Telepath

by Jolea M. Harrison

  “He’s dedicated,” Carryn said.

  “I think Dain is just playing with him now.”

  “Not a productive use of time,” she said as she stood. “How long do you think I’ll last?”

  “Well, that depends,” Dynan said, surprised she would think she could last at all. “He won’t hold back with you, even a little, since you have some level of training.”

  She nodded to that, taking off the tunic she usually wore. She had a nice figure underneath. Her grey eyes flashed to his. “You need to practice those new withholding techniques I showed you last week.” She smiled then. “But thank you anyway. I don’t get those sort of compliments too often.”

  “I bet you don’t,” he said, and then quickly added, “I mean, not that you shouldn’t. You’re just always covered up in those tunics. Not that that’s a bad thing, or that I care.”

  “I know what you mean.”

  “I don’t think of you as a girl,” he said, and then rolled his eyes at the way everything was coming out. Carryn laughed.

  “I know,” she said, and smiled.

  Dynan nodded to Dain. “He does.”

  “He thinks I’m weaker than him.”

  “Physically, yes,” Dynan said.

  “Truth. He’s quite strong.”

  “He’s fast too. That’s the most frightening part of facing him, how fast he’s going to come at you.”

  “Thanks for the warning,” she said as she removed the short sword and dagger she had strapped on. They were sharpened to a laser edge.

  “Why are you doing this?”

  “He wants to see, as much as any of you, what I can handle.”

  “What if that turns out to be not very much?”

  “It’ll be more than that. You’ll see. Don’t interfere.”

  Dynan thought it unnecessary for her to prove anything, but she wouldn’t be deterred.

  “He needs to get this out of the way,” she said about the time Dain became aware of her intentions. The eager light in his eyes was evident as he sauntered over.

  “Really?” he said, noting her preparations. “You sure? Won’t undermine your, I don’t know what you want to call it, First Commander-itis?”

  “Not at all, Dain,” Carryn said. “And just in case this doesn’t go the way you think, I don’t mean anything by it.”

  He laughed at that, nodding Gaden out of the area. Dain didn’t wait for her to say she was ready, barely giving her time to pick out a practice blade, before he attacked her.

  The weapons were safely blunted to avoid serious injury, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t possible to get hurt. Gaden was nursing a welt on his arm, rubbing the spot as he joined Dynan. “Is this all right?” he said, collapsing onto the bench. “I mean, he’s impossible to beat and she’s...”

  “What?”

  “You know. A girl.”

  “I’m certain she can beat you, girl or not, so you might want to be careful about thinking of her as helpless.” He nodded to the combatants. “Watch and learn.”

  The two danced around each other, each judging the other’s skills. Carryn had the advantage there. She already knew what Dain was capable of. She wasn’t daunted, engaging, retreating, even advancing and pressing Dain back. Dynan knew his brother was allowing her that momentary advantage on purpose. Dain examined every maneuver, every attack employed, analyzed the way she approached, moved, thought, discovering where the weaknesses were as quickly as it could be done. That was the great danger of facing Dain. He knew almost instantly exactly how he could win. The rest of it, depending on his mood, was for show.

  Carryn changed her tactics, and kept changing them, putting off the inevitable for longer than most could. When she lasted longer than Dynan thought she would, he looked around the courtyard and found the entirety of the household watching, maids and all.

  “You have an audience,” Dynan said silently, distracting Dain enough that Carryn got through and nearly took his sword. “Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen—”

  “Shut up!”

  “You almost lost!”

  “Shut. Up.”

  Dynan laughed at Dain’s annoyance. He was ready to move on to something else, like one of the maids watching him from the corner, but Carryn kept fighting and not losing. Her concentration never faltered. It even took a long time for her to show any sign of fatigue. She stumbled finally, eliciting a few exclamations from those watching, who were all rooting for her instead of Dain.

