Aware

by Andy Havens

  There, there and there… Those are clearly linked back to the Library.

  She sensed the Ways doing what she’d been doing, but much more efficiently. Seeing, sensing, recording, reporting. They themselves were hard to spot… but you could see the effects they had on the other Ways and the world itself.

  Interesting… Now… Increase…

  She had less experience with that House than any other. But the Narrow Roads themselves were tinged with Increase, since it had been one from their House who’d discovered how to harness the Mundane energy trapped inside manmade paths and highways.

  The Narrow Roads feel… more like roads than other roads. That’s an odd thought. How can something be “more itself” than something else? Hmmm…

  She moved her attention around the neighborhood, skipping from one Way to the next, seeing how they interacted.

  Nothing.

  Then, all of a sudden, a buzzing noise. Coming from a window across the way. Another from near the top of a cell tower. Another. Another. Three. Four. Six? At least six.

  What the hell is that? It’s an actual noise, sure, but it’s got something of a Way within it, too.

  And because she’d been thinking about the Narrow Roads, she caught the same whiff of Increase.

  OK. That’s it, then. The common factor. What the heck are those things, though?

  She focused on the nearest one. It sounded like a gyroscope spinning very fast or an electric razor. Definitely mechanical.

  I can’t see them. I can’t even tell right where they are. Something about the Way is making it hard to tell if any of the noises are coming from just one thing or a couple or maybe a decoy or two?

  Which gave her an idea. Shifting back to observing the Ways of Sight, she could pinpoint the ones that were specifically observing the noise-makers. But not all of them, at least as far as she could tell.

  Only two are real. Both on the other side of the house, out front. I’ll go around to get a better…

  At that moment, Vannia popped through the back door and said, “You need to come in. We have a guest.”

  Kendra nodded, not really surprised at this point. “From Increase,” she said simply.

  Vannia stopped short, standing aside to let Kendra in through the door as she held it.

  “Yeah. How…”

  Kendra tapped her head. “Super-genius.”

  “Riiight.”

  They went through the small kitchen and into the living room up front. There was an older, silver-haired man sitting in one of their two wing chairs, coat unbuttoned, waiting for them. He got up as the two girls entered the room.

  “Kendra White,” he said, extending a perfectly manicured hand. “I’m Gareth Ezer. I’m very glad to finally meet you in person.”

  Kendra shook his hand. It was warm and dry and he squeezed her hand firmly but not like he wanted to break any bones. It was the perfect handshake. And his smile was… genuine. Not a hint of the kind of fake sincerity that many adults showed young people.

  He was very handsome, in a “friend’s dad” or “public figure” kind of way. You could tell he was or had been an athlete. And the hair…

  My god, his hair is truly perfect.

  “Gareth Ezer,” she repeated, letting his hand go and gesturing for him to sit again. He did, and she took the other wing chair, Vannia perching on the arm of the couch beside her. “The… Lord? No. Warden… of House Increase, yes?”

  “That’s right, Kendra. I came here because I believe we have a lot to discuss.”

  That’s three heads of various Domains I’ve met now , Kendra thought to herself. Two within the last six hours. And since Rain was as high as you can get in Earth… Maybe four of the seven? What’s that leave… Blood, Release and Flux?

  Gareth simply waited as Kendra lost herself in thought for a bit. He was used to having a profound effect on others, especially on first impression. Even without trying to be impressive, he just radiated success and good humor, trust and strength. Because that’s what he wanted others to perceive. Weak souls? Reckoners and Mundanes seeking approval or recognition? Those who needed to be led? They’d often come close to worshiping him, though he would never put it in those terms. Not consciously.

  Kendra seemed simply… a bit puzzled. Distracted.

  She seems flustered, but not by me. What is it, in the presence of one of the Six, that could have more of her attention? She’s new to the Ways… Maybe that’s it. But, still… Odd.

  Finally, after waiting for nearly a minute, he leaned forward a bit in his chair and asked, “Is everything OK, Kendra?”

