by Talis Jones
* * *
Adrianna opened the door to let in Jack and Pekka. All three were dressed in dark colors with a small pack slung over their shoulders and determination in their eyes. They couldn’t wait around hoping for others to save them, so they would save themselves. “Ts’eloti ina t’inikare,” they murmured to one another, offering luck before they went. Pekka was the first out the door when suddenly Jack faltered and slumped against the doorframe. Pekka rushed back to help Adrianna drag his heavy body back inside the room.
“Fenwick,” whispered Adrianna desperately. “Fenwick, please, what’s wrong? What happened?”
Pekka frowned at the unfamiliar name but pushed the question aside. “We have to move now if we want to rescue the Whisper.”
Jack seemed unsteady on his feet even with Adrianna supporting him. She gently guided him to the floor and held his hand tightly as she sat beside him. “Pekka,” she whispered sadly. “I think she’s gone.”
“Gone?” asked Pekka incredulously. “How can she be gone?” Adrianna gave her a hard look. “But you can’t kill a Whisper,” she insisted, shocked.
“Please leave, Pekka,” Adrianna asked gently. “You need to return to the barracks and pretend as if tonight never happened.” Pekka hesitated. “You have to go,” she pushed. At last Pekka gave a reluctant nod and left them alone in her room.
“I’m so sorry, Fenwick,” offered Adrianna. The words would do nothing to change Sa’s fate but they were all she could manage to say. Jack remained silent. She bowed her head as a silent tear slipped past her lashes. She felt him let go of her hand and wrap his arm around her waist pulling her onto his lap. Adrianna curled up between his legs as he hugged her tightly to his chest and they both sat mourning in silence.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“CASSANDRA,” boomed Titus, his voice laced with fury. The bedroom door slammed shut and the bolt slid into place with a loud click as the windows exploded in a flurry of glass fragments. Cassandra flinched but did not cower. Her old mentor stared daggers into her eyes but she did not quake.
“What are you doing here, Titus?” she spat angrily.
“Did you really think I would never show up?” he inquired with disgust. “Did you really think I would just let you continue to destroy this world without once raising my voice?”
Cassandra snorted. “Well, you’ve never been one to stop me before.”
“I had you banished! I had your magic drained! I had everything you stole ripped from your very hands!” he growled.
“And yet I’ve returned and with even more power,” she tutted. “You may have banished me once and caged my magic but those years only made me stronger. You can’t keep me from my destiny. You can’t control fate, Titus. I was always meant to win. I am the Feuer.”
“You murdered a Whisper, Cassandra,” he accused. “One of the chosen guardians of Oneiroi. One of your own!”
“Medusa was always a meddlesome little thorn in my side,” she snapped. “And I didn’t do anything. She made her own choice.”
“Don’t play games with me, Cassandra. I am the game master here and I will not be toyed with by my greatest disappointment.”
Cassandra stepped back as if slapped. “What’s done is done. Titus, why are you here?”
“The prophecy is in motion. It has been ever since the Verdandi siblings set foot on this island. Your twin waits and watches you always. From the moment you stole Leitfaden the game was set and he has been playing the board.”
“I already know this, Titus.” Cassandra brushed away his words with boredom.
Titus’ face softened for an instant. “You can still go back, Cassandra.”
She scoffed. “No one can go back. We can only go forwards.”
“Then change where your path leads you,” he insisted. His tone could almost be mistaken for pleading.
“No. I won’t. I will win, Titus. And I won’t stop until I do. I will raze anything in my path. I will not relent until vengeance is paid for your betrayal. I will not cease until all of Oneiroi bows at my feet.”
Titus sighed. “But you are alone, Cassandra. Are you not tired of being alone?”
“People are weak. I don’t need anyone,” she growled.
Titus stepped closer and placed his hands on either side of Cassandra’s pale face. “You will not win. Three times you have now tried and you will fail again. It is your path, Cassandra.”
Exhaustion betrayed her as her cold expression faltered. “Why can’t I get it right, Titus?”
