by K. M. Fahy
“Why’s that?” Kitieri asked.
“Well, not many get to dine in her private quarters. Not even new officers.”
“Ah.”
They reached the end of the table, and Jera grabbed one of the big plates off its stack.
“Only take what you’re sure you can eat,” Kitieri told her.
“Mmhmm.” Jera dove for the tongs as soon as the officer ahead of her set them down. A burst of laughter behind her made Kitieri turn to look at a group of officers at one of the tables. In mid-laugh, one of them made eye contact with her and nudged his friend. As the second turned to look at her, Kitieri spun back to the serving table, cheeks burning. She could feel their eyes on her back as she moved down the line.
Scooping up a serving of eggs, she peered over Jera’s shoulder at her plate. “Jera, there’s no way you can eat all that!”
Jera snatched her plate out of Kitieri’s reach. “Yes, I can!”
Kitieri fixed her with a stern look. “There had better not be one crumb left.”
“Don’t underestimate her,” Taff said, clicking a pair of metal tongs before grabbing a piece of sliced ham. “That girl’s a bottomless pit.”
Minna giggled, touching a hand to her dimpled cheek. “You children are so funny!”
“Yeah, they’re hilarious,” Kitieri muttered, catching Jera’s eye once more as she went for a biscuit. Jera looked away, but set the biscuit back in its heated metal tin.
They followed Minna to one of the smaller tables against the windowless wall of the dining hall, and Kitieri threw Jera a scathing look as she sat down with her mouth already full.
“Well, Officer, are you excited?” Minna asked, leaning over her plate. Kitieri paused with the fork halfway to her mouth.
“I guess so.”
Minna squeaked a half laugh. “You guess? Do you know what an honor it is to be an officer of the Church of Enahris?”
“Uhh…”
“This Church turns away hundreds of people a day who come asking to train as an officer.”
“Hundreds, huh?”
“Something like that. Anyways, the Baliant is very picky about who she chooses. Our force may not match Histan’s for size, but we certainly beat them out for quality.”
All the more reason to hire a random kid off the street, Kitieri thought. She shoved her loaded fork into her mouth to avoid answering out loud, and looked over at Jera. The colossal plate she’d built was already half empty. But as long as they’re fed and happy…
“So what happens after breakfast?” Taff asked Minna.
“Your sister will go with Officer Haldin to start her training, and you two will come with me to sign up for lessons. Have you thought about what interests you?”
Jera’s head popped up. “Do you have horses?”
“We do! The stable is behind the Church. Do you want to learn to ride?”
“Yes!”
“You’ve never even seen a horse before,” Taff said.
“I saw pictures in Mom’s books,” Jera replied, scraping her plate clean.
“What about you, then?” Minna asked Taff.
“I’ll need to see what the choices are,” Taff said, leaning against the back of his chair. “But I think I’d like to look at weaponry or combat.”
“Going for officer like your sister?”
“I don’t know.” Taff shrugged. “I’d just like to be able to defend the people I care about.”
Kitieri’s heart melted. She’d always assumed her serious, calculating little brother would use his brains over his non-existent braun. Maybe one day. She heaved a sigh, and stood from the table.
“Where can we take our plates?”
“Don’t worry about them, dear, the servants will pick them up.”
Jera jumped off her chair. “This place is awesome!”
“Don’t get used to it,” Kitieri muttered.
“Oh, there’s Officer Haldin,” Minna said. “Looks like he’s about to leave. Let’s catch him.”
The man was just standing from his bench, talking to one of the other officers at the table, and looked up as Minna approached.
“Good morning, Minna.” Haldin smiled, and his eyes settled on Kitieri. “Ms.—Manon, was it?”
“Kitieri.”
Minna backed away, pulling Taff and Jera with her. “Come, let’s leave the officers to it.”
As the woman steered them away, Kitieri watched her siblings go, wishing she could stay with them. Jera turned to give her a little wave as Minna ushered her from the hall, and Kitieri wiggled her fingers back at her.
