by Rachel Red
With an ache in my chest, I got up, went around the table to her, and put an arm around her narrow shoulders, kind of crouching. "It's going to be okay, Rose. That won't happen to your little girl.
I hoped with every fiber of my being that it wouldn't.
Rose sobbed, her hands still over her face. "Last night after I heard that there's going to be an attack, I dreamed about her, how she must look now. I dreamed about her somehow being hit with a blast of dragon fire. I dreamed about her burning and screaming."
With my own eyes more than a bit misty, I rubbed Rose's back, silently. She continued crying, the sound of it intensifying the ache in my chest.
But after a short while, she abruptly stopped and took her hands from her face. "I'm so sorry. I'm normally a very strong person. I've always had to be."
I squeezed her shoulder. "I know, and that helped you survive. But now you're someplace safe, and you don't have to be strong all the time anymore. Sometimes it's okay not to be. And in fact, sometimes it's probably even good not to be."
She nodded, taking a shaky deep breath. "That's what Andrew says."
"Here. Let me get you a tissue."
I went over to a box on a nearby counter, grabbed a few tissues out, and gave them to her before taking my seat again.
After thanking me, she dabbed her eyes and blew her nose. "I called her Daisy while she was with me. I named her that because I wanted her to have a flower name like my mother gave me. I don't know if she's still called that, though. The three women who take care of the girls aren't supposed to call them by proper names, because the Oppressors think that would make the girls feel too individual and special. The girls are supposed to be called 'future whore one hundred and twenty-six' and like that. So maybe the women just call them by their numbers like they did when I was a young girl there. So I don't even know if my daughter would even recognize her real name." Rose blew her nose again. "Brook keeps telling me that Daisy will be okay. And at times this morning, I've let myself believe that, and I've felt okay myself. But then I start thinking about it again, and then I get scared again. Then Brook starts trying to convince me again that she'll be okay. I hope with all my heart she's right, but we can't be certain that Daisy will be. We just have to hope. Because I know there's no way for your husband and his men to get all the women and out of Cold Creek before they attack; I know the walls around the town are too heavily guarded. I just wish there was another way. Any other way to do things."
"So do I. I even asked Victor last night if I could go to the battle myself so that I could levitate all the women and children out of Cold Creek at the very beginning of the fight, before anyone gets hurt."
Rose gasped, leaning forward in her chair, her eyes wide. "I completely forgot about your levitation powers! So, did he say yes? Did he say at least maybe?"
I sighed. "No. He said I could go to Cold Creek only over his dead, rotting corpse, actually. He said he won't allow me to be put in harm's way."
Rose appeared to actually deflate, sinking back in her chair, her shoulders slumping. "Oh. I guess I understand his thinking, though. He's your husband; his job is to protect you."
"Yeah. That's exactly what he said. I guess I understand, too, and I'm glad he protects me. I'm glad to have a strong, loving husband like him. But...." I sighed again. "It does bug me sometimes to be told I can't do something when I think something's a good idea and when I know I can probably take care of myself. It actually bugs me a lot. And it did last night, to the point that I super mad and...flipped out a little and got a little sassy."
Thinking back to the previous night, I shifted in my seat a tiny bit, my rear still slightly sore.
"But Victor still said no. He didn't even say he'd think about it. He just said flat-out no. And he said that's final."
Rose nodded, though her expression was one of sadness. "I understand. In in fact, he'd probably even be remiss as a husband if he just went ahead and let you go. If he just let you go into a situation where you could be hurt, or worse."
"Yeah. That's exactly what he said. Both of us fell silent and sipped our iced tea.
Within a few moments, I set my glass back down. "It still just seems...dumb to me, though. That I can't do this thing that I want to do, and that I know I could do, and that I know could save lives. And I know it sounds immature to say it's 'dumb', but...I guess I'm still just kind of riled about all this, and I can't even think of any better word right now. See, Victor's always saying that one of the reasons he loves me is because I'm brave, and courageous, and have compassion for people. So if he really feels that why, why won't he just let me display those qualities that I'm supposedly so good at? I know, I know. It's because he doesn't want me to get hurt. But I wish he could just trust me."
