The Circle of Duty

by Owen Elgie

  We broke apart after an eternity and just stared into each other’s eyes, our heads resting gently against each other.

  “I’ve never been normal. Show me normal.” Andrea’s voice was low and there was no confusion over what she had meant.

  We melted into each other and there was nothing on Earth that was going to come between us.

  21

  Now despite what some people will say, I’m a gentleman.

  I’m not going to give you any sordid details of what took place but just know that Andrea and I worked out so many of the issues that we’d been dealing with. I had been given the knowledge that Andrea thought more of me that just being another member of The Circle and she was given the first chance in her life to be more than just the mighty Guardian of The Circle.

  We both lay on the sofa, clasped in each other’s arms and breathing deeply. We both had a feeling of utter relaxation and contentment and I felt fantastic.

  The relaxation didn’t last long.

  Andrea was still breathing hard when she leapt away from me and stood up, hurriedly adjusting her clothes and straightening herself.

  “What’s wrong?” I was less inclined to scrabble to my feet but I still did my best to protect my modesty.

  “We are expected back at your estate. The Elder will be arriving soon, if she hasn’t already, and we cannot be absent when she presents herself.” She was still re-building the organized exterior as she spoke and it was easy to see that she was suddenly very nervous.

  “What’s the matter? You can’t be scared that I won’t call?” I began to re-adjust my own clothing and struggle out of the sofa. Andrea had by now backed away from me and had found herself with her back pressed up against the far wall of my living room. She stood rigidly straight and her eyes flicked nervously around, as if trying to pinpoint an unseen enemy.

  “What’s wrong?” I matched my own tone to the fear she was clearly feeling.

  “It is forbidden to do what we have just done. We have just broken a very deep code of The Circle by giving in to the animal instincts. The Circle will know what we have done and they will punish us.” Her eyes were still moving around the room but she was starting to tremble as she looked at every point at once.

  I had to reassure her in some way. Stepping forward to meet her, I reached out my arms to hold her but she flinched away, as if they would infect her with the merest touch.

  “What we did wasn’t the end of the world. Every Guardian has had a family so The Circle can’t be that bothered by the thought of Guardians being intimate.” I reached for her again to soothe away her fear but she moved away again, resolutely keeping a space between the two of us.

  “We can have families but we have to engage only in relationships sanctioned by The Circle. It is highly unusual to not do what is expected.” I thought about my own mother and how her own choices of partner could be described as being highly unusual. That still didn’t explain this level of terror.

  “My own parents were together because my mother didn’t do what was expected of her in her personal life. There were no reprisals because of what she was doing.” She still didn’t look any happier.

  “Your mother chose her partner from outside The Circle but she chose what could be described as being with someone who was lesser than her. It is expressly forbidden that Guardians become involved. The threat that would imply to The Circle as a whole would be too much to accept.” The tears had been clinging to her eyes but they started to fall as the threat that Andrea could see grew beyond what she was able to process.

  “The penalty for such fraternization between Guardians is Bridging. We will be unmade and our power given for another to carry.” She broke down into sobs and I just couldn’t leave her. I scooped her up into my arms and just held her as she cried.

  “Who told you that?” I needed to work out where the threat was coming from so I didn’t accidentally reveal any details to the wrong person.

  “My father always told me that there would be consequences to any acts of the flesh. It has been very clear that I was only allowed to have a relationship with someone who was deemed appropriate by The Circle. He said the punishment would be to have my power taken away. Having read what happened today, that means Bridging.” She continued to hold her head down, not risking meeting my eyes as she was.

  “No-one will bridge us.” Deal with each point one at a time.

  “The Drake Stone is missing. Besides, how will anyone know that anything has happened? It’s a private matter between us, nothing for The Circle to know. I won’t tell them and neither will you?” I held her to me and just breathed in the smell of her hair.

  “The Circle always know. We have so many ways of knowing everything, we will be discovered.”

  “Only if we tell everyone. You’ve just got to work on your poker face. Just treat me the same way that you have been doing since we met and no-one will be the wiser. We both wanted this so it can’t be wrong. All we’ll need to do is behave in a normal fashion and the strength of The Circle will go on without a hitch.”

  Looking down at the top of her head, I could practically make out the gears whirring as she considered what I’d just said.

  “We cannot afford to be discovered. This can never happen again and we will never speak about it. We will continue in our roles and there will be no further reference to any of this. Do you understand?”

  She was now staring directly at me, her reddened eyes highlighting the process going on inside her. The fear she had been feeling was slowly being replaced by a hard brick determination.

  I nodded my agreement but couldn’t feel anything like the certainty she was currently channeling. Why shouldn’t we continue to see each other? What damage could it really do? We were both adults and by the looks of things, it was time that The Circle updated their ideas to bring them into the twenty first century.

