by Unknown
There are all sorts of things I can lie about, but having a Vision is not one of them. The glow of my violet eyes is not something that can be controlled, and they still continue to shine brightly, despite the time that has passed. “I did. Did you get my request to have Gabe brought back to me? I don’t want him in the healing center, Echo.”
“Does this have to do with your Vision?” he asks in concern.
“Yes. I don’t really want to waste time talking about it. I want him here. And I don’t want those healers by him either. I don’t trust them.” I pause. “Who am I kidding? I don’t trust anyone here, to be honest. Except for you. And maybe Irene and Jamie. But other than that … I would rather if my friends could stay close to me. I’m sure you understand.”
Echo glances back at Elan and Brandon with the same distrust in his eyes as they hold for him in theirs. “If that is what you want, I can ask. My mother is not being very cooperative at the moment, though, so don’t be surprised if she says they have to be held in the brig until their departure.”
“They aren’t going to be put in jail.” I leave no room for argument after my words are spoken. “They will stay with me. And they will all return just as soon as Gabe is healed. As was the deal, yes?”
“Yes. And Gabe will be healed tomorrow, after … after our wedding.” Echo stumbles over the words, his cheeks coloring. I can feel the heat rise to my own face, and I duck my head down so as not to embarrass Echo any further. “I’ve sent for him to be brought back to the palace. He’s in a very critical state, though, Beatrice. Are you sure you don’t want him in the healing center until tomorrow?”
There’s no hesitation when I reply. “Positive.”
Echo smiles a little at the quickness of my reply, then reaches down and cups the side of my face in one of his soft, large hands. “You are so beautiful when you are impassioned by something, Beatrice.” His thumb brushes over my cheek. “Don’t ever lose that passion.”
Brandon makes a disagreeable noise after clearing his throat. “We are still in the room, Dreamcatcher.”
“Yes, we are. And you should spare us,” Elan adds, still frowning, as always. “And take your hands off our Keeper.”
Echo’s eyes narrow, but only I can see it since his back is turned to the other two. I put my hand to his, squeeze it, and then gently lower it from the side of my face. “Nothing will ever take away how I feel for my friends, Echo. Don’t you worry.” The gentle squeeze draws Echo’s attention away from the negative comments from Brandon and Elan, and he goes back to smiling at me.
There’s another knock at the door, and this time, there’s a very small chance it isn’t Gabe. I stand up from the bench, holding Echo’s arm to steady myself. The headache is almost gone, but I’m still shaky on my feet, which is even more apparent once they are on the ground, and I’m upright once more. “Come in!” I call, not bothering to ask who it is this time around.
Sure enough, the two doors part and along with a gust of warm air, two healers escort Gabe’s stretcher and small gathering of machines into the room. My heart stops in my chest when I see him again, and it’s only by the steady beeping of the machines that I know he is alive. Otherwise, were I to try and figure it out by his pale, raw lips, closed eyes, and still figure, I wouldn’t have known.
The two healers bow deeply to Echo, and behind them, Jamie and Irene both curtsy and filter off to the sides of the room to stand out of the way of everyone else. “You asked for the Seer to be delivered here, Prince Echo?”
“Yes. Thank you.” He leaves my side and approaches Gabe’s bed when the healers leave, and I hesitate then step forward after him, hurrying to Gabe’s side. I try not to look so desperate to be back by his side, but inside I know that I don’t ever want to let him go again. I never want to walk away from his side.
Brandon and Elan sneak up on the other side of the bed and watch us as we watch Gabe.
“You are sure that he can be healed?” I ask in a whisper to Echo, remembering that if my Vision is true, then Gabe can hear us, and maybe even See us in his coma.
“I’m sure he can be … but I am not sure at what cost.” Echo chews on his bottom lip and casually adds, “It could mean the death of me. And it will mean that a Citizen will have to be used.”
“Used?” Brandon asks before the rest of us can.
I look up at Jamie and Irene, who are both staring ahead as if they can’t hear anything. I wonder if they really are paying attention or not. Do they know what this means?