“Because you are too arrogant to understand what you did wrong,” he muttered sorrowfully.
Cassandra tore herself away from him, once more a vision of ice and fury and cold indignation. “I am not the villain, Titus. I am the victim. I am the one who was betrayed. I am the one whose dreams and visions are constantly thwarted. I am not the villain. I am not, because I will win and villains never win.”
Titus’ face clouded with disgust. “Agere sequitur credere. We act according to what we believe ourselves to be.” With a final disappointed shake of his head he vanished leaving Cassandra alone and shaking in her room. With a quick wave of her hand the glass was replaced in her shattered windows but she made no other move. She stood staring at nothing and hearing only her own blood rushing in her ears.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The steady flame of her bedside candle hypnotized Pekka as she replayed past events in her mind. Sarai had always been a bit sharp, but her vision for Oneiroi had never wavered as it filled those around her with hope. Months had gone by since they had torn Dismas from his throne and yet instead of relief Pekka’s lungs grew tighter and tighter as she continued to hold her breath. Some instinctual part of her mind was smarter than she was for it seemed to have noticed Sarai’s growing coldness far quicker.
Giving in to her fear of death was the only obstacle that stood between playing along and attempting to flee, but not anymore. The Whisper, Medusa, was dead. If anything is certain it is that Sarai will discover Pekka’s sympathies. She will die if she must, but not from sitting around and doing nothing. Pekka would not be collateral damage, she would be the sword itself.
With a sigh she weaved her head of thin black braids into one large plait. As she folded herself into her bed movement caught her eye. The candle flame flickered. Once, twice, then with violence despite the lack of wind. The little hairs on the back of her neck prickled in warning just as a small knock touched her door.
Jolting out of bed Pekka cracked open the door and froze in confused surprise. Before her stood a girl of perhaps sixteen, and behind her a boy that seemed to shudder in and out of shadow.
“Pekka Gabor, we’re here to help,” whispered the girl urgently.
Pekka opened the door only wide enough for them to slip inside but to her shock the boy strode straight through the wall. “Who are you?” she demanded quietly. If any were to hear them, well, she didn’t want to think of the consequences.
The girl measured up the room in one sweeping glance of dark blue eyes. She had a tall but lean frame wrapped in dark cloth, and long chestnut hair swept past her shoulders. “I am Sasha, and this is Nox,” she replied in a deep voice.
Pekka scrutinized the boy, not much younger than Sasha. “What are you, is perhaps a better question.”
Nox smiled. He stood casually as if this were a common meeting of friends. “I’m a Weepy, General, hence my peculiar appearance. No need to panic, I’m quite friendly.”
“I’ve no doubt,” Pekka replied a bit stiffly. She did not take kindly to strangers in her room, much less wandering spirits. Particularly when Pekka had nearly committed high treason and remained ready to do so. Gratefully the girl, Sasha, seemed more authoritative than her counterpart.
“The Whispers received your request to flee Mordréda and join ranks.” Sasha gave Pekka a very severe look as if searching for any tricks or traps.
“I sent that message to Eisen,” corrected Pekka, her brow crinkling in confusion.
; “Technically you gave it to Jack, who gave it to me, who decided to give it to the Whispers instead of Eisen.” Nox had that goofy boyish grin again, as if he were sitting in the front row of a sporting match and still couldn’t believe his luck.
“If you were a messenger for the military, you’d be whipped,” Pekka snapped causing the boy’s grin to falter. It had never occurred to her how Jack could send word to Eisen, only that he said he would. She hadn’t thought anyone would come fetch her. She had waited only for a reply accepting her and then she’d take the chance and run. A Whisper and a Weepy turning up at her doorstep was the last thing she could have imagined.
“Will you come or will you stay?” asked Sasha bluntly.
“I—I don’t quite know how to respond. I had not expected this.”
