by Lisa Daniels
“Of course.” There was a strange noise, then she felt something warm press up against her back. Ivy placed her hands on it and jumped up a little to get comfortable.
“I don’t remember seeing any comfortable furniture. I thought everything looked metallic.”
“Don’t worry about it. Are you comfortable?”
“Surprisingly, yes. This is really warm.” Something folded over her and Ivy suddenly felt very secure. “Thank you. This is a very strange blanket.”
“Yes. You won’t find any other quite like it in the world.”
“So, you were explaining?”
“Years ago, I was made the guardian of a special creature with the understanding that I would help her learn who she was and come to terms with a very difficult, incredibly complex, and entirely unfair history. I proved that my hesitation was correct, that I was not the best suited for the job, but my arguments were constantly countered until I felt that I could no longer say no. I found a loving family who took care of her, never telling her that she wasn’t their child. They had planned to when she was older, but they had the misfortune of living in Yuezhi. They were persecuted, and in response, the entire town walked into the ocean to die. I was again left to raise the child, but this time I decided that it would be best if I acted alone. She was so sweet and loving, I could not bring myself to start the lessons. There was always a reason to put it off.
“I was still struggling with how and when to start her lessons when I received word that my family was in trouble. It should have been easy to fix because the trouble was nothing abnormal; they were warring among themselves and I needed to intercede. I am the black sheep of my family in that I can keep a level head and temper. I can use reason and logic to reach a sensible conclusion. The problem was that I was stubborn in trying to protect my family. I didn’t tell anyone where I was going or why, and they all just accepted it. She was only 14 at the time. With her abilities, I have accepted that she died because of my stupidity. I was given the greatest gift, and I never prepared her or even helped her to understand how important she was. For years, I tried to escape from here, moving the full length of the tunnel. That is why it is so big. It was made to keep me contained and to give me hope that I would someday get out. With hope, they tried to use me to find her. At least I succeeded in that. After the first year was over, I told them that I had an arrangement to have my charge killed if I did not return. They believed it because it was the kind of thing they would do. Even without her, they still had other ways to use me to bring down my friends. But they never came – never even came close, at least as far as I can tell. My senses have been severely diminished over the years here.
“This place was slowly killing me. Because of what I am, I require certain contact to stay alive and healthy. The metal,” there was a loud ringing around the room as he tapped on the floor, “has kept me contained, but it has poisoned me. When they realized it, they brought a medic. A woman that I knew from when she was just a young thing, though her personality has never changed. Ester is almost as stubborn and thickheaded as my family. Anyway, they lured her here, and she has been quite colorful in her descriptions of what will happen once she gets out of here, although she won’t tell me what she was doing before she came here.”
“Probably working with plague victims or something.” Ivy said it offhandedly while thinking about Ailey.
“What plague?”
She shifted on her seat. “You really have been here a long time, huh? There is a plague in Melzi that has killed a third of the population. At least that is the rumor going around. It is true that it has been more than two years since it started.”
There was a huffing noise from somewhere in the room. Ivy felt the seat shift a little as Augustin spoke. “Ester, I am so glad you are here. I have something a little more challenging for you to do.”
Chapter 6
The Agreement
“Ester, I would like to introduce you to… Actually, you never did tell me who you are.”
Ivy felt the seat moving a little as she thought about using her real name. “I don’t suppose there is any reason to lie about it down here, especially if it is a prison as you say.”
There was a derisive sound from somewhere further into the room. It preceded a rather older, clearly annoyed woman’s voice. “I don’t want to know what you think a prison is if you don’t think this looks like one.”
“Charming as ever, Ester.” Augustin did not sound at all annoyed. In fact, Ivy thought she could hear a smile in there as he continued, “But I think if you will give me a minute then you will regret those words.”
“It would be quite something if you could make me regret anything, old man.”
“Yes, that would be something,” Augustin replied. Ivy felt things shift again and the blanket was removed. “My apologies, but I think you will need to stand up for this one.”
“You are being most considerate. Much more considerate than you usually are of me. Did you somehow conjure this poor girl down here? Without even knowing who she is?” The woman’s voice was more like that of a mother. “I would have thought someone of your age would know better. Or is this about replacing the one you lost?”
Ivy gently slid from her seat and heard the strange noise again. She tried to take a step towards Ester, but her foot struck something. A strong arm kept her from falling. The voice was so close to her as the prisoner responded, “You know as well as I that you can never replace something once lost. Please don’t keep taking such cruel shots at my history. Even I have limits, and it is not my fault that you abandoned your station. I would appreciate it if you would not turn the anger that you feel for yourself for having been duped back on me. Believe me, I would rather they had left you where you were and let me just die. But they brought you here, and here we are. I could not just simply give up when offered a way to survive and atone, and you could not simply watch someone die, no matter how terrified you were of that person.” His voice was soothing, but Ivy could hear the undertones, much like a parent reprimanding a child following an outburst.