  Andrea sighed slightly as she registered the relief that she felt the problem at hand settled. I knew that this was going to be something that we still had to resolve in the future but for now, I was glad the terror was gone. I just held her and stared into her eyes. We held each other that way for both a long time and no time, all at once. Following the decision we’d just made, there was now that all too familiar feeling brewing between us where I was just desperate to kiss her and I could see that she was feeling the same, despite herself.

  That tension was wrapping itself around us tighter, and tighter as the seconds ticked slowly by and I could feel myself leaning in to kiss her, it was practically a natural reflex. As our lips closed on each other’s, Andrea’s eyes changed as she broke from the grip of her animal instinct and broke away from our embrace.

  “This is a clear indication that we must be supremely careful in what we do. This will never happen again.”

  I was about to reply to her when the Cascade Bridge opened behind her. She took a step further away and pulled the construct in after her, repeating the single word “Never” as she left me behind.

  I stood in the living room of my flat and knew that something massive had just changed in who we both were. Andrea had gone against the very fabric of who she was and everything she believed in to do what she had just done and it had been me who she had chosen to break those rules with. If the power players of The Circle ever discovered what we’d just done, we’d both be ended.

  I hadn’t even started out on the mission and I’d found another way for my own people to want me dead.

  Great!

  I left it twenty minutes before I opened my own bridge and returned to the estate in Wales. I wanted to make certain that Andrea was back and away from wherever I could possibly go, letting everyone see that we weren’t together, even if we had been.

  I decided to jump back into my own suite rather than risk anywhere else. I knew that there would be the chance of someone realizing that I hadn’t been seen leaving Marias room but it was just too risky.

  The gateway snapped shut behind me and the smell o
f ozone which accompanied the magic began to waft throughout the room, dissipating quickly. There was still a faint hint still in the air as the door opened and Mike came striding in, all ceremony and ritual poise. He started sniffing the air ever so subtly as he approached me, obviously picking up the hint of the magic still in the atmosphere.

  “Didn’t fancy walking back through the house did you bach?” He was maintaining his important pose and stood practically ram rod straight as he looked at me. His face, though, told a different story. He wore a very conspiratorial grin as he spoke, all the while keeping his voice low and his back to the door. Looks like he knew what was going on already, or at least part of it.

  He raised his voice before I was able to give any form of response, official or otherwise.

  “I present the arrival of The Elder of The Circle to the estate my lord.” He tacked on a theatrical bow as a final flourish and stepped to one side, clearing my view of the door.

  The Elder flowed into the room. There was barely any hint of her locomotion as she entered. It almost looked as if she was on roller skates and someone had just pushed her in, allowing her to roll effortlessly to a stop before me.

  She looked to be wearing a version of ancient ceremonial armour from China, preparing herself for combat in a time long past. The black of the armour was decorated with astonishing detail to depict Dragon faces and beasts in various poses of authority, all rendered in what looked like gold leaf. She was truly familiar with being in a position of power.

  “Thank you for the hospitality you have shown in allowing our shelter. My forces stand ready for our departure. Let us adjourn to discuss our opening move.”

  Her voice was her usual mix of hostility and contempt and she held a very loose hold on her emotions, allowing a great many of her feelings to leak through onto her face. She must have been forcing herself to wade through the platitudes which were so demanded by the time honoured traditions of The Circle.

  “You are most welcome fellow Guardian. Michael. Would you please escort The Elder to the Library and I will join you there shortly.” I had no idea what the correct response was supposed to be but I knew that I had to show at least some kind of understanding of what was taking place.

  Mike bowed with just a little too much ceremonial starch and gestured for The Elder to follow him. She, in turn, nodded slightly in recognition and turned to follow. She didn’t even acknowledge me, obviously keen to show me what she thought of me.

  “And Michael.” He stopped abruptly and turned to me.

  “Would you please ensure that Miss Thomich is also called, there really is no time to lose.”

  Mike nodded in agreement and tried to hide his smile. “I will my lord.” I think he tried to hide his smile.

  After a hurried shower and a short but fruitless attempt to decide on the most appropriate clothing to wear for my very first war council, I entered my library dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, prepared for the worst.

  Andrea and the Elder were the only two people in the room and they both turned to face me as the doors opened. The Elder was stood, still dressed in her armour and looking every inch the commanding officer of a feudal dispute. Andrea, though, was seated. She was dressed in more contemporary tactical gear but there were still areas of plate metal and some form of mail in her uniform. She cast her eyes towards me with no more concern than if any staff member of the house had entered. She didn’t give even the barest hint that she was going through anything other than the mundane waiting before an important meeting.

  I did my best to accept this as the actions of someone who had the strongest poker face you could imagine, someone who was keeping her end of the agreement to keep the actions of the pair of us a secret. I don’t think that I was all that successful in transferring the same emotion to my face.

