by T. C. Edge
“I knew I’d find you one day, Brie. I just knew it…”
The pain in his eyes subsides, only lingering back in the depths now. A smile dawns on his lips, bringing one to mine along with it.
But my mind continues to boil with questions, bubbling to the surface and threatening to spill.
“Our mother,” I say quietly. “What do you know about her?”
His expression dampens again, his smile deflating.
“You said she was a Savant,” I continue. “That she lived in the High Tower. What else do you know?”
I feel my heart clenching as I look at him. He begins to slowly shake his head.
“I’m sorry,” he mutters. “I only know what she was, not who. I found the picture, nothing more.”
My chin drops.
“I don’t understand. How do you know what she was if you only had a picture? How did you even know the picture was of you…and me?”
“It was in a file with my name. There was a note attached to it. It said: Anthony’s family.” He looks upon the quizzical expression that spreads across my face. “Anthony…that was my name before I came here, before I joined the Nameless. I wanted to lose it forever, forget my past. And the powers I have, Brie, they came from a gifted Savant,” he says. “Our mother must have been a Mind-Manipulator, and so she must have lived in the High Tower…”
“That’s all you know?” I ask, cutting him off. “You don’t know anything else? There was nothing else in the file?”
“What else is there?” he says. “It doesn’t really matter now.”
“Doesn’t matter?! Don’t you care who they were, or what happened to them?”
“Of course I care. But it won’t change anything, Brie. I’ve thought about it for years, and I always come to the same conclusion – our parents were killed because of who they were and what they did. They were killed by their own people, people who are doing the same to countless others. This isn’t about our parents, Brie. It’s much bigger than that. This is about every person out there in Outer Haven. They’re all at threat.”
I don’t offer a response. I avert my eyes, turning them to the window again, and the fading lights of the city, disappearing into the growing nightly mist.
His words come again, softer this time.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “It’s just, I’ve lived this war for years. For you, all of this is new. Knowing more about our parents won’t bring them back. Trust me, Brie…it’ll only prolong your pain. I learned that long ago.”
A long breath escapes me, slowly seeping through my nose. Still, my eyes linger on the darkness outside the window, on the High Tower, almost entirely hidden now behind the mist. A glowing beacon at the heart of all of this.
A place with all the answers.
My mind ticks on, and Zander falls silent behind me. That’s where they want me to go – to the High Tower, searching for answers. Searching for the truth about what the Consortium are doing. Searching, perhaps, for a way to foil their plot.
I have no choice but to accept. There’s no turning back for me now. I’ll go to Inner Haven again. I’ll court an Enhanced if I need to. I’ll do it all, for Zander, for Tess, for Drum and Mrs Carmichael. I’ll do it for all the people who are set to suffer under the Consortium’s rule.
I’ll do it for them all. And while I’m there, I’ll seek out something else too.
Zander may have turned his mind from them, but I won’t.
I need to find out what happened to our parents. I need to find out exactly who they were. And if Zander can’t provide the answers, I’ll have to go and find them myself.
I turn to him again, and stand tall and straight, my spine fixing and chest filling with a full breath.
“You want me to go to Inner Haven,” I say. “You want me to be a spy.”
“It’s what the Nameless want,” he whispers.
“Then I’ll do it. Tell Lady Orlando that whatever she needs, I’m in. I’m hers to command.”
He inches closer, those Hawk-eyes of his diving into mine and surging beneath the surface. I can’t tell if he’s reading my thoughts, seeing right through me, or just peering closely as a brother who’s just found their long lost sister might.
But there’s a clear measure of concern there, a questioning look that draws three words from his lips.
“Are you sure?” he asks.
Before he even speaks, I’m nodding.
“Go get Lady Orlando,” I repeat. “I’m in.”
A gleam of pride flashes across his eyes, yet that worry remains. I suppose that’s only natural, given the danger this mission will invariably place me in.
But that’s the very reason he brought me here. So he turns, and moves off towards the heavy wooden door, and quickly disappears into the short corridor leading into the main hall of the church.
Leaving me alone, contemplating just how swiftly my life is changing.
And soon enough, it’ll be more than my life that’s changing.
It’ll be me.
28
When Zander returns to the room, with Lady Orlando in tow, they find me with a fresh glass of liquor in my hand.
I stand by the fire, my mind all at sea, the glass hovering close to my lips to deliver little sips any time a fresh spark ignites the need for one. And with everything I’ve seen and heard this evening, those sparks are coming thick and fast.
The noise of the door opening is enough to make me jump. So lost am I in my thoughts that the sudden creak sends my heart pulsing and eyes darting to the opening.
I guess I’m still on high alert after the firefight back at the black market, my body and mind yet to settle.
As Zander shuts the door, Lady Orlando swoops towards me like a bird of prey zeroing in on its quarry. She lays her hands down upon my shoulders, and begins to nod as her dark grey eyes burn with an inner glow.
“Thank you, Brie,” she says. “You’re a very brave girl to come here, and to agree to what we’re asking.”
