by Hanna Peach
She fought the instinct to flee. This was the first time she had ever been summoned to an Elder’s chambers, the first time she had ever been in the Elder-dome. Her punishment would be beyond mere doghouse duties.
Finally the corridor spilled into a small waiting space on the highest level of the Elder-dome. The only door was closed. Beyond it…
“What now?” she asked the guards as they stood blocking her only way out.
“Wait.”
Wait. Wait for what? Alyx swallowed and it stuck to her throat. Keep it together, she instructed herself. It was just a broken protocol. Something she had done a thousand times before. But…why did they have to drag her all the way in front of Elder Michael? Why didn’t Symon just dole out her punishment? An uneasy feeling began to grow in the pit of her stomach.
Did they know about the mortal?
The door opened and she jumped. One of Michael’s assistants stepped from the room; he stared at her with a sour look on his face. He was an Elder but Alyx couldn’t remember his name. He eyed Alyx up and down, then whirled a pointed finger around the air at her. “Are you really going to wear that in the presence of Elder Michael?”
Alyx looked down at herself. She was wearing black pants, a black fitted shirt and a plain black leather jacket over it.
She looked back up to Elder Sourface. “Sorry, my ballgown’s in the wash.”
If his lips got any more pinched, he’d cave in on himself. “Sarcasm will not be tolerated by Elder Michael.”
“Look, these guys didn’t exactly send out invites with a dress code before they hauled me in here.” Alyx indicated the two guards, both still stony-faced.
“It will just have to do then.” Elder Sourface pushed open the door behind him and stepped aside.
Alyx took a calming breath and moved towards her fate waiting for her on the other side of that door. You’ve survived an ambush of heavily armed Darkened. You can survive this.
As soon as she stepped through, the door slammed shut behind her. Michael’s chamber was a fully enclosed space in the very heart of the building. The walls circled gently around then soared up to the roofline, making the room feel larger than it was. Seats adorned with thick coral pillows climbed the walls like colored mushrooms growing off a trunk. The rest of the walls were covered in shelving that held pottery or strange mechanical equipment, but mostly Threads; rolled Threads that sat in vases, worn patchwork Threads pressed carefully between thin sheets of glass, single Thread-strips tucked in glass tubes held in delicate iron holders.
An impatient squawk directed Alyx’s eyes to the wedge-tailed eagle sitting on its perch, unenclosed, unencumbered, except for the Animale bracelet around its leg. It was Tikara, Elder Michael’s familia.
Symon stood aside the front of an oak desk. He wouldn’t meet her eye. Commanding the space behind the desk, with his wide chest and fierce presence, was Elder Michael. His thick hands were splayed in front of him. His pale blue eyes were like ice.
“Alyxandria,” his voice boomed across the room.
“Yes, Elder.”
“I trust you know why you’re here.”
No, Elder, I’m not exactly sure which of my indiscretions you’re talking about. I’ve been a very naughty girl lately. “Yes, Elder.”
“What do you have to say for yourself?”
“I’m sorry?”
Tikara squawked. Symon shook his head. Meanwhile, Elder Michael’s eyes nearly bugged out of his skull. “You,” his voice was making a glass on his desk reverberate, “broke protocol last night and all you can say is ‘I’m sorry’?”
Oh thank God. It was just a protocol infraction. Israel hadn’t been found out.
“I made a decision at the time based on what I felt was the right thing to do.”
“You made a decision…”
“I thought that−”
“You thought?”
“I won’t do it again?” she tried.
“Protocol is there for a reason. Protocol is there to ensure the right process is followed every time. You broke protocol. You made the wrong decision.”
She was about to argue back but she caught the look on Symon’s face. Alyx sucked her bottom lip between her teeth to keep herself from speaking.
“I should have you punished.”
“I can see that she is punished, Elder,” said Symon.
