A Gathering of Souls

by Dianne Keep

  “I can’t believe the alarm went off.” The charm hadn’t triggered since Bree returned to the capital. The cage in her mind was meant to restrain the horrid loneliness, and the anger, and her desire to escape. Feeling the bonds of the incantation again overthrew her calculated sense of control.

  So much fury boiled inside. It had no reason for being. Bree tried taking a deep breath to clear her mind, but her corset dug into her ribs. The need arose to tear out her hairpins, rip off her dress, and run into the wilderness in nothing but her underthings, but her rehab restrictions denied her the opportunity to go anywhere alone, ever. She’d have to settle for Ehre’s balcony and remaining fully clothed.

  “I need some air,” Bree said. Ever so slowly, she turned around and stood. “I promise I wasn’t thinking anything horrible. I wasn’t trying to remember.” Bones and tendons protested as she forced her body to move. “And don’t worry. The enchantment held. Nothing slipped through.” Bree wished memory had passed the barrier to pay for the pain the trigger caused. She looked over her shoulder when Ehre didn’t respond.

  Ehre’s eyes were closed. Her purple alhor flared and sparked as she chanted. The normally airy cadence of the Seyh language scratched at Bree’s ears.

  “What are you doing? The deactivation code worked.” Ehre wasn’t paying her any attention. “I’m fine,” Bree continued. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to blow up your precious workspace. Or you. I couldn’t, even if I wanted to. No more talents, remember?”

  “Your talents are suppressed.” Relief swept over Ehre’s face. “But good. I’m glad you don’t have the urge to blast me into tiny pieces.” She closed the history book and returned it to the back-storage closet.

  “What do you think the Resh will say?” asked Bree.

  A notification component was built into the memory-erasing charm. It alerted key people if she tripped the defensive alarm. One trigger in three months was nothing like the first few days on the way back to the capital after Ehre had rescued her from the Antheans. Then, the alarm had triggered every other minute. She would have gone completely crazy if it wasn’t for the Second Zeir, Khrisk Satrov. He was kind and had one of the best smiles, but he was sent on some mysterious mission, which is why Bree had built her mental cage to hide the things that made her hurt.

  A sheen of gray tinted Ehre’s stunning dark skin. She was worried. “I’ll tell him the truth and hope he believes it.”

  “I promise I don’t know what set it off. I looked at some jewelry. That’s it.”

  “I believe you.” Ehre gave her a small smile, but her hands shook.

  “I’ll just be a minute.” Bree inspected her forearms as she walked to the balcony. She’d forgotten the sting of the charm’s latticework. Stupid, illogical incantations.

  Crisp air soothed her raw skin the moment she stepped outside. Rooftop sentries signaled each other. About twenty tiny green circles danced on the bodice of her gown from the snipers’ laser rifles. She laughed. Most days it surprised her that none of the palace residents tried to kill her when she passed them in the hallway. She wore no protection charms, and Seyhs died as easily as non-possessors.

  What did the sentries expect her to do? Fly over them, shooting balls of fire from her hands? Melt the palace to the ground? Didn’t they know her talents hadn’t returned?

  She might have done any number of things if she could control her power. The thought sobered her. It was her duty to regain her old position and earn forgiveness from the Resh and her countrymen, even if she committed the crimes while brainwashed.

  Thinking of blasting the guards proved a smidgen of the Anthean encoding still lingered. She couldn’t fail rehab. There had to be way to relearn her talents. If she didn’t, she would wear the memory-erasing charm forever, and Ehre was Osling’s most powerful Seyh besides herself. The incantation could outlive her.

  You can work harder. Try more. But how?

  Beep. Beep. Beep.

  What is that?

  Bree waved to the sentries and gave them her best fake smile. Their laser lights followed her movements. There was no winning them over. She went inside and latched the doors.

  Beep. Beep. Beep.

  The sound was to her left. On the relic shelf, the disk from her last test beeped again. Its screen glowed bright green.

  “Ehre! Look, the disk.” Bree picked up the device. Her alhor swept over it. The cool metal kissed her flesh as if returning to an old friend. An odd sense of release pulsed under her ribs. Power flowed through her arms and out her fingers. “I activated it!”

