by H. R. Moore
He relaxed a little. He’d been worried she would take this less well. ‘Yep. But as you can see there are some differences. In my head its night time and the house and Kingdom are also here. For some reason they’re not in your version, not that I’m really sure how this place ever got inside your head at all.’
‘But you have a theory?’
‘Yes, I have a theory. But I’m not sure this is quite the right time to share.’
‘Why not?’ a hint of annoyance in her tone.
‘Because there are so many other things to discuss.’
‘Like what?’ Alexander’s diversionary tactics successfully averting her attention.
‘There isn’t anything, after all the conversation this evening, that you want to ask me?’ He smiled indulgently as she realised this was her chance.
‘Why did Austin get rid of all the relic specialists but leave Anderson alone?’
‘I don’t know the whole answer to that, but Austin decided a while back that studying the relic was to be outlawed. Nobody really knows why, but he sprouted some stuff about not wanting to give people false hope. Why he left Anderson alone I have no idea, I’ve often wondered myself, but the most obvious explanation would be either that Anderson has something on Austin that he doesn’t want to come out, or that Austin has some specific interest in Anderson’s work. That’s just speculation though.’
‘What made Anderson connect the relic and energy transfer?’
‘Again, I don’t really know. I think he must have discovered something either in a book, or been told something by a scholar, or maybe he discovered something during his time in the Wild Lands. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t anything in accepted academic texts or from the current academics, as there is nobody else working on the assumption that energy transfer and sending the relic back are connected. Although even if they were they wouldn’t be able to talk about it in public, given Austin’s decree. I doubt Anderson would’ve told anyone, except perhaps Arabella, it’s not the kind of thing he’d want in the public domain. The world is much safer than it used to be, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe.’
‘Do you think Anderson is working with the Institution?’
‘No.’
‘How can you be so sure?’
‘Anderson hates the Institution. He thinks they were responsible for a great deal of unnecessary suffering a couple of decades back and the Institution is not entirely behind the idea of sending the relic back, which Anderson finds suspicious. It wouldn’t take much for the Institution to get into bed with the Descendants and Anderson can’t stand the Descendants.’
Anita laughed. ‘Need I remind you that you’re a Descendant and he just came over for dinner?!’
‘The Spirit Descendants have always been less, uh…fundamentalist shall we say, than the rest of them. We tend to be more philosophical and less power hungry. We’re more open to ideas different to our own, which means people like Anderson find us more trustworthy than the others.’
‘Is he right to trust you?’
Alexander was taken aback by the abruptness of the question. ‘Why wouldn’t he be?’
‘I don’t know, something to do with you withholding information from me makes me think maybe you would do it to him too.’
‘Anita, the only reason I withheld information from you was because Marcus hasn’t let me anywhere near you since he found out we were coming here together. I was going to tell you.’
‘You had plenty of opportunity to tell me before that night in The Island. We’ve been meditating together for weeks.’
‘As I’ve said before, Marcus is a jealous person and whether you choose to believe it or not, you will be in danger if you two drift apart, or worse if he thought you weren’t totally loyal to him. I didn’t want to get any closer to you than was needed to help you protect yourself and I had a feeling that sharing something like a place in our minds could have that effect.’
‘What do you think of the Institution?’ Anita’s change of tack took him by surprise. He’d expected more of an argument than that.
‘Why do you ask?’
‘I just want to know.’
‘To be honest, I don’t know. I used to be pretty wary of them. It’s what Descendants are taught from an early age. But then their goal is to keep the energy steady, which is a noble goal for the good of everyone. But if they’re willing to prevent the relic from being returned to keep the energy steady, I don’t think I agree with their aim. Why? What do you think of them?’
‘Would you help them if they asked?’ Anita ignored his question.
‘It would depend what they asked me to do. If you’re asking me if I trust them, then the answer is most definitely no. I think it’s best to steer clear of most people with a political agenda. Why the sudden interest? Have they asked you for help?’
‘You have a political agenda.’
‘Do I?’ The words were a challenge and as he said them the mood between them sharpened. It turned wary and almost hostile.
Anita said nothing for a few moments, then raised Alexander’s hand to her lips and kissed it, knowing she had pushed him as far as he was willing to go tonight. She looked up at him, ‘doesn’t every Descendant have a political agenda out of necessity?’ she asked softly.
Alexander searched for words to respond but couldn’t find any. She seized the moment and rocked lightly forwards, now on all fours, cat-like in front of him, her hands on his knees. She leaned in and kissed him lightly on his lips, then broke contact to wait for his response. He did nothing. His eyes were closed and his mind was racing. He knew he’d already passed the point of no return, but this was exactly what he’d been trying to avoid. If Marcus found out, who knew what would happen, but every instinct he possessed was screaming at him to kiss her.
She waited several seconds before leaning in and kissing him lightly again. She could feel the impact she was having on his energy and knew he was fighting an internal battle, but she also knew she couldn’t push him too hard or he would run away. Again, she waited, before bowing her head to kiss him for a third time. This time, as she was pulling away, she felt him respond. He pushed his lips lightly back against hers and she froze, her energy a strange mix of excitement and terror that any movement would push him away. He kissed her more assertively, pushing carefully against her warm lips. Anita moved her hands to his neck, pulling him gently towards her, their lips now parted, tongues caressing each other.
