by Karen MacRae
Finn shook his head. “I feel the same. I still love this country and the King. Perhaps you missed?”
“I don’t think so. I saw it.” Anna turned to Spider and Sy and the criminals lined up on the ground next to their leader. “Let’s find out for sure.”
The three men watched as her eyes scanned the line to link with each of the robbers’ auras. They saw nothing as girl from Straton pushed the King’s Oath at the unconscious men, but she saw the golden flush leap down the energy channels she’d forged with them then the flush implode in their auras and a miniscule golden circle pierce their hearts. They would be true to their King and the Kingdom until the day they died.
“It worked?” Spider asked.
“It worked,” she nodded.
Sy coughed. The others looked at him. “This has got to be the most successful bunch of robbers we’ve come across in an age. They’re well fed, well-armed and clothed and she’s wearing a King’s ransom in gold jewellery. She’s obviously intelligent and a good leader, even if we don’t like what she does with it. She’d be a real asset to the King’s Guard if her efforts were turned to good.” Sy’s eyes locked on Anna’s. “Couldn’t you Shape her like you Shaped the Captain?”
Anna, Spider and Sy looked to Finn. It was his decision. He was in charge, after all. He looked torn. They had already broken multiple laws by allowing Anna to Shape these people. But then, her Shaping had allowed the conversion of more than two dozen outlaws and the rescue of almost the same number of prisoners and all without a scratch. In theory, her Healings were against the law too. The law was a nonsense, he decided.
“Go for it. We know they’ll put King and country first from now on, but it would be nice to be sure that they dedicate themselves to doing good all the time.”
Sy grinned and Spider whooped and slapped Finn on the back. Finn just laughed. Anna looked at her three friends and felt like she had a real purpose in her life for the first time. She hadn’t said the King’s Oath, but she would do so willingly when she was given the chance. But first, she had a little Shaping to do…
CHAPTER 16
T he next four days passed in a blur. They set off early and rode until after dark, trying to catch up on lost time. They met no one but kept up a tight watch during the night. For the first time, Anna was given a shift. Finn also spent a lot of time with her, telling her everything he knew about Aura Shaping and throwing his Friending at her at random times and at various strengths so she could learn to detect and fend off an aura attack. They didn’t know for sure what an attack from Nystrieth would feel like, but it was the best they could do. At Spider’s suggestion, Finn tried to Friend Anna while she slept. It woke her and made her disorientated, but she managed to burn off the attack before it took hold by sending energy searing through her aura from the dagger that she always wore close to her skin. “We need to work on that,” was her only comment before she fell back asleep.
The other thing Anna was working on was identifying how and where auras reflected different characteristics and behaviours. Some were obvious, some she could piece together from memories of auras she’d Healed, but most she couldn’t pin down. She did only have three people to observe, however.
“Finn, that person you told me about who can Read auras. How much detail can they tell from it?”
“How do you mean?”
“I can sense emotions and strong thoughts, I know how most body parts are represented and I know where empathy, loyalty, leadership and a few other things are located, but that’s about it. Do you think they could teach me more? So I could Shape easier? Be a bit more subtle about what I do?”
“I think perhaps they could, but I suspect their time will be limited. There’s bound to be a book about it though.”
Anna sighed. “No doubt in Ionantis, where I can’t go.”
“I know a decent library near Alscombe. You never know, there might be something there,” Finn told her encouragingly.
Sesi and her colleagues were a frequent topic between the four. Anna struggled to understand the woman’s gift. “So she’s some sort of communicating device? Nystrieth can just take her over wherever she is? How on earth does he know where she is? How can he link with an aura that he can’t see? How can he see through her eyes? It makes no sense to me.”
“We’ve never managed to figure it out, but then we never had a Shaper on our side before,” Spider told her.
Ever the pragmatist, Sy merely shrugged. “It’s a gift. Some of them are plain weird. It’s better sometimes to just accept rather than question.”