"I'm sure it's the Oppressors he doesn't trust, though."
"Yeah. But I wish he could just trust me to stay safe and avoid them. Or deal with them if I have to. I stunned Alexander by shooting him with a crossbow months ago, and I'm sure I could do it to an Oppressor again, if I had to."
Rose didn't answer right away, appearing to be thinking. "Hey. Any chance of the Keepers having levitation powers? Even a little bit, that they could practice over the next week or something?"
I shook my head. "Unfortunately, no. They all have different magical powers of various strengths, but none of them can levitate objects or people at all, not even Victor. And the two other women here who can levitate can only do it with very small, light objects. Not that their husbands would probably let them go to Cold Creek anyway, either."
"Oh. Well...well, I guess there's really nothing anyone can really do, then. Like I said earlier, we'll just have to hope. We'll just have to hope there's a miracle, that somehow none of the women and girls will be accidentally hurt during the battle. I know it's possible for that to happen. I know miracles are possible. I believe in them. It's a miracle I was freed and am sitting here in Stonebrook today. So that's what we'll do. We'll just hope for a miracle. We'll just hope for the best possible outcome."
Like Rose, I, too, believed in miracles. Although I knew I wasn't the type who could ever just wait and hope for one. I was more the type who felt like miracles had to be helped into creation. I was more the type who felt that miracles had to be more or less forced to happen, by people actively taking steps to make whatever particular miracle they hoped for become reality.
With the wheels of my mind turning, I sat studying my iced tea glass, tracing designs in the condensation on the side. Within a few moments, I had a sudden thought and looked up.
"Rose. Maybe we don't have to wait and hope for a miracle; maybe there's still a way I can go to Cold Creek and make one happen. I have an idea. But I'll need your help."
CHAPTER TWENTY
Rose looked at me from across the table with her blonde brows furrowed. "Well...of course I'd like to help you with whatever idea you have to get to Cold Creek in order to levitate my daughter and the others out, but...your idea doesn't involve sneaking in against your husband's wishes, does it? Because...I'm not sure I'd be too comfortable with that. And in fact, I don't think I'd be comfortable at all."
I shook my head. "No, no sneaking or dishonesty involved. My idea is a plan to get Victor to freely let me go to the battle at Cold Creek. My plan is to get him to say yes while being at least fairly comfortable with his decision. While being comfortable and convinced that I can more than take care of myself. See, I know asking him over and over again would be pointless. His no was a pretty firm one last night, and I know he's not suddenly going to change his mind. That is, unless I can present him with some new 'evidence', so to speak, to help me make my case for me going. If I can convince him that I could really get in, levitate everyone, and then get out before hardly being in any danger at all."
"How do you plan to convince him of that?"
"With a new ability. The ability to not only levitate myself and other people, but levitate with lightning-fast speed. With speed faster than any Oppressor.
"
Rose's eyes became big as saucers. "You mean...can you really do that?"
"Well...not yet. I think I could, if I just practiced a bit. I mean...practiced a lot. We still have about six days. I think that's just enough time for me to get really fast at levitating. See, I have been getting faster and faster at it ever since I realized I could do it. So who's to say I couldn't become even faster, even way faster, practicing and actually trying my hardest at it. And then...I show Victor and prove to him that I could be in and out of Cold Creek before any Oppressor could even have the chance to harm me. I make him see that he now doesn't have to be as concerned about my safety. Because I'm now lightning fast. Faster than any Oppressor. Then, he says yes, I can go. So I go to Cold Creek. I levitate Daisy and the others out. All with Victor's complete permission."
