by Leyton, Bisi
“I’m confused.” Shrugging him off, she stepped away, but she was starting to feel very warm and her hands were sweating. “You said---?”
He appeared behind her, and whispered in her ear, “Sing for me.”
“Why? No, let go of me. I want to go home.”
“You know I cannot make music. And after hearing your music, I realize no one else alive can do it like you.”
“I don’t feel like it.” Returning to the rug, she grabbed her backpack and headed to the door.
“Have I upset you?” He blocked the way.
“No.” She grinned as wide as she could make herself. “I’m just tired.” Talking about what he’d said just made her sound needy and pathetic.
“Rest here.”
She glanced back over at the carpet.
“Please, stay. I have to return to Jarthan tonight and I do not want to go.” He sighed heavily. “I like it when you are here. Just stay a bit longer and sing a little… if you want to. Please?” His large green eyes darkened as they did when he was seriously annoyed or sad.
He is manipulating me. Wisteria released a weary sigh.
“I am sorry, if I did say something that hurt you. You are my—I do not know how to explain it, Wisteria Kuti.”
She squinted at him. “You’re trying to control me.” Her fake smile gave way to a genuine grin.
“It is only fair. You control me.”
“Bach—”
Moving into her personal space, he kissed her. He took her hand and led her back to the rug.
She did finally sing for him, and he drifted asleep in her arms.
CHAPTER FOUR
Bach stepped through the threshold, which served as a portal between Earth and Jarthan. Once on the other side, he was immediately entranced by how magnificent the raging Astolat River roared below the stone bridge he was standing on. Moving away from the black glass of the threshold, he headed across the bridge. Halfway across, he paused and took in the wondrous sight of Jarthan Castle. The massive white stone palace had been built into Jarthan Mountain over a thousand years ago.
“Bach.” Alba, the daughter of the Lord of Jarthan, waved to him from the white steps carved into the side of the mountain. She was his old friend and Enric’s little sister.
“You look well,” he remarked.
Alba was a sight in a white gown with blue sleeves. Blushing, she brushed her short blonde hair out of her eyes. Placing her rose-colored lips sweetly on his cheek, she said, “You were supposed to be back here seven hours ago. You said you needed to secure the piron nets on Terra, but when you did not come back, Sen Aleix sent people looking for you. They did not find you in your den.”
“I see,” Bach responded.
They walked up the mountain steps to the Palace within Jarthan Castle. They headed to the section dedicated the Third Pillar.
“Your father was convinced Felip had returned for you and slaughtered you.”
“Hmm.”
“Where were you?” Alba asked as they reached the open stone doors.
“Yes, where were you?” Lluc, his nineteen-year-old brother, appeared in front of them. He
Lluc was the only Famila who knew the truth of Bach’s relationship with Wisteria. He detested the relationship and was constantly trying to get him to leave her, something Bach was powerless to do. The brothers hadn’t really talked since their fight months ago. Lluc had been prepared to physically beat him up to stop him from rescuing her.
“Sen-Son Lluc.” Alba greeted him with a curtsy.
“Brother, technically, I still have 169 days of my Great Walk left, so I am supposed to spend it away from the Family.”
“I will allow you two to speak privately.” Alba squeezed Bach’s hand before leaving.
The two brothers moved to the rooftop of the Third Pillar courtyard. Lluc signaled to the Thayn and other Famila to leave. “Please, do not tell me you returned to Wisteria?” he asked when they were alone.
“Fine.”
“Is that all you are going to say?”
“You have made it perfectly clear where you stand when you attacked me for trying to save her. If I had not gone back, we would not have discovered Felip was plotting against the Family.”
“You did not go back to Smythe to stop Felip. You returned for the free Terran; you just stumbled upon Felip's treachery, and I am certain the Family would have eventually.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
“Huh, what have you told Enric since you tricked him into saving a free Terran or the Sen? What do you think the Sen will do when he learns you are in Mosroc with a Terran?”
