"Do you know where you're going?" Alikos asked, glancing around the littered streets. Jaklyn had been leading the way for the past twenty minutes despite that she had nothing to go on but a first name and memories.
"I think so... I visited him with my sister quite a few times."
"You have a sister?"
"I'll tell you about her later. I see the place. It's just up the road."
"Uhm... where?"
"It's the building with the boarded window and without a door."
"Oh."
Jaklyn walked to the doorway and knocked on the frame. A well-groomed man in old and patched, but clean, clothing walked. He cleaned his glasses on his shirt and looked at her.
"Hello?" he asked.
"Hi, Zakaiyo."
He tilted his head. "Have we met?"
"I'm Jak, Alexiya's younger sister?"
He wiped his glasses again and squinted at her. "You are, you are. You're an exact image of her." He looked her over. "The clothing threw me off, I apologize. Are you doing well in your business, then?" He glanced at Alikos, who raised his eyebrows in confusion.
"I didn't follow my sister into the business."
"So you've actually been fortunate?"
"I suppose so."
"Um... what's the business?" Alikos interjected.
Zakaiyo and Jaklyn exchanged uncomfortable glances. Zakaiyo did the task. "Selling their bodies," he said, "Prostitution."
Alikos looked away and scratched his head.
"I'm here to ask a favor," Jaklyn mentioned. "May I talk to you in private?"
"Sure, anything for Alexiya's sister."
"Could you wait out here, please, Alikos?"
"Um, yeah, sure."
"Come on in, Jak," Zakaiyo gestured into his makeshift house. He placed a piece of thin wood over the doorframe before turning to her and saying, "What's wrong?"
"It's, um.. I think my magic is growing."
"How much?"
"Just a little, but I thought it'd be best to get it checked? It used to be I could tell if someone was lying, or if they had bad intentions toward me, but..."
"But?"
"Well, Minndi hosted a ball the other day, and I could hear everyone's thoughts like whispers for a few minutes. There was commotion and then it ended."
Zakaiyo's eyes grew wide. "You went to a ball hosted by the empress?"
"Yes, I did."
He returned to business. "Was there wine?"
"Yes..."
"Did you drink it?"
"Some of it."
He nodded. "Wine makes your mind looser, and it often allows your magic to act up a bit. No wonder, then. Have there been any other incidents?"
"No. Well, I heard one sentence from someone's mind, but that's all."
"That's a wonderful sign. It's almost definitely in your control." He pulled a rope from a drawer in his desk. "You know what this does, right?"
"It gauges the amount of magic I've got, right?"
"Yes, it does." He wrapped it around her body in small loops. "Sit still and focus on your abilities. And keep your eyes shut. The colors will be distracting." She saw him smile before she closed her eyes.
After a few minutes, Zakaiyo removed the ropes and allowed her to open her eyes. He regarded her with raised eyebrows. "Are you sure nothing else has happened?"
"Just the whispers. I think."
"You have more magic than you've seen yet, then."
"Is that bad?"
"Apparently not, if nothing bad has happened yet. Sometimes that happens, though. Sometimes people have a lot of magic and never realize it. Are you up for doing some testing today?"
"Of course."
"Alright, then what I would like you to do is try to listen to my thoughts. Shut your eyes to draw out your magic, then look into my eyes and concentrate on tapping into my head. I'll be looking into your head to see how much you hear. Take a breath, shut your eyes, and begin."
She inhaled and closed her eyelids. She found the magic and concentrated on sending it to the other mage.
Nod if you hear me, his voice said. She nodded. Alright, that's enough for this trial. Please retract your magic. She brought it back to herself and blinked.
"Very good. You have enough control to see into my mind at your will. What I'd like to try now is to show me what you're thinking. I will not be using magic though. Use your magic and try to force me to see into your mind."
"That takes… a lot of magic." She sighed and shut her eyes to begin the process. She took magic and thrust it towards him.
She wasn't sure where to go from here. Hello?, she mentally whispered, Can you hear me? I don't really know what I'm doing…
"You're doing fine." He startled her by speaking the words instead of thinking them. She retracted her magic. "Excellent, in fact. You seem to have good control over your magic. I would like you to find your magic so I have a point to start looking for it. I want you to concentrate as much on locating it as you can. I will also show you my mind once I find it so that you may see what it can appear like. This is the last thing we're going to do today. You'll probably be tired after we do this."
For the third time, she shut her eyes and looked for her magic. She found about where it was to the best of her ability, but then had an awareness that he was in her head as well. He looked through her knowledge banks, then stopped at a place that made sense to her, but she had never thought this way before. A picture popped into her mind, an image of a glowing mass that eventually got clearer as she thought. After a few moments, she just knew that she had large stores of magic within her. She felt the occupation of her mind end and took a moment to compose herself into speaking.
"Woah."
"It's an extensive amount, indeed. It's not unmanageable, though, when taking into account what you seem to be able to do now. It is large enough, however, that I would like to meet with you a few more times to ensure that it hasn't grown too much more. Until then, just keep an eye on how you use it and what it does. You should practice with it, see how easily it comes to you."
