Oathtaker

by Patricia Reding

  Ted nodded. “That’s a good way to describe the call.”

  “But why me?” She frowned. “I worry I may not be right for this.” And I should be honest. I worry I’ll fail to live up to my oath. She cast the thought aside as quickly as it had arisen.

  Dixon patted her arm. “That’s my fault. We had a bad start and it was my doing. But rest assured, the Good One knows what’s best. I had no right to second-guess Him, or you. And really, you shouldn’t either.”

  “That’s right,” Ted agreed.

  “Well, thank you, but there’s just so much to learn in the actual practice of being an Oathtaker with a charge. Where do I go from here?”

  “Hold on. You said it yourself. We start at the beginning.”

  She nodded. Ted’s presence reassured her, made her feel supported.

  He sat to the front of his chair. When the house cat rubbed up against his legs, he scratched it behind its ears. “All right then, how about your attendant magic?”

  She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. “I can’t say I’ve seen anything yet, but—”

  “She hears thoughts,” Dixon interrupted.

  She frowned. “I don’t know about that.”

  “Take my word for it, Ted, it’s true. She’s picked up on my thoughts already. It wasn’t about anything particularly important. I expect the Good One granted the ‘hearing’ as a means of informing her of the power.”

  “I don’t know,” she repeated.

  “Trust me, you did. And about something you could have had no inkling I was thinking at the time.”

  “Anything else you’ve noticed?” Ted asked.

  “She might have some attendant power related to her voice.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Let’s just say it’s a good thing she didn’t sing the lullaby we heard earlier tonight, or we’d all be snoring now.”

  “Dixon,” Mara chided, wincing.

  “No, really! Ted, the other night she sang to the girls and put the whole room to sleep in mere moments.”

  She shook her head at him.

  “Is that true?” Ted asked.

  “We were all so tired. It was late. I think everyone just nodded off and it happened to be when I sang.”

  “Well, that’s one to keep in mind.

  “Supposing it’s true, what use could that serve?”

  “Perhaps you aren’t fully appreciating the value of sleep.” Ted grinned.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, even if all you can do is to sing someone to sleep quickly and easily, that could prove helpful—particularly to someone in need of it for healing.” He paused. “Anything else?”

  “Yes. Someone who’d been in the group that pursued Rowena and me, surprised us the other night,” Dixon said.

  “You didn’t mention that earlier.” Ted sat up, clearly alarmed. “What happened?”

  Dixon told his friend about Heri.

  “Did you learn anything from him?”

  “That’s just it. Mara seemed to know just how to get him to give us the information we needed.”

  “What did you find out?”

  “Only that before joining the group tracking Rowena, he was with the palace guard. He said someone sent them out to kill Rowena. He didn’t know who.”

  “Hmmm. What did you do?”

  “Killed him,” Dixon responded without hesitation.

  “Good. Better him than any of you.”

  “It wasn’t like we could take him along.”

  “In any case, we’d best keep you all as far from the palace and anyone associated with it as possible,” Ted suggested.

  “I agree.”

  Just then, Mara jumped up. “Oh! Oh my! Oh my!” she cried, flapping her hands and stomping her feet as in a frenzied rain dance.

  “What is it?” Dixon shot to his feet.

  Ted followed suit.

  “I don’t know!” she cried. “I feel this strange . . . buzzing. It’s like a— Oh! Oh!” She slapped at herself and then, tentatively, reached into her pocket where earlier she’d placed the silver compact she’d found at the hut along with Rowena’s scattered belongings. She touched it, flinched, then pulled her fingers back. Slowly she reached into her pocket again, grabbed the compact, then pulled it out and dropped it into her chair.

  “What? What is it?” Dixon asked again.

  “That thing!” she cried, pointing to the compact. “That thing buzzed or—or something! Oh, dear Good One!” she exclaimed, breathing heavily. She put her hands to her face, trembling.

  He picked up the compact. It vibrated, visibly. He took Mara’s hand and placed it in her palm.

  It tickled. She looked at it, then back up at him.

