Bloodfire (The Sojourns of Rebirth)

by Matthew Medina

  “Bloodfire took your eyes, girl. But you probably already know that. And you’ll never make a living servicing my men looking like that. You’re useless now,” he said. He wasn’t sure why he’d made the comment about her servicing her men, except perhaps that he wanted to say something to honor the memory of the girl’s mother, somehow.

  He let his hand fall away from her chin and she visibly sagged. He grabbed the girl under the arms and pulled her to her feet, which were bare. There too, he saw the resemblance to the mother. He knelt down before her, placed his gauntleted hand on her shoulder, gripping it tightly and imparting his final words for her, hoping that they might inspire her to survive. To find the courage of her mother. To go on, and to become

  something...different. He felt that he owed her that much.

  “I believe in the Empire. This isn’t a fatal wound. If you are strong enough, you will live and become something hard, and cold. You will become a benefit to the Empire. If you are not, then you will die and the Empire will be stronger for it.”

  He released her shoulder and strode over to Sera’s body. He tenderly lifted her body, placed it on his shoulder, and walked from the room and down the stairs. His men were already loading the other bodies on a wagon they had conscripted from nearby for their needs. Ortis made sure to wipe away the tear that had fallen from his right eye before he had fully descended from the second floor.

  Stepping out, he looked up at the building, and wondered whether the girl would live or die. He piled Sera’s body onto the wagon, and spoke softly to the corpse, his gauntleted hand resting on her cold thigh. He recalled, with suppressed longing, how it had once felt when it had been warm, and soft, beneath his bare hands.

  “For your sake, I hope she lives.”

  He ordered his men to march ahead, and the four of them returned to the constabulary to burn the bodies and file their report. Ortis forgot all about the girl by the time they had returned to the courtyard.

  All of the pieces having fallen into place, Ortis collapsed to his knees. He looked up at Catelyn, and saw the girl, the scrawny, weak blind girl he had abandoned to a life of solitude and misery. And everything he had done since the night of the Purge suddenly made sense. He didn’t know, and he hadn’t recognized her until now, but some part of him must have sensed this connection, must have drawn him back to her.

  He could only guess as to why.

  She looked down at him from her perch above, a conflicted look on her face, and he couldn’t bear to see that face, couldn’t bear to see...her.

  Sera. Those eyes. How could I have forgotten those eyes? Ortis’ heart shattered within his chest. Catelyn studied Ortis on his knees, curiously numb. She saw Ortis struggling with some inner turmoil, and she was pleased. But beyond that, she honestly wasn’t sure what feelings coursed through her mind just then. Knowing that it was him, the man who had left her there in the ruins of her family’s home. To die. To rot like a discarded piece of meat. She wished to leap down and slit his throat. To open his neck and be showered in his blood.

  And yet, a part of her recognized that he had also done something unfathomable for a man of his rank and stature in the Empire. He had spared her life, when no other would have. He had given her the words that had spurred her to defy Imperial dogma. He had given her a chance to live.

  She was here, because of him.

  A war was being waged within her heart, and she felt herself run through a full gamut of emotions; from hatred to gratitude, from disgust to admiration. She didn’t know which would win the battle yet, and so she chose to let the war rage without her, and she sealed those feelings off and slipped on her mask of ambivalence.

  “Get off your knees, Ortis,” she commanded.

  He looked up at her, his eyes bleary and red, his cheeks wet with tears.

  “Get up,” she barked.

  He did as she instructed, and she stood on the metal railing, then climbed down to the scaffolding below. She stood half his height as she landed lightly, barely making a noise. She simply pushed past him and walked toward the ladder down to the ground level.

  “Why are we here, Ortis?” she asked. There was no sense in dwelling on what she couldn’t change. She would rather focus on what she could. Ortis shook himself out of his reverie and walked along the scaffolding and descended the ladder to stand beside her. He remained silent, but he stuck his arm into the small office, and she heard him flick something on one of the walls.

