by Mari Dietz
“Sure. Next time bring fruit.”
Vic shook her head and left the building. The other reapers watched her as she went outside the Dei walls. Once beyond the gate, she took off at a run. She didn’t know how many hours had passed. She needed an express water taxi immediately.
She pumped her legs and ran through the fields. When she hit the trees, two figures appeared in the dark. It was too late to stop, and she ended up bowling them over.
“William?”
Then the band activated, sending shocks down her body. The burning sensation made her stomach twist, and she vomited bile on William’s white shoes. The pain bloomed from her wrist.
He grasped her arms gently. “Victoria, what’s wrong?”
“Take me to Nyx. Back wall.”
“What?”
The shocks coursed through her, and she fell back against him and saw his worried blue eyes as she passed out.
15
William
A loud thud woke William. He sat up in his small bed and saw his father glaring at him.
“Where’s your brother?”
William glanced at the empty bed. “I don’t know.” He had a feeling his father was about to tell him.
“I received a communication from the station across town in the Boreus district. Your drunken brother is there. Go get him before others see.”
His father left and slammed the door. William rubbed his face and groaned. Samuel usually only went out once a week, but this whole week, he’d snuck out night after night. William was tempted to tie his brother to his bed. A flash of anger filled him. This shouldn’t be his concern.
He ran a hand through his hair and got dressed in his older clothing. On his way out, his mother handed him a cheese sandwich and patted him on the cheek.
In the early morning, the swirling blight was a deep green color intermixed with a dark blue. For something so evil, it looked beautiful. William stomped his way down the path, letting the morning walk wake him. Maybe he would be calmer by the time he arrived. This whole week, what had his brother been thinking? Something hadn’t been right since they’d visited that family, but it wasn’t like his brother had ever been right.
William walked the narrow alleys and nodded to other radiant he passed. Smiles in place, they began their early morning duties. This whole time, he had heard nothing about his upcoming wedding. His mother had mentioned that they were going to the younger sister’s vital ceremony in a few days.
He went over a stone-covered bridge. Victoria had been taking up too much of his mind lately. The sun rose in the sky as he arrived at the station. The officers nodded to him and went back to get his brother. They knew him.
William crossed his arms and prepared a look of disapproval. Not that it mattered. His brother would keep doing what he wanted and not care that William wasted hours walking to stations to get him every day.
They pulled his brother out and removed the cuffs. His brother stumbled toward William, his face down. His hair had thick mats, and he smelled more than usual. William grabbed his arm and took him out of the station.
“See you tomorrow!” an officer joked.
He let go of Samuel, and his brother wobbled on his feet. “What has gotten into you? Do you have to go out every night and get drunk?”
Samuel muttered, “They forgot her.”
William sighed in frustration. “I know. I know. It isn’t your fault. You need to get over it. You know it looks bad on me when you do this?”
Samuel stared at the ground.
“Can you at least look at me when I’m lecturing you?”
Samuel laughed and raised his face. His eyes … they had red rims around the iris. His lips were cracked, and faint red lines crossed his face. William’s throat tightened.
“You need to charge. Come with me.” William pulled him to the nearest charging station.
Samuel yanked out of his grip. “Don’t pull me.”
“Fine. Then walk over there and charge yourself. You’re at a dangerous level.”
Samuel leveled his gaze at William. “I gave away my credits.”
William tried to grip his brother again. “Fine. Use mine.”
“No.”
William paused in the middle of the pathway. “What do you mean, no?”
Samuel staggered but crossed his arms. “I won’t charge.”
“You can’t be serious. Why in blight’s name wouldn’t you charge?” What was this new game he played? Didn’t he realize it was dangerous? William took a deep breath to avoid screaming at his brother in the street full of people.
Samuel swallowed. “I don’t deserve to. I’m done. This is my penitence.”
William shoved open the folding green door to the station. Samuel tried to yank away, but William overtook him and put the charger up to his neck. There was no click. He looked closer and saw a long cut on Samuel’s neck.
“You’ve got to be kidding. You cut it out?” William dropped the charger, and it clunked against the side of the station. A numbness filled William, and his world became a living dream. His brother surely hadn’t done this. William brushed his brother’s hair out of the way, hoping he’d misheard or seen something else. The long red cut was still there, mocking all of William’s efforts. He couldn’t believe it. His brother had ended his life. A sense of abandonment filled him.
Samuel pushed William’s hand away, stepped out of the station, and took off. “Leave me be, Brother.”
“If I have to take you to a reaper every day, so be it!” He slammed the door shut behind him and followed his brother. “How far do you expect to get?”
William caught up to him and wrapped his arms around Samuel’s, forcing him to march forward all the way home. Samuel didn’t try to break away, but William held firm.
Everyone glanced at the spectacle. At home, William shoved Samuel inside.
His mother and father stood.
“He cut out his orb.”
His mother gasped, and his father glared at his younger son.
