by Blooding, SM
The door opened and closed.
I turned. My mother stood on the other side of the room. She was short and round, and wore a summer dress that swirled effortlessly around her ankles. She loved the color turquoise, and it went well with her salted black hair and dark, slanted eyes. She didn’t move toward me. I didn’t move toward her.
She took in a deep, steadying breath and approached.
I met her in the middle.
Her blinking gaze traveled over me.
I kept silent, waiting until she spoke first.
She reached out a tentative hand, touching the scar over my right eye. “I heard about Kadar,” she said in my language, a sign of respect. “I am sorry.”
I hadn’t expected the look of sorrow in her eyes. My heart wrenched, remembering he was no longer there. Through the last several months, it had been easy to ignore that fact. But now, I was coming home, which meant I would be reminded of why he wasn’t there.
I choked back the grief that threatened to overwhelm me.
She did something she’d never done since I could remember. She hugged me.
I didn’t know what to do for a moment, but then my arms encircled her.
She didn’t let me go, her cheek resting on my shoulder. There was a growing wet spot under her cheek.
I took a step closer and held her tighter.
She finally pulled away and wiped at her eyes. “I loved your father, Synn.”
Who was this woman? Did I dare trust her? “He loved you, too.”
She grabbed my hands. “Are you all right?”
I shook my head and shrugged.
“Really.” Her dark eyes pierced mine. “How are you?”
I opened my mouth to tell her I was okay, but there was something in her eyes. For the first time in my life, she looked at me like I had some worth, like I was her son. I didn’t know what to do.
She nodded and took a step back. “Let me see.”
I frowned at her, but knew what she was talking about. Everyone wanted to see it. I sighed and wondered, not for the first time, if I would ever be anything more than a powerful Mark.
She raised an eyebrow and dropped my hand.
I refrained from rolling my eyes, which took extreme effort, and removed my vest.
Her eyes trailed over my Mark, along my chest and arms. She walked around to the back. “Call your Mark.”
“I don’t really have control of it yet.” I glanced at the skin of the lethara. “I don’t know what kind of damage I can do.”
“Do you have any idea why we chose the lethara to live within?” she asked, stepping into my view.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
She smiled, shaking out her arms, her Mark dancing with rising lines of pale blue light. She reached up with her hand and the light touched the skin. The lethara shivered, but otherwise didn’t react. Or blow up or melt.
I stared at it in amazement.
She took a step back, her Mark still activated, and gestured with her hand. “Call your Mark.”
I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes. Anger, hate, hurt. The words themselves meant nothing. They were just letters and sounds. I saw my father’s face. He should be here, teaching me how to use my Mark. Nothing.
Nix. Anger churned in my chest. I’d escaped and she still had me chained to her, doing her bidding, under her command.
Lava leapt from my chest, flowing around me in lightning whips, flashing sporadically, touching the walls, the ceiling, the floor. The runes on my arms shot from me in zapping strikes.
She nodded with approval. “Bring them over here.”
I was starting to sweat. My power was out of control. It took everything I had not to hit her with the lava strikes.
Her Mark blocked mine with well-practiced ease. “Slowly.”
I nodded, ground my teeth and reined it back in. It jerked back. I let out a frustrated sigh and pushed it slowly. It lurched forward again, lashing out at her.
She blocked, saying nothing.
I raised my arms, the Mark rising from them in quieter waves of golden lightning fire. With my hands as guides, I coaxed the whips to dance quietly closer to my mother without trying to kill her.
She smiled and pulled her Mark back.
I took that as a sign to do the same. I tried to cool the heat in my heart, but failed to bring my Mark back to my body. I reached up with my right hand and tapped my chest. I don’t know why, but it worked. The flames settled into my flesh. The Marks on my arms almost touched my wrists, and the runes on my chest were now sweeping into my navel.
“Very impressive.” Mother walked toward me, her smile proud, her eyes searching. “Are you Ino?”
I shook my head. “I am El’Asim. I have always been.”
Disappointment rippled over her, but she didn’t vocalize it. She looked up at me through her dark lashes. “Are you truly El’Asim?”
I didn’t understand the question. I just told her I was.
“You are not a Hand?”
“They tried to make me one,” I said softly. “I don’t think I am.”
“Ryo says you are compulsed.”
Shame filled me. “It would seem so.”
“What does that mean, musuko, segare?” She’d never called me her son before. She reached out a hand and put it on my arm, her expression open.
I searched for any signs of repulsion or disgust and saw none. “I want to be free.”
She nodded.
“But—” I took in a deep breath. “When we were escaping, I was hit with a mind splitting headache and the only thing—” I swallowed, waiting for her reaction, “—I could think about, that would help my head, was the thought of going back.”
“Back to Sky City?”
I licked my lips and dropped her gaze.
She nodded. “Who?”
“Nix.” My voice was barely a whisper.
She was quiet for a long moment. “What did she do to you?”
I shook my head, my gaze lowered. That was not something I was willing to talk about, at least not to my mother.
