'Now, let's try and eat. You can tell me how that son of yours is getting on. I heard great reports of his swordsmanship from the academy masters. And still so young. You must be very proud.'
He thought for a moment that Vasselis was going to burst into tears.
Chapter 15
847th cycle of God, 34th day of Dusasfall
14th year of the true Ascendancy
'Duck!'
The snowball caught Arducius full in the face. He cried out at the shock of the impact and the sudden cold across his already chilled and red face. Remembering himself, he pirouetted and collapsed dramatically to the ground, feeling the fresh soft snow puff around him.
'Yes!' Mirron's voice was loud in triumph. 'I told you we'd win. I told you you'd do it.'
Arducius pushed himself up on his elbows. He could see around the snow barricades he and Gorian had built in the walled gardens behind the Ascendancy villa. Mirron was laughing, her arms around Ossacer's neck. A rare smile split his face too. Ossacer had said he'd worked something out but this was amazing. Arducius caught the mood and began to laugh himself.
He loved dusas. Most particularly, he loved the fall of fresh snow. It was like spreading feathers across the land for him and he could run and fall and play like all of them with hardly a fear of bruising or breaking his brittle bones. He felt strong when dusas came and the land became cold. Like Gorian did all year round. In dusas, he could compete just like all the others.
'Why didn't you duck?' Gorian's voice was sulky and unhappy.
Arducius looked round and a familiar vague fear settled on him. He stopped laughing. Gorian was staring down at him, snowball still in his gloved hand, ready to throw at the others. No point now; the game was lost. But Gorian hated to lose. Even a snowball fight was treated with all the seriousness of his Ascendancy studies.
Arducius didn't know whether to feel contempt or admiration for Gorian sometimes. Mostly, he just wished the boy he so wanted to be his friend would learn to enjoy himself once in a while, not treat everything like it was a struggle to save the world. But Gorian was so often aloof. Only Mirron seemed to be able to get through to him. It was obvious why that was. She had always liked him, wanted to be with him. He responded to that. Arducius guessed he was flattered by the attention.
‘I didn't believe he could get it anywhere near me, let alone hit me, did you?'
‘I told you to duck.' Gorian shrugged. ‘I could see it coming and you weren't even looking.'
Arducius got up and brushed snow from his cloak. Mirron and Ossacer were walking towards them.
'Still, never mind,' he said. 'It was only a game.'
'We lost,' said Gorian. 'And we shouldn't have.'
'What do you think Ossacer has worked out, then?' asked Arducius, keen to change the subject. Gorian had an angry look in his eye but the moment he mentioned the other boy that expression changed.
‘I wonder,' he said.
The defeat forgotten, he turned his attention to Ossacer, whose arm rested gently on Mirron's while the two of them walked slowly across the white carpet. Above, the sky was dark grey and the wind was picking up beneath the clouds. There would be more snow soon. A fall that would go on through the night before the clouds broke in the late morning. It was probably just as well the game had ended when it did. Gorian trotted quietly around to Ossacer's left-hand side.
'Gorian,' whispered Arducius. 'Don't.'
'Hey Ossacer,' said Gorian, voice loud just by the boy's ear.
Ossacer jumped and stopped, turning his head towards the sound, frowning. His eyes searched in vain as they always did. He could tell the difference between light and dark and he said that sometimes vague shapes would be there, but that was all. The infection that had robbed him of his sight had robbed him of his joy too for a long time. His bitterness at his misfortune was fading but it would never truly be gone.
'Why do you have to do that?' snapped Mirron. 'It's all right,' said Ossacer, his voice deep, broken early. 'It's a pity I didn't hit you, Gorian.'
'I'm too clever for you,' said Gorian. He was smiling at Mirron, happy at her infuriated reaction. 'Don't treat him like a baby. You'll make him weaker than he is already.'
‘I am not weak,' said Ossacer. 'Only blind.'
'But how long is it until you catch something else? And what will go wrong then? Your ears, your mouth?'