“Get him cleaned up,” their father snapped. Other than those words, they showed little concern that they were about to lose a son.
Samuel went to the bathroom, and William heard the splash of water. His father stared at the candle flame in the middle of the table. Light came in through the window, so the flame would soon be put out.
They said nothing. William waited for them to show any sadness. His mother shook her head like this was another inconvenience from Samuel. His father stared for a moment. William understood what his gaze meant: his brother was his responsibility. They’d already written Samuel off, probably months or years ago. The weight pushed him down. They all knew there was no coming back from losing an orb. William sank to the floor, head in his hands. It was over.
William watched his brother wake up from a short nap. Samuel’s now dry hair was mussed from him sleeping on it wet. He blinked at William in the corner.
He tossed his pillow at William. “Could you be creepier?”
“Probably.” William threw the pillow back, and it landed with a thud next to Samuel on the bed. “Get ready. I want to take you somewhere today.”
Samuel rubbed his red-rimmed eyes. “Are we going on a date?”
William stepped out of the room. “You could say that.” The informal white clothing felt awkward. The radiant clothing was mostly handwoven, though they did buy some materials. It was his father’s goal to be completely independent of magic-made items.
He grabbed the pack he’d prepared in advance, and Samuel appeared. William handed him a sandwich, and Samuel ate it as they walked out of the house. He pushed the empty feeling to the back of his mind. Today, he only wanted to be with his brother.
The blight swirled in vibrant purples and reds.
“What’s the plan for our date?”
Neither of them wanted to talk about what would happen to Samuel. The warm day helped put William at ease; he hoped Samuel’s corruption would hold off while the sun sta
yed high in the sky.
William rolled his shoulders under the weight of his pack. “We haven’t spent much time together with my radiant training. I thought we could have a normal day.” He glanced at his brother and tried not to notice the red around his light blue irises. When he reached to straighten his cuffs, he remembered he wore a shirt today and not his radiant uniform.
Next to him, Samuel folded his hands behind his back and peered at the sky. He did that more and more these days. “I don’t suppose we’re getting drinks?”
William bit his tongue. “We can later if you want.”
Samuel nearly ran into a lamppost. “Okay, who are you?”
“I’m still your brother.” William gripped the straps of the pack. “I don’t get to be myself anymore and thought it might be nice to get to for this last day.” He stopped talking when he felt his throat getting tight.
“Last day?”
William didn’t want to hide from his brother. After all, he might turn into a mog, even today.
“You know. You already know,” William whispered. Samuel had harassed him day in and day out that he’d changed. “I have certain responsibilities. This is what I have to do. I hope you understand. But I think we never got a day … a day to say goodbye to who I was. I want … I want it to just be you and me.”
“I understand.” He’d already made his choice, and now William had to live with it.
“Let’s go,” William whispered. He forced on a smile. He looked into the eyes that were his mirror. “Why don’t we not worry about that today?”
Samuel lightly punched his arm. “Okay, then.”
There was a timer, but today, they would ignore its ticking.
William led them away from the center of town. In the eastern district, they reached the farmland that spread out for miles. This section took a break from the stone and canals. The water branched out to irrigate the land, and streams edged the orchards. Any unused water looped back around into the canals. William headed to the orchard, and Samuel followed.
“Remember?” William asked.
Samuel pulled at a leaf from one of the trees. “We used to come here all the time as children.” He quickened his pace and settled down next to the stream. “I used to beat you all the time in our boat races.”
When you didn’t have magic, you had to find other ways to play. “Beat me? I think your memory is getting worse.”
“I clearly remember winning all the time. You would throw a fit and drown my boats. Such a sore loser.” Samuel tried to splash William with the cool water.
William ducked away and pulled out paper from his pack. “Prove it.”
Samuel raised his brows and smiled. He grabbed a stack of paper and folded a boat. William folded along with him, the smooth paper creasing under his fingers. It took a few tries, but the memory of how to make a paper boat came back. His finished product didn’t look water-worthy, but it would be a good tester. As they worked under the shade of a tree, the breeze cooled them down from the hot day. William didn’t enjoy being dirty, but as he sat on the grass, he didn’t mind if his pants got stained today. The air was fresher here than in Verrin, and the trickle of the tranquil stream relaxed William for the first time in months.
Samuel held out his boat, and it didn’t look much better. He laughed at their creations.
“Want to test these?” William asked.
They knelt next to the stream and hovered their boats over the water.
“Three … two—”
Samuel dropped his boat.
“I realize why you won so much.” William snorted as they watched their boats bob down the water.
“But you do remember me winning.” Samuel whooped as his boat went over the drop first.
“You honestly don’t think that counts, do you?”
“A win’s a win.”
William mockingly glared at his brother, who finally grinned sheepishly.
“Fine. I won’t cheat.”
They each grabbed another piece of paper and folded them. This time, their boats had cleaner lines. When they dropped them in the water, William “accidentally” splashed water onto Samuel’s boat, sinking it.
