by Ian Gregoire
“Kayden is a very special young woman—one of a kind, as you are no doubt already aware. And as much as it may hurt you to hear this, I do not see you in her future.”
Biting her lower lip, Daria said nothing in response—the pained look on her face said it all.
“That will be all,” said Fay, “you may return to your duties.” She watched Daria get up from her seat and head for the door. “Sister, one more thing before you leave,” she added, before Daria could exit the office. “This matter is to remain between the two of us, I do not want rumours spreading around the campus.”
Daria acknowledged the warning with a silent nod of the head, then departed, leaving Fay alone at her desk.
She remained in her chair for a couple of minutes, thinking. Eventually, she stood up having decided the first thing she should do next, having dealt with the Daria situation, is to check in with Isko Nardini, whom she had left in charge of campus, to find out if anything of consequence had occurred while she was away. Once done, she would return to her office to make a call to Ari in Temis Rulan. She had a Kayden-related matter to discuss with him.
Breezing out of her office, she went in search of Isko. As she had mentioned to Daria, she would be paying even closer attention to goings on around campus, though she doubted anything Isko had to report would be half as interesting as her trip to Temis Rulan had been.
Lying on her bed, hands beneath her head, Kayden was staring up at the ceiling when the clock tower bell sounded the arrival of midday. She sat up, and swung her legs around to sit perched on the edge of her bed, facing the door of the dorm room. Her roommates would be returning from their classes shortly, before going to the mess hall for lunch, or maybe even heading into town. She eagerly awaited Neryssa’s arrival so she could put her underused friendship-making skills to the test.
When the door swung open for the first time, she was disappointed to see the Malorini Twins—Vida and Aida—stroll into the room, followed by three more of her roommates. The twins looked more than a little surprised to see her perched on her bed.
“What are you doing here?” blurted Aida, as she and her sister advanced into the room. “You’ve only been gone a day.”
“A better question,” added Vida, “is why haven’t you been expelled yet?”
Kayden had to bite her tongue to avoid delivering a devastating quip at the twins’ expense. She was in a good mood and wasn’t about to let either of them spoil it.
“And it’s so lovely to see you both, too,” she said sweetly.
Aida scowled at the sarcasm, but Kayden ignored her.
The other three young women began to quiz her at once about where she really went, as she couldn’t possibly have gone to Temis Rulan. According to their logic, for her to have gone there and back in a single day would mean the headquarters of the Order was just half a day’s journey away from Antaris campus. If that was true they would surely know about it. Before she could tell them she could neither confirm nor deny their assertions, Kayden’s attention was drawn back to the door when Yanina walked in with another roommate.
“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” said the tall, swarthy apprentice as she approached Kayden’s bed. “I didn’t expect to see you back here for at least a week, possibly two, for that matter.”
Kayden was about to respond when Aida beat her to it, offering her own explanation for Kayden’s, briefer than expected, absence.
“She didn’t go anywhere, Yanina,” said Aida, a little triumphantly. “She must have aggravated Master Fay so much that she turned around to make the return journey long before they reached Temis Rulan.”
Yanina came to a halt at the foot of Kayden’s bed.
“Is that true?” she inquired.
“Actually, no it’s not,” Kayden retorted, as she stared pointedly at Aida. She averted her gaze to Yanina, to add, “But please don’t ask me about my time away. Both Master Fay and Master Ari have prohibited me from talking about the trip. I cannot tell you where Temis Rulan is, how I got there, or what I did while I was there.”
“Do you seriously expect us to believe you met Master Ari?” said Vida, incredulously.
“Like I said,” replied Kayden, switching her focus back to the Malorini Twins, “I cannot talk about my time away.”
She couldn’t help but feel a twinge of satisfaction knowing her roommates would never know the truth about her recent experience.
“All right, so if we take you at your word that you did go to Temis Rulan,” said Yanina, “was it disciplinary action or commendation awaiting you there?”
Kayden had to think about that for a moment. “Maybe a little of both,” she answered. “But as I said—”
“You can’t talk about it,” Yanina interjected.
She nodded in the affirmative then her eyes were drawn to the door once more as someone else entered. Again, it wasn’t Neryssa; it was Valeria. So all her roommates were present and accounted for, except the one she wanted to see. But she noticed immediately that Valeria was carrying more books than she should.
“Why isn’t Neryssa with you?” she asked the newcomer.
“She had to answer the call of nature, she’ll be up shortly,” said Valeria, making her way towards Neryssa’s bed. “What are you doing back, anyway? Shouldn’t you be half way to Temis Rulan right now?”
“Apparently, she’s been sworn to secrecy so can’t answer any questions about where she went,” Yanina answered on Kayden’s behalf.
“Really?” said Valeria, before dumping half the books in her arms upon Neryssa’s bed.
“I’m afraid so,” Kayden confirmed.
“Don’t believe a word of it, Valeria,” said Vida, dismissively.
“Yeah!” agreed Aida. “Kayden is full of it.”