The tone was not lost on the woman either. Her indignation was exacerbated by the words, not cooled. “Who says that I was terrified of you? Notice I did not flinch walking in the room right now.” Ivy’s face swiveled back toward where she thought Augustin was standing, her mind trying to figure out just why anyone would be afraid of him. So far as she could tell, he was remarkably kind. Ester continued as Ivy’s mind spun through all of the possibilities. “If you had not been so foolish and tried to settle things on your own, there would have been no need for those things to abduct me.” Ivy’s head turned to face the medic as her mind worked furiously to try to figure out just what was going on between the pair.
“I can still completely forgive you because I know that you are just worried about your protégé. For now, I will continue to be understanding. But at some point, even I will break. Now,” Ivy felt a hand on her shoulder, “if you would be so kind as to finally tell me your name.”
Ivy turned her head toward the soothing voice. “Ivy.” He has a very firm voice for an old man. I’ll bet he was attractive in his prime. A smile spread across her lips as she waited for a response.
“It is certainly an interesting name. I know someone who would probably have a good time getting to know you.”
The medic spoke up, “Are you trying to set her up with someone? Down here?” This was followed by the sound of a clicking tongue. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Ivy.”
Ivy faced the direction of the voice. “It is a pleasure to meet you, too, Ester.” She gave a quick bow because the woman was a medic, and clearly one who had some talent if she had been abducted by the creatures that had tried to kill Ivy. It never hurt to try to get on the good side of a well-respected medic. Especially for a thief. It was impossible to know when the next injury would happen, and having friends, or at least a good reputation with the medics, was worth a lot more than the attitude that Ivy would usual
ly have struck in the current situation.
There was a moment of silence that followed Ivy’s greeting. Finally, Augustin spoke up, “She’s blind right now.”
Suddenly Ivy felt herself being dragged along by a very firm set of female hands. “Why did you not tell me that earlier? You stole a blind girl for what, I wonder.”
Augustin’s sole response was a sigh. Ivy tried to keep her tone cool as she responded, “I’m not blind. Just temporarily can’t see. It’s not the same thing.”
“Oh. Augustin, did you kidnap a blind humanoid? Or did you blind her to get her down here? Honestly, if that was the case, you should have just left her vision well enough alone. It would have been better all around. Then again, you don’t seem to want her for yourself. I really cannot understand you.” The woman’s disdain for her patient was incredibly curious, and Ivy could not seem to wrap her head around it. She had gotten a similar reception from Ailey, but that was only after trying to steal from the medic. It was highly unlikely that Augustin had done anything like that down here. Then again, Ester’s life was stolen from her to bring her to Augustin. The lives of the pair were slowly forming before her, and while she could understand the antagonism on some level, it seemed odd that Ester would be so cold to a patient.
“I did not bring her down here.” For the first time since her arrival, Ivy heard a hint of frustration in the man’s voice.
But her attention was elsewhere as her mind had latched on to something else that the woman had said. With everything going on, Ivy wasn’t picking up on everything as fast as she usually did. “I am not a child. And I told you, I’m not blind.”
The sound of a tongue clicking again echoed around the room. “Well, if you don’t need my help then-”
“No, I didn’t say that. If you can help me figure out what happened to my eyes, I would appreciate it.”
“Can you not heal them on your own?” The woman’s voice was very close to Ivy, and the young woman knew that the medic was checking her out.
“Of course not. I’m human.”
There was another long pause. The longer it stretched, the more uncomfortable Ivy felt. She began to shift her weight from foot to foot. “I mean, of course I’m human. If I were anything else, wouldn’t I know it? I mean, how can someone not know what they are?”
Ivy felt a wave of frustration as the silence continued. “Look, I know you guys haven’t just disappeared. What is going on?”
The man spoke nearby, but not so close that Ivy could reach out and touch him. His voice was low almost so that she couldn’t hear him. “Something’s happened, and she’s lost her magic. I don’t know when it will return, but if she’s anything like me-”
“My dear Augustin, there isn’t another living creature like you.”
“I’m going to choose to take that as a compliment. Please, look after her and see if there is anything you can do until she is returned to herself. I will then take it from there.”
“Why did I get dragged into this? I swear, when I finally get out of here-”
“I will make sure that you both get out of this alive and sooner than later. Please. You have no idea what it is to be so lost.”
“And you do?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Simply observing others going through something difficult is not the same thing as experiencing.”
“No. But having experienced personally, I have an idea what she is going through.”
“Oh, please, I seriously doubt that your people-”
“This is not the time or the place to delve into my history. It is what it is and it has nothing to do with you. Right now, you have a patient who needs you. If you truly do not care about a person’s heritage, why are you still fighting with me? Please, help her.”
Ester sighed, making the most audible sound since she had found out Ivy was temporarily blind. “I will expect more than just getting out if you keep piling on my duties.”
“Just yesterday you were saying how bored you were now that I’m back to health. Surely this will be more enjoyable than sitting around bored, reading what few notes you have, and worrying about Melzi.”
