Aware

by Andy Havens

  Ezer shook his head. “Oh, no. At that point they were as often in disagreement as not. This was at the beginning of the suffrage movement in Mundane, American politics and Elaynia had taken an interest in the subject.”

  Kendra frowned. “My father was a chauvinist?”

  “Not against females, oh dear no,” Ezer said, shaking his head. “He thought that her interest in the Mundane world was a bit too personal. You see, he worked for me on several projects that involved Mundane machinery, architecture and organizations. But he, as I, saw that world as a source of… let’s say, motive power and resources. We were not concerned in the least with the people.”

  “But my mom was?”

  “Quite. There’s a whole long story there, too. One I’m sure your friends in the Library could dig up. But suffice it to say that whereas your father was dutifully toiling in the fields of Increase, your mother kept distracting him with ideas of Mundane equality.”

  Monday actually snorted. “Excuse me,” the Librarian said. “It’s just…”

  “I know,” Ezer agreed. “But it’s the subject that ultimately brought them together. She kept insisting that there was something to the idea and he kept trying to convince her otherwise. Within a few decades of meeting on-and-off, working on other projects, seeing each other at various events… she’d begun to win him over.”

  Vannia interjected, “Boys. Girls. Winning? Whatever.”

  “I don’t know when it turned romantic, Ms. Vannia,” Ezer said. “But it did. Elaynia convinced Morgan that they should be together. They began to do some research on how one of them might switch Domains.”

  “Why couldn’t they just stay in two Houses but be married?” asked Kendra. “I remember my Uncle Bran saying something about my mother being a child of two Houses. Her mother was Release, and her father was…”

  “Flux,” finished Ezer. “But that’s just mating. Not marrying.”

  “Now I’m confused again,” said Kendra. She got up to get eggs and bacon and another Coke, and this time Vannia joined her, grabbing a Diet Dr. Pepper from the cart.

  “Marriage is a contract,” Monday explained. “An agreement. It is bound by various traditions, most of which are dictated by the Domains themselves. A marriage in Sight, for example, means something very different than a marriage, say, of Chaos.”

  “We don’t marry,” Vannia said, back on her perch. She was now sitting on the large book, balancing on it and on the back of the couch. Glancing at her position and cushion, McKey looked pained.

  “Yes you do,” said Monday.

  The two stared at each other for a time, neither blinking.

  Finally, Kendra interrupted. “Geez guys, come on. I get the point. So my mom’s parents were just having some fun. But my folks wanted to make it official?”

  “Essentially so,” answered Monday, sparing a last glare at Vannia.

  “And they were worried about her changing House?” Kendra asked.

  The Warden replied, “Yes. But, at first, only about the political issues. It’s never easy to change allegiance. There were some who thought she was after Morgan’s wealth, some who thought he wanted access to her talents on behalf of our Domain. Lots of gossip.”

  McKey added, “It’s unusual enough that most Reckoners in both Houses would have heard of it and had an opinion.”

  “But at this point,” Kendra said, “Nothing about a plot.”

  “No. Only the unkind talk you’d expect from traditionalists and cynics.”

  “Like you?”

  Ezer nodded. “I’m afraid so. Morgan was a protégé of mine. I was his mentor. Or fancied myself so. He was highly intelligent. Well liked. A good manager. His marriage to Elaynia would mean a loss of status for him.”

  “I can see that,” Kendra said. “I guess it would feel like a betrayal.”

  “Indeed,” agreed the Warden. “While at the time I felt justified, I can see now that I was harsh to him and to her even before I became suspicious.”

  The Librarian chimed in at this point, saying, “This is the part I’m interested in, Gareth. Most of what you’ve told is readily, if not widely available. How they met, their courtship. Her declaring an intent to change allegiance. The rest, though? Accounts differ. Some say she took sick and that was how she lost her Reckoning. Some say the transfer itself caused her malady. In Release, they claim that Kendra isn’t Morgan’s child, that Elaynia somehow got mixed up with a Mundane or a tag and that something in that relationship caused her problems.”

