by Jen Valena
✹ ✹ ✹
They relocated camp farther from Leelan in case the soldiers still searched for Rainor. Feron cut the path ahead. Tyrsten and Huldo kept vigilant eyes on Rainor while bringing up the rear. As they traveled, Ithia insisted she be given space to speak with Rainor in private without interruption.
Questions flooded Ithia’s mind. “Is Garrick Magian?”
“An Innocenti, though I dare not use that word to describe him.”
Ithia considered a moment before asking her next question. “Is my mother—”
“Our mother is gone.”
Feelings she could not identify mixed with sorrow. A hope had arisen that her mother was alive. “What happened to her?”
“When I was ten,” Rainor paused, “well, let us say she never returned from one of her explorations. Garrick raised me from then on.”
“What of our father?” Ithia asked, worried to hear he was gone too.
“She never told anyone who he was.”
Ithia tucked her hair behind her ears and twisted the strands. “When did you find out about me?”
“I knew about you my whole life. Since your disappearance as an infant, Mother spent most of my childhood searching for you.”
“Do you know why I was taken?”
“Because of Sauvant Quanen’s vision.”
Ithia wrinkled her nose, she didn’t like that everyone knew more about her life than she did. “Is that why Garrick wanted me, because he believes I am the female force Quanen talked about?”
“Yes. Although, he rejects the Magian interpretation.”
“He doesn’t believe I am here to challenge him?”
“Challenge him? No. He feels he has already challenged the unworthy. He knows one day he shall need a successor the people will follow to keep challenging the Magians’ hold. Someone that legitimizes his path and solidifies his legacy.”
Ithia stared at him with disbelief. “He brought me back to Ma’thea so that I could take over?”
“Eventually. After he molded you into his creation. Garrick believes the vision is about you. But I wanted you to return to liberate us from him. It was by my power that you were found. He has no powers as a Magian. Even the basic prophetic visions of an Innocenti elude him. He is jealous of the superior nature of the Sidari. His only skill is an ability to manipulate others. He rules with a silver tongue and an iron-fist.”
Ithia was rattled by Rainor’s silver tongue, realizing now she was trusting the words of a man who had psychically attacked her.
“My motive for bringing you to Ma’thea was to help our people. It is difficult for your friends to believe, but that is all I wanted from you. I fight against Garrick’s perilous ways.”
“I’m having a hard time believing everything you say.” Ithia frowned. “And if Garrick wants me to join him, why would he order you to attack me?”
“To weaken you, so you might understand his position. To make you conform to his ways by seeing the dangers of Magians. He now fears you might be marred by your association with Tyrsten.”
“Marred by Tyrsten?”
“Garrick is right, to some extent. You bend to Tyrsten’s influence.”
Ithia scoffed. “Nonsense!”
“He will be very upset to see Tyrsten turned you into a Sidari.”
“He didn’t want me to be a Sidari?”
“He did not want you made by Tyrsten’s Actuation.” Rainor laughed. “As for me, he demanded I be made Sidari because you were taken. I lived in your shadow. How long and far you have cast your influence. And Tyrsten has taught you so little of this world. Why has he held back?”
A shiver trailed up Ithia’s body. “Well, yes, I haven’t mastered my skills. I’ve only discovered this—stuff—a few moon-cycles ago. I’ve been on the run since I got here, just trying to survive. How is that Tyrsten’s fault?”
“He has had plenty of time to explain the Magians’ real issues. So ask him and see if he tells you the truth. You will know, your instincts are quite developed for someone untrained. Everything is easier for you.” A flicker of anger smashed through Rainor’s cool exterior. He shook his head as if to topple a mad man ranting inside. “I work at my skills. Yours come effortlessly. And me? I was hated for not being you.”
“I’m sorry your life was difficult. I didn’t know—” Ithia stopped before her tears fell.
Rainor took a breath and steadied himself. “That is behind us. I will aid your claim of the throne—not on Garrick’s terms.”