Her lips flattened as she took a step back. “We can help you with your compulsion.”
I put my vest back on.
“But you’re going to have to talk to someone about what she did to you.”
I flinched.
“It’s the only way to overcome the compulsion in and of itself. You do want to be free, don’t you?”
I nodded with conviction. “I need to be my own man again.”
She looked at me expectantly. “And we need you on our side as a whole man.” She wasn’t looking at me. She stared at the Mark peaking over the V in my vest and down my arms.
“I don’t know how to use it.”
She met my gaze. “You are with the Ino.”
I swallowed. Did that mean I was safe, or another prisoner?
She smiled a sad smile. “We will teach you. I see you brought friends.”
“They helped.” I walked toward the skin of the lethara. “I hope you will allow them the safety of your home.”
She nodded. “Who are they?”
“Victims of Tarot.” I clasped my hands behind my back and stared into the ocean. “Keeley and Joshua are of the Bahrain Family. They watched their family buried alive.”
Interest flickered across her expression as she joined me.
I needed to learn a bit more about them if their names alone had drawn Mother’s attention. I watched her from the corner of my eye. “I don’t know Yvette’s story. Queen Dyna had her spying on us in the laboratory.”
“And yet you trust her.”
“She was honest about it,” I said simply. “If she really wanted to be a spy, we wouldn’t have known.”
“It could be that she’s very cunning.”
I raised my eyebrows with a chuckle. “Oh, she is.”
“What else do you know about her?” Mother’s were keen and calculating.
“She’s from the Leblanc Fami
ly, but that’s all I know.”
Mother turned to me, her hands clasped in front of her. “Each of them saw their family murdered before their eyes. That’s how the Hands were able to pull such strong Marks from the surviving children.”
“Joshua did say they all had to be Marked in order to be kept.”
Mother turned a sad sigh to the outer wall. “They extract those Marks at a high price.”
I remembered mine. I couldn’t argue with that.
She ran her hand along my arm and took a step away. “We’ll get you real clothes.”
I smiled with relief. “Thank you.”
“And then,” she said with a smile edged with steel, “we begin your training.”
Hopefully, I’d begin the journey of reclaiming my old self. I was ready.
CHAPTER 19
WHO WILL STAND AGAINST THEM?
Mother left me with a servant who led me down a long, ornate hall that lacked windows. There were, however, wide arched doorways on either side. The floor was the same black tile as the other room I’d been in.
Finally, she stopped at a door and opened it.
I paused before entering. “Where are my friends?” I asked in their native language, Sakin.
She smiled and ducked her head, clasping her hands in front of her, her black, shoulder length hair falling over her face. “They are in the rooms surrounding yours, Synn shu.”
I’d never been addressed as a lord in the Ino territory before. “Are we on lockdown?”
Am I trapped again, so far away from my queen?
I ground my teeth and pushed that thought away. I would be free of her. I had to be.
“You are welcome to travel anywhere amongst our city, Synn shu, but we will be pleased to offer escort as guides and protection.”
I nodded. “Then are we prisoners or guests?”
Ryo came up to me, walking on silent feet, and clasped my shoulder with a grin under his thin mustache. “You do not know the ways of our city, or of the lethara when we are underwater. You are guests and Family, and we are honored to have you here.”
I searched his face, but saw nothing more than honesty and maybe a little fear hidden deep in his eyes. I nodded and walked into the room.
“Is there anything else I can do for you, Synn shu?”
“He needs a bath,” Ryo said with a good natured grin to the young lady. “You stink.”
I chucked my chin at him. “You try surviving what I have in the last few days and smell pretty while doing it.”
The girl bowed and closed the door.
Ryo pulled my pistol out of his belt. “So, what can you tell me about this?”
I looked around the room. There was a comfortable bed along one wall. A small chest and a large desk sat in front of a wide window that took up nearly the entire far wall. Everything was done in hues of blues and greens. Mother’s colors. The room was lit by tear dropped glowing globes sporadically scattered across several tables. “Joshua and I designed it to work with my Mark.”
“Can I try?”
I shrugged and headed toward the chest. “Just try not to kill me.”
He held the pistol in his hand and pulled the trigger. There was a wet plop and lava glumped onto the floor where it hissed and cooled into a scorched patch.
We both stared at it.
He laughed and tossed it to me. “Well, it was obviously made for you, so you keep it.”
I caught it with a little fumbling. “We could probably make one for you, too. We may just have to modify it slightly.”
“What’s the ammunition?”
“Technically, it’s our Marks, but there is a catalyst that’s needed. I don’t know exactly what it is that Joshua added to start the firing sequence, but it’s a naturally derived chemical reaction that is reproduced every time you use the thing, so once it’s activated, in theory, it can never really run out.”
“Does it tire you?”
I flared my eyes and tested the bed with my fingertips. “When you’re trying to take out an entire fleet of planes while fleeing, and then immediately try to fend off some demented pincher bugs intent on killing you? Especially when there are hundreds of them and only one of you and your pistol?” I nodded. “Oh yeah. It knocked me out for a couple of days.”
