The Chosen

by K. J. Nessly

  Finally Natalie relented. "Oh, all right!" She huffed. "But," she added ominously, pointing a finger at Matt. "If Iever find her in my room, I'm squishing first and asking questions later."

  Matt bowed his head in acknowledgement. Natalie brushed past everyone and marched out of the room.

  "Nicely done you two," Rachel commended David and Jenna. "I couldn't have done better myself."

  Matt was nodding his head vigorously. "Yeah, thanks!" He turned to leave but stopped dead in his tracks.

  Surprised, David turned to find the redhead glaring at Kathryn. David was surprised. Matt had always appeared to respect Kathryn. So why was he glaring at her?

  "Don't you even think about it!" Matt ordered in a low tone.

  David was utterly confused until he glanced at Kathryn who was looking at Destiny. For her part, Destiny was eyeing Lacey with a savage gleam that only a hunter who had spotted her prey would employ.

  This could be trouble, he thought to himself as Matt pushed by Destiny, shielding Lacey in his hands, and left the room. After giving Matt a few minutes head start, Kathryn followed and disappeared upstairs.

  "I don't know about you," Rachel commented dryly. "But Destiny looked like she'd just found her midnight snack."

  "Kathryn keeps her locked in her room at night," Jenna replied firmly. "She won't let her hurt Lacey."

  Rachel turned a wicked smile on Jenna and David. "I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see what happens between Lacey and Natalie."

  David groaned. "Please don't encourage them, Rachel. My life is already hectic enough as it is."

  A few radians later the rest of the team returned. After they had debriefed David on their activities for the day, he pulled Amy aside.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked as she sipped the tea Matt had made for them.

  “It’s Kathryn.”

  “She’s not hurt is she?”

  “No, not at all,” David hurried to assure her. “Or if she was it wasn’t something I noticed. I actually don’t know what to think. But today the rest of us went into Leneal whereas Kathryn spent the day with Destiny.”

  “What’s so wrong about that?”

  “Nothing,” David agreed. “It’s the state she came back in that has me worried.”

  “What state?”

  “Confused, disoriented, distracted, and fearful are a few accurate descriptions. She actually apologized to me because she wasn’t paying attention when I asked her if she was alright.”

  Amy was silent for a moment, fingering the rim of her mug, then said quietly. “I’ve only seen her like that once before and it was years ago.”

  “What happened?”

  “It was a dream.”

  “A dream?” David echoed.

  “Yes, one night, years ago, Kathryn experienced a dream, nightmare really, that left her completely shaken. I got to see the real Kathryn that night and it wasn’t pretty.”

  “What was the dream about?”

  Amy shook her head. “We don’t know. As soon as Kathryn woke up she couldn’t remember and nothing any of the professors or healers did could help her remember. Not that I think she wanted to remember.” She looked out the window into the inky blackness outside. “I’d never seen Kathryn lose her composure the way she did that night. It terrified me.” She gave David a smile. “I depended on Kathryn’s coolness and calm exterior many times in our early days as roommates. You probably wouldn’t believe this, but when I was eleven a lot of the kids in my classes would pick on me because I wasn’t very good with weapons. When Kathryn became my roommate she became my wall. Anyone who wanted to tease me had to go through Kathryn and no one tried for very long.”

  David shook his head. “I don’t know if I can see her like that considering she won’t stand up for herself.”

  Amy smiled, “Kathryn saw someone who was suffering and took it upon herself to end the suffering. I lost count of the bullies Kathryn stared down. When she became more vocal, all it would take was about a sentence to send them scurrying away.”

  “Why?”

  “They knew Kathryn was different, she had been admitted to the school late and had been personally brought by… Lord Jasse.” David noticed a slight hesitation in Amy’s speech when she mentioned Jasse. There was something about Kathryn’s arrival at school that no one was telling him. “Then there were the extra classes, numerous visits to the council, and tutoring sessions that set her apart. There were rumors that Kathryn had special powers that had never been seen before and that the council was testing the extent of those powers,” she laughed, “I can’t begin to describe the relief some of the students our age displayed when they saw that her power was water control.”

