by Ali House
“I know that a lot of time has passed,” he said, smiling sadly, “and that Fitz would want me to move on, but I’m not ready to let him go.”
“I’m sorry I asked.”
He put the picture back on the mantle and turned to Kendra. “It’s okay to be curious, and don’t think that you can’t ask me anything. The only thing I don’t want you doing is worrying about me. I may be stubborn, but I’m doing fine. Now, how’d you like to stop sulking and do something productive?”
“I’ve already done my homework.”
“Then how about helping me? I’m putting together a collection of Elina’s speeches after she took over leadership from Titus.”
Kendra stood up from the couch and followed him into the kitchen. “Aren’t you scared that someone will find out about your collections and all the Erikson books you have?”
“Of course not. Only people I trust know about them.”
“But can your judgement really be trusted?” she teased. “You told me about your books when I was, like, five.”
“Six. And you never told anyone, not even your mothers.” He sat down in front of his notepad. “Despite what the ISS tells us, the number of people on Tecken who want to see our past preserved is much larger than you would think. We know how important it is to keep these books safe.”
Kendra sat down across from him and looked at the pile of books on the table. “You know, in school they’re not even teaching us about the real events that led to the First Invasion. There’s nothing about Magnus the First’s disdain for the way that the Council was ruling the Segment, or for the way Humanists were treating Elementals like crap. It’s like, just because the Humanists are lying low now, we can overlook the fact that they used to be terrible.”
“History is written by the victors...” Pitor said softly. Now that most of their literature had disappeared from public view, he saw it as his responsibility to not just keep these texts safe, but to make them available to others. He spent his free time copying sections for others to read, as well as compiling his own collections. The ISS would lock him up if they knew what he was doing, but Pitor planned to never let them find out.
He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly changed his mind. Instead he pushed a small pile of books over to Kendra. “See if you can find any of Elina’s speeches in these. Mark any you find with a bookmark, so I’ll know where to go next.”
“Sure.” Kendra sighed and opened the first book, but after flipping through a few pages she stopped and looked up. “You should teach a secret history class. You know all about the Eriksons and both Invasions. You’d be a great teacher.”
“I’m afraid that it would be too risky,” he replied. “If the ISS found a group of us gathered together, learning about the history of the Eriksons, they’d stop the class and everyone in attendance would be in trouble.”
“But what’s the worst they could do? They couldn’t arrest you. People wouldn’t allow it.”
He shrugged. “We don’t know what they would do or how far they’d go to stop us. I, for one, don’t intend to find out. Trust me, it’s better to fly under the radar for the time being. When the time to retake this island is at hand, we will make ourselves known.”
Kendra paused, her eyes widening. “Is someone planning on taking back the island?” A grin broke out on her face and she leaned closer.
Pitor attempted to play coy. “Well, Erikson may be dead, but his ideals still survive.”
“But who’s going to lead? There aren’t any more Eriksons...” her voice trailed off as she thought of every logical possibility. “Is it one of the Drakes? They’re always trying to make themselves seem more important – especially now.” She sat up and snapped her fingers. “I bet it’s Illiana Drake. She’s always boasting about how her grand-uncle married Ivan Erikson, even though she’s got no Erikson blood in her.”
“I cannot confirm or deny anything.”
Kendra frowned. “You’re the one who brought this up, Pitor. Don’t start what you can’t finish.”
He had to laugh. As a teenager, Kendra had developed quite the attitude. However, she had a point.
“The ISS think that they won the war,” he began, dropping his voice low, “but we know better. This peace, especially between Humanists and Elementals, is only temporary. At some point the Humanists will revert back to their old ways and the balance will fail. When that happens, the teachings of the Eriksons will surface again, and those of us who appear to have been defeated will rise up.”
She sighed, disappointed. “But that could take forever. You could be waiting decades.”
Pitor shrugged again. “I happen to be a very stubborn old man.”
This would be the perfect time for him to tell her what he needed to say, but for some reason the words stuck in his mouth. Despite all his knowledge, he wasn’t certain of how she would take the news, and he knew that once he said it out loud, there would be no going back.
Kendra looked at the book in her hands, but it no longer held her attention. She stood up and poured herself a glass of water, unable to stop thinking about a future uprising and restoring Tecken to its former glory.
“The Humanists would have to be idiots to do anything while the Six-Elemental is still around,” she said, leaning against the counter. “She’s the reason they’re lying low right now. And she could live to be a hundred, for all we know.”
For as long as she could remember she’d hated the Six-Elemental. Not only was Kit Tyler responsible for the defeat of the Tecken army and the death of Magnus Erikson, but also the death of Fitz. He had been one of the soldiers who’d died in final battle, when the Six-Elemental showed her true colours and turned her powers on the Tecken army and herself.
“She should have been the one who died that day,” Kendra said quietly.
Pitor couldn’t help nodding in agreement. Memories started to fill his thoughts, but he pushed them out of his mind and tried to stay focused on the matter at hand.