“Maybe she’s older than she looks.”
Kitieri heard the murmur behind her, and turned back to the officers still seated at the end of the long table. Several snickered into their plates, and Kitieri felt her neck grow hot.
“What was that?” she asked, looking over the group to pinpoint who’d spoken.
“They’re yours, right?” another officer said—a woman seated at the end.
“They’re my siblings, yes.”
“See, I told you,” came the first voice. “She’s just a kid herself.”
Kitieri looked to the speaker, a dark-haired man with a finely trimmed beard. He’d already gone back to his breakfast, stabbing potatoes, eggs, and ham onto his fork all at once. The heat in Kitieri’s cheeks traveled down her neck, and she knew her face was red. Her hands tingled as she glared at the man.
“Do we have some sort of problem?”
The officer paused his stabbing, looking up at her with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t know. Do we?”
“Jorid,” Haldin warned. Jorid straightened, leaning away from his plate.
“Do you know how many good, experienced men and women are ahead of you for this position?”
Kitieri crossed her arms. “I hear there are hundreds.”
“And you think you’re better than them?”
“I couldn’t say.” Kitieri matched Jorid’s glare. “But if you’re so mad, maybe you should confront your Baliant on her choices.”
Jorid stood, throwing his chair back on two legs. “You dare question Catarva?”
“I didn’t question her—you did.”
A flare caught Kitieri’s eye, and she glanced down to see a flicker of fire in Jorid’s palm.
“Not here!” Haldin shot a hand out to Jorid, whose stare stayed locked on Kitieri. She stood firm, hand curled into summoning position. The sparks itched in her fingers, ready to lash out.
Jorid flicked his eyes to her palm, twitching a brow in invitation. “Come on, little girl. If you’re tough enough to make officer, show me what you’ve got.”
“Jorid!” Haldin barked. “I said, not here!”
Jorid held the controlled flame in his hand, smirking as Haldin’s words rang between them. A single white spark popped from Kitieri’s fingertip, unbidden, and she snapped her hand closed in a tight fist. The charge burned inside, and she swallowed its will to strike. Murdering a fellow officer over a pissing contest on her first day probably wasn’t a great idea.
“If you’ll excuse us, we have a training schedule to follow,” Haldin said, throwing Jorid a smoldering glare as he left the table.
“You’ve sure got your work cut out for you, Haldin,” Jorid called after them. Ignoring him, Haldin set a brisk pace to the exit, and Kitieri was forced to lengthen her strides uncomfortably to avoid trotting after him like a puppy.
Once clear of the dining hall, Haldin slowed his pace and allowed Kitieri to walk beside him.
“You’ll have to ignore Jorid,” he said. “He doesn’t take well to any of the new recruits, and the fact that you’re a special case makes it worse.”
Kitieri unclenched her fist with a silent exhalation. She’d been sure Haldin was going to lay into her for the confrontation, and something told her she did not want to get on this man’s bad side.
“But he does have a point,” Haldin continued, taking such an abrupt turn that Kitieri had to scamper after him.
“What point is that?” she asked, defensive.
“We have a list of qualified candidates just waiting to train. As far as our fellow officers are concerned, it makes no sense for the Baliant to ignore protocol in your favor. But I know what you are.”
Haldin stopped in the narrow, deserted hallway, turning to face Kitieri.
“I saw the spark on your finger back there,” he said. “I know what you are, but anyone except a well-trained electric would assume that’s the element they saw. I think it’s best that we keep it that way for now, don’t you?”
Kitieri blinked. “Sure.”
Haldin’s pale blue eyes searched her face, and their proximity in the tight hallway started to make Kitieri uneasy.
“How good is your control?” he asked in a hushed tone.
Kitieri looked down at her boots. “I don’t know.”
“How do you not know? How many have you killed?”