“Damn that girl!” The words were out of her mouth before Ester could think about what she was saying. Her voice dropped again as she tried to control her temper. “There is no reason for you to know what is happening in my world.”
“And there is no reason for you to know anything about mine. Yet here we are. And there she is. Please, Ester, I’m begging you to help her.”
“What are you doing? Stand up, you foolish old man!”
“Not until you agree to treat her and see what you can do to restore her sight.”
“Fine,” Ester snapped, “but don’t expect me to be able to do anything for another humanoid. I only fixed you because you told me what to do.”
“She’s about one-eighth human. You should have an easier time taking care of her.”
“One-eighth, huh? And she doesn’t know it. Poor child.” The pity in the woman’s voice made Ivy’s blood start to boil.
Trying to pretend she hadn’t heard them, Ivy stretched out her hands trying to move away from the conversation. In her current state, she was all but helpless. At least they don’t seem to have any ill will toward me.
“No, no, no.” A warm hand wrapped around her forearm. “This way.” The hand slid down her arm and took her hand. Augustin was leading her somewhere, but for the first time in a long time, Ivy did not feel like she was in any kind of danger from whatever someone else planned for her.
He kind of reminds me of Ash. Maybe he’s a shifter, too, although it doesn’t seem likely. Cyprian was terrifying and strong. Ash was incredibly charming and persuasive. Augustin seems to lack any traits that would make him anything like those two.
“I think I should be the one tending to her.” Ester’s voice was following them, and from the echo, Ivy knew that they were in a hallway.
“Exactly how big is this place?” Not being able to see anything, her curiosity was piqued. Besides, the more she learned about it, the easier it would be to get away later.
“It’s difficult to say,” Augustin replied. “Some parts have collapsed, and they keep building on to it in other places as they are trying to tunnel under every major city in the world.”
“They what?” Ivy stopped in her tracks.
She heard a hand hit cloth, and Ivy imagined that Ester had just given him a warning slap. Augustin seemed temporarily at a loss for how to respond. Sputtering for a few moments, he finally brushed it off. “We can, uh, go into it later. Right now, you are the priority. We can talk about other things once we get you squared away.”
“In my experience, people wanting to square me away is never for my benefit.”
Ester spoke up, “And what exactly is your line of work?”
“Oh, nothing you would be interested in, I’m sure.”
“Does that mean you are a hooker?” Ester’s voice had become colder, but not like Ivy was accustomed to when people were questioning her. It was more business-like than anything. Suddenly a hand touched her face, and Ivy flinched while trying to take a step back.
A pair of hands were placed on her shoulders. “It’s okay. She’s just checking your eyes. Ester, please save the questions for later.”
“Well, her profession may help me to understand what happened.”
Ivy could feel the warmth from Augustin’s body as he spoke. It was a little distracting, so that she only half heard what he said. “Her vision issue may be more related to how she suddenly fell through a hole in the space just below the ceiling. Clearly that wasn’t natural. The question is what happened before all of that.”
Ester’s voice was right in front of Ivy as her hands turned her head a little bit. Judging by the angle that the woman had her head, Ivy could imagine that she was about the same height. “Should I let you take over? Maybe you should be examining her instead. After all you can tell-”
Augustin cut her o
ff quickly, “I am sorry, I wasn’t trying to undercut you. I was just thinking out loud, and there could have been something with the magic that brought her here that caused damage.”
“Well, if this is a magical problem, I am certainly not the right person for the job.”
Augustin gave Ivy’s shoulders a slight squeeze, and she felt comforted by his attempt to help her. His words were a little less reassuring, “Alright, I will let you ask questions without interfering. Once you are done, I’ll see what I can figure out from the magical side.”
Ivy turned her head so that her face was in profile to Augustin. “Are you a wizard or something?”
Ester laughed as Augustin gave her shoulders another squeeze. “No, decidedly not. I have no human blood anywhere in my ancestry. My family has always disowned anyone who bred outside of our particular type, so I am the result of pure breeding, even if they didn’t raise me.”
“And what is that exactly?”
Ester tapped her on the cheek, “Focus, young woman. Right now I am the one asking the questions, and right now the only history that matters is yours. Now, please, what do you do for a living?” Ivy was about to speak when the medic spoke up, “And before you insult me with a lie, please keep in mind my profession.”
Ivy let a small smile spread across her face. “I wouldn’t dream of lying given my recent run-in with another medic. I am a thief.”
The hands dropped from her face. “Well, if that is the case, I’m not sure that I should be working to restore her eyesight.”
Augustin’s grip on her momentarily tensed, causing Ivy to flinch. “My apologies,” he said, his mouth near her ear. She could feel the warmth of his breath, and for a moment she thought she smelled a cool spring day in a field. She gave her head a little shake to indicate that it was alright, but she doubted that he noticed as his voice grew a little louder. There was something behind the tone that made her feel that Ester was hitting the wrong buttons. “Ester, I don’t remember there being anything in the Association that lets people discriminate.”