  “Let’s back up a moment,” said Ezer. “I know some of what happened there. But that was after I stumbled upon Morgan and Elaynia’s correspondence.”

  “Stumbled upon?” asked McKey with an eyebrow up.

  “Entirely by chance, yes, actually,” Ezer said defensively. “In fact, it was Morgan’s fault. He sent back a series of packages related to our business with Release. They were labelled incorrectly and one of the ones that was meant to go to his residence came to me. I opened it expecting a set of ledgers. Finding a series of letters from the two was… Surprising.”

  “But you read them,” Kendra said quietly.

  “I did,” the Warden said, looking squarely at the young woman. “Partly because, at first, I was not sure what I was reading. They were unsigned and only after reading a few did I deduce the authors.”

  Here he rose and fetched another cup of coffee. Sitting back down and taking a sip, he continued in a low, somewhat subdued tone.

  “Partly I read them because they confirmed a suspicion that I’d held for a very long time. That Lady Percy was going to attempt some kind of reconciliation with Flux.”

  The room was very quiet. Kendra had heard a little bit about this “plot” back at her house. But here, in the Library, hearing him say it in front of the Librarian seemed much, much more serious.

  “What you suggest is treason,” Monday said quietly. “And you speak of it here?”

  Gareth nodded. “I do. But I also say, now, that I was mistaken. It was a suspicion only. Which is why I didn’t bring it to the attention of Sight at the time.”

  “Perhaps you should have,” McKey suggested.

  “Perhaps,” Ezer agreed. “But, at the time, I was still quite a bit peeved with you people.”

  Monday nodded. “I take some blame for that incident.”

  “What incident?” Vannia chimed in.

  Monday waved her question away. “Not important. But you were saying, Warden. You had suspected Lady Percy of planning to break the Law.”

  “Yes. It was back a time. The early 18th Century. A few words overheard here. A strange coincidence there. At the time, I thought nothing of it. But when, more than a hundred years later, I began to read the letters? A number of those doubts came back.”

  “What did you specifically suspect?” McKey asked.

  “That the two were going to feign Elaynia’s transfer of allegiance, pillage my House of many of its resources, and, with Morgan’s substantial abilities, help Lady Percy join back with Flux as leader of a newly defined, stronger Domain.”

  They were all silent, processing the enormity of that suspicion.

  Finally, Monday said, “You know how outrageous that seems now? To just say it outright like that? More than 5,000 years of peace under the Law. Broken by, what? A young couple exchanging notes?”

  The Warden nodded, looking down, a bit chagrined. “Of course it’s ridiculous. Now. But at the time? While Morgan was my apprentice in many ways, he was also, one day, going to be my chief rival for leadership. He had some specific skills that already dwarfed mine. In some areas. I knew that. I think he did, too. Perhaps centuries away, but something still made me envy him. Or fear him. Or fear the future.”

  Monday nodded. “I have always been glad that our House does not change rulers except by voluntary retirement or natural death.”

  Ezer grinned a bit. “Your House has only ever had two rulers, my old friend.”

  The Librarian shrugged. “So
meday I will take a few books and return to the valley of my birth.” He looked at McKey and smiled. “And others will continue our great work.”

  She scowled and looked away, and Kendra thought, There’s a story there, too, I bet.

  Out loud she asked, “Can we get back to my parents, please? You suspected them of some huge plot. OK. And the letter Rain gave me might have fit in with that, sure.”

  With that, she took the letter out of her pocket where she kept it folded up.

  “Do you mind?” Monday asked. Kendra waved them all forward and flattened the small piece of paper out on the conference room table:

  My Dearest Elaynia,

  I know you are afraid, but you must quit your House and join me in mine. The danger you've been warned of is not real. It is a tale told to frighten children and to keep the Houses in line. No Reckoner has ever lost the Ways by changing Domain.

  If you wait much longer, if your pregnancy begins to show, Lady Percy will absolutely forbid you to join me. And if Gareth knew what we are planning, he too would forbid our union.

  Meet me under the willow by the boat house. Once we are together, truly together, we will find peace.