  He scrunched up his shoulders. “I don’t know what’s happening, Mara. I’ve never seen it do that before.”

  Ted took the trinket. It went still. “Where’s this from?”

  “It was Rowena’s,” Dixon said.

  Ted placed the compact back into Mara’s hand. Again, it vibrated. “Does it hurt?” he asked.

  “Noooo.”

  The three stood, transfixed.

  Ted scratched the back of his head. “You game to opening it?”

  Mara placed her fingers on the clasp. Slowly, she opened it. When she looked inside, she shrieked, then sent the compact flying.

  The tabby, arching its back, rubbed against Dixon’s legs. Standing just to Mara’s side, he held her elbow to steady her from falling. Ted, standing to her other side, held her other arm. She panted, chest and shoulders heaving, eyes wide, fingers and hands jittering. She licked her lips and closed her eyes tight.

  “Rowena?”

  The three exchanged glances, their mouths all open in surprise.

  “Rowena?”

  Mara took her arm from Ted’s grip. She pointed at the compact on the rug under the table.

  Ted and Dixon moved the table aside. The cat jumped at the compact and batted at it with its paws.

  “Who’s there? Rowena? Is that you? Are you all right?”

  As the feline played with its new toy, Mara squatted. She caught a glimpse of a face in the mirror. She stopped the mewing tabby’s tussling. “It’s coming from there,” she whispered. “It’s like there’s someone inside of it.” She nudged the trinket and then, still shaking, picked it up and placed it on the table, directing it forward so that she could see inside.

  There in the mirror, was the visage of a woman of perhaps thirty or so. Her face was round, cherubic even, complete with light blue eyes, rosy cheeks, and lips the color of a tea rose. As Mara peered into the mirror, the woman’s demeanor changed.

  “You’re not Rowena. Who are you? And what are you doing with her compact?”

  Mara’s mouth gaped open. “Ahhh . . . ahhh,” she stuttered. Taken so by surprise, finding the talking mirror so astounding, she couldn’t collect her thoughts.

  The woman’s brow rose. Her head cocked to the side. “I asked, ‘who are you?’” This time it was more than a question—it was a demand for information.

  “I, ahhh . . . Well, that is, I . . .”

  Dixon squatted down and peered into the mirror. “Lucy? Is that you?”

  The woman turned her gaze his way. “Dixon,” she said, obviously perturbed, “what is the meaning of this?”

  “You know that woman?” Mara stared at him, pointing to the mirror.

  “What is going on here?” Ted asked.

  “I asked, ‘do you know that woman?’”

  Dixon scrunched his shoulders. “Yes, I—I do.”

  “You might have told me she’d show up in Rowena’s mirror!” Mara scolded. “Scared me half to death.”

  “But I had no idea! I—”

  “Look,” interrupted Lucy, “I was expecting Rowena. Where is she?”

  “Excuse me . . . ahhh . . . Lucy,” Ted said, “but we have a few things to resolve here. Would you just be patient with us for a minute?”

  She scowled. “Who are
you? What are you doing with Rowena’s compact? What’s going on there? I want answers!”

  “We’ll get right back to you,” Ted said.

  “I don’t care what you all do or how many minutes you take, I’m checking in with Rowena as usual and I demand to know where she is.” Lucy’s gaze moved from Dixon, to Mara, to Ted, the faces of all three now visible to her. “Now!”

  “Like I said, ma’am, we need a minute.” Ted motioned toward the other side of the room, then grasped Dixon’s arm on his one side, and Mara’s on his other. Retreating, he directed his question to his old friend. “Who is that woman?”

  Dixon shook his head in disbelief. “That’s Lucy Haven, a dear friend and confidante of Rowena’s. She’s probably the only living person other than me who’s known all of Rowena’s plans. She was instrumental in them. And she knows the whereabouts of Rowena’s other six daughters.” He rubbed his head. “This explains so much. I just wish Rowena had told me. I don’t understand why she wouldn’t have.”

  “What does this explain?” Mara asked.