A man walked in, his back straight, his chin high. “Synn shu, your bath is ready.”
I opened the chest. Lovely Sky Mother! Real clothes, not uniforms that defined me as a what, but clothes that allowed me to be a who. I grabbed a set and followed the man down the hall.
The bathing room was located close to our rooms and was immense. Pale blue tile reflected the sparkles of the water in the false light created by something in the walls. I was sure Joshua would be checking those out as soon as he could, but I was interested in the water. I really did stink.
After I thanked him, the man left. Towels were on the bench, soap along the far ledge, warm water in the first tub. The second tub was hotter and meant for soaking. Perfect. I wasn’t sure what had to be prepared. It appeared as though the pools could seat at least ten people comfortably. Interesting.
I tore off my uniform and dumped the clothes on the floor. I thought about setting them on fire, but I had a lot to learn about control, so I opted not to.
The Mark on my right arm lifted with the thought of incinerating my clothing, but sighed back into place.
Ryo stared at my Mark with fascinated horror.
I pretended not to notice and entered the bath, sinking into it, allowing the hot water to wash over my head. I grabbed the soap.
He stripped and joined me, draping his arms along the edge of the large pool.
I scrubbed with the loofah until my brown skin turned pink. When I was done, I rinsed and climbed out, heading to the soaking pool.
Ryo joined me, his wet feet making little sound compared to my slap-slap-slapping.
I sank into the water, the jets beating my back, and draped my arms along the edge, my long hair starting to curl. The water was a little cool for my taste. With a thought, heat radiated from me, warming the waters. Steam rolled off the surface in waves.
“Are you here to claim head of Ino?”
I kept my eyes closed, enjoying the water. “Ryo, I’m El’Asim.”
“I see your Mark, Synn. You’re Ino.”
I didn’t say anything for a long time. “Do you have any idea how to command an airship, how to keep it safe?” I opened my eyes.
He shook his head. His topknot gleamed blue in the false light.
“I don’t know how to live on a lethara. Mark or no, I’m not Ino. I wasn’t raised here. I didn’t even intern here. You at least interned on the Yusrra Samma.”
“Then why are you here, Synn?”
“Honestly?” I shook my head and looked away, my forehead starting to hurt from all the frowning. I hadn’t even been aware I was doing it. “I’m just trying to get away, to escape.”
“The Hands?”
I nodded.
“What was it like? Sky City.”
I let my head fall back on the ledge and stared up at the blue ceiling as it twinkled in the water lights. “It was…oddly amazing.”
He tipped his head.
“They have technologies we’d never think to use. They burn energies that don’t reproduce themselves. They have machines called automobiles, which are carts on wheels that power themselves. They use them to drive through their city, which is pretty immense. They have rows upon rows of warehouses that are actually laboratories. That’s where their greatest minds are placed, and they give them any materials they want.”
“For what?”
I shrugged. “To invent stuff. You should have seen some of the things they were working on. Some of it was pretty neat.”
“You sound like you miss it.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I may miss that part. It was nice knowing that I could think up something, like a pistol that works with your Mark, and just know that whatever crazy idea you dreamt up
, they would give you the materials within a day or two.”
“Anything else you miss?”
I was about to say no, but stopped myself with a smile. “Their telescope. They had an immense scope that took up an entire building, and you could study the stars even with the suns in the sky. Well, only one sun at a time.” I shook my head in wonder. “We were working to map out what they called a solar system. It was theorized that Kel’mar is not our moon, but that we are its moon.”
He rubbed his eyebrow, watching me.
I waved off the thought. “It was amazing to have the time to sit around and theorize things that—” I smashed my lips in thought. “Well, I guess, they have no practical purpose. To study the stars? To map out how our suns rotate around each other, that our planet rotates around Kala, and that we rotate around our planet, and that that defines our calendars, our years, our turns?” I looked up at the ceiling. “It was amazing.”
“They have a lot of power and money.”
“Oh, yes they do.” I pursed my lips. “But you have no freedoms. They have these floating machines that scan your face. I sometimes think they listened to conversations, too. There were times I’d meet Nix, and she knew things that were said when no one else was around.”
“What is she like?”
“Controlling, manipulative, deceitful. And those are her good qualities.”
He grinned. “I hear you shared her bed.”
My entire body tensed.
His eyes narrowed, his smile slipping.
I forced myself to relax. “She was in my bed, but we did not share it.”
His gaze turned to the water. “I hear she has ways of breaking a man.”
I said nothing.
He looked up at me, his chin low. “You escaped.”
Blinking, I met his gaze. “I did.”
“Do you feel better for having done so?”
My eyes were distant, staring at the far wall and seeing only her manipulative, conniving face. “Sometimes. I’ll be happier to be completely free of her.”
“When do you think that will happen?”
“I have no idea,” I whispered. “So much has changed.”
He nodded.
