by Lisa Morrow
An expression of guilt, pain, and anger flashed across Blair’s face for a moment, before she concealed it once more beneath her shell of indifference. “Clarissa is powerful. She passed the test. She refuses to add or connect her powers to The Orb, but she is still a resource for us in the worst of times.”
Having seen her magical daggers, and her skills in fighting, I thought I could understand why they allowed Clarissa to join. She would make a good fighter, if she’d fight for our side.
Our side? Had I really just connected myself to these women? I guess I couldn’t deny it anymore, even to myself, somehow I’d become a Protector both in name and thought.
“And this next step,” I continued hesitantly. “Is this the same step that all Protectors take?”
Blair and Meisha exchanged a look. “No,” Blair said, her fingers stilling upon the table. “We have over three hundred Protectors in our order—“
“Three hundred?” I asked incredulously.
“Most of our women are stationed at various towns along the outskirts of Tarak, in order to keep an eye on the wizards and the shield. The only women who remain in this castle are ones who retain specific skills that make their presence here preferable.”
“And how many women reside here?”
“Perhaps fifty.”
I regarded Blair carefully. “Then why have I seen so few of them?”
“You’ve seen what happens to the recruits who don’t pass our test. Will we find you eager to welcome the next girls?”
I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat. What would I do if I saw girls being led to their untimely ends? The shield needed power to remain up and continuing to protect Tarak. Power that would come from the girls’ lives. But how could I meet more Chosen girls, and not encourage them to run while they could?
It was an impossible situation, and one I couldn’t handle thinking about with so much else on my mind. So I focused on what I could handle.
“I guess I’d better get ready for tonight… for whatever Clarissa has in store for me.”
Blair smiled, a humorless smile. “Tonight is a long way away. But your practice with Meisha, that starts now.”
“Even today?” I groaned.
But the truth was I really didn’t mind. A nervous energy built inside of me. Training with Meisha would distract me from the many worrisome thoughts about traveling with Clarissa alone.
“Come now,” Meisha said, rising. “I think you could use all the help you can get.”
Three hours later, Meisha crouched in human form, her eyes glowing.
Sweat glistened on every inch of my body and my breathing was labored. My body ached from where I’d received kicks, punches, and been knocked and pinned to the floor. But anticipation raced through me like lightning, because I knew Meisha was hurting too.
I suppressed a grin. This training session hadn’t been easy on her either.
She knew I’d been lost in my thoughts again, because her muscles tensed and she leapt at me. Unfortunately, I’d taken our training seriously. No matter where my mind drifted to, I kept most of my focus on the battle.
At the last possible second, I twisted out of the way.
With her usual agility, she was already turning in mid-air to catch me with a punch to the side of my head.
I moved out of reach, expecting it.
She hit the floor at the wrong angle, and I was on her before she could get up, jerking her arm behind her back.
She struggled beneath my grip like a wild animal, but slowly stilled. “I give.”
I released her but extended my hand.
She grasped it and climbed to her feet.
As always, win or lose, we crossed the floor of the practice room and sat down against the mirrors. It was the perfect spot. Sunlight had warmed the stones beneath us, and it caressed us as we sat, giving a healthy warmth to our skin. In companionable silence, we meditated until I felt that deep sense of calm and opened my eyes.
“You are getting better.”
I laughed. “Not much.”
It felt good to laugh. And to fight. Especially when I was getting better.
I cried out as a crack of pain struck my knuckles. Holding my hand to my chest, I inhaled sharp breaths as a tear rolled down my cheek.
“What is it?” Meisha tried to touch my hand, but I pulled away.
“It hurts. Horribly.” I sucked in a deep breath. “I don’t understand.”
Meisha reached for my hand again.
This time, I gave it to her.
We both stared. Red knuckles faded back to white, and the pain vanished.
We locked eyes.
“What kind of magic could do that?”
Drumming her fingers on her knees, she spoke with care. “You must be feeling Asher through your link.”
I frowned. “But why did I reach out to him right now?”
One of her brows rose. “Did you?”
Then, it hit me. “No, he reached out for me. Because someone hurt him!”
My pulse raced. I’d imagined Asher imprisoned in some dark, dreadful cell. I’d never imagined someone might be hurting him.
“Was the pain unbearable?”
Taking a minute, I considered how I’d felt. “No, it wouldn’t have been so bad, if it hadn’t been so unexpected.”
“Then, Asher is fine.”
My fears lessened in the face of her logic.
Meisha rubbed the side of her face. “Someone will have to teach Asher how to put up his own walls.”
I tried not to let my surprise show. “Do you think he knows I’m his One too?”
“If he doesn’t know it for certain, he suspects it just as you did.” Meisha stiffened and said nothing for so long, I thought she’d never respond. “I was thinking about what you said about the boy and the war.”
“Oh?” I rubbed the fabric of my soft cotton dress between my fingertips, forcing myself not to look up.
“About Asher being the answer to ending it.”
My breath caught in my chest. After plaguing her with questions about how to reach him, and getting nothing but snarls and threats, it was the last topic I expected her to bring up.
“Oh.”