“There doesn’t need to be a throne.”
“We must guide the people to reason.”
“But once Garrick is gone, everything can go back to the way it was.”
“It can never be the same. Nor should it. You assume Garrick has been the only oppressor.”
Ithia glanced back to Tyrsten.
A long silence slipped between them as Rainor observed her. “You worry about Tyrsten’s approval. Do not let him control your Fate.”
“I make my own decisions.”
“He carries the biases of his Magian teachers. Even Tyrsten has his own agenda for your future.”
Rainor studied her face like a map since he was as blocked to her mind as she was to his. “Your limited exposure has shown you very little of the Magian ways, and through one man’s limited and warped perspective—” He recalculated his words. “Tyrsten wants to hide you away, keep you safe from your life, until he can use you to suit his purposes. In the end, he will prevent you from fulfilling your calling.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Tyrsten is Magian. Garrick is correct in many regards about the corrupt ways of our predecessors. Also, Tyrsten falters on his core beliefs to be with you. I see his passion for you. He has offered you no strategy to confront Garrick. Perchance, distracting you from your calling has been his plan all along.”
“Stop attacking him.”
“Forgive me. Perhaps I misjudge. I do have my own limited perspective. I do sense he wavers between what is best for himself and what he thinks is best for you.” Rainor allowed her mind to fester on that statement before he continued. “Do not get trapped in your affair. Family, friends, mates are an illusion of the primal cultural structure. The Evolved do not abide by these definitions or ties.”
“Then why do you want to help me?”
“Being my sister has nothing to do with it. You have potential. That is all. It just so happens that on this physical plane you are my relation.”
“And you do not agree with the Magian ways?”
“They speak of enlightenment? Oh no, they label—Good. Bad. Right. Wrong. Do-gooders? No. They contaminate the minds of those willing to listen to their misleading rhetoric. They harm us by preventing elevation of our mass consciousness.”
Ithia frowned at his cockiness. “You contributed to the suffering of people.”
“Yes, because through suffering we can become enlightened. Why else would we be motivated to transcend?”
“Because we want to.”
“Why would we want to transcend if we did not experience suffering? If everything was blandly adequate, what would compel anyone to change? Would you have grown or developed if I had not taken you from Earth? If I had not attacked you?”
“I’d like to think—”
“No!” Rainor snapped and then brought his tone to soothing again. “Your life was comfortable. Tell me why you would motivate yourself if not nudged by my provocations?”
“I could have.”
Rainor eyed Ithia while taking a long deep breath, his intensity subsiding. He studied her face, never moving his eyes but somehow reading her page by page. “Perhaps—you would have, although, unlikely.”
“Well, I’m not going to thank you for abusing me. People shouldn’t hurt others just so they can get what they want. I am tired of being a target in everyone’s game.”
✹ ✹ ✹
Ithia pondered alone at the edge of camp.
Tyrsten approached her
tentatively. “Have your talks with Rainor been informative?”
Her body tightened in agitation. “I guess.”
Tyrsten noted her resistance. “Any impressions?”
She forced herself to smile, to push down a bubbling anger. “I don’t think he wants to kill me, but I’m not willing to trust him completely yet either.”
“This could all be a scheme to manipulate you.”
“Back off, Tyrsten. You want me to hate my brother? I’m not going to write him off, just because you want me to.” She breathed in deep to clear her head, but it fueled her frustration. “What? Are you jealous?”
Tyrsten took a step backwards, throwing his hands up in mock surrender. “No. We need to work through this predicament.”
Ithia whispered harshly, “Predicament? He’s my brother, not a predicament! We know nothing of what he has had to deal with—what he was made to do.”
“That is exactly why I worry!” Tyrsten took a deep breath. “I am concerned for your safety.”
She unclenched her fists. “I’m not angry with you. I’m just confused. I need to figure this out for myself.”
“Fine. However, you must understand—for the safety of all of us—that I must also figure this out for myself.”