'Stop it, stop it!' shouted Mirron. 'Leave him alone.' ‘I can look after myself,' said Ossacer.
He let go of Mirron's arm and turned to face Gorian full on. Gorian laughed and danced around him.
'You'll never be able to catch me, blind man.'
He stopped on Ossacer's left and reached out an arm slowly, meaning to push. Ossacer frowned deeply and then, quite deliberately, moved his hand to grab Gorian's palm.
‘I am blind but it does not mean I cannot see,' he said quietly.
Gorian's expression cleared of mischief and returned to one of fascination. 'How did you do that?'
'Why would you want to know?' asked Ossacer, releasing his hand. 'After all, you aren't blind.'
'Just tell me.' Gorian's tone was immediately threatening.
'Not quite so weak now, am I?' Ossacer was taunting Gorian now and Arducius felt his heart rate increase. 'Don't know it all, do you? And you don't like it.'
'Don't tease him,' warned Mirron.
'You know what happens when you do,' said Gorian. 'Make it easy on yourself, Ossacer . . . Ossicker—' He chuckled at his own poor joke '—tell me.'
'No,' said Ossacer, and he stood straight and defiant, his eyes fixed on nowhere, his body turned to face Gorian. ‘I won't.'
'Oh, big man are we now?' Gorian advanced the pace and pushed Ossacer in the chest. He staggered back, barely keeping his balance, his hands flailing.'
'Leave him,' said Arducius.
'And what will you do? Punch me and you'll break your own hand. You are weaker than he is.' Gorian turned his attention back to Ossacer. 'No one to save you, blind man and you won't even know where I'm coming from next. Tell me what you have learned.'
'No,' said Ossacer, though there was a quiver in his voice.
'Stop it, Gorian,' said Mirron, taking a pace towards him.
'Make me,' he replied. He stepped forwards again and slapped Ossacer very lightly on the cheek. 'Harder next time.'
Ossacer took a pace back and stumbled. Gorian's hand shot out and grabbed his arm, holding him upright.
'Only me here to save you, Ossacer.' He held his grip firmly, strong hand biting into the flesh of Ossacer's upper arm. He looked round at Arducius and Mirron. Arducius felt his heart hammering and a sick feeling in his stomach. He was powerless to do anything. 'I'm better than you. I'm better than all of you put together.'
Gorian stilled and almost immediately, the air froze around them. Arducius saw the skin on his bare forearm paling and frost form on his glove. Ossacer cried out and tried to fall back. He thrashed his arm in Gorian's grip of ice but couldn't break it. Arducius made a move towards them, knowing he had to do something but fearing he would get badly hurt. He could see Mirron standing stock still, her mouth moving soundlessly.
'Tell me,' grated Gorian, voice full of menace.
Arducius had to do something. Gritting his teeth against the pain he knew would come, he ran headlong at Gorian. His ears were full of the screams of Ossacer, his eyes of Gorian's expression, one almost of glee at the pain he was causing.
'Leave him alone!' yelled Arducius.
Gorian looked round, his face registering his surprise at what was coming at him. He had precious little time to react. And as Arducius collided with him, trying to fend off the bigger boy with his hands to keep him from his rib-cage, he heard Mirron's voice once more and at the last, Father Kessian bellowing Gorian's name.
Kessian put his head in trembling hands. This would get round like every tiny aberration had. And the citizens of Westfallen would have one more reason to keep their sons and daughters from the Ascendants. De
ny them the interaction that was so vital to their development as young people. The isolation was affecting them in subtle ways at the moment but eventually would drag its nails through every aspect of their lives.
It was precisely the opposite of the reaction Kessian wanted and represented a serious blow to the integration of Ascendants into the wider world. If they couldn't be accepted into the community that understood them the most there was surely little hope.
It was a paradox for them all. To stop behaviour like Gorian's required more integration with normal young people. It would give him and the other Ascendants more boundaries based on experience and an understanding of the huge responsibility on them to control themselves and the power they harboured. And yet Kessian could not blame any parent in Westfallen for their actions. They were scared and so were their children.
