The others hesitantly moved away, obeying their leader despite urges to do otherwise. Even Amelia began moving with the crowd.
Jak kept her feet planted. “This is not right.” she said, wanting nothing more than to pick up some pebbles from the beach, brand them, and send them exploding at the Watchers.
Seph leaned against the cliff face, his back exposed. “There will always be something not right with the world.” he muttered, almost soft enough that Jak could not hear. “I can only hope that my suffering will be a learning experience for others.” He glanced at Jak, then at the Watcher holding a whip, who dropped his head. “Do what you came here to do.”
The whip cracked out, and Jak felt herself flinch with each sound. Seph made no sound at first, though after the fifth lashing he cried out and collapsed against the stone. Each lashing after that brought a soft grunt. Stragglers from the congregation stood far off, their heads bowed. Jak kept her feet rooted to the spot. She knew that these Watchers were just doing their jobs, but she found herself hating them, hating that she had ever called herself a Watcher, or ever wanted to be a part of them. How could they carry out a sentence that was so obviously unfair?
A glance at Estel made Jak’s blood grow hot. The girl was fascinated as she watched Seph’s punishment. Her mouth was open and her tongue licked her teeth as if entranced by what she saw.
The girl caught Jak’s furious gaze and smiled. Right then, the only thing keeping Jak from launching herself at Estel was Seph’s request that she stay out of it. But Estel’s time would come. Jak was sure about that.
When the Watcher finished, Jak moved forward to help Seph up. A few others who remained helped her do so. One woman, with smooth, tanned cheeks and light brown hair that seemed to blend in with her skin, helped Jak support Seph. “I’ll take him to my house. I know a few things about healing herbs. He should be safe there.”
“Seph,” Jak whispered before the woman could take him away. “You don’t have any brands. I could give you a Healing brand and it would help with this.”
“No, Jak.” His words were more forceful than Jak would have expected. “I will not take a brand, not even from you.”
With that, he managed to stand on his feet and walk beside the smooth-faced woman, wincing with each step, but standing tall.
“Come on,” The lead Watcher waved at his comrades. “We’re done here.” His face clearly showed that he was not happy with what he had done. But Jak didn’t care if he felt any remorse.
“I hope you’re happy.” She said to them as they mounted their horses. “Especially you, Estel.”
Estel turned in her saddle to face Jak. “You always do associate with the wrong sort.” She said, glee evident in her eyes. “Be careful, or it will get you into trouble.”
“You will pay for this.” Jak growled. She had never hated someone so much than she did in that moment.
“Don’t count on it.” Estel said. “These are only the first steps the queen is making to purify the kingdom of troublemakers.”
“What do you mean?” Jak felt fear rise in her throat.
Estel leaned down in her saddle towards Jak . “Let’s just say your fishy friends won’t be around much longer.”
“Estel,” Jak felt her face grow pale. “You promised Gabriel. No one was to know.”
“Gabriel hardly has more authority than the queen.” And with that she turned in the saddle and rode off, leaving Jak alone with the remaining stragglers on the beach.
Amelia approached Jak. “Are you okay? That didn’t go at all like I thought it would. I’m sorry if…”
“The Water Fae are in trouble.”
“Who?”
“The student excavators I told you about. The ones who transformed. I think the queen knows about them and plans to hurt them or... or maybe kill them.”
Amelia’s face grew pale. “What can we do?”
“I...I don’t know. Let me think.”
She racked her brain, feeling the pressure muddle her thinking. “Well, we should start by going to see if Gabriel is around. He’ll know what to do.”
“And if he’s not?”
“I don’t know, okay!” Jak shouted. Amelia recoiled from Jak’s raised voice. Jak instantly regretted it. “Hey, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to shout. This is all just a bit much all at once.”
“I understand,” Amelia sounded far more empathetic than usual. “Come on, let’s get back to the college.”
