Unity: The Todor Trilogy, Book Three

by Jenna Newell Hiott

  “Soman!” he heard Numa gasp as her body slammed against him.

  Soman opened his eyes. “I’m sorry. I thought you were a worker pestering me.” As he felt Numa’s closeness, he had to admit that he wasn’t sorry about it after all.

  Numa laughed, her shoulders shaking. “Sometimes I forget how strong you are. A single move of your forearm yanked me clear across the bed.”

  “Did you sleep well?” Soman asked, not yet ready to relinquish his grasp of her hand.

  “I did.” Numa tipped her head back so she could look at his face. “Did you?”

  Her lips were a mere breath away from his, their bodies already touching. Soman could feel her breasts against his chest, her thighs against his own. For the first time since he’d declared his love, he felt his resolve not to touch her give way. He was a single heartbeat away from annihilating his friendship with Gemynd. “I need you to go,” he said softly, afraid of what might happen if he tried to move.

  Numa offered no argument, no words of farewell. She understood his meaning and was kind enough to disappear immediately. At least for a moment.

  Shortly after, she appeared again wearing a plain, oversized kirtle down to the floor, her head covered with an oat-colored cloth. “Let us breakfast,” she said carrying an enormous tray of food and drink in her hands. She set it on the table in the sitting area of the room.

  Soman sat up on his elbows, breathing deeply to calm his bodily desires. The smell of food helped to change the direction of his thoughts. “Thank you. You always know what I need.”

  Soman found his discarded garment cloth on the floor next to the bed and clumsily tried wrapping it around his body the way he’d seen the workers do hundreds of times. But it would not stay where he placed it and seemed determined to end up on the floor again. In the end, Soman simply tossed the length of it over one shoulder and hoped it fell long enough to cover what needed covering.

  Numa laughed as she filled two wooden cups with steaming tea. “Allow me,” she said with a slight nod and suddenly Soman’s garment was just as it should be. Brooch pinned at his shoulder and all.

  “I’m famished.” Soman sat down on the padded, stone bench near the table and surveyed the tray of food.

  Numa sat on the bench opposite him and poured cream from a small pitcher over the tops of a pile of beetcakes. “I’m glad I stayed with you last night,” she said, cutting herself a slice of marblefruit.

  Soman smiled. “Thank you for that. I will cherish the memory.” He lifted his eating knife partway to his mouth, then paused. “What is that sound?”

  Numa tilted her head to the side, listening. “I can’t make it out. Is it chanting?”

  Soman listened again. The sound was familiar and seemed to be coming from far away. It was something he’d heard many times but never from this distance. He stood, feeling uneasy. “I can’t quite place it.”

  “Come to the armory at once, lad!” Archigadh called as he burst into Soman’s bedchamber. “You, too, Queen Numa.”

  Soman followed Archigadh and Numa outside and up the gravel walkway towards the armory. The sound he had been hearing grew louder and by the time they reached the armory, he knew exactly what it was.

  “I thought you had decided to run drills this morning for some reason,” Archigadh said to Soman then yanked open the armory door. “Until I saw that what was training was nothing but empty suits of armor.”

  Soman felt his brows pull together as he looked inside the armory and saw exactly what his father had said. Empty suits of armor marching in formation. “What is happening?” he asked no one in particular.

  Numa looked behind her, over both shoulders, then touched Archigadh on the forearm. “Where are the Iturtians?”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Gemynd

  “Do you know where you are going?” Sam asked, running to keep up with Gemynd’s pace, his arms flapping erratically from his sides as if the motion helped propel him forward. “These tunnels all look identical, and I’m sure Numa brought you to the dungeon last time so how exactly do you plan to find the so-called lost Iturtians?”

  Gemynd grunted impatiently. He didn’t like Sam and he liked his questions even less.

  “We will find them, Keeper Sam,” Molly answered for Gemynd.

  “It seems that Numa simply could have sent us straight to the lost Iturtians,” Keeper Sam pressed, his breath becoming labored. “Why do you suppose she’d have you find them on foot this way? I’m certain it was an intentional choice on her part.”