  “So why was she admitted late?” David asked carefully.

  Amy shrugged. “I don’t know. Perhaps because Lord Jasse personally showed up and asked? Who knows? All I know is that I’m grateful because she helped me learn how to handle a sword and a bow better than anyone in my class, or at least until she joined my class.”

  There was no pause at the mention of Lord Jasse’s name this time. Definitely a mystery he would have to work on later. David grinned at her. “A great friend to have.”

  “I owe her several times over,” Amy admitted.

  There was silence for a few moments, and then Amy asked, “Do you have any plans for tomorrow?”

  David grimaced. “I was going to try to talk to Kathryn about this problem with Natalie, but now I think I’ll wait until she’s back on her feet.”

  Amy flashed him a smile. “You’re going to wait until the wounds of the dragon have completely healed before attacking it again? You are a strange knight.”

  David chuckled. “No, just an honorable one. Besides I’m not attacking, I’m inquiring.”

  Amy waved her hand at him as she mounted the stairs to her room, “It’ll be the same thing to Kathryn.”

  “Good night Amy.”

  “Good night.”

  David waited until Amy was in her room before climbing the stairs to his own room. As he lay in bed he couldn’t help but wish that Lord Jasse was here to help him understand Kathryn. She wasn’t going to let him, or any of the Dragons, in until something drastic happened and he wasn’t sure if that would open her up or send her back further into her shell.

  Chapter 16

  Kathryn woke abruptly from a restless sleep. Groaning she sat up and glanced out her window—it wasn’t even sunrise yet. Sighing she pulled herself out of bed and dressed, but since no one else was up yet she left her hair down. The sun’s rays had yet to fracture the darkness as she slipped downstairs with Destiny perched on her shoulder. She made herself a cup of hot cirena, a sweet drink considered a delicacy among the nobles. Jasmine had sent her some sachets of the spice before she had moved with the rest of the Dragons to take up residency as the Guardians of Rima. The smell was intoxicating and Kathryn breathed in the delicious scent, letting the mug warm her hands. Her body still hadn’t purged the remaining vestiges of bone penetrating cold, even after Jenna’s hot tea and extra blankets, and she was grateful for the added warmth this morning.

  She hadn’t slept well thanks to small replays of the dream she had at the waterfall. She wondered if she would ever again find peace there after what had happened. Destiny let out a sharp cry, indicating she wanted to go out.

  Quietly, and attempting to shush the bird Kathryn stood and opened a window, shooing the noisy animal outside. Sitting back down Kathryn considered the other reason she hadn’t slept well. The dream she’d had at the waterfall was the exact same one she’d had at the school years ago. Only she hadn’t remembered it after she’d woken up then, she did now—all too clearly for her preference. Thankfully she’d managed to put Elyon out of her mind, hopefully forever. Picking up the sketch book she had brought down with her, she opened it up to the page she had used at the waterfall.

  Her drawing was a perfect artist’s rendition of the mysterious palace from her dream. Picking up a pencil
she turned to a fresh page and began drawing what she could remember from her dream. She drew the tree whose steps grew out of the trunk, the magnificent doors, the raised dais, and the sunken sitting room. Once she was done with those she started to draw the forest from different angles as best as she could remember, but quickly gave that endeavor up as each drawing looked almost identical to the one before it.

  By the time she finished the forest, the sun was beginning to rise and soon the rest of the Dragons would follow. Quickly, before anyone could come downstairs, she placed her mug next to the sink and returned to her room.

  Every room in the house was identical except for hers and David’s— a bed, a writing desk and chair, a washbasin and chest for clothing. Kathryn’s room looked pretty much the same way it had when she had first moved in with the addition of a perch for Destiny, a nondescript layer of blankets on the bed, and clothes in the trunk.