Kayden refrained from responding to the twins. They were making their way towards the door, presumably off to lunch, and she was more than happy for them to leave before they soured her good mood. Their departure sparked a rapid exodus, as the rest of her roommates also headed for the exit, while she remained seated on the edge of her bed.
“Aren’t you going to lunch?” said Yanina, standing in the open doorway, looking back at Kayden.
“I’m waiting for Neryssa.”
“Suit yourself,” Yanina replied. “And for what it’s worth…I believe you when you say you went to Temis Rulan. The rumours about you being Master Fay’s favourite apprentice are far too numerous not to be true.” With that, she departed, leaving Kayden alone in the dorm.
While awaiting Neryssa’s arrival, her thoughts drifted as she stared blankly at her booted feet. It wasn’t for long, but as she was daydreaming she failed to notice when Neryssa walked into the room.
“I heard you were back.”
Neryssa’s voice snapped her out of her reverie. She looked up to see her ambling towards her.
“Yes, a short while ago,” she stated, rising to her feet to greet her would-be new friend. She positively beamed as Neryssa halted beside the bed.
A frown wrinkled Neryssa’s brow.
“What’s the matter?” she asked, staring at Kayden with concern in her eyes.
“Nothing!” she replied, confused by the question. “Why?”
“You’re smiling,” said Neryssa, as though it was the strangest thing she’d ever witnessed. “I’ve never seen—”
“You’ve never seen me smiling before,” Kayden interrupted. It was the second time that day someone had made this claim. “Oh, don’t you start,” she added, in mock exasperation. “I am more than capable of smiling when I want to. These lips can do more than just smirk, you know.”
“Sorry I spoke,” said Neryssa, raising her hands in mock surrender while returning Kayden’s smile. “So, what exactly are we smiling about? Shouldn’t you be on your way to Temis Rulan?”
“Been there; done that!”
The mirthful look on Neryssa’s face gave way to disbelief upon realising Kayden wasn’t being flippant. “How is that possible? You�
��ve only been gone a day.”
“As much as I’d love to tell you, I’ve been forbidden from talking about my journey to Temis Rulan. However, I can tell you why I’m smiling.” She savoured the expectant look on her roommate’s face. “I’m smiling because I’m pleased to see you. And, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”
“Well then, why don’t we talk about whatever it is over lunch?”
“I was hoping we could talk alone—the mess hall isn’t really conducive to that.”
The words seemed to pique Neryssa’s interest. She raised a single finger at Kayden.
“Hold that thought,” she said, then stepped away from Kayden’s bed, to cross the room to the trunk at the foot of her own bed. She opened it and reached inside, pulling out a thick blanket. Turning to face Kayden, once more, she said, “How about we grab some food from the mess hall, go to the playing fields, and eat our lunch outdoors? It’s a lovely day for it.”
“Sounds good to me,” replied Kayden, crossing the room to join Neryssa at her trunk.
Closing the trunk, Neryssa slung the blanket upon her shoulder. “So, what is this topic of conversation requiring us to be alone?”
“Well…” Kayden hesitated briefly, trying to think of an appropriate way to broach the matter without sounding desperate. “Um…”
“Well?” Neryssa prompted.
Kayden decided to just go for it—lay her cards on the table.
“Neryssa, I realise you have made many friends on campus during your seven years here,” she began, “but I haven’t been quite so successful in that regard. As things presently stand, there is only one person on campus whom I can call my friend. I would really like to double that number. So, is it possible that you and I could be friends?”
There was an expectant silence between the pair.
“I would like that,” said Neryssa, sounding solemn as she held Kayden’s gaze. “Very much.”
Kayden held her hand out to her fellow apprentice. “Friends?”
With a smile, Neryssa clasped Kayden’s forearm. “Friends!” she replied.
Fay returned to her office after checking in with Isko—letting him know she was back, and hearing his brief account of how he had managed during her absence. As expected, nothing of consequence had transpired so she was back in her office standing in front of the wall-mounted mirror. Her reflection no longer appeared in the glass, having been replaced by swirling lavender mists, indicating she was waiting for her transmission to be answered. The scheduled meeting of the Order’s ruling body, to discuss the allegations she had brought against Turan Kodi, should have concluded some time ago, so Ari should be available to respond to her communication.
She didn’t have to wait long. The swirling mists in the mirror gradually dissipated to reveal Ari Shinadu standing in the Council chamber.
“Greetings.” She was pleasantly surprised it was Ari who answered her call. “I hope I’m not interrupting. Are you able to talk?”
“Yes. The Council meeting concluded a while ago. I’ve been lounging around the chamber for an hour or so waiting for you to call—Idelle said that you would.”
She briefly wondered how Idelle could have known. One of these days she would have to ask the Sister where her awareness of things not yet come to pass came from.
“So, what can I do for you, old friend?” continued Ari.
“Your trip to Astana, tomorrow,” she began, “I now know it’s the murder of Kayden’s mother you wish to bring up with the authorities there.”
“Ah, so she told you, did she? I thought she would.”
“Yes, she did, the poor thing,” Fay sympathised. “Knowing the truth has certainly made her attitude and behaviour more understandable.” She shook her head. “What a terrible thing to have witnessed her mother beaten to death, at such a tender age. And if that wasn’t bad enough, to subsequently be denied justice.”
