by C J M Naylor
"Saturday the twelfth," Mathias answered, "is that an issue?"
"Well, I made plans with my closest friend.”
"Cancel them.”
I didn't say another word. I knew it would be pointless. This ball had been in the works for at least a month and other people would be attending it. I had to go. Guilt sprang up inside me as I thought about having to tell Bridget.
"That is all for today," Mathias said, "I have business to attend to. Be here around five o'clock Saturday to get ready. The ball will commence at seven o'clock."
"Won't it look a little suspicious if a large group of people arrive well-dressed at Big Ben?"
"Actually, they won't be arriving the way you think," Mathias said. "The Time Line uses an ancient magic, allowing us to travel. While we can travel through time, we can also travel through current time to another destination. This is something you have yet to learn."
I didn't press him for any more questions. He walked ahead of me, out of the room and I made my way out of the Headquarters.
Bridget's building was colder than usual. I made my way up to her flat and knocked on the door. She opened it and let me in.
"Abigail," Bridget said, "what are you doing here? I didn't think I'd see you again today."
I walked over to the divan and took a seat, crossing my legs casually. What I was about to say to Bridget was something that I didn't want to say. Once again, I had to completely cancel our plans for something else. I wasn't even sure where this would take our relationship.
"Well it's about Saturday," I said. The smile started to fade off of her face. "I forgot that my father had planned something and I cannot cancel it. It is important and I'm terribly sorry."
"Maybe if you talked to your father, it could be rescheduled."
"It can't be. It's pretty big."
"Well, maybe I could go with you.”
"I'm sorry Bridget, but you cannot come. It is a private event."
The look on Bridget's face tore my heart apart. I was throwing away the things that were most important to me for the secrets of my past.
"Oh," Bridget said. "Well that's okay. We'll just figure something out for another time."
I stood up and walked over to her.
"Bridget, I really am sorry. I didn't mean to do this. It is completely my fault."
"Abby, it's okay. We'll figure it out later. But I have a class to get to."
"Alright.”
I left Bridget's flat feeling even worse than when I had come.
February 1944
Music was in the air. I could hear it coming through the door of the bedroom I was in. I looked at myself in the mirror. The girl staring back was me—but she was not me.
The gown that my father had purchased was beautiful, but at the same time it felt like something I did not deserve to wear. With the war going on, clothes were being rationed and growing increasingly more expensive. My mother would not even consider buying this gown for any reason. There just wasn't a reason to go to a ball with a war going on. But here I was.
I looked at myself for a moment longer, admiring my hair, which fell in elegant curls down the small of my back. If my mother could see me, I knew she would say I was beautiful. My heart pounded however when I remembered these secrets that I continued to keep from her. I knew she did not need to know, may even want to know, but still I had a heavy heart.
There was a knock at the door and then it opened. Mathias stood in the doorway. He was wearing an elegant, black evening suit.
He appeared taken aback for a moment.
"You look so much like her. Except for your hair of course. My hair." He blushed and he turned away from me. "Sorry," he muttered quietly.
I walked forward. For the first time, I felt sorry for him and wanted to hug him.
"It's okay. Did she like to go to parties?"
He smiled a rare smile. "She hated the idea of having to go to a party, but when she was there she was the life of them. Anyway, it's time."
I followed Mathias out the door and closed it behind me.
"What exactly is going to happen?" I asked quietly. I was nervous. I was about to meet people I had never met; yet they supposedly knew all about me.
"You will be introduced to the party," Mathias said. "Then there will be food and dancing. It is expected of you to go around and mingle with the other Timekeepers. The council will be there and they will be watching. They like to see a Timekeeper be friendly and sociable. As you can imagine, I am not very high on their list of Timekeepers."
"Why do they let you stay then?" I asked him. I realized then that that was rather rude. Sure, I had been rude to him before, but I still did not believe he deserved such a harsh criticism. "I'm sorry, I was just curious."
He tried to smile, but I could see sadness in his eyes. I knew he knew. He saw what I saw. I saw him as a lonely man with no one in his life. I would not be surprised if none of the other Timekeepers called him a friend. Nor would I be surprised if this was the first time they had seen him in years.
"My family has been entrusted with the Timekeeping of this country as well as this Headquarters for years," Mathias answered. "They know that I am very knowledgeable in what I do and that I received the highest training. Because of those things, they tend to disregard my social inadequacies. However, that does not mean they show me mercy at parties. I'm sure I will be the punch line of many jokes tonight as well as the person being judged. Anyways, at the end of the ball, you will be recognized as a student of Timekeeping and recognized as a Timekeeper in training. Let's go."
Mathias led me through the usual doors that would take us to the grand ballroom. As we got closer to the ballroom's entrance, I could hear the music growing louder. It sounded like he had hired an orchestra for the ball. Judging by the expensive dress I was wearing, I would not be surprised.
Ian met us just outside the ballroom. He was also wearing a lovely suit and looked very handsome.