  “I always wondered how she got her information or decided on her next destination. Lucy just said she was ‘checking in with Rowena as usual.’ I never saw her use her compact to make contact with Lucy, but she must have. I’m just so . . . surprised.”

  “Can she be trusted?” Ted asked.

  “Implicitly. She leads a group of Rowena’s friends who helped her these many years. They know important things and people, and they possess incredibly powerful magic, both individually and collectively. Rowena referred to them as her ‘inner circle.’”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning she knew there were always dangers ahead of her and that they went beyond the usual for the Select. Her enemies crossed all lines. The inner circle used various means to gather information. The one place they’d not been particularly successful, however, was at the palace itself.”

  “Why?” Mara asked.

  “I can’t say for certain. They just couldn’t break through to the truth there. It was one reason we left.”

  Mara tightened the belt of her house frock and then, brushing her hair away from her face, said, “We’d best hear what she has to say.”

  Ted caught Dixon’s arm. “What do we tell her about Rowena?”

  “I think we have to tell her the truth. We have to trust her. We can trust her. To be of help to us, she’ll need all the facts.”

  The three looked to one another and nodded agreement, then turned back to where the compact sat.

  Mara took a deep breath and picked it up. It no longer vibrated in her hand; the vibrations had ceased when she’d opened it. Gesturing to her friends to attend to her either side, she sat down.

  “Well?” Lucy asked, with a huff.

  “Well, Lucy, it seems we have much to discuss,” Mara said.

  “First, tell me why you have Rowena’s compact and how it is that you were able to answer my call.”

  “I don’t know what you mean by ‘answering your call,’ but I can tell you how I came to possess the compact.”

  “Go on then.”

  Mara took a deep breath. “I’m very sorry to have to tell you this, Lucy.” She hesitated. “Rowena is . . . dead.”

  “What? Dixon? Dixon! Oh, dear Ehyeh,” Lucy moaned.

  “It’s true. It happened just days ago. I am so dreadfully sorry,” he said.

  Her eyes closed. She moaned. “Dear Good One, it was all for naught! Oh, how awful. Oh, dear, what do we do now?” she lamented. She looked up, her eyes closed, as though in prayer.

  “Not all is lost, Lucy,” he said.

  Her eyes flashed open. She glared at him. “After all we’ve been through? To bring about the seventh seventh told about—prophesied about . . . waited for . . . longed for?” She shook her head, then moaned. “And to have lost all when the plan was so near to fruition? Oh, this is so devastating. Oh!” she wailed. Her tears flowed. “Oh, all is lost.”

  “Not all is lost, Lucy. The child lives.”

  She sucked in her breath. She blinked hard and wiped away her tears. Her mouth dropped open as she searched for words.

  “The child lives,” he repeated.

  “Oh, dear merciful Good One!” She turned her gaze to Mara. “Dixon,” she then said, “who is this woman? And what’s she doing with Rowena’s things?”

  “Slow down,” Mara interrupted, “and we’ll tell you everything. Dixon told us about you and Rowena’s inner circle.”

  Lucy’s eyes narrowed. “You told them about me?” she asked him.

  “I told them you were one of Rowena’s most trusted advisors. You’ll understand why in a minute.”

  “Very well,” she finally said, tersely, “go on then.” She wiped her eyes again and turned her attention back to Mara.

  “I’m Mara. Mara Richmond. I was with Rowena when she gave birth to not one—but to two—girls. Their names are Reigna and Eden. I am their Oathtaker.”

  “Two? Two! Two infants?” Lucy shook her head. “Reigna, you say? And Eden? What lovely names, but . . . two? Are you certain?”

  “Hardly something I could mistake.”

  “Yes, of course. Hmmm . . . two babies. Which was firstborn?”

  “Reigna,” Dixon said. “She is the seventh seventh.”

  “How appropriate. Yes, ‘Reigna’ is the right name.” Lucy looked at Mara. “So you’re her Oathtaker?”

  “And Eden’s too, yes.”

  “A single Oathtaker for two Select? Is that even possible?”