“Yes,” she said, her accent teasing the whispered word. “I think you may be right. Since we spoke, I have been trying to consider what makes you different from Blair or your mother. I think that you have the motivation to fight this war as Blair does, but you have one thing she does not have, your One is a wizard. Perhaps the last living wizard on this world. I cannot believe this is a coincidence. There is a goddess’s hand in this.”
Willing myself not to react, I rubbed my shoulder where she’d delivered a sharp kick to it during our training. “I think so too. But I can’t find him.”
“You’ve found nothing in the gardens?”
Should I tell her? I guess I had nothing to lose. “I used my powers. They led me to a wall covered in the faces of goddesses.”
She sat up and turned to face me. “Which goddesses?”
I frowned. “Not sure. I didn’t really notice. But nothing was unusual about the wall.”
Her eyes narrowed. “The goddesses matter a great deal. The right one will take you where you wish to go.”
Finally, I turned to face her. “Why can’t you just take me to him? Why does it have to be like this?”
Indecision filled her expression. “It just must be.” Her hands curled into fists. “Everything inside me wishes to help you find him. To use this chance to end the war. But I owe Blair much. I owe her this.”
“But you’re still helping me find him,” I argued.
She scowled. “No, I am not.” Rising, she glided soundlessly to the stairs, but stopped. “Sometimes it is better to be a little right and a little wrong then to completely drive into wrongness.” She shifted to go.
“Wait!” I was in her debt for all she’d told me. “I found the roses of Sirena and your sister. I planted them in pots in my room.”
He
r eyes filled with tears. She opened her mouth several times, before closing it. Then, she raced from the room.
Alone, I could finally think. Meisha was a puzzle to be sure. I didn’t understand her, and I doubted I ever would. Yet, her emphasis on the importance of the faces of the goddesses gave me hope. Maybe I was closer to finding Asher than I’d thought.
I waited just long enough to be sure Meisha wouldn’t still be on the stairs or the hall, before darting back down to the courtyard and the gardens. An old woman with vines growing through her hair smiled at me as I passed her. I smiled back, then pretended to inspect some bright orange flowers with pink spots, until she disappeared back into the castle.
Weaving through the wild plants, it took me just a few minutes to reach the right spot. This time, I cleared away all the moss from the stone carvings. When I was done, there were more faces than I’d expected. Zeuita, Hadia, Artemay, Hermya, and Persia all stared back at me. But what did it mean?
I touched the deadly-beautiful faces. All had a sleek ruthlessness to them typical to all goddesses. The details of the carvings were flawless, better even than the pictures in the small bookshop in our town. But which of them would lead me to Asher?
Not Zeuita and Hadia, I quickly decided. And after a few moments, I ruled at Artemay, the Goddess of Protection. That left only Hermya, the Goddess of Travel, and Persia, the Goddess of Destruction. Neither name I knew. But something told me, if I could speak the right one, I’d find the stairs leading to Asher.
Using the immense power of destruction was daunting, so I’d start with the power of travel. But could I learn a goddess’s name on my own without having to place myself in a dire situation? I hoped so. Every day I picked up the names faster and faster. I couldn’t second-guess myself now. I could do this. I had to.
“Hermya,” I spoke her name, repeating it over and over again, knowing each time it wasn’t quite right. Tears of frustration built in my eyes, and I pounded the wall with my fist as I spoke. Couldn’t the goddess sense how badly I needed her right now? Sending a prayer, I took a deep breath. Warmth wrapped me like a blanket. “Hermya.”
The one word seemed to fling me through space and time, for one stomach jolting moment before I was slammed back into my shoes. The world spun around me. How was I still standing? Blinking several times, the wall came back into focus. It slid open with a loud grinding of stone.
A staircase led into darkness.
Chapter Twenty-One
A picture of the earth crumbling down and incasing me in a grave of dirt flashed in my mind, but I pushed the image away. This staircase would lead me to Asher, I knew it.
Reaching down, my hand closed around a thick branch. Taking several deep breaths, I spoke the name of the Goddess of Fire, Promethia. The tip of the branch roared to life with flames. My hand shook as I stepped onto the first stair. It required all my concentration to keep my knees from buckling as I moved downward.
The stairs wound in a tight circle, blocking my view, and making it especially important to focus on the crumbling steps. Something rumbled above me, and then all traces of natural light disappeared. The wall must’ve closed above me.
Pressing my hand along the dirt wall, I used it to steady myself as I continued forward. I went on like this, with pressure slowly building in my chest, until I could hardly breathe. An intense desire to turn around and run back the way I came nearly made me scream, but I refused to let it escape.
Still it built.
Darkness behind me, darkness ahead of me.
Time crept on.
Was it my imagination? No. Light gently filtered through the darkness somewhere ahead of me. I picked up my pace, until at last I broke free of the stairs.
Squinting into the brightness, my eyes slowly adjusted, and then widened. I took a step back. Beneath my feet, a glass floor stared out into the valley below the castle. A sickening feeling washed over me, and I waited on the bottom stair, trying to decide which was worst, the cramped space of the staircase, or the sharp drop into nothing beneath the glass floor.
