"A splendid choice, sir." The old man opened the gate to the pen then stepped inside. He bent over and unhooked the chain from the post that bound the boy by his neck. "You should know that despite being in the toddler pen and appearing so small, this sage is eight years old. He has not been sold until now due to the recent change in trends. Most want Hispanic or Asian-looking sages these past few years. I can assure you that this sage is of the highest quality, despite being unfortunately pale. Is he still acceptable? Stand up and turn for the Chronomancer, you ungrateful brat."
On quivering legs, the boy stood quickly, grabbing onto the collar that threatened to snap his neck or strangle him when the old man yanked on it. With wide eyes, he glanced up at Jack, but then immediately stared at his bare feet that were covered in fine black sand. Despite the rough treatment, his skin was completely unblemished. No cuts, no bruises, no sores. Once the man let the chain go slack, the boy held out his spindly arms and turned around slowly, letting Jack see every angle of him.
"We can undress him so you can inspect him further if you wish."
"No!" Jack shouted, but caught himself. He cleared his throat. "I mean, no. Don't do that. I can see everything that matters already."
The man seized the sage boy by his collar. "Is he acceptable to you?"
"Yes. I'll take him."
"Perfect. I will have him washed and prepared for you while you continue to browse our goods. I will also personally sign the sage's Certificate of Uniqueness and Avelayan Lineage. Is there anything you would like us to do to customize him for you? Piercings? Tattoos? Castration? Haircut?"
Opal's mouth fell open. "What have you done?"
Olivia prodded him in the back with her finger. "Jack, tell the herder your specifications. Anything you can think of can be done."
"There is one thing."
"You monster." Opal covered her mouth with her hands. "Who are you?"
With a quick-handed slap to Opal cheek, Olivia ended her complaining. "Silence, Avelayan. You have no right to speak here. One more outburst and you will find yourself in a cage. Go ahead, Jack. Tell him."
"I want him to be fed and clothed in something warm. And I want that tag removed from his ear."
"As you wish, sir. Anything else?"
The boy looked up at Jack through his dirty bangs, his white eyes silently begging for mercy.
"A haircut. I want him to be able to see without having to squint through that mess of tangles."
"Right away, sir." The herder yanked on the boy's left ear until the tag snapped apart, revealing the thick hole in his cartilage. He handed it to Jack. "Read over it and verify his details, if you will."
Sage # 23
Percentage Avelayan Blood: 100%
Age: 8
Date of Birth: November 17, 2013
Country of Origin: United States of America
Blood Type: O Negative.
Height: 46 inches.
Weight: 40 pounds.
Eye Color: Sage White.
Skin color: Moonglow White.
Training and Skills: Obedience, Submission, Silence, High School Reading Level, Basic Mathematics, Calligraphy.
"Don't pay too much attention to that last part. I assure you that the sage has been trained in submission and obedience since birth, so he will not give you any trouble. If he does, well, you have every right to retrain him the way you want and by using any means necessary. The other skills are not standard. He was a custom design for a senior researcher in the Inquisition of Purity before the researcher died, so some of his skills and training are in specialty fields. Be careful with books and texts around this one. But if you're looking for a scribe or a secretary, he's perfect."
How could he be expected to stand there and judge a living person like they were a watermelon or a slab of meat? "He's good."
"This purchase is like you signing a contract with the Zurvan Syndicate, you realize that?" Olivia asked.
"I do."
The man bowed. "Then I will take the boy and have him prepared for you immediately."
Olivia smiled and placed her hand gently on Jack's shoulder. "Congratulations, Chronomancer. You just bought your first Avelayan. You look conflicted. They're not people like you and I are. Their sole purpose is to be of use to Iskaydrians. You don't even have to replace Nikolas with the sage. Nikolas can continue to be your Time Knight and the sage can be your servant. He can be anything you want. The possibilities are endless."
Opal did not share in the other woman's mirth. "You bought a person, Jack. You bought a fellow human being. And you agreed to join the Syndicate? What is wrong with you?"
