by Laura Abudo
They cheered as she shook the reigns and they were off again, rumbling along the road. It wasn’t too long before she realized they’d need to stop soon to find a place to camp. They’d felt a great sense of security having the Marshalls with them the last several nights. Though the city was far behind there were still lights at farmhouses nearby and she didn’t feel right about squatting on a lord’s land without permission.
“Did you get word to them?” Brother Karl asked Krisa, who nodded triumphantly. “Thank you. At least they won’t expect us.”
“I wasn’t told when they are leaving,” Krisa told her. “Pat didn’t know.”
“We will just carry on,” Karl said. Pat, the young scout, could be trusted to tell the Captain. She was thankful for their help but she and the girls would have to fend for themselves now.
Soon, just before the sun set, Karl found a copse of trees off the road. They shared the bed of the wagon, eating bread and dried meats they’d brought and then the girls fell asleep under the stars. Karl lay listening to their breathing as she tried to piece together the events of the day. She prayed for guidance, she prayed for their safety and clarity of thought. She also prayed Amias Doran would find them on the road in the morning and escort them north. She made a pact with the gods. She would forego a real bed for the remainder of the trip if she could simply place her bedroll next to his. She imagined him lying behind her, the security of him, as she drifted off to sleep.
The sun rose and there was no sign of the men. Krisa had climbed a tree to watch the road south for their appearance. She waited a long time. Glory announced she found some berries so she and Karl picked while Pearl brushed the horses, fed them and generally found things to do. She gathered wood for a fire in case Karl decided to stay in the spot longer.
“Do you think they will just leave us?” Pearl asked.
“We left them,” Krisa reminded her.
“It just didn’t …” Karl began.
“…feel right,” Krisa finished for her.
The woman nodded at Krisa, who smiled at her knowingly.
“I am so glad to be out of that robe!” Glory declared, scratching at the memory of the itchy fabric.
“I hope we see them again,” Pearl told them, looking up the road. “But Brother Karl even if we don’t have the Marshalls you are good too. For a Brother.”
The girls giggled at Pearl, who blushed, but then she grinned at Karl. Karl tossed a small apple at the girl in revenge.
By mid-day it was obvious they would be traveling alone so Karl packed everyone back up and called Krisa down from the tree and they started out again. She had to stop day dreaming. She was a Brother of the Faold, not some eligible floozy batting her eyes at any man in uniform. Karl needed to get her priorities in place for the girls’ sake. She had to get them to Mount Sestra.
Even after lecturing herself about concentrating on her goal, they traveled slower than they could have. They stopped often to relieve themselves, talk to others passing on the road moving in the opposite direction and simply took their time. Karl knew the girls expected to see the Marshalls riding along behind them but she’d begun to resign herself to the fact that they had their orders and they didn’t include taking care of a foolish woman and three children.
The evening was long. There were no stories or pipe smoke, no men’s deep voices talking to one another or to the girls, no snores as they slept. The girls went to bed pouting and so did Karl.
Chapter 6
The Sacred Pool
On their second morning alone, they got up and started their routine of getting ready to move out. Krisa watched the road intently while the others packed up. A flash of orange light caught Karl’s attention from a small, tree covered hill in the middle of a field. A blue twinkle shone at her from the spot she thought she’d seen the orange. It appeared to be coming from among the trees.
“Krisa,” she called to the child in the tree. “I’m going over to that hill. You see it?” Krisa nodded then looked back to the road.
In the five minutes it took her to reach the bottom of the hill she’d seen a few more flashes of coloured lights. An overgrown, gently sloping path spiraled up to the top. She heard tiny bells or chimes. Near the crest she slowed. Karl peeked through the trees wondering if the hill was occupied, perhaps by a cottage. A small clearing appeared before her. From a tree dangled a mobile of pieces of coloured glass and metal tubes that struck each other in the wind, producing reflections of light and the ringing of chimes. At the far end of the clearing was a squared arch made of a strange white stone engraved with symbols. It stood over a pool of the clearest blue water that seemed to sink into great depths of the richest blue. Around it, in a perfect circle was the same white stone with symbols. Drawn to the pool, she reached down to remove her traveling boots and wiggle out of her stockings.
As her bare foot touched the stone the world tilted violently and Karl lost her balance. The other foot moved of its own accord and she no longer had control of her limbs, yet they moved. Her body stood still on the edge of the pool as the world moved around her, shifted into shades of grey. Opaque figures stretched around her and then suddenly everything slid back into place yet remained colourless. Brother Karl could breathe, barely. Her heart raced. Her eyes saw around her, but she could not move away from the pool.
“Welcome,” said a voice to her left as a female figure stepped forward. Karl’s face must have shown the level of panic she felt, for the woman continued, “Don’t be afraid.”
Her eyes scanned the others, the ones she could see. Two stood behind her. In total there were nine. Five were female and four male. All wore the same long grey-blue robes with white symbols down the front imitating those that were on the stone. All looked on her with interest, none with animosity. An electric sensation rushed through her spine and settled in her belly when she recognized the congregation around her.