  Upon moving in she had discovered that one of last occupants had left the tools needed for hooking a rug near the loom. Since then she had considered making herself a rug, but hadn’t found the time.

  In fact she hadn’t taken the time to personalize her room in any way, at least not compared to Amy and Jenna who had sketches and drawings of family and friends on their walls and personal items strewn about the room.

  Perhaps now she should. Tearing out her sketches from the book she tacked them up on the wall. Maybe one day she would add color, maybe when the dream was in color other than shades of blue. At least Natalie had stopped decorating her room for her, for the time being anyway. Until she got frustrated again. She knew that they only reason Natalie had invaded her privacy was because she hadn’t been getting anywhere with her barrage of questions. Kathryn smiled grimly. Natalie had no idea what she was up against. It was one thing to get information from people who liked to talk. Getting it from someone who had been conditioned not to make a sound while being beaten into unconsciousness was something else entirely.

  She heard Amy stirring in the next room and immediately exited her own room and hurried downstairs. Passing the kitchen she moved to the small alcove, just off the sitting room, that held the spinning wheel and weaving loom. For a moment she stopped and stared at the loom.

  For a moment indecision halted her idea, but it quickly passed. Before she realized it, she had snaked dozens of colored threads through the heddle and attached them to the front beam. After preparing the loom she sat on the wooden stool and closed her eyes. She hadn’t woven anything in a few months and hoped that the mindless activity, mindless at least compared to staying ahead of Natalie, would calm her disquiet. After a few minutes of sitting in contemplative silence, she began working the device. In the beginning she was a little rusty but soon she had fallen back into the repetitive patterns and in a matter of several minutes she was weaving. She didn’t know what she was weaving, instead she let her fingers move of their own violation, just like when she had drawn the first sketch.

  As she wove she could heard the shift of Dragons rise and greet each other, she heard them prepare to leave and heard the silence that followed the closing of the door. For a long time all she heard was the sound of the shuttle as she wove, then she heard Cass rising to make breakfast a good radian later. After about another radian she heard the others begin to stir rising to the smell of fresh biscuits and bacon.

  Lowering her hands from the loom she brushed her hair out of her face, she hadn’t put it back yet, something she quickly remedied as she gazed at her work. In less than three radians she had managed to complete a good sized wall hanging…a tapestry that looked exactly like her first sketch.

  Tying off the ends she carried it upstairs, bumping into Amy.

  “Good morning, Kathryn,” her friend yawned sleepily.

  “Good morning.”

  “Have you had breakfast yet?”

  “Only if you count smelling it as having breakfast.”

  “In that case, would you care to join me?”

  Kathryn offered her friend a smile. “Sure, just let me put this in my room,” she lifted up the rolled up tapestry for Amy to see.

  “Did you make that this morning?”

  Kathryn allowed herself a smile. “Yes. It’s probably my best one yet,” she said as she opened the door to her room and deposited the object inside.

  “How long have you been up?”

  “Long enough to weave that.”

  Amy scowled at her. “Gee, that’s informative.”

  “What’s informative?” David asked coming up behind them. Amy jumped a little but Kathryn, having noticed his approach, didn’t twitch.

  She was mildly disgusted with how easily her family members were startled. While they were on patrol they were a little more observant, but within the safety of their own glade they let their guard down completely. It was a practice she found dangerous and foolhardy. Attacking someone where they felt safest was one of the best tactics to start and win a battle in moments. People didn’t like to prepare for trouble where they felt safe for the simple reason that it would suggest that their safety zone wasn’t actually safe. Kathryn believed that safety was a lie. True safety didn’t exist, it was all relative.

  Oblivious to her friend’s mental lecture that she wished she could give to the Dragons, Amy tossed her head in Kathryn’s direction. “I asked her how long she’s been up and she said long enough to weave a wall tapestry.”

  David looked at Amy, then at Kathryn, and then returned his gaze to Amy. “I have no idea how long something like that would take.”

