Rebel's Rule (Sim-Verse Book 3) by Allen Kuzara

Author:Allen Kuzara [Kuzara, Allen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-02-16T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

“AH, HERE HE comes,” Eleazar said, pushing back the second helping of some fried starch resembling potatoes, except these were no mere French fries. Whatever they were, Taven wished they had them on Earth. And he knew in time—assuming they weren’t all destroyed by Cat first—that trade between Meyer Corp and whichever simulation that grew these delectable foods would mean just that.

Isham laid a new dish on the ornate tablecloth between Taven and Eleazar. Its contents were still on fire, and Taven thought it might be a dessert. Isham then took a separate plate and briefly covered the flaming dish. With the cover removed and the flames extinguished, subtle smoke rose from the table like blown out birthday candles.

“This, Mr. Smith, is a real treat,” Eleazar said, pointing his knife toward the new food. “The fruit filling comes from a tree that blooms biannually and only in one known sim. We’ve tried transplanting them here and on other worlds but unsuccessfully. It’s a trying puzzle, but alas, your visit was timed well.”

Isham, quiet as always in Eleazar’s presence, turned to leave. “What about him?” Taven asked. “Doesn’t Isham get to try it?”

Eleazar smiled as if amused by a childish notion. “Isham gets only the best. I can promise you that. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes, Sire,” Isham said as he began slicing the dessert.

“Just not now?” Taven prodded. Though warned not to, Taven had decided to return and at least ask for Eleazar’s help. He had decided to exercise caution around the blind leader, but the longer he’d been in Eleazar’s presence, the more comfortable he had become. So far, the blind Gatekeeper had been nothing but generous and magnanimous.

“Isham is working now,” the old man explained. “There’s a time and place for everything, and he’ll get his reward. Don’t worry about that.” Eleazar smiled and turned his head toward Isham as he placed a dish before him. “You see, Taven, everyone works for someone. It’s the nature of things.”

Right as Eleazar took his first bite—bliss on his face—Taven asked, “Who do you work for?”

Instantly, Taven regretted his words, seeing a quiver run over Eleazar’s face, a micro-expression that appeared and vanished in an instant. But the old man upheld his blissful poise and chewed his food slowly before swallowing. Taven tried the dessert and thought it was good, perhaps better than cherry pie but not deserving of all the hoopla. Then Eleazar chased the morsel with a sip of wine before answering Taven’s question.

“Did Isham show you the townspeople today?” Eleazar asked.

Taven’s mouth was now full, but he answered anyway, putting one hand over his mouth as he spoke. “Yeah. They were very kind.” Taven knew that if what Isham had told him was true—that Eleazar literally could see through Isham’s eyes—then he was now being duplicitous. Of course, Taven had seen the townspeople.

“Those people, and the billions of people on hundreds of other sims—I work for them,” Eleazar said. The blind man took another bite, this one swallowed more quickly, and then said, “You look so much like her.

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