  A rumble jostled her and she heard the grinding of metal gears from somewhere nearby, behind the wall or floor, or perhaps both. A line of light shaped like a rectangle formed around the flat floor of the warehouse. Catelyn felt her breath taken away, as the floor began to slide apart, revealing a sub floor and a pathway leading to an arched gate, beyond which appeared an exit into the spillway for the Belkyn Channel’s sewer system.

  Catelyn dropped into the sub floor, once the warehouse floor had finished sliding aside, and inspected the metal grate. It was shut tightly and locked, but she had gotten into many homes that were more secure than this. She reached into the small pouch sewn into the waistband of her drawstring pants, and withdrew a small leather bag. She opened the bag and slid out two thin metal rods, each with a different shaped head, one pressed into a flattened spoon, the other like a forked rake.

  She looked behind her at Ortis, who seemed to be recovering, but still shaken at the revelation that had just passed between them. She set her thoughts about all of that aside so that she could focus on her task, turned back to the gate and knelt down before the lock. It was standard fare, and she inserted the first of her lockpicks, maneuvering it into place, and then she inserted the second, and focused her bubble on the lock.

  Using the sensitive tips of her fingers to sense the vibrations as she turned the lock picks, and her heightened hearing to listen for the catching of the tumblers, she had the gate open in five breaths. As she’d suspected, the lock was child’s play.

  As the lock sprang open, she reached up and pulled the gate outward. It squealed in protest as the hinges were used again after sojourns of neglect and inactivity. She replaced the lock picks in her leather pouch and tucked it back into her waistband.

  She turned and looked at Ortis, who was in turn staring at her with a peculiar expression. She ignored his look, not wishing to explore the gulf that had now grown between them in the wake of the recognition of their previous history.

  “We need to wait for Silena,” she said, knowing that she was stating the obvious but not sure what else to say.

  Ortis turned away, and sat down on the edge of one of the raised loading platforms to wait. Catelyn stared at his back for a whisper, then she turned toward the door leading out the warehouse, walked towards it and focused her bubble on the other side. She heard no people in this part of the city, unsurprisingly, though she was hoping that maybe she would be able to hear Silena and her family approaching. They weren’t expected to arrive for another few prayers at least, and Catelyn was not looking forward to those prayers spent in awkward silence, alone with Ortis.

  She turned away from the door and looked over at him again. He was sitting in meditation, his legs brought up and crossed beneath him, his eyes closed and his breathing shallow. She had seen him do this before, in the few days they had spent together in his compound.

  She knew that she would never be able to sit here for prayers without thinking about what had just happened between them, and she tried once more to make sense of the man and his motives. She considered exploring into the sewer tunnels on her own, but she didn’t want to be down in the dark when Silena and her family arrived.

  He appeared so calm to her, at least on the outside. But she had seen the vulnerability in him. She seemed to bring it out of him, though she didn’t know why. What was it about her that ripped a hole in him? She nearly opened her mouth to ask, but thought better of it, and instead continued to watch him in silent contemplation.

  He represented everything the Empir
e was, to her. He defined it in a way that even the Emperor Uriel hadn’t, in her mind. In the brief time she had spent with the Emperor and from her conversations with Enaz in the holding cells, she had been able to understand with certainty that Uriel was simply insane, obsessed with his own destiny as though he believed himself a god. Not that it excused his actions, but she could sense that something fundamental was missing or broken in Uriel’s mind...the feelings of ordinary people meant nothing to him; and were completely incomprehensible. He was pure malice, incapable of the most basic of human emotions.

  Ortis, on the other hand, was not. She knew that he was not insane. She had been a witness to his choices, and his crimes. Ortis’ actions had been of his own choosing and that, more than anything else to Catelyn, was symbolic of everything that was wrong with the Empire. One madman, like Uriel, could never have taken power, could never have exerted his influence over an entire nation, without the conscious choices of thousands of others. Ortis, and those like him, had propped up this madness as their own, and an entire nation had paid the price.