  Her casual indifference to my arrival was a great deal more painful than I had bargained for. Despite knowing that there was a greater reason to how she was behaving, all I could feel from the very first second of the encounter, was a feeling of failure. I wasn’t good enough for her to even register anything of me other than the most cursory of glances. My rational mind told me everything I needed to know, everything I already knew, but my internal fears screamed at me. Doubt and anger expanded in my chest and spread throughout my limbs. The power of the fire Dragon was making me worry no doubt.

  “Please enter and close the door. We have precious little time to waste just staring at space.”

  The Elders voice cut through the fog of my internal torment and dragged me back to the here and now. Keep it together Anthony, for crying out loud.

  I shut the door behind me and took a steadying breath before marching into the room.

  “Just one more person to arrive and we can get started. Has there been any word from The Messenger?” Andrea and The Elder gave no indication of any prior knowledge before The Messenger herself announced her arrival.

  “I have been here for some time my lord and ladies.”

  Each of us did our best to conceal the undoubted surprise that her words had caused. She had again just appeared before us from beneath whatever type of concealment or veil she had been working. Personally, the worst part of the situation had been that the first half of her sentence had been delivered from beneath the shroud. Her voice had been cast into the room with nothing to show as its source until she materialized. She simply stood in the room and waited on a response or action from anyone else.

  The first thing which went through my mind was she had been amongst us without our knowledge. She’d been able to listen to everything which was being said in a room without the people in it being any the wiser. Andrea’s words from my flat in London rang in my ears like the deep tolling of an ominous bell, “The Circle always know. We have so many ways of knowing everything.”

  If I’d thought of this as a potential threat, so would Andrea. I didn’t dare look at her for fear of my own resolution collapsing before the pressure wall I could see rising before me. All I could do was keep my focus on the job at hand and try not to let paranoia get the better of me.

  “Shall we begin?” I said as I strode in and aimed for the table at the far end of the room. The Elder watched me pass her with the intense gaze of a predator waiting to strike, but followed after me, her focus not wavering from me for a second. The Messenger and Andrea followed her.

  I sat myself at the table and the three ladies joined me.

  “Should we wait on the arrival of our pending Guardian? Mr. Blanco is here within this house so should be called to be a part of this discussion.” The Elder had decided that her man Hairy was needed at this meeting and no matter what we were going to do, he was going to end up as the new man in charge in Argentina.

  “Lady Elder. Only the most senior members of The Circle are to be in attendance in this meeting. You must know that fact?” The Messengers voice carried no malice or disappointment; it was just statements of fact that we should have all know.

  I felt good that The Elder was coming up against someone who was happy to put her in her place but a small voice in the back of my head still whispered that Mark or Mike could have some vital input to the proceedings. Why was it that only the supposed big wigs got to sit in?

  Nothing more was said on that point as The Elder made no further attempt to push her feelings forward. The silence draped itself over the room and waited for the meeting to remove it.

  Back to business then.

  “Where are we going to begin this hunt? We currently know nothing about the Drake Stone so we’re a little at a loss.” I hadn’t meant to sound quite so negative but it just seemed to tumble out of me.

  “We know a great deal about the Drake Stone, child.” The Elder gave her opening salvo and the battle lines were drawn instantly. As she spoke, she gestured with her hands to give extra description to what she was saying.

  “The Messenger knows everything which we will need.” She may not have had all of the information herself but she was confiden
t that someone on her team did, so by extension, she had the knowledge at her fingertips. Again, The Elder showed that she was completely certain of the infallibility of The Circle and everything it had at its disposal. All eyes passed to The Messenger and waited for her to shed some much needed light onto the subject.

  “It is a deep purple, ovoid object, similar in shape to a chicken’s egg, roughly the same size as a rugby ball.”

  I swear my mouth dropped open. Her voices pitch and intonation remained the same but it was only now that I realized that her vocabulary had lost all the thee’s and thou’s from our first meeting. The cadence was different as well. She was sounding more like one of any number of people who we’ve all spoken with over the years. The difference here was she didn’t sound as if she was used to speaking in this fashion. On top of all that, she’d talked about a rugby ball? How did she know about a rugby ball?

  The Elder noticed my surprise, as did the Messenger. Andrea kept her poker face intact.

  “I have spent a great deal of time learning about you Mr. Johns. I do not understand a great many of the details related to you but I learn of everyone. You are to be a part of who I am within The Circle therefore you need to be fathomed.”

  There was a pause before she continued. “Did I use the sporting analogy correctly?”

  My mouth dropped open again, though this time not solely because of the shock. I could hear more than just knowledge in her voice. The question carried a real concern for the accuracy of the information. I just nodded in the affirmative. I just didn’t know what else to do. Considering how our previous encounter had unfolded, I hadn’t expected to have anything less than snarls and aggression. To think that the Messenger had been learning about me? She was probably just readying herself for the arrival of a new Guardian and comrade but knowing that she had started to dig into the detail of who I was, was more than a little unsettling. Was she preparing a plan to lull me into a false sense of security?