“Ha! See, this is how you win.” Samuel again splashed at William.
The cool water hit his bare arms, and William smiled at his brother. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Samuel scoffed. “You always had this way of speaking so people would believe you.”
“It’s a talent.” He dried his arms and hands on his clothing.
“Mother and Father never realized you misbehaved as much as I did.” Samuel took another paper.
“Oh, I got just as many spankings as you.”
“Until I hid the paddle.” Samuel winked.
William chuckled. “I knew it was you.”
The warmth of the afternoon sun shone down on them. William took out a few drinks from his pack and passed them to Samuel. The cool beer tasted amazing as they raced boat after boat.
William’s smile stayed on his face throughout the whole day. The sound of their laugher echoed in the orchard. It was almost nightfall by the time they ran out of paper.
Samuel fell next to William, his cheeks flushed. He stared up at the sky. The swirls darkened as the sun got ready to set. “Are you happy?”
William took a long drink. “You’re very concerned with that.” Did Samuel think that if he turned into a mog, William would be happy he was gone? The ache he’d tried to ignore all day came back and burned in his chest.
Samuel twisted a blade of grass between his fingers. “Don’t you think we all deserve to be happy? This world is broken, and there’s something missing, don’t you think?”
“You mean magic versus no magic?”
Samuel tore the blade of grass in two. “There’s something off with magic and the radiant life, not to mention the vitals.”
William focused on the swirls in the sky. “This is what we have, though.” A feeling he couldn’t control rose in him. He didn’t have the power to figure something else out. The radiant path might seem extreme, but turning into a monster was the worst outcome. He studied his brother, with his slight smile and light blue eyes. His body would mutate until he didn’t recognize his family. He might try to eat them.
“If you think about it, the radiant path is a hard one, but you won’t admit that we don’t turn into monsters.”
“You know a reaper won’t fix this, Brother.” His soft voice mixed with the sound of the stream.
Removing the orb had been suicide. They both knew it. Getting a reaper to drain him could buy them a week at most.
“You also have this unwavering responsibility to me.” Samuel closed his eyes, and tears pooled. “I know this wasn’t a goodbye to your childhood. It was for me.”
William’s fingers dug into the ground. “Samuel, you know I …”
Samuel sat up. “I know.”
William choked, then gripped him in a hug. When he let go, they stared at each other. Everything remained unspoken, but they understood each other, even if these past months, they’d bickered about the radiant life. They still were brothers.
Samuel looked up at the sky. “What color is the sky, Brother?”
“I’ll find out someday.” Selfishness filled him, and William couldn’t let go of his brother. He understood what Vic would go through in losing her sister. He didn’t have to lose Samuel. He could keep him. William placed his hands on his brother’s head.
While Samuel stared into the colorful swirls of blight at dusk, William pulled out the magic and blight inside him and replaced it with the whiteness of a radiant.
When it was over, William fell to the ground, tears dripping down his cheeks. This was what he’d had to do to save his brother. Part of his soul had been ripped from him. He had to believe this was better than Samuel turning into a mog, but he’d never wanted this for Samuel. A few moments later, he felt a hand on his side.
“Are you okay?” Samue
l asked.
William sat up, and the shell of his brother sat there with a smile and clear eyes. “Yes. Let me take you where you can find a place in our society.”
“Wonderful.” Samuel kept smiling, but it wasn’t him. None of the mischief remained. It was like any other smile now.
William’s vision blurred as he packed up the empty bottles and stray papers. Samuel stood calmly, waiting for him. William swallowed hard and continued to work. He picked up a boat they’d never sailed. It was his brother’s. In the growing darkness, he held the last paper boat.
His vision foggy, he stared at the blight that had taken his brother from him.
He tucked the boat in his pocket, and instead of taking Samuel back to the city, he sat down and stared at the sky with his brother, the weight still heavy on his shoulders.
What color is the sky, Brother? “I’ll find out someday.”
16
Vic
“What did you do to her?” Kai whispered angrily.
Someone held her in their arms. They smelled like fresh linen hung in the sunshine. She decided not to open her eyes and curled her body into theirs.
“Nothing. She ran into me then went into convulsions. She told me to take her to the back wall.”
She recognized that voice. “Sally Sunshine, is that you?”
“She’s waking up,” William said, stating the obvious.
“Give her to me.”
“Who are you?” Her frame was jostled as William stepped back.
“Her commander. And who are you?”
“Her betrothed.”
Vic groaned. “Stop it. My head already hurts.” She shifted and gasped. “Okay, my whole body hurts.”
She blinked her eyes open and saw William’s jaw very close to her face. “Can you put me down?” Vic winced. “Slowly.”
He hesitantly lowered her to her feet. She gripped his arm to steady herself. Vic looked up and saw Kai glaring at her hand on William’s arm.
“For blight’s sake.” She let go of William and wobbled.