“Is someone there?”
The sound of Asher’s voice made the decision for me. My lips twisted into a smile, and I stomped the flames out of the tree branch, before setting it at the bottom of the stairs and inching my way out onto the glass floor.
“It’s Rose,” I called, although I still couldn’t see Asher.
I crept down a long hallway. On each side of me was a room, the walls made of glass. The rooms were simply furnished, with beds, bookshelves, tables, and chairs. But what caught my attention was the purity of the blue skies outside of the rooms. Something fluttered in my stomach as I wondered if there were even glass walls surrounding the rooms, or if they simply opened out into the nothingness of the sky.
When I reached the end of the hall, I frowned. I’d seen no doors to get into either of the rooms.
“Rose?”
I turned at the sound of Asher’s voice. He’d appeared almost out of thin air. I reached out to touch him, but the glass walls of the hall stopped me.
“Are you real?” he asked.
My heart skipped a beat. “Are you?”
“I’m real, and I’m glad to see you.” He smiled, a half-smile that left me breathless.
I longed to touch his face, where stubble now grew. To softly brush my lips against his.
The urge surprised me. The kisses Asher and I had shared were my first. To instinctually seek out another one the second I saw him… I wondered if it was the magical connection between us or simply his own personal something that drew me to him.
Shaking myself from my thoughts, my hands ran along the smooth glass separating us. “How do I reach you?”
“She opens a door right here,” he said pointing, and we both moved to the spot. “But, it disappears after she goes through it.”
“Who is she?”
“The witch, Blair,” he answered, frowning.
“Has she hurt you?”
He tilted his head and regarded me carefully. For a moment, I was lost in the deep blue of his eyes, noticing for the first time the tiny specks of gold in his irises.
“She hit me once, but no she hasn’t done more than that.” He ran a hand through his messy hair and leaned against the glass. “The witch also healed my arm though, and she’s been talking to me, asking me questions.”
I tried to keep the shock from my voice. “Talking to you? What could she possibly have to say?”
He grew very still. “She asks if my life has been happy. If my mother has been kind to me, and if I liked growing up in Wintercarve.”
“And what do you tell her?”
“Nothing, or at least I try not to. I don’t know what the witch is after, but a Protector can never be trusted.”
My hands fell from the glass as I stared down at the leather bracelet concealing my mark. I’d thought of many things when I’d been forced to join The Protectors of Tarak, but I’d never considered what Asher would think of me. But now I knew. His feelings for me, whatever they might be, would be gone the moment he learned the truth.
“What if your sister is a Protector, won’t you still love her?”
His knuckles pressed into the glass. “She’d choose death before she’d sell her soul to these witches.” He stiffened, as if he’d said something terrible. “But after being thrown in here, I know they take prisoners. I just hoped there was another place they might put her. There must be.”
I nodded, suddenly unable to speak.
“Have you seen her?” He ventured, hope giving a soft quality to his words. “She’s a small girl, with brown eyes and hair. Just like my mother.” A smile touched his lips. “And she cries about everything.”
A wave of emotion swept through my body, and I turned away from him, sliding to the floor. My gaze clung to the bracelet on my wrist. “Sorry, no.”
He knelt down, just on the other side of the glass. “Don’t worry, it isn’t your fault. We’ll find her.”
I
pulled my legs to my chest and fought for control. Asher and I barely knew each other, but he hated what I was, even if he didn’t know it yet.
How would he react if he found out his One was a Protector? He was the only man I could ever marry, but he’d likely fight the connection between us, once he found out.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
He was on the other side of the glass, but my body reacted to the sound of his soft voice like his words were a caress. Goose bumps erupted down my arms, and danced along my spine.
I turned, he was just inches from me, and I tried my best to smile. “Yes. I was just thinking of how I’m going to get you out of there.”
“Rose,” he paused, his eyes searching my face. “I’m a wizard.”
My hand reacted before my thoughts could process his words. But to my surprise, I’d reached up, as if to caress his face. “I know.”
He studied my hand. “And you still want to set me free?”
I closed my hand into a fist and pressed it against the glass. “I couldn’t sleep knowing you weren’t happy and free.”
“But, you aren’t just freeing Asher, you’re freeing a wizard.”
I laughed. “My heart doesn’t seem to be able to separate you from the wizard.”
The moment the words left my mouth, I regretted them. I wanted to take them back, turn back time, but it was too late.
He leaned away. “Your heart?”
“Don’t say anything,” I cried, scrambling to my feet. “It was a mistake. We have more important things to deal with, like getting you out of here.”
He rose slowly. “You sure?”
I nodded, praying he’d let my comment go. The last thing I’d wanted to do was acknowledge my feelings for him, and somehow I’d out and out said them. Aloud. To him.
“Does Blair say anything when she opens the door?” I asked, trying to draw his focus back to his escape.
He crossed his arms over his chest and said nothing for so long I thought I’d burst. “She says the Goddess of Freedom’s name.”
“How does she say it?” I asked, looking down at my boots.
“What do you mean?”
“I think I can get you out of her, but I need to know exactly how she says her name.”
