Finding Refuge: The Marked Ones

by Cathi Shaw

  A chill ran down Kiara’s back. “Have you spoken to Thia?” she asked.

  Teague’s silver eyes suddenly focused on her own. “Thia!” he exclaimed with deep despair.

  Kiara watched him closely as tears filled his eyes. Teague was obviously exhausted and miserable. It was almost as if he were a torture victim. Without thinking Kiara crossed the room and put her arms around him. She felt him wilt in her embrace and his raw sobs filled the room.

  Kiara remembered Teague as a fun-loving sweet guy and here he was reduced to this shell of his former self. She shook her head. After a few minutes he calmed down and Kiara led him over to the bed in the corner of the room.

  “Lie down, surely you can rest even if you can’t sleep,” she told him.

  When he’d climbed into the bed and she’d tucked him in almost as if he were a small child, Kiara sat on the edge of the bed.

  “Do you remember when you did see Thia last?”

  Teague sniffled and seemed to consider her question. “It was a while ago. Maybe three weeks,” he said softly.

  Kiara nodded. “And did she say where she was or what was happening then?”

  He shook his head. “They were still in Sailsburg but she said she would talk to Meldiron about leaving.” Teague looked guilty suddenly.

  “What’s wrong?” Kiara asked.

  “I got a bit upset. It was starting to become too much to deal with alone and I needed Thia here. She’s the only one who really understands me.” He paused, his eyes filling with tears again. “We had a fight. She said I was being unreasonable and maybe I was. I just wanted her to get here.”

  Kiara nodded in understanding but didn’t press Teague for details. She missed her sisters as well. They’d been gone far too long. She knew that Meldiron was determined to locate his friend but she wondered if it wasn’t just a lost cause given how long Arion had been missing. If she was honest she was starting to worry about the delay in their arrival at the Refuge. The Hunters were looking for all Marked Ones and that included Thia and Mina. But there was no point in worrying Teague. The last thing he needed was more stress.

  “Thia isn’t likely to take your bad humor the wrong way, Teague,” Kiara assured him. “Remember she grew up with me and I’m a famous for my temper. Don’t worry, I know they’ve been delayed but look at how long overdue we all were arriving at Séreméla. I’m sure they are well. There are lots of factors that could delay an expedition south.”

  Teague didn’t look convinced and, if she were honest, Kiara had to admit that she wasn’t confident of her sisters’ safety either. But Teague was worked up enough, it wouldn’t do to have him worry more.

  “Why don’t you try to rest?” Kiara suggested. “I’ll stay right here with you. I promise.”

  #

  Teague didn’t sleep but he did rest. As she’d promised to do, Kiara stayed with him all day.

  In the afternoon there was a knock at the door and Teague’s restfulness was over. She’d never seen him react so violently to anything. He sprung from the bed and cowered in the corner.

  Kiara looked at the door in confusion. How could a knock on the door upset him so much?

  “It’s Omen,” he said shrilly. “He’s coming for me.”

  “Teague, it’s alright. I won’t let him hurt you,” Kiara assured him, concerned by his reaction.

  When she opened the door she saw that Teague was right. It was the former Draíodóir apprentice who claimed to be helping Teague. Kiara had never liked the man. He was short with a bald head and beady eyes of a colorless hue. And he always had the semblance of a smirk around the corners of his small mouth.

  He was clearly surprised to see Kiara. “Miss Kiara, I didn’t realize you were back,” he said in a casual tone that did nothing to hide his obvious lie.

  He made her skin crawl. Kiara knew he was well informed that Caedmon and her had returned. Bellasiel had told her so. But he clearly had no qualms about lying through his teeth.

  “I’m here to work with Teague,” he told her importantly. ‘We have lots of work to do if we are to keep him safe, you know,” he added with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. This man was insincerity embodied.

  Kiara straightened to her full height, towering over the small man. “Teague is indisposed today,” she told him.

  “He’s indisposed because our work has been delayed for the last few weeks,” Omen shot back at her, his tone resonating with self-importance.