  Gemynd wondered if he was obligated to answer any of Sam’s questions. Numa had quite clearly sent Sam along on this errand so that Gemynd might make peace with him. But because that hadn’t been her specific directive, was he required to put any effort into it?

  Gemynd thought back over the pledge of loyalty he’d made to her. Had he promised anywhere in there to be nice to her friends?

  “Director, it will be a long, annoying walk for you if you allow me to prattle on endlessly without any answers.” Sam moved far to the other side of the tunnel after he’d spoken those words. He knew he was pushing the limits of his security by threatening Gemynd.

  “I don’t like you, Sam, and I sure as Deis don’t trust you,” Gemynd answered, keeping his quick pace. “Golath seemed to believe you were Iturtian, but, quite frankly, I have no idea what manner of creature you are. Soman and Numa both trust you and that’s the only reason I’m bothering with you at all.”

  “Yes, I know all of that,” Sam replied, still grazing the opposite tunnel wall with his shoulder. “But why do you dislike me so? Is it simply because your father did not like me?”

  Gemynd laughed. “You have enough unlikeable qualities for my father and I to each have our own. I do not believe you were ever a Keeper of Aerie. I would have known you. You’ve been lying about that from the start. Furthermore, I find it gravely offensive that you would ever give up being an Iturtian, if indeed you were one to begin with.”

  “Ah, thank you, Director. At last, an answer.” Sam tugged at the hem of his worn, grey robe, pulling it up well above his knees, then began running in earnest. Still, he remained at least two steps behind Gemynd. “Now, if I may address both of your points. Firstly, I was away at Iturtia when you began your study to be a Keeper. That is why you never saw me at the Wishing Hut. Likewise, when you were sent to training in Iturtia, I was on my way back to Aerie. Our paths as Iturtians and Keepers never crossed. But I do remember you from Aerie. I saw you many times. You and Soman and Numa were at the class next to mine in discipleship when we were children. We were often at the Bath House together and certainly at the Eating House.”

  “You needn’t list every place in Aerie,” Gemynd growled. “I am not going to remember seeing you there, because you weren’t there.”

  “Gemynd,” Molly interrupted, using her sickeningly sweet tone. “Sam was there. His mother and father were my friends. I watched him grow up just as I did so many other Aerite children. And it is true that he is a Keeper. He learned to teach discipleship with Keeper Stout.”

  Gemynd stopped walking and turned to his mother. “I came back from Iturtia and went to the Wishing Hut. I saw the Keepers and I recognized them all.” He pointed his finger sharply at Sam who had also stopped walking. “That runt was not among them. I would have remembered seeing a child in a Keeper’s robe. I did not see him because he wasn’t there.”

  “Well I saw you,” Sam said, his face becoming suddenly belligerent. “I saw you destroy Aerie. I saw you kill my family, my brothers, my friends. I have far more reason to dislike you than you do me. And as for my giving up being an Iturtian, I did not write the laws that made it so I had to choose. I will not take the blame for that. In fact, I did all I could to bring about peace. Remember that little triumph called the Peace Council? That was my idea. I wanted to end separation in Todor. I wanted to make it so there was
never another child forced to choose between who he is and what he wants to do. But, once again, you destroyed the peace I had created. And yet here we stand, with you disliking me.”

  “I did not destroy the Peace Council. I was all for it.” Gemynd was conflicted by his desire to strike Sam. He knew that if the Keeper didn’t look so much like a child, he would have done it long ago. “The person who killed my father destroyed it. Numa believes it was not you.”

  Sam threw his hands in the air. “Why would I have killed Golath?”

  “Maybe he knew more secrets about you, something you didn’t want others to find out,” Gemynd speculated.

  Sam rolled his eyes and Gemynd had to take a quick, deep breath to stop himself from lunging at him. “I may have chosen the life of a Keeper over that of an Iturtian, but my mind still works and it seems quite apparent to anyone but you that Golath’s life would have benefitted me far more than his death ever could. Whether he knew secrets about me or not.”

  “You were the only one missing when he died. I cannot overlook that.”