Kitieri snapped her head up, offended. “None, thank y—”
“So control is one hundred percent?”
“Well…” Kitieri averted her gaze. “If you count the ten years it was locked.”
“Shit.” Haldin dropped his head, rubbing his temple. “This is worse than I thought. When did you come out of lock?”
“Yesterday.”
“No mishaps since then?”
“No?”
Haldin put a closed fist to his mouth, breathing out through his nose. “All right,” he said. “We don’t have much time. Follow me.”
His long strides swept him down the hall, and Kitieri jogged after him.
“Time for what?” she asked.
“If you’ve just come out of lock, you have a tight window to get this thing under control.”
“Or?”
Haldin stopped at a door at the end of the hall, resting his hand on the knob. When he turned back, the raw grief on his face was palpable.
“There’s a reason even the strongest lightnings are dead,” he said. “The longer it’s out of lock, the stronger your element will grow. Either it will run wild, killing at random, or it will burn you up from the inside out. Probably both.”
Kitieri stood frozen, horrified by the man’s words and the anguished expression on his face that told her he knew these things all too well.
“You knew a lightning?” she whispered.
“My wife,” he said, his voice flat and cold. “Seven years ago. Our son died with her the day it finally overcame her. You are lucky you locked it so young, because once the Strikes started…” His knuckles went white on the doorknob. “There was nothing we could do.”
He wrenched the door open and stepped into the dark room, reemerging with a Gadget in each hand.
“Haldin,” she started, voice and hands trembling. “I—”
“Don’t be sorry,” he said, shoving one of the Gadgets into her arms. “Just don’t let it happen to you, too. Do you hear me?”
She nodded, fingers closing around the stiff black leather.
“Catarva had one hell of a time convincing me to take you on as a trainee last night,” he said, “but I’m the only one in her command who has trained lightnings and knows how they work. She was right about one thing, and it’s that without me, you and those kids will be dead in two weeks.”
Kitieri’s hands went numb on the Gadget’s casing, and she felt the blood drain from her face.
“So.” Haldin’s commanding tone reverberated off the stone walls as he shouldered the pack. “Ready to train?”
He started back down the hall and Kitieri followed, head spinning.
“Remember that room,” he said over his shoulder. “It’s where all the PCR’s are kept, and it’s protocol for officers to wear one any time they exit the Church. Not that it will do you much good.”
“Why? Do the Gadgets not work for lightnings?”
Haldin wiggled his hand with a tilt of his head. “Eh, not really. It will feel different for a while, but as your element grows, the PCR will become meaningless. The Strikes are an unnatural force that have been shown to overcome both oran and cintra when pulled to a lightning’s element. Even while locked, I’m sure you’ve had more than your fair share of close calls with the Blue Killer.”
“Yeah,” Kitieri muttered, remembering the goats. “If I’m out, it usually finds me.”
Haldin nodded. “It can smell you. It’s drawn to you, just like your element is drawn to it. They are different, and yet the same, feeding off each other in a vicious cycle.”
He stopped at another door to slip his arm through his Gadget’s second strap, and Kitieri realized she was still clutching hers in her hands. As the case settled against her back, a cooling sensation washed over her. The nagging burn that had been biting at her fingertips since breakfast vanished as her lightning retreated deep within her.
“Feels different, right?” Haldin asked, watching her.
“It’s weird,” Kitieri conceded. “Kind of… numb.”
“Enjoy that while it lasts,” he said, pushing the door open. Bright morning light flooded the hallway, and Haldin led her out into a packed dirt yard surrounded by a high wall. On the far side, near the metal gate, a few men in gray uniforms sparred with long, pointed staffs.
“This is our training yard, where I would normally hand you a spear and put you through a brutal workout.” Haldin turned with a wry grin. “But we have more pressing issues.”
To put it lightly, Kitieri thought, shifting the heavy Gadget on her back. The protective cintra dropped a haze over her senses, muffling her perception of her surroundings, and she shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts.
