Preserving Hope

by Alex Albrinck

  Will tried to think of a workaround. Could he teleport her close, and then walk her to the gate? I can hear you, Will. No, they have guards watching the horizon. If you get close enough to walk her to the gate in the time you have, they’ll see you appear. Showing up at the gate on foot as a weary traveler will make them curious unless you look worn down. And if you arrive with her, see her inside, and then leave… they will probably evict her. She needs to arrive with someone who can stay.

  The horse and rider rounded the bend. The rider was taller than most men of this time, and his brown hair was long. His eyes held the expression of a man lost, not in terms of his location, but of his purpose. Will finally recognized him as the man rode past the tree they’d hid behind.

  He stepped out of the forest. “Richard!”

  The horse came to a stop, and the rider turned around. His eyes widened in surprise. “You!” His facial expression was a contorted mix of fear, awe, and confusion. “You truly do exist?” Richard climbed down from his horse, sizing up Will. His eyes flickered briefly to Elizabeth.

  Will smiled. “I’m right here.”

  “I thought you were a ghost… or maybe a demon.”

  Will walked over to him. “None of the above. Just a man.”

  Richard snorted. “I dare say the word just rarely applies to you. Except, perhaps, in terms of punishing those who deserve it.” His eyes fell to the ground.

  “Have you chosen a noble purpose to your life?”

  The man shook his head. “I’ve been wandering these past three years, trying to find something, some purpose to my life. I’ve done honest work for honest pay, never enough to be wealthy, but enough to eat and shelter myself. And eventually buy a new sword.” Will recalled that the man’s sword had shattered upon striking his nano-based exoskeleton, and no doubt the former crime lord felt emasculated without his weapon.

  Will, who wore no weapon, held out his hand. “May I?”

  Richard hesitated, but then pulled the sword from the sheath across his back and handed it, hilt first, to Will. Will examined it, noting the etchings and designs carved into the blade’s handle, before handing it back. “An excellent and beautiful weapon.”

  Richard seemed relieved when Will handed the sword back, perhaps believing Will meant to execute him with his own weapon. “I want to do something noble with my life, as you said, but I’m afraid I’m not skilled in work of that type, or knowing how to find work of that type. I don’t know how to make the proper choices. I only know that I want to be proud. And… a few spare coins beyond those required for basic expenses would be a nice change.” He smiled. “But I think I’d rather know that I was doing something… good.”

  Will suddenly realized that Richard could meet his own goals while helping them with theirs, and sent a telepathic message to Elizabeth. Do you trust him?

  I do. He means what he says. I know what you’re thinking, and I agree.

  Will returned his focus to Richard. “I believe I can help you there. This young woman requires a guard to see her safely through to her journey’s end. She knows the path, but requires a strong sword wielded by a man of bravery to ensure none of ill will do her harm.”

  Richard bowed toward Elizabeth. “It would be an honor, my lady, to see you safely to your destination.”

  Will pulled five gold coins out of his pocket. “Your fee for the journey. The lady has sufficient funds for lodging and provisions for the journey. I will know if she has reached her destination in safety.” Will allowed himself to frown, indicating that failure would not be tolerated.

  “I will perish myself before I allow the slightest discomfort to befall her, my lord.” Will almost choked, but realized it was a respectful term, rather than a title, and allowed it to pass without comment.

  Richard nodded. “And where are the lady’s possessions?”

  Elizabeth glanced at Will, who nodded. “One moment, Richard. They’re in the forest still. I’ll get them for you.”

  Will walked into the forest, just out of reach, and teleported one of the bags of coins to the spot, along with the pouch now containing just the hair pin. He carried the two items out of the forest to Elizabeth and Richard. “My lady, here is your coin purse. I pray that you always find it overflowing.” He knew Elizabeth would catch his meaning; if she was running low on money, he’d ensure more appeared in that bag if she alerted him to the problem. “And here is the hairpin my lady wishes to take on her journey.”

  Elizabeth accepted both, and put the pin in her hair. She handed the pouch back to Will. “Thank you, sir. For everything.”

  Richard held his hand out to Elizabeth, and she took it without hesitation. “My lady will ride and I shall walk.” His eyes appraised her, and his face made it clear he was quite pleased with what he saw.

  Will heard Elizabeth giggle. After years of mistreatment, after being made a slave, after being told she was worthless, she was being treated by this man as if she were royalty. Will smiled at her, pleased that her prospects had brightened so thoroughly a mere day after being beaten nearly to death by her own community.

  Will leaned toward Richard. “To be clear… the lady is to arrive unharmed. And untouched.”

  Richard’s face blanched pale white, a coloring in conflict with his deep desire to turn beet red. “Of… of course, sir.”

  Elizabeth glanced at Will, scowling, but there was no anger in her eyes, merely amusement. Getting practice now at protecting my honor, I see. You’ll have plenty of time to practice.

  He just managed to avoid smiling back at her.

  Richard helped Elizabeth into the saddle. “And what is my lady’s name, if I may ask?”