The woman smiled and nodded. “Yes, we are they,” she confirmed moving closer then walking around the pool. “We need to speak to you. There are many things we must share and we are sorry we must do so but we must impress upon you the necessity of this intrusion into your life.”
Karl was unable to speak. She calmed and felt her body relax a little further into her control. She was able to wiggle her toes and take a deeper breath.
“Until now you have not been the most pious of Brothers,” the woman started but when Karl balked in shame the woman laughed and said, “No apologies necessary. With the state of the Faold I wouldn’t blame you. The Brothers and Sisters have corrupted the true faith beyond all recognition. They dabble in politics and sorcery, doing their own bidding, not ours. As you suspected, you were ordained as a political move. You have become much more important than they could have imagined.
“In your charge are three girls, all of different backgrounds, temperaments, skills and talents. Their safety is of utmost importance. They are NOT to be Sisters. In the waters of the Well you will see the fates of your three girls. You must not share this information with anyone else unless they have been chosen by us and we permit you to speak of it. You will take them north to your homelands and you will train them, not in the ways of the Faold but in the ways you see fit. We will give you guidance. You will not be alone.
“Soon there will be changes, momentous changes that will engulf you. A wave has started of pain and sorrow. It is out of our control. We need you to protect the children. You will face struggles and danger but you will not be alone. Be true to your heart and to your family responsibilities. You must follow the path already laid out for you.
“The grey robes of the Brothers are no longer suitable. You will renounce your ties to the Faold as it is a false faith. The girls will no longer wear the yellow robes of the Sisters.
“When you step into the well time will no longer exist. The outside world will no longer be there and you will not have form. When it is time for you to emerge you will know. Bring the others here. All of them. Have them step into
the well one at a time. Wait until all are done then leave this place as you found it.
“Do you accept our will as your own and promise to do as we ask?”
Brother Karl inhaled shakily and nodded with wide eyes of uncertainty. The feel of warm hands on her back pushed her forward into the pool and she sank into its depths into darkness.
Alternately Krisa watched the road and the hill where Brother Karl had gone. Glory got anxious and called up a few times to find out if she could see anything. When Karl hadn’t returned after an hour or more Krisa jumped down from the tree and got help from Pearl to climb up on Horse. At the hill, after tying Horse to a tree at the base of the path, she wound her way up to the top. She found a crumbling old arch, worn down by years and rain. Leaves and debris littered a broken stone pool with fetid water. Brother Karl’s boots and stockings were placed neatly to the side.
Panic filled Krisa as she looked around her, scanning the trees for any sign of their guardian. Where would she go without her boots? She started to call for her. Horse whinnied when he heard her voice but Karl didn’t call back. There was no sign the leaves or scummy vines had been disturbed in the pool. It wasn’t likely she’d fallen in. She left Karl’s boots where they were and raced down the path to Horse. A fallen tree was used to hoist herself onto his back. They galloped around the perimeter of the hill with Krisa scanning the fields and calling for Brother Karl. There was no sign of her. Tears welled up in her eyes. She knew the Brother would not have left them alone. Back at the camp she found the other girls waiting anxiously.
“Pearl,” she told her friend, “I’m going back to find the Marshalls. I can’t find Brother Karl. Her boots are still there.”
Glory began to cry. “What do you mean?”
“I need you to watch for her,” she told Pearl, pointing to the climbing tree. “Watch all the time. I’ll bring the Marshalls.”
“Are we alone now?” Pearl asked. “We don’t know how to get to Mount Sestra.”
“I’m taking Horse. Make sure Glory is okay. Stay off the road.”
Both girls nodded with tears in their eyes as Krisa galloped off, back to the south, a full day’s ride at least to the city and help. Pearl climbed to watch.
Karl emerged from the well dry and fine, standing on the edge in her bare feet, just as she had been standing before being pushed. She looked around her and found the world back to normal in full colour though the sky had darkened throwing strong shadows into the clearing. The chimes once again tinkled in the breeze. After pulling on her stockings and boots Karl sat down on the ground to get her bearings.
She squeezed her knees and ankles with her hands, making sure she was whole again. Did she imagine it all? Was she hallucinating? Did she fall and hit her head? But she found no injuries or sore spots on her scalp. The pool, so blue and clear, contained no water. She had fallen in, felt not cold wetness but warmth and sweetness. It told her so much. She saw the women the girls would become…the girls!
Brother Karl jumped up realizing the darkening sky meant she’d been gone almost the entire day. They had to be worried they had lost her. As she stepped beyond the chimes Karl met a racket of noises, of crying girls, of male voices calling out her name. She spun and found she wasn’t alone after all. All three girls stood in the clearing, tears running down their red faces as two of the Marshalls searched through the trees.
She felt guilty for causing them such distress but couldn’t help but call out, “Am I missing?”
Glory screamed and the men faced her in shock. One whistled sharply bringing forth Kel from the path. They all just stared at her in disbelief.
“I can’t explain where I have been,” she told them honestly. “But I have to show you.”
“You were gone,” Krisa sobbed. “I couldn’t find you. I went to get them.”
