by Nikki Katz
“Leave the citizens alone,” Cirrus called out. “They wish you no harm.”
“Ah yes, it’s unfortunate that they are in the way. Perhaps you can make it easy on them and come with me now? I’d be happy to release them. You see, your ransom is my ticket home.” The sorcier stepped forward, closing the gap to bring them within range of his power.
Kalen felt Reign begin to tense at his side.
Cirrus turned to Kalen. “Let’s split up and meet by the stable.” He took off at a sprint toward two storefronts directly to their right. Kalen reached for Reign’s hand, but the scene suddenly turned black.
“I guess you’d rather make it difficult,” the bounty hunter said. “For you, anyway.”
The sudden blindness was all-encompassing, throwing Kalen off-balance. His gloved fingers grazed Reign’s, and then there was nothing.
“Kalen!” The panic was clear in her voice. He felt movement and then his hand touched her arm. He quickly curled his fingers around her bicep to keep her close.
“Stay calm,” he spoke softly to her. “Keep your emotions under control.” He didn’t think he could handle another wave of her ability. He shuffled her toward the direction Cirrus had headed.
So much for splitting up.
But Kalen wanted to get away from the sorcier as quickly as possible.
Reign stumbled, and his grip tightened on her. They kept moving, and Kalen threw out his other hand in the hopes of finding the edge of a building. Finally, it scraped against a rough brick surface. Kalen scooted along the wall, away from the sorcier, his hand grappling for some sort of handle or door to push through.
“You can’t hide.” The sorcier’s voice came from all angles, disconcerting in the blindness. Kalen sensed the movement of something sweeping past him from behind. He tensed, wondering if it was the bounty hunter, Luna, or something else altogether.
His hand finally found a lip, a door frame, and his fingers scrambled for the handle. He pushed down, but the door was locked. A curse escaped his mouth.
Reign’s breaths came in frantic gasps. “You can control this.” He squeezed her hand as he continued to scoot them away from the sorcier in search of another door.
Somewhere in the direction of the cliff, the noise of breaking glass erupted. “Bloody crow,” Cirrus yelped. Kalen tugged Reign toward him.
“Don’t worry.” The sorcier’s voice was right next to them, and they both jumped, startled. “I’m sure he’s not that injured.”
Reign squeezed her fingers into a fist tight around Kalen’s hand. She held her breath, and then her magick unleashed. Kalen yelled to Cirrus to run as the flood of panic burst from Reign. A vise tightened around his chest, and his lungs desperately sought air.
The sorcier groaned, and suddenly Kalen could see again. The scene flickered from color to darkness as the sorcier tried to retain his grip on his magick. As Kalen’s vision returned, he made out the bounty hunter now several feet away up against another building. He was bent over at the waist, his head buried in his hands.
“Over here!” Kalen saw a sweep of silver, and Luna waved them toward her. She was on the other side of the sorcier, closer to the stables, standing in the middle of the street. Darkness filled his vision again, but he had a grip on Reign and ran.
“Stop.” The sorcier’s voice sounded strangled and unfocused. Kalen could see again.
“Contain that man.” Cirrus had joined them and yelled at the townspeople, who now blinked their eyes and looked around in confusion. “Take him to be questioned.”
“No!” the bounty hunter yelled. “Grab them! They are wanted criminals from Mureau.”
The citizens of Servaille hesitated as the trio reached Luna and continued to run toward the stable. Jules stepped away from a crowd that had gathered outside the Snowbound Inn.
“What is going on?” she asked Cirrus.
“That man is a criminal sent from Mureau. As the prince of that kingdom,” he ignored her intake of breath, “I give you permission to arrest and hold him until we send for him for trial. But be careful. He’s a sorcier with the ability to blind everyone in a short radius.”
Jules quickly dispatched two men in the direction of the bounty hunter before she turned to Reign. “Do you need me to get Nero?”