“I’ve never understood how you can find water and food without even looking,” Spider told him.
“And I’ve never understood how you can sense something about to happen without seeing or hearing anything,” Sy countered.
“Fair point. I guess we just can… There’s no understanding gifts.”
“There has to be more than that. If he’s got the same gift as me, albeit Black, then surely we can do the same things?”
Spider laughed. “There’s a thought. Maybe you can take over Sesi and destroy Nystrieth without us even having to face the man?”
Anna’s face paled and her stomach jolted.
Spider took pity on her. “Don’t worry. We won’t let Sesi get anywhere near you,” he promised.
Her answering smile was very wobbly. It disappeared entirely when Finn added, “Not yet, anyway. You have a lot of books to read and a lot of practice to do before you’re ready for that.”
The thought that it might be her job to kill Nystrieth gave Anna nightmares. She thought of Seask. She thought of how passionately Finn, Spider and Sy fought against the Black Shaper. She thought of the few friends she’d left in Straton. Could she stand by and let a madman destroy the town and everything in it? But, despite her resolution to swear for the King and do anything to help, she was terrified. She wished mama were there. She needed a hug. She needed someone to stroke her head and sing soft songs and cradle her to sleep. She gave herself a mental slap. She needed to grow up.
Spider, Sy and Finn all witnessed Anna tossing and turning at night. They heard the mumbles and the cries of horror. They realised that she was struggling with the reality of being the only White Shaper, the only person who might stand against Nystrieth. Despite her fatigue, Finn continued to try to Friend her during the night. She became so good at throwing off his attacks that she stopped waking up during them. Each and every one was repelled nonetheless.
“She’s getting stronger,” Spider told Finn while Anna slept.
“It’s like her gift was stifled by her life in Straton.”
“Does that mean she’s not a true White? That she could still change?” Spider asked.
“I have no idea,” Finn said sadly. “I can’t bring myself to believe that she would ever turn Black, her instinct to Heal is too strong, but we can’t rule it out. I think we’ll have to recommend to the King that he send Seleste with her wherever she’s assigned next.”
Spider’s face fell. “As long as you, Sy or I are also there. No way can Seleste be given free rein. She won’t think twice about removing the slightest threat.”
“You’re too hard on her, Spider.”
It was an old argument. Spider decided to let it go, but began practising arguments for the King, just in case.
They arrived in the outer reaches of Alscombe six days after they’d left the camp at the tor. They’d stopped to water the horses when Anna sent up a cry of help. The men ran through the thick grass to find her kneeling by two bodies. Both were barely breathing. The woman seemed in agony, her face contorted, her brow dripping with sweat, but she had not a mark on her. The boy by her side had a catastrophic injury to the back of his head. He was doomed.
“My son. Help my son,” the woman begged through gritted teeth.
Anna put her hand on the boy’s arm and pulled desperately at the blackness that had almost swallowed his aura. The only other colour was a patch of pale blue. She visualise
d the blue burning the black away, seeping through the diffusing poison until it was the only colour. The three men watched in astonishment as the boy’s breathing eased and his skull seemed to grow and mesh over the dreadful injury. His mother wept with relief through her pain as Anna told her that her son would live.
She put her hand on the woman, linking their auras. Her own mother’s end was right there in front of her: a woman who had dedicated her life to her gift and was accepting the Healer’s reward in recompense. This time, Anna would change the ending. Her head started to throb as she looked for the source of the poison that was eating away at the Healer’s aura. She sent her pain into her crystal staff without thinking and focused on her patient.
A lifetime of Healing wasn’t going to fit into her new crystal. She forced the black out of the Healer’s well and opened a new channel to the dagger, visualising the black eagerly rushing to occupy its new home, leaving the healthy pale blue-grey to fill the emptiness left behind. The well collapsed and vanished. Before she left, Anna did the unthinkable: she remade the woman’s well, but without the need to Heal that was normally woven into it. The Healer’s son was going to need his mother for the rest of his life. She would not Heal these people for them both to die before their time.