"You clean up well," I noted.
"As do you," Ian said.
Mathias smiled and reached out and opened the door to the ballroom. I nearly fainted.
Before, when I’d imagined the party and other Timekeepers, I thought there might be maybe twenty people or so. I did not think that for each country and each Timekeeper there would also be that Timekeeper’s family. The room was full of people. Granted it was a large ballroom, but still, I was expected to mingle with everyone here?
All eyes turned on me as my father led me further into the room. After a few moments, Ian seemed to disappear into the crowd. I wished he hadn't. I could feel the eyes staring me down, judging me. I could guess the thoughts going through their mind. Is she like her mother or her father? If she's like her father then she must be a cold, calculating, unsociable, Timekeeper. If she's like her mother well, well I was not sure because I did not get the chance to know my mother. I let my eyes wander up to the high ceiling. How far under Big Ben was this place? The ceiling was a vaulted ceiling and was fairly high. Did the Timekeepers build this place first? Perhaps Big Ben was built on top of the place.
"Mathias," I heard a gruff voice say. "Very, very long time and absolutely no see."
Was that supposed to be funny? The man standing in front of Mathias had a British accent. A long, jagged scar fell down the left side of his face. I caught myself staring at it for an unnecessary extended period of time. Much to my dismay, I realized this man was now looking at me looking at him and his scar.
"Stuart," Mathias replied. "What a pleasure it is. Abigail, this is Lead Councilor Stuart Winston."
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss Benedict," Councilor Winston responded. He extended his hand and I extended mine.
"A pleasure indeed," I replied. "Also, sir, it is actually Miss Jordan." I saw Mathias give me a quick angered look out of the corner of my eye. But it disappeared as soon as it had come.
Councilor Winston smiled at me and I cringed at the horrible movement his scar made when he smiled.
I didn't really search for my father, but I guess I would let him call it that.
"Pardon my questions," I said, "but I thought my father and I were the only British Timekeepers? Or am I missing something in the system?"
Councilor Winston gave a hearty laugh before responding to my question.
"Ah, well you will find that many of the Timekeepers are actually British as well as Americans of the Caucasian race. We did have mixed Timekeepers at one point, but they were eliminated in the 1800's when we had, shall we say, a bloody disagreement. Pardon my pun. However, unfortunately, it appears that many of our Timekeeper men are choosing biracial women, so I'm sure we will begin to see more diversity here in the future."
I couldn't tell if he was deliberately trying to be, as Phillip would put it, a pompous arse, or if he was born that way. Regardless, the words he used really heated my blood. My parents had raised me to respect everyone, no matter who they were and what they did. I was not the judge of anyone and everyone was created equally. I truly wanted to stomp on this man's foot and turn on my heel. However, I knew that strong words had a strong ability and so I chose my next statement carefully.
"I must say. I think it is great that there was much diversity within the Timekeepers and I'm glad that that is returning."
"I'm sure you would be, considering you're a woman and all."
"I'd rather be a woman than an old bigot like you."
I turned on my heel and walked to the other side of the room where I could smell the delightful scent of good food.
A hand gripped my arm and I turned to look at whoever was touching me. It was a man I didn't recognize with vibrant blue eyes and sandy blonde hair that came down to his chin. He looked to be in his late thirties or early forties. His age did not detract anything from his handsome features.
"Can I help you?" I asked.
"I do apologize," he said. "But I wondered if I could speak with you privately?"
I looked around the ballroom and from a distance I could see Ian giving me a suspicious look. I smiled at him, hopefully sending the signal that everything was okay.
"I don't think now is the best time," I responded.
"Please," he insisted. And then he lowered his voice and leaned in close to my ear. "It is about your mother—your biological mother—Elisabeth."
I froze and looked him in the eye.
"What do you know?"
He shook his head.
"Not here," he said. "Privately? Please?"
I cleared my throat and then nodded. I led him out of the ballroom and into a hallway off of it. I closed the door behind us and then turned to him.
"Who are you?" I immediately asked.
"My name is Elijah, and that's all that I can tell you about myself for now. But you need to listen. I know—well, knew—your mother. I knew her very well and she didn't want this life for you. She didn't want you to become involved with your father. I spoke with her shortly before her death and she told me she would leave you with a letter saying that your father was dead because she didn't want you to search for him and find out about this world."
I stood there, completely silent. It felt like so much had been answered in a span of seconds yet even more questions came to my mind.
"How do you know all of this? How did you know her?"
"I can't talk about myself. I just need you to know that tonight will seal your fate. You are a part of a prophecy—a prophecy that was made thousands of years ago when there was only one Timekeeper—a Timekeeper that passed on her powers to a young girl. That girl was part of the original family. The stories that our people claim are only legends are all true. And this prophecy isn't good. You have to make sure you do not fulfill it."
"This is too much," I said. "Why would my mother not want me to be a part of this world? What if I made a mistake and saved someone from death? Death would take me instead. That is what Mathias told me. Why wouldn't she want me to know these things?"