“Yes, used. Just as you use the Citizens to balance your Sight, we use them to balance our healing power. If it doesn’t kill me, it will most likely kill the Citizen.” Echo looks at no one but Gabe as he speaks, as if he wants the comatose figure to know what exactly is at risk in trying to save him.
“What do you mean that you can … can die? I thought … isn’t that what some Dreamcatchers do? Heal?” I watch Echo, hoping that what he is saying is not true. I’ve already sacrificed so much just to get Gabe to live again, but at what cost? Echo? Must I give up Echo in order to save Gabe?
Echo sighs and turns himself so he’s facing into me. “He’s very sick, Beatrice. Little bruises, they are easy to heal. They don’t take much energy from us … but cases like these … It’s rare any Dreamcatcher will take them on. Even when a Dreamcatcher is so sick, it means we have to use a Seer in order to bring them back to life. But, we don’t have Seers to do that. And we try not to use Citizens to bring other Citizens back to life because … well … what’s the point? One life for another? No one should have to make that sort of decision.”
“But Echo, you can’t … I don’t want you to … ” I’m being torn in half, I can feel it. Do I sacrifice one friend in order to save the other? Do I allow Gabe to live the rest of his life in this vegetative state?
Echo holds my hands in his. “It’s not your choice to make, Beatrice. It’s my choice, and I am making it for you.”
“But you can’t … ”
“I will. It’s what you want, and it’s the least I can do for the both of you. If you didn’t help us destroy the Beacon, who knows what the Keeper would have done? My mother might not see it in that light, but I do. Gabe almost gave his life in order to save the rest of us. It’s only fair that I take the same chances on him.”
When I open my mouth to protest again, Echo puts his fingers on my lips until they slowly shut again. “It will be okay, Beatrice.
Brandon clears his throat again, and Echo takes his fingers away from my mouth.
“Sorry,” Echo mumbles and looks back down at Gabe. “He’s here now. If you four need anything, just let Irene and Jamie know.” Echo prepares himself to leave, taking a few steps toward the door. “My mother said she’ll have everything delivered for the wedding first thing tomorrow morning. It’s to be a televised event. I’m not sure how the people are going to react to it, but she told me that they have no choice in the matter. This … this is the start of a new beginning.” He says the last sentence with conviction, and must believe in it just as much as his mother does. “A new beginning, Beatrice.”
I’m stuck standing in one spot, transfixed in place. A new beginning. I can’t even bring myself to smile at Echo, I’m so paralyzed by the three words. Tomorrow is my wedding. A Seer joined forever with a Dreamcatcher. A new beginning. A new beginning.
And I might lose Gabe or Echo in the process of starting it.
Chapter 7
On the morning of the wedding, I don’t leave Gabe’s side. I’ve not left it the whole night, either. Brandon and Elan both slept in the canopied bed while I sat awake by Gabe’s stretcher. And now, as the sun begins to change the sky the colors of pink and orange, I’m still here, my hand in his, wondering what he’d think if he was awake right now.
My eyes are dry from being open for so long, and when I stare down at Gabe, sometimes I see two of him as I momentarily lose focus. I clutch onto his hand tighter, using him to draw me away from the lure of sleep. After the
wedding, Echo will be waiting in the infirmary with the Citizen chosen for the healing. I don’t want to think about losing Echo or Gabe, and I don’t want to think about another person sacrificed in this game of saving lives.
Irene and Jamie enter from their back room and draw the curtains to let the ever-present sunlight of Aura filter through the large, French-style windows. As Jamie pushes them open to allow a humid breeze to wake us, Irene approaches where I stay with Gabe, and she tries to put on her best smile for such an awkward sight. It is my wedding day, and I won’t part from this other man to prepare for it. “Keeper Beatrice? We’ve been sent to prepare you for your wedding now. Would you care to get up and meet Jamie in the bathing room? We’ve drawn you a nice bath.” Her words are hopeful, and it’s only because of this that I agree. There’s no use fighting any of this, it’s what I have to do to get Gabe back, and I’m sure that my marriage to Echo has more than one purpose to it that I’m not aware of.