"We will discuss it later. Not here. It's not the place."
Olivia waved her hand at Opal. "Do shut up, dear. Even if you were an Iskaydrian, I would have grown tired of your bitching. Jack, I have someone who wants to see you in this tent over here. You can go ahead and go inside. I will be here with Opal while you speak with our guest of honor."
Guest of honor? Who was this person he was supposed to meet? Something more pressing bothered him, though. There was no way he was going to leave Opal alone in the market with Olivia. "Opal comes with me."
"Very well. Do what you will, Mr. Carter, but don't blame me when it gets awkward. Go on, now."
Jack linked arms with Opal then wove through the crowds of Chronomancers and chained Avelayans, trying to not look at the poor suffering souls who were beaten down and voiceless. The ones who did speak only let out pained moans or cries when they were kicked or beaten at the hands of the herders. He kept his eyes locked on the black fabric of the tent ahead of him. With each step he took, his body grew weaker and his mind wandered to Niki.
Opal pulled the tent flap open and interrupted his morbid thoughts. "I will go in first to make sure it is safe for you, Jack. Without your own Time Knight here, the responsibility of protecting you falls on my shoulders."
"Thank you."
"I expect you to explain yourself and the sage boy once we're back in Stalingrad."
"I will."
"You better."
Jack stood there, waiting for only a couple of seconds before Opal made a surprised noise then reached through the flap to take his arm. He stumbled inside the tent where the floor was covered in overlapping blue and red rugs. Strings of lights were draped across the ceiling of the tent, connected to a quiet generator outside. It was mostly empty, aside from a few wooden crates stacked in the back corner and a television on a cinder block that was turned off.
Then he saw her. Sitting on a silk pillow beside a short table covered in teacups and sugar-glazed cookies was a dark-haired girl with warm tan skin that was blotched with deep purple bruises across her chest and arms. The tank top she wore was ripped up the side, showing the lines of fresh welts along her rib cage. Her deep sapphire eyes were puffy from crying, but did not appear afraid. Much the opposite, her fists were clenched as if she was ready to fight anyone who came into the tent.
Opal backed off and nodded, tears pooling in her eyes. "It's her, isn't it, Jack? That's her?"
He ran. Jack raced across the rugs then threw himself to his knees beside the girl. With desperate hands, he took hold of her arms and held her to his chest. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing but a relieved sob escaped him. Jack tangled his fingers in her ebony hair, nestling his face against her shoulder to breathe in the delicate scent of her skin. With his nose grazing her neck, he cried as he felt her pulse quicken. She was alive.
"Jack? Oh my God. Jack!"
"Ellie . . ."
Ellie took his face in her hands so she could look at him. "What are you doing here?"
"I don't know. That doesn't matter. Are you okay? You're hurt."
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. You look awful. I heard about what they did to you at Base Mark 16. My father will pay for this. They will all pay for what they've done to the world. Have you heard what happened in the present?"
"A bit." He lost his thoughts, his mind overwhelmed by
the joy of seeing her again. "Oh, my God. I have missed you so much. I was scared you were gone."
"They couldn't kill me if they tried. I've left more marks on those scientists than they've left on me. You know I'm strong. Where's Niki? Is he with you?"
"He's . . ." Jack couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth. He took Ellie's hands. "He's in Stalingrad, waiting for me."
"Are you okay?"
"Not really. I've been through a lot."
"I know. I saw you. I saw you in China, the Asian Steppe with the Mongols. I saw you in Venice."
He smiled. "You were there?"
"I tried to leave you charms from my bracelet."
"I found one. You were there the whole time?"
"I couldn't tell you. I couldn't shout for you. I tried. I screamed and I begged. I cried and I yelled, but they wouldn't let me go to you. They made me watch you in the cell over the cameras. I saw you being tortured and starved. I cried every night for you."