Jak followed Amelia this time, letting her friend lead. She was too caught up trying to figure out what to do. This was exactly why she avoided situations like these. If she couldn’t keep a straight head then others would suffer as a result.
A half-hour later, they arrived back at the college. Semwei and the rest of the students were already back from their trip to the cathedral, and Jak quickly sought out the Headmistress as they entered.
“Headmistress!” Amelia called out as they neared her. Jak was glad Amelia was doing the talking. She wasn’t sure she could say anything coherent at the moment.
“What is it, you two?” Semwei said, concern slowly forming on her face as she saw how distressed Jak appeared.
“Is my grandfather around?” Amelia asked, trying and failing to sound casual.
“I’m afraid not, girl. He was here this morning, but set off again with some supplies for the students excavating along the coast.”
He had been here this morning! Jak nearly groaned. She had wanted to talk to him for a while, and he hadn’t even taken the time to say hi before turning around and going back the way he came. Though perhaps Semwei had told him about Estel trying to steal the Relic.
“Did you tell him about someone trying to break in?” She asked. Semwei turned to regard her.
“Yes I did, and this time he took the...ahem...object in question with him so no one could attempt to steal it while he was gone.”
Instead of comforting Jak, this news only made her worry more. Turning to Amelia, she silently indicated they should leave. Amelia nodded and the two left Semwei without even saying goodbye, and didn’t stop until they were in Jak’s room.
“I think maybe Gabriel’s in trouble too.”
“What makes you say that.” Amelia asked, concern for her grandfather evident on her face.
“It’s too much of a coincidence. Think about it. The queen chooses now to silence Seph and his followers, on the same day that Gabriel takes the Relic out of his defenses, and to top it off, Estel hints that the Water Fae might be in danger. The queen is making all her moves at once!”
“But hold up a second, why would she even want to do that? What does it gain?”
“I don’t know, but you saw what they did to Seph, the queen isn’t fooling around. And besides, I think it might be all her advisor’s doing, the Royal Priest.”
Then she told Amelia about the suspicion she and Naem had that the Royal Priest could be a demon in hiding, much as Kuldain had been. Amelia listened with mouth open. “So you’re saying a demon could be causing all of this?”
“It would make sense. Why else would the queen want to eliminate the Fae? And when I met with both of them, he made me very uncomfortable. He honestly felt like Kuldain. But right now, that’s not important.”
“Why not?”
“Because we need to focus on helping the Fae first, then we can worry about the Royal Priest. We need to leave the college tonight, find them, and make sure they get out of there as soon as possible.”
“How are we supposed to get there in time?” Amelia’s face was hard to read for once. Jak realized that there were probably two conflicting emotions in Amelia’s head right now: excitement for the adventure, but worry for Gabriel and the others.
Saying all her thoughts out loud was helping Jak. She was beginning to see the path before them much clearer. “I think I know someone who can help.”
They arrived at the Watcher camp not long after. Jak showed the guard her letter that let her pass. Amelia waited outside.
>
Once inside, it thankfully did not take long to locate Naem. He was at the training grounds, running through a few light exercises. Upon seeing her, he stopped and walked to meet her. There was an excited look on his face.
Of course, she remembered. Just yesterday she had suggested they spend some time away from each other. Well so much for that.
“Hey, Jak. I’m so glad you’re here.” Naem bore a hopeful expression as he trotted to meet her.
“I wish I could come under better circumstances, but I need your help.” she said as soon as she was close enough.
“Anything, what’s up?”
Jak explained the situation from the beginning, but glanced over some of the details, as they were in a hurry.
“I need some horses,” she finished. “I thought you could get us some. For me and Amelia.”
“I could, but they won’t just let me give them to you.” Naem said, his hand characteristically rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ll have to go with you.”
It wasn’t perfect but Jak had no time to argue. “Alright,” she said. “We’ll wait for you outside.”
