A Girl From Nowhere

by James Maxwell

  “Let her go,” Galen said. “She’s valuable.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Arren snapped. “She’s a traitor. She’s working against us.”

  “I won’t tell you again,” the commander said in a low voice. “Take your knife away.”

  Arren still didn’t remove the blade from Selena’s wrist. “Losing a hand is the least she deserves. You don’t know what she did.”

  “Tell me then.”

  “She severed her connection with her body,” Arren said. “Tried to kill herself.”

  “Could have killed us too,” Merin added.

  “She can do that?” Galen frowned, and then his eyes narrowed. “I thought you could control her casting.”

  “We can,” Arren said. “But now she knows that we can’t stop her ending her own life.”

  “And you think taking her hand is going to make a difference? She could bleed to death. For two intelligent men, you can both be quite stupid.”

  “We found humans in the wasteland. They were trading with the bax,” Merin said.

  “She is more important,” Galen said. “Without her we can’t protect the city.”

  “She must be punished,” Arren insisted.

  Galen moved uncomfortably close to the mystics. As he loomed over them, the two men exchanged glances, and when Galen spoke they clearly knew better than to challenge him. “I’m taking her to her quarters. If you two can’t control her, I will. I’ll have her casting again by tomorrow.”

  No one mentioned the human family. Even as she worried about Galen’s plans for her, Selena felt relief that they would live.

  At last Selena had something she had been without ever since her arrival at the tower.

  Time.

  Until now, she had either been casting or numb with exhaustion, but the two mystics were wary that she would break her lifeline again. No matter what, she wasn’t going to stay in her room and wait for whatever Galen had planned for her. The commander had said he had some plan to get her casting again. No one was going to help her escape. She had to do it herself.

  As she waited for darkness, she stripped her bed of linen and then tipped the pallet up on its side, just below the high oval-shaped window. She tested climbing up to the window a few times, and, once she was satisfied, she yanked and twisted at the bed’s wooden frame until she had broken off a plank the length of her arm. Hours passed, and as midnight approached she fashioned her bed linen into a makeshift rope. Her final task was to fasten the cord to the rectangular piece of wood.

  The silver moon glowed against a backdrop of stars as Selena perched precariously on the upright bed frame and leaned out of the window. A vista of stone structures filled her vision, but the city was quiet so late at night. Far below, the plaza that surrounded the tower was too distant to make out individual paving stones. If Selena fell, she would meet the same fate as the mantorean, Tika-rin.

  The tower’s tapered exterior stretched both up and down, with far more of the tower below her than above. Selena peered up at the oval window on the next level. She had to throw the plank into the opening above until it wedged tightly.

  The linen cord was in her hands. The plank swung at the end, outside the tower. She watched the plank. Her heart pounded. She felt giddy with vertigo.

  This would be her fifth attempt, and the more she tried and failed, the greater the chance she would slip and fall to her death.

  She leaned out farther. As she perched on the windowsill, gripping the wall with one hand and the linen with the other, she reminded herself that Galen had some sinister plan for her. Her only hope lay in escape.

  She swung the plank from side to side, judging carefully. At the right moment, she grunted and twisted her shoulder to throw the plank up and over her head.

  The plank disappeared inside the oval window above. A muffled clatter reached her ears. With no idea who or what was in the room on the upper level, she froze and counted her heartbeats. She held on to the linen cord and listened carefully. The silence dragged out.

  Nothing.

  Now came the final test.

  “Please,” she muttered as she pulled on the cord. When it became taut, her hopes rose. She peered up and realized that she could see the plank wedged soundly within the window above.

  She wasn’t satisfied until she had pulled on the linen with both hands, using as much force as she could. The next part would be the most difficult of all. She swung her legs out of the window. Keeping the cord tight, she stood on the window ledge. She was now outside the tower. She told herself not to glance down at the paving stones far below.

  Reminding herself that she had always been a good climber, she began to pull herself up.

  With a heart-wrenching sensation of falling, Selena tumbled into the room above her own. The plank came with her, along with the twisted length of linen, and as she crashed onto the floor everything became tangled. The sound she made was far too loud, but there was nothing she could do about it.

  She brought herself into a crouch and scanned in all directions.

  The room had the same layout as her own but was mostly bare. Broken furniture sprawled against a wall. She glanced toward the door, which was wide open. Someone could have heard her and might come to investigate.

  Selena knew she had to move quickly, but first she hurried over to an old wooden chair and grabbed a leg before yanking it back and forth. Twisting hard, grimacing with effort, she finally pulled the chair leg free.

  Now she had a weapon.

  She left the room and crept along the corridor, ears pricked for the sound of footsteps. It was dark inside the tower. She reached the stairway that curled along the inside of the tower’s perimeter.

  All she had to do was get to the ground level.

  Selena descended the last step and found herself at the bottom of the tower. She entered the wide-open space, as circular as the tower itself, framed by a series of oval windows that allowed pale moonlight to pour inside. A second stairway at the back of the room descended deeper, indicating a level below ground. She glanced at the windows, but they were too high, and there was nothing that could help her reach them. She began to creep toward the huge, heavy door. Beyond the door lay freedom.