Ithia glanced away.
Tyrsten stepped closer to feel her emotions more intensely. “What else is bothering you?”
Ithia didn’t want to confess that in the five days since leaving Leelan, her eyesight had grown blurry, even more so than when she had needed glasses. She had refrained from squinting so that she wouldn’t attract attention. However, she was becoming increasingly concerned. Ithia was glad for a strange fog that settled in the woods. Now the others had hampered vision as well, and hers would not be as noticeable.
“It’s just a lot to try to see clearly.”
✹ ✹ ✹
The next evening, Huldo, Feron and Ithia scavenged the winter foliage for edible plants, leaving Tyrsten and Rainor at camp. Rainor’s hands and feet were tied, and he sat propped against an aspen. Tyrsten took inventory of their dwindling supplies.
“What are your intentions with my sister?”
“None of your business,” Tyrsten tossed hardened bread back into a sack. “Especially considering you are not much of a brother.”
“Ah, yes. I am no Huldo.”
“No. You are not.”
Rainor chuckled. “I apologized for hurting her.” He lightly scoffed. “Magians tout how forgiving they are, and as I assumed, you are not. Although, you are not quite like other Magians, are you? I mean, what would the great teachers have to say about the way you lust after Ithia?”
“You question me about following the Magian ways? What breed of Magian are you?”
“Careful. Ithia is the same breed. And I have an excuse for my misdeeds. I was raised by Garrick. What is your excuse? You had the proper training.”
“I have done nothing wrong.”
“Except engage in a love affair. You have done more to corrupt her than I ever could.”
Tyrsten stormed off and gathered wood fifty feet away from Rainor.
“Running from me does not make it untrue!”
Tyrsten turned his back on him.
Rainor called out in a higher pitch than normal, “Tyrsten!”
Tyrsten sensed something was wrong. A low growl coming from Rainor’s location raised the hair on Tyrsten’s neck. He spun to see its source.
Three wild dogs circled Rainor who sat helplessly tied up. The alpha dog lunged for Rainor’s throat. Rainor rolled to avoid the attack.
Tyrsten hurled himself between the ravenous dogs and Rainor. The alpha jumped on Tyrsten, knocking him to the ground.
Canine teeth snapped inches from Tyrsten’s neck as he held the dog’s jaws at bay.
The second dog bit into Tyrsten’s leg.
Grimacing, Tyrsten cried out.
Rainor kicked leaves up at the third to shoo it away.
Tyrsten wrestled the alpha off of himself and grabbed his combat staff resting against a nearby tree. Swinging the staff with both hands, he knocked the third dog away from Rainor. With another swing, he punched the alpha in the nose. The second dog charged. Tyrsten blocked its assault with a swipe of his staff.
The dogs hesitated.
This allowed Tyrsten to concentrate—with one spin, he exhaled a breath filled with Magian intent to scare off the dogs and sent them running.
Rainor gasped. “You saved my life. Why?”
“Perhaps my training was proper after all.”
✹ ✹ ✹
Everyone agreed to keep on the move for their protection. However, as the days passed, and no soldiers turned up searching for Rainor or Ithia, Tyrsten relaxed—a little. Even so, he refused to trust Rainor, even if Ithia was beginning to do so. When Ithia insisted on removing Rainor’s restraints, Tyrsten reluctantly agreed, but one of them was always watching Rainor.
Tyrsten and Huldo unpacked their horses, preparing to make camp for the night.
Tyrsten leaned over to Huldo. “This foggy weather is strange for this season.”
“Is it Rainor’s doing? Could he have the power to command the elements?” Huldo asked.
“It is possible. I speak to Trees.” Tyrsten cocked his head, wondering. “I was told of those who can charm clouds.”
“The thick cover is a comfort to me. We are less exposed.”
“The real danger is Rainor himself.” Tyrsten frowned and gestured toward Ithia. “He reads her—anticipates her words, her emotions, her humor.”