They became more confident, then more urgent, Alexander rising to his knees, his hands pulling at her lower back to press her to him before lifting her off the ground and pushing her backwards. He laid her roughly on the ground, her cloak fanned out beneath her, then followed her over and pinned her with his weight. She ran her fingers through his hair as he kissed and nipped her neck then tugged at the clasp of his cloak, pulled of his dinner jacket and slid his shirt free from his trousers, her fingers making their way under his shirt and greedily taking in the firm, athletic contours of his back. He kissed his way down her neck, reaching her breasts as he slid her silk dress up over her hips. Anita arched her back, pushing her body towards him as he slid his arm under her and pulled her into him. He smelt like ripe oranges and she inhaled deeply as he brushed his fingers down her spine, but as he did it, the world began to blur.
Anita opened her eyes to find herself sitting facing Alexander, palms out in front of her as she had been when they had begun to meditate. ‘What happened?’ she asked, both confused and disappointed, moving her hands back to her lap. The tingling had stopped and all she felt now was that she had been robbed of a great deal of pleasure.
‘It’s likely that the guilt we were both feeling, but doing a good job of suppressing, yanked us back to the present. Our brains were caught in a dilemma of what to do, so booted us out. It’s probably for the best when you think about it.’
‘Why? It’s not like nothing happened and I was quite enjoying myself.’
Typical Body, thought Alexander, who in
truth, was also feeling robbed. He searched her eyes, hoping to see some sort of understanding of the danger she was putting herself in, but saw not a trace. ‘I was enjoying myself too, but it’s good nothing else happened and it’s best that we forget about it. I don’t think Marcus would take it well if he found out.’
Anita knew she wasn’t going to win tackling this straight on. He would just harp on about Marcus and the danger she was in, so she changed tack. ‘There is one more thing I wanted to ask you about.’
‘Yes?’
‘You feel the tingles too?’
Alexander’s breath caught in his throat. ‘Yes,’ he nodded huskily.
‘And you’ve nudged the edge of my energy?’
‘You can feel that too?’
Anita nodded. ‘Does everyone feel them? I feel them with both you and Marcus,’ she looked a little sheepish at bringing him up, ‘but I’ve never felt them with anyone else.’
‘You feel them with Marcus too?’ Anita nodded again. ‘Interesting,’ said Alexander, pausing to consider what to say next. ‘The nudges and tingles are caused when energy is exerted by one person on another, that much we think we know. They only seem to take place when the energy is intended to be pleasurable or supportive and certainly positive, there have never been any reports of effects on people of negative energy. But the problem is that it’s rare to come across people who are able to feel them and generally both parties have to be able to feel them for either to be aware of them. That’s why it surprises me that you felt them with Marcus, as I had no idea that he could feel them too.’
‘Well I’m not entirely sure he can. He’s never brought it up, nor does he ever do anything which would indicate he can feel them and it sounds like the research is limited, so maybe it is possible for only one party to feel them? How many people have been studied?’
‘As far as I know only a handful, so you may well be right. And given the nature of the situations a person has to be in to feel them, it wouldn’t be surprising if any existing findings weren’t robust.’
‘Have you been studied?’
‘Gods no,’ he laughed. ‘No Descendant could ever submit themselves to academic testing. And I’m sure there are many who feel them but are too scared to volunteer themselves, it can be dangerous to stand out when there’s someone like Austin in power.’
‘So long story short, nobody really knows what they are, when they occur, or what they’re for.’
‘That pretty much sums it up. Nudges are more easily studied as we can learn to control them, but there’s nobody who can control tingles, at least nobody who admits to being able to anyway.’
‘We could try to control them? It’s clearly something to do with positive energy and perhaps desire? It’s lessened with Marcus now, which might have something to do with my lessened desire for him, or maybe it has something to do with the unknown? I know what to expect when I see Marcus now, whereas obviously I didn’t when I first started spending time with him.’
‘Lessened desire?’ Alexander asked, his facial expression making Anita almost laugh out loud and he was clearly shocked at himself for saying it.
‘Only a little lessened, not entirely,’ she smiled back.
‘But you have slept together?’ he asked tentatively.
‘No,’ she said stiffly. ‘Not that it’s any of your business,’ she was shocked at his indelicate question.
‘And Marcus is still following you around like a lost puppy? He doesn’t suspect that you may, um, have interests elsewhere?’
‘Who says I have interests elsewhere?’ Anita challenged, enjoying the power of making Alexander squirm. ‘And anyway, so long as he’s still interested in me, he’ll follow me around like a lost puppy for longer if I don’t sleep with him than if I do. Marcus likes a challenge remember? And I’m his current challenge. He hasn’t cracked it yet, so he will keep trying until he does, or until something new and shiny catches his attention.’
‘I thought you didn’t like the Mind disciplines,’ Alexander smirked.
‘I don’t. But Marcus does.’ Anita shivered.