  Catelyn felt her blood running hot in her veins as she looked at him, in silent thought. She wanted to take her dagger from her belt and slit his throat as he had asked her to do. It was exactly what he wanted.

  Do I even need him anymore? she wondered.

  She considered how they might get through the sewers of the Belkyn Channel, and through Belkyn itself, without Ortis’ knowledge of the city. She certainly wouldn’t have known about this secret passage through the underground sewage network.

  Part of her was still distrustful of the man as a whole, and she questioned again that this was all some intricate trap to ensnare her and Silena. But she set those thoughts aside as the self-important delusions that they were. The Emperor had already gotten what he wanted from her, and had left her to starve and rot in prison. She had nothing left to offer any of them, except for the satisfaction of killing her. But if that were their aim, they needn’t formulate such an elaborate ruse to entrap her.

  She fingered the metal handle of the dagger, considering whether to end him here and take their chances, or to wait and fulfill her promise until after it was clear that they no longer needed him. Her hesitation raised questions in her mind about whether she would actually be able to go through with it whenever the time came. But that time was not now.

  She turned and sat down on a relatively clean spot on the floor, facing the door to the alleyway outside. It was going to be a long day.

  Three and a half prayers slipped by before Catelyn heard the commotion from the streets outside which signified the arrival of Silena and her family. She’d spent that time in silent contemplation of her own, training her bubble to the area around the warehouse, listening to passers by as they left their day jobs as laborers in the handful of businesses that remained open in this part of town, some headed for their homes, most heading for the nearest tavern.

  Catelyn heard the girls’ heartbeats first; like a pair of excited fluttering birds, beating their wings against the cages of their chests. They approached from the eastern street leading to the warehouse. She wasn’t surprised to hear them in fear, and wondered how much Silena had told them about what was happening. She heard the footsteps and whispered encouragement of Silena’s guard, friend and lover Erich shepherding them along with kindness.

  Catelyn had asked Silena about her status with regards to Erich, when they had been stashed away in Ortis’ safe house. Silena had answered somewhat dismissively, simply stating that they each gained something from the relationship, but Catelyn could read between the lines and tell there was more to it than that, at least for Silena. But Catelyn respected her friend’s privacy in the matter and didn’t press for more details. Catelyn was merely satisfied to find that her friend was happy.

  She heard Silena following behind Erich and guiding them towards the warehouse. Once the four of them got within a handful of paces, Catelyn stood and approached the door. She pulled on the handle and the door swung wide, revealing herself to the four newcomers standing in the alley.

  “Catelyn!” The girls screamed and came running at her, great big smiles on each of their faces. She immediately forgot her despair and her conflicted feelings about Ortis, and felt her heart swell as the two girls ran to her and she knelt down and opened her arms to receive them. They ran into the warehouse, slammed into her and clutched her head and neck tightly. Catelyn hadn’t realized until this moment just how much she’d missed them.

  She hadn’t known since the events of the past sojourn had started, how much she could grow to care about people again. She felt tears of joy trickling down her cheeks as she embraced the girls and felt their warmth and their love. She was so caught up in their reunion that she hadn’t noticed Silena and Erich had come inside, until they slammed the metal doors shut.

  Catelyn looked up at Silena, who was standing to the side, watching the three of them with a smile and tears streaking her own face. Erich, who Catelyn hadn’t really taken much notice of before, stood to Silena’s side, his hand on her shoulder, a strong confirmation to Catelyn that there was much more to the relationship than simply business or even fun.

  Catelyn’s heart filled with even more joy to know that her friend had found such a thing in her life. She smiled up at the two of them, then tried to disentangle Sera and Elexia from her neck, but they didn’t want to let go. She laughed and reached out, tickling them both under the arms and they giggled until they finally let go.

  When she had opened the doors, the girls had been little more than streaks as they’d raced toward her. Catelyn stood, and looked down at the girls, and they squealed in delight and happy chatter when they saw her eyes and the healed flesh of her face. Catelyn, in turn, tried to answer them as best she could while she studied the twin girls and what she saw took her breath away.