"You were watching over me? Oh, Ellie." Jack wiped away the hot tear that slid down his cheek before he pushed her bangs out of her eyes, revealing a cut above her right eye that was caked with dried blood. "This is recent. They're beating you."
"I'm a strong girl, Jack. After what happened-"
"I know. I know and I came to terms with it. I'm done hiding. I'm done feeling guilty because I did everything I could have done to save you from those bullies. If I had fought back, they would have-"
Ellie placed a single finger over his lips to stop him. "I know. I tried to tell you that many times, Jack. You were so hard on yourself over something that you couldn't have stopped. You delayed them long enough to keep them from really hurting me. You even took a knife for me. You're my hero."
"Don't call me that."
"It's true. I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for you." Ellie took his left arm then shoved his sleeve up. She unwound the ointment-soaked bandages then traced her fingers over the lines of his hourglass tattoo and the oozing gashes where the arm band had been removed. Burn marks from the electricity had singed his skin, turning it pink with swollen burns. "Does it hurt?"
"Not as much as losing you."
"I was so afraid they were going to kill you. Even the FBI thinks you and Niki killed people. They're calling you terrorists, saying that you were radicalized by some foreign terror group. I know that's not true."
"Of course it isn't. Do you really think I could ever do something like that?"
"No. Never."
Jack slid his hand up behind her head and into her hair once again. He scooted closer to her and leaned in. Her warm breath spread across his face and neck, sending goosebumps down his arms and a tingle down his spine. He became lost in her eyes, her smell, her quiet breathing. "I'm an idiot."
She shook her head.
"I'm sorry this has taken me so long." With a jolt of courage, Jack brought her face up to his and pressed his lips to hers. Like a down comforter, the relaxation swept over him, easing away all of his anxiety. In that moment, nothing else mattered. It was a kiss of innocence. A kiss of purity. A kiss of longing. After a few seconds of bliss, Jack pressed his nose to hers and wrapped his arms around her. "Yes."
"Yes, what?"
"Yes, I'll marry you, Elizabeth Dawson. I'll make you my bride and I'll take you away from all of this."
She drew a short breath. "You mean it?"
"And I'm gonna do this right. Stand up, stand up."
Ellie giggled as she stood and looked down at him messing with his shoelace. "What are you up to?"
Jack ripped the shoelace out of his left boot then chewed through it until he had a short segment of cord which he tied into a circle. He got on one knee and took Ellie's hand. "Elizabeth Erin Dawson, will you make me the happiest man in all of time? Will you stay with me and never let me go? Will you marry me?"
"You already know the answer."
A smile graced his lips after so long without a genuine one. He slid the shoelace ring onto her finger then joined her on his feet. "That will have to do until I can buy you something beautiful."
"Oh, Jack, I love it. You need one too."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Chuckling, Jack tore himself a length of black shoelace, but Ellie snatched it away from him before he could tie it.
"Let me." Ellie looped it around his finger then tied it with a tight knot and bit off the ends. "There. Never take it off, okay? You can touch it and remember that I have one exactly like it. And someday, somewhere, we'll be together again and make it all official with roses and a ceremony on the beach. I'll wear a white lace gown and we'll be happy."
Jack noticed the sparkle of sadness that flashed in her eyes. "Ellie, it will happen. They can't keep us apart forever. You'll be my bride. We'll be married with all the flowers you want."
"And butterflies. Blue butterflies."
"Anything you can dream of will be yours."
"I dream of you. But that's still a long time from now, Jack. We don't have much time here, I know it. They brought you to me for a reason, probably to taunt you and break you, but you can't break, okay?"
With a hand over his heart, he swore to her. "I won't."
"You can't give up. You can't let them win. You know who you've been fighting, don't you?"
"Germans."
"The Germans, the Sixth Army, they're not the same army that fought here when history was correct. They're different now. Things in the timeline have been altered. It's like lining up dominoes and knocking one down. It's a chain reaction."
He nodded his head. "I get that. What specifically is different?"
"Do you know of the Inquisition of Purity?"