"Right. Thank you." She inclined her head a bit. "I mentioned in the letter that I can't pay you right now..."
"And I said that was fine, because you're an old friend."
Jaklyn smiled. "Thank you."
"It's alright, really. But just between you and me," he lowered his voice, "how did you come into all that money? Surely your sister couldn't leave you enough for school and noble's clothing?"
"It's really complicated. I'm, um, sort of working for the crown."
"Ah, well, good for you. I don't know that I agree with their actions, but if it's letting you prosper, it can't be all bad, can it?"
"I hope not."
Alikos was not happy. He was certain that Jaklyn was hiding something from him, and although he was being pleasant toward her and respectful of her privacy, she could feel that in his mind, he was fighting the urge to ask her what exactly had transpired behind the closed door.
As they began toward home, the silence was uncomfortable. Alikos smiled at her, but she wasn't fooled. If he was not trying to talk to her, something was wrong.
After awhile, she offered, "Thanks a lot for letting me go there, Alikos."
He nodded. "It was the least I could do. I don't know how long you’ll be stuck with me, so I don't want to make you a shut in."
"Well... thanks."
He glanced at her, and said in a lighter tone, "You know, while Minndi's being slow to get back to us anyway, we should have some fun."
"Um... alright."
"Is there anything you'd like to do?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know? Surely there's something you want to do."
"I rarely think about what I want. It's never gotten me anywhere."
"Is there anything? Anything you've stopped thinking about, but still want?"
"I don't know."
"How do you know what you're working for, then?"
"I don't. I'm
working for food, and I'm working to advance in the future. Whatever that means."
He grabbed her arm lightly and examined it. "But you don't seem to eat much." He was right. She had no rebuttal. "On that topic, what would you like for dinner?"
"I don't know what the options are or which is best. You decide."
"Okay, sure." He smiled. "If you decide what you'd like to do tomorrow."
She took in a long breath of air and let it seep out through her nose. "Fine."
He widened his smile. "Excellent."
"Yeah, yeah."
Chapter 6
"Good morning, Jak!"
"What?" She looked to the doorway. Alikos stood in the doorway, already dressed for the day ahead. She felt slightly guilty for not being awake yet.
"We're going to the beach, right? Unless you changed your mind…" She had told him she wanted to go to the beach out of a lack of other ideas.
"Yeah, we're going to the beach."
She pulled on the most modest, casual dress she could find in the closet of clothing Alikos had pulled together for her, once again registering the amount he must have paid. It was a brown number devoid of embellishments, though it was cotton and hugged her body in a way that she was uncertain she wanted everyone to see. At least the color would not draw attention to her.
She walked out.
Alikos stared at her a second too long.
"Um... Are you proud of yourself?" She smiled meekly, trying to make a joke.
"Very much so." He said. "We have a long day ahead of us. We should be off.”
"Lovely.
"I hope it to be, yes.”
The sun was bright that day. It was a perfect day by the clichés: the sun beat sparkles into the waves, the waves beat against the shore, and the sands beat the feet that walked upon them. Lovers walked hand in hand just far enough from the crystalline blue water to avoid getting drenched by the splashing. The picnic idea wasn't highly original-she saw several couples, families, and groups of families as she walked in the sand.
"Alright, what are we to do first?" Jak asked sweetly. She felt a little guilty for her behavior that morning, even if she was still irritated that the sun had a direct route onto her upper arms.
"You see that creek that runs from the water into the woods?" Alikos pointed at a small stream of water.
"Yes, of course."
"We're going to walk along it."
"Oh. Okay." She smiled. She was concerned she wasn't showing enough enthusiasm. She hoped she wouldn't hurt his feelings.
He seemed to understand her reaction but didn't take any noticeable offense. "There's a point to this, I promise. Plus, it's cooler in the shade of the trees."
She couldn't argue. She followed him to the creek, but he stopped her before she started into the woods.
"I misspoke, I apologize. We aren't going to walk along the creek, we're going to walk in the creek."
She took her shoes off without a second question, then stepped into the water. It was much cooler than the rest of the day. She wondered what he attributed her actions to and decided that it didn't matter.
The chattering of people on the beach eventually was smothered by the trees and air that separated them deeper in the woods. They passed other people every once in awhile who disrupted the calmness of the sound of water over rocks. The noise they made wasn't quite as disconcerting as the state of their clothes. It surprised Jak that the nobles allowed their clothing to get that dirty before reminding herself they probably didn't care that much. After all, they had plenty of money to invest in new attire.
Jak and Alikos passed under a mossy tree trunk that hung above a river, and she then saw the source of the mud that had gathered on the clothing of the passersby.
On the side of the creek was a natural slide made from clay. Water saturated it so that it held an illusion of constantly melting, and a group of people lined up behind it. One by one, they would slide down to hit the sandy cushion inches beneath the surface of the creek.
"Want to try it?" Alikos asked Jak.
