"Using their hands, I'd imagine. We instantly feel the difference when a repulsor field touches us," Bahjal said, walking alongside Keevan and glancing out the window. "Amazing the mess one Sight Seeker can cause."
"I could have avoided it, if I let them hurt you more," Keevan thought out loud, putting his arm around her. "But I couldn't let that happen. How'd you escape anyway?"
"I let them think my wounds were more serious than they were. The blood helped with that and the temporary unconsciousness," Bahjal answered, leaning her head against his chest. Keevan still couldn't believe she was so much older than he, she still looked a day younger than sixteen. He felt her skin turn warm against his chest as she recalled her imprisonment. "They left one guard to watch over me, more to keep me alive than prevent my escape. I drew all the water away from him, a little at a time. He didn't notice how bored he got until it was too late. It's easy to sneak away when your guard is relentlessly daydreaming of better days."
"That's my girl," Keevan whispered, kissing her head of braids. A faint aroma of lilacs tickled his nostrils. Apparently the Harbor Guild thought of everything when it came to pampering important prisoners. A tickling sensation trickled along his neck and he noticed a faint sliver of static electricity scatter across the strands of her hair. A low-level field, but certainly not caused by fear...
"I'm glad we're finally together," Bahjal said softly, pulling his other arm around her. "Whatever happens."
"Sparks," Keevan thought aloud, staring outside. "Fear isn't the only source of electricity, anticipation and excitement can generate it as well, just in lower volumes. Very subtle ones. I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't standing right next to your head."
Bahjal shot Keevan a dangerous look. "And here I thought you and I were having a moment."
"You asked me to get us out of here," Keevan answered, staring out the window, deep in thought. "We can always cuddle later, when Kors is in a dark hole somewhere, in chains."
A chill ran down Keevan's neck, until Bahjal stepped away. Her face was a mask of serenity, a little too serene. She was hiding something, a deeper despair she refused to voice. "Very well then, what's your plan?"
"I said something to upset you..." Keevan pried, "What was it?"
"Nothing," Bahjal insisted, folding her arms. "Now, have you found a way out or not?"
"Well, assuming a repulsor field functions like a Tri-Being's field, I think so," Keevan said, pulling out the weak repulsor stone. "I think so."
"Where'd you get that?"
"It was preserving the document Kors burned."
Bahjal put her hand over it, pursing her lips. "It's very weak. How is making me bored going to get us out?"
"I'm not going to use it on you," Keevan said with a grin, walking over the window. "Watch and learn."
He pushed the orb against the glass, watching its field tremble against the fixed repulsors, then relent. There, the size of his fist, a hole in the field appeared. He was countering the repulsor field in the same way Kors and Calistra countered the Watcher. Here was a technique a Tri-Being likely wouldn't consider. They wouldn't carry a repulsor with them, constantly unsure if their emotions were genuine or the product of the stone's elemental alterations. The stone was little more than a tool in Keevan's hands however, with no emotional side effects at all.
With a quick jerk, Keevan snapped the stone against the glass until it cracked. Gently, he pushed and pulled against the fragile surface. If too much fell, it would alert passerby below. If it stayed untouched, they couldn't get more elements from outside.
"How is breaking the window going to help?" Bahjal asked, tugging on her braids in frustration. "Particularly when you're putting another repulsor into the mix?"
"I'm putting a foreign repulsor into the mix," Keevan corrected her, withdrawing the stone slightly once a hole the size of a large coin lay in the glass. "Put your ear to it, as if you were listening to something."
"That's a triple elemental repulsion," Bahjal said, stroking the long linen strands of her Suadan dress. "I don't think you know what you're asking, to have all the moisture, heat and static pushed from my mind. It's not a pleasant experience, having your emotions so obviously toyed with."
"Just, trust me," Keevan pleaded. Holding out his other hand, palm up, inviting. "Please."
"Fine," Bahjal said, gulping nervously. Leaning over, she pushed her head against his arm, until it lay against his hand. Grimacing, she clutched her stomach. "All the heat is pushed away. I can recall my parents dying. My brother's disappearance. Without heat, they all come back just as sharp as ever."