  Yours,

  Morgan.

  They all took a moment to read the letter, Kendra sitting back down while they did so. She’d memorized it weeks ago.

  “That does seem at least a little suspicious,” Vannia said.

  “It does,” agreed Ezer. “And when I confronted Morgan with it, he was furious. But not about me reading the letter. He believed that I’d somehow been the one to frighten Elaynia against the union.”

  “I’m confused again,” Kendra said.

  “So was I at the time,” Ezer said. “You see, someone had convinced Elaynia that there was a risk to joining another House. That it could lessen or even take away her Reckoning. Or harm her unborn baby.”

  Monday frowned. “But that is true. There are examples of in several histories of…”

  Waving a hand in apology, Ezer interrupted. “If you go back and check those histories and go to the sources where possible, as I have, you will find that the only instances where Reckoning was weakened or lost is when the change was forced on someone or during other times of great duress. There are several other examples cited in various works, but I found all those to be untrustworthy or outright fabrications.”

  McKey, Monday and Wallace all scowled. The idea that the records in the Library weren’t the most complete available was… not acceptable.

  Ezer sighed. “No offense to your collection, Sight. But sometimes you stop when the story stops and do not question an easy ending.”

  Wallace snapped his fingers. “Wait! Is this what you were researching when you were here and…”

  Monday held up a hand and he froze.

  “Not in front of others,” he said quietly.

  “I’m sorry, sir.”

  Gareth nodded. “Yes, that was what I was seeking. After our… falling out… I found my answers elsewhere. Along with a lot of other pieces of the ‘Morgan and Elaynia’ puzzle. In fact, you did me a favor that day. Working on my own, I was able to keep many of my suspicions and conclusions to myself long enough to avoid additional embarrassment.”

  “There was no plot,” Monday said simply.

  Ezer looked at the Librarian for a moment in silence, seeming to weigh his next words very carefully.

  “No, there was a plot,” he finally said. “But Morgan and Elaynia were pawns, not players in it.”

  They let that sink in for a moment. Finally, Monday said, “I’m going to assume, based on the present company, that you don’t believe Sight or Chaos is involved in this treason?”

  All eyes turned toward Vannia for a moment. She was still sitting on top of the large book balanced on the back of the couch. She looked startled and then smiled. “Plot? Noooooo… Hell, I’ll kill a man in a fair fight, or if I think he’s gonna start a fair fight, or if he bothers me… or if I’m getting paid: mostly only when I’m getting paid.”

  Kendra shook her head. “Thank you, Jayne.”

  Ezer frowned. “I don’t…”

  “It’s a quote from a TV show,” Wallace and Kendra said at the same time.

  “Ah, well… Anyway. Yes. To answer your question, Solomon, I don’t believe Sight or Chaos have ever been involved. I recently was able to speak very frankly with Kendra. The time she’s spent with Sight and Chaos would have ended much differently, I think, had she—or they or you—been part of the conspiracy.”

  “And whom,” Monday asked slowly, “do you suspect?”

  “Individuals and groups within Blood and Earth,” Monday replied.

  “This is not the same plot you suspected Morgan and Elaynia were involved in?” McKey asked. “I don’t see how anyone in Blood or Earth would be interested in who ruled Increase or Release or Flux.”

  “No, it was entirely different. I believe, now, that all the evidence against Kendra’s parents was fabricated to do two things. One, throw me—and possibly others—off the scent of the actual plot.”

  “And the second thing?” asked Wallace?

  Ezer looked at Kendra with something like sadness. “To steal Kendra from her parents to the Domain of Earth.”

  Kendra looked startled… but then nodded.

  “Rain tried, pretty hard, near the end to talk me into joining Earth. Yes.”

  “I believe that was his goal all along. His and others working inside Earth and Blood. Trying to draw more power to those Houses.”

  McKey, Wallace and Kendra all began asking questions at the same moment: different phrasing, but variations on, why would they want to do that?

  The Librarian frowned and held up a hand for quiet. They all fell silent, waiting for him to think things through for a moment.