  Elexia and Sera looked healthy, well fed and glowing with love, dressed in muted pastel colored pants and shirts. But what took her by surprise was that both girls were barefoot and both girls had begun growing out their hair. It wasn’t long, but it was obvious that they were letting it grow, in clear defiance of the Empire’s rule. She felt herself begin to sweat.

  The girls were clearly taking after her in some fashion, and she realized that if anything happened to the two of them because they had been inspired to it by her choices, she would feel responsible, and that made her more than a little uncomfortable.

  Silena must have seen the look of discomfort on her face, as she said “Erich and I tried to talk to them about their choice, but the girls wouldn’t have it any other way. We have you to thank for saving us the cost of shoes at least.”

  Catelyn turned her gaze on Silena and Erich, still beaming. Erich reached out his hand to shake hers, the same way that Duncan had, and Catelyn took note of him as she reached her own hand out to grasp his.

  He was large. Everything about him, from the set of his shoulders, to the width of his hands, was bigger than on anyone else she had ever met, even Ortis. Ortis was heavily muscled, even for a man his age, but he was also lean. Erich was simply thick, down to his bones. He had brown eyes and a round caring face, and Catelyn reached out and took his hand.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Catelyn. Outside of business, that is,” he said in a friendly tone. “And Silena mentioned your eyes, but they’re even more amazing than I could have imagined.”

  Catelyn wasn’t sure what it was that prompted the reaction, but she instantly liked him. She smiled and returned his greeting.

  “Likewise. I’m very happy to meet the man that puts the wistful smile on Silena’s face sometimes.”

  She wasn’t sure if that was taking things too far, but it felt like the right thing to do, to acknowledge their relationship up front. Erich’s cheeks colored and he smiled sheepishly, and nodded, squeezing her hand warmly. Her instincts had been correct. She liked Erich immensely.

  The girls were trying to get Catelyn’s attention, grabbing at her shirt and askin
g all kinds of questions about where she had been and what had happened to her, and telling her all about the things that had happened to them since they’d become part of Silena’s family. Catelyn knelt down again to hear how they got to share a room, but they each had their own place to sleep which was fabulous, and how they got to help Erich make their own clothes, and that they ate lots, more than their first eight sojourns combined.

  Catelyn was amazed to see how animated and excited they were, considering everything they had gone through. She shook her head in amazement at how they had bounced back, and imagined that she saw a glimpse of their future, a future without the kind of pain and torment that they had endured so early. That thought filled her with an immense joy.

  The excitement was dulled when the four of them heard the loud footfalls of Ortis’ booted feet approaching. Catelyn tensed, waiting for a reaction.

  The twin girls finally fell silent, looking up at the man in his nondescript plate armor as he approached the group.

  “We leave at sunset. Get some rest. You’ll need it,” was all he said. He turned back toward the loading docks, but the girls stood up and ran after him, blocking his path. He stopped, looking down at them wordlessly.

  “You’re Ortis, right?” Elexia said.

  “We made you something,” Sera said, reaching into a pocket of her pants. She unfolded something delicate, made with paper that had been dyed bright red.

  Sera finished unfolding it, and held it up to him. It was a paper flower, big and bright and beautiful. Ortis simply stared at it a moment, then reached a hand out as if to grab it, but paused.

  “Go on, we made it for you. For helping our mom. And Catelyn. You saved them. Mom told us all about it. My name is Elexia.”

  “Yeah, and I’m Sera.”

  Ortis reacted with an intensity that shook Catelyn to her core. Outwardly, his face betrayed nothing, but Catelyn could hear the change in his heartbeat, could see the black pupils of his eyes constrict. It was similar to the reaction he’d had to her on many occasions. Finally, he took the paper flower, held it in his hand, then folded it carefully, placed it inside his breastplate and said “Thank you.”