Rose chewed her lip for a couple of seconds, knitting her brows. "Well...it could work. There's a chance I could say yes. If you really can learn to levitate yourself and other people with lightning-fast speed, there's at least a chance. Although to be completely honest, I think it's a slim chance. But still...a slim chance is better than none at all." She gave me a little smile. "I say we do it. I say we try. I'll help you in any way I can. It's the very least I can do for you trying to make sure my daughter and the others are completely safe and out of harm's way during the battle."
I smiled back. "Good. I'm glad too. We can get started right this afternoon. We can go outside and I'll practice levitating us both. Even after the attack yesterday, Victor's still not outright banning any of us from going outside. He's just adding even more guards at the towers and insisting that the guard-to-woman ratio now be one-to-one. Which is fine. We'll just take two guards out with us and get right to practicing."
"And what will we say if they ask what we're doing?"
"I doubt they will. Everyone's so used to me levitating all sorts of random things, and even people, outside. Remember the other day when I levitated Julia and myself just because she wanted to do back flips in the air and she wanted me to count them? The guards didn't even blink. They'll just think we're bored and we're trying something new."Rose nodded. "Okay. This just might work."
I agreed, and just then, Victor came in the front door and into the kitchen. On Saturdays, I never scheduled picnics with my friends, and he always came home for lunch. We loved sharing meals together, and no matter how busy his days and weeks got with all his duties as lord of Stonebrook, Saturdays were always our days to share a midday meal. And sometimes, a bit of midday lovemaking as well. And actually, a lot of times.
Rose popped up from her seat right away and did a little curtsey. "Lord Victor."
Everyone in Stonebrook called Victor Lord Victor or just Lord, all except his very top men and a few close friends. All the women in Stonebrook curtsied when he entered a room, except for me, of course, and Julia and Elizabeth, because they were the wives of Sam and Michael, his two right-hand men. Even they curtsied to him on special occasions, like at formal dinners.
Victor nodded once at Rose. "Rose. Good to see you. I'm sorry if I'm interrupting; I didn't know you ladies were visiting."
Rose shook her head. "You're not interrupting at all. We were just finishing up our visit.”
Soon she left, right after we agreed to meet to go outdoors at four that afternoon.
Victor pulled me into his arms, frowning. "I'm not certain that I made the right decision to not ban all women from going outdoors until all Oppressor threats are removed."
"But last night, you told me that starting today, you're having the guard towers staffed with extra men, though. With men in dragon form constantly flying in a circuit around the mountains, too."
"Still."
"Oh, we'll be fine." "One guard for each of you, Kate. Promise me."
"I promise."
Not wanting him to ask what Rose and I would be up to outside, I changed the subject by asking him if he was hungry for lunch.
He brushed my mouth with a quick kiss. "Starving, actually. But even hungrier for your kisses."
I smiled. "Well, my kisses can wait. Let me fix you something to eat."
"Let me help you."
"No, thank you. I don't know when you're going to believe me; I really like fixing food for you myself. It makes me feel like a good wife."
"But you're not a good wife; you're the best."
Smiling, I gave him a few quick kisses before getting to work putting our lunch together. He took his black boots off and took a seat at the table.
I hadn't been joking; I really liked preparing food for him. At least once a week, he pointed out that we could have talented chefs who prepared food for community feasts make dinners for us with delivery right to our door. That way, I'd never have to lift a finger in the kitchen. But I wanted to lift a finger in the kitchen, all the time. It made me happy to cook for him.
Within a few minutes, I brought out our lunch, which included sandwiches of cold chicken breasts on crusty honey-wheat buns, sweet red apples, little wedges of sharp cheddar cheese made from milk produced at the Stonebrook dairy, and squares of homemade peach cake that I'd made the day before. I'd loaded Victor's plate with two sandwiches, since he was usually a pretty big eater, even more than I was, and I really enjoyed food. I set our plates, forks, and napkins on the table, went back for iced tea, and returned with two glasses before taking my seat across from him. He thanked me for fixing the meal and said it looked delicious, and we began eating our sandwiches. After a few bites of his first one, he asked me if I'd had a nice visit with Rose.