  Will wondered about that question. Would she stay with her given name, the one that all in her community knew? Or would she take this opportunity to make a clean break from her past? He watched her face, and his Empathy and Telepathy could trace along with her thoughts as she rapidly made her own decision. Elizabeth was dead to the world, and she must take on a new name. But it must not be a name chosen at random. It must have meaning, a meaning corresponding to the new life she was beginning, and the fact that everything was possible. Everything, including eventual marriage and children with a man she’d grown to love. In her mind, there was only one name she could take.

  “My good man, my name just happens to match what this journey — and those facilitating it — mean to me.” She glanced at Will as she spoke, and then turned her attention back to Richard.

  “My name is Hope.”

  XXVII

  Brother

  Will watched them ride over the horizon, as if his gaze could prevent any evil from befalling them, and then turned back into the forest.

  In many ways, the new skills he’d developed, especially those involved in reading people, were a curse. He wasn’t required to spend time getting to know them to understand who was friend or foe, who was strong of character and who was weak, who was brave and who was cowardly. Most people, regardless of their Energy stores or skills, projected it so clearly that his enhanced senses dissected the person’s character to its very soul. And he recognized that this fact had been such a hindrance to Elizabeth’s self-esteem. She could never truly believe, no matter his actions or deeds, that Arthur cared for her, for she would be bombarded with his true intent in every interaction. It made him admire her even more, for she’d continued to fight to redeem the man despite every possible indication that it was a futile effort; she could see into his very soul, and yet still held out hope that he could change.

  She’d wanted to die, rather than face the reality that his true character, revealed to her ever more fully through his actions and words, and her own increased ability to accurately read people, was accurate. She’d been despondent and wanted to die, for she believed she couldn’t run away from her own blood, literally or figuratively, and she didn’t want to become like Arthur.

  Yet in that moment, as the blows rained down on her, when Arthur had disowned her, she’d sudden
ly been freed of that burden. If he could deny her, then she could deny his identity and character and become her own independent person, freed of the restrictions real and imagined he had forced on her. In a sense, she had been reborn, not as Elizabeth the slave, the daughter of an evil man who sought to exploit her at every turn. She was beautiful, brave, and courageous, brimming with confidence.

  She was Hope.

  In a sense, her departure freed Will as well. He no longer needed to worry about her safety in the village, and he could seek to enact his own vision for the village’s future without needing to worry about who might hurt her — namely, Arthur and Maynard. As he had always done, though, he would resist the temptation to use his Energy abilities to enforce his views. He would persuade, not coerce; he’d gather others to his viewpoint and philosophies through dialogue and his own example. It was an approach to life that he knew Arthur would heartily reject… which made Will embrace it more fully.

  There was a reason he chose not to carry a weapon. He knew that he couldn’t be hurt; between the Energy, his enhanced senses, and the nanos, it would be essentially impossible for anyone to surprise him in an attack. If he knew an attack was coming, as Richard had learned, he was also impossible to stop. He didn’t need a weapon for defensive purposes.

  Yet the fact that he refused to a weapon made him seem less a threat to others as well, and rather than being wary of a possible attack by Will or a battle with him, people felt at ease. They believed themselves in a position of superior strength due to the swords and daggers and knives they openly carried with them, and that sense of confidence prompted them to speak with honesty and confidence in Will’s presence. They’d learn of their mistake in underestimating him at their own peril if they sought to pursue some type of intimidation, as Maynard had learned the night before. Will might be unarmed, but he was anything but defenseless. He’d become a man in the village who was respected on multiple levels, and thus direct threats to him were unlikely.

  Arthur’s reaction to the events of the past two days, and to Will upon Will’s return to the village, would be telling. Arthur’s belief — no, his apparent belief — that Roland’s travels had uncovered the methods to develop the abilities they had so long sought through Elizabeth’s sacrifice had exposed him to risk, for he’d stopped the research and tied his income and power to the zirple. Elizabeth’s explosion of Energy had put the lie to the belief in zirple as the single component they’d been seeking; there was something else, something they’d not yet found, and now they’d need either to practice patience with the zirple, or begin anew to figure out what Elizabeth had found.

  They’d probably search her room for the mystery ingredient, but they’d find nothing. Will had transported all of it to the cave, after Elizabeth had transported all of it from the Schola. They’d find nothing, for it was all gone. The only risk was that the missing Traveler would return with a new supply, or that another set of Travelers might be dispatched to seek out the mystery substance. They might even send Roland back where he’d been, in hopes that he could determine if there was something else he was missing.

  Without question, everything would change. Will could only hope it was for the better, and that he’d be able to persuade the others to his vision of change.

  He finally reached the gate, which was open, and he walked in. The community was going about its usual daily activities, but there was a noticeable pall in the atmosphere. The community had known death once more, losing its youngest member, and the one who’d progressed farthest along the path they all sought. Whether it was guilt or a sense of loss of the potential all of them might have achieved, Will noticed a lot of eyes looking at the ground, and much less conversation than usual.