  Amy’s scowl deepened. “I don’t either, which is why she stated it that way. She does it on purpose just to annoy me.”

  David looked at Kathryn who shrugged. “Well in any case,” he said changing the subject, “let’s go down and see what kind of breakfast Cass cooked up for us.”

  The three entered the kitchen together to find a sumptuous feast laid out for them as well as a very unexpected surprise.

  “Lord Jasse!” David exclaimed. “Welcome!” After a moment’s hesitation he added, “Why are you here? Is something wrong?”

  Kathryn, meanwhile was trying to determine just how Jasse had come to be in the house without her hearing his arrival. Apparently weaving had made her just as oblivious to the events around her as using her gift. It was a realization that did not sit well.

  Jasse rose from the chair he had been occupying and came over to greet the young leader. “Good morning David,” he said as he embraced the younger man. “And no, nothing’s wrong. Consider this visit a three month plus review. How are things faring in Rima?”

  Sitting down, David gave him a very brief outline of their adventures thus far.

  “Well, except for these mystery swords, it seems like you’re doing very well for yourselves,” Jasse commented after David had finished. “Are you all settling in?”

  David pretended not to notice that Jasse glanced at Kathryn, who was steadfastly ignoring him for the moment, when he asked this. “Fairly well,” he replied. “We had a few rough spots near the beginning, but I suppose that’s to be expected when fourteen strangers start living together.” He knew that Lord Jasse probably wasn’t looking for a diplomatic answer, but that’s all that he was willing to provide until it was just the two of them.

  “Yes,” Jasse agreed. “In fact the council would be suspicious if you didn’t have a few hiccups in the beginning.”

  Cass set down a plate full of hot biscuits. “Why is that?” As she released the tray, she grimaced slightly. The abrasions on her knuckles from her last fight hadn’t completely healed and were still making her fingers stiff. David sympathized. He was missing a large patch of skin on his right arm from a fight where the tree he’d been chasing a bandit up decided to retract its roots from the ground and had toppled. David had come out of the encounter with just some skin missing, the bandit hadn’t been so lucky.

  Jasse grimaced. “My guess would be because of the old saying. ‘If something’s too good to be true, then
there’s something rotten at the core’, but that’s just my guess.”

  “You don’t know?” Amy asked in disbelief. “How can you be on the council and not know?” She wore her long hair down today and it hid the long scrape that ran along the length of her chin bone from her ear to her jaw. They were all learning the hard way that life outside the school was not as forgiving of small mistakes. Virtually everyone around the breakfast table was sporting small injuries, Kathryn being the only exception. Much to the annoyance of several.

  “There are separate sub-councils within the council,” Jasse explained. “I’m not on the one that chooses the family members.”

  “Which one are you on?” Lindsey asked.

  He smiled at her.“Sorry, can’t say.” He laughed at Amy and Cass’s stunned faces. “Come on now,” he chided. “The council has to havesome secrets from you youngsters!”

  They finished breakfast in a pleasant fashion and afterwards Jasse leaned back in his chair. “Tell me Cassandra, where did you learn to cook like that?” he asked. “It certainly couldn’t be at the school because the biscuits there are bricks.”

  David laughed. “We said the exact same thing, and she still won’t tell.”

  “Well in any case, I think this should be considered your third gift. Your cooking is marvelous.”

  Cassandra blushed. “Thank you.”

  It wasn’t long before the others joined the reunion over the meal table. After about a radian, Amy and Kathryn cleared the breakfast dishes and the rest of the family scattered. Lord Jasse motioned for David to follow him.

  His curiosity building, David followed Jasse to the training field where Jasse handed him a bow, “How is you archery these days?”

  “Good enough.” David wished that there had been enough time to grab a cloak before exiting the house. He was already fighting shivers.

  Jasse gave him a knowing smile. “We’ll see about that.” His first shot hit the farthest target dead center. Turning to David he grinned. “Your turn.”