The men saw the woman’s torment change to rapture and a smile lift the corners of her mouth. “Ah,” she sighed, “I’m free.” Her eyes closed and her breathing became unhurried, restful. She slept.
Anna made them camp there for the night, refusing to leave her patients until she was sure they would make it.
The Healer woke first. She sat up and looked around for her son. “Where is he?” she cried. “Is he all right?”
Anna hushed her. “He’s sleeping. See?” She pointed to the boy who slept a little way around the fire.
The woman wept her thanks and crawled over to wrap herself around her son. She cradled his head against her breast and fell back asleep. She awoke a little later to find Anna still sitting by them.
“How?” she asked the girl. “Are you a Healer? But how could you…”
“I have a particularly large well,” Anna lied. “I couldn’t leave you.”
“I thought Luciado too far gone. Thank the light you came.” The Healer squeezed Anna’s hand. “I will never forget your kindness or your sacrifice. May your reward be light everlasting.”
Anna said nothing, but a Reader would have seen fury coursing through her aura. Fury for the Healers’ Guild, fury for the gross exaggeration of the Healer’s reward, fury for the waste of good, honest people who gave their lives to any and all. None of it was this woman’s fault, however.
“All is not as I would have it,” she warned the Healer. “Your son… Luciado was almost at death’s door. I pulled him back, but I’m not sure how much of him will be unaffected. He may not remember anything before the day he wakes up.”
The woman shuddered. “It’ll be a blessing if he forgets the past.”
“He may not remember you either,” Anna added.
“Then I’ll love him enough for the both of us.”
Anna saw love and determination flood the woman’s aura. She smiled at the Healer’s strength. Now the woman was able to walk away from sickness, she and her son had a chance.
The boy awoke several hours later. Spider heard the Singing and left his post to investigate. The glorious crescendo in the music woke the others. The boy’s mother wept to hear her son Sing once more. The others wept at the beauty of his voice and the memories it seemed to draw from their very souls despite the lack of lyrics to his song.
The boy finished and sat quietly. His mother went to him and put her arms around him. “Luciado, it’s mama. Your song was beautiful.”
The boy didn’t reply. Confusion was written all over his face. He opened his mouth several times as if to speak but said nothing. Instead, he started to Sing again. It was a song Anna’s mother used to sing to her as a child, but she’d never heard anything like it. The boy’s voice seemed to soar as he sang the simple words, taking their hearts with him.
“Rest my darling,
Rest my heart,
Mama will be here forever.
Sleep my darling,
Sleep my heart,
Mama will love you forever.”
He fell back to sleep as soon as the last note faded into the silence.
“He still has his gift!” his mother exclaimed joyfully. “Thank the light, he still has his music. I cannot even begin to tell you how much he loves to Sing.”
Anna feared it was all that was left. It made sense to her that the last piece to be overwhelmed by the black would be the strongest part of the boy’s aura, but he may never do anything but Sing. As she snuggled back under her blanket, she wondered if it would have been kinder to let him die.
The boy was sitting staring into space when Anna woke in the morning. She looked at his aura and could detect nothing other than an all-encompassing pale blue. She waved to him, but there was no reaction even though he was looking straight at her. He couldn’t see her.
She crept over to him with barely a sound, but his head turned to follow her every move. He could still hear.
“Hello, Luciado,” she whispered into his ear. “My name’s Anna.”
“I’m Luciado?”
“You are. Your mama is sleeping right here next to you. Do you remember her?”
“Mama? I don’t…” his voice tailed off in confusion. “Where?” he asked.
“Right here,” Anna answered, taking his hand and touching his mother’s face with it. The woman woke with the touch. Anna gestured for her to stay calm.
“Luciado?” she whispered. She reached for her son, her hands stroking his arm. He stiffened, unfamiliar with the woman’s touch, but she moved closer and enveloped him in a gentle hug.