  “I suppose it’s as possible as Rowena having birthed twins. Beyond that, I’ve no idea. But it is so.”

  “Well that explains some things,” Lucy muttered, as though to herself.

  “What do you mean?” Dixon asked.

  “Well, no one but Rowena or one with specific attendant magic could have felt my call or could have answered it. To anyone else, Rowena’s compact was just that—a compact.”

  “Any idea why she didn’t mention it to me?”

  “I suppose I’m to blame for that.”

  He raised his brow. “What? You encouraged Rowena to keep something this important from her Oathtaker? Don’t you think it might have been helpful for me to know this? It was purely accidental that Mara found the compact and took it along with her. What if it had gotten into the wrong hands? Or—”

  “It was simply out of an abundance of caution,” Lucy interrupted. “I thought the less said about it, the less it would be discussed, the less the chance it would be discovered. It couldn’t be used by another, but I did go through great pains to create it, and you’re right—it would have been a great loss had you not taken it with you.”

  “Are there any other ‘cautions’ you took that I—that Mara—should know about? So we don’t accidentally leave something else behind?” he asked, his voice laced with anger.

  She lowered her gaze. “Noooo.” Then she looked back his way. “If it’s any consolation, Rowena didn’t like keeping the secret from you. The last time we spoke, she said she was going to tell you.”

  “Wait a minute,” Mara said. “What did you mean? That you ‘went through great pains to create it.’ The compact, I mean.”

  “It’s part of Lucy’s attendant magic,” Dixon said. “She can infuse objects with magic so they can be used for other than their ordinary purposes. Like the compact here is used to communicate. Or so it seems,” he said, glaring at Lucy.

  Mara nodded. “All right, Lucy. Shall I continue?”

  The woman took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, as though trying to rid herself of the knowledge that Dixon was angry with her. “Please, do.”

  Mara relayed the story of the past few days.

  Lucy listened carefully, asking for specifics from time to time. “So Rowena released her power?”

  “Yes.”

  “Thank the Good One for that. Her children’s line will go on to lead the Select. And you’re sure you weren’t followed?”

  “No, we’re
not,” Dixon said. “We did our best to hide our trail, and of course Rowena’s release of her power gave us a head start. But someone intercepted us once already.” He told her all about Heri.

  “We came here to Polesk because we needed a wet nurse for the girls,” Mara said. “We’ve found a lovely young woman here at the Oathtakers’ mission home for Chiranian refugees who’s willing to go along with us to care for the girls.”

  “And the other gentleman there with you?”

  “Ted Baker. Also an Oathtaker,” Ted said.

  “Baker . . . Baker,” Lucy repeated, as though trying to conjure any information or recollection.

  “He has my full endorsement,” Dixon said.

  “Well, no matter,” she continued with a wave, as though Dixon hadn’t spoken.

  “Maybe you could help us,” Mara said. “We were just discussing where we should go from here when you—what do you say—‘called?’”

  For the first time, Lucy laughed. It was a delightful sound. “Yes, that’s right. This means of communication does come in handy. We’ll be able to get information to you quickly this way, now that the twins are your charge and your attendant magic allows for it.”

  “Have you any suggestions for us?”

  The woman pursed her lips and tilted her head. “It would be best for you to come here. It’s where Rowena was headed after all. We just didn’t want her to unintentionally lead someone right into the camp. I’ll need to contact the others in the field to find out what they know, then get back to you. In the meantime, keep the compact handy, but don’t ever answer my call unless you’re certain no one can see or hear you.”

  “All right. We’ll do as you say.”

  “Good. I’ll get back to you with an update soon.” Lucy hesitated. “Where did you say all this happened?”

  “Just south of Parkton,” Dixon said. “There was a small wayfarer’s hut along the old messenger’s route between there and Lentontown.”

  “I know the place. I’ll send some folks out to see what they can learn. In the meantime, be prepared to move at a moment’s notice. Keep the infants close, your bags packed, and your horses rested.”

  “Thank you,” Mara said.

  “Oh yes, what of the young woman? A Chiranian, you say?”