Kevin was waking up too, elbowing sleep out of his eyes, and largely decorated with crumbs. Honesty said, “War, Kevin! It’s gonna be war!” and Kevin just said, “Ugh,” and lay back down in bed, completely unmoved by war.
Desperate for someone’s approval, Honesty dropped to his haunches next to Nona, and bawled: “Nona—what do you think?”
Nona, still feeling as though her ears were stopped up with dreams, wriggled her nose so that she wouldn’t yawn. Her mouth tasted like pencil. She said, with perfect bewilderment: “Who’s here? What’s going to be on the screen?”
“Necromancers, stoopid,” said Honesty.
Then he did have the grace to look at the Angel, as though he were expecting a punishment; but all the Angel did was shake her head and say quietly, “Try not to scare Kevin or Nona, Honesty.”
“Okay—okay,” said Honesty, a little abashed. Then: “I don’t know—the militia’s setting up, all wearing their old uniforms, all getting the netting out. I went to the square and nearly got my head shot off, honestly, they’re all jumpy that people are taking potshots at ’em. I saw some old lady wailing in the street that we were all about to be lined up and executed. Well, they won’t get me.”
The door barrelled open again. It was Born in the Morning and Beautiful Ruby, who had obviously raced each other up the stairs. They were panting like dogs, and Beautiful Ruby had to lean over and brace on his knees and still looked as though he might throw up. Nona was completely awake now. Born in the Morning said, “I won,” and Beautiful Ruby said, “You didn’t—I won on the stairs,” and they squabbled right until Honesty said—
“Boys, really, is this the time?”
“Mum says they’re setting up the screen to tell us which resettlement to go to,” panted Beautiful Ruby.
Born in the Morning said, “They can’t tell us anything—the sky’s still blue. They’ll go crazy. They’re lying.”
“Mum says, doesn’t matter, do it anyway.”
“What does your mum know?”
“At least I’ve got a mum and not only a bunch of mouldy old dads,” fired back Beautiful Ruby.
“Don’t fight,” begged Nona, just as they started to clasp each other around the neck in strangulation positions. “It’s not fair. Too much is going on and I don’t want to think about your fight and the square and the screen.”
The boys untangled from each other, but very reluctantly. It was at this moment of hesitation and surrender that the Angel stood up and said, quietly but in a voice that brooked no rebellion, “Sit down on the mats. All of you.”
This wasn’t hard for Nona, who was sitting down on the mats already. Same with Hot Sauce and Kevin. Born in the Morning and Beautiful Ruby and Honesty all came and flopped themselves down on the mats one by one. It didn’t seem like any of the other kids had come back, only their gang. Nona was grateful in a way; she thought the tinies all ought to be at home.
The Angel said, “I want to ask you to promise—all on your honour—that none of you will go to the screening tonight. If your families want to go, fine. But that’s not going to be a place for children.”
Honesty said, “Who’s a kid?” and the Angel said, “You are. Keep in mind, I’ve seen this before, House overtures. Tempers run high … there will be people who make decisions before they really think about them … and if you’re there, and one of you gets hurt, that’s going to add to the fracas. I don’t want to see your bodies paraded through the streets and your mugs up on photographs, for one cause or the other.”
They were all silent. The Angel said, “Promise me, kids, please. I know you’re an honourable bunch. Especially you, Honesty.”
Honesty was touched.
“I am—so I won’t,” he said. “I swear. I mean, I could make a killing, so you’ve got me by the balls here.”
“Please never say that again,” said the Angel.
“I won’t go either,” said Beautiful Ruby, and Born in the Morning said more reluctantly— “Younger Brother Father might want me to go, he sometimes does.” Then Honesty gave him a really good burn twist on the arm so that the skin went dark red, and he yowled and said, “But I won’t! Stop it!”
Hot Sauce said, “I won’t.”
And that seemed to be that—the Angel didn’t ask Nona—but Nona was a little bit troubled. She was sitting at the back as the oldest, and she was very close to Hot Sauce, so only she could see that Hot Sauce had crossed her fingers.