  “I don’t think that’s the reason at all,” Kiara said coldly not letting the man step even a foot into the room. “Teague needs to rest today. You can talk to me about when you can work with him again. Once he’s recovered his strength.”

  Omen looked like he was about to argue but then he seemed to think better of it.

  “As you wish, Miss Kiara,” he said smoothly and bowed to her. “I will return when Teague is well. Tell him that I was here, will you? And let him know that I only have his well-being in mind.”

  Kiara stood and watched as the man disappeared down the corridor. Odious toad, she thought to herself. He was lying through his teeth and it practically killed him that she’d sent him away. She turned back to see Teague muttering to himself by the wall and her heart sank. He’d seemed so much more relaxed after resting all day and now he was worse than ever.

  “Teague, it’s okay, he’s gone.” But Teague didn’t respond to her. Despair wash over her as she realized how fragile his mind was. She looked around the room and saw a bed tucked in the corner opposite from Teague’s. Cademon’s sweater was on the foot of it.

  “I’m staying here with you tonight, Teague. You don’t have to worry, I won’t leave you.”

  Later that night as Kiara turned the lamps off and settled into the bed she could still hear Teague muttering to himself. He seemed to have no idea that she was in the room with him. Kiara sighed and climbed into Caedmon’s bed, pulling the blankets up to her chin and breathing in his scent.

  She wondered where Caedmon had gone and what he hoped to discover. It wasn’t like him to keep secrets from her. He was normally very open with her. In fact, she could only remember one topic he didn’t like to discuss. Kiara’s heart began to beat harder.

  Caedmon never spoke of his past with the Army. In fact she knew almost nothing about his time in the Army or how he came to leave it. The fact that he left was extraordinary in itself.

  In the Five Corners being a soldier was a life long commitment. Soldiers did not have wives or families. Once they joined the ranks, they didn’t leave until they died. Retirement was not an issue – few soldiers lived into old age and those that did, continued to live with the Army.

  If Caedmon was returning to the Army seeking information, he could be putting himself in danger. Deserter soldiers, while rare, were killed if they ever returned.

  Kiara rolled over on the bed and closed her eyes, blocking out the negative nature of her thoughts. Caedmon would not take unnecessary risks. He was careful and calculated in all his decisions. She had to believe that this case was no exception and that he would return to them soon.

  #

  The next morning Teague seemed to be himself again.

  “You really didn’t need to stay here, Kiara,” he told her with a smile, the first one she’d seen on his face since she’d arrived.

  “Well, I thought you might want to talk in the night and you shouldn’t be alone,” she told him not wanting to share with him how frightened she’d been of his incomprehensible ramblings before she fell asleep.

  “That was kind of you,” he said and sat down to the small table where Kiara has set the breakfast that had been delivered to them earlier. She was pleased to see Teague taking an interest in food even if it was just a passing fancy.

  “So what are your plans for today?” she asked him with a smile.

  But before Teague could reply there was a soft knock at the door. Kiara looked at him but he seemed undisturbed by the interruption. Not Omen then.

  Stil
l Kiara kept her dagger within reach when she opened the door. On the other side was Deanna, looking uncertain and a bit scared.

  “Deanna! What are you doing here?” Kiara asked as she beckoned for her to come in.

  Deanna stepped over the threshold hesitantly. She looked at Teague and then down at her feet.

  “Well?” Kiara prodded when the girl seemed to have lost her ability to speak.

  “You’re needed in the training chamber,” she whispered.

  Kiara raised her eyebrows in surprise. “What do you mean I’m needed, Deanna?”

  “Them kids you brung here are arguing and fighting. They won’t listen to no one. That Elder lady told me to come and get you to see if you can do sumthink about it.”

  Kiara looked at Teague reluctantly.

  “Go,” he said with a smile as he took a large bite of a biscuit with fruit preserves spread on it. “Really, Kiara, you don’t need to stay here and keep me company.”

  Still Kiara hesitated. She had a bad feeling about this.