I stand, my hand brushing down Gabe’s arm, then nod my consent to the young woman. “Yes, a bath would be nice.”
After Irene escorts me into the bathing room, her tiny feet pitter-patter on the floor back out to the common area, and I hear her urging Elan and Brandon to leave in her ever-so-polite way. Of course they mumble their sleepy dissent before actually getting up to move at all. Jamie shuts the door so that I can’t see into the room anymore and takes one of my hands. “I added fresh lavender bath salts to the bathwater so that you’ll smell as soft and fragrant as the flower itself.”
The scent is alluring and calming, and though it’s a small comfort, I am grateful for what I can get in this moment. “Thank you, Jamie.”
“Oh, you don’t have to thank me now. Thank me when it is all over, for there’s so much to do, you’ll be saying ‘thank you’ all day long.” Jamie helps me out of my robes until I am standing naked in front of her. This is really the first time I’ve ever been undressed in front of anyone, and I flush with color. Jamie doesn’t seem to notice, though, and is too content on getting me settled into the bath. I step up onto a small stool, then down into the pool of warm, bubbly water, which covers my form once more and makes me feel less exposed. The bubbles are tinted purple from the lavender, which I already feel seeping into my skin, calming me.
“Many people have already showed up to get a good place to watch your wedding, Keeper Beatrice. The last reports I’ve heard, there were hundreds of Dreamcatchers already gathered in the courtyard, and hundreds more have filed into the streets where large holoscreens have been set up to broadcast the event. They even set up holos in the Settlements so that the Citizens can watch as well.”
“I don’t understand why so many Dreamcatchers would come out to watch this if they are supposedly so against it,” I comment just as Jamie leans over the tub and starts to scrub some shampoo into my hair.
“They are curious, I’m sure. Their prince marrying the Keeper. They are also hopeful that you have brought the cure to the plague with you.”
I scoff at this, my eyes closing as Jamie’s fingers knead into my scalp, making small circles in the roots of my hair. “I have no cure.”
“You might, though.” Jamie is hopeful. “You just might not know it yet.”
That’s true. If the cure can be found in my Visions, I wouldn’t know until the Visions actually occurred … and there’s no way of knowing when I’ll receive one. “I guess I don’t fully understand why the Dreamcatcher Queen would take this chance and make it so public when there’s so much outcry against it.”
Jamie falls quiet, an indication that she knows more than what she should. I grab the edges of the tub and turn around to look her in the eye, to intimidate it out of her. “What did you hear?”
Her fingers untangle from my hair and she dips them into the tub to clean the soap off. “I really shouldn’t say, Keeper.”
“There’s no one here to hear you but me.” But we both know that’s a lie. Anyone could be watching us through any channel of secret, streaming video. There are probably cameras all over my room, recording my every word and action.
Jamie takes the bait, though, maybe too naive to know that there’s hardly a time when I am not watched. “I heard the Dreamcatcher Queen mention that if you were to bear a child that was part Dreamcatcher and part Seer … then it would start a new breed that would be a stronger, better healer. Maybe … maybe one who could save us from the plague.”
I turn back around and stare in front of me.
“They even tested the theory once, but it didn’t work because the Seer was too weak in Sight, and the Dreamcatcher just an ordinary Dreamcatcher. But with a prince and the Keeper?” Jamie’s words are filled with a childish wistfulness that almost makes me want to slap her. Does she not remember I am sitting right here? That she’s talking about breeding me with Echo like we were cattle?
Before our conversation can continue any further, Irene bumbles in holding some ornate boxes with heavy locks on them, and some that have drawers that slide halfway open as the girl twirls about in an effort to find a place to put it all. “I’ve come with your makeup and jewelry and hair supplies!”
“Looks like bath time is over.” Jamie grabs a warm, soft towel from a nearby towel rack and opens it up, immediately wrapping me in it as soon as I stand. I pull the towel securely around my frame and tuck an end into the top to keep it in place.