The Family was divided into Pillars and the leader of each Pillar was the Sen. In the Third Pillar the Sen was Aleix who also happened to be Bach’s father.
“How will he find out unless you tell him?”
Lluc pulled on the collar of Bach’s shirt. “Your shana is vanishing. It is a sign you are in Mosroc with someone.”
Bach knew the birthmarks, a trail of black spots that ran from his neck to his elbows, had a habit of appearing and disappearing depending on his health and in times of stress.
“Father does not have shana and does not understand how it works. We inherited that from our mother. Also, what if half are gone? It could also be caused from the pressure of living on Terra alone for three months. And if he were to believe I was in Mosroc, he would have to find the Terran and there is no guarantee my shana will appear on her. It did not happen that way for our parents.”
“If you have bonded with her, your shana will eventually pass on to her.”
“That is not true. Our mother’s shana never transferred to the Father.”
“That was because our mother was not in love with our father. She married our father because she felt it was best for the Family. I expect you to do the same, with Alba or some other appropriate girl.”
“What? I am not ready for a wife. You are older than me and you do not have one.” Granted, he loved Wisteria, but marriage? He was not even close considering that.
“True, but that is because the woman they agreed I should marry died. I will be pledged again soon, do not worry about me.” Lluc had never seemed overly concerned about the death of his intended. “But do not change the subject. What will you do when our father sends fifty empirics to that island? They might endeavor to renew your Terran and will quickly learn she has a Mosroc with a Famila, when one of them tries to renew her and goes insane.”
“So? That will be their fault,” Bach retorted.
“And when they kill her, what will you do?”
“I suppose I will find another.” He planned to remove Wisteria from Smythe before the empirics arrived. Over the last few months, he’d been searching for another den. Dens were the houses Famila lived in while on Terra. He’d found an abandoned one, destroyed the threshold and set up a piron net. This way, there would be little chance they’d run into uninvited Famila.
Most likely, she wouldn’t like the idea at first, but she’d eventually understand and she’d be safe there until the empirics left. Then what? They couldn’t live in that den forever and he’d want to take her back to Smythe or bring her to Jarthan. And the notion of living in another human safe haven disgusted him more than living in Smythe.
“Really, you will not be concerned when she is dragged out in the middle of the night, screaming?”
“Lluc—”
“Or when her blood is smeared across the streets like a slaughtered pig?”
“Lluc—”
“Or she—”
“You think I do not know that?” Bach seethed. “Do not lecture me. I need you to be my brother right now. Help me make this work.”
“There is no way. You must let her go. Tell our father you will not be going back to the Terran’s island. He will be furious, but it will pass.”
“I have to keep my word to the Sen. I must go. I cannot leave her. She has a hold over me I do not understand.” Part of him didn’t want t
o care for her as much as he did. He wanted to be free of the pressure he was under and the risk he was causing to her, but he couldn’t.
Nular, one of Lluc’s Thayns, entered the room, moving with a severe limp. She was about Lluc’s age, with dark eyes and very long dark hair she wore wrapped behind her head. Unlike Lluc’s sixty other Thayn, Nular was one of his three Favorites, so as well as serving him, she entertained him on a personal level.
“Yes?” Lluc snapped at her. “I said I wanted to be left alone.”
“I am sorry, Eminent.” She dropped to her knees. “Please forgive me.”
“Nular, leave now.” Lluc pointed to the door. “Now!”
Hesitantly, Nular remained. “Please, sir, the Sen sent me to call you and Eminent Bach into the Triad Hall.” Her head hung low as she spoke.
Lluc was at a loss for words, almost as if he wanted to apologize to her. No one apologized to Thayns. He muttered something to her.
She rose and limped out.
“Why is your Favorite limping?” Bach asked.
“She was cleaning the columns of my chamber and fell. She almost broke her neck,” Lluc responded.
“Luckily, you have two others.”