"Your trigger thoughts for cold," Keevan echoed, stroking her hair. "Without the elements to interfere, your mind goes back to its most potent memories. I'm so sorry about putting you through this. Focus on something, something important. Complicated even. What do you think I should be for Issamere? How would I get there?"
Bahjal gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, focusing. One element outside shifted, sliding through the hole in a steady trickle. It oozed from the hole in the glass and then trickled down the repulsor field as if it were a wall in and of itself. Water pooled against the floor's field, hovering about six inches above the ground. It sent a shiver up his leg as it soaked into his pants, just below his knees.
"I think you see things no one else can," Bahjal whispered, fighting back tears. "Suada's mercy I can hear my parents' screams. How can you ask this of me?"
"Trust me," Keevan implored, counting on the electricity-less security to reinforce her compliance. Despite the frost gathering on the tips of her hair, her concentration still managed to pull in cup after cup of water. "What could I really do for these people?"
"You could lead them," Bahjal continued through gritted teeth. "You'd have to earn their trust, but you can steer them clear of so many dangers, just by looking and understanding what we can't. You can make such a difference here, if you will only give yourself a chance to learn how."
"I don't know how you can see that much potential in me," Keevan admitted with a gulp of uncertainty. "I'll do my best, but I hope I don't disappoint you."
"Just don't stop trying to make a difference," Bahjal implored, taking his wrist in her hand and squeezing it assuredly. "I... I can concentrate better now. There's more water here. But h-"
Bahjal opened her eyes, staring down at her legs where a puddle of water now spread as far as the lacquered wooden frame of the bed. Speechless, she stepped away from the wall and drew the fluid to her, until filled her linen loops like a warrior stocking up on arrows.
"Amazing," she whispered.
"We're just lucky repulsor stones are so rare," Keevan pointed out, pocket his orb. "And that they didn't search me before putting me in here. I should have figured it out sooner. The fields have to line up perfectly because if they overlap, they'll cancel each other out, but if there's space between them they'll leak."
"I'll push our letter to the High Priestess under the door," Bahjal volunteered, closing her eyes and sighing contently. "By Suada, we've only been here an hour and I'd forgotten how good it feels to be able to focus like this."
"Amazing the power the elements have over us," Keevan said, glancing outside. Their broken window still went unnoticed.
"More like everyone but you," Bahjal corrected him. "I've never seen your mood change with the weather."
"I also can't use the elements to heal," Keevan pointed out. "So how are we to handle the twenty foot drop to the stone courtyard below?"
"Start tying the bed sheets into a rope," Bahjal ordered testily, giving him a less-than-impressed look. With water caressing her skin, her usual coarse attitude returned as well. "Really, you figured out how to bypass a repulsor field, but can't use your surroundings?
"Just go deliver that letter," Keevan chuckled, stripping off the bedding layer by layer. "We'll be outside soon and then you'll be more like yourself."
By the time she returned, Keevan had two bed sheets folded and tied. Bahjal s
topped by the room's wardrobe, pulling out a few sets of shirts, trousers and leather belts into a separate pile. Her motions were determined and effective, nothing like the day dreamy, easily distracted mood the repulsor room induced. Keevan never fully appreciated the effect the elements wielded on the Tri-Beings, now he did.
"Alright," Keevan said, taking a step back to admire his work. "Here's about thirty feet of 'rope', more than enough for the drop. I assume you can get pass the bars on the window?"
"I believe so," Bahjal answered, picking up the strongest belt and pulling a chair over in front of the window. "Can you hold the repulsor orb over the crack again?"
"Sure," Keevan answered, returning to the wall. Standing in the repulsor field, he couldn't deny the strange itching sensation ticking his flesh. He felt like an invisible force pushed him from the wall, as if he were a living magnet set against his twin.
Bahjal guided his orb by his wrist, so she didn't have to reach directly into the repulsor field. She guided his hand in a square pattern, hugging the edges of the window where it was anchored in the stone. She chuckled.