“So you’re going to tell me how I repelled that Strike?” she asked.
“Excuse me?”
Kitieri frowned. “At Histan’s pillar. Baliant Catarva didn’t tell you?”
“She told me you survived the Judgement,” he replied, brows furrowed, “but I think you’re mistaken on the terminology. No one repels a Strike. The Blue Killer always takes a victim.”
“Mmm, no.” Kitieri shifted again. “Not this time. It came for me, and I repelled it. There was no victim.”
“That’s impossible.”
“I’m telling you what happened.”
“Kitieri, no lightning produced by human hands will ever overpower a Strike. It’s out of the question.”
Kitieri saw the blue L shape again, burned forever into her mind as a memory of her failure. A shudder ran over her as she watched Noia’s black corpse fall to the stone in her mind’s eye, reliving the gravity of her misjudgment.
Haldin was right. Her lightning would never be as strong as the Blue Killer.
But that wasn’t what happened the second time…
“I didn’t overpower the Strike,” she said. “I used it. Like a water controls rain.”
Haldin huffed a short, dry laugh. “A Strike is not rain. It doesn’t—”
“I’m sure of it,” Kitieri said, gaining confidence. “My own lightning disappeared at the last second, and I told the Strike what to do. I sent it back up, where it came from… and that’s where it went.”
Haldin studied her, blue eyes intense.
“All right,” he said, cocking his head as he turned to head for the middle of the yard. “Whatever happened yesterday, we have no time to waste here.”
Kitieri frowned after him, biting back the ready retort on her lips. If he refused to believe her, she’d just have to prove it.
“Can you summon your lightning at all through the PCR?” he asked, turning back.
She turned her attention inward, closing her eyes. Her element’s subtle purr hummed deep within her, sleepy, distant, and… unresponsive. She closed her eyes tighter, urging the lightning to her fingers, but it remained still and cool beneath the Gadget’s weight.
With a sigh, Kitieri dropped her hands and opened her eyes.
“No,” she admitted. Proving her lightning’s potential was off to a solid start.
; Haldin nodded. “We’ll have to train without the Gadgets for now. It’s not ideal, but we’ll keep a close eye on your control. Hey, Amond!”
One of the officers across the yard disengaged immediately from his sparring match.
“Yes, sir?”
Kitieri raised an eyebrow. Apparently Haldin held some kind of rank, though a cursory glance at his uniform displayed no embroidery or marks to set him apart.
“Give us a bit, will you?” Haldin asked. The training officers nodded quickly, leaning their spears against the wall. She waited for the inevitable jibes, but the men left silently through the gate, with only intrigued glances back at Kitieri.
Haldin was definitely a man she wanted on her side.
“Right.” He clapped once, turning back to her. “Gadget off.”
Hot energy rushed through Kitieri’s body as the straps slid from her shoulders. White sparks sizzled on her fingertips and she slammed her hands into tight fists, pulling them in close to her body.
“First lesson.” Haldin grinned. “Don't rely on physical means to control your element.”
Kitieri squinted. “Huh?”
Haldin gestured to her clenched fists. “I know it’s natural to try to close it off, but that method won’t work for long. Your mind holds the power, not your body.”
Kitieri slowly unfurled her clenched fingers, and the sparks resumed their little dance. Her mind? That made no sense. Never in her life had her lightning felt like an extension of her mind as it burned in her chest, arms, and hands. Her lightning had always been nothing but physical… until the day she’d locked it, at least.
“What you have to understand,” Haldin said, “is that our elements work mostly as defense mechanisms. That’s true for everyone, but lightnings were by far the most volatile even before the Strikes started. Our elements respond to our emotions and reflexes, just like—”
He shot his hand towards her and snapped his fingers in her face. Kitieri flinched at the sudden pop, and felt her lightning zing down her arms with her small adrenaline spike. Haldin pulled his hand back, grin widening.