‘Section Atum 1032a of the Imperial Laws states that concealment of any Chosen from the Imperium is a disloyalty against the government and the peoples of the Imperium.’
‘I know that! But I was—’
‘Section Atum 1032b states that any concealment of a Pulsar from the Imperium is a treasonable offence that is punishable… by death.’
Orin’s face turns paler. ‘B-but Sebastian… Sebastian Crato absolved me!’
The Throne smiles. ‘He changed his mind.’
‘H-he can’t do that!’
‘He already has.’
‘This… this isn’t happening…’
‘You’ll be taken into confinement until we return to the Imperium, and once there…’
‘This is wrong!’
‘…you’ll await execution.’
‘This is wrong!’
The Throne nods at the others and they drag him down the temple steps.
‘He can’t do this! He can’t!’ shouts Orin. ‘I need to be with her! She needs me! Kytaen! Kytaen! Get Leonie! Tell her what’s happened! This is wrong; this is Crato playing a game! You have to let her know! Please!’
He’s taken from my sight, and I’m left alone, standing outside the temple as the snow blusters against me. I could see this as an opportunity to break the girl. I could use this to somehow stop the soul-binding from happening.
I could, I should feel that way.
‘…an ally, a friend, OK?’
But I don’t.
I turn to the doors.
LEONIE
FAIRY-TALE JUSTICE
‘I demand to see Sebastian Crato!’
‘My Lady—’ O’Sah begins.
‘Don’t “my Lady” me, OK? I want to see Sebastian Crato!’
‘That’s impossible. He’s at the Imperium.’
‘Then take me there—now.’
‘You’ve yet to do the soul-binding.’
‘Screw the soul-binding! I want to know why my dad’s been locked up!’
‘His crime—’
‘He’s done nothing worth persecuting him for.’
O’Sah puts his hands out as if to calm me. ‘I understand, and I agree.’
‘Like hell you do! Don’t think I can’t see that little smile you’re trying to hide. You’re happy he’s been taken.’
‘That’s an unfair accusation, my Lady. I harbour no ill will towards your father. Why would I?’
‘I don’t know, but you can be sure I’ll find out.’
‘You’re overreacting.’
‘My dad’s about to get his head chopped off and I’m overreacting?’
‘Sebastian Crato will most likely change his mind—’
‘Oh, he will, believe me, he will. Because as soon as I step foot in the Imperium, he’s going to regret messing with my family.’
I turn from O’Sah and leave the Breakfast Room.
‘You need to control yourself,’ I hear Korren say from behind me. ‘Shouting at him like that isn’t going to get you far.’
‘And being calm will?’ I snap.
‘Pulsar never show their rage.’
‘It’s a good thing I suck at being a Pulsar then, isn’t it?’
‘Where are you going?’
‘To find my dad.’
‘That’s not a good idea.’
‘Don’t care.’
‘You’re being childish.’
‘Don’t care.’
‘You don’t want to give everyone the impression you’re just a child.’
‘Well I am a child, OK, Korren?’ I shout, turning on him. ‘I’m a stupid, ignorant, good-for-nothing child who has lost her father just as she’s about to walk into the Lion’s Den.’
‘I know.’ He tries to speak softly, though his voice still has a rough edge to it. ‘I just—’
‘Stop acting as if you care. You couldn’t care less about me or my dad. You’re just like everyone else here.’ I turn my back on him and walk away, and then stop, and walk back to him. ‘Where are they holding him?’
‘I don’t know,’ he says.
‘You must have some idea!’
‘There’s a containment unit near the temple, at least there was, but I doubt they’d have him in there. It’s for more… well, those rebels are probably in there.’
‘You know about them?’
‘I heard a Throne talking about the attack. But someone as meek as your father wouldn’t be in there.’
‘Tell me where the containment place is.’
‘I just said—’
‘I know what you just said! Tell me where it is. It’s a start.’