It took far too long in Jak’s opinion before Naem emerged from the Watcher camp leading three horses behind him. Jak barely managed a thank you before she mounted her horse and took off as fast as she dared in the city. Naem quickly followed while Amelia took some time to catch up. She was used to riding a horse, but hadn’t done so in a while. Jak, on the other hand, had grown up with two horses. She knew exactly how to ride.
“Wait up, Jak!” Naem called from behind, but Jak would not slow down now. They exited Skyecliff through the south gate and once free of the hustle and bustle of the city, Jak increased her horse’s pace. Naem and Amelia eventually managed to keep pace behind her, but only when she was forced to stop and rest the horse once its breathing grew too heavy.
They rode for about an hour. Jak wasn’t sure if she was glad that they passed no one on the way there, apart from a few merchants. Hopefully that meant that anyone who meant harm to the Water Fae, or Gabriel, had not yet returned from doing so.
The sun was setting by the time they arrived at the inlet. Naem and Amelia closed the distance between them and Jak as she slowed and dismounted. The inlet was quiet save for the sound of the ocean in the distance. Without the sound of her horse’s hooves, Jak thought she could have heard a pin drop. All was still.
She led Amelia and Naem inside the cave, following the stream that came from inside. Jak grabbed a fallen stick from a nearby tree and quickly gave it a Flamedancer brand. She gave it a slight variation of the brand that she had learned, which caused the stick to glow with a fiery pattern, yet not catch fire itself. She heard Amelia make a sound of admiration behind her, but she was too determined to look back yet.
Then Jak heard something. A muffled sound that she couldn’t quite make out. She waved her torch ahead of her. Something was lying on the ground ahead, right next to the pool where the Water Fae lived.
As she approached she realized it was Gabriel. His head was bleeding, and his pack lay spilled out on the ground. As they approached, he looked up and met Jak’s gaze.
“They’re gone.” He said. “They took them away, them and the Relic.” His voice wavered, clearly disoriented from the blow to his head. But his words chilled Jak to the core. She looked to the pool of water and saw no one. No Fae, no students.
The queen’s men had arrived first.
12
It took more time to return than it had to get there. This time they were bringing Gabriel with them, and the man was not in the best of shape. He was still partly delirious from the blow to his head and kept nearly slipping off the horse. Eventually, they had to tie him to Naem on his horse, and Jak and Amelia took positions in front and back to make sure nothing worse happened.
Jak’s mind was blank. All she could do was simply stare at the path in front of her. She said nothing when Naem or Amelia tried to talk to her. For the longest time, she felt Gabriel was her savior, and that he would solve all her problems and leave her with the sole responsibility of learning. But it looked like not even he could handle everything that was being thrown at them.
The Water Fae were gone, probably being tortured or worse in the queen’s palace… if they were even alive at all. No, she had to believe they were still alive, otherwise, they would have been slaughtered where they were, instead of carted off.
Jak was pretty sure, now, that the merchants they had passed on the way were actually the queen’s guards in disguise. They had been carrying large wagons full of items to trade. Perhaps the Fae had been hidden inside. Why Jak had not thought to search any large containers on the way there...well it was too late now.
When they arrived back at the college, Semwei forgot how angry she was at Jak and Amelia for sneaking away as soon as she saw Gabriel. Without a word to Jak and Amelia, she took charge and ordered another student to bring a doctor. Then she helped the three of them carry Gabriel to his quarters. Apparently, Gabriel had lowered the defenses on his room the last time he was here, when he took the Relic with him because now they could enter unopposed and lay him on the bed.
“Th..thank…” Gabriel said, his eyes still unable to focus.
“You girl,” Semwei said to Amelia. “Go and get some cool water and a towel.”
Amelia didn’t argue, and immediately left the room.
That was when Jak realized how interesting Gabriel’s room was on the inside. The walls were covered with a huge map, several drawings, and bits of paper with words written on them. Small threads connected some of these papers with places on the map, or with other drawings or inscriptions. The map wasn’t just of Skyecliff but of the entire nation, from one coast to the other. Jak could see Tradehall and Foothold, even Riverbrook had a place.