"Sure." It would give her an excuse not to wear this dress for awhile, at least. Maybe she'd even be able to convince him to take her to get her more practical clothing.
"Awesome." He walked to the end of the line and she followed. They watched each person slide down until it was finally their turn.
"You first," Alikos told her.
"I've never done this before though."
"It's not hard." Someone behind them complained at the length of their conversation, so Jak forced her resolve and climbed up the stairs that led to its summit. It really wasn't that tall, anyway.
She slid down.
It was an interesting feeling. She had made greenware from clay as a small child-little fragile bowls dried in the sun that held only flowers and small trinkets. That had been years ago, however, and it was a peculiar sensation to feel the dirt along her entire body.
Then she hit sand. It dug slightly into her thighs, but it was not painful enough to make the experience any worse.
She admitted to herself that it had been fun. She'd have to tell Alikos if he asked.
She waited for him to slide down, figuring that it would be more respectful than going to the back of the line.
He slid down and something hit her in the leg. Something cold and wet and definitely solid.
"Ahh!" She watched the ball of mud slide down her dress onto her skin before plopping into the creek and splashing her before stopping its motion. She stared at him for a moment, and it was obvious he was trying not to burst out laughing in case she yelled at him.
She bent down and drew mud from the bottom of the creek. It landed in his hair.
Then he started laughing, and she realized how stupid that had been. She ran to the back of the line, hoping he wouldn't lob it into a crowd of people.
He didn't oblige to her unspoken request. He also didn't hit his target. The person in front of Jak in line got hit square in the chest, and he didn't hesitate to throw a mud ball over a group of people intending to hit Alikos.
He also missed. Then it was an all out battle.
She fled into the woods and hid behind a tree, listening to the sounds of exclaims the people in the fight’s midst were making. She wondered when they would ease up. It didn't sound like it'd happen soon. She peeked out from behind the tree to see what was going on.
Someone pushed a ball of mud into the back of her head. She spun around to see Alikos ready with a second handful of the stuff.
"You win." She told him. "I surrender."
"That's no fun," he teased, but let the remaining mud fall to the ground.
She hid her amusement it from him, instead raising her eyebrows.
"I'm sorry. I thought that's what people wanted in a battle."
"People, sure. Me, it's debatable. But since you've surrendered, that means you are now my prisoner to do what I have planned next."
"I was going to anyway. It's hardly a prize."
"You're less likely to object now though. We're walking back towards the beach."
She followed him, apprehensive as always.
"Eat." He handed her a sandwich.
"Are you kidding me? This is your master plan?"
"No, I'm not. It seems to be a battle to make you eat food."
"You're ridiculous."
"Am not. You don't eat enough."
"You've made your point of view on my feeding habits kind of clear, you know." She attempted a giggle, hoping it would soften her words.
"I try." He smiled back. "Would you like an apple?"
"Is that my choice or yours?"
"Well... you are my prisoner, so it's mine. Here." He handed it to her.
She rolled her eyes and bit into it. It was sweet, and a bit of the juice ran down her face. Alikos didn't notice as he spread some kind of jam over his bread. His mind was somewhere else, and his expression was riddled with contemplation as he looked over the water.
Jaklyn thought b
ack to what the magician had told her. He had mentioned that he wanted her to practice with it. After a moment's hesitation, she searched for her magic within her and found it quickly, and extended it to Alikos. She noted the ease with which his thoughts poured out to her.
I should go to the palace tomorrow... Minndi owes us instructions. I need to get together things at the estate... I've got to hire people if I'm to be her charge much longer. He looked at Jaklyn. She took another bite from her apple to avoid making some kind of face out of nervousness. She dove deeper, deeper in, floated around his mind, found that she could locate thoughts that had been stored away. Memories.
She searched through them, saw glimpses of different scenes: A group of men without shirts, pushing through stances with long sticks... hordes of beautiful women in gowns, moving though crowds on their way to some speech at the palace... classrooms... meals... A man in an alley, attacking a girl...
She pulled out. Of course that memory would be there. She hadn't considered it before digging. She pushed herself back to the forefront of his mind and forced herself to focus on his current thoughts.
I was thinking maybe... I could just... but I probably shouldn't, no. It'd be unprofessional. Maybe that's not such a bad thing...
Jaklyn pulled out completely. This was too personal. It had to be unethical to do this for no reason, and she couldn't condone spying on such personal thoughts.
Though she was curious...
Alikos was trying to talk to her as she was lost in her thoughts.
"Um, Jaklyn?" he was saying, "What do you want to do?"
Her mind caught up, thankfully. "I'm ready for whichever. I wouldn't mind going somewhere and wiping some of this mud off, though."
Something passed over his face, and it ended in a smile.
"Let's go home, then.
"Are you sure? Did you have any other plans?"
"Oh, I did. But I think that I shall succumb to your wishes and we shall end today earlier than I'd planned. It is not actually my intention to torture you unless I feel you will end up enjoying it."
"I see..." she trailed off.
The Traitor of Tyiku Page 5