“I’m not brave,” I tell her. “I’m just doing what’s right.”
“And that is bravery,” she retorts with a smile. “To do what’s right, even in the face of danger. You could quite easily go back to your life, and no one would blame you for it.”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “I couldn’t.”
She withdraws her bony digits from my shoulders, but the little smile remains. Across the room, Zander appears to be arranging a table and chairs. Stacked up against the wall, he unpacks them, laying out a small, circular table and three simple wooden chairs, each with a plump little pillow on top for comfort.
Lady Orlando leads me over and sets me into a seat, before taking one herself. Zander occupies the third.
“I guess I get to choose a name now, don’t I?” I ask as I settle into my chair.
“Well, on this occasion, perhaps not,” says Lady Orlando. “You will be maintaining your current profile as it is, so it’s best not to get confused by code names and the like. Anyway, Brie is a lovely name, don’t you think?”
I shrug.
“I’ve never really thought about it.”
“I think it’s nice,” suggests Zander. “And it suits you.”
I consider that Anthony actually suits him too, and there was no need for him to change his name when he came here. Then again, after what he went through, perhaps leaving his old name behind was something he had to do.
“Is Lady Orlando your real name?” I ask, turning to the frail leader of this cause.
“What do you think?” comes her swift reply.
“Probably not, no.”
She nods. “My old name has no relevance to me now. It goes hand in hand with my old life. They’re both dead.”
I stop short of asking what her real name was, or even about her old life. Somehow, now doesn’t seem the time for such things. The sudden sternness of her expression is enough to hold back the queries in my head.
Instead, I allow her to turn the attenti
on back on me.
“I want, one more time, to confirm your commitment to this operation, Brie. You will be attending a bachelor ball. You will be courted by our man on the inside. You will then be transitioned into Inner Haven, where you will utilise your new standing, and new abilities, to operate under the radar and, hopefully, complete your mission.”
I open my mouth half way. She stops me from speaking with a quick lift of her skeletal hand.
“The mission will be dangerous,” she continues methodically. “It will be difficult. And if you are caught or discovered, it could be fatal. I’m not going to mince words here, Brie. You deserve to go into this with your eyes wide open. Usually, I would never ask someone as callow as you to perform such a task, but this is an opportunity we cannot pass up.
“You are unique to this cause, Brie. Yet, if you have any shred of doubt, you have to tell us. And you have to tell us now. Time is of the essence, and if we’re to push toward with this, we need to do it quickly, and with your full and total co-operation. I know it’s a lot to take in, but I’m afraid that’s the situation we find ourselves in. We don’t have the luxury of time.”
She stops abruptly. A silence follows. I say nothing for a few moments, expecting her to suddenly continue once again. The brief period of quiet gives cause for Lady Orlando and Zander to doubt my participation. They share a look, before returning their eyes to mine.
They have no need to doubt me.
“It’s a lot to take in,” I admit. “I’ve learned so much about this city, about my past, and myself, over the last few days. I guess it’s still settling, and it’ll be a while before I get my head fully around it.”
I lean forward, and set my hands on the table, squeezing them both into tightly bound balls.
“But one thing I’m sure of, Lady Orlando, is that I’m in. You want my complete co-operation? You’ve got it. I told Zander already, and I’ll tell you both again. There is no going back for me now. My old life is as dead as both of yours.”
That mixture of pride and concern appears once more on my brother’s face. Lady Orlando merely raises a tight smile, her eyes narrowing to little more than squints.
“I believe you,” she says. “I can see it in you, see the conviction. I’ve seen it in many eyes before. I’m sure you’ll fit in just fine around here.”
I bow my head respectfully as Zander sweeps to the other side of the room and fetches three new glasses of whiskey. By now my head is already beginning to swim with the alcohol, a sensation I’m not used to and one that I don’t particularly enjoy.
Still, when the glasses are passed out, and raised to greet each other in the centre of the table, I’m forced to take a further sip.
“Welcome to the Nameless, Brie,” says Lady Orlando again, now with Zander’s voice alongside.
This time, it’s they who bow to me, as if this is some sort of initiation into their ranks. Tess, with her recent fondness for this acrid brown liquid, would be loving this…
Setting my glass back down, a quick flash in my mind questions what the hell I’ve just done. It’s fleeting, but enough to set my heart fluttering unnaturally for a few beats.
Is it the alcohol that’s giving me this bravado? When I wake up tomorrow morning, will I doubt my conviction? Will I want to back out? And now that I’ve committed, will I even be able to back out?
I shake the thoughts away like old cobwebs, and tell myself that these doubts are going to crop up occasionally. In fact, it would be weird if they didn’t. Going through such a change, it’s only normal to expect to want to retreat back into the safety of the past every once in a while.
Quickly dismissed, I turn my mind back to the task at hand.
Look forward, not backwards, Brie. There’s no light behind you, only darkness…
“So, this bachelor ball,” I ask. “When is it exactly?”