  “Please, Miss, I’m scared the kids are gonna really hurt each other. They got them weapons that that man was showing them how to use.”

  “What man?” Kiara asked suddenly,

  The girl shrugged. “I don’t know his name. He’s got no hair and he’s not very big.”

  Omen. Kiara hurried to the door. What was he doing interfering with the training? Hadn’t he caused enough trouble with Teague?

  “I won’t be long,” she told Teague before she stepped out.

  He shrugged unconcerned. “Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Kiara watched him for a moment longer then impulsively turned to Deanna. “Deanna, this is my friend Teague. He’s been quite ill lately but he won’t let anyone help him too much. Do you think you could stay with him?”

  Deanna nodded eagerly, wanting to please Kiara.

  “Teague, Deanna will stay and keep you company.”

  Teague looked at the little girl and smiled. “Hmm, I wish I had my mandolin - we could sing together, Deanna. But do you know how to play back hand?”

  The little girl nodded eagerly.

  “Okay. We’ll have a back hand tournament, just you and me. But I haven’t played in a long time so you need to take it a bit easy on me.”

  Kiara watched them for a moment longer, unable to shake the little voice that was telling her she should stay. But Teague’s curly head was bent beside Deanna’s dark one as he discussed the merits of the game with Deanna. He sounded just like the happy-go-lucky Teague she’d known at the Inn and Kiara forced herself to turn away.

  After all what could possibly happen?

  #

  Kiara arrived at the training chamber to find it full of children cooperating and listening intently to their instructor who, like Caedmon, was a former member of the army. There was no sign of any disruption at all in the room.

  Kiara turned realizing she’d been duped, only to run straight into Bellasiel.

  “Ah, Kiara, you’ve come to help with the children’s training. Good, we could use your assistance since Caedmon has disappeared.” Bellasiel paused and looked at her closely. “You don’t happen to know where he’s gone do you?”

  Kiara looked at the exit to the room and realized that she would have to stay for a while now. She’d clearly been tricked into leaving Teague. Which meant that Teague was possibly in danger. Or it could just mean that Omen wanted to spend time with him. She just hoped that having Deanna with him might help.

  She turned to Bellasiel. “He didn’t tell me where he was going. I think he just needed to run a few errands.” She looked at the exit trying to think of an excuse to leave.

  Bellasiel narrowed her eyes. “You know if you need anything we can always get it for you.”

  Kiara looked at the Elder sharply. Clearly Bellasiel was not good with them coming and going whenever they pleased. It became clear to Kiara once again that Bellasiel saw herself as a kind of commander in the Refuge. As long as they fell in line with what she wanted she let them believe that they were free but was it possible that they were not? Her stomach cramped at the thought.

  Kiara turned back toward the group of children training. “Well, I’d better see where I can help out,” she said agreeably, hoping that Bellasiel would move on and Kiara could then return to Teague.

  Bellasiel nodded but Kiara felt her gaze on her as she moved toward Sal, the instructor. She smiled and nodded at him, noting the tattoos on his arms that reminded her so much of Caedmon. She suddenly wondered at the chances of two ex-Army recruits being in the Refuge.

  Kiara ended up staying in the training room for over an hour as Bellasiel conveniently decided to stay and observe the training. When the Elder finally disappeared, Kiara immediately made her excuses to Sal and hurried back to Teague’s quarters.

  She wasn’t even at the door when she heard the yelling. Without hesitating, Kiara pushed the door open to find Teague holding Deanna against the wall, his hands tight around her neck, silver sparks exploding from his fingers.

  The girl’s color was blue and Kiara couldn’t tell if she was alive or not.

  “Teague!” she screamed, “Put her down.”

  Teague turned to Kiara his eyes wild. Then he let go of the girl and flung her across the room. As her body hit the floor with a sickening thump, Kiara stared at him.

  “What have you done?” she whispered, bending to check Deanna’s pulse but knowing that she’d find nothing.

  Teague’s eyes were wild as they scanned the room.

  The door flew open and Bellasiel entered. She froze when she saw the dead girl at Kiara’s feet.

