Half-Born (Half-Blood Chronicles #1) (The Half-Blood Chronicles)

by Ivy Baum

  I remembered, now, with a fresh clarity.

  I had awoken one night to find her there, sitting patiently, watching me from somewhere within the deep folds of that hood.

  I still couldn’t see her face. Maybe she didn’t have one.

  The first thing I remembered feeling was not fear, but anger. “Are they dead?”

  I was referring, of course, to Lucan and his army.

  The stranger said nothing, but I could sense her surprise at the question.

  “Please tell me you weren’t there to save them.”

  Finally, she spoke. The voice was ageless but distinctly female. It had also been subtly altered, stripped of any distinguishing cadences.

  “Our purpose is not to serve as arbiter of these skirmishes. We sought only to remove them from the fight.”

  “Why come if you didn’t want to take sides?”

  “The battle was…incidental.” A pause—a hesitation? “We were there because of you, Kestrel.”

  “Me?”

  “It was in the midst of that battle that you finally discovered your true capabilities. We knew it would happen eventually. But this was…earlier than we anticipated.”

  Your true capabilities.

  She was talking about the Quiet Place. About that strange doorway to the other world—and the powers I had stolen and brought back to this world.

  I had been invincible, omnipotent.

  “Why did you stop me?”

  She didn’t answer right away, and I got the sense that she was wrestling with how much to tell me.

  At last, she folded her arms. “You have no Source gift, Kestrel. Not in the usual sense of the word.”

  I frowned. “But I have magic?”

  “Source magic is like a river that flows through our universe. It is shapeless, chaotic—until it takes the form of its vessel.”

  I had heard this before, and nodded.

  “When the Source magic flows through you, it takes no shape. You are less of a vessel and more of a…conduit. Or door.”

  I thought of the doorway. “What does that mean?”

  “You cannot control the Source magic that flows through you—it is in its raw, unaltered state. Which means—”

  “That I have no idea what’s going to happen when I try to do magic.”

  Now things were beginning to make sense. Though I wasn’t sure I was any better off for knowing it.

  “Yes. When you open yourself up to that kind of magic, you simply conduct whatever happens to be floating around at the moment.”

  Great. I was like some kind of magical open sewer.

  Except—

  “That isn’t what happened when I fought against Lucan.”

  “No. You were more than a simple conduit. You became a bridge—between our reality and theirs.”

  “Whose reality?”

  “The Sources who first brought their magic to our world. They come from another universe, another reality. An alien place—much older than ours.”

  “The Quiet Place.”

  Through the shadowy folds of her hood, I thought I sensed amusement. “I suppose that’s as good a name for it as any. What you did back there—you opened the door. You brought their magic directly into our universe.”

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

  “Their magic does not belong in our reality. It will tear apart the very fabric of our universe.” A pause. “And it will do the same to you.”

  “Is that why I’m lying here?”

  “If you use that magic, it will destroy everything human inside of you. As it is, you nearly died.”

  “But you used it.”

  That had been a guess. But the stranger nodded.

  “Yes. But I have had centuries to practice, to guard against its pernicious effect. Even then, I only did so to prevent greater harm.”

  “Why did you come here?”

  “To issue a warning.” She drew herself up, and in doing so, seemed to grow taller and more imposing. “Do not open yourself to that other place. The one we call—”

  And then she used a word so strange that I doubted it could be pronounced by a human tongue.

  It was only then that I thought to ask her about Sol—whether he was okay, and whether she could use her powers to save him.

  But in the moment I took to blink, she was gone.

  Sol came to visit me each day after that.

  Sometimes, he would take me on a long, rambling walk through this part of the Capitol. It was nothing like the Arena, the Chamber of Judgment, or anything else I’d seen on the way in. The Domestic Quarters were quieter, less imposing. Though it would’ve been a stretch to call the unadorned stone cozy.

  On a day during the second week, the knock came earlier than usual.

  I looked up—and was disappointed to find that it was not Sol.

  I’d been particularly anxious to talk to him. In the past few days, I’d noticed how distracted he was. He seemed to be busy running around the Capitol—but whenever I asked about what he was doing, he was vague to the point of evasion.

  The face in the doorway was a stranger—or so I thought at first. A man with light brown hair and the beginnings of crow’s feet.

  And a head that was almost completely bald.

  This man was House Orikon—the one who’d spoken up during the Assembly.

  Apparently, he’d survived the attack by Blood Right.

  “May I come in?”

  I nodded.

  I was, by now, out of my bed and getting dressed every day. Sol had somehow found the bag of Sydney’s clothes, so I was now able to wear something normal most days. I had a stack of books on the little bureau, but the truth was, I was bored out of my mind.

  “You’re the head of House Orikon,” I said.

  He smiled. “Please. Call me Tyrus. I hope you’re feeling better?”

  I nodded. I wasn’t about to drop my guard. Technically, this guy was now in charge of everything in the Capitol. Sol had been feeding me information about the new government over the last few days. Tyrus had established a new government—one that was conspicuously more egalitarian than the Council of Elders.

