The Quad

by Todd Fahnestock

  He couldn’t hear her. She couldn’t speak back to him mind-to-mind. But she didn’t care about that right now. The barrier was broken. It had worked!

  She took a deep breath. By Kelto and all that was sacred, she had a chance now, the one slim chance she had needed. What she’d come for—impossible only a moment ago—was now within her grasp. She was a student of the Champion’s Academy, the member of a Quad. Her tears of despair turned to tears of joy.

  “Do you feel the magic?” she asked. She’d heard his thought about bonding with her. “Did you open your first Soulblock?”

  “Weeks ago,” he said. “But not like tonight. With you, my magic power doubled. Tripled. I tumbled into your soul without any effort. I saw your betrothal. I saw your lover.”

  “You saw her before I told you?” she asked.

  “Not her name, but I know what she looks like. I know...how you see your future, and that you long for her to be a part of it.”

  “You’re our Anima.” She swallowed. That’s why he hadn’t been surprised when she’d told him. “You’re using it on me right now. Looking into my...soul.”

  It was suddenly hard for her to breathe, thinking about all that he could see within her, but she forced herself to remain calm. This was the bond. This was what it would be like. Brom, Vale, Royal…this moment of naked vulnerability would never be over. She might keep secrets from her future husband, from Father, from her people, but there would be no secrets from her Quad mates. They’d be inside her forever.

  And she would be inside them. She couldn’t simply achieve the magic of a Quadron, pocket it, and walk away. This was her new life.

  Kelto’s mercy...

  The same choice came again, to shut him out or let him in, and she realized this wouldn’t be the last time. She would be making this choice over and over for as long as the Quad existed. Would she be the invulnerable princess? Or the vulnerable Quad mate? Someone who shared herself. Someone who...trusted….

  “Her name is Ayvra,” Oriana said, and somehow the sharing was easier this time. She didn’t feel the squeezing, like there was a hand around her middle.

  “Who?” Brom said, not understanding.

  “You said you couldn’t see my lover’s name. That is her name. Ayvra.”

  “Your lover?”

  “And you should know that I can never be with her for a number of reasons. Not the least of which is that I am betrothed to Duke Dronokot’s son.”

  “Duke Drown-a-cat?”

  She favored him with a small smile for his attempt at humor. “My betrothed, Edmure.”

  “And that’s a man?”

  “Yes,” she said laconically.

  “But you…” He seemed genuinely concerned and confused. “How is that going to work?”

  “It will work because it must work. Becoming a Quadron doesn’t change my duty. I have an imperative to continue the House of Keltodanta. The kingdom needs it to survive. For that, I will need heirs. And for that, I will need Edmure. I must bury my feelings for Ayvra.”

  “That’s…the saddest thing I’ve ever heard…” His thoughts came to her. “Because your life isn’t your own,” he said. “Because it belongs to your kingdom.”

  He spoke the words of her soul aloud, and lightning crackled inside her. He could see her, her intentions, her dreams. She swallowed.

  “This is going to take some getting used to,” she whispered. She’d feel less exposed if she stripped her clothes off and stood naked on the bank.

  “I know. The fact that you can look straight into my mind—”

  “Try having someone look into your soul,” she said flatly.

  He laughed. “Fair enough.”

  They fell silent for a moment, listening to the rushing of the river and the chirping of the crickets.

  “If you’re reading my thoughts...” He said inside his own mind, but it was obvious he was talking to her because his words came slow and plodding, like he was speaking to a child. “Then hear this: I won’t ever tell anyone. About the Bloodbane. About Ayvra. It stays between you and me.”

  Her surprise must have registered on her face, because he smiled at her, realizing she’d received his message.

  “You understand why, don’t you?” she said. “The Bloodbane must be kept a secret because—”

  “It doesn’t matter why,” he interrupted. “You are my Quad mate.” He said it firmly, with the exact same inflection she’d used earlier.

