“What is it, Bug?”
“You can stop shielding me from the news.” She reached for the snaps on the case and lifted the lid, pulling out three of the knives and sliding them from their sheaths. They were each a different weight, and she tested the feel of each one carefully before she placed it on the railing next to the box.
Surprise flitted across Bryan's face, and then the shadow of a smile twisted his lips. He took out a knife himself and closed the lid of the case. When Daymon had begun teaching Alayne knife-throwing, Bryan had decided to take up the pursuit, too. He carefully weighed the knife in his hand before unsheathing it. “Yes, ma'am,” he said. He walked to the makeshift target they'd set up and re-situated it against the back fence.
When he returned, he tossed the knife handle from hand to hand. “Something's still bothering you, isn't it?”
Alayne blew out a harsh breath. “I just don't understand how the Continental Guard keeps missing Simeon Malachi. If they would just catch him, I wouldn’t need to know how to throw knives and shoot arrows. I could just do it for fun.”
Bryan's jaw hardened. He took aim with the knife and let it fly at the target. It thudded into the lower corner of the paper. “I think, Alayne, that they're past the point of looking for him. Sadly.”
Alayne hurled her knife end over end at the target, but her frustration jerked her hand too hard. The knife soared over the top of the target into the brush beyond.
“You're losing your touch, Worth.” Daymon slid the screen door shut behind Wynn as he and Alayne's mother exited the house.
“Finished stuffing your face with pancakes, have you?” Alayne gripped the second knife firmly and took more care. The blade thudded on the outside of the center ring that time.
“And bacon.” Daymon's fingers steadied Alayne's hand on the third knife, twisting her wrist incrementally so it was aligned with the rest of her arm. “The way you tilt your wrist throws it off by a hair.”
Alayne's mouth tightened, but she held the position and threw the blade. This time, it hit center target. A little miffed that Daymon had been right, she stalked to the target to pull out the knives from the paper, venting over her shoulder. “It's ridiculous how everyone is letting this slide. Did he not enter and attack hundreds of Clayborne students only a few months ago?” She found the knife behind the fence and reentered the back yard.
“We're not the enemy, Bug,” Bryan calmly reminded her. “Of course, we agree with you. But unfortunately, we have little say in the High Court, and no sway at all in who the Continental Guard hunts.”
Wynn sank into a chair, her foot tattooing a nervous dance on the cement patio. “I don't like it. I don't like any of it. I really don't want you to go to school this year, Layne.”
“Not again, Mom! We had this discussion last year!”
“Think, Alayne, if the Continental Guard isn't even looking for Simeon Malachi, if he's free to wander around, if all the attention in CommonEarth is focused on building up the Elemental Alliance instead of ending it before it begins, what's to say that you're going to be safe this year?” She rose from her chair again and faced away from the group, her hand smoothing the back of her neck, her body still, silent, rigid.
Daymon leaned against a porch pillar, flipping one of the knives in his fist as he listened. He started to speak, but stopped when Bryan's quiet voice split the tension. “Layne, your mother and I have been talking about taking you out of Clayborne this year. Just for a little while, you know, until things settle down. You know as well as anyone that the Elemental Alliance has been gaining political influence. We aren't comfortable with some of the changes they're making. Malachi knows now that you have the Vale. Do you think he'll stop pursuing it just because he's no longer a hunted individual? He's not going to give up, Alayne, and if anything, his freedom will give him more ability to get to you. We've been looking into long-distance studies...”
Panic shot through Alayne. “No, no, please, Dad,” she pleaded. “Marysa and Kyle and everyone will be there. I—I don't want to miss anything.” I don't want to stay here with Mom's oppressive fear, and where I have time to think and dream about Jayme's death.
Wynn folded her arms across her chest. “I know we're repeating ourselves here, but Layne, it would be for your safety. Last year, no one knew where the Vale was; this year, it's no longer a secret. If Malachi should get hold of you—”
“He won't, Mom.” Alayne rapped her fingers sharply across the table. “I'm supposed to be this super-Elemental. I'm a Quadriweave, remember, master of all four elements? And Daymon will be there.”