  But the fact of the matter remained that he was the new leader, and he could probably kick me out of this place any time he wanted.

  Tyrus paced the small room.

  Finally, he stopped and clasped his hands. For a moment, he simply studied me.

  Those eyes were shrewd. “I came here to ask a favor.”

  This was the last thing I expected. I watched warily as he began to pace again.

  “You say you came to the Capitol to ally with us against Blood Right. If that’s true, then now is your chance.”

  I stared, uncomprehending. The Capitol, according to Sol, had been completely upside-down. A staggering majority of the Seated Nobles, the ones who’d been unfortunate enough to be in the Assembly during Lucan’s arrival, were dead. A smaller number had gone missing, and rumors spread like wildfire about them.

  The rest were rebuilding.

  Tyrus stopped pacing. “We’re going to need you, Kestrel. Pax needs you.”

  Pax was what they’d renamed the Capitol. Latin for peace.

  I guess you had to give them points for trying.

  “I’m not sure what I can—”

  “Rebuilding the Wall, putting the Capitol back together—that’s just the beginning. The more important work will be rebuilding our society.”

  “Pureblood society?”

  He let out a short laugh. “Do you really think anyone cares about that now?”

  I raised an eyebrow.

  “Yes, I suppose some of them still do. Old habits die hard. But I think they have more pressing concerns right now.”

  “What exactly would you need me for?”

  “You? You’re a symbol of the half-bloods. And a rather famous one, at this point. You stood against the Cipher and lived. It’s important to show that you’re on our side.”

  I folded m
y arms. “What exactly are you planning?”

  “I’m in agreement with you, Kes. Blood Right is our most pressing concern right now. We need to do what we can to stand against them—and in time, stop them. We need to forge an alliance with Outlaw City—if such a thing is possible. Reach out to the purebloods who have spent the last few generations living in the old Strongholds.”

  The Strongholds, I had learned, were pureblood compounds scattered throughout the world. In fact, I had been surprised to learn that most purebloods did not live in the Capitol. In recent years—well, the past century, which was recent by Aristoi standards—the Strongholds had become more isolated.

  Backwaters, Sol had called them.

  I thought back to Lucan’s speech before the Assembly. Before the Covenants, we were free. Each Noble ruled his own territory…

  “What about Sanctuary?”

  Tyrus looked surprised at this. “I thought there were no survivors.”

  I shook my head. “There was no evidence that everyone was killed. All those people are missing. We need to find out what happened.”

  He nodded slowly. “Of course. We will look in to that.”

  I wasn’t sure whether he was serious about it or just placating me. But at least he hadn’t called me a liar.

  He said, “So you’ll help me?”

  “You know I’m only eighteen, right?”

  He smiled. “You don’t need to know anything for this job.”

  “And I’m not a pureblood.”

  “So we’ll make you an honorary one.”

  I stared, not quite sure I’d heard right.

  “Of course, there’ll have to be some kind of ceremony. Take an oath, sign a paper, change your name to something more befitting of a Noble. But once we do all of that…” He waved a hand—like a magician. “You, Kestrel, will be the newest member of the Noble race.”

  Chapter 66

  I was so focused on the last set of stays that I didn’t hear the knock.

  Not that it mattered. The door swung inward just as I had wrestled the last piece of fabric into place.

  The outfit was both constrictive and bulky, and probably the least flattering thing I’d ever worn. I was sure I’d messed it up somehow. For all I knew, I had it on backward. But all those concerns fell away as Sol entered the room.

  For a moment, he just stood and stared.

  “You mind closing the door?” This came out a little more testily than I’d intended. This ridiculous costume made me feel self-conscious, and Sol wasn’t helping.

  He closed the door. By the time he turned back to me, he was wearing his characteristic grin. “Wow. You look…”

  I found myself holding my breath as he trailed off. But his next words were anything but romantic.

  “Geez, Kes. Didn’t they have anything that actually fit?”

  The dress, which Dr. Sotheby had dropped by my room early this morning, was a complicated, embroidered thing that felt like it weighed about a thousand pounds.

  Not only that, but whoever had designed it had never heard of modern conveniences like zippers and buttons. I had spent the better part of the morning fastening the approximately two hundred tiny stays.

  Dr. Sotheby had assured me that some Aristoi functionary would come by before the ceremony to ensure I was properly attired.

  I faced Sol with as much dignity as I could muster. “There aren’t many ladies in the Capitol, let alone one with a spare set of formal robes.”

  “Ah, yes. Female participation in the workforce. Yet another area in which the Aristoi are hopelessly backward.”

  Well, if this was what they made women wear in the Assembly, then it was no wonder no one wanted the job.

  Sol, I noticed, was dressed in normal clothes—jeans and a t-shirt. “So where’s your toga?”

  He grinned. “I’m not really a toga guy. I think I could get into wearing velvet robes, though.”

  The joke, I realized, was his way of keeping me at a distance. And that worried me.

  Was it because he was a pureblood now?

  Of course, in a short time, I would be too. Well, sort of.

  When I looked up, Sol was watching me intently.

  “You really are going through with this farce, aren’t you?”

