by K. F. Ridley
“That’s because he’s my twin brother.”
“Do what?” I yell. “He’s your twin and you aren’t the least bit worried about him?”
“My first allegiance is to the brethren. He broke the law. Don’t you know what that means?”
“Yeah, it means your law is stupid. He’s your own flesh and blood. Your own brother. Aren’t you at all worried about him?”
“I won’t allow myself.” He sits on the edge of the mattress polishing his sword with a cloth, which glimmers against the sunlight, the reflection of his bare chest shining back at him in the blade. “You need to get ready. We have to leave soon.”
“You’re unbelievable.” I jump from the bed.
Entering the bathroom, I notice a sheet is now hanging in the doorway, providing me some privacy. He put the makeshift doorway there—a bit of consideration I didn’t think he was capable of. But he still appalls me.
“Hurry up. It’s almost time.” He works on his blade. Coll does all he can to stay in the frame of mind he was taught to stay in.
After I shower, dress, and come out of the bathroom. Coll is gone. I’m surprised he left me alone. Either something is wrong or something is right. Maybe Rowen has actually come back. With wet hair dripping on the floor, I quietly open the door and peek out. A very large man stands outside with his back to me, his arms folded across his chest. Ruis is beside him. His broad shoulders meet the width of the door. I shut it immediately, tucking myself quietly back into my room. Okay, now I wouldn’t mind having Coll back. I sit festering.
I hear someone talking loudly and Coll storms in and slams the door. “What’s wrong?” I ask.
“He’s a traitor! He’s turned his back on all of us!” He peers at me with so much anger my soul is scorched. “And he has turned his back on you. Love. It’s a joke.”
“What are you talking about? Who?”
“We met with Cy, and he had a vision.” Anger slices through Coll’s words. “Your beloved Rowen, my worthless brother, is with Straif. Cy saw it.”
“There has to be some mistake.”
“You can live in your make-believe world, Ashe, but it is what it is.”
“Exactly, what did he see?”
“Cy’s visions are not always specific, but we do know Rowen is with Straif…and that’s all I need to know.”
“You don’t know anything, Coll. You’re jealous.”
“Jealous?” he laughs. “That he’s a traitor? You need to face reality, bithling. He doesn’t love you and he never did.”
“You’re wrong! And don’t call me bithling again!” I’m furious. I swelter with anger, leaning my hands on the desk beside my bed. Suddenly, the desk flies across the room, shattering into splinters as it hits the wall. Coll looks at me with disbelief. I don’t believe it myself.
The door swings open. “What was that?” Ivy heard the crash from across the hall. She sees the furniture in pieces. “Coll! Wh…what did you do? Ashe, dear, are you hurt?” She scurries toward me placing her arm around my shoulder and giving Coll an evil eye.
“I’m fine. He didn’t do it. It just happened.”
“What do you mean it just happened?”
“We were arguing and suddenly the desk crashed into the wall.”
“She was touching it,” Coll adds, which seems unnecessary.
Coll looks at me as if I have the plague. Ivy investigates the destruction. The desk hit the wall, leaving a gaping hole with slivers of wood pierced into the stone. “How did you…?”
“I don’t know how it happened.” Since I arrived here I’ve seen stranger things, and a shattered desk isn’t the most unbelievable thing I’ve witnessed.
I’m so worried about Rowen that my mind is still arguing with Coll. “He’s wrong. He told me about Rowen. There has to be some mistake. He wouldn’t side with Straif. I know he wouldn’t.”
“Ashe, the truth is Cy saw him. There is no denying that,” Ivy reminds me gently.
“We don’t know what he saw. And Coll, you said Cy couldn’t give you any details.”
Both of them wear pity in their eyes, but I refuse to believe Rowen would turn his back on us…on me.
“The celebration is about to begin.” Coll’s expression is empty, as if he’s lost his best friend, but from what I’ve seen, there was no friendship and no love between them. The fact that they are brothers is still hard for me to get my mind around.
I calm down a bit, but the worry inside me overflows. I know in my heart Rowen would never betray me. Either Cy is lying or something is horribly wrong.