  Her most important talent had returned. She would live. The necklace would come off someday. She did a little dance.

  “The Resh will be glad,” said Ehre, face blank.

  “Riiiggghhht. You’re not excited about this at all?” The disk continued to beep in Bree’s hand. She finally activated a relic, and Ehre acted disappointed. “After three months, that’s all you can say?”

  Ehre set the Honor chain aside and smiled. “I am happy for you. Now, we have to find out what it does.” She searched the bookshelf. “There has to be something here. It’s from Utan, right?”

  Bree turned the disk over in her palm. “Right.” She pressed the button in the middle, and the beeping stopped.

  The disk’s screen blinked. “I think we’re supposed to enter a command or something.” Bree ran her fingers over every inch of the hard surface. There should be a touchpad somewhere. She pressed the button, and it beeped. “I don’t think people would want a machine that only beeps. Do you think the Resh has another one?” If there were two, maybe they worked together. “What was Utan known for?”

  Ehre moved to a different bookshelf. “The Histories indicate that they traded in technology and metals. I’m guessing whatever that disk is made of is unique to the continent of Utan.”

  The metal seemed lightweight compared to other metals Bree had encountered. Under closer inspection, she found little holes in the shell near the edge. She pressed the button again and held it down. The beeping stopped, and the screen flashed. Bree did this again and found that the screen stayed still when the disk beeped and flashed when it was quiet. Without a touchpad, how did a person indicate a command?

  For the next thirty minutes, Ehre and Bree searched books and scrolls trying to find a reference to the disk without success. A note came from the Resh asking about Bree’s alarm. Ehre scribbled a missive explaining the incantation had malfunctioned and that Bree had finally activated a relic. Or that’s what Bree guessed Ehre wrote. A repellent charm kept Bree for coming near Ehre’s little desk by the door. This reminded her of the little blue book. She shifted through the piles of clutter on the worktable but couldn’t find the slim volume of enchantments.

  Bree checked the clock. In less than an hour, Zeir Bayan Satrov would be at her bedroom door, ready to escort her for their daily ride. “I better go.” She stood and handed the disk to Ehre. As soon as the metal touched Ehre, the disk shut off.

  “That’s weird.” Bree picked it up again, and the screen blinked. “Why isn’t it working for you?”

  “Activation isn’t one of my talents. Maybe when it leaves your alhor’s power, it stops functioning. Seyh’s talents work differently.” Ehre’s expression remained vacant.

  Bree forced her lips to smile. “That’s probably it.” The Anthean brainwashing must have been worse than what they told her. Maybe she couldn’t be restored.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Outside Ehre’s study, Bree’s quad of guards waited to escort her to her tower room. They wore the palace’s standard-issue black leather armor with one white line on each shoulder. None of the men made eye contact with her, but they touched the knives strapped to their hips. Daggers were tied to their thighs too, and they probably had more blades tucked inside their boots in case anyone in the palace decided she was better off dead.

  Bree studied the new point guard who had joined her quad this morning. He scanned the hall as if assassins were hiding in
the walls. It would be obvious to anyone watching her that today was his first rotation on quad duty. Bree was glad the men no longer carried laser pistols, or he might accidentally shoot a courtier like another newbie had a couple of weeks ago.

  The point guard took a steadying breath, patted his side for a holster that wasn’t there, and set off down the hallway. The second point guard followed while the other two trailed behind.

  As they walked down the spiral staircase of the Seyh annex, shouts and the thunder of feet drifted through the windows from the training yards below. Soldiers drilled in formation with handheld, uncharged propeller cannons. The troops rippled like waves in fluid response to the orders of their commander who watched from the sidelines. Rifles replaced the cannons, and a new surge of men holding long, silver, deflective shields joined the ranks.

  Bree’s corset dug into her sides. Once she passed rehabilitation, she could wear pants and a tunic again. Her activation talent might have semi-returned, but she had countless others to obtain. Don’t give up. You’ll get it.