  She began to think that maybe she’d misjudged Brom. His thoughts about her were honest, and in that honesty, he saw…admiration. Suddenly, he didn’t seem reckless so much as…daring. She began to suspect he actually liked these women he dallied with.

  “There’s more to you than meets the eye,” she said.

  “Don’t tell anyone.” He winked.

  That annoyed her. “You’d rather the world perceive you as reckless and faithless?”

  “They can perceive me however they want.”

  His own thoughts didn’t contradict him. He really seemed to feel that way. What must it be like, she wondered, to simply do whatever he wished in whatever moment? What would happen if everyone acted that way? It would be chaos. But in Brom, it… He saw things, accepted things, that she had never even considered.

  Perhaps there was something to be admired here, in his perspective. She strained to see it. Brom had accessed his magic before even bonding with a Quad member. That was an impossible feat. She’d never even heard of that, and it was perhaps as powerful a secret as the Bloodbane, in its own way. What if his extraordinary ability stemmed from this…ability to be reckless and yet to care at the same time? Brom had been exceedingly resilient tonight. He’d stayed with Oriana when he could have spurned her. He’d been…open to something new.

  As she considered this, she took his hand. This time it felt natural, even needed. A warm, safe feeling grew in her belly, a feeling she hadn’t had since she was a little girl.

  She kept reading his thoughts through the sheer excitement of using magic. His mind jumped all over the place. He thought of how Royal was going to react to this, and Vale. He thought of the swirl of Oriana’s dress as it turned in the current. He thought of some girl named Myan back in his little town. Of a fellow student named Caila. He thought about his father, who’d been angry with him when he left. He thought of how beautiful Oriana was.

  It was like Brom was a little boy in a world of wonder, and she found herself charmed by his thoughts despite herself.

  Finally, though, she decided it was time to go. She stood up and pulled him to his feet. Without a word, they walked back to the dormitory together.

  When they were halfway across the moonlit Quadron Garden, Kelto’s light casting an indigo glow over lawns and trees, Brom spoke again.

  “Do you want to hear a secret?” he asked.

  She gave him a sidelong glance, and his thoughts tumbled to her. Fragments of thoughts, all about kissing. All the girls he’d kissed.

  By Kelto, she could scarcely believe there were girls who would risk their place at the academy for a taste of his lips and...whatever else. She didn’t want to hear about one of his gleeful gropings. But she realized this was a good opportunity to strengthen their bond, so she said, “Of course.”

  “When you put your arms around me,” he said. “I absolutely thought you were going to kiss me.”

  “Did you?”

  “But you weren’t, were you?” he said. He glanced up at her. He was about average height for a Keltovari, which made him a couple inches shorter than her.

  “I’d have cut off my left hand to create the bond,” she said.

  “So you would have kissed me.”

  “Unless I could have cut off my left hand, yes.”

  “Was that a joke?” he asked. “Some grisly kind of princess joke?”

  “Grisly jokes are the only kind we have,” she said with a straight face.

  He laughed.

  They entered Westfall Dormitory, went to her do
rm room and stopped outside the door. Brom grasped her forearm in a firm, meaningful grip. She turned to face him, and for the first time, his roguish smile faded.

  “Oriana… I wanted to let you know that...” He began solemnly, but seemed at a loss for words.

  “I have to tell her. She has to know. We’re in this together now. His thoughts tumbled to her.”

  “That even though I joke a lot...” Again he trailed off, and his thoughts became loud in the silence.

  “It’s not like I’m an idiot. I know this is serious. She has to know that I take this seriously.”

  “I just wanted you to know that I can’t imagine how difficult this was for you,” he said. “Your courage to be willing to...”

  “To kiss you?” she interjected drily, a joke to set him at ease. She had never had the compulsion to set others at ease before, and she found it curious. It was as though his pain was now her pain. His awkwardness was her awkwardness.

  “Or cut off your hand.” He grinned. “Gods, the ice princess has a sense of humor. Who would have guessed that? I think I’m falling in love with her a little bit.”