  Finally, he began to tick off some thoughts on his fingers.

  “This would explain why Rain was working with the Mundane doctor, Lyonne.”

  Ezer nodded in agreement, watching as the Librarian mirrored some of his own conclusions.

  Second finger: “It would also explain why he hired Kendra to work in his gardens when she was old enough.”

  Nods all around. Third finger: “It also explains why the Greenman dropped her off here after she was injured in the garden.”

  Kendra interrupted. “Wait. That doesn’t make sense to me. Why would he do that?”

  “The fight with the aetherials may have been meant to awaken your Reckoning, Kendra,” Ezer explained. “Seeing them appear, watching the fight with the greenman, being sprayed with skyblood. All of these were enough to shock you into our world.”

  “But they didn’t,” Kendra pointed out.

  “And that’s my point,” Ezer said. “When they did not, Kaolyn had to make a choice. Push you harder within an Earth Way—which could have killed you or frightened you out of his Domain forever…”

  “Or let somebody else do his dirty work,” Kendra added.

  “Indeed,” agreed Monday. “Warden?”

  Ezer nodded. “That’s basically my thought.”

  The Librarian still had three fingers up, now he added a fourth: “It also explains Dr. Lyonne’s use of the Blood art cards during her therapy session. That would have been another… push… to awaken Kendra, I believe.”

  Wallace and McKey both shook their heads and McKey said, “Sir… We haven’t had time to report in on that part of Wallace’s project. But we believe Lyonne stole the cards from a gang of Earth tags without Rain’s knowledge.”

  Kendra nodded. “Yeah, I don’t think Rain knew about the cards. Right before I… right before he died, I brought them up. In fact, it was part of how I realized that he and Dr. Lyonne knew each other. I asked about the cards and rather than deny that he knew her at all, he tried to explain them away. It’s the lie I caught him in that made me realize he was up to something.”

  “He was indeed up to something,” Ezer said. “I think he was trying, as I said, to bring you over to Earth.”


  “But why?” asked Wallace.

  The Warden’s response was interrupted by Vannia tapping, loudly, on the screen of her smartphone.

  “Sorry, but this dang thing isn’t working” she said.

  They all looked at her in irritation, but McKey was the one who responded. “You can’t get a connection to any outside network in the Library, dear. Not until we open to the public.”

  Ezer frowned and reached into his pocket, retrieving his own phone.

  “But I was doing research on your terminal all night,” he said. “Mundane nets and your own general archives.”

  Monday replied, “Yes, but, apparently, you didn’t try to send anything out besides routine search queries. Any explicit or specific communications wouldn’t have worked through our Ways. Part of our newest security policy.” He shot a look at McKey who stared right back.

  The Warden sighed. “So I’ve been out of contact since last night? Well, that’s going to raise some eyebrows.”

  McKey said, “But you told your team last night on your way into the Library that you’re fine and they could stand down.”

  “Yes, yes. I don’t think anyone will feel I’m in danger. I made that clear. But I rarely go more than a few hours without someone touching base with me on any number of projects.”

  Say what you want about Mr. Monday, Wallace thought, but at least he’s not that much of a micromanager.

  “Mrs. McKey,” Monday asked, “Would it be possible to grant the Warden an… exception?... to our policy?”

  She made a slight gesture and nodded.

  “Thank you, Helen,” Ezer said graciously.

  He was about to return to their discussion of Kendra’s role in Rain’s plans when at least two of his devices began beeping and ringing, making a total of about five different noises all at once.

  “My apologies,” he said. “Lots in the queue. They’re trying to catch up all at once. Only one that really needs immediate attention if you’ll pardon me.”

  With a series of taps and swipes he silenced his two phones and called up something on one screen, reading quickly and scrolling through a series of brief messages.

  Frowning, he looked up at Ezer. “I wish I’d known about the network restrictions last night. One of my lieutenants made a major breakthrough and had to go out on his own initiative. He’s been successful. Relatively. But it would have been better had I been able to consult with him beforehand.”