  But what then? If she passed, then she would need to retrain for active duty. She’d gone soft ambling around the palace from her tower to the Seyh annex. Rides and hikes with the Zeir hardly counted as exercise. When she’d asked Ehre to let her train with the other Seyhs, the answer had been a firm no.

  Her gaze drifted beyond the palace turrets and down the hill to the capital city of Stav. Beyond the crop fields and orchards, the tawny hills and black mountains beckoned her. Her heart skipped with the urge to run far away.

  You’ll be outside soon.

  The walls started to shrink.

  It’s just a trick of the mind. You’re fine. She stopped and squeezed her eyes shut. One of the rear guards coughed. She opened her eyes and the walls were normal. See? You’re fine. In a few minutes, she’d arrive in her room, change out of the horrid dress, and leave for her ride with Zeir Bayan.

  She just had to make it to her room. You can do it. One foot in front of the other.

  At the midway landing, a dew bird trilled a melody. The little brown bird with a long blue bill hopped onto the windowsill a few steps below. The new point guard paused and cooed. If the dew bird cheeped back, he’d have a blessed day. The bird ignored the man and cocked its head toward her.

  Hello, little cutie.

  Bree whistled a tune, and the dew bird fluttered its feathers and repeated the song. When Bree reached the sill, she tapped the bird’s sleek beak, and received its blessing. A warm tingle shot up her arm as her alhor swept over the bird and saturated the windowsill. Thank you. The little bird chirped and flew away. She watched it until they came to the next twist in the stairwell.

  “Wasted blessing,” muttered the new guard. The other men remained silent.

  She stopped and bit her lip. Anything she said would be repeated to the Resh. Blessings were never wasted. The bird chose her, and she knew how to share. This was an opportunity to show her guards she wasn’t the monster they believed her to be.

  “You can have it, if you want.” Her alhor sparked as she held out her hand to the new sentry.

  “No, thank you, Superior,” said the guard, using her correct title, even if he sounded hesitant to do it. Seyhs outranked all non-possessor military personnel. He shook his head and mumbled, “Blighted shiners always taking everything.”

  Heat flushed her cheeks, and her stomach twisted. Her outstretched hand fell into the folds of her gown. Why had she bothered? The guards resumed walking down the staircase, but her feet stuck to the stone step.

  Invisible cords launched from the amber pendant and wrapped around her body at a much faster rate this time. The lattice tightened, burning her skin.

  No! No, no, no. Talking to the guard shouldn’t have triggered it.

  Tears blurred Bree’s vision as she looked for welts on her arms, because there had to be welts. But there weren’t.

  Footsteps smacked the tile floor above. Ehre was coming.

  Purple light bounced off the walls, and Ehre appeared, pushing the sentries aside. “What happened?” She’d changed out of her smock and into her black long coat. Her purple alhor seemed to steal all the air from the stairwell.

  The men didn’t say a word.

  Bree blinked, and hot tears rolled down her cheeks. She wished she could wipe her face, but her arms stayed resolutely frozen. I didn’t do anything wrong! Deactivate the charm! Then she could tell Ehre that she had tried to give the guard the dew bird’s blessing. She could explain that she hadn’t thought of hurting him or running back to Anthea.

  Or had she?

  The call of the mountains. The urge to run.

  She pushed the thoughts away. I didn’t do anything. I’m sure.

  Ehre grabbed the egg-sized amber gem. The chain cut into Bree’s neck. Ehre whispered the code. The charm’s heat funneled back inside the necklace, but the outline of the network stayed on Bree’s skin.

  Bree leaned against the wall. The movement plucked the pendant from Ehre’s grasp. Bree swept the tears from her face with the back of her hands. After her first experience with the charm’s alarm, she’d vowed no one would ever see her cry. And until today, she’d kept that promise. Seyhs didn’t cry. They were without weakness. Her quad would tell everyone.

  The jewel sizzled on her chest as if it hated her thoughts, hated her for being weak. She touched the gem’s gleaming surface and reminded it she couldn’t help what she thought. It winked as if to say she could.