What was Gabriel researching?
“And you girl,” Semwei caught her staring at the room. “I think it’s best if you give Gabriel a little space. Why don’t you head off to bed? Your Watcher friend should leave as well.”
Her tone was kind, but Jak felt sorrow sink into her. The last thing she wanted was to be alone now. If alone, her thoughts of failure would only overwhelm her.
But Naem agreed and began to exit the room. When Jak did not follow, he returned and took her hand to lead her out. She followed without protest. They exited the room just as the doctor showed up, his eyes still blinking from waking so early. Good, at least someone could take care of Gabriel. There was nothing Jak could do.
They walked towards the exit. Naem finally spoke. “I’m sorry about all this. I know he meant a lot to you. At least we can be certain the Water Fae is not dead. Not if they were taken like that.”
“Wherever they are,” Jak spoke for the first time all night. “It can’t be good.”
“Who knows,” Naem tried to add some cheer to his voice. “Perhaps we’re overthinking things. Perhaps they just want to keep the Fae protected from anyone finding them by chance, maybe they just want to learn more. We shouldn’t judge them.”
Jak looked at him amazed. “You know very well that the chances of that are slim.”
“But we can’t just assume their actions are hostile. Maybe they want to help.”
Jak folded her arms. Naem hadn’t been there to see what happened to Seph, he wouldn’t know that the queen ordered it herself, personally. With that on her mind, Jak couldn’t just assume that the queen or any of her followers meant any good to happen to the Fae. But to her, at that moment, that didn’t excuse Naem.
“I think you’d better go now,” she said finally.
Naem’s face grew still, and he looked like he was about to say something. Jak avoided his gaze. Eventually, without another word, Naem retreated to the lashing poll and retrieved the three horses, leading them back to the Watcher camp. Jak watched him go until he disappeared over the hill. Then it began to rain in the darkness.
At first, Jak was ready to go back inside. But something else moved her. She took a step forward,
then another, away from the college. Soon, her walk broke into a run, and she realized where her subconscious wanted her to go. She ran to the market square, mostly empty at this time of night, and found the switchbacks that led her to the cold spires of the cathedral. Her breathing was heavy from the run, her hair was wet and matted against her face, but she still managed to face down the two guards that stood outside the cathedral.
“I need to see the Royal Priest.” Her voice was cold but strong. Stronger than Jak felt.
“He doesn’t see just anyone. Certainly not someone in your condition.”
“I’m a student at the college, we’re allowed in.”
One guard glanced at the other. “Hey, isn’t she the one, the Priest, wanted to see if she ever would come? See the hair?”
Even in the darkness, Jak’s red streak of hair was clearly visible. She turned her head to make it more visible. “Why does he want to see me?”
“Don’t know, but you can go in Miss. Provided we search you, of course.”
Jak held out her arms as they checked for weapons. Once done, they nodded and allowed her in. Jak wasn’t sure why they bothered. She was a Gifter, which made her a living weapon. She didn’t need swords or spears to be a danger to someone. All she had to do was touch them, brand them, and they would die or turn into a demon. Not that she would of course, but the simple fact that she could made her wonder why the guards didn’t consider her a weapon.
The unlit cathedral was completely dark, save for a few candles at the other end of the hall. Jak managed to avoid running into any of the pews, and her footsteps echoed loudly throughout the chamber.
“I was wondering when I would see you again,” came a voice as she approached the candle light. There, the Royal Priest sat at a table, writing a letter. He removed his hood and faced Jak squarely. “Your little show caused quite the talk. People still ask me about it, whether you’re a danger to their children.” He bared his teeth. “You want to know what I tell them?”
Growing Ripples: An Epic YA Fantasy Adventure (Roots of Creation Book 2) Page 11