  I forced a smile. “You know, for someone who claims not to be two hundred years old, you don’t exactly talk like a teenage boy.”

  His gaze softened. “Whatever happened to my mild-mannered Kes?”

  Melantha’s words echoed in my mind. What are you?

  I decided to change the subject. “Any news from the team?”

  Another thing that had surprised me about this place was the fact that you could actually use a cell phone. Coverage is spotty, Sol had warned me, but it works in a few places.

  He shook his head. “Nothing new.”

  “What about Nev?”

  He gave me a slightly quizzical look. Nev had been off doing whatever secretive things she usually did.

  I couldn’t quite explain it, but I needed to talk to her. I had a strange feeling that she would know more about the woman in the red cloak.

  Plus, I needed to ask her about what it meant—everything the stranger had told me. About my Source gift—or lack of one.

  Sol shrugged. “Wherever she is, I don’t think she has cell phone service.” He paused. “I did speak with your mother, though. She’s going to come here. To the Capitol. Or Pax, I guess.”

  “She is?” Fresh joy flooded through me. “Is Nev taking her?”

  He shook his head. “Vissarion has gone to meet her and her security detail. He’s going to escort them.”

  “Vissarion?” The last time I’d checked, he was busy helping Tyrus rebuild the government.

  Sol smiled as though at some private joke. “What can I say? He volunteered for the job.”

  “When will I see her?”

  His smile faded a little. “Look, Kes. Don’t kid yourself—it’s going to take awhile. They need to travel slowly. Carefully. Things are getting worse out there, and they can’t take any chances.”

  There was an awkward pause, like a skipped beat on a CD. Suddenly, he wouldn’t meet my eyes.

  I knew, then—he hadn’t come here for a casual chat.

  “Sol.” I searched his face, watching the muscles in his jaw tighten. “What is it?”

  “There’s something else I need to tell you.”

  His hands, I noticed, were clenched at his sides.

  I waited, feeling like my stomach had turned upside-down.

  “I’m leaving the Capitol. Tomorrow.”

  I had to force myself to start breathing again. “Why?”

  “The short answer? I can’t stay here. I hate this place.” He shook his head and began to pace. “This was the one place I swore I’d stay away from. I don’t belong here.”

  I bowed my head. He was right, of course. With all the formal niceties of the Capitol, it was easy to forget what they’d done.

  “And the long answer?”

  He stopped pacing.

  “Kes, what happened with Blood Right…it’s just the beginning. You think that whole elaborate show was just my brother trying to work out his daddy issues? He didn’t go to the trouble of breaking into the Capitol just to make a scene and spill some blood.” His expression was distant, troubled. “Something big is coming, and I don’t know what it is. I just know that we have to be ready.”

  “And you have to leave the Capitol to do that?”

  The moment the words left my mouth, I realized that he hadn’t told me where he was going. But I knew.

  I crossed my arms. “You’re going back to Outlaw City.”

  “If we’re going to beat Blood Right, we can’t do it alone. Outlaw City might not be my favorite place in the world, but they have information I need. Resources I can’t get on my own. Besides, I have a friend there.”

  For a second, I thought he was talking about Roche. Then I remembered something.

  “Hades
?”

  He smiled. “We go way back. As far back as Melantha and me, actually.”

  There. He’d mentioned her—the ghost who now seemed to hover over all our conversations.

  “It must be hard for you,” I said awkwardly. “To see her again—on their side.”

  “I should have suspected. When we were at Sanctuary…” He shook his head, looked away. “I should have known when I couldn’t find her ring.”

  I frowned—then remembered something. “That thing you were looking for on the Rec Dec…”

  He nodded. “It was something of Melantha’s. Something so valuable that we vowed to keep it hidden. A secret between the two of us. When I saw that it was gone, I should have known something was wrong.”

  Silence stretched between us.

  I couldn’t say what I was really thinking. So I just said, “Be careful, Sol.”

  Within seconds, Sol had closed the distance between us.

  He stared down at me, his palm pressed to my cheek. “You could come with me.”

  It’s what you wanted to hear. Isn’t it?

  But I found myself shaking my head. “I can’t.”

  He said nothing as my tears slid down my face and over his fingers.

  It was several seconds before I could speak again. “There’s so much I need to do. Here.”

  For a second I imagined—okay, hoped—that he would protest. But after a moment, he only nodded.

  He stepped back. “They haven’t changed, you know. They’re just using you.”

  I searched his gaze, unsure of what I was looking for. Contempt? Pity? “And what makes you think I’m doing any differently?”

  Whatever I’d seen in his expression was gone. Now it was unreadable as stone. He smiled a little—an opaque smile. One that I remembered from the days before we’d met.

  “Are you?”

  Chapter 67

  Tyrus of House Orikon pushed the parchment toward me, then proffered a pen.

  No, not a pen. A quill.

  I should’ve known.

  “By signing here, you pledge that you will, to the best of your knowledge and abilities, uphold the interests of the Noble Race.”

  The four of us were ranged at the far end of a long, ornate table: me, Tyrus, Dr. Sotheby, and a tight-lipped Aristoi clerk.