  “Don’t you think it’s odd the charm has tripped twice today?” Bree asked. Would it happen again? A little over thirty minutes has passed since the last trigger. “And this time the network didn’t fully dissolve. I still feel it outside the pendant.” She needed a new charm. Ehre wasn’t always near. What if this happened when she was out with Zeir Bayan? The Resh would never let her out of the palace again.

  “What did you do?” Ehre asked.

  Bree opened her mouth, but Ehre was staring at the new guard.

  His face paled. “I beg your pardon, Superior.” He bowed, placing his right hand over his heart. “I do not know.”

  Ehre’s alhor covered him. “You’re lying. Did you speak to her?”

  Sweat gathered on his brow. He managed a nod, which was impressive. Most people under a Seyh’s influence couldn’t move. Not unlike herself a few moments ago.

  “You are dismissed. Inform your director.” Ehre harpooned the other men with an icy stare. “Did she try to harm him in any way?”

  “No, Superior,” they answered in unison.

  “Fine.” Ehre took the front guard’s place and they started down the stairs.

  Bree followed, squeezing the amber jewel. A simple gesture shouldn’t have tripped the necklace. It should have triggered yesterday when she tried ripping the horrid thing off her neck. Looking at jewelry and talking to stupid sentries weren’t acts of treason.

  At the entrance to Bree’s tower, a new soldier waited, probably a replacement. He stood a full head taller than the other quad members. His pale skin and blonde hair were like her maid’s, who had been the only fair person Bree had seen until now. Whoever he was, his gaze remained at some point above her head.

  Ehre held up her hand and they halted. “What’s your name?” She never asked for a quad member’s name.

  “Captain Shane Regeli, Superior.” He bowed, saluting Ehre.

  Bree glanced from Shane to Ehre. Why had Ehre asked for his name? Was this a person she should know? His quad training had informed him all about her, and with the temptation of a name, Bree wanted to know more about him.

  Ehre nodded with a gentle twitch of her lips. “Finally, a guard with some experience.” Ehre smiled at Bree. “See you after your ride.”

  With the near failure at activation and two triggers this morning, Bree couldn’t force herself to sound cheery. “See you.”

  She turned around and saw that Shane and the other front guard had started up the stairs. He was too old for her, and she was a S
eyh and he was her guard, but her stomach still fluttered. Had she inadvertently felt his nervousness? Did he expect her to melt him into a puddle in a sudden rage? She should say something to him just so he’d know she wasn’t as horrible as everyone seemed to think she was.

  I promise I won’t turn you into a pile of mush. Somehow, she didn’t see that going over well. She sighed and did what was expected of her. Observe and say nothing.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  At the top of the stairs, Bree’s quad divided and stood at either side of her bedroom door. This door was thicker than any she’d seen in the palace. Made of solid metal, its three massive bolts locked from the outside. Osling hadn’t bothered barring her balcony. If she jumped, she’d hit the garden terrace six stories down. And if that didn’t kill her, the soldiers posted on the rooftops and wall walks could blast her to pieces with their laser cannons.

  Still, her muscles unwound at the sight of her buttercream walls. The air smelled sweet from a vase of fresh spark lilies by her bed. Her maid, Tosha Romoon, must have brought them in while she was with Ehre. The same thoughtful maid stood in the doorway of the dressing room with her arms crossed. Tosha’s eyes widened as she spied Shane’s hulking figure.

  Bree swallowed a giggle. Acting wasn’t one of Tosha’s strengths.

  “I’m sorry I’m late. I had a problem on the stairs.” Bree didn’t have time to pretend to hate her maid, though they both wondered what Resh Osling would do if he found out they had become friends. “Could you help me out of this beastly torture device?” Tosha remained paralyzed. “Please?”

  Tosha stomped across the room, slammed the door, and before Bree could turn around and beg a third time, the strings of her dress loosened. She took a deep breath. “Thank you. A million times, thank you.”

  “It’s not so bad, you know. All of the servants wear them,” Tosha whispered. Her nimble fingers pulled the gown off Bree’s shoulders. “Many a lady would be honored to wear such a fine piece of clothing chosen by Zeir Bayan Satrov.” She spoke loud enough for the guards to hear through the walls.