“You will not. I have instructed all those parties involved in last night’s incident to speak of her protocol infraction to no one. As far as anyone is concerned, she came to me with her latest vision and I ordered the patrole unit to investigate. I will not be made a fool of, is that clear?”
“Yes, Elder,” said Alyx and Symon in unison.
Oh my God. Was she actually going to get away without punishment? This was too good to be true.
Michael continued, “Since she will be Entwined in four weeks−”
“I…what?” Alyx cried. Her head spun. I must be delirious from looking at Threads all day. I’m pretty sure you just said that I would be Entwined. Haha, hilarious.
“Yes,” Michael said. “Despite being completely undeserving you will be Entwined.”
This was some big joke, right? This horrible joke was her punishment? She had been Entwined? To whom?
“Which you would have known had you attended the Announcement Ceremony,” Michael added darkly.
Oops.
“Alyx,” Symon muttered under his breath. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Symon’s chin sink to his chest, disappointment radiating out of his sagging stance. This meeting could not get any worse.
“I can hardly have the seraphelle who is Entwined to my son, Daniel, running around mortal cities chasing visions on her own and breaking protocol. How will that look?”
Nope. It just got worse.
Daniel. She was Entwined to Daniel? Alyx wasn’t sure she had ever even spoken to Daniel. She knew who he was, everyone did. He had a structured Roman-like face with a smile that left most seraphelle gasping for air when it was turned upon them, but for Alyx his smile always seemed…sticky. The thought of being Entwined to Daniel…she would have to live with him, be expected to lay with him, bear his children. Oh, God. She was going to be sick. All over Michael’s desk. That probably wouldn’t be tolerated either.
“She’s lucky I don’t strip her of her Entwinement,” Michael said.
“You’re right,” Alyx said, “I don’t deserve to be Entwined to Daniel. You should leave me as a lowly warrior.”
Michael narrowed his eyes as her. She felt herself withering under his gaze. Then he aimed his glare at Symon. “Is this how you raised her? To talk over her Elders? To speak when she hadn’t been spoken to?”
“No,” Alyx cried out. “Symon raised me well. It’s me. I’m the−”
“You’ll remember your place,” Michael roared. His fist slammed down on the oak desk, causing Alyx to jump. Tikara fluttered in the background and let out a squawk. “She is dismissed from all lightwarrior duties indefinitely. No patroles. No training. Relieve her of all her weapons and confiscate any bloodink.”
“You can’t do that,” Alyx said, the blood draining from her body. This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening.
“Get her out of my sight.”
Alyx opened her mouth to protest but Symon was already pulling her backwards from the room, his grip a warning around her forearm. As he yanked her through the corridor she went numb. She couldn’t feel her legs. She couldn’t feel her face or her arms. She could barely hear Symon’s tirade at her. Nothing mattered. She was no longer a lightwarrior. Who was she now? What did she do now? What do you do when everything you live for is taken away?
* * *
The next day Alyx sat alone at the Great Lake’s edge staring across at the warriors’ camp on the other side. It may as well have been an ocean. The sounds of training floated over to her, wood hitting wood, flesh hitting flesh and the barking of orders. She missed being yelled at by Symon. She missed the initial
sting of a first hit before the rush of adrenaline washed away the pain and made her muscles sing. Above all she missed feeling a part of something…worthwhile.
She watched with envy as her flock dove into the Great Lake one by one. They were going to train in the water course, a series of Seraphim-made mazes within a large underwater structure. Alyx loved the numbing sensations of being submerged. She often spent hours underwater running the courses after training had finished. She didn’t think her new Entwined would take to an underwater challenge if she suggested it as a date.
Daniel. Her stomach cramped when she thought about the slick-haired son of Elder Michael whom she would be expected to make the center of her life. She pushed these feelings away before they consumed her. She would not break. This would not break her. She would not let it.
Alyx watched a speckled leaf fall in a scattered flight until it landed on the water skin, causing a ripple to extend out in rings. Next to hers there was a second face reflecting off the water.