  “What? Oh. Yes. Sorry. Just… Thinking. Lots to consider. Lots of stuff has been happening. To me. Around me, you know. I’m a bit…”

  He waited.

  “I’m actually a bit hungry. Would you mind if I made a snack?”

  Vannia looked at her strangely. They’d just eaten a decent lunch less than an hour earlier.

  But… whatevs. People can be hungry, she thought.

  “Do you want anything Mr. Ezer?” Kendra asked.

  “Please. Call me Gareth. A glass of water would be nice. Bottled, if you have any.”

  “Sure. Hang on.”

  Kendra went into the kitchen and started fussing with a tray, putting crackers on it and slicing up some cheese. She found an apple and cut that up, too. Then she got three glasses out of the cupboard and put ice into two along with water from the tap. She fetched a bottled water from the fridge and went to balance that on the tray, too… but it wasn’t quite big enough.

  Kendra sighed in mild exasperation.

  “Mr… Uh… Gareth? Would you mind?”

  He’d been, essentially, in a kind of minor staring contest with Vannia, who seemed unwilling to take her eyes off him. Her face set in neutral repose, she still managed to effectively communicate, If you draw, I will end you.

  Ezer looked over and saw what Kendra was talking about and stood up to help with the glasses and the tray. It was too much for one trip, and so he grabbed the water bottle and the glasses, letting her squeeze by him on the way out of the kitchen to put the snack tray on the little coffee table in the living room.

  She sat down in the wing chair he’d occupied, the one nearest the table, and scooched it and herself forward so that she could lean over and pick at the snacks.

  Ezer took the seat she’d been in before and put the glasses and the water bottle on the table, careful to place them on the cheap, cork coasters set out in a circle around the edge.

  Pouring his water into a glass, he said, “Thank you, Kendra. Do you mind if we chat while you eat?”

  “Hunh? Oh. No,” she answered, still leaning over, her arms resting on her knees. She didn’t look particularly comfortable, but it allowed her to pick at the cheese and apples.

  “Help yourself,” she said, “to a snack, I mean. Or I can make something a bit… fancier… if you like.”

  “No, no,” Ezer said. He took a piece of an apple to be polite and washed it down with some of the water. The apple wasn’t bad but the generic supermarket water… Barely better than tap.

  As they’d chatted, Vannia looked back and forth from one to the other, seeming to weigh their conversation more heavily than was warranted. Finally, she went back to almost-glaring at Ezer while he set his water down and addressed Kendra.

  “I have some questions for you, if you don’t mind,” he said, leaning back and crossing his legs, the picture of executive aplomb.

  “Actually,” Kendra said, “I’ve got some questions for you, first. Since I pretty much know nothing about anything that’s been going on around me for the last couple months, my guess is that I’ve got a lot more to learn than you do.”

  She’s addressing me like an equal, Ezer thought. That’s… intriguing. Either she’s entirely ignorant of the workings of the Houses… which is certainly possible… or she’s insane. Or arrogant beyond belief. Or some combination of all three. Either way…

  “Why don’t
we trade,” he suggested. “You ask a question, I’ll answer as best I can. Then I ask and you answer. How does that sound?”

  “Sure,” she said, still leaning on her knees, her chin resting on her folded hands. “I’d like to know if you had my father killed.”

  Abrupt, but not unexpected, Ezer thought.

  “I did not,” he answered succinctly.

  “He was in your inner circle?” she continued.

  “Is that a second question?” he asked with a slight grin.

  “Oh. We’re going to play it that way?” she grinned back at him. “Fine. Your turn.”

  “Thank you.” Ezer paused and frowned a bit, considering what to ask first, and how.

  “Did Rain Vernon give you the note from your father before you killed him?”

  She looked a bit startled, but didn’t change position and replied simply, “Yes.”

  That made Ezer actually laugh. “All right, all right. We don’t have to play it quite that… tight. More of a… dance? perhaps, then a game of tennis?”

  She nodded. “I’m fine with that. We’ll just stop talking when we feel it’s time for the other to… take the lead. Right?”