Irene ushers me to a small bench in front of a vanity table, and starts to dry my hair with another towel. She’s filled with energy and absolutely radiant with the joy that I should perhaps be feeling as a bride. But I feel nothing but trapped, and the only thing I can do is go through the motions one process at a time. She babbles on about this and that as she drags a comb through my hair and fixes it up. At some point, I hear nothing that she is saying over the hum of the hairdryer, but she keeps on chatting anyway, answering her own questions and stopping to flail her arms about in wild expressions before continuing once more.
They tie my hair back into a loose French braid that ends in a bun right at the left side of the nape of my neck. Lots of pins are used to keep the thick tresses of hair in place, and on top of that, lots of hair spray. When I think that all I’m going to be is a film of spray, Irene is done and claps her hands in appreciation over her work. “Oh, Keeper Beatrice, it will look so lovely once we get the tiger lilies pinned in!”
I force a smile just as Jamie picks up her part of preparing me, which is the makeup. She thankfully doesn’t take too long, and when she’s done, my face is tinted in colors of golds and pinks, subtle and refined. I look as if the sun has kissed me, just as it has all of Aura, and I understand what, exactly, they are trying to get me to look like. A Dreamcatcher. My dark hair and violet eyes aren’t as manipulative, though, and there’s no denying, no matter how “bright” they try to make me look, that I’m a Seer through and through.
Finally, it is time for me to put on my dress and apply all the other extra pieces that come along with the ensemble. I’m expecting something elaborate, fit for a royal wedding, but the dress that they bring to me is simple and whimsical. Beautiful. Trumpet-shaped with an overlay of lace and a champagne satin sash tied around the waist, the piece is understated and natural, as if it was pulled from the desert sands that surround Aura.
Both Irene and Jamie have to help me into the dress, and once it is zipped up the fabric hugs my form perfectly. Irene comes back to pin the lilies into my hair, and Jamie applies a few extra touches of makeup to make sure everything is just right.
“You look radiant,” Irene whispers in awe.
“Like a sunflower,” Jamie adds.
I stand in front of the mirror and regard my bride self. I do look radiant and like a sunflower. I feel as beautiful as I ever have, and I never thought I’d ever be a bride … ever. Seers do not marry. Especially not the Keeper. But, here I am, standing in my dress, feeling as if I’ve been dipped into sunlight, and I have no one to share the moment with except for the Citizen servants, who
now flitter about me making sure every little detail is in place.
There’s a knock at the door, and they both freeze in their place. “Yes?” I call.
“Keeper Beatrice, the queen demands your presence in her chambers immediately. The wedding will begin in fifteen minutes, and she will be escorting you to its locale.”
“Of course she would.” Who else to lead the circus but the ringmaster herself?
“We are nearly ready!” Jamie nearly sings the words and fusses with a stray piece of my hair.
“I think we are done. We shouldn’t keep the queen waiting. She’ll be angry with us.” The two exchange a look, a secret, knowing look that I don’t understand yet. I wonder what happens to them when things do not go the way they are supposed to. Does the queen take it out on the servants?
“Come, Keeper Beatrice. We mustn’t keep her waiting!” They both open one of the bathing room doors, and I step through them and into the bedroom as if I were already walking down the aisle. It starts now, this march to my fate. When I leave this room, I won’t return until I am Echo’s bride. Outside, by the window, I hear a familiar, yet distant sound. A raven. Have they always been here? I detour to one of the windows that look out into the back gardens, and sure enough, there’s a raven perched high on a tree branch. It cries again, the caw loud enough to echo through courtyards and down the halls.
I may not come back to this room the woman I am now, but I will come back the Keeper. They can force me to marry Echo by using Gabe as a mere pawn in their game to save their people, but they can’t force me to unbecome what I am.
The raven’s call sounds again, and I push forward to meet with the Dreamcatcher Queen.
She is waiting for me in the cubiculum, her attendants fluttering about her like a disarray of errant butterflies. She wears as gown that is just as beautiful as mine is, ever so sure to outshine the bride on this occasion. Again, she reminds me of the storybook queens kept away in the fairytales that the Caretakers read to us when we were little. In her right hand, she holds a small vanity mirror set in a gold frame, and she pats her hair in place with her left. Finally, she turns to regard me, her gaze careful and hateful at the same time.