“Eisen and his Iron Army are growing and training with every hour. The Whispers have also been readying themselves for Cassandra’s fight. You’ve served the Crown for years. Even now you hold an esteemed position within her ranks. We’d be interested in hearing what you have to say. Accept our offer and this will be the last night you spend between these four walls. Refuse and we will pass on your request to Eisen and you can take your chances with him. But be warned, he did not bother with Sa.”
Sasha straightened her robes and clasped her hands behind her as she waited for Pekka’s decision. Nox crossed his arms as his eyes danced restlessly between Sasha and Pekka and all the polished weapons hung upon the far wall.
Pekka blew out a long steady breath. Eisen had refused to rescue a fellow Whisper so what were the odds he’d come for her? The amount of luck she’d require to escape the castle on her own exceeded what she possessed. Besides, who wouldn’t be curious about the hidden society of Whispers? Her grandmother had told her stories and legends about them, but this…this would be far greater. There was no choice to be made. “I will go with you.”
Sasha nodded once. “First things first, then.” Reaching out with both hands she grasped Pekka’s face firmly and gazed intently into her eyes. The deeper her blue eyes looked the more shallow and unfocused the brown eyes became. “Why do you wish to leave Mordréda?”
Pekka’s voice came out strained but her words were pulled forth clearly. “Because Sarai has turned to darkness and I cannot serve her any longer.”
“Are you a spy for Sarai or any who support her?”
“No, I am not.”
“Would you betray the Whispers?”
“I would not. My grandmother told me how they protect Oneiroi and its people. They are good.”
“We are going to take you to the Whispers. When Abel shakes your hand you will forget how you arrived there. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
Sasha nodded to Nox. “Good. Pack what you need and then we go.” She released Pekka’s face and the woman blinked as her eyes refocused.
Pekka quickly filled a pack with some clothes and her favored weapons but paused before opening the door. She looked back at her two strange visitors. “What exactly did you do to me?”
Sasha shrugged. “I needed answers and I got them. Now move.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Jack burst into Adrianna’s room as she stepped out of her bathroom wrapped in a robe damp from her recent shower. “Fenwick!” she cried startled.
“Pekka is gone,” he breathed tersely.
Adrianna’s mouth dropped open. “What? How? Did Cassandra—?”
“I don’t know.” Jack started pacing with one hand over his mouth, his face tight in concentration. “No. Sarai would have made it public if Pekka was a traitor. Perhaps she simply got tired of waiting and managed to escap—What’s that?”
“What’s what?” asked Adrianna as she looked around searching for what had caught his attention.
“This,” he replied as his fingers pulled a folded slip of paper from the iron-edging of the largest window. Unfurling it quickly he read the note and let out an amused huff. “Here.”
Adrianna dried her hands on the hem of her robe and read the note.
The Whispers decided to bring Pekka Gabor to their camp instead of Eisen’s. She’s safe. You need to get out. Wait at the top of the West Tower by midnight.
–Nox, your beloved hero.
“Ha! Okay, okay but she’s safe. That’s good.”
Jack’s face frowned in thought. “Yes, but we’re not.”
“We never were,” shrugged Adrianna. “We’ll be fine.” Jack didn’t reply. “What are you thinking?”
Slowly his eyes met hers and in them she saw grim reluctance. “I’m thinking our time here may be up.”
“I thought we needed people on the inside?” she questioned confused.
“It’s an advantage but battles have been won without it. If Cassandra keeps pressing down on us then we’ll be dead or useless anyway. We have the day to decide.” With a sigh he mentally ran through the list of duties he was given for the day. “I have to go. Stay safe, Adri. We play a dangerous game.”
Adrianna gave a small smile in reply.
* * *
Jack had been kept busy all day working with the recruits. When questioned about Gabor’s whereabouts he’d feigned ignorance and threw his whole self into focusing on the tasks at hand in an attempt to ward off any suspicion. Not until the sun was setting did he receive a message that General Melanthios was looking for him. From the boy’s ashen face he knew his fate was decided.