Two years since their announcement to the citizens of Westfallen had been greeted with triumphant celebration, the mood of the town had reversed almost completely. And while the Ascendancy Echelon was still respected and citizens still participated in the programme, volunteering for fatherhood or motherhood, there was a growing anxiety about the apparent results.
Kessian shook his head. The abilities were exactly as had always been predicted. It was an unfortunate fact that reality was far harder to accept than theory. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Genna, recently recovered from an illness which had almost claimed her life. She was still weak but had it not been for Ossacer's identification of the infection sites, she would not have survived at all. It was the glory of the Ascendants.
Kessian removed his hands and smiled at her.
'You're going to tell me to stop seeing things so bleakly aren't you?'
'I'm still here because of them, aren't I?' she said.
The Echelon was gathered in the central reception room of the villa. Behind Kessian's chair, a hypocaust flue roared. It gave him a measure of comfort. Simple normality. And there seemed very little of that these days. He found every day such a struggle. Not just because it was dusas. His legs were so painful and his breath was cruelly short. And he could barely write because of the shake in his hands. He was old and he was dying. He should have felt reassured by his imminent return to the embrace of God but he wasn't. He couldn't leave the Echelon and Westfallen without solutions to their current problems.
'Ardol?' It was Genna.
Kessian started. 'Eh? Oh, sorry. Old mind meandering I'm afraid.' 'We don't have to do this tonight,' said Hesther Naravny. 'It's been a long day.'
'There's no purpose in us going to our beds, only to lie awake,'
said Meera, sitting next to her sister. She was pregnant and looked far more tired and strained than Kessian felt. Hopes were high that she, Jen Shalke and Gwythen Terol were all carrying one of the twelfth strand. But there was a question mark over whether West-fallen would welcome the new arrivals. 'He's my son. I need your help with how to deal with him.'
'Absolutely,' said Kessian, noting the nods from around the room. 'So how is he now?'
'How are all of them,' said Willem Geste dryly.
'Indeed. But one at a time. Meera?'
'Oh, Ardol, I just don't understand it,' she replied, suddenly on the verge of tears. Hesther laid a hand on her arm. 'I've spent hours with him, when I haven't been apologising to Ossacer's mother, poor woman. He's impenetrable.'
'What do you mean?' asked Andreas Koll.
'He doesn't think he's done anything wrong,' whispered Meera.
There was a hush in the room. All that could be heard were the hypocaust and the rasp of Kessian's breathing. They waited for Meera to continue. Kessian watched while she gathered her thoughts under their sympathetic gaze.
'He believes that he had the right to know immediately what Ossacer had learned and when Ossacer wouldn't tell him, he had to make him speak. He's not showing any guilt or remorse. If anything, he thinks Ossacer is to blame.'
'And what about Arducius? Surely Gorian saw in what he did that he must have been doing wrong?' said Genna into the deepening shock.
Meera shook her head. 'He has no sense of it at all. He said that in life, the strong succeed because they take what they want when they need it. The weak might fight bravely but they will always fail. Arducius is broken by his own hand.'
'He said all that?' Willem gaped.
'Almost word for word.'
'He's not even fourteen,' hissed Willem. 'How can he be saying such things.'
'He's always had a temper,' said Jen.
'This isn't temper,' said Hesther. 'This is cold calculation. Willem's right. He's too young to be like this. Isn't he?'
Every time the Echelon was unsure, it turned as one to Kessian.
This time was no exception. What would they do when he had returned to the earth? He had been listening to the exchange with a growing sense of gloom. They wanted him to explain Gorian's behaviour, make it seem not so deplorable. Kessian was not about to mitigate the indefensible.
'Let us make no mistake. The timing of this incident could hardly have been worse. Arvan Vasselis is in Estorr telling the Advocate what we have here. No doubt he is explaining to her the glories we can achieve for the whole of the Conquord if the programme is allowed to flourish now it has achieved its first emergences. And today, we have demonstrated to any that cared to see that for all the good we want to do, the Ascendants' abilities can be used to perpetrate harm and evil.