  His capricious thoughts quieted, and Brom’s face turned serious again. “My point is that you were willing to do anything. Anything. For the Quad. You were willing to step into dangerous waters. I haven’t been.”

  “Your liaisons are dangerous, Brom. They could kick you out for what you’re doing.”

  He shook his head. “But I didn’t do that for the Quad. I did it to run away from the Quad. But you’ve shown me what a coward I’ve been. Right here, now, I want to make a promise to you: I’ll do what needs to be done. I won’t ever run away again. I’m with you. I’ll wade into the dangerous waters. I’m with you, whatever it takes.”

  “We’re going to be the best Quad this school has ever seen,” his determined thoughts came to her, like an excited little boy.”

  Her perspective on Brom finally settled into place firmly. She saw him in a new and final light. He was not the ne’er-do-well she’d thought, depending on luck, ignorant and arrogant. He was a seeker, a lover of…everything, in its own way. His women weren’t entirely an escape, and they weren’t just disposable pleasures. Brom was simply…open to all possibilities. He wasn’t afraid, as he put it, to wade into dangerous waters.

  She reached out, surprising even herself, and put a gentle hand on his cheek. She found herself wanting to stay connected to him. It was such an odd and exhilarating thing.

  “I think perhaps I’ve fallen in love with you a little bit, too, Brom Builder,” Oriana said softly.

  His eyes went wide, realizing she’d read his mind when he’d thought that exact thing. He laughed. “I’ll hold you to that friendship.”

  “And I,” she said, smiling, “shall hold you to your word.”

  “For the Quad,” he said.

  “For the Quad,” she echoed.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Oriana

  That night, Oriana slept like the dead. When the sun rose the next day, she awoke groggy, with a hangover like she’d had too many glasses of brandy.

  The pain baffled her until she remembered what she’d read about Soulblocks. An opened Soulblock, unused, went to work on the body like a night of heavy drinking. She made a mental note that when she opened one of her Soulblocks again, she’d use it all before she fell asleep.

  She was late to her first class that morning, but it hardly mattered. After the first month at the academy, she had barely paid attention in class anymore. She already knew all this information, and next year’s information. She never received anything but the highest marks for her classwork.

  The only thing that intrigued her now was practicing. She wanted to meet with her Quad in the practice room.

  Once classes and lunch were finished, Oriana held back, waiting until all of her Quad mates had left the Floating Room where they all ate lunch. She stalled for another five minutes, then followed them to the practice room.

  Royal was still trying to move the steel pyramid with sheer brute force when she entered. Huge muscles stood out in his neck, shoulders, and arms, and his face turned purple with the effort. He really was a paragon of physical strength, but no normal would ever move that weight. Only an Impetu could.

  Vale stood before the Invisible Ones, trying to affect them, but they just sat there, impassive in their gray robes and gray masks.

  Brom was already there. He sat on the windowsill with a grin like he had a mouthful of sweetmeats. He had obviously been waiting for her to arrive. He knew today was going to be a day of wonder, a day of bonding. Today they would found their Quad.

  She was mildly surprised that he’d waited for her, instead of bursting forth with the news, perhaps even trying to bond with each of them. But just as holding his hand had seemed natural, so too did this. Brom had waited for her because they must do this together, and that was the way things were going to be from now on.

  Oriana had been thinking about this all morning. Her heart beat faster, and she heard Father’s voice, angry and berating her in the back of her mind.

  The perception of others creates the truth of rule. Your every action weighs upon our family name. Never lose face in front of an enemy.

  Once, that voice had been her absolute authority, but to fulfill her duty, she’d left the princess behind. The shards of her lay by the riverside. She would be a Quadron, or nothing at all.

  She strode toward Royal.

  He saw her coming, let go of the pyramid’s ring and stood up, huffing. His thick eyebrows crouched over his blue eyes, and his lips pressed together tightly. His fists clenched as she approached.

  Father’s voice screamed at her to sneer back, to raise her chin and give him an imperious glare.

