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I slide the robe off the hanger and slip it overfor ht and tall, my chest puffed out, and the robe fits perfectly

In a few minutes, I can hear people start to arrive A a crowd of this lad she’ll be safe in her room, I wish I could walk away from all the other residents of Godspeed and take her to the Bridge myself, just the two of us

The people’s footsteps are heavy on the metal floor, and their talk is loud, totally unlike the quiet, polite whispers that filled the Great Roo

It will take a while for everyone to arrive I can hear Shelby and the other Shippers organizing the group, h roo the the people most likely to cause trouble In the meantime, I sit down on Eldest’s bed I breathe in I breathe out I don’t want to have to speak, not to everyone, but words will be required I will have to do this

There’s a knock on the door I walk across the room and open it Shelby slips inside and shuts the door I wonder how she knew I’d be here rather than in my room, then realize--she probably always assumed I’d be here This is the Eldest’s room, and whether I take his name or not, I’m still him now

"I--oh," she says when she sees me

"Yes?"

"Uaze "The robe? Eldest wore it"

"Yes, but"

"What did you need me for?"

"I think everyone’s here now, sir," she says, squaring her shoulders

For a hter and head to the door It zips open

A wave of silence washes over the entire crowd--those standing nearest the door cease talking immediately, then those behind the over two thousand people looked when they were all looking at you

Their eyes all follow me as I cross the short distance to the dais the Shippers have set up for me

"You chutz!" a voice bellows across the crowded room

The people in the rooh that path is Bartie

"What right do you have to wear that robe?" he shouts His face is red, even the tips of his ears

"I’m--" I stop I can’t say I’m Eldest--I never claimed that title And the robe is for an Eldest only

In the end, it doesn’twitty to say to Bartie, because once he gets close enough to ainst the wall

"The frex?" I say, but my words are drowned out by Bartie’s voice

"Are we going to put up with this?" Bartie roars, turning to the crowd "How can this child dare call us all together and parade in Eldest’s robe? He’s no Eldest--he’s no leader!"

And they cheer hih tointo e

"We deserve a new leader One chosen by us!"

I grab Bartie by the elbow and spin him back around to face ?"

"Your job," he sneers

"I can do it myself!" I shout back

"Oh, really?" He pushesin a quieter voice now--and everyone is listening to him He’s evoked a truer silence than I did When they quit talking for me, that’s all they did, but now they’re not just quiet, they’re listening to hi to his every word "What have you done since Eldest died? Nothing"

"I took you all off Phydus!"

"Not everyone wanted to be off Phydus! What did you do for them? Let them huddle in their homes, scared Let them die in the streets Did you even notice how many of us aren’t here? Have you noticed how many people don’t work? How many have broken down, are scared, are alone? Do you even care?"

"Of course I care!"

Bartie takes a step back, lookingme "You can’t be Eldest if you’re still Elder," he says finally in a voice calh for everyone to hear "And," he adds in a voice so low only I can hear, "you can’t be Eldest if you care for Amy more than Godspeed"

I don’t know if it’s because of his sneer or because a part of ainst his face with all the force I have in me

Bartie looks shocked for a second, but then he recovers and throws an uppercut that catches me under my chin My head jerks back so hard ue I taste blood inside my mouth, and droplets of dark red stain the top of the Eldest Robe