He tells me, and I leave the temple at a brisk walk, which soon turns to a run. The containment unit was a place where sinful Magen used to be housed, Korren told me, and it’s below a hill near the temple, out of sight. I follow the directions that Korren gave me, down twists and turns of paths, and through foliage and snow and trees. As I go down the final hill, I see a circular keep with turrets, old and grey and deserted. It’s covered in moss, and the leafless branches of trees reach out over it. I take careful steps towards it, worried there might be guards nearby, but no one appears. I open a wooden door and see a man wearing the sleek blue uniform. He’s holding a bucket of water, and when he sees me, he turns and puts the bucket down.
‘What are you doing here?’ he snaps.
I look past him to see stairs leading down. Is that where the rebels are being held? Is that where Dad is being held? The guard was going to go down there if I hadn’t interrupted him.
‘Oi! I’m talking to you, girl!’
‘Is Orin Woodville here?’ I say.
‘What?’
‘Is Orin Woodville here?’
‘What? No. What are you doing here?’ he repeats. ‘You shouldn’t be here. How’d you find this place?’
‘You don’t know who I am, do you?’
‘And why should I bloody care who you are?’
‘Y’know who Orin Woodville is?’
‘He’s…’ Then the guard looks at me and understands. ‘Orin Woodville is the Pulsar’s father… oh. Oh! Oh, by the stargods, your eyes, your eyes. You’re the… oh! I’m… I apologise for how I spoke to you—’
‘Where’s my dad?’ I say.
‘He’s not here, my Lady. I don’t know where he is. I didn’t even know he’d been taken. This is such an honour. I wasn’t even supposed to know of you! I only know because—’
‘Is this where the rebels are being held?’ I ask.
‘They were here, my Lady.’
‘Where are they now? I want to talk to them.’
‘Ah. I’m afraid you couldn’t do that.’
‘I want to talk to them.’
‘Even if I were allowed, it’s not as if you could.’
‘Why not? What’s the point of being a Pulsar if I can’t get my way once in a while? Why can’t I speak to them?’
‘…They’re dead, my Lady.’
My cheeks drain of colour. ‘What?’
‘The Thrones, they executed them this afternoon.’
I back away. ‘But why?’
He shrugs his shoulders. ‘They wouldn’t tell them anything about their rebellion, so they didn’t have any more use. That’s why there’s no soldiers guarding round here now; just me, cleaning up.’
‘Cleaning…’ I look at the bucket, at the colour of water. It’s tinted red.
‘I-I don’t believe it.’
‘My Lady—’
I push by him and run down the darkened steps. I hear him chasing after me, but whatever nature his magic is I know he can’t use it against the Pulsar. Any attack on me would be like attacking the Divinity or Sebastian Crato. I come to the bottom of the stairs. The corridor is dark and smells like rust and dampness. My eyes fall on a cell in which chains dangle from the walls, walls that are stained by blood and muck.
I begin to shake.
‘My Lady—!’ calls the guard as he reaches me. ‘You shouldn’
t be seeing this!’
‘Monsters,’ I whisper. ‘Monsters.’
‘No, not monsters, my Lady. You have to understand; they had to do it.’
I shake my head.
‘These people tried to kill you,’ says the guard. ‘They were doing their duty.’
I hear more people come down the stairs; I see their crimson cloaks.
‘My Lady,’ one says. ‘You can’t be here.’
‘Come with us, my Lady,’ the other says.
‘I tried to stop her,’ says the guard. ‘She wouldn’t listen.’
Where was I this afternoon? With Jacob. I was with Jacob. As Jacob and I spoke together, admiring the little garden within the temple, the rebels were being slaughtered. I put my hand over my mouth, and run. I run up the snow-covered hill back to the temple and slam open the doors to the Breakfast Room, pouncing at O’Sah, who is talking to his comrades. A hand catches my fist and I look up to see one of the Thrones.
‘My Lady?’ says O’Sah, eyes wide.
‘Monsters! How could you? How could you?’
‘What’s wrong?’ says O’Sah. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘You killed them! You tortured them!’ I shout.