"Yeah. They were the ones you saw torturing me in Venice."
"Most of the high ranking German military, the S.S., Hitler's personal guards, they're all inquisitors. It's the same with the Catholic Church, the U.S. Government, and the United Nations. Most organizations have been infiltrated by the Inquisition. The church has had inquisitors in power for centuries, dating back to medieval times when Iskaydrians were hunted to near extinction."
So, it was all connected. "I won't let that happen again. I'll be the one to fix this. I'll make sure that no one else has to live in fear because of the blood that runs through their veins. I promise you, Ellie. I will set history straight and find a way to keep the bad people from ruling the future. That's what my father would have wanted, I'm sure of it. And you'll be at my side."
"You don't want to walk this road, Jack. They've told me things, horrible things that could happen if someone tried to stop them."
"I have to." Jack drew her close again. "I can't let them hurt people. If I have a chance to change the future for the better, then I have to take it. What kind of person would I be if I didn't? If I could end suffering, sickness, starvation, pain . . . don't you think I would?"
"At what cost, Jack?"
"At any cost. But it won't come to that. I know there's a way to end this. Chronomancers have existed for thousands of years, but history wasn't butchered."
She wrapped her arms around his waist. "That we know of."
"Don't worry. Nothing bad is going to happen to me."
"You know when people say nothing bad is going to happen to them, it usually does? It's foreboding or something."
He wouldn't let it. "It can't happen to me because my destiny is to be with you. The Inquisition and the Syndicate can do all that is in their power to kill me, but I won't let them take me away from you."
"Now you just sound like a fool."
"Then I'm the happiest fool in the world."
Ellie giggled, but bit her lip as her eyes brimmed with tears.
"No, no sadness right now. This is our time. I want you to listen to me. No matter where we go or when we are, know that I will always come back to you. I will find you in the darkest of days and the most war-torn places. I will never give up on us. Time and space can't rip us apart, not now. You're going to be wife and no one
can take that away from us." Jack gently kissed her forehead as he squeezed her cold hands in his. "Stay strong for me. You're so much braver than I could ever think about being. No matter what they do to you, never forget that you have a man who loves you more than anything in the world and he's not going to give up. I'll go through torture, war, starvation. I don't care. I'll go through everything I've been through a thousand times if I get to have you in my arms for one more minute."
"I love you."
"There aren't words, Ellie. There aren't words."
"I know."
A tall man in a long purple trenchcoat with a black mask covering his face entered the tent, pushing roughly past Opal. He barked at Ellie with a gravelly voice as he tapped the coiled whip that rested on his belt. "It's time, Elizabeth."
"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, Jack. I have to go now."
"Ellie! No! Ellie!" He watched in growing horror as his fiance went willingly to the stranger who forcefully tightened handcuffs around her wrists. "You can't take her away from me!"
"Don't let them hear you beg, Jack. Don't let them see you cry. You're stronger than this. We'll be stronger together."
"What about you? They'll hurt you more."
"Don't worry about me, Jack. I'm a warrior. I'll survive."
Jack remained there, unable to move, once Ellie was pulled out of the tent. He could still smell her skin and feel her warmth against him. He held his left hand and caressed the makeshift ring. "Stay strong, my future wife."
A minute later, Olivia strutted into the tent with a content smirk on her thin crimson lips. "Congratulations on your engagement. You can have all the time in the world with her once you join us, Mr. Carter."
His anger towards Olivia only grew. "You set this all up, didn't you? You let Ellie be seen by Sand spies so I would come to Stalingrad where you could bring me into this tear. You wanted me to crack."
"I didn't want you to crack, Mr. Carter. I wanted to extend an offer to you that you couldn't possibly refuse. Remember what happens if you betray the Zurvan Syndicate. You will lose your future. You will lose your happiness. You will lose your fiance. Make the right choice, Chronomancer. It's a simple one. Now, let's go pick up your sage. He's ready for the bonding."
Chronomancer (Time Mage Saga Book 1) Page 24