“No.” Reign shook her head side to side, the motion frantic. “No.”
Kalen urged Cirrus forward to get him out of the way if Reign lost control again. “Have them ready the horses.”
Cirrus ran ahead while Jules continued to try to comfort Reign. “He can help; he’s always been able to help.”
Reign squared her shoulders. “No. He hasn’t. He used me. He sold the amulets.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“He did. And he … he’s…”
“He fell over the edge,” Luna said, pointing off to the switchback on the road. “It was an accident.”
“We need to go.” Kalen spoke softly in Reign’s ear.
“I’m sorry,” Reign said to Jules.
“Wait. You have to explain.” Jules tried to step in front of them. “You can’t just leave.”
“Unfortunately, we must,” Kalen said. “Now. Please do as Cirrus suggested and hold that man captive. We will send reinforcements and coin for any damages.”
He tugged Reign’s hand, urging her to follow so they could leave the city.
“I’m sorry,” Reign said again over her shoulder to Jules. “The town will be better off without me. Thank you for everything.”
By the time the trio reached the stable, Cirrus stood in the street with the horses. Luna and Cirrus each mounted their steed as the stable boy thrust the reins of Kalen’s horse into his hands, as well as a pile of thin blankets. Single file, they made their way through the arch and out of the city walls.
CHAPTER
22
Reign rode in silence for the first half hour. She rubbed at her arms, and Kalen tried to rearrange one of the blankets around them as night continued to fall. “I’m sorry,” she finally said. “I thought I had control, but I don’t. I don’t think I should stay with you. You’re better off leaving me at the next town.”
“Reign, you saved us.”
Cirrus voiced his agreement. “This time your unleashed powers worked to our advantage.”
“Do you ever try to control it?” Kalen asked. “I mean, on your own without the jewels.”
She released the grip she had on her arms. “I did in the beginning. But then I couldn’t stop it anymore. What if it happens again? I can’t risk killing someone else.”
“You saved us,” Kalen repeated. “If it happens again, please feel free to use your magick to protect us.” He waited for the words to sink in. “That’s exactly what you did. You saved us from being captured. You released us from the sorcier’s control. Your magick isn’t all bad. It isn’t negative or positive on its own. It’s how you choose to use your magick that determines the outcome. If you can control it and harness it, you could be more powerful than anyone I know.”
She sat in silence as if considering his words, and while she didn’t seem happy about the idea, she didn’t protest. After a minute, she took a deep, yet unsteady breath and nodded. “Okay.”
“I might be able to help further,” Kalen said.
“How?”
“If I were to go into your memories, I could look for triggers or see if there are common occurrences. There has to be a way for you to gain control.”
There was silence and then: “I don’t know.”
“We have several days’ travel ahead of us.”
“You should let him help,” Luna urged her.
“I’ll think about it,” Reign acquiesced.
The temperature continued to fall as the sun completed its descent. The sky darkened quickly and with it, Cirrus’s mood. They agreed to stop, only because they feared the animals would slip on the frost-covered ground.
They stopped in a clearing, and Cirrus made quick work building a fire
. As the flame took hold, he kept throwing glances behind him, into the thicket of trees.
“Enough,” Luna said. “You’re going to make us all crazy, and this time you can’t blame it on your sister.” She reached into her cloak and removed a glass sphere, the size perfectly matching her palm. She tapped the glass, and the orb lit up against the night sky.
“Where did you get a flickerfly orb?” Cirrus asked.
“Nero had a lot of oddities in his house. I figured this one could be of use. Good thing for us I never had time to drop it off at the monastery. Although I wish we could have had two seconds to gather our things. I am going to miss my change of clothes.”
“Forget clothing. I wish we’d had time to pack food,” Cirrus said, his stomach grumbling as if to further agree. “But I am thankful for the light.” He glanced down at Luna and then quickly kissed the top of her head. “This is probably the best gift I’ve ever received.”