Over the past nine years, he had made sure to inform Kendra of Tecken’s history. He’d provided her with books, the subjects getting more serious and political as she grew older, and helped fill in any blanks in the new ISS curriculum, teaching her the actual history that the teachers were leaving out or modifying. Kendra was a smart kid and held a lot of contempt for the ISS and their meddling, although she’d long ago learned to control her disdain. In other words, she was growing up just fine. Pitor only hoped that she’d be able to handle what he was about to tell her.
“Kendra, what are your plans after high school?” he asked.
She shrugged and walked back over to the table. “Maybe go into teaching, like Mom.”
“You don’t sound very sure about that.”
“That’s because of the stupid ISS. I’d like to teach our real history, but they’d never let me.” She put her elbows on the table and rested her chin in one hand. “What else am I gonna do? I can’t be a writer, because I’ll never be able to write what I really want. And Mama gave up on teaching me how to cook ages ago.”
It was now or never.
Pitor took in a deep breath. “I was hoping that you might want to do something a bit... more with your life.”
She gave him an unimpressed look.
“And by that,” he elaborated, “I was thinking that maybe you’d want to go into public relations. Learn how the islands work, and how to handle matters with the public. And maybe, eventually, become our island’s Leader.”
“Why would I want to do that?”
“Because leadership is in your blood.”
Her look became even more unimpressed, which Pitor had thought would be difficult, but she achieved it with ease.
“Who cares what’s in my blood?” she scoffed. “And why should it matter? Leadership’s about aptitude, not genetics.”
“Well, Allen won’t be able to lead the island forever, and I’d prefer for her successor to be someone who respects our history and knows how to mano
euvre around the ISS.”
“And for some weird reason you want that person to be me? Random...”
Pitor paused. “It’s not as random as you would think. See, I know your parents.”
“Of course you do, you’ve been friends for, like, ever.”
“No,” he cleared his throat. “Your biological parents.”
Kendra sat up straighter. “What? But how?”
He took in a breath. “After your adoption, I was asked by your biological father to keep an eye on you. He was unable to raise you, but wanted to make sure that someone was watching out for you at all times. It made sense to ask me, since I was friends with your mothers.”
She shook her head, unable to believe what she was hearing. Why would her biological father recruit someone to look after her? And how was he able to find out where she had been placed? Her mothers had told her years ago that her file had been sealed by her biological parents, and only their medical information was available for viewing. How could Pitor know who her father was?
“But that doesn’t make sense,” she said. “Unless...” she looked up at Pitor, her grey eyes widening. “Are you...?”
He quickly shook his head. “No, not me. Someone... more important.”
She shook her head again, trying to halt all further ideas along this line of thinking, as if it would stop her mind from arriving at a destination she didn’t want to reach. “Pitor, if this is some kind of joke, it’s not funny. You need to stop.”
“It’s not a joke.” He stood up and leaned on the table. “I wanted to tell you sooner, but I had to make sure that you were old enough to understand.”
“But why bother telling me at all?” she said, her voice rising in anger. “What if I don’t want to know? What if I don’t care? What does it matter who my biological parents are?”
“It matters because you are the only child of Magnus Erikson the Second!”
The silence that followed lasted over a minute. Neither of them moved, both rooted to the ground by the sudden revelation.
“No,” Kendra said, breaking the silence as she rose to her feet. “Erikson never had a kid. He never married. Why would you say something like that? That’s a horrible lie to tell someone.”
“It’s not a lie,” Pitor replied gently. “Erikson never married, but he did have a child.”
“With who?”
“Her bloodline’s not important. All you need to know is that he was too preoccupied with his duties to raise you, so you were put up for adoption. The truth was kept secret from almost everyone, because he wanted you to grow up normally.”
Kendra put her hands to her head and started pacing. “No. It’s not true. It can’t be. If I was actually his child, why would he give me away? The Eriksons are all about bloodlines and continuing the family lineage, so why wouldn’t he want me to grow up to be one of them? Why hide me?”
Pitor paused and considered his answer carefully. “Okay, I may have embellished the growing up normal bit, because I didn’t want to get into the real reason.”
She glared at him, and he knew that holding back wouldn’t be a good idea.
“He kept you a secret because the islanders would insist that he marry your biological mother, and he didn’t want to be put in that situation. He didn’t love her.”
“He liked her enough to get her pregnant,” Kendra shot back.
“Love isn’t a pre-requisite for sex.” Pitor realized what he’d said, and a look of horror crossed his face. “But if you want to be a kind person, you should definitely like someone enough before having sex with them. And never let anyone pressure you into doing that before you’re ready.”
She threw her head back and let out a frustrated groan. “I’ve heard this talk already from both my mothers! Get back to the Erikson-apparently-being-my-father thing!”
“Kendra, it’s okay. Knowing this doesn’t change who you are.”
The look she gave him inferred that he was an idiot. “Pitor, if I’m Erikson’s kid, then it definitely changes who I am. If people found out, they’d make me be an Erikson. Heck, the ISS would probably find a reason to shove me in prison for the rest of my life.”