“Using his kindred demeanor as a ruse to gain trust?”
“If so, it is working. She is too quick to trust him.”
“Ithia is caught up in the nostalgia of having family—a brother. I do not blame her.”
Tyrsten smiled at Huldo’s familial devotion. Constantly speculating on Rainor’s motives, Tyrsten hadn’t smiled in days. He knew in his heart Rainor manipulated Ithia—spinning an elegant web to catch her off guard. “If Rainor is actually her brother.”
Just as upsetting, Tyrsten worried about his own connection with Ithia. She talked to him less each day. A distance grew—rupturing the balance they had created before Rainor’s appearance. He had no way to bridge the gap. He couldn’t accuse Rainor of sabotage. She would have to come to reason on her own.
✹ ✹ ✹
Since Rainor’s arrival into her life, Ithia was free to question her entire existence. Why had Gramps kept such big secrets? What was the true motive of Tyrsten’s rescue? Urica gave the impression she was ashamed of some decision she had made. What had the woman done? Everyone wanted a piece of Ithia, or wanted to keep a piece of the puzzle from her.
Rainor reminded Ithia of herself. They mused that the Fates were bored with the cosmos and created all this destiny and prophecy in order to stir up a little drama.
✹ ✹ ✹
After several days of traveling with Rainor, Ithia stomped over to Tyrsten while the others gathered firewood. In more of an accusation than a request, she asked, “Can we talk?”
“Of course. It is you who does not seek my company of late.”
“Can we take a walk for some privacy?” Ithia nodded at their three companions.
Tyrsten waited for her to speak again as they found themselves far along a narrow trail.
When she was positive they were out of earshot of the others, Ithia stopped. She rubbed her hands and twisted her fingers. “What do you really want from me?”
“I want nothing but your happiness—to be safe—to follow your destiny—fulfillment in your calling.”
“Nothing else?”
“In whatever way you desire, I am here for you.”
“Why do you want to be with me?”
“I have seen a glimpse of your soul that no other has had the fortune of seeing.”
Tears fell from the corners of her eyes. Ithia gripped her shoulders and hugged herself. “Or do you really care about me because you think I am the one
Quanen spoke of?”
“It is part of who you are. However, it is not why I care for you.”
Ithia proceeded along the path, craving the distraction of movement. Tyrsten said no more—giving her space to think.
The carpet of bright green grass on the forest floor had grown tiny sprouts, however the season hadn’t yet quite yielded to spring. An unusually warm, wet three days and the insulation of the mysterious fog had coaxed the plants to grow, but their adventure would likely end with a cold snap before the week was over. Ithia couldn’t help but identify with their impending demise.
Down by her feet, Ithia noticed a pocket-sized lizard. It kept pace with her, running a little ahead, then turning to Ithia, only to run ahead again.
That’s odd. That lizard seems to be walking with us.
When the lizard veered off the trail, Ithia thought that it had tired of their silly game, until she noticed its front leg waved her to follow.
This strange behavior from an animal hailed her suspicions, but her curiosity was strong. Ithia took one step off the trail to pursue the reptile and stopped.
She didn’t sense anyone controlled the creature, but then she thought about Urica’s disappearance. Ithia still didn’t understand how someone had abducted the keen Seer. “What took Urica?” she whispered to herself.
Tyrsten tilted his head. “I am not sure why you mention that now, but my theory is that Rainor knows something of it.”
“He said he doesn’t.”
“Rainor was at the Palace during the other disappearances.”
“He might not have been privy to how the Magians vanished.”
“Or he might have been part of those captures. As he abducted you—twice.”
Ithia glared at Tyrsten for reminding her of her brother’s deeds. Contemplating his words, she became inattentive to the ground below. A tree root snagged her foot, causing her to lose balance. The terrain’s slopping descent into a dry gulch offered no mercy. She toppled backwards, grabbing wildly at the air for support. She landed flat on her back.