“You did the right thing, Krisa,” she told the girl. “Come with me. I will show you. Kel, I will take you next. Don’t fret. We will be right back. Krisa, take off your shoes and stockings.”
She did as she was told. She held Karl’s hand. When they crossed in front of the tree with the wind chimes that only Karl could see or hear they disappeared. The men jumped in surprise and Pearl and Glory both squealed in fear. They had to wait only moments before the two returned to visibility. Krisa had a big smile on her face.
“Oh, it’s marvelous,” she announced, giddy. “Go, Kel.”
They all took turns going with Karl, beyond what they could see. Each stepped onto the rim of the well, received their instructions and fell into the depths only to emerge dry and happy. In silence, for none of them knew what to say or how to express what they felt, they returned to their camp and prepared to settle in for the night. Pat took up Krisa’s position in the tree, relieving her of her duties.
“Doran and the others will join us soon,” Kel told her when the girls finally fell asleep. “When we got word that you were leaving he tried to finish our work but he was delayed.”
“I’m glad Krisa was able to reach you.”
“That one is part Siri, I think,” he nodded at Krisa’s sleeping form.
Karl stared at him in disbelief. The Siri were a forest people of the far northwest, from so far they claimed not to be part of Danycia at all. They had such a natural talent for disappearing among the trees, of stealth and cunning that nations of the past had used them as spies or assassins. They mostly kept to themselves preferring the cover of forests to open land. Karl had to admit to herself that Krisa had uncanny abilities at observation and could escape notice when she wanted to. But Siri?
“Why do you say that?” she asked him.
“Do you know how she got a message to Pat?”
“No.”
“He found her…no, she found him inside the Keep. She had passed four sets of Keep guards and countless other occupants. Our quarters were along a busy corridor. He arrived to find her sitting in a chair polishing the buttons on his overcoat that he’d left behind but needed for a meeting with the local lord. The child sees things others don’t. I’d say she’d be a better scout than those two over there and that’s an impressive charge.”
Karl nodded in contemplation. The gods had shown her in the Well images of the adult Krisa. She wore a uniform proudly. She ran, not in fear but for pleasure. She ran through trees and brush, fading in and out of visibility as though she melted into the scenery. She laughed as someone chased her. It was a game. She’d stand still and disappear. She’d run and flicker in and out of sight among the trees. He would finally catch her and they’d fall together in laughter and love.
“You may be right,” she agreed.
“With your permission can she train with us?”
She knew. His trip into the well told him what he had to do in regard to the girls. He was a teacher and protector selected by the gods, as she was. She nodded her permission and he seemed satisfied.
It wasn’t until late the next evening that the others arrived. Pearl ran down the road jumping and calling to them, her short hair bouncing. Doran’s strong arm reached down to swing her up to sit in front of him in the saddle. She half turned to excitedly tell him what had happened to them the last few days. When they arrived to the camp she had just finished explaining how they’d left the city. While heartfelt greetings and food was passed around, Pearl waited impatiently to finish her story. Kel gave her a look reminding her it would be best if she kept their adventure to herself for now.
After they’d eaten and rested, the campfires lit and the darkness settled around them Amias peered at Pearl for about the tenth time and demanded, “What is wrong with the child? She’s squirming like ants got into her underpants.”
Glory gasped audibly then giggled. Pearl laughed out loud and wiggled more. Karl chuckled along with Kel.
“She’s got a story to tell,” Karl told him. “But we are going to be polite and let Kel tell it.”
Doran looked to his sergeant, expecting to hear a story, looked to Brother Karl and then back to K
el.
“It would be easier to show him,” Kel said with a grimace, knowing the Captain wouldn’t believe a word of it. It was hard enough for him to believe and he’d lived it.
Kel was right. Amias Doran didn’t believe them. He listened quietly as they told the story of Karl’s disappearance and their visits to the well but when they were finished he asked if they thought he was gullible. He wouldn’t even consider going to the hill to examine the pool the next morning. He was irritated they didn’t give up on their ruse when he obviously didn’t believe them.
He made busy preparing to leave as Brother Karl and the girls led his other men, who were too curious to not visit the hill, to investigate. He became more irritated as more of his men became involved in the joke on him. And when he started to believe there might be something to the story he would just slap himself and get angrier. The introduction of the females had created a much more relaxed atmosphere and he wasn’t sure he approved. That woman, that Brother, though fun and kind, pretty and attentive to the girls and his men, was a distraction. She didn’t need to be leading them off on some fantasy while they had a job to do.
“Don’t be a proud fool,” Kel whispered to him so no one else could hear.
His pride was keeping him from finding out the truth. He was curious but had refused to have them lead him to the hill only to laugh at him. So he stole away when he thought no one was watching and found the winding path up to the top. From the stories they told at camp he knew to take off his boots and socks.
The wind chimes in the tree were pleasing in the breeze as he gazed at the brilliant blue pool before him. The markings on the stone were unfamiliar to him. When he stepped onto the edge of the pool he lost his balance and the world slid out of focus into a grey blur that stopped only when his controlled foot touched the stone. Nine figures surrounded him but he was unable to move. He struggled and fought his solid body, fearful he was in danger.