  “I was poisoned and put in a dungeon against my will. How can you overlook that?”

  Gemynd closed his eyes and breathed deeply again. “Fine.” He pressed his lips into a hard line and opened his eyes. “Now, we need to finish this errand of rounding up the lost Iturtians so that we can get on with identifying Golath’s killer, whomever that might be.”

  “Indeed,” Sam said, exchanging a look of surprise with Molly.

  Gemynd began walking again and Molly sidled up to him. “I’m proud of you son,” she whispered as though Sam couldn’t hear despite his being only two hands away.

  Gemynd made no response and continued his march forward. Numa had agreed to let him deal with Sam in his own way once their journey to Skalja failed to exonerate him. He only needed to be patient.

  “I do have another question, Director.” Sam came running up to his side again.

  “When I was a child, my mother always answered my questions with: ‘You’ll know when it’s time for you to know.’ Before you bother me with another of your questions, wait and see if the answer will reveal itself in time.”

  Keeper Sam laughed. “It is not possible for an Iturtian--even a former one--to wait for an answer to reveal itself. But I’m certain you knew that.”

  Gemynd smiled despite himself. He knew well the torture of an unanswered question and he had never learned to be patient for an answer. “Ask your question if you must.”

  “You have already answered why you dislike me, but I can’t stop wondering: why do you dislike your mother?”

  Gemynd looked at Molly. Her expression fell and pain was clear in her eyes. “Our family business is none of your concern,” he said, instantly regretting that he’d allowed Sam another question.

  “I lied to Gemynd throughout his whole childhood so that he would not leave me to be with his father,” Molly said, surprising Gemynd with her candor.

  “Ah, I see.” Sam nodded his understanding, then looked sympathetically at Gemynd as one would look at a little girl who’d just torn her skirt.

  “Don’t pity me, tiny man,” he said, shaking his head. “As I said, this is none of your concern.”

  “He can’t forgive me even though Golath did,” Molly continued as though Gemynd had not spoken.

  “Golath must have loved you very much,” Sam said, then stumbled as he stepped on the hem of his robe.

  “I used to carry the children of Aerie on my back.” Molly bent down and helped Sam to his feet. “Perhaps I could carry you for a little while.”

  “No one is carrying anyone,” Gemynd insisted. “He can keep up, Mother.”

  “Look up ahead.” Sam lifted his oil lamp as high as he could. “The tunnel branches into three. Which one shall we take?”

  Gemynd lifted his lamp too and stopped walking when he reached the branch. Two options went to the left and one to the right. From what Gemynd could see, they all looked exactly the same.

  “I’ll walk up this one a bit and tell you what I see,” Molly said, stepping into the tunnel on the right. As soon as she did, Gemynd heard a loud click and saw a quick movement from the corner of his eye.

  Without thinking, Gemynd lunged at his mother, covering her body as he shoved her to the ground. At the same instant, an enormous sheet of metal crashed down from the tunnel ceiling with a terrible shriek, sealing Gemynd and Molly in perfect darkness. “Are you hurt?” Gemynd asked, frantically patting her down. He kept imagining that the metal sheet had fallen on a piece of Molly’s body, severing it in two.

  “No, I am well,” Molly insisted, but Gemynd kept his patting until he was certain he felt no traces of blood. It was too dark to see any part of her body nor even his own, but as his eyes adjusted, he noticed a single beam of dim light coming through the sheet of metal. Gemynd found a hole there, about two fingers in diameter.

  “Sam,” Gemynd said, peering through the small hole. The single oil lamp on the other side provided little light, but enough that Gemynd could see the Keeper lying flat on his back. All his limbs appeared to be intact.

  “I am not dead,” Sam squeaked, forcing himself to sit up. “Are you and Molly unhurt?”

  “We have escaped injury. I need you to move out of the way so I can remove this barrier.”

  Gemynd saw Sam stand up then and look over the entire sheet of metal. He frowned as his gaze continued moving up to the ceiling. “Gemynd, wait. Do not use your powers yet,” he said, taking a step back.

  “What do you see?” Gemynd craned his neck, but was unable to get a clear view of the ceiling.