‘Come on, let’s get back inside,’ he said, getting up and taking Anita’s hand to help her. They both felt a shiver of energy run through their fingers and smiled at each other as Anita got to her feet, her dress and cloak cascading to the floor. She took his outstretched arm and they wandered back across the lawn, chatting about what they would do for the rest of their time in Kingdom. They entered the house and Alexander walked Anita to her room, the tension growing, the conversation more stunted as they approached. They stopped outside her door and Anita turned to look at Alexander, perplexed.
‘You’ve spent all this time pushing me away and telling me how much danger I’d be in if Marcus changes his mind about me, or even if he thought we were friends. You’ve barely said two words to me outside of lessons, I know nothing about you, you normally shut down any questioning I start, yet tonight you let me ask you whatever I wanted. Why?’
Smoke filled Alexander’s eyes as they played across hers. ‘Because I realised life’s too short not to flirt with danger when it feels like it might be worth it.’
Anita smiled, turning to open her door. ‘Goodnight Alexander,’ she said, looking back over her shoulder, ‘it’s been a most illuminating evening.’ She disappeared into her room, shutting the door gently behind her.
*****
The following day Alexander woke up early, a mix of emotions racing through his mind. He knew trying to sleep was futile so got up and headed for his grandfather’s library. When he needed to think, he always found this a helpful place to go. The study was small and pokey with piles of books and manuscripts littered everywhere, along with old energy meters, works of art and the odd piece of furniture. The room had heavy drapes across a large window that overlooked the garden, but the drapes were kept closed for fear the light would damage a priceless book or piece of artwork. Alexander had always thought somebody tripping over a stack of invaluable manuscripts left on the floor was more of a risk, but seeing as he was virtually the only one that ever came in here now, he supposed that risk was small.
He turned on the lamp by the door and used its dim light to guide him to the comfortable brown leather chair in front of the large leather topped partners desk. He turned on the lamp that lived in the corner of the desk, sat down in the chair and surveyed the scene. He immediately felt more relaxed, noting how strange it was that such disorder could make him feel calm and help him find perspective. His mind raced over recent events before centring on Anita, the Body Descendant. She hadn’t taken it well when he had withheld information from her before, so he was guessing that she wouldn’t be too pleased if she found out from someone else what he knew about her bloodline. Then there was all the stuff with the energy, Helena’s recent proposition for him to join the Institution, and what the bloody hell Austin was playing at. He was pretty sure Christiana’s death had been about Anita, but surely something more than that was the cause of his recent stance on the energy.
Alexander spotted his grandfather’s old music player in the corner and manoeuvred his way past several stacks of books and scattered artefacts to turn it on. He’d expected dulcet, classical tones to waft through the air, but to his surprise a wistful modern melody rippled out instead, complete with smoky voice and poetic lyrics. He made his way back to the desk, but as he manoeuvred his way past the last pile of books, accidentally toppled a brass model of the world onto the floor. ‘Damn,’ he said out loud as the model rolled under the desk. He crouched down on all fours and followed it under, reaching around wildly with his arms to try and locate the missing artefact. After a few moments he realised his search would probably be more successful with some light under the desk, so he reached for a small lamp from a nearby table, pulled it to the floor and switched it on. Thankfully, he spotted the world near one of the back feet and crawled further in to reach it. As his fingers closed around the model, to his surprise he heard a soft click under his
left knee, near the edge of the draw section of the desk. He moved back out, lifted the rug covering the area he had been kneeling on and was surprised to see a tiny panel in the floor had sprung open to reveal a small metal object inside. He reached in and fished out a tiny, simple, brass key, closing the panel and replacing the rug before examining it in detail.
After a lengthy inspection, Alexander concluded that it was a normal key, there was nothing particularly special about it. If anything, it was a bit on the boring side, with no ornate head, no engraving, no suggestion as to which lock it fitted, nothing. Very disappointing and very much something his grandfather would like. He tried the key in all the locks he could find in the study, the desk, the door, the windows, the cabinets, but it fitted none of them, it was far too small. Bloody grandfather, he thought, hearing voices down the corridor and realising that everyone else must be up and eating breakfast. He pocketed the key and turned off the lights, taking one final look around to make sure he hadn’t missed anything obvious. Frustrated when nothing jumped out at him, he closed the door sulkily behind him and stalked down the corridor to see his guests.
‘Morning,’ came Cleo’s singsong voice as he entered the breakfast room, another room basked in light through enormous sash windows.
‘Morning,’ grunted Alexander.
Anita looked up from her breakfast, concern all over her face. He pulled himself out of his mood for long enough to send her a reassuring smile and she went back to her bacon and brioche.
‘Everything alright?’ asked Cleo, never one to miss out on potential gossip.
‘Couldn’t be better thanks,’ he said with a disarming smile, whilst helping himself to a lavish portion of smoked salmon and poached eggs on lightly toasted walnut and raisin bread, covered in hollandaise sauce. He joined the others at the table and after a couple of generous mouthfuls, his mood began to lift.
‘So I thought we could head straight to the relic after breakfast, if everyone’s happy with that? We can send a message ahead to Anderson and Arabella and ask them to meet us there.’