“Right…” His older brother paused, as though he didn’t like Bach’s suggestion, and then he scowled. “I do not want to keep fighting about this with you, brother, but I cannot watch you get hurt. It will get bad for you when they slaughter your Terran in front of you.”
“Lluc, Bach.” Yordi, their brother, burst into the courtyard. At twenty-two, Yordi was the oldest of the brothers. “Why are you still keeping Father waiting? Do you think because the Sen of the Third Pillar happens to be our father that you can disrespect him?”
*****
“You may enter.” The sentinel guarding the great Triad Hall dragged the stone door open.
Bach and his two brothers walked into the dimly lit hall. The only source of light came in through stained glass windows displaying pictures of some of the past Sens of the Third Pillar.
“Prime Yordi, bring the other Sen-Sons closer.” Seated on a black stone throne at the end of the hall was their father, Sen Aleix of the Third Pillar. “Hurry; you kept me waiting long enough.”
“Come on,” Yordi said to his brothers, though his gaze was fixed on Bach, who had not changed into a proper suit. Shaking his head, he smirked. “I am keen to see this Thayn of yours who makes you break out of Jarthan and dare to get here dressed like you have been on a farm or worse. She has got to be delicious, and I hope she is musical.”
“You should explain to the Sen that Bach needs to change,” Lluc suggested as they walked into the hall.
Bach had planned make himself suitable before meeting his father, but his conversation with Lluc had made that impossible.
Yordi laughed. “Even our father was young once. He will understand about our brother’s little toy.” As far as Yordi knew, Bach had renewed a nameless Thayn, and enjoyed spending time with her.
“It is enough,” Lluc said abruptly as he strode across the stone floor.
Anger flashed across Yordi’s face.
Bach wasn’t surprised to see that. He knew very well that as the oldest son, Yordi hated his younger brothers telling him what to do.
“Hurry, Prime!” By their father’s expression, he was irritated they were taking so long.
Picking up has pace, Bach scanned the Triad Hall. The gray marble room was practically empty, with only a handful of the nobles from the Third Pillar standing at the bottom of the steps that led to the Sen’s seat.
Sitting with the Sen were Bach’s stepmother Belem and the Lord Rafel who was the Lord of Jarthan Castle. Lord Rafel was also Alba’s father.
“Sen-Son Bach,” his father called out to him. “Welcome back to civilization.”
Laughter echoed through the hall.
“Thank you, Sen.” Bach dropped to a knee.
“We thought we had lost you once again to the world of the animals,” Lord Rafel joked.
Bach was about to say something, but his father waved for him to remain silent.
His father, Sen Aleix, continued his conversation with Lord Rafel. The three brothers waited for what Bach thought had to be hours. Why his father had sent for them when he was not ready to actually attend to them, he did not know, but his father was the head of the pillar and could do whatever he liked.
Exactly three hours passed while the seeming never ending conversation went on. Like all Famila, Bach was naturally and acutely aware of the passage of time, often down to last second.
Finally, their father glanced across at them. “Prime Yordi, I must commend Sen-Son Bach on his selfless sacrifice in agreeing to return and live among the beasts.”
Lluc coughed at their father’s comment.
“We are all amazed and grateful Bach would do such an incredible thing to protect the Pillar and the Family.” Rafel echoed the Sen’s sentiments.
A few of the other Family nobles in the hall nodded in agreement.
“We have decided to send a small cohort of empirics to the island to discover how the Terrans came to possess the obsidian crystal,” Sen Aleix announced. A cohort was a group or members of the Family travelling or moving together. “They will, of course, renew an appropriate number of the Terrans, but not enough to cause serious concern.”
“How many empirics are you sending?” Bach asked.
“You do not need to concern yourself with the details,” Lord Rafel replied. “When they arrive, you will know them. Just ensure they are well received and point out the right Terrans for the renewal.”