‘Who—?’
‘The rebels! The ones who attacked me! You killed them!’
‘Ah. You know about that.’ I hate him. I hate him. I hate how he pretends to look distressed and troubled, when he probably cared so little for the rebels’ lives. ‘Well, to put it simply, my Lady, this is what happens to Chosen who rebel against the Imperium. If they want to rebel, they should do it quietly, and maybe then they wouldn’t have to die.’
‘Don’t think they wouldn’t do the same to us,’ says one of the Thrones.
‘They did worse to my brother,’ says another.
‘That doesn’t justify anything!’ I shout. ‘What you did to them was wrong. You have no right to execute people. And from what I saw, you didn’t just kill them! I saw the blood; I saw the chains—you tortured them!’
‘My Lady—’
‘I don’t want that! I don’t want to be part of that! I don’t want my dad to have to go through that!’ I’m crying, though I know I shouldn’t be; I know I should be strong and calm like a Pulsar.
‘My Lady,’ says O’Sah, ‘I’m so sorry you saw what you did. I had no idea you’d go there. I should’ve known by your inquisitive nature you would have. I’m so sorry.’
My eyes narrow. ‘Don’t.’
‘Those rebels were essential to us. They were part of a group that’s been stealing away newly awoken Chosen from the human realm, and who even stole away our own—’
‘Stealing? We’re not property that belongs to you! We have a will, a choice!’
‘You have to grow up, Leonie,’ says Harriad, and everyone looks at him with wide eyes, except for me. ‘This world you’re part of now isn’t like the human realm. Our laws are different, severer and absolute. We don’t give fines and warnings, and for murder, rape, theft and acts of violence, we don’t send those people to prison; we send them to die.’
‘That’s—’ I begin.
‘I was like you, too. I grew up as a normal human in a world where laws didn’t really matter, and people could do what they wanted without any real punishment. My mother, she was stabbed by a man, just a man, no one she knew. She’d gone to buy us food, and as she left the shop, he was running down the street and they collided. He stabbed her for that and kept running. She was in hospital for three days before she died. And do you know what his punishment was? His punishment was prison for twenty-five years, and while there he got a free education, free food, a comfortable bed and even a community. He was released from prison only a number of years later; he didn’t even serve half of his sentence. Do you know how that feels, Leonie, when you see the man who murdered your mother walking the streets as a free man? And don’t think he redeemed himself. Only a year after he was released he was charged with raping a youth and murdering her.’
I try to hold my ground, but I find it hard under his firm gaze.
‘The Imperium isn’t just a place full of magic, and it’s not just a place where you’ll get everything you want, Lady Pulsar. Our laws are obeyed, or you die. And you know what? No one stands against the law because of it, and no one commits crimes, because they know the penalty. No one can kill someone and live to kill another. No one serves only half a sentence. That is justice, real justice. Those rebels that tried to kill you died for it, and they knew the risks.’
‘That’s not—’ I begin, but he cuts me off.
‘It’s time you got your head out of fairy-tale concepts of justice, because when you get to the Imperium, you will see a whole new world, and your version of choices and free will and impartiality will change dramatically.’
I clench my fists and grit my teeth. ‘Even if your laws say they have to die, it doesn’t mean they had to be tortured! How is that justice? That’s not justice, it’s just wrong. They didn’t have to suffer like that! They could have died with dignity! My father—’
‘Your father committed treason,’ says Harriad. ‘He kept you, a Pulsar, from our nation. You don’t comprehend your preciousness to us, do you? You don’t comprehend how long we’ve waited for a Pulsar to be born again. And your father kept you from us; he stole away our treasure. His punishment is justified.’
‘If I’m so precious to you,’ I spit, ‘how can you do this to me, knowing he’s my flesh and blood, knowing how much he means to me?’
‘Because it’s not you we protect, it’s what you are: a Pulsar.’
‘Harriad!’ says a Throne.
‘I assure you that’s not true, my Lady,’ says another.