  They could wish for it, but Dynan knew it wouldn’t turn out that way. Endurance was Dain’s other legendary strength that took him through the most strenuous matches at the Brittallia All Around or through a hundred minor ones. On the rare occasions he met an opponent who came close to his level of skill, he just outlasted them, wearing them down to the point where exhaustion caused a mistake.

  That was how Dynan always lost.

  That was how Carryn would lose too, but it took a really long time to get her to that point. They were both sweating, but Carryn was breathing harder. Dain asked her more than once if she wanted to concede, even complimenting her on the fact that other than Dynan, she was the only one able to stand that long against him. She said no.

  It was also at that moment she abruptly dropped all signs of being exhausted and charged at Dain the same instant he dropped his guard in a moment of exasperation. Dynan realized she’d been waiting for it.

  Dain stumbled backward when she put her foot behind him and shoved. He landed on the ground on his back and she went down on top of him. Two swords went flying. A gasp went up from the onlookers.

  “Doesn’t that mean they both lose?” Gaden asked.

  “Somebody has to have a sword in their hand at the end. Doesn’t matter how,” Boral said as he walked up closer to get a better look at the action. “When was the last time he lost one of these?”

  “He hasn’t.”

  “You never beat him with a sword? I thought you did once.”

  Dynan smirked. “No.”

  There was a lot of scrabbling on the ground. Carryn launched herself after the discarded weapon only the have Dain yank her back. She punched him and then kneed him, still trying to reach the hilt of her sword that was just a few kel out of reach, her hand scrapping against the stone. Dain pulled her back again.

  He wrapped both arms around her to keep her contained, locked a leg over hers so she could hardly move, and then rolled her over twice. He came out on top the last turn, pinning her to the ground, breathing hard, but blade in hand.

  “Damn,” Boral muttered. “I kind of hoped she’d manage it.”

  “Wasn’t ever likely,” Dynan said, “but yes.”

  “Why is it,” Dain said in his head, “that no one wants me to win.”

  “You always do.”

  “It’s not like I asked for this.”

  “I know. You’re completely innocent, Dain. Get off her and let’s go get dinner.” Dynan went to stand over them while Dain collapsed onto his back but remained lying on the ground, staring at the sky. Now he was exhausted.

  “I am innocent.” He propped himself up on an elbow, smiling around the words.

  Carryn muttered something they couldn’t hear, her hands rising to her head, before abruptly going limp.

  “Carryn?” Dain rose to his knees.

  “Oh no.” Her eyes rolled back in her head, showing all white.

  “What the...Carryn?”

  Dynan started looking around for Maralt, terrified he was about to attack. “Everyone get inside! Now!”

  “This isn’t Maralt,” Dain said, leaning to pick her up, cradling her in his arms.

  “Well then what is it? She’s in pain.”

  “She’s...There are images...She’s seeing these things, pretty fast, and...There’s a forest and someone is running. The perspective is, I don’t know, right there. I can’t tell who it is, you or me, and now there’s...something...fog...and...I—”

  “Dain, stop what you’re doing,” Dyn
an said, afraid because of the burst of fear coming from him, doubled by his own, and tripled by the strange, unidentifiable sensations he felt from Carryn.

  “She’s having a vision,” Xavier said as he joined them instead of going indoors.

  “What?” Dynan turned on him. “Go inside, please, Xavier.”

  “This is one of the reasons your father brought her to the Palace. She sees things sometimes, dangers that you might end up in, the future, but it might be dangerous to watch too closely, Dain. Your brother is right.”

  Dain was blinking rapidly and didn’t hear, and then he was dragging Carryn across the ground, backing away from something unseen to the rest of them that frightened him. He scrabbled backward, until he came across Carryn’s discarded sword.

  Dynan grabbed Xavier and as gently as he could, dragged him to the ground hardly a moment before Dain was up on his feet and swinging at the thing he saw in his mind. “Stay down,” Dynan said, rising and dodging under another slash that would have cut off an arm or maybe a head had the blade been sharpened. Surging forward, Dynan tackled him, but didn’t avoid the next swing of the blade that cracked down across his arm. Talking to him didn’t work and for some reason, Dynan couldn’t reach him. His mind was cloaked.