The boy’s body was unrelenting, but then he breathed in deeply, inhaling a scent that awoke something rooted within him. His head relaxed against his mother’s shoulder and a tear fell from his eye. “Mama? Oh, mama!”
Anna left them to their reunion. Later, the boy helped Sy shell some peas while the others talked. He seemed content with the simple task, humming an old mariner’s song as he worked. He took his blindness in his stride, as if he didn’t realise the loss of his vision.
The Healer looked often at her son as she told them their tale. “My name is Chiara Moretti. I used to be in service to Queen Katherine of Ruustra. When she was overthrown, I was penalised for my loyalty and made a slave. Elona bought me three years ago. She took a liking to Luciado. Not for his music. She’s tone deaf and appears to have no soul: his music left her dead. She liked his eyes and his silky hair, she said. She treated him as a pet, beating him every time he spoke and teaching him tricks that amused her. He had to beg for food and water. He learned to juggle and pull silly faces at her command. He had to lick her fingers clean after she ate. He had to… use his mouth wherever and on whoever or whatever she told him to. If he refused, she’d beat him. If he still refused, she’d beat me. Some things happened behind closed doors. I was one of two Healers who were made to accompany her wherever she went. She always had the other Heal Luciado. They never told me of what. They said it was better I didn’t know. I’m not sure they were right. My nightmares are full of my boy’s screams… It was precisely what she wanted of course. To torment us both.”
The woman took a deep breath before continuing, her voice monotone, her emotions shut out. “We came here with Mystrim, Pyteor, a strange little man called Sifry, a cook and a girl to tend the horses. I don’t know their names. We weren’t allowed to talk to each other. Sifry is a mass of arthritis-riddled bones and is terrified of Mystrim. I have no idea what his background is, but he manages the money and the slaves and does as he’s told. He’s little better than a slave himself, but they leave him unchained. Elona had another job to finish first for that Black monster before she joined us. It was supposed to take only a day or two, but she was late; it must have been three weeks
before she met up with us just outside Sienna. During those weeks, Mystrim beat and raped either myself, the groom or the cook almost every night. He likes to hurt women. He wouldn’t let me Heal the others. I was beaten for the audacity of suggesting it. Pyteor just laughed as we screamed. He enjoyed watching.
“Elona was furious with Mystrim when she discovered what had been going on. Not only had he already used a large amount of gold and two crested blades, he’d wrecked the cook’s nose and Elona really enjoys her food. She kicked him half to death while he was unconscious, screaming at him for achieving nothing. I had to Heal him first of the knife wound in his back and then from her beating. She oozed concern when he woke up while grinning behind his back at his discomfort. Pyteor sniggered at her act, but he won’t say anything to Mystrim. He knows better than to cross the crazy psychopath.”
“How did you get to the Kingdom?” Finn asked.
“By several different boats. We left from a port in Vilencha and stopped first on an island in the Oestreich Sea. There was a short trip on a smaller boat to another island and then an even smaller boat to a place called Smith something. A man met us there with horses and foodstuffs. Mystrim left Pyteor in charge while he was away for a day. I heard the name Grayson mentioned, if that helps?”
“It confirms something I had been working on, thank you,” Finn answered.
“The smuggling route?” Spider asked.
Finn nodded. “It’s used to smuggle more than goods. What happened yesterday?” he asked the Healer.
“Elona’s horse went lame. She whipped it until she felt better about its betrayal and then made me Heal it. I didn’t have enough space left. The pain hit me and I collapsed. Luciado forgot himself and ran to my side. He screamed at Elona. She… didn’t like it. She picked up a huge bolder and smashed it on his head as he bent over me. She laughed as he fell. Then she got angry that he didn’t get back up and kicked us both a few times. She was swearing about having to replace both of us now. Mystrim told her to shut up and stop drawing attention. There were workers in the fields. I guess they were beginning to notice the racket. They left us there. We had only minutes remaining when you found us.”