"What's so funny?" Keevan grumbled, scratching his chest. "Belenok's beard, I'm itchy."
"Well, I'm glad repulsor fields are no fun for you either," Bahjal offered with a grin. "I think I'm learning from you, that's all. I'm depositing ice into every crack in the stone I can find."
As if on cue, the window gave a soft popping sound and Keevan noticed a few hairline cracks along the edges of the glass. On the next round, Bahjal guided water into the cracks like a tentacle, pulling chunks of the stone and glass free before they could fall to the walkways below.
Soon, a warm breeze touched Keevan's hand. Using his elemental vision, he saw the fields around the window shift and twist with each round of Bahjal's attack on the window. "Your using repeated freezing and thawing to crack the stone and dislodge the repulsors."
"Yes," Bahjal replied. "I don't have to remove the repulsors themselves, just the stone their weighted in. The farther apart their fields are..." A rush of element answered her call, waves of heat and sparks of electricity rushing into her arm from the outside. She closed her eyes and sighed in relief.
"You feeling more like yourself now?" Keevan asked.
"Indeed," Bahjal agreed, turning her attention to the window. "Now, we're not too big. I think these two middle bars will do it. You?"
"Fine by me."
"Hear goes then," Bahjal warned, putting her hands in the middle of the window. Waving at the bed. "Pull the bed over and tight the bed sheets to one corner. Then, cover your eyes, if you don't want to look at lightning directly."
"Ready," Keevan announced, grateful for the knots Nariem taught him at the smithy. The soft fabrics slid easily against his fingers, but he felt confident they'd hold their combined weight. Long enough to get them safely to the ground at least. He set the bundle of 'rope' down next to Bahjal, then turned his attention to her elements working on the window.
Water oozed from her fingertips, working their way along the outside of the window until they reached the base of the iron bars, where Bahjal's interference had shifted the repulsor fields. Ice grew over the edge where metal touched stone, gathered into a tangle of frost inches thick. Then, dark strands of light extended out from Bahjal, anchoring themselves in the ice. Just as Keevan opened his eyes to ask, electricity cut through the space.
It created a fascinating image in Keevan's elemental vision. The lightning bolt crackled against the repulsor fields in the window, swirling like a serpent in a storm, until just grazing her target. The window burst outwards in a flash of heat and a roar of hot air.
Chapter 23
Keevan clamped his hands over his ears, gasping in surprise. He'd underestimated the strength of the blast, amplified by the combined forces of so many repulsors pushing against a lightning bolt. His ears rang from the explosion, leaving him with only the option of reading Bahjal's lips when she pulled him over to the window and mouthed the words 'let’s go'.
She tossed the coil of knotted bedding out the window, knocking away a few shards of left over glass protruding from its base. Then she disappeared out the window, her line pulling tight as she descended. In a moment, her line slackened, whipping back and forth as Bahjal signaled the all clear.
Keevan took the rope in his trembling hands, still surprised at the strength of the explosion. Sliding down to the first knot, he stepped out of the window. With his feet against the outside wall, he took one last look in at the most comfortable prison he'd ever heard of, hoping they weren't making a huge mistake. Then he looked down and felt his stomach drop in fear. It's one thing to look out a window at a twenty-foot drop, and another to realize literally nothing but a few thousand silken strands lay between you and a crippling landing against hard stone.
"Come on!" Bahjal urged, waving at him. She sounded as if she were a hundred yards away, her face twisted into a jubilant smile. An ember of anger smoldered in his mind. She was enjoying this a bit too much. Perhaps being trapped in the room without any fear for an hour wasn't a good thing. She seemed even more reckless than usual. A few passing onlookers paused, regarding Bahjal with mild curiosity. At least no guards had arrived, yet.
Closing his eyes, Keevan focused on finding the next knot and sliding down the 'rope'. Find the next knot with his feet, get hold, slid his hands down to another knot, repeat. The wind billowed around him, as if the breeze itself were trying to dissuade the course of action his lack of courage was already questioning.