Israel. Even in the rippled surface of the lake she recognized his dark features. How did he find her? Someone would see him. Alyx snapped her head to her right.
But he wasn’t there. When she turned back, the face in the water had gone and only her startled reflection looked back.
She was going mad. She had to find out what was happening to her. She had to. A plan started to formulate in her head but…did she dare?
Alyx watched a bird fly over the mountains beyond, a green fortress rising to the sky, and set her jaw. This place would not be her prison. Inside she felt a part of her break free. She realized, in taking away her small freedoms as a lightwarrior, Elder Michael had given her a new kind of freedom…a kind of power.
I have nothing left to lose.
Chapter 14
Alyx lay flat against the roof of the Archives, the entrance just below her. She touched Elijah’s pick around her wrist and sent up a silent thank you to Elijah, wherever he may be now. Last Meal was being served at the Heart, the strains of the evening chatter in the distance. Most of the Seraphim would be there. Even so, she glanced around again to check she wasn’t being watched before sliding over the edge and stretching her hand to the large shielded door. The shield crackled before it withdrew. She slithered off the roof and slipped inside, the shield and the door closing behind her.
With the halolights turned off, the Threadcases made an eerie house of cards around her. She made her way into the depths shining a small glow light in front of her. Finally she was standing in front of the restricted section. She swallowed hard as she stared at the thick magical shield. Would the pick even work on a shield this strong? What if Passar was wrong and the pick did leave a trace and she was caught?
Somewhere in there were answers to the questions that she was burning to have answered. What was happening to her? Who was this mysterious mortal? And how were these two things connected? She needed answers and it seemed no one was going to hand them to her. She was going to have to get them herself.
Alyx stretched her hand towards the shield. Please work. The pick crackled and sparks shot from it. The shield flowed out, opening up, but it wavered as if fighting back. This was a strong shield. The ripple slowed until it reached an impasse with the shield, leaving only a small opening.
If she was careful, she could possibly fit through it. If she didn’t do this right and the shield retracted, it would cut her in two. She took a big breath, trying to calm herself, then lifted her legs off the pod floor and tucked them up near her body. It was now or never.
Alyx slipped her feet through the opening first. She slid her body through, taking her time, keeping the pick as close to the shield as possible. Once she was inside, she pulled her hand away from the shield. It snapped shut behind her.
In here, the air was cooler, settling on her skin like silk. No doubt AirWhisperer magic had been employed to keep the temperature in here lower than the outside, preserving the Threads better. Each Thread was held by its own delicate wrought iron holder. They seemed thicker and more colorful than normal Threads. Some even had gold running through their patterns. The only other thing in here was a glass table positioned in the center.
Alyx reached out and began to run her fingers along the Thread title-ends. Titles flashed across her mind like moving pictures until one caught her attention: An International Census of Rogues.
Her parents. Her heart tugged at her. This wasn’t what she was looking for but…
Alyx couldn’t help herself. She pulled this Thread from its holder and rolled it out onto the table. She ran her open palm across the gold and lavender weaving. The thoughts from the Thread flooded into her mind, one after the other.
Then there they were.
Sebastian Urban of Michaelea and Elise Perrin of Michaelea.
The rest of the passage entered her mind like an invader. Alyx snatched her hand from the Thread as if it had burned her. She stared at it. There must be a mistake.
With shaking fingers she reached out towards that patch of Thread to double-check it. A sound caused her to freeze, her hand halting midair. It was the sound of muffled voices and if she wasn’t mistaken, they were coming closer. Who would be entering the Archives at this time of night?
Alyx rolled the Thread back up and put it back in its place. On the other side of the restricted section she disrupted the shield with Elijah’s pick and slipped through. She dived over a low Threadcase and rolled into the alcove behind it just as the spotlight of a light shone through the restricted section.