  “You!” Teague yelled and ran at Bellasiel his hands outstretched and silver light flashing from them. Bellasiel screamed and then was caught in the energy force.

  Kiara watched in horror as he continued to advance on Bellasiel, the Elder’s feet lifted from the floor until she was wholly suspended in the air. Kiara had seen this before when Mina was attacked but it wasn’t the Draíodóir attacking that time. It had been Teague saving Mina from a Hunter. But his intentions this time were clearly to do harm!

  “Teague!” Kiara called but he ignored her.

  Without thinking, Kiara launched herself at Teague knocking him off his feet. He fell beneath her and hit his head on the hard floor with a sickening crunch. His eyes closed and he lost consciousness.

  She should never have left Teague. Something had happened and now it seemed as if he was completely out of control.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  It was ten days after Mina and Arion had left before Thia and Meldiron could even consider moving Xyrisse. Thia was especially happy with the healing of the Hunter girl’s burns. She noticed that while Xyrisse’s skin was more fragile than her own skin, it also seemed to heal faster.

  To her dismay, Thia had not been able to find Teague in her dreamwalks although she looked for him almost nightly. She couldn’t help thinking the worse. Since their last dreamwalk, which had ended in that huge fight, he seemed to have just disappeared completely and every additional day they stayed on the coast escalated her concern for him.

  “You are worried,” Xyrisse observed in her soft hissing voice as Thia reapplied her dressings.

  Thia nodded silently, blinking back tears.

  “Do you wish to speak of your worries?” Xyrisse queried her strange red eyes focused on Thia’s face.

  Thia sighed. “I don’t think it will help to talk of it,” she admitted sadly.

  Xyrisse nodded. “It might not help the situation but you may find a bit of relief for your worries to verbalize them.”

  Thia looked at the girl in front of her and smiled sadly.

  “Can I venture to guess your concerns center around a boy?” she asked. Thia nodded slightly, noticing how Xyrisse’s strange looks did nothing to diminish her rare beauty.

  “It is about a boy,” Thia admitted. “A very special boy. A good friend.”

  She found herself te
lling Xyrisse about her long-standing dream relationship with Teague and how they had only just discovered one another in the waking world the previous year. She recounted the journey they’d set on with Kiara and Caedmon from the Inn and how their friendship had grown even closer on their travels. She told Xyrisse of the cave in and the People and how she had feared that Teague would be lost to her forever.

  With Teague out of reach now, Thia found herself telling Xyrisse more than she’d even told her sisters. The Nasseet girl seemed to have a gift for drawing information out of people. With her sympathetic listening, Thia’s worse fears bubbled to the surface and she told Xyrisse how worried she was not knowing exactly what Teague might be going through and how much she missed him.

  “Even when Teague was unconscious, we were always able to connect via our dreamwalks,” Thia said softly, her eyes overflowing with tears. “But now even that is gone.” She looked at Xyrisse who was watching her quietly. “What if he truly is dead this time?”

  Thia’s voice caught as the words echoed through the small tent they were in. Now that she’d said it aloud, she knew that she’d feared that this was the case ever since she’d lost Teague in her dreams. The last time she’d seen him he’d been raving and what if he’d done something desperate?

  Finally Xyrisse spoke. “What do you feel, in here?” she pointed to her chest.

  Thia looked at her uncomprehending at first.

  “Do you feel he has gone?” Xyrisse went on.

  When Thia still didn’t reply, Xyrisse gave a small sad smile. “When my brother was killed, I felt it immediately. Inside. A piece of the universe had been severed and lost forever. His lifeforce left this planet and dispersed and I felt it keenly inside.” She paused. “Do you feel that Teague has gone?”

  Thia considered that for a moment. She remembered suddenly what Celeste, her mentor Underground, had said about Teague when he was unconscious. She had said that she felt that he was still there but behind a film. Thia concentrated but she felt nothing. Still she didn’t recognize that Teague’s energy had dispersed, like Xyrisse said that she would have if such a thing had happened.