“Indeed,” Ari agreed, before adding. “So, I’m guessing you wish to hear my plans for tomorrow?”
“Unnecessary, I trust your judgement. But I would appreciate being kept abreast of developments. I would love to be able to tell Kayden that justice has been done for her mother.”
“Consider it done,” said Ari. Then he smiled at her. “So, can I assume your relationship with Kayden has turned a corner?”
“It’s early days,” she replied cautiously. “But there has been a noticeable change. I am very optimistic about the future, I have high hopes for her.” At long last she had someone she could impart all her knowledge and skills to. “I cannot help but wonder how you got through to her last night. Whatever you did seems to have worked.”
Ari smiled broadly. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to spend the rest of your life wondering about that, old friend,” he said mirthfully.
“Fair enough.” She looked quizzically at him for a moment. “I have never been truly curious about this before now,” she said, “but what exactly is the Sisterhood concealing in the north of the island, Ari?”
“The answer to that question is different for everyone who goes there,” replied Ari, cryptically. “What Kayden saw was for her eyes only. I’ve advised her not to speak of it with anyone else.” He was silent for a moment before smiling again. “However, what I can tell you,” he continued, “is that anything and everything Kayden goes on to accomplish with her life, henceforth, will be thanks to you.”
Fay wasn’t sure she could agree with that particular assertion, though she appreciated the sentiment. Nonetheless, she smiled, offering no response.
“Was there anything else you wanted to discuss?” Ari prompted.
She inquired about the outcome of the meeting to discuss Turan Kodi’s alleged misconduct. Ari informed her that he was to be recalled from Yaristana to stand before the Council and submit to having his memory examined. If he was found to be guilty of abusing his power to rape numerous women, as Fay suspected, in addition to the attempted assault on Kayden, he would face the full consequences of his actions.
“I’m pleased to hear it. That’s everything I needed to know,” she replied. “But before I let you return to your duties I just wanted to thank you. I was afraid we would lose Kayden, yet somehow you’ve managed to set my mind at ease. Now I can focus on helping her to fulfil her undoubted potential. She will be a tremendous asset for the Order; she’s surely destined for great things.”
Sitting cross-legged upon the thick blanket she and Neryssa had laid out on the grassy playing fields on the eastern outskirts of the campus, Kayden and her roommate sat across from each other with two trays of food from the mess hall placed in between them. Dotted around the playing fields were a smattering of other apprentices who’d had the same idea to have their lunches outdoors—none close enough to eavesdrop or interrupt while they conversed as they ate.
The pair took advantage of the one hour lunch break to solidify their new friendship by getting to know each other better. They agreed to narrate each other’s life story prior to arriving at Antaris campus as apprentices of the Order, with Kayden going first. She spent the best part of half an hour chronicling her childhood in Astana, and the circumstances that eventually led her to reside hundreds of miles away in the Kingdom of Mirtana—via the Kingdom of Lirantana. She briefly touched upon her mother dying when she was eleven years old, though she didn’t go into detail; she didn’t wish to elicit undue sympathy from Neryssa.
“Wow! Kayden, someone could write an adventure novel based on your childhood,” Neryssa said when the narration was completed. “My childhood was dreadfully boring by comparison.”
Kayden quickly discovered Neryssa wasn’t exaggerating in the slightest. As she listened to her friend’s story, she couldn’t believe just how boring life in a small farming town in the southeast of Mirtana could be. Yet, inexplicably, she found herself envious of the dull, mundane, uneventful existence Neryssa had lived prior to the manifestation of her Zarantar.
“Finally!” she said, in mock exasperation
when her roommate’s tale came to an end. “I was losing the will to live, here.” She immediately flashed a broad grin to make it known she was joking.
“Hey!” Neryssa plucked an olive from her plate and tossed it playfully at her.
She swayed out of the way before invoking Yuksaydan to lift an olive from her own plate and send it hurtling at Neryssa, striking her on the nose. Both young women began laughing heartily in response. When their laughter subsided, Kayden noticed Neryssa staring at her curiously.
“Kayden, I hope you don’t mind my saying so,” began Neryssa. “There’s something different about you since you came back. You’ve changed. I can’t exactly put my finger on it but you look less…” She trailed off, clearly searching for the appropriate word.
“Burdened?” Kayden offered. It was the word Master Fay had used.
“I was thinking tortured, but burdened is certainly an apt description,” Neryssa agreed. “So, why is that? What’s changed?”
“Well, I can’t really tell you, except to say the time away did me a world of good.”
“So it seems,” concurred Neryssa, again. “I’m glad. It’s good to see you smiling for a change—you have a beautiful smile.”
Kayden looked down at her almost finished lunch, feeling embarrassed. It was the second time that day someone complimented her smile. Glancing back up at Neryssa, she said, “I will always have a smile for my friends.”
“Which reminds me!” Neryssa’s face made plain that something had just occurred to her. “Earlier, you said there was only one other person on campus you could call a friend.”