I shrugged. "Kind of. But it was kind of sad. She told me that she has a seven-year-old daughter still at Cold Creek. Her name is Daisy, and Rose is really worried about her safety during the upcoming fight."
Victor set his sandwich down, wiped his mouth with his napkin, and then looked at me, a flicker of pain dancing across his handsome features. "I'll do everything in my power to make sure that injuries to the women and children are avoided. Absolutely everything in my power."
"I know you will. I know. Although you can't control the Oppressors and you can't be everywhere at once, so-"
"Kate, I-"
"Never mind. Never mind what I just said. I'm sorry I said it. I know you'll do everything you can to make sure that nobody innocent gets hurt. I know you will."I picked up my sandwich and went back to eating. But Victor didn't go back to his. He didn't take his gaze from my face, looking somehow expectant.
I set my sandwich back down. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I'm waiting for what comes next.
"What do you mean? What comes next?"
"You asking me again if you can come to the battle in Cold Creek."
"Well, I'm not going to."
Yet, I thought.
He kept his gaze on me, looking a bit dubious.
I shrugged. "I'm not going to ask. So go ahead and get back to your lunch. Enjoy your food."
He looked at me for a moment or two longer, seeming not entirely convinced that I wasn't going to ask, but then he went back to his food. The the subject wasn't brought up again.
An hour or so after he went back to work, I met Rose for our trip outdoors, and we exited Stonebrook accompanied by two guards. The four of us went to a grassy open space at the foot of the mountains, and the guards immediately began scanning the skies, looking for any signs of Oppressors.
I spoke to Rose in a low voice. "Okay. I'm going to levitate myself up first, just to see how fast I can go, and then I'll try you, and then both of us at once."
Moving objects with my mind and levitating people had become easier and easier for me the previous couple of months, to the point that I barely even had to concentrate at all to do it. I just thought it, and a split second later, my wedding ring finger would tingle as it always did before, and it would happen. And I seemed to be able to do it easily no matter what kind of a mood or state of mind I was in, no matter if I was happy, worried, distracted, tense, relaxed, or whatever else
. That was kind of a change, because when I'd first discovered my levitation powers, I'd only been able to do it in a state of complete relaxation. But now that I'd had time to strengthen my skills a little, that didn't even seem to matter. Which is why I kind of couldn't believe that I hadn't levitated Julia, Elizabeth, Brook, Rose, and myself out of harm's way when the Oppressors had attacked us the previous afternoon. It just hadn't occurred to me, although with most of the Keepers nearby disabled, the Oppressors probably would have just chased us into the sky. And until I knew for sure if I could levitate people faster than the Oppressors could fly, that wasn't a scenario I wanted to happen.
With the two Keeper guards still scanning the skies for signs of Oppressors, I began levitating myself with Julia watching. I tried to go as fast as I could, just kind of thinking speed and bending my will toward it, and I did go faster than I ever had before. Which didn't really surprise me, because although I'd never specifically tried to go as fast as I could, I hadn't seen any reason why I shouldn't be able to go faster just by wishing it to happen.
I zipped through the air, not stopping until I was maybe two hundred feet off the ground. I paused and then zipped myself down, not pumping my mental brakes and slowing until I was maybe ten feet above the grass. I floated that remaining distance and landed on my feet soundlessly.
Rose smiled at me. "That was fast. Very fast."
I levitated her next, zipping her even faster than I'd done myself.
She landed with a giggle. "First thing, that is so much fun. Second thing, if these are just your first tries, we're going to be able to go at warp speed before long."
Next, I levitated us both at the same time, going even faster. We tore through the warm September sunshine, laughing, the air scented just faintly with a crisp hint of apple from an orchard nearby.