I cover myself in brown, and follow behind Coll while Ivy walks alongside me. As we make our way through the castle’s dark and narrow corridor, Ivy explains the purpose of the celebration.
“During the ceremony, the new sentries will receive their rights of passage and take oaths to their assignments.”
I hoped this day would be one of joy and I could be one in the crowd. The brown cloak is a safe place and gives me unexpected comfort, but my mind wanders in and out of the thought of Rowen, hoping they are wrong. I know if Rowen is with Straif it isn’t of his own free will. I know deep down if what they are saying is true, Rowen is in danger.
As we leave the castle, great masses of people are organized into groups. A rainbow of cloth covers the field of attendants. Each group of brethrens has their own colors. Emerald robes in one group. Crimson in another. Mustard yellow. It’s all rather beautiful. We sit in the stands. Only brown robes are amongst us, the youngest of the brethren who are still in training. So, I blend in perfectly. Those who have moved beyond Congramaid, like Coll, Alder, and Ruis, wear no robes, but regular clothes.
My grandfather sits on an ornate wooden throne on the dias alongside the instructors. It doesn’t seem like a celebration at all. Even with the thousands of people in attendance, you can hear dust drop and it’s creepy. A single instructor stands before the crowd and begins reciting something in a foreign tongue. It sounds like Latin, but I am not really sure.
Not one out of the thousands in the theater utters a sound. The sentries being initiated are motionless in the middle of the theater. The pews are made of stone, much like a Roman Coliseum. I think I’m supposed to be happy for those being placed into the sentry life, but I can’t help feeling sorry for them.
The scent of the air changes from a refreshing gust of life to one of foreboding sadness. The atmosphere is thick with solemn darkness, as sinister clouds pull a curtain over the sky. Breathing becomes difficult.
I turn to Coll, who’s in some kind of trance. Then I peer over the crowd and everyone is in the same disconnected state. I shake Ivy’s sleeve.“What’s going on?’
“Shhh. Total silence,” she whispers with insistence.
No one seems to recognize the menacing feeling in the air except for me. The clouds grow darker, but everyone remains dazed. Then, I see him standing at the edge of the crowd, covered in blood.
“Rowen!” I yell at the top of my lungs. Instead of looking at him, the spectators turn their eyes on me and he falters. “Rowen!” I shriek again unconcerned with decorum. My secret is out.
Rowen drops to the ground
Coll looks up and sees his brother, alarm marks his face. He runs toward his brother and I follow right behind him. The entire congregation is in an uproar. All the leaders, including my grandfather, run to Rowen’s aid. He’s conscious, but barely.
Kneeling by his bruised and broken body, I take his hand and draw it to my chest. “Rowen! Open your eyes. Look at me,” I beg him. A strand of black-thorned vine is wrapped around his neck. I try to pull it off, but with each bit of contact the noose tightens more around his throat causing blood to trickle down his muscled neck.
“Don’t touch it,” Coll instructs, and he gently slips his knife under the vine. With one swift motion, he severs the noose. Rowen groans at the slice and a small glimmer of blue peaks through the small slits of his eyes. Coll picks him up and we make towards the castle. Arcos, Alde
r, Ruis, Ivy and few of the instructors rush behind us. The celebration stops and everyone is sent back to their quarters. There is no sign of Straif or his thugs.
We end up in one of the dormitory rooms. Coll places Rowen’s nearly lifeless body on the bed.
“What happened, my brother?” I’ve never seen this side of Coll. His face blushes as a bit of compassion slips into his expression like an unsuspecting victim. The others stand on the other side of the room except for Alder and Arcos who stay close to Rowen’s bedside.
“Str…Straif,” the words struggle from his lips. “He was here.”
Coll presses his palms on Rowen’s chest. After pushing me away, Coll closes his eyes intently. Slowly, the wounds covering Rowen begin to shrink. He’s still bleeding, but the red that runs from him slows down. Coll pullshis hands from his brother’s chest.
“What are you doing? Why are you stopping?” I ask confused.
“He’s a healer; still he can only do so much. Only time will tell,” Alder says.
