The Olive Conspiracy Read Free Page B

plan,” said Yael, “or
they’d have all destroyed the same things. There was a catch,
though.”
    “ Oh?”
    “ In order to stay in the contest
and not break the rules, we had to pretend to be a couple already.
Group entry was only open to families.”
    Isaac chuckled. This was exactly his favorite
kind of story. He also wondered if Yael had already been presenting
as female at that point, but as someone who guarded his own
personal information as if his life depended on it, he would never
have actually asked.
    “ So we pretended,” Yael concluded,
“and I guess we forgot to stop pretending. It was… it was magical.
It was God. God’s gifts are great.” Isaac felt a change in her
physiology and would have bet his promised rugelach that tears had
started to form in her eyes. A heavy exhalation reinforced this
impression.
    “ May his memory—”
    “ Thanks,” she interrupted him in a
flat voice. “Sorry.”
    “ You don’t have to apologize for
your feelings.”
    “ I don’t want to be like this when
Ezra shows up.”
    “ Even if you were, I’m sure he’d
think it was just in reaction to him.”
    “ Bloodsucking little
gnat.”
    “ Too bad he’s not,” said Isaac. “If
he were a gnat, I could eat him!”
    There was another knock at the door, and Yael’s
breathing became a loud little wind. “I can do this.”
    “ Yes, of course you
can.”
    He could hear her fingers fumbling on the door
instead of opening it efficiently.
    “ Oh, good morning.”
    It was a man with a basket of eggs. “You don’t
look happy to see me! I promise they’re today’s.”
    “ I’m in mourning, remember?” Yael
said gently.
    “ I am so thoughtless. Here. Take an
extra egg this morning, no charge.”
    “ Thank you, dear.”
    “ He was a good man. Always a good
customer.”
    When Yael and Isaac were alone again, she
started rolling out dough that she’d prepared the day before. “It’s
pretty busy around here!” he commented.
    “ Yes… and it’s only going to get
busier. My help will be here soon, with vegetables and chickens
from the market. I expected Ezra a lot earlier.”
    “ Did he respond to your
message?”
    “ Yes, last night,” said Yael. “He
said he’d be here just after sunup, and that I didn’t have to have
the money with me today—today was just to talk. He said, ‘I’m a
reasonable man.’” There was acid in her voice.
    “ It’s far beyond sunup.”
    “ I know.”
    Once Yael’s two assistants arrived, their arms
full of baskets of raw ingredients, the jig was up. She’d already
told him she didn’t want them involved in something so personal and
awkward, and if Ezra showed up at this point, she wouldn’t have
spoken with him with them around.
    “ I’ll be right back,” she said to
the staff and slipped into the sunlight.
    Isaac hopped off her fingertip and onto the
outside of the building so that he could crawl down the wall
instead of down her body. He transformed and stretched his arms,
his human arms.
    “ Thank you anyway,” said Yael, her
face puzzled. “I don’t know what happened. He seemed so…
organized.”
    “ We’ll be in touch. Please let us
know if you hear from him again.”
    “ Thank you.” She handed him
something. “Here.”
    Isaac grinned when he realized the pouch
contained his favorite pastry, fresh from her morning’s work. “I’m
looking forward to this!”
    He walked back to the palace, the cloak folded
over his arm now that the sun was bright and burning.
    Isaac did not expect the flurry of activity he
faced when he returned home. Horses and carriages were lined up in
the front courtyard, just within the walls, and there were servants
running around in all directions with three times as much urgency
as usual. He furrowed his brow and frowned, considering which was
the likeliest place to find Rivka or Shulamit in case of
emergency.
    A servant noticed him and called out to her
coworker before addressing him directly. “Isaac is back. The