“As you know,” Belem said softly, “If we renew them en-mass the Terrans could realize what is happening and those who hold the secrets we are seeking could destroy the evidence and themselves.”
“Sen.” Bach stepped forward. “That could still be a risk, if too many people arrive. Since Felip left, they have been very suspicious of all strangers. There is no way they will take in a large group.”
“Didan, what do you think?” The Sen pointed to a white-haired man, dressed in the long black coats worn by the Sentinels. “We will not send many. Forty of the Family will go,” Didan replied.
“That sounds reasonable.” Yordi nodded.
“That many people entering the island at once will be the same as trying to renew them all. And once they see we all have green eyes, they will assume the worst,” Bach interjected.
“We can conceal our eye color,” Didan snapped.
“Are you suggesting we send a smaller group?” Rafel asked.
“Impossible,” Didan protested. “Obsidian coral is fundamental to our way of life. It makes it possible for our people to safely travel through the thresholds to this realm or any other. The fact that the Terrans are trying to synthesize it could mean they too want to travel to our realms and this must be part of their plot to destroy us.”
“We are agreed,” Sen Aleix, Bach’s father, said.
“We must send the right kind of people and enough people. This is not a game,” Didan continued. “This is not like toying with a Thayn on the beaches of the Jade Ocean.”
Bach sensed Didan’s comment was directed at him, but he did not respond. “Sen Aleix, the humans will be more comfortable around a smaller group, provided you send the right people.”
“Humans?” Rafel questioned.
All reasonable Famila referred to humans as Terrans, which meant the dirt people.
“You call them humans now?” Didan jeered. “Intriguing.”
Bach searched his brain for a reasonable explanation.
“Of course he calls them that,” Yordi interjected. “Sen-Son Bach has had to blend in with them and learn their ways. How else could be earn their trust? He is not a fool.” Turning to his father, he stepped forward. “Father.” Yordi was the first child of the Sen and that made Yordi the Prime of his Pillar, so he got away with referring to his father, Sen Aleix, casually in these formal settings.
“Yes,
Prime Yordi.” His father’s countenance softened at the word.
“Consider what Sen-Son Bach is saying. He has lived among free Terrans longer than most of us in this room.”
While the Great Walk was mandatory, most Famila chose to spend it on the Family home realm. Bach’s decision to spend 1,000 days on Earth was quite unique.
Their father sighed and turned to Didan. “We will consider what you have said,” Sen Aleix stated firmly. “You must do everything in your power to ensure the Terrans trust the empirics we send and we get the source of the obsidian crystal. I will never tolerate failure, especially from my sons.”
“Sen, Bach will not fail,” Yordi swore. “He will get the answers you are seeking.”
“Your oldest brother is very loyal to you, Sen-Son.” Their father, Sen Aleix, looked over at Bach. “Do not disappoint him.”
The brothers left the Triad hall.
Bach decided to return to the Isle of Smythe to visit Wisteria again since his father wouldn’t make a decision about the cohort any time soon. He might surprise her with a gift for her mother, although he’d have to give it to Lara. Leaving his brother, he reached the Third Pillar’s courtyard and saw Alba gliding back into the hall.
“Look away,” a familiar voice warned and the giant frame of Enric, his best friend, approached.
“What are you doing here?” Bach asked happily.
Enric was his best friend and had gone on the Great Walk with him.
When they discovered the obsidian crystal on Earth, they’d impressed Bach’s father. As a result, the boys were granted permission to complete the Great Walk early. Enric had journeyed back home three months ago, but Bach had stayed behind to help the Family find the obsidian crystal. At least that was what he told the Family.
“Your Great Walk is over, are you not supposed to be celebrating your life as an Ino? Bragging to the girls about your adventures with the wild animals?” Bach asked.
“I was, but the girls kept asking why I left you to complete the Great Walk alone. They made me feel like a qwaynide.” Enric laughed.
“So, you returned because you do not want people calling you names?”