He carefully approached her. “There are only four people who know this, including you, and we won’t say anything. Nobody will find out unless you want them to, and nobody can force you to be anything you don’t want to be. However... You should consider that even if you weren’t an Erikson, you’re still one of the best people to lead this island. You know our history, you care about the people, and you know how to play the game with the ISS. Obviously, your grades would have to get better, but I know you can do that.”
She sat down and put her head on the table. “I. Can’t. Deal. With. This.”
He had a lot more to say, but he had a feeling that words wouldn’t help right now. Instead, he left her alone and went up to his office. It would be best to give her some time to absorb what had been said. If she wanted to talk about it further, he’d gladly discuss everything, but if she wanted to forget all about it, then there was nothing he could do.
Maybe it had been the wrong time to bring this up. He should have waited until her eighteenth birthday, but that wasn’t for another three years. Besides, she was doing well in school but not great, and she needed to pick up her grades. Pitor suspected that Kendra was holding herself back on purpose, as some kind of rebellion against the ISS, and he wanted to give her a reason to take school seriously so that she’d be able to achieve her full potential.
The truth was that he needed her to accept this. With him guiding her, she could easily take over leadership of Tecken and bring this island back to its former glory. The resistance needed time to rebuild itself, but it also needed to know that it was building towards something. Illiana Drake was trying to fill the void left by Magnus Erikson’s death, but Pitor didn’t see the point of having a distant relative pick up the mantle when there was a true-blooded heir right in front of them. This island needed someone more suited to leadership than Illiana. It needed an Erikson.
Pitor tried to continue his work upstairs, keeping an ear out for any sounds from the first floor. As he searched through his books, he could hear Kendra occasionally letting out frustrated noises. There had been no coherent words, which wasn’t good, but at least she wasn’t breaking things.
He was halfway through the second book when he realized that it had been a while since he’d heard anything. There had been no sound of the front door opening and closing, so she couldn’t have left the house. Pitor wondered if he should go downstairs and try to talk to her again, but he couldn’t think of anything more to say. Maybe it would be best to pretend the whole thing hadn’t happened.
“Pitor...”
He nearly dropped the book in his hands. Turning, he saw Kendra standing in the doorway. Somehow she’d made it up the stairs without him hearing her.
“Pitor,” she began again, her voice heavy with emotion. “I need to know if you’re telling me the truth. I need to hear you say that this is one hundred percent true, that I am definitely Magnus Erikson’s daughter. Because if you’re lying and I find out, I will never, ever forgive you.”
Pitor took a deep breath. “It’s true. You are the only child of Magus Erikson, born out of wedlock, and hidden away. And I believe that you are our best hope for uniting all of Tecken, and taking back our island.”
Kendra looked down at the floor, unable to respond. She’d hoped that this was a joke or some kind of elaborate lie. Never before had she thought of herself as a leader, or as anything more than the daughter of Alix and Jaya Chen. To find out that Magnus Erikson was her father...
But why should it matter who she shared her EDNA with? If Magnus had wanted her to be an Erikson, then he should have acknowledged her, not kept her hidden away like some shameful secret. What would’ve happened to her if he’d had a legitimate heir? Would she never have found out the truth? Would Pitor be asking some other person to be Tecken’s Leader? How much did she
owe to a father who was never there for her?
As angry as she was at Magnus, her thoughts turned to the people of Tecken. She loved her island and wanted the best for everyone on it. The loss of the war and the ISS’s takeover had led to hard lives for everyone who’d enjoyed freedom under the Erikson’s rule. She wasn’t the only person who wished that things could go back to the way they used to be.
But was Pitor right that she would be the best person for the job? It was true that people would follow her for being an Erikson, but she didn’t want them to follow her blindly. She didn’t want to be a Leader unless she was worthy of that title, and right now she wasn’t sure if that was possible. Was leadership something that could be passed through blood or was it something that could be learned? Maybe under Pitor’s guidance she could become worthy, but what if that never happened? What if she turned out to be nothing more than a disappointment?
“Kendra?” Pitor asked quietly. “Are you okay?”
She swallowed hard and looked up at him. “Tell me what I need to do.”
Chapter 7
Even though it was Kendra’s first time in this particular room, there was a certain familiarity to it. The two beds were in the same location as the beds in her old, shared dorm room at Drakkar University last year. In fact, every piece of furniture was in the same place, a set of each on opposite sides of the room, providing a perfect mirror image. She wondered if this design was standard for all Universities in the Segment, and then realized that over the next few years she’d have the opportunity to find out.
Instead of going to university on Tecken, as she’d planned to do before all of this, Pitor and she had come up with a plan to spend those four years studying throughout the Segment. Despite being well informed in both the history and current affairs of Tecken, her knowledge of the other islands was definitely lacking. If she hoped to one day lead her people, then she needed to experience what life was like on every island in the Segment. After all, it wasn’t until Magnus Erikson the First saw how the other islands were being run that he realized how the current system was at fault and how he could make life better for everyone.