“If you’re a healer, why don’t you heal him? You’re holding back on purpose? Do something!” I yell in Coll’s face. I don’t know what he’s capable of, and I don’t trust him.
Coll is empty and exhausted after sharing his gift. He makes no expression as I scream at him. “What’s your problem? Do something!” I continue aggravated with his indifference.
Alder pulls me away from Coll, who now looks like he is on the verge of collapse. “Coll is limited when it comes to healing Rowen.”
“I know he is. He hates Rowen. He’drather see him….” I stop myself before I go too far.
“Let me explain,” Alder says as he points to the chair next to Rowen’s bed insinuating I take the seat. By this time, Coll is lying down on another bed, looking pathetic and pale.
“Coll is unable to heal himself. The reason he is limited with Rowen is because they are twins. Their DNA is so similar that Coll’s gift restricts his ability to help his brother. We’ll have to see how effective Coll’s powers are on Rowen. He’ll have to lay hands upon him several more times, but with each healing Coll gets weaker and has to rest to regain his energy.” I can see how the healing affected Coll, who looks like he’s run a marathon in one hundred degree temperatures.
“Rowen is going to make it. I know he will,” I insist, sitting by his side with his hand in mine. I’m not leaving him. I have him back and I’m not letting him go, not again. My heart aches to see him suffer. Even though I don’t like him, I now have a new appreciation for Coll.
Rowen remains unconscious, but the bleeding stops. Coll places hands on his brother’s chest ever so often and with each touch Rowen’s color improves, his wounds shrink. Each time Coll gives of his gift, he is weaker, like someone recovering from the flu.
Ivy brings us dinner along with my yellow muck. “You need to eat, my dear.”
“I’m not leaving his side.” She places the food on the floor by my legs. I eat what I can and drink my medicine, which was about half the usual dose. I don’t understand what Straif’s purpose is in all of this. Why would he want to hurt Rowen? I’m the one he’s after, or at least I thought I was. As I gaze down on Rowen’s battered face, I realize I’m the reason for his near-death condition. Straif has to be stopped, or I will have to die, yet if I meet my death so will they.
17
The sound of his moaning wakes me from my sleep, his hand still clutched in mine. Arcos has gone to his quarters as did the rest of the crew except for Alder, Coll, and Ruis.
“It’s me, Rowen. I’m here.”
“ Ashe,” he groans and touches my cheek bringing with it the warmth I’ve missed.
“What happened, Rowen?” Alder questions.
“He wants everything. Both keys, Ashe…and the yellow serum. He knows about the serum. He won’t quit until he has everything. He thought I had the key. When he found out I didn’t …well, you see what he did. He said this was a warning. He was here, at the celebration. He dropped me in the field behind the dormitories, but I made my way to the ceremony.”
“Do you know what his plans are? Did they say anything else you overheard?” Alder asks.
“No, I don’t know how they have so much information.” His voice is a little stronger now. Apparently, Coll’s healing touch made some improvement.
“Did you see anyone who might be giving him inside information?”
Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.
“My art assignment. Bran. He was my art professor at the University of Montana. He had me paint some pictures, and while I was held captive, I saw them hanging on the walls of the caverns. They did something to them. They could see my father and me in the pictures. Like some kind of security system.”
“We’ve got to get those painting…and the sister key,” Alders says with worry. “Then we’ve got to get you out of here and back to Montana.”
“I’m not leaving him. I refuse,” I spout.
“First things first, Ashe. We’ve got to get those paintings and find that key.”
“I will go,” Ruis offers, his face cloaked in trepidation.
“You can’t go alone.” Alder isn’t about to let a rookie take this on.
“I am the only one that’s expendable and I have a plan.”
Alder shakes his head dismissing the youngster’s eagerness and places his hand on Ruis’s shoulder in reassurance. “You are not expendable. They’ll eat you alive, Ruis.”
“I have a plan that will work. They can’t know I’m the enemy. They have to think I’ve turned to their side.”
“They will never believe you. It’s too risky.”
“I’ll go to Straif and tell him I’ve left the brethren. I’ll win his trust, find the key and the paintings.”