  Her heart raced as she hefted the chair leg. One of Galen’s soldiers would be standing guard outside. Her only advantage was surprise. If she threw the door open and attacked, the guard would be momentarily stunned. She would then be able to flee.

  She was a dozen paces from the door when the sound of footsteps brought her to a sudden halt. Her gaze shot toward the stairway that vanished into the ceiling above. A green glow grew steadily brighter. The Protector had enough wealth to use aurelium lamps. The approaching patter of feet became louder.

  Selena stood frozen in place. She couldn’t reach the door before whoever was approaching saw her. They would shout. The soldier on the other side would hear.

  As she searched desperately in all directions, she made a quick decision and raced to the back of the room. Coming to the steps that led below ground, she climbed down them as quickly and quietly as she could. As she descended, she knew she had to hide until the newcomer was gone. The stairway finished. There was just the one level below the tower. A closed door greeted her.

  Pulling the door open, Selena stared into a vast, dark space. With no windows, and faint light at her back, she had no idea what was in the room she was facing.

  She glanced back up the way she had come. The glow of green light made sweat break out on her brow. Whoever was holding the lamp—perhaps the Protector or one of his men—was now on ground level.

  With no other choice, she entered the huge, dark room. Shutting the door behind her, she winced when it made a soft clunk. The darkness was now absolute, but the person behind her held a guiding light. She had to find somewhere to hide.

  She warily placed each foot in front of the other and kept her hands stretched out in case she encountered an obstruction. She took ten s
teps, then fifteen.

  Her knees bumped into something. She reached down. Her fingers discovered stones, formed into a low, curved wall. Moving faster now, she soon learned that the wall was formed into a circle.

  She leaned over the wall, searching for the ground. On its own, the wall wasn’t big enough to hide behind, but it appeared to enclose a round hole. How deep was it? She used her chair leg to probe, but still couldn’t find the bottom.

  Sweat coated her forehead. More than anything, she wished she could see.

  She needed to know if the hole would hide her. Attempting to climb inside would be too risky; the hole might be so deep she would die. She tried to think. The chair leg was her only weapon. But should she drop it into the hole? There must be something else she could try.

  Her hands searched the ground.

  She found something with a familiar shape. A bucket. Fumbling, she discovered a rope attached to the bucket’s handle.

  She held the rope as she leaned over the wall and dropped the bucket into the hole.

  It took a few moments before the rope went taut, and the bucket hadn’t even found the ground. Selena’s heart sank. The hole was deep. Far too deep.

  A sound made her head whirl. Her breath caught. The door behind her was beginning to open.

  She let go of the rope and a clatter echoed throughout the room as the bucket struck the hole’s bottom. With no other option, she turned and brandished the chair leg. Panting hard, she first saw a bright green rod in the hand of an approaching figure. Then, as the rod was lowered, Selena found herself looking at a young woman with short, wavy, auburn hair, dressed in a brown linen vest and snug leather trousers.

  “You?” Selena asked incredulously.

  Ruth scowled. “You’re lucky that I’m the one who heard you and not someone else. What did you think you would do? Open the door and fight off a bunch of armed soldiers with a chair leg?”

  Selena realized she was still brandishing her makeshift club. “How many soldiers?” she asked as she lowered the chair leg.

  “The Protector put a ring of guards outside the tower after you came.”

  Selena was shaken. If she had tried her surprise attack, she might have been killed.

  Ruth’s expression softened. When she spoke, her voice wasn’t unkind. “I know your name, Selena, and I know why you want to leave. Come on. I’ll take you back to your room.” She tilted her head. “I have no idea how you got out, but do you think we can make it so they won’t know?”

  Selena’s thoughts were still spinning. As Ruth continued to stare at her, she shook herself and nodded. But as relief caused her heart rate to approach something close to normal, she scanned the room, at last able to see where she was by the green light that filled the vast space. She first noticed the enclosing walls, where big barrels were stacked in rows, one on top of the other, almost all the way to the ceiling. A few more empty barrels lay on their sides.

  As she took it all in, Selena turned back toward the low circular wall that surrounded the hole in the room’s center. The rope spilled over the wall and into the hole. She walked over to the rope and began to pull, taking length after length until she retrieved the bucket.

  Selena looked back at Ruth. “What is this place?”

  “It’s the well room,” Ruth said matter-of-factly.

  “And this is the well?”

  “It is,” Ruth said. “The only well in the city.”

  Selena looked at the bucket in her hands. “But it’s dry.”

  Ruth came over to stand beside her. Together, they stared down into the well. Even with Ruth’s aurelium rod, they couldn’t see all the way to the bottom.

  “I know,” Ruth said. “That’s why I’m like you. I also can’t leave the tower.” She glanced at Selena and then returned her attention to the hole below. “The people think that the Protector controls the only reliable source of water. But as you can see, the well’s completely dry. That’s why he’s trying to drive the bax from the Rift Valley. He wants their water supply.”