Throwing together a pack of supplies and strapping on a small arsenal of weapons to his body he took to the shadows and made his way to Adrianna’s bed with soundless footfalls. Still fully dressed she lay curled up on the plush chair by her bedside with a large book trapped between her arms. He watched her for a moment, listened to her soft breathing. Crouching down before her he reached out a hand and gently brushed a strand of hair from her face causing her eyelids to flutter as she woke.
“Fenwick?” she asked sleepily.
“Adri, we have to leave,” he murmured.
Shifting into a proper sitting position she stretched out her cramped limbs before shaking off the last tendrils of sleep. “Now?”
“Yes. Sam knows, Adrianna. He’s looking for me and I know he knows.”
“They can’t prove anything,” she protested weakly.
“I think you know that proof is irrelevant when it comes to Cassandra. You’re her enemy’s sister. She’ll use me against you and force you to betray him. You know she will.”
“Then you have to go,” Adrianna agreed.
Jack looked at her hesitantly. “Yes, we have to go.”
Adrianna looked out the window for a long moment as she thought, argued, rationalized, and thought some more. “I want to be useful, Fenwick. And beyond this castle I am not useful.”
“That’s not—”
“I’m not a great fighter, I’m not a skilled strategist, and I don’t have any magic abilities. What I do have is information, or at least the ability to retrieve such. I have the loyalty of the Prince of Llyr, the Crown of Oneiroi, the leader of an undefeatable rebel army, and of at least two Whispers. The only way I can help save the people of Oneiroi is to use those loyalties. If I stay then I can deliver Sarai’s secrets to her enemies. We’ve been doing that and don’t tell me it wouldn’t be useful to keep that door open. I’m not particularly useful, but I do have a surprising number of friends. Friends with the means and motive to help me when the time comes.”
Jack’s voice fell thick and uncomprehending. “You are not useless, Adrianna.”
Adrianna smiled. “Not to you, maybe. Think about it, if you were putting together a team of soldiers based on skill alone I would not make the cut, and that’s fine, Fenwick. Not everyone has to single-handedly save or destroy the world. Some of us are just average people who give a helping hand when we can. If this is the best help I can give then I’m going to stay and I’m going to give it.”
“Then I will stay with you.”
“You know you can’t stay,” Adrianna murmur
ed sadly. “She’ll hurt you.”
Gently Jack grasped Adrianna’s hands between his. “For you. I’d stay for you.”
“I know,” she whispered. “And that’s why you have to leave.”
“You are so stubborn, Adrianna. And foolish,” he growled softly. “Leaving would be a betrayal to the promise I made to protect you.”
“But if you stay and Cassandra hurts you, if she uses you to bend my will, I would fracture and that also would break your promise.”
“You could still go with me,” he insisted.
“Fenwick, please let me make my own choice.”
Opening his mouth to protest he shook his head and changed his mind. Frustration and realism raged within him as he forcefully allowed himself to relent. It was her life, her decision. He could not stay and she would not go. From around his neck he pulled a long loop of black leather cord, at its end hung an elegant ring adorned with tiny flakes of ruby and garnet.
“It’s beautiful,” said Adrianna quietly.
Jack smiled. “It was my mother’s. Will you take it?”
Warmth filled Adrianna’s veins as she nodded. “Of course.” Jack lifted the necklace over her head and placed it gently around her neck where it hung gleaming in the pale moonlight.
A sudden wet prickling surprised them. Looking down at their left hands they watched, eyes wide, as the ink in their markings spread further, spinning tendrils down into their palms. It took but a moment and when it was finished Adrianna’s palm showed a shattered moon while Jack’s held a melting sun.
“Beautiful,” she murmured.
Jack let out a reluctant sigh. “This is goodbye, for now.” He rose up pulling her with him. “I’ll come back for you,” he promised fiercely.
“I know,” she smiled. Lifting his left hand she pushed back his sleeve revealing the tattoo marking their bond. Softly she traced her fingers along the intricate design. “Even with you gone I can reach out to you. You won’t be alone.”