She peeked out from her hiding place. In the pale glow of the lantern she recognized the faces of Elder Bezebel and Elder Michael.
“...looks too much like the Blood Prophecies,” Elder Bezebel was saying to Elder Michael.
“I know. She visited Mayrekk but he insists that she hasn’t yet. He’s covering for her.”
“Which means there is something to hide.”
“Exactly. Which is why I Entwined her.”
Elder Bezebel nodded. “To better control her.”
Alyx’s skin broke out in chills. They were talking about her.
Elder Michael pulled a chain from within his robes. A keye swung from its end. He turned his head to look at Elder Bezebel, Alyx in his line of sight. She ducked her head behind the Threadcase, her breath hitching. Had she been seen?
There was a great silence and Alyx felt prickles roll across her neck. She had been seen. Any second now she would be hauled out from her hiding spot by the scruff of her collar. Any second now...
Should she fight? Would she dare fight an Elder?
“I fear she will still be hard to control. She’s too headstrong, too damn curious,” Alyx heard Elder Michael say. “Elder Cornelius said she was in here yesterday asking about the restricted section.”
“But she wouldn’t be able to get inside. You have the only keye.”
“Still, I don’t want to take any risks, which is why I’ll move the sensitive Threads to...” The shield of the restricted section closed behind them and their voices became muffled.
The threads of Alyx’s sanity were starting to unravel, everything she had just heard and learned flashing over and over in her mind. Her breath shook as it traveled past her lips. Keep it together. Just long enough to get out of here, uncaught.
Alyx couldn’t say how long the two Elders were in the restricted section. When they left, Elder Michael and Elder Bezebel held several Threads in their arms.
Long after she was sure they were gone she checked the rest of the restricted section, but it was no use. Whatever else Alyx may have learned had been carried away with them.
Perhaps it was a small mercy. She had heard and seen enough to already shatter her world. She almost wished she hadn’t come here. What had been heard could not be unheard. What had been seen could not be unseen.
Chapter 15
As Alyx grew up, the other younglings never let her forget about her parents’ disgrace. After especially cruel days, Symon would send A
lyx to sleep with kinder versions of the stories about her mother and her father, about when they were young and untainted by their later mistakes, about their time as warriors. Symon had also told her the story of how they became Rogues.
They had been in love. Desperately in love. Two Seraphim lightwarriors of no gifts, of no prominent bloodline had dared to fall in love. They had been able to keep their relationship a secret until Alyx’s mother, Elise, had fallen pregnant with her. The couple had applied to the Elders to be Entwined while keeping their growing reason a secret. The Elders had said no. Their bloodline was too “diluted” to produce anything useful. They were more valuable as lightwarriors.
Eventually their shame was revealed as Elise’s stomach grew too big to hide. The Elders sheltered Elise and Sebastian until Alyxandria was born. As a mark of their shame Alyx was not allowed to take a surname. Disgraced, the couple snuck out of Michaelea, forever leaving Alyx behind.
So when Alyx read their passage in the International Census of Rogues, it had turned her entire world upside down.
Sebastian Urban of Michaelea and Elise Perrin of Michaelea ~ Rogue as of Autumn, 1994th year.
An unsanctioned and incorrectly managed sexual relation led to Elise Perrin falling with child. Elise and Sebastian did not advise the Elders of the pregnancy, instead submitting an application for Entwinement. They were denied.
Jovanna Terris, a lightwarrior known to the couple, advised the Chief Elder of the unsanctioned relationship, the pregnancy and of the couple’s plan to leave Michaelea with their unborn child. Both Elise and Sebastian were captured and detained for the remainder of Elise’s pregnancy.
The baby Alyxandria was born in Autumn, 1994th year. Elise and Sebastian were stripped of their parental rights with the child to be raised by the city. Alyxandria was refused a surname. The couple were forbidden to continue their relationship or to attempt a relationship with Alyxandria. They were to be re-educated prior to returning to lightwarrior duties.