  She’s remarkably bright, Ezer thought. Maybe ignorant of the Ways. But not stupid.

  “That sounds like a good plan,” he said. “Your turn.”

  “Did you punish my father at all for… for what he did with my mother?”

  She’s giving me more information in her questions than I could ask for, Ezer thought. Unless she is truly a gifted and lifelong swindler, she honestly doesn’t know what happened to her parents.

  “I did. After your mother lost her reckoning, he begged me to take her into Increase. I would not. He then threatened to defect from Increase himself and go over to Release if Lady Percy would have them. Your father was… very highly placed in my House. I would not allow that. I told him that he could certainly leave Increase… I can’t hold anyone to my Domain against their will… but that I would use every power at my disposal to prevent him from joining another House. That he would be, essentially, a rogue. That he and your mother would remain under my… surveillance… for the rest of their lives.”

  Kendra nodded. “Thank you. I didn’t know that. From one thing I’d heard, it seemed that when he left your Domain, you’d had him, uh… ‘disappeared.’”

  Ezer shook his head. “If I had wanted your father dead, I would have decreed it and done so openly. Subterfuge is not well respected in my House.”

  She nodded again, clearly mulling this over. “Your turn,” she said then, almost absentmindedly.

  “How did you kill Rain Vernon?”

  She tilted her head up and looked at him with something like sorrow. “I didn’t want to, you know.”

  “I didn’t know that. From the little bit I’ve managed to piece together, he was trying to escort you to…”

  “Abduct me,” she interrupted.

  “Abduct you?”

  “Yes. He told me I had to go with him to the topiary garden. That, basically, he was going to force me to join Earth. When I told him I wouldn’t… he threw a Way on me that would have killed me.”

  Ezer looked at Vannia with a question in his eyes.

  “Don’t ask me,” she said. “I wasn’t there.”

  He nodded. “So Rain told you he wanted you to join Earth. Yes?”

  “Yes.”

  “And after you refused, he gave you the letter from your father?”

  “Yes.”

  “And then, when you still refused, he tried to kill you?”

  “Yes.”

  Why? Ezer wondered. The letter would have led her to me even if she rejected Earth. That was the whole point, Rain! You never cared enough about her to warrant killing her, even if you thought it would be easy. Which, obviously… It was not.

  “My turn?” Kendra asked. Ezer waved his approval.

  “So my father left Increase?”

  “That was his intention, I believe,” Ezer answered. “But he disappeared shortly after writing that letter. Before we had a chance to firm up any… details… of his exile.”

  Kendra nodded again.

  “So… that left my mom… without a House?”

  Ezer nodded again. Then he leaned forward and, with a look of deep concern, said, “I know what your next question will be. I will answer it. I will also apologize, deeply, because the answer reveals a grave mistake that I made at the time. A mistake that led to much of why we’re here today.”

  Kendra raised one eyebrow and asked, “What’s my next question?”

  “Why wouldn’t I allow your mother into Increase.”

  She nodded. He could tell that, finally, she was affected by the discussion. For the first time she wasn’t just assembling bits of information she hadn’t possessed before. She cared. She was hurt and confused and blamed him. She was right to do so.

  But he was one of the greatest leaders the world had ever seen. So he knew that these moments – these tremendously hard, brittle minutes of vulnerability – were the best time to secure and cement loyalty. Because he had answers. Because he could, now, give her back some of what she’d lost… he knew he could bring her over to his cause.

  Leaning forward to put one hand on her knee, he said, “I believed that your parents were involved in a plot to overthrow Lady Percy and myself in order to join Increase and Release back into a unified Flux. To return our Houses to the state that existed before the Great War. Before the creation of the Law.”

  Kendra closed her eyes and shook her head a bit and then took a few deep breaths.

  “Wow,” she finally said. “That’s… not what I expected to hear.”

  She looked up at Vannia, who was still perched on the couch. But Parrot Girl was now no longer in RAF (Resting Assassin Face) Mode, as they’d termed it… but listening in rapt attention, mouth open a bit in surprise.