  As they went down, Dynan saw everyone running at them, something he didn’t want, afraid Dain would accidentally hurt them. He rolled Dynan over. A flash of metal pulled his attention back to his brother, who was following instinct without real awareness. Dynan barely got his hands free in time to stop the descending dagger clamped in Dain’s hand.

  “Dain.”

  His arms started shaking almost immediately and the blade lowered.

  “Come back.”

  The tip of the blade touched his throat.

  Dain blinked then, awareness returning and the pressure against Dynan’s hands eased. Ralion and Boral were right there.

  Dynan saw them coming. “Wait!”

  “What the fuck was that?” Dain said, but then Ralion jerked him up and threw him.

  “Wait,” Dynan said again. “He’s all right.”

  Fortunately, Dain was clear-headed enough to see that something extraordinary was happening that caused Ralion to do such a thing, so he didn’t move once he landed, except to curl up and cover his head. Ralion was standing over him, hands balled into fists, ready to knock him down again, until Dynan scrambled over to stop him.

  “He’s all right.”

  “What was that?”

  “He wasn’t trying to stab me, Ralion. It was something else. Go check on Carryn.”

  She was the only one not recovering, still gripped in what seemed like terrible pain. She was making small whimpering noises.

  “I could have killed you,” Dain said, reaching to Dynan’s neck where the dagger had pricked skin.

  “Seemed like you wanted to,” Dynan said, but smiled at Dain’s distress, and shook his head. “Could you really? I’m betting not.”

  He shook his head and glanced up at Ralion, who wasn’t convinced.

  “What was that?” he asked again.

  “There was a giant black monster with wings—”

  “You saw a wraith?” Dynan said, and the air left his lungs. He felt something pulling at him from inside.

  “Stop,” Carryn said then, trying to get her bearings.

  “It was coming from, someplace...It was a weird color of grey,” Dain said. “All I wanted to do was kill it, but then I felt someone holding me back. That must have been Dynan and why I turned on him.”

  “Stop thinking about it,” Carryn said, rolling over and pushing herself up to her hands and knees. She couldn’t stand, and started crawling.

  Dynan didn’t see her for the man with black eyes standing before him on a shelf of rock encircled by a line of pillars. He saw Dynan and immediately came at him, his hand out. His fingernails were long and sharpened. Dynan started crawling backward since turning around or trying to stand would take too much time. A glowing ball of light appeared in front of him and he heard Dain.

  “Come here.”

  The next instant, Dynan was inside the glowing ball with his brother. Dain grabbed him and held on while the movement of the ball knocked Dynan off balance. If Dain hadn’t stopped him, he would have started rolling around the interior.

  “What the hell is going on?”

  “Carryn said don’t ask and don’t think,” Dain said, trying to brace a foot against the curve of the sphere. “That’s all I got out of her before she threw me in here. She’s probably right. She lasted longer than I thought she would, don’t you think?”

  Dynan stared at him, still terrified the man with the black eyes and creepy nails would find him, and didn’t especially care how well Dain had done in a match against their new First Commander.

  “Don’t think,” Dain said. “You were surprised too? She’s fast for a girl.”

  “Right,” Dynan said, understanding that he was trying to change the subject. Dynan looked around the interior of the crystal and wondered why they were being jostled around, as if they were really inside it.

  “Gaden is going to turn out all right too,” Dain said pointedly. “He’s talented underneath being young and stupid.”

  “He takes after you.”

  “He does, and maybe that’s not such a bad thing.”

  Dynan laughed. “I suppose it could be worse.”

  “Nice day isn’t it?”

  “Yep.”

  Carryn startled them both when she appeared inside the crystal, trying to look calm but still breathing hard. Dain turned to look out the side of the glass, shielding his eyes to cut the glare. “Aren’t you holding us up right now?”

  “You can come out.”