  Selena’s mouth dropped open. It all made a terrible kind of sense. “I thought it was because he hates the other races.”

  “That’s part of it, and it’s what he wants everyone to think. No matter what, he can’t tell them the truth.”

  Everything became clear in Selena’s mind. She had always gained the impression from both bax and skalen that the current hostilities were a relatively new thing. Rei-kika’s words and Blixen’s memories had led her to wonder who was truly to blame. Now she knew.

  Selena gazed into the deep hole in front of her. “We have to tell the people the truth.”

  “About the well?” Ruth was startled. She shook her head vigorously. “There would be riots. The price of water is already high enough as it is, but at least everyone thinks the Protector’s just building up a reserve.”

  “The people should know,” Selena said firmly.

  “Think about what you’re saying,” Ruth said. “If there’s chaos, no one would work in the fields. And if there’s water in the Rift Valley—”

  “Have you been there?” Selena interrupted.

  “No . . .”

  “I have,” Selena said, staring directly into Ruth’s eyes. “I’ve met Blixen. Zorn could trade for the water it needs. Blixen doesn’t want war. He just wants the raids to stop.” As Selena’s thoughts took focus, she put determination into her voice. “Listen to me. If we tell the people the truth, then the Protector will fall. We can stop the fighting, on all sides. You don’t want to be trapped in this tower forever, do you?”

  Ruth looked uncertain. “I don’t have anywhere else. Or anyone.”

  “You know it’s the right thing to do. If you had seen the things I have . . .” Selena grimaced. “Galen and his men are butchers. And it’s all done in this city’s name.”

  “Even if I agreed with you . . .” Ruth hesitated. “. . . how would we tell the people?”

  “The chance will come. We’ll find a way.”

  “I’m not promising anything,” Ruth said. “But one thing I do know is that we don’t want them to catch us here.”

  Selena and Ruth crept back up to the higher levels. Working together, speaking only in whispers, they gathered the plank and linen from the room above and headed back to Selena’s bedchamber.

  On the way, Selena continued to think. She wondered what Galen had meant when he said he knew of a way to control her. She pondered what Rei-kika had shown her. Blixen would soon have the numbers he needed to make an assault on the city. Whatever Selena was going to do, she had to do it soon.

  Selena opened the bolt holding her door fastened. As she entered, she turned when she realized that Ruth had stopped in the doorway.

  “You should come in,” Selena said quietly. They were both speaking in low murmurs, but there was less chance of being heard with the door closed.

  Ruth shook her head. “I shouldn’t be here.”

  “Please,” Selena said as she stared into Ruth’s brown eyes. “We might not get this chance again.”

  Ruth cast a swift glance down the corridor. Her body was tense, but reluctantly she entered. Selena gently closed the door as soon as Ruth was inside.

  When she saw the bed frame leaning up against the wall, Ruth shook her head. “All right,” she said. “I can see you need my help.”

  Together they started to set the room to rights. As they put the pallet bed back into its original position, Selena glanced at Ruth, her only potential ally in this place.

  “You said you don’t have anyone,” Selena asked. “What happened to your family?”

  “We were settlers,” Ruth said. “One day my father went hunting and never came back. My mother was a healer, and when she couldn’t feed us on her own, she thought her skills might be needed in Zorn. She was right, and she entered the Protector’s service. Then my mother went out into the wasteland to find herbs . . .” She trailed off.

  “What happened?”

  “Thirst,” Ru
th said plainly. “The city guard found her body. She ran out of water.”

  With their work done, Selena faced Ruth directly. “Why didn’t you leave?”

  “Where would I go? What would I do? This is the only home I have. I’m not allowed out into the city. I know too much.” Ruth stared into the distance. “I helped the Protector once. When he was sick. I have some of my mother’s skill. I know he’s not a good man, but I still did it. Was I wrong?”

  “It’s what a healer does.”

  “And you’re a mystic.”

  “Yes,” Selena said flatly. “You heal. I kill. They make me find anyone who isn’t human. It doesn’t matter if they’re warriors or not, they all die.”

  “But they’re just bax . . .”

  Selena shook her head. “If you could look into a bax’s mind, see his thoughts, his memories . . . They care for their young. They love. They marry. They try to keep their families safe.”

  Ruth was pensive for a moment. “I have an idea . . .” she said slowly. “I’ve been thinking about what you said. I once heard the commander mention some dissidents he was trying to track down. Rebels. There might be someone out there we could talk to.”

  Selena felt a stirring of hope. “Do you have any names?”

  “No.”

  “How can we find out where they are?”

  Ruth sighed. “I don’t know.”

  Selena spoke firmly. “Then we’ll just have to see what else we can find out.”

  There was silence for a time, before Ruth changed the subject. “Where are you from?”

  “Nowhere, really.”

  Ruth raised an eyebrow. “Nowhere?” She waited for Selena to elaborate but then shrugged. “Fair enough. Life in the wasteland is never easy.” She paused. “Do you have anyone?”

  Without meaning to, Selena conjured up an image of Taimin’s face. “I . . .” She trailed off.

  Ruth tilted her head. “Who did you think of, just now?”