Kalen glanced at Cirrus and then Reign and then Cirrus again. “You know, it might help you further if we talk about your memory.”
“No way. Luna just got me the perfect gift, and you want to diminish that? I see where you’re going with this.”
Kalen grimaced in Cirrus’s direction. He tilted his head toward Reign in an effort to make the prince understand. If Cirrus allowed Kalen to help, Reign might allow it as well.
“However…,” the prince drawled as he grasped Kalen’s intention, “perhaps it might make sense to have you help in case the orb stops working or it breaks.”
Kalen swept his hand to the log nearest them. Cirrus reached out to pull Luna down with him. She moved to scoot away, but he patted the seat.
“Stay.”
She opened her mouth as if to berate the command.
“Please.”
Luna’s mouth closed and she sat. Kalen settled on the other side of Cirrus and took a deep breath. “I’m only going to look at the memory again so I can help you understand it. I don’t want to be in your mind long. You can’t see what I’m doing, so that is not even helpful. I only want to assist you in finding it.”
Because that was the problem. Cirrus could see it. The memory remained unlocked. But it was so clouded in darkness that Cirrus wouldn’t revisit it again.
Kalen quickly removed a glove and grasped Cirrus’s wrist before the prince could back out.
He rushed to the recesses of Cirrus’s mind and witnessed again the sorcier’s ability. His crafting of the vault and the shrouding darkness placed over it. He saw again the man crouching in front of Cirrus and telling him to always seek the light. Watched as he looked at the king and told him to foster the fear.
Kalen nudged the darkness with his hand, watching as it pulsed and retreated, a swill of dark gray smoke. It seemed malleable; Cirrus only needed to push through.
Kalen broke the connection.
The headache wasn’t nearly as crushing this time, considering he had only dived in for a minute or so.
Kalen donned his glove, this time more to protect his hand from the frigid temperatures than to protect him from seeing someone’s thoughts. He pushed himself upright and walked around the fire so he sat next to Reign, his eyes locking on the prince.
“You’ve seen the memory. I left it open the night the king had me enter your mind and you pulled away. So you know where it is.”
Cirrus nodded.
“I think you can push past it. Try using your body.” He paused. “Or even better, imagine taking the orb or casting sunlight on it. Search and push past your fears of darkness to see the truth for what it is.”
Cirrus nodded and closed his eyes. Over the flames, Kalen saw that he clenched Luna’s hand tighter, but she made no effort to wiggle free of his grasp.
“Come,” Kalen muttered to Reign. “Let’s clear a space for everyone to sleep.”
They worked in a synchronized silence to move rocks away from the area around the fire and gather some dried branches to lie on.
Cirrus opened his eyes.
He stood and paced toward the tree line and back several times before he spoke.
“All these years, my father knew of my irrational fear of the dark.” His tone was laced with bitterness. “And do you know what he did?” Cirrus didn’t even wait for a response. “He perpetuated it. Embellished my nightmares, made me go outside at night by myself—” He stopped abruptly, and his head tipped toward the sky. “Gods, I think he even had me locked in the treasury one night.”
Reign flinched. “Maybe I was lucky to be free of him.”
Kalen walked over to the prince, his childhood friend, and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry. We know his motivation, but it doesn’t make it right. Hopefully, you’ll begin to work through your fears, knowing that there is nothing behind them but magick and deception.”
“I hope so, but it will probably take time to get over this. All of it.” He reached for the orb and held it tight against his chest. “In the meantime, I have something else that will help.”
Cirrus looked around the circle at the three of them. “I’ll take first watch. I have some things to ponder.”
Kalen wasn’t about to fight him on it, although he did make the prince promise to wake them at their fair turn. He didn’t want Cirrus tired and susceptible to his sister’s emotions the next day as they continued their journey to Antioege.