“Ruis, I appreciate your intent.” Alder’s attitude is saturated with condescension.“Straif is much smarter than that. He’ll know.” I can tell by Alder’s tone he doesn’t believe the boy has much wisdom about him.
Suddenly, Ruis’s eyes intensify with a metallic glow and he straightens his shoulders. “Watch this,” he says. He waves his hand over his face. His clothes turn to black, his nails crusty and yellow. He reeks of rot and decay as his skin darkens, losing its beauty in seconds. He looks exactly like one of The Thorn.
“I don’t have much time. I can’t stay in this body long or I’ll change permanently. My thoughts will become depraved and evil will be engraved in me.” He brushes his palm over his face again, returning to his natural state of youth and vigor.
Alder and Rowen look at one another with awestruck expressions. “No one from Congramaid has ever carried this gift. It’s only been seen in those of The Thorn,” Alder says.
“I’ve known for a while, Alder. I knew what you would think. It’s not something I’m proud of.” His expression falls with disappointment.
Alder cannot hide his apprehension, but forces an effort of support. “This is out of your control.” He rubs his forehead as if deciphering a complex puzzle.
Rowen falls back to sleep and Coll slumbers on another bed on the other side of the room. Alder and Ruis discuss the plan. They aren’t going to tell the others at Congramaid. The less others know about the plan, the better. Ruis is to leave in the evening and infiltrate The Thorn. If they find him out, it’ll be the death of him. On the other hand, because his gift is one of evil sorts, they probably won’t question his presence. As I listen, I remember the enormity of the Caverns and the masses of artwork that scattered the cave walls. I realize I am the only one who can help. I will have to leave Rowen to save us all.
“I should go with him,” I interject.
“I can do this without you,” Ruis says. “It’s too risky.”
“There are thousands of pictures in the caverns. You’ll never find my paintings.”
“I know what to look for.” Ruis seems certain. His secret is out and he’s determined to make his mark as part of the brethren.
“Have you been down there? You have no idea how big
and confusing that place can be,” I explain.
“She’s right,” Alder says.“If she comes along things will move much faster, limiting the amount of time you’ll have to stay in that state, but I’m going with the both of you. We have to get in and out of there fast. Ashe, do you remember how to get to your paintings?”
“Yes, I think I can find them. I remember most of the artwork on the walls of the cave. Unless, they’ve moved everything, I’ll be able to find my way around”
“We’ll leave at dawn.” Alder and Ruis appear relieved and disappointed at the same time. Ruis will get the opportunity to make his mark. I hope he doesn’t lose himself to a world of darkness.
The rain hits the window hard, determined to let me know the skies are gray. I can’t tell if dawn made its way through the night.
During the night, someone brought my bag and added three more beds to the room. It is crowded in here, but Alder wants us to remain together. Rowen is looking much better, as is Coll.
I watch him sleep and Rowen’s wounds are fading. I am so thankful to have him back. I enjoy watching his body move rhythmically with each breath. I cannot resist the urge to touch him and I move my hand across his forehead.
He is my Montague. I remember the moment he first spoke to me. I was reading Romeo and Juliet. Our relationship has taken on the same ironic twist; our love is forbidden for irrational reasons, and I am determined our ending will be much different. I don’t want an ending at all.
I pull myself away from him. Alder and Ruis are gone, so I figure this is a good time to get a shower. The bathroom attached to this room has a door. I’m learning to value little things like privacy now that I’m running around with a bunch of guys. I’m sure if Taylie knew what was going on she would love to switch places with me.She’s probably worried sick about me right now.
After my shower, I pull my jeans out of the bag. The stone necklace that was hidden away in my mother’s drawer falls out. I trace my finger across the image etched in the stone. Suddenly, images of Nuin surge through my mind as Ivy’s gift of memories surfaces. A vivid vision of my mother running toward an enormous oak tree erupts in my brain. Nuin is frantic and has the necklace in her hand. She places it in the knot of the tree and a burst of light emerges. When the vision leaves me, I’m shaking. There’s something important about this necklace, something I don’t understand. I put it around my neck, to keep from losing it.