Daymon dropped his gaze to the patio, the knife still flipping through the air, slipping back into his grasp with each arc.
Bryan and Wynn glanced at each other. Wynn sighed. “Of course, Daymon's presence around you does make us feel better about your safety—”
“Then what's the problem?”
“Honey, if Malachi managed to breach your defenses, yours and Daymon's and anyone else's at the school like he almost managed last year, there would be no talking, no persuading, not even Shadow-Casting, because—at least according to legend—you can't be Shadow-Casted.”
“Is that true?” Alayne interrupted. “Chairman Dorner said last year that some theories surrounding the Vale stated that the possessor of the Vale couldn't be Shadow-Casted, but even he wasn't sure of it.” Three sets of eyes swung to Daymon, who at last slid the knife back onto the railing.
“It's never been proven,” he said. “But yes, that is a theory.”
“I've been thinking,” Alayne continued, her free hand moving to the almost invisible scar beneath her loose t-shirt. “Would it be so bad to cut me open and remove the Vale? The Guardians could take it back to their Temple, and I wouldn't be anyone's prime target then, right?”
“No.” Daymon's voice was hard, and surprise arced through Alayne.
“Why not?”
“It would mean your death,” Daymon said, his voice tight, and Wynn gasped. Bryan slowly raked his hair back from his face, his expression grave. Daymon went on. “The Vale is inside you, and the only way to give it up now is to die.”
Chapter 2
Alayne stared at him. “Why?”
Daymon shrugged, a hard jerk of his shoulders. “In a way, it would be nice. It would solve a lot of problems. Truth is, Layne, the Vale and its possessor become, over time, one unit. The longer a person possesses the Vale, the harder it is to separate from it. My mom had the Vale for four years, and it's kind of a miracle that she was able to part with it. Only her fear for me caused her to do it.” Daymon walked around the patio railing onto the grass, nearing Alayne. “Think of it, Layne. My mother only had the Vale four years. She put the Vale inside you when you were nearly one year old, so it's been an intrinsic part of you for almost seventeen years. Cutting it out isn't even an option.”
Alayne planted her hands on her hips, staring up into Daymon's ocean-blue eyes. “So proximity has to do with its hold on its possessor? The fact that it's closer to me than it ever was to your mother—does that mean the Vale has a stronger hold on me?”
“It seems that way.”
Alayne's parents listened silently from the sidelines, but Wynn's face lacked even a shade of color.
Daymon slid his hands into his jean pockets. “In the past, if someone possessed the Vale and then left it to travel a distance, the connection between the two tended to dissolve, and the Vale was free to be possessed by someone else.”
“What's your source, Daymon?” Wynn asked. “How do you know these things?”
Daymon shrugged. “It's the responsibility of the Guardians. I've been studying the history of the Vale since I took the pledge.”
Alayne brushed it aside. “Problem solved, then, right?” she asked. “We take it out, send it to some snow-capped mountain peak somewhere and bury it, and then the connection between us dies.”
“You still don't get it, do you?” Daymon said. “Layne, every person who has ever
possessed the Vale has died after parting with it. It's just the nature of the connection. Even if the Vale released the connection to the person who had possessed it, the person still died. It was like pulling the plug on a tub full of water; there was just no way to stop the life from slipping out of the person once the Vale disappeared from their possession.”
“But your mother, Patience—”
“Was killed by Malachi, yes, but she would have died before much more time had passed anyway.” Daymon's dark eyes studied Alayne, his gaze serious. “So now that your secret of the Vale is out, you will never be completely safe again. Now everyone knows, Layne, that you're the Quadriweave. It's no longer a hidden fact.”
“So we keep her home.” Wynn's voice was decisive, settled. “Maybe we can even move from Skyden, find another house that will better hide us—”
“You don't keep her home.” Daymon faced Wynn and Bryan. “With all due respect, my uncle and I are the head of many Vale Guardians at Clayborne. We all possess the skills and weapons necessary to protect the Vale, and we can keep Alayne much safer under our care there than you would be able to here, or even in hiding somewhere else.”