  Arthur was feeding the pigs when Will walked by the paddocks. The self-styled leader of the community looked up, his face red from the exertion and sunlight, a look of cool calculation on his face. Whatever grief the rest of the community might feel, Arthur was clearly spending his time trying to figure out how to exploit the situation and return to his former position of power. Will wondered if the man had requested donations in Elizabeth’s memory, payable to him, of course.

  Arthur seemed to want to talk, but Will ignored him and marched off to the right, moving down the rows of rooms to the far corner. He opened his door, walked in, and shut the door behind him. He shut the curtain as well and stretched out on the cot. He’d not had much sleep, and the day’s events had exhausted him. He allowed sleep to claim him.

  He spent much of the next few days alone in his room, or sitting in the cave, using his clairvoyance to follow the journey Hope and Richard took, and felt a great sense of relief when Elizabeth reached a large, walled city. They entered, and Elizabeth’s joy at reuniting with Eva was an incredible joy to behold, even at a distance. Eva thanked Richard with such enthusiasm that the man was embarrassed.

  Satisfied that Elizabeth was safe once again, he returned to his room. It was early afternoon, but he elected to sleep for a bit, rather than eat. A short time later, he woke, staying in a calm state between sleep and being fully awake, aware of a commotion of sorts in the courtyard. Yawning, he stretched out his limbs, rose from his bed, and headed out of his room back towards the gate.

  He heard the whispers as others moved in the same direction.

  “Is it true? Has the last Traveler returned?”

  “That’s what I’ve heard.”

  “I thought he was dead!”

  The crowd had already gathered around the man. Will couldn’t get much of a glimpse of him, but realized that this man must be Eva’s missing brother, and likely the man who had encouraged Elizabeth to consume the morange berries that had unlocked her Energy abilities.

  “…lived there for many years, and saw that this community had, over time, discovered on its own the secrets we have sought. They did not seek it; they discovered it by sheer chance, for the food we have sought grows in abundance there.”

  The man paused in his story, and Will felt the mental connection the Traveler made to his mind, probing it with a ferocity that shocked him. This man wasn’t Roland, a mere neophyte. His skills were a near match to Will’s, and the mental probe triggered Will’s memories of the past three years, looking for memories of Eva, and of Genevieve, and of Elizabeth. The probe finally ended after what seemed hours, though it was likely that it had taken mere seconds. Will, staggered by the intensity of the mental probe, took several steadying breaths, and moved toward the center of the group.

  The man’s back was turned to him, but there was something very familiar about the brown hair, and the build, and the voice.

  “I stayed there, and I learned. I suffered greatly the effects of this particular item early on, which many of the more senior members of the community could recall experiencing as well. Their children had never known a time without this substance, and were born with abilities we can only dream of.”

  He turned around, and as his gaze traveled the crowd, his eyes met Will’s and locked on. Will just managed to maintain his composure as recognition hit him.

  The mysterious Traveler long thought dead, the brother of Eva, the slave part of the original group of ten that had founded this community, the man who had aided Elizabeth… was Adam.

  Will inclined his head. “Hello.”

  Adam returned the gesture. “Greetings, friend.” He returned his gaze to the general crowd of villagers. “It seems, then, that the effects of these abilities are cumulative; the children of a parent are far more powerful than children born without such a parent; the children of two such skilled parents even more so. It is difficult to explain just how powerful these people, and their children, are.”

  He paused, carefully considering his next words. “Yet they were generous souls. They recognized that I was a fellow seeker of knowledge, and were eager to share what they’d learned. They welcomed me, and I became part of that community. Like my sister, I was best able to help by Trading, but they were quite content with the wealt
h of materials they could produce from their own lands and with their own hands, their skills in production enhanced by the near-magical abilities they’d developed.

  “They worked with me, and encouraged me. They found joy in seeing my look of surprise as my abilities began to develop. They taught me how to develop my skills further, and demonstrated how I might apply them. I learned. My friends, the stories are real, the myths are true, and I, one of your own, can prove it.”

  Adam gestured to the crowd to stand back, to give him space, and to provide everyone with a view of what he was doing. Then he held his hands together, and slowly spread them apart, his fingers curled around an invisible ball of what Will knew to be Energy. It was visible, a tongue of blue fire blazing between his hands, and the crowd gasped. Will glanced at Arthur, and saw that man was stunned, unable to believe what he was seeing. Arthur likely realized that he’d not be able to take advantage of Adam as he’d done with Roland. His dreams of power were likely dying as the flames grew between Adam’s hands.

  Adam ceased the demonstration, and the blue flames disappeared. “My friends, these are skills I am able to teach all of you to develop. I do not seek compensation, for I recognize that the sooner all of us put this to use, the sooner we’ll be able to transform our village into the vision of what we’d all like it to be.” He paused. “Though I ask no compensation, I do wish to provide this gift first of all to those of my choosing, and will then move on to others. I would ask that I may speak privately to my sister, Eva. I would like to speak to Genevieve, she of the gentle heart. And I would also like to speak to Genevieve’s daughter, Elizabeth, who must now be a young woman, rather than the happy little girl I so fondly remember.” He glanced around. “Where are they?”