Finally, he felt a comforting pat on his shoulder. He looked up. He was hanging on the rope a mere three inches from the ground. 'Let's go' Bahjal mouthed, pointing at the far wall. The guards didn't have orders to shoot them, but some were descending the stairs on the other end of the courtyard, already in pursuit. Keevan suddenly felt lightheaded. What kind of moron jumps from a perfectly safe room into a warzone?
Bahjal didn't give him any more time to consider the consequences of their choice. With a sharp jerk, she dragged him towards a pair of dark doors leading back into the Harbor Guild Headquarters. They ran ahead, skirting passed annoyed citizens, ignoring the cries of the local guards. Keevan followed Bahjal's lead, his legs pounding against the tough stone with each uneasy step.
He didn't know the paths of the Harbor Guild, not like his native Haldran District. But Bahjal didn't have trouble hugging various corners and avoiding dead ends. Once again, he felt a strange sense of distance from her, somehow this woman knew the lay of the land for the Harbor Guild, which wanted him dead. When did she spend so much time here? Not while they were sneaking around the Haldran District, surely?
"Here," Bahjal said, putting her hand on an oak door's lock. It clicked open, revealing a patch of ice over it when she removed her hand. She slipped inside a dark room. Keevan paused outside, staring at the icy lock. It wasn't the first time he'd seen that trick. "This storage closet is never elementally blocked. We've got to get dressed."
"Dressed?" Keevan asked, staring over his shoulder at the frosted door knob. "How'd you beat that lock?"
"You expect me to avoid notice in my pristine Suadan robes?" Bahjal asked, skirting through stacks of clothes as she moved from barrel to shelf. The entire room was stacked full of supplies. "This is the Malik's 'just in case' room, should any of his agents fall on hard times in the Harbor Guild."
"And the lock?"
"Only opens to ice if it's grown in a particular formation," Bahjal said, her voice and motions hasty. She pulled a wad of fabric from one shelf and tossed it at Keevan. He caught it but hovered there a moment, watching her with calculating eyes.
"What are you waiting for?" Bahjal insisted, pulling a wad of fabric down for herself. She nodded at the far corner of the room, blocked by a veritable wall of barrels. "Now get changed before this gets awkward," With that, she pulled her dress up over her head. She still wore linen small clothes underneath, but they left only a few of her curves to the imagination.
Keevan's
face turned beet red and he bumbled his way into the corner, peeling off his own tunic. The questions surrounding the ice lock would have to wait, if his instincts were right, they hinted at some topics impossible to discuss in a few short seconds anyway. Unfolding the robes she'd given him, Keevan rolled his eyes.
"Seriously?" Keevan demanded, waving the robe around the corner. "I have to wear this?!"
"How else do you expect to sneak around? It has to be in plain sight. Especially with suspicious guards searching every nook and cranny. Our only hope is to walk right passed them."
"These are an initiate's robes," Keevan complained, examining the thick wool fabric. "If I have to command even one drop of water, this disguise will be useless."
"There are no Rhets this far into the Harbor Guild, Keeves," Bahjal added impatiently. He could hear her tying together something that rasped like leather. "You're a Suadan Initiate, caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. You'll be assumed too weak to help in the fight, so no one will ask you to command any elements."
"Just to heal myself if I scrape my elbow," Keevan grumbled, shrugging off his pants. The thick wool bit into his back, chest and arms. Only the thin linen small cloths around his waist and legs granted him some comfort. "Are these clothes supposed to be this itchy? Is this a joke?"
"Am I laughing?" Bahjal asked, stepping into view. Her braids were tied into a single bundle around her head, like a crown. Her blue leather armor glistened in the faint light from outside. But what really caught his eye was the Danica edged whip in her hands.
"Those are ... expensive," Keevan gulped. "You had one stashed here in advance?"
"Your primary enemy is the Harbor Guild," Bahjal answered simply, she glanced at the whip fondly. Keevan dipped into his elemental vision, watching the water within her touch the base of the whip, glowing blue as the weapon 'loaded' a drop of water. "It seemed fitting to have such tools as these set aside in case of emergency."
Unseen Secrets Page 21