  But she didn’t do any of those things. She held Royal’s gaze and looked at him with hope. Her heart hammered, and she let go of her control like she’d done with Brom. She imagined his resilience flowing through her. Open to all possibilities…

  She descended to one knee and knelt before Royal. She bowed her head in submission and opened her hands, palms up.

  Vale gasped. Royal took an incredulous step back.

  Oriana waited, feeling horribly vulnerable. Unable to see anything but Royal’s shins, she didn’t know what expression was on his face, and she refrained from reading his mind. She couldn’t have that power over him, that unfair advantage, in this moment.

  They were mortal enemies—had been decreed mortal enemies since before they were even born—and their animosity was the greatest chasm dividing this Quad. The two of them needed to cross this bridge together, and the only way it would work is if they were equals.

  She could walk all the way to the middle of that bridge. She could kneel before him, supplicate him to accept her, but Royal would have to cross the remaining distance. She couldn’t make him.

  She waited for his snort of derision, for a wad of spit to land on her neck.

  Instead, his thick ham-hand came into view, palm open, and she looked up.

  His thick muscles trembled. He was like a mountain lion poised to flee. He looked at her with a riot of emotions in his blue eyes. Surprise, distrust, anger...

  But beneath it all, there was a battered hope. Like her, he wanted this. He, too, wanted to find a way to form the Quad. And like her, he was willing to do whatever it took.

  Relief flooded through her. That battered hope, twin to her own, was all she needed. She took his hand, and he gently lifted her to her feet.

  “What the fuck?” Vale said.

  Royal’s barrier broke. Oriana felt his Soulblock open like it was opening inside her. The crackle of lightning within him awoke the lightning within her.

  He drew a sharp breath and looked at her in astonishment.

  He turned to the steel pyramid that had so recently stymied him and grabbed it. With one hand, he lifted it like it was made of paper.

  “Fendra! What did you do to me?” he roared in unbridled joy.

  “
Will you consent to take a walk with me, Royal?” Oriana said, unable to hold back her smile.

  “I...will,” he said. “...Your Highness.” She saw the struggle on his face as he tried to get her honorific past his lips, words he no doubt thought he’d never say.

  She knew Royal was breaking his own barriers. His old self was cracking and falling away just as hers had. She had compassion for him, having so recently experienced it. It was disorienting and hard to know what to choose next.

  “That isn’t necessary,” she said softly. “Call me Mentis, if it please you.”

  “Mentis...” he said, tasting the word.

  “And I will call you Impetu, as if there was ever any doubt.”

  Royal’s thunderstruck expression softened into a grin.

  “And what the fuck am I?” Vale spat. She stood, fists clenched as she watched the spectacle, obviously feeling left out of the sudden power shift.

  Oriana glanced at Brom, who was sitting at the edge of the deep windowsill, kicking his feet against the marble wall like a boy waiting to play. Oriana turned her attention to Vale.

  “If it please you, Vale,” Oriana said. “Would you walk with us as well? I will explain.”

  Vale narrowed her eyes, suspicious. She flicked a thin glance at Brom. “What about him?”

  “Him, too,” Oriana said.

  “All of us?” Vale asked skeptically.

  “All of us,” Oriana said.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Vale

  Vale’s instincts bid her follow these beautiful people, the ones Mother called the “white horses” of the lands, and that was the only reason she did.

  She didn’t want to go with them, didn’t want to be anywhere near them. She couldn’t attach her hopes to them. They were absolutely the wrong people in every way.

  Hope led to vulnerability, and if she let herself be vulnerable to these people, she was asking to be trampled beneath their uncaring white hooves. White horses lied. They betrayed. They didn’t see her as an equal; they didn’t even see her as a person.

  Vale had been promised a chance to become a Quadron here, to rise above the streets of Torlioch, but like so many promises given by the white horses, it was a lie. The masters didn’t want her in this Quad. They’d sabotaged her on purpose, putting her with these people. The masters of this school had never intended to let a street urchin walk away with the powers of a demigod. Like everything else, the Champions Academy was rigged against the dark horses, against Vale and those like her.