Alayne moved past Daymon, spreading her hands helplessly to the sides. “Can't you see that it's not just about me anymore? Malachi is loose, the Elemental Alliance is on the rise, there's a Shadow-Caster inside of Clayborne that we haven't discovered yet. Please, Mom? Daymon's right. I feel very safe with him and Manders, but this thing with the Vale is going to have to come to some sort of conclusion. And it never will as long as I'm cooped up in hiding. Please.” Alayne's voice shook, and she paused to steady it. “I can't run for the rest of my life. I have to go do something. If I'm to be cursed with the possession of the Vale, then I need to take advantage of the gifts it gives me and use them for something greater than myself.”
The motionless tableau broke when Wynn's hand pressed across her mouth, and a single tear spilled from her eye, tracing slowly down her cheek.
Alayne stepped forward, pulling her mother into a hug.
After a long moment, her mother stepped back and took a deep, steadying breath. “Okay, Layne.” She swallowed with difficulty. “You can go.”
Alayne nodded, her lips tightening. “Thank you.”
Bryan's deep sigh turned Alayne around. “Always be sure, Bug, to keep a careful eye out for the Elemental Alliance. I don't like how quickly it's growing. Power to the worthy can so easily slide into Power against the weaker, and I'm afraid that this is where it's going. What do you think, Daymon? Will there be trouble this year at school with the EA?”
The deference her parents showed Daymon was sickening. “He doesn't know that, Dad,” Alayne snapped. “How could he?”
None of them had known that Jeb Smyth's murder of Dyllon Rand would set the Elemental Alliance up in society like it had. The sudden sympathy the EA had gained as a result of the shooting had seemed to smooth over their not-so-secret tensions with the Naturals, and people had begun to not only accept them, but support them, despite their divisive credo.
Wynn stared at her husband. “Bryan, the Elemental Alliance isn't a cuddly kitten someone can wool around without consequences. If Alayne starts asking questions—”
“She won't,” Daymon broke in. “But I will.”
“What do you mean?” Alayne asked, whirling on him.
“Your parents are right. If you go poking your nose into too many dark corners, you're going to end up getting it cut off. I've just promised your mother that the Guardians will keep you safe. But it doesn't mean that we won't be trying to figure out where the EA is going with their plans. You possess the Vale, Layne, and the EA's hunger for power isn't going to forget that.”
Wynn shook her head, but Bryan's voice dropped to a whisper as he moved closer. “Just think of the facts. We know some Justices who sit on the High Court's bench. In the last two months, four of them have stepped down. Also, you remember Justice Lynn Pagoma from the news headlines? She disappeared five weeks ago, and no one knows why. Suddenly, another Justice was chosen to replace her without a formal vote or anything.” He glanced over at Wynn. His wife's fingers nervously combed her silver-streaked dark hair over her shoulder. Bryan shifted his gaze back to Alayne. “Bug, what will happen if the Alliance takes the majority on the High Court bench?” Bryan tilted his head, his blue eyes intent as he stared into his daughter's.
Alayne's thoughts raced. If the Alliance took over the High Court—something that before this summer had seemed extremely unlikely, but now seemed as if it could happen next week—laws would pass, laws that condemned Naturals and elevated Elementals, laws that would affect her family far more than she had ever considered. “You—you would...”
Wynn voice broke in, dry as a desert wind. “Yes. Your father is not an Elemental, and so he is one of the ones that the Elemental Alliance will target. And since I'm a traitor, having fallen in love with a Natural, I'm also on the list.” Wynn swiped angry tears from her eyes and then evaporated the moisture.
“The list?”
“The Elemental Alliance keeps careful lists of who comes from which background and targets them in their campaign for power.” Anger tightened Wynn's lips.
Fury swelled in Alayne's ribcage. “Well, I'm an Elemental daughter of a Natural, so I should be targeted, too. And our neighbors are targets, also, because they live next to such a person, and oh, how about all of Skyden, 'cause obviously our City Centre's inhabitants should be punished for allowing such a person to pollute their air? Or what about the whole blooming Continent for letting him live here? How stupid are these people?” Alayne rose to her feet, her hands planted on her hips.