  “Don’t look at me,” Vannia said. “I don’t pay much attention to House politics. But that’s… That’s a pretty insane accusation. If you were wrong, Ezer? Wow. But if you were right… Hooey, boy. That’s worse than crossing the streams.”

  “Crossing which streams?”

  Kendra waved a hand at Vannia. “Don’t pay any attention to her. She can’t help herself.”

  Ezer nodded.

  “You had no idea about any of that, did you Kendra?”

  “What?” she looked genuinely surprised. “No. That… No. That doesn’t match up with even the little bit I heard, but… I guess you were right there in the thick of it.”

  Ezer nodded solemnly. “As I said, I was mistaken. I discovered my error shortly after your father went missing. In my attempts to locate him, I discovered that one of the sources of my suspicion was, well… suspect himself. I’ve spent the last sixteen years trying to uncover why he and some of his compatriots deceived me. In doing so, I believe I have uncovered another even more dangerous plot.”

  “And you think me getting my reckoning back may be part of that plot.”

  Remarkably bright, Ezer thought. That was a very, very quick conclusion.

  “Why do you say that?” he asked out loud.

  Kendra made a scrunched up, I’m thinking hard face and said, “Well… first off, I feel a bit guilty. Because I didn’t answer your earlier question.”

  Ezer frowned. “Which one?”

  “You asked how I killed Rain Vernon.”

  “Yes. You said it was an accident.”

  “No,” Kendra corrected him. “I said I didn’t want to. Not that I didn’t mean to.”

  “Ah. Well…”

  “It’s hard to describe,” Kendra said, leaning even further over, putting both her arms on her knees and resting her chin on her hands.

  Why is she sitting like that? Ezer and Vannia both wondered simultaneously.

  “You know that Ways sometimes… overlap. Like in the doorframes in Bardonne’s.”

  “The Sanctuary? Yes. It’s a place where the Domains need to all exert si
milar influence. So there will be multiple Ways at work. That’s nothing unusual. And it’s not limited to Sanctuaries. Walk outside in almost any major city and you’ll see countless Ways all… overlapping, as you say.”

  “I’m explaining this badly,” Kendra said quietly. “They don’t just overlap, sometimes they intersect. That’s more like what happens on the Narrow Roads. It’s the power of Increase, yes. But the energy comes from the Mundane travel. They work together.”

  “But it’s still one Way,” Ezer countered. “A Way of Increase.”

  “I get that, but it’s not just about the Way. There’s a… ‘thing-ness’ to the Roads that isn’t just about Increase. And Chaos can influence other Houses’ Ways, too. I’ve seen that happen. Same with Flux. The power of a Way can go up or down and change, or be changed by, a Way of Flux.”

  This is all rather elementary, Ezer thought. She’s new to the Ways, so maybe their workings seem especially mysterious or confusing to her. For now… maybe just play along.

  “All right,” he replied. “There’s something going on where Ways ‘intersect.’ I’m not sure I could describe it any better than that myself, but I accept your premise.”

  Now he leaned forward to be closer to eye level with her. “But what does that have to do with how you killed the Gardener, and why you think I suspect your involvement in this plot?”

  She looked right at Ezer for a moment, deep into his eyes, and he was somewhat… unsettled by it.

  How can a teenage girl, recently a Mundane, look at the Warden of Increase with that level of calm assessment?

  Then she looked up and over at Vannia and raised one eyebrow.

  “You don’t feel it Parrot Girl? Or are you just waiting to see if I’ll need rescuing again?”

  Vannia looked startled and a little hurt. She was about to say something sarcastic, when she paused and froze in the middle of making a rude hand gesture.

  “Now you feel it,” Kendra said.

  “Feel what, please?” Ezer asked, leaning further forward. This is not a comfortable position, he thought. Why is she leaning over so far while continuing to talk? It’s just odd and…

  Then he realized where she was in relation to him, the room, and…