“Three days time,” answers Lady Orlando immediately. “Hence the need for speed here, and the fortuitousness of your discovery. These balls don’t occur too often, so we need to be ready for this one.”
“And, you’re sure I’ll get in?”
“Quite sure,” she says. “You are well known now, Brie, after your appearance at the ceremony the other day. There will be many across Inner Haven who will be happy to court you. However, that’s not what convinces me. It is our man on the inside who will ensure you receive an invite, even at this very late hour. He will be specifically requesting your attendance, and that will be sufficient. In fact, there may be others who have done the same…”
“But…what about the Council of Matrimony? I thought that any Unenhanced needed to be officially scouted and tested if they’re to marry up?”
“You’re well informed, and yes, usually that is the case. However, particular requests from certain members of Inner Haven will serve to bypass such processes. Needless to say, it’s clear, even without your full capabilities manifesting, that you’re a smart girl. I suspect you’d happily pass the Council of Matrimony’s tests should you be required to attempt them. Yet, there is no time for such things, and our man will ensure that there’s no need for them either.”
“So, I’m going to get a free pass?”
“Indeed. Adryan will put in the request this very evening. You should get the invite tomorrow.”
“Adryan? That’s his name?”
“Yes. He will greet you at the ball.”
“And how will I know who he is?”
“He’ll make it clear, Brie. You’ll be told what to expect by your chaperone. They’re really very simple affairs, these balls, and little more than a preliminary opportunity for members of Inner Haven to meet potential partners. Adryan will see you through it.”
“And what happens after?”
“Afterwards, you’ll go through transition, and that will give you an opportunity to develop your abilities in Outer Haven before you’re officially invited to live in Inner Haven. Zander will see to your development.”
I turn to my brother, who adds his voice to the fray.
“Your abilities will begin to manifest quickly now,” he says. “I’ve been through it all already, and will guide you through it too. The drugs will remain in your system for the next few days, but when they wear off, you’ll know it. It will be…uncomfortable at first. You’re not like most others, Brie. You have a lot of changes to go through.”
“But how do you know I’ll actually develop the same abilities?” I ask. “I thought that it wasn’t guaranteed that children of Enhanced actually took on the traits of their parents.”
“Yes, that’s true,” says Lady Orlando. “Mostly they do, to some degree or another, but sometimes it so happens that the offspring of Enhanced will have no powers of their own. They’re usually shipped to Outer Haven to live among the Unenhanced.”
“But that won’t happen with you,” adds Zander.
“And why not?”
“Because we share the exact same genes and DNA. You’re just the same as me, and will develop the same powers.”
He seems sure. I choose not to further question the matter. And, if he’s wrong, then I guess we’ll find out soon.
“Needless to say, you need to keep all of this to yourself,” warns Lady Orlando. “You will need to return to your academy tonight to be ready to receive your invitation tomorrow. Things will move quickly, and you have to be prepared. Don’t speak to your friend Tess about this, or anyone else you’re close to at Carmichael’s…”
“And Mrs Carmichael?” I ask. “She knows what’s happening now.”
“So I understand. I don’t know her personally, but I’m well aware that she’s done a fine job of raising you, and hiding you, up until this point. If you feel like you owe it to her to keep her in the loop, you may do so. However, only give her superficial information, nothing more.”
I don’t have much more than superficial information right now…
I look to the side of the door, where my little backpack was discarded when I first ente
red. I feel a little stupid for bringing it along now, seeing as I’ll be back at the academy tonight.
“Zander will escort you home, and make sure you get there safely. He will act as your liaison with us here, and will keep an eye on your transition. For now, though, I believe you’ve seen and heard plenty to start with. There is no point in overloading you unnecessarily.”
There’s a finality about her words, an authority. She must realise that, right now, there’s so much more I want to know. So many more questions attempting to journey from my head to my tongue. Yet she shuts it all down, giving me only what she deems necessary.
She stands from her chair and moves towards the door, before opening it up and presenting us passage beyond. I join her, along with Zander, who moves straight out and down the corridor.
Lady Orlando stops me before I follow.
“Good luck, Brie,” she says. “We’ll be keeping our eye on you.”
Another stiff smile stretches her old skin, and she ushers me away down the corridor, shutting the door tight to keep the warm air of the fire from escaping.
Together with Zander, the journey home begins.
We pass through the church, the eyes of the various Nameless spying me as I go, and back out into the misty green night. Our precautionary gas masks are briefly worn, before we reach the barn and descend back down into the tunnels. I barely get to glimpse the distant lights of the city before we plunge back into the darkness.
Before we continue, my eyes are once more hidden behind a mask, blocking my view of the route through the tunnels. I query Zander once more on the necessity of such a thing, given my newly appointed position among the rebels, but he merely replies as he did before.
“I told you already, it’s not about you. You’re about to go into the lion’s den. If someone found out about you, you wouldn’t be able to stop them getting inside your head and discovering our tunnel network. At least, not yet anyway…”
“So I will when my powers develop?”
“We’ll have to wait and see.”
“And you? Can you read my mind? What am I thinking, right now?”