“Shh, Bug,” Bryan cautioned, glancing around their back yard. The neighbors weren't terribly close, but voices could carry in the morning air. “We still have to be careful.”
The whole conversation felt surreal. Alayne suddenly asked, “How do you know all this about the EA?”
Wynn exchanged a significant look with at Bryan. After another long moment, her voice rusted in the stillness. “There's a—a resistance, Layne, called the Last Order. Your father and I are members.” Alayne's eyes widened as she glanced at Daymon. His gaze met hers, and anger flooded through her.
He knew. He knew, and she didn't, that her parents were part of an underground resistance effort.
She jerked her gaze back to her parents, her mind returning to the last year and the windy outpost near Cliffsides. They'd found a badge on Dorner's coat, tiny initials. LO. Sprynge had explained that it stood for the Last Order, but she'd never learned anything more about it. “How long has this been going on? You told me last year that you wouldn't keep any more secrets from me. You asked me to trust you.” Alayne's voice grew louder with each accusation, and Wynn flinched.
“Alayne, please, it's so secret and so dangerous. It didn't seem like we needed to add to your danger by including you in the information. And we never directly lied about it.”
Alayne pulled in a deep breath, calming her temper. Her fingers had fallen asleep where they dug into the heels of her hands. “How long?” she asked carefully.
“Since Malachi's escape from prison before you left for Clayborne last year.”
“Mom!” Alayne exploded. “All this time?”
“It was for your safety, honey.”
Alayne glared at her mother's pale face, willing herself to think rationally. At last, she asked, “How big is it? Does the Elemental Alliance know about it?”
“They know about it, and they don't like it, especially as we've had a few notable wins in the past. We've gotten some of our own Justices in the High Court, as well as some spies throughout the Capital. The Elemental Alliance found some of them,” Wynn's face shadowed as she spoke, “but others are still there, fighting for our cause.”
Alayne nodded, allowing the information to sink in as she crossed to the box of throwing knives. “Mom?” she asked, her finger tracing over the steel blades.
“What?”
“What would the EA do if they caught Dad?”
Bryan stared seriously at her, then a half-hearted smile stretched across his face. “Don't worry, Bug. Your mother's not too shabby with her element. She'll protect me.” The smile remained, but a shadow of worry clouded his blue eyes.
Alayne's gaze met Daymon's, and his face was graver than she'd seen it yet. She shivered, and the cold seeped into her bones.
* * *
Marysa's dark head bobbed through the crowd as she bounced toward Alayne. She reached her friend and grabbed Alayne's bag from her hand, hauling her back to the group of chairs where Marysa's parents and older sister, Katrina, sat. Marysa also had three brothers, but the last one had graduated from Clayborne the previous year. They leaned against the railing by the windows, watching the shuttles arriving and departing.
Alayne's parents followed behind her and sank gratefully into the seats nearby. Marysa chattered as quickly as she always had. “Layne, I just heard that we'll get the ninth floor this year! Katrina's a floor monitor, and she asked specifically, and Professor Grace said yes. Grace is in charge of the women's side this year. But at least now we don't have to climb eighteen floors several times a day.” She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Having a floor monitor sister can have its perks sometimes, right? Do you know what you're going to take this year? Your Points of Motion-Stop class sounded so fun last year that I was totally sad that I didn't get to take it, so I was thinking of signing up for it this year, even though it's mostly a First-Year class. I think we should try to get most of our classes together; they're loads more fun when you can take them with your best friend.”
It was nice to see Marysa's vibrant personality return after her ordeal the previous year. When Marysa had been kidnapped and trapped in the cavern system beneath Cliffsides for months, she and everyone else had been convinced that she wouldn't make it out alive. Surprisingly, Simeon Malachi had been the instrument of her return to the school where Alayne and Daymon had succeeded in rescuing her from his hands.
Shadows of Uprising (Guardian of the Vale Book 2) Page 2