* * *
THE FIRST STRANDS of light colored the horizon as Kalen lay on his back several yards from the fire. The last to keep watch, he had scooted away in hopes the cold would help him stay awake. He’d stared at the darkened sky with its endless stars and the moon hanging off center and couldn’t help but think of Luna’s story, of the girl who was afraid of the dark and the boy who brought her light and became her moon. It was odd, really. If he were to flip the characters, he would have Cirrus and Luna herself. The boy afraid of the dark and the girl who brought him light in the form of a flickerfly orb.
Kalen stretched and walked toward the tree line, where he thought he’d heard the gurgling of water. A small stream flowed over rocks, and he bent to splash the frigid water on his face. He spotted berries growing on vines, and he gathered them to take to the group. He then set about waking the others so they could get on the road and stay—hopefully—one step ahead of the bounty hunter.
Reign rode with Kalen again, and he was thankful for the warmth as the sun would take a while to provide any semblance of heat. They sat in a comfortable silence for a while before she spoke.
“I will let you help.”
He waited as she seemed to struggle with what to say next.
“I know you’ve gone into my mind before, but what exactly do you see? Everything?” She tensed, the movement causing the horse to shift beneath them.
He was quick to answer. “I don’t see everything. I have to search and sift through memories. They are not all exposed and available, so I will be respectful not to view anything that looks too personal. I will look for specific memories where you lose control over your emotions and see if I can identify any commonalities. There has to be a way for you to gain control of this.”
“Do you want to do it now?” Her voice was barely a whisper.
“No, I need to be on solid ground. We’ll do it when we stop for a break.”
Reign sighed and leaned back against him. His breath hitched before he allowed himself to relax as well, just breathing in the scent of her hair and feeling the tickle of it against his cheek.
* * *
REIGN AND KALEN sat, facing each other, on a patch of grass while Luna and Cirrus went off in search of something to eat. Reign slowly removed Kalen’s glove. The leather slid over his skin as her fingers plucked at the fingertips, causing goose pimples to erupt on his arm.
She gripped his hand in hers, and he was swept under.
Kalen took in the surroundings again, noticing that her thoughts were contained in a space much like the catacombs. In the main cavern were the painful ones, the fractured images that refl
ected off one another. On either end, the hallways stretched, and he knew other memories were held in rooms there.
Kalen went in search of those memories that might be indicative of Reign’s inability to control the strength of her power. He peered into the openings quickly, trying, as promised, not to completely invade her privacy.
His heart felt heavy in his chest as he observed scene after scene of her loneliness. In one memory she was with a group of children in what appeared to be an orphanage on the outskirts of Servaille. Even there she seemed isolated, sitting off by herself in a corner. Finally, a little girl came over and held out her hand. Reign tentatively grasped the girl’s fingers and let herself be led to the middle of the room. There was no burst of emotion, only a sense of calm.
Another room showcased a trio of boys standing over Reign. They were a couple of years older than her, perhaps in their teens to her ten years old. They threw pebbles at her bare arms. “You’re a witch. Horrible little witch.” They taunted her with green ribbons of words. “Go back to where you came from and leave us alone.” Tears coursed down her cheeks, but she said nothing. Kalen saw the moment her power erupted, like her emotions had hit a tipping point, and the boys began to choke on despair. They wailed and ran off as if chased by a pack of wolves. He watched her body for tells, as he would the players at a card table. Her hands curled into fists tight at her sides and released, like he’d seen her do with her skirts at the inn.
He moved on. A slightly younger Reign sat on the top step of the monastery entrance. Thin legs poked out of a dress, and her red hair was snarled at the back of her head. “Please don’t leave me here.” Tears streamed as she watched a woman walk away down the path. “Please!” she screamed before her voice dropped to a whisper. “I didn’t mean to. I didn’t mean to.” She sobbed into her arms until the door opened behind her. A monk stood with his arms crossed in front of him. “Clean your face and come inside. We have just the place for you to stay.”
And thus it went.
Reign in control.