‘And your father’s imprisonment isn’t something we planned for either,’ says O’Sah. ‘I promise he won’t suffer. In fact, as soon as we’re at the Imperium, I guarantee Sebastian Crato will release him. I’m sure of it. He wouldn’t want to upset you.’
‘Oh, “upset me” is an understatement,’ I say. ‘He’s set the beast free from the cage.’
They glance at each other, worry shrouding their eyes. That is, besides Harriad, who continues to look at me with disdain. I like him for it; he’s showing me how he really feels.
‘It’s nothing I’d worry about,’ one of them says.
‘Yes, I know it’s stressful,’ says another. ‘Of course it is. If my father had to go through what yours is, I’d be raging a storm. But I’m sure it’s not permanent.’
‘This is probably just to remind Orin that he can’t go against the Imperium,’ says O’Sah.
‘Exactly.’
‘Yes, I agree.’
I shake my head, looking at each one of them. Dad was right: we’re all part of a game, and Sebastian Crato is the player. As I look around me, at each one of the Thrones, I am not standing among allies—I am standing among enemies.
I turn from them.
I have nowhere to go. I’m trapped like prey in a cage, and the only person who is on my side is locked away preparing to die.
I run down the corridors towards my room. I don’t cry or sob, I just run. Before I found out I was Chosen, though I had my problems, I didn’t have enemies that tried to kill me. I didn’t have enemies that silently tried to manipulate me. I didn’t have enemies at all. I was just a normal girl who didn’t even know those kinds of things existed, who went to college and casually talked to her classmates, who took her dog out for walks and went grocery shopping, who played games on her game console and fell asleep to music blaring. Enemies and underfens, Chosen and kytaen, Duwyn and magic—these things only exist in books. They should only exist in books. And the heroine of the story shouldn’t be some useless, arrogant kid, but someone wise and experienced, someone who would know what to do in this situation, someone who wasn’t so afraid.
As I round the corner I smash into someone and almost fall over.
‘My Lady?’
‘Sersu,’ I say. I have to look up at her she’s so tall
.
‘Are you all right? You look so pale. Are you—?’
I slap her hand away and narrow my eyes. ‘Don’t. Just don’t talk to me.’
‘I don’t under—’
‘I know what you did! I know what you and O’Sah and all the others did to those people, what you’ll do to my dad!’
‘I—’
‘I won’t let you! I won’t let you hurt him!’
‘My Lady—’
‘I’ll never let you hurt him! I’ll never, ever, ever—’
‘Leonie.’
I blink and look up at her. Her eyes are narrowed. I can’t believe it, but she looks mad at me. As if she has any right!
‘I had nothing to do with what happened to the rebels,’ she says, ‘and I don’t like getting accused for it, either.’
‘But you’re with them; you’re part of their—’
‘I don’t agree with what the Council did. I didn’t even know until afterwards. If I had it my way, the rebels would still be alive. But I don’t get to make those choices, Leonie, and neither do you.’
‘But you’re—’
‘I’m a Phobien, not a Throne, not a member of the Council. I’m fortunate enough just to know of you and to be here, thanks to my mother’s influence.’
‘Your mother’s?’
‘She wanted me to be acquainted with you so you might favour our family in the future.’
‘That’s—’
‘But me? I just wanted to meet you for no other reason than to see who our future was. I’m not with O’Sah or the others. I never will be, and I would never choose to be.’
‘…You really didn’t know?’ I ask.
‘No.’
‘And my dad…’
Her frown softens. ‘I didn’t know about that either until a few minutes ago. I’m sorry.’
I try to hold my tears back. ‘He’s going to die.’
‘I’m afraid that’s probably true.’
I stare at her. ‘You’re not denying it?’
‘There’s no point in giving you false hope,’ she says. ‘Your father doesn’t stand much of a chance, because of the Council’s word, because of Crato’s.’
‘I don’t get it. Why would he change his mind?’
‘People with power often misuse it, as is their duty.’
‘I hate him.’
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