveillance, no drugs, no debt, and greed holds no sway at all.”

Lily fought against his voice, but not hard enough, for she glimpsed his better world for a moment, clear and limned in shades of blue and green: a village of small wooden houses, of pure kindness, beside a river, surrounded by trees.

Wake up, Lily!

She dug her fingernails into her palms. “I’m told that pipe dreams go better with lubricant.”

His shoulders shook with silent amusement. “That’s late night, Mrs. Mayhew. But you did ask the question.”

He opened the patio door and stood framed for a moment in the doorway, listening to the night. He was taller than Greg, Lily saw now, but whereas Greg was still bulky from his football years, this man was agile, with the lithe muscles of a runner or a swimmer. When he turned back to her, she noticed a long, jagged scar running down the side of his neck.

“Do you want to help us further?”

“Help you how?”

“We can always use information. Anything you can pass along via Jonathan would be helpful.”

“How did Jonathan join up with you?”

“That’s his story to tell.”

“How did you get over the New Canaan wall?”

“There are ways through every barrier, Mrs. Mayhew.”

Lily blinked, stunned by the calm assurance of this statement. “Who are you?”

She knew what she would get: no names. The Englishman stepped through the door, and Lily ignored him, staring resolutely at the sleeping woman on the sofa. He had allowed Dorian to stay, but Lily felt as though she had already lost something. Soon they would both be gone, Dorian and this man, and what would Lily have then? A lifetime with Greg, an eternity of nights like tonight. This brief glimpse of another life would make that future a thousand times worse. When the man spoke, his reply was so unexpected that Lily froze in her chair, and by the time she looked up, he had already vanished into the night.

“My name is William Tear.”





BOOK II





CHAPTER 6


EWEN


Even small gestures of kindness have the potential to reap enormous rewards. Only the shortsighted man believes otherwise.