He gave me a suspicious look and then shook his head.
"Abigail, I don't know what your father told you, but that only applies after you have been initiated. Tonight, you will be binding yourself to a contract with time. Only then do the rules and laws of our world truly apply to you. If you saved someone from death, death would only find another way to take them. After tonight though, the law will apply to you. But I'm afraid to say that it's different for you. Your mother was a Timekeeper. She was one of the last remaining descendants of the original family—until you.
"The original family is subjected to a harsher punishment. Essentially, they are a part of time. It is in their blood. They are the sole protector of the Time Line. Everything works differently for them. If they were to interfere with a premonition of death, it would upset the balance of our world. Time would literally stop. The world would be subjected to nature’s harshest punishments until there was nothing left but the original Timekeepers and a wasteland where humanity once lived. You cannot interfere with a premonition of death after tonight. You will survive, but the world will not."
I just stood there. I didn't know if it was true. If it was true, then Mathias had lied to me in the most terrible of ways. He had taken away my choice. He had taken away my free will.
"How do I know you are telling the truth?"
"I have no way to prove that to you, except to say that how could I know about the letter your mother left for you?"
"Maybe you killed her."
I saw a look of hurt in his eyes and he looked away from me. "I would have never harmed her. And I don't know who did. She would only tell me that she was in danger, but not from who. She wanted to keep me out of it as much as she tried to keep you out of it. You have to believe me. Don't make her death meaningless."
"I do. I'm going to leave here tonight. I'm never going to talk to him again."
"I never got to know Mathias," Elijah said. "So, I cannot attest to his character. But Abigail, you have been discovered. Whoever is trying to make this prophecy come true knows about you now. They know who you are and they know where you came from. They were in the dark because your mother gave you up under a name only she herself knew with a letter she hoped would keep you out of this world. They will find another way to make this all happen. Leaving tonight won't do anything. I'm telling you now so that you have the advantage—so that you have the chance to do something—to fight back."
Footsteps could be heard coming down the hall. I turned around and looked to see where they were coming from and saw Mathias heading toward me. I turned back around and was surprised to find no one there. Elijah was gone. It was as if he had never been there.
"What are you doing in here?" I heard Mathias ask from behind.
I didn't look at him. I continued to look in the opposite direction. Once again, I was going to remain silent and not confront him. But I didn't trust him now. How could I? This was my life he was gambling with.
"I just needed to get away," I said quietly.
He walked in front of me to look me in the eye. "Abigail, that was not acceptable." It took me a minute to remember what he was referring to. And then I remembered—Councilor Winston.
"And what he said was?" I spat back.
More footsteps could be heard and I turned to see Ian heading toward us.
"What are we discussing here?" he asked. We told him about Councilor Winston and how horrid he had been.
"I despise that man," Ian added.
"But was what he said, acceptable?" I asked.
Mathias put his face in his hands and sighed.
"No," he responded, "but Stuart is the Lead Councilor. Believe me, I, nor many of the people on the council, agree with some of the things the man says. But unfortunately, we still have to deal with him. Besides, he won't be in the role for too much longer. The council members take turns serving as lead, and soon he will be leaving the council
and someone else will take the role."
I looked at my father. "I don't care about any of that. He is a disgusting person and I want nothing to do with him. If there are others like him, then I'm not sure about this Timekeeping thing." If I actually had a choice, I wasn't sure about this Timekeeping thing. But of course, I kept that to myself.
"Abigail," Mathias said, "this has nothing to do with Timekeeping. This has to do with your own personal ideals and beliefs. Believe me, I have my own, and I hold yours in the highest regard. But it does not matter where you go in this world. There will always be a place where discrimination is found."
I looked away from him. I knew what he was saying was true. Even the kindest people could be judgmental toward others. It was what made us human. But I still could not fathom how someone like Councilor Winston could be so horrible or how someone like Mathias, my father, could keep secrets from me.
"So, what happened to the Timekeepers who were of a different race?" I asked Mathias.
"There was a lot of indifference in the 1800's about having only white Timekeepers," Mathias answered. "This came about just about the same time as it did in the world. Apparently, a group of white Timekeepers formed and announced a meeting one day. The sole purpose was to eliminate anyone who did not fit in with what they believed constituted a Timekeeper. Meaning anyone that was not white was killed. The group was punished and replaced. However, there was so much fear amongst the Timekeepers that anyone who was not white stopped practicing and left the Timekeeper’s society. They were replaced. If you look around, you will see some Timekeepers here with their family and they are indeed a different race. Diversity is returning thankfully, but it is a slow process."
"That's horrible. Why would anyone do that?"
"If people see something different than them," Ian said, "they jump at the chance to despise that difference."
"Man is not all good Abigail," Mathias responded. "When someone lets themselves be lost to an unhealthy ideal they become hungry for power. It has been a part of this world for thousands of years. It was present when this society was founded by the Timekeeping family."