'We are certain to come under scrutiny from the Advocacy. There will be pressure from the Order too once the knowledge that something is happening here is known. And if the murmur in the town is that what we have bred are dangerous and violent freaks then inevitably, someone in Westfallen will ask the Order to investigate. Let us not forget that so far as the Order is concerned, we are heretic and face the flames when found guilty. And while the town remains with us at present, people are nervous about our four Ascendants. I don't blame them. It will not take much more for some to start to turn against us. Generations of trust stand for nothing when individuals feel threatened by those they are asked to believe in.
'We have always known we would be at risk from the world outside our borders. We now have to accept that we are at risk from those closest to us as well unless we can change Gorian's behaviour.'
He stopped to look around the Echelon. None of the faces gazing back at him registered any surprise at what he had said. He nodded and forced himself to smile.
'We are pioneers,' he said, tone gentle and encouraging. 'And we face problems that those who come after us will not. It is up to us to find solutions and to keep the belief in the Ascendancy strong and unwavering. I know it's hard. God-embrace-me but I have had black moments this day as I'm sure you all have. I doubt any of us will sleep too well, will we? So let's do what we can. We are practical, resourceful and determined.
'So. First things first. Genna, how are Ossacer and Arducius faring?'
The Echelon's Pain Teller blew out her cheeks and pushed her hands back through her hair. 'Shela is sitting with them. We've moved them into one room to be together. Ossacer is silent. He won't talk. We've bathed and bandaged his arm. Fortunately the burns weren't too deep. Frostbite takes fingers and toes. Had Arducius not intervened, it might have taken Ossacer's arm.
'He's fortunate he has a protector but that protector is in a sorry state. He has fractured both wrists. One shoulder has dislocated again and his left elbow has blown up like a diseased bladder. I've splinted the breaks and reset the shoulder. The elbow is in ice every hour. But I worry about his dexterity long-term. He's so fragile.'
'But this time they will recover from their physical wounds,' said Hesther. 'Which means we can turn to their emotional and mental ones. Far more difficult to gauge and treat.'
'You took the words right out of my mouth,' said Kessian. ‘I will speak with Gorian in the morning. We have to get to the bottom of his thinking and I flatter myself that he is still in awe of me if not a little scared at times which is no bad thing, I'm sure you'll
agree. He has exhibited such tendencies before. Remember when he was growing up? How serious he has always been and how easy to provoke? And remember when Mirron emerged, it was a violent episode. The difference here is premeditated use of his ability to do harm. Something we have expressly forbidden.
‘I will get through to him. I have to. In the meantime, Gwythen, please continue talking with your daughter. You know how she'll react, I feel sure.'
Gwythen shrugged. 'She's done what she always has when Gorian has caused trouble. She starts by expressing her disgust and ends up defending his actions. We all know why that is.' A dry chuckle ran around the room. ‘I don't think that will ever change.'
'No, indeed,' said Willem. 'But it is something we might use. Gorian will listen to her, won't he? After all, the feelings are not merely one way.'
'I'm not so sure,' said Meera. ‘I don't like to say this but he is manipulative. He'll be lovely with her when it suits him. Don't be surprised to find him the soul of charm in a couple of days when he believes his shame has lifted. We've seen it before.'
'And the other two?' asked Kessian.
'Give them the night to rest, see how they wake up,' said Genna.
'Ossacer has shown no signs of ailing as a result of this incident which is a blessing. And from what Arducius said to me, he was standing proud against Gorian which is something new. Arducius . . . well, Arducius is Arducius.' Another chuckle. 'He'll be privately furious with Gorian for the rest of dusas, I expect, but he's a born diplomat. He'll bring them back together pretty soon. He sees the strength of the four of them learning as one. I think most of his anger will be frustration at Gorian's attitude rather than his physical pain and why it was inflicted.'
Kessian felt lifted by what he was hearing. The Echelon was closing ranks and moving forwards.
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