  “Oh I don’t know. I kind of like it in here,” Dain said, patting the space beside him. “Can you explain yet?”

  “No.”

  “Then I guess we’re stuck in here until you can, talking about the weather and Gaden Ahreld.”

  Dynan got to his feet and took hold of her, seeing that she was near the point of collapse. “If she talks about it,” he said, “she’s afraid whatever just happened will happen again and obviously, it’s hard for her to stop it. And in case you didn’t notice, she’s about to collapse.”

  The light of the crystal faded, shifting to the fading day dappled across the courtyard. The sensation of being inside the thing and then not, made them all dizzy. Dynan was on his knees, so he didn’t have far to fall. Carryn collapsed into Dain, who just managed to keep her from hitting her head on the ground. Grasped in her hand, they noticed the crystal on a silver chain around her neck, like the ones they wore.

  “Hmmm.”

  “I thought we were in one of ours,” Dynan said. It didn’t occur to him there would be others identical in nature to the ones they wore since he’d found them on the floor of the mountain tomb where Alurn Telaerin died. The existence of another orb necklace, and the identical use of it added another layer of significance and meaning to what had been just an unusual piece of jewelry.

  “Me too, but I’m guessing the same rules are going to apply.

  “No thinking about it,” Dynan muttered. “Okay, fine.”

  Ralion, Sheed and Boral stood over them, looking outward, as if they expected to be set on at any moment. Xavier was crouched on the ground. He seemed unhurt, but very worried. Dynan spent much of the remaining hours of the day assuring everyone that they were all right and not under attack. Everyone was on edge through dinner and into the night, and no one wanted to talk about it, afraid if they did, something would happen. Dynan just wanted to know what Xavier meant about Carryn having visions, without getting sucked into one. He refused to say. Dain was worried the lengthy combat he’d put her through led to Carryn’s state of unconsciousness. He sat beside her through dinner, concern growing more pronounced as time dragged by.

  “It wasn’t your fault,” Dynan told him silently after listening to him going over a list of reasons why it could be.
<
br />   “Did you get anything else out of Xavier?”

  “No. He’s afraid saying anything will kill us, and well—”

  “Yeah, he could be right. I hate waiting. She’s still completely out. Geneal says she’s okay, but who knows when she’ll wake up.”

  Dynan nodded. Doing so drew the attention of one of the kitchen maids, a young girl busy cleaning up from the meal. Dynan was at a side table in the kitchen since there wasn’t any sort of formal dinner. He was trying to finish up the huge pile of food Geneal thought he should eat.

  “So when Carryn wakes up, should I tell her how worried you’ve been?” Dynan said with a smile that was also noticed by the maid. He realized she was watching him, and then she smiled back.

  She had a nice figure too, although quite a bit rounder than Carryn or Geneal. She was also mostly popping out of the tight bodice of her uniform. She adjusted the fabric while he watched, exposing more round, creamy white skin. Her hands moved down along the sides of her breasts that rose and feel inside the constraints.

  Dynan’s eyes rose to hers and he knew then what the gestures meant and what she wanted.

  Instantly, almost the moment the thought of being with this girl crossed his mind, he heard in his head the voice of the High Bishop.

  “Do you so swear before this gathering and on your mortal soul, before me and the Eternal Gods?”

  Down on his knees before the Sacred Seal in the cavernous Temple Sanctuary, Dynan heard himself answering yes. There was a high-pitched whine centered in the back of his head. His throat dried up. When he came back to the kitchen, he was left with the girl wondering what he was waiting for. He could see that in her eyes.

  “You could say yes,” Dain said.

  Once again the High Bishop recited the litany. “Do you not hear that?”

  “I sure do. Ignore it for once. There isn’t anyone here to tell you no, Dynan.”

  “I don’t know her.”

  “So? Go over there and get to know her. Right now. Walk over there, take her by the hand – she isn’t going to say no – and take her to your room. Or if you don’t want the whole damn place to know what you’re doing, tell her to come by later. Now. Before you lose your nerve.”