  “Someone designed this trap well,” Sam explained, still focused on the ceiling. “And specifically to ensnare glinters, I might add.”

  “Why? What do you see?” Gemynd repeated, growing frustrated that he had to depend on Sam.

  “When that piece of metal came down, it revealed an elaborate system of gears and pulleys up here that can all be traced back to that piece of metal. I’m afraid if we move the sheet of metal, it will trigger the collapse of the entire tunnel.”

  Gemynd took a deep breath, the heavy scent of rust and dirt filling his nose. “You are Iturtian, Sam, can you use your powers of psychmovement to disable the system of gears and pulleys?”

  “It would be unwise,” Sam said and Gemynd watched him turn in a circle. “I cannot see which gears would be safe to remove and which ones would trigger the same reaction. The risk is too great.”

  “Very well,” Gemynd said and nudged Numa’s mind. He was becoming increasingly aware that he was useless without her.

  “Gemynd, I am frightened,” Molly said, and Gemynd felt her scoot closer in the darkness.

  “Numa will get us out of here. All will be well.” But Numa did not respond to Gemynd’s nudge. He tried again. And again.

  “Sam, try nudging Numa to get us out of here,” he called through the hole.

  After several minutes, Sam sighed loudly. “My skills are rusty, I can’t get through to her.”

  Gemynd tried again. “It might not be your skills. She won’t answer me either.”

  “Now I’m really frightened,” Molly said.

  “I will go for help,” Sam offered, picking up the oil lamp. “We know the lost Iturtians are down here somewhere. If I bring the group of them back, perhaps they can disassemble the entire trigger system at once.”

  “Sam!” Gemynd called as he watched the little man muster his bravado and begin his march down the tunnel. “Don’t lose your way back to us. The tunnels all look the same. Be sure to mark your way!”

  “Will do, Director,” Sam called over his shoulder.

  Once Sam left with the oil lamp, there was not a single mote of light in the shaft. Gemynd felt his eyes strain against the darkness, trying desperately to see something. Anything.

  “Try not to be fri
ghtened, Mother,” Gemynd said as he shifted around. He may as well make himself comfortable while they waited for Sam’s return.

  “The darkness plays tricks with my mind. I keep thinking that anything could be in here with us.”

  “If there is anything large enough to be a threat in here, we would hear it.” Gemynd propped himself against the cold, stone wall, his legs extended out in front of him. “The walls in Iturtia were all stone like this.”

  “You don’t need to fill the time with idle chat, son.” Molly shuffled around in the darkness beside him.

  “I thought it might put you at ease.” Gemynd crossed his ankles and leaned his head back against the wall. He hated waiting and he hated feeling helpless. He was uncomfortable with the notion that he could not even manage his own survival without Numa’s help. But the most disturbing part was that, right now, his future lay in the hands of Keeper Sam.

  “I know our bond is strained, my son, but it is my hope that as Numa rebuilds Todor, our relationship will be rebuilt as well.” Molly’s voice was strained with emotion.

  Gemynd sighed. He had no desire to relive the past with his mother nor did he feel particularly compelled to forge a new closeness with her. He was leery of opening his heart to her again. But he also knew that Numa wanted him to try. “I didn’t have enough time with my father,” he said, sharing his true feelings. “Terrenes can never understand the closeness that Iturtians share with one another. To have the voice of another in your own mind--to truly share thoughts--creates a bond like none other. For the last several years, the voice of my father has been just as constant in my mind as my own. Now there is a silence left behind that I cannot escape nor can I fill with something else. In every moment that his voice isn’t there, I am forced to know that my father is dead. I think it would be easier to bear if I had had more time with him as a child. The reason I didn’t was because of the decisions you made. You kept us apart.”

  “I know I didn’t choose to go with Golath when he left Aerie, but that wasn’t entirely because I was afraid of leaving. I also knew, in my heart, that it was not simply by chance that those other two babies were born the same night as you. Through my very Lifeforce I could feel that the three of you were meant for each other. I chose to stay so that you could be with Numa and Soman. If things could be different, would you chose to be with your father over Numa and Soman?”