Ambrosia Shore (34 page)

The three councilmen ushered us away from the sitting area to an impressively long, rectangular table located in an adjoining room. They invited me, my parents, and Rayne to sit next to each other on one side of the table, while they each took a chair straight across from us along the other, so as to face us directly as we spoke. The agents and guards filed in all around us, securing the room just as they did the first.

Councilman Thompson took the lead, folding his hands properly in front of him and resting them on the table. “By now you should have been fully briefed on the purpose of this meeting, as well as both the benefits and consequences of choosing to proceed. Is this correct?”

I looked at my mom. She smiled and nodded, assuring me that she understood and was ready to move forward. I almost couldn’t believe how composed and certain she seemed. What exactly did my dad tell her while they were on the drive over? Did she understand that we were going to an entirely different planet halfway across the universe? Did she understand that this really was her last chance to change her mind?

But as I watched my mom answer yes to the councilman’s question, whether or not she understood these things was beside the point. I had never seen my mother look so happy, not in my entire life, as she did when she was with both me and my dad, together as a family. The place we lived didn’t matter to her, as long as the three of us were together at last.

I, on the other hand, found myself hesitating.

“Sadie?” Councilman Thompson prompted. “Do you understand the benefits and consequences of this choice?”

My throat felt tight. I tried to swallow. “Uh, yes,” I finally managed. “I understand.”

He smiled pleasantly. “Well then, we shall go ahead and proceed with the oath of allegiance. Leena, we will begin with you. Please rise.” My mother and all three of the Council members stood from their chairs.

“Please repeat after me,” he said. “I, state your full name…”

My mother followed. “I, Leena Michelle James…”

“Now renounce my allegiance to Earth and any other land of which I have been a citizen… and pledge my full heart and loyalty to the world of Ambrosia and the people who reside therein… I swear to abide by the laws set forth by the Ambassadors Council, and to do my duty to defend the rights and welfare of my fellow citizens of Ambrosia…”

My palms were getting hot. Just hours earlier, I was so sure this was what I wanted, but now something festered inside me, putting me on edge.

My mother continued to repeat his words. “I understand that I may in no way return to any other land for the entirety of my life… unless express permission is otherwise given by direct authority of the Ambassadors Council… and that I must never speak of this world named Ambrosia or its inhabitants… or of the existence of the Sacred Pool and the reviving properties of the Healing Water, which sustains the survival of this people… to any non-citizen or persons residing outside the Threshold border.”

Just before my mother could complete the last line of the oath, I found myself suddenly blurting out, as if I could barely control myself.

“Wait!” I cried.

Everyone stared at me in stunned silence. Rayne’s eyes went wide, turned and studied me with troubled concern.

“Are you having second thoughts?” Councilman Thompson questioned gently.

“No,” I said. “I mean, yes. I mean, I’m not sure.”

The councilman looked at me with patience, as if he wasn’t the least bit surprised. “We understand that this is a great commitment,” he began. “Perhaps there is a question or two we could answer that might help ease your uncertainties?”

I could feel the burden of every eye in the room staring down at me. I took a deep breath, and let the burning question inside me finally release. “If I become a citizen of Ambrosia, is there any possible way that I would ever be allowed to be admitted to the Ambassadors Academy?”

Councilman Thompson’s brow pinched with vexed surprise. “I’m sorry. That would be impossible. We have clear laws against this, set in place to ensure the security of our people. You must be a natural-born citizen to become an agent or hold any office that allows for travel back across the border.”

“But my father was an Ambassador,” I protested. “The blood of William Fairbanks himself runs through my veins.”

“This may be, but that doesn’t change the fact that you were raised as a citizen of Earth. You have to understand that every time we allow someone to cross through this border, the safety of every citizen of Ambrosia is put at risk. There are just some risks that we are not willing to take.”

I stood from my chair in earnest. “I swear I would never do anything to put Ambrosia or its people in danger. I would do whatever the Council wanted me to do in order to prove my loyalty. I just… have to become a Water Keeper.”

The councilman stood firm. “Even if this
were
possible, the Council would have to agree through a majority vote. I couldn’t give you a sure answer even if I wanted to, but I have to make myself clear that this possibility would be very slight.”

“Please,” I said, “there has to be a way. I’m supposed to be a Water Keeper. I know I am.”

“I’m sorry. It just isn’t possible.”

I stared at their faces, not knowing what to do. The desperation clenched through my chest, a well of tears pushing to break free. I was born to be a Water Keeper. I had to show them. I had to make them understand.

Then, without thinking, in a burst of pure adrenalin, I reached for Rayne’s pocket, grabbed the small knife that I knew he always kept there, flipped open the blade, and groaned in pain as I raked it straight down my arm.

In an instant, my mother cried out with fear, my dad burst from his chair, Rayne tore the knife from my fingers, and I looked up to find every agent and guard in the room with a gun pointed in my direction.

Orion leapt from his chair. “Hold your fire!” he commanded.

I didn’t stop. I held out my blood-covered arm, showing the massive gash, ripped from elbow to wrist. Then it happened just as I knew in my heart it would. Within seconds, the flesh across my arm pulled itself inward. My body responded, healing and repairing anything that was damaged; tendon, vein, muscle, skin.

Every jaw in the room dropped, every eye went wide, as my arm healed itself right before their eyes.

“Someone gave you Healing Water,” Councilman Thompson accused.

I shook my head frantically. “No, I don’t have any. None of us do. My body can heal itself.”

Rayne stood abruptly. “Sir, she’s telling the truth. You can search us if you have to.”

Just as the councilman moved to respond, my father stepped forward. “That won’t be necessary. These men here know that I am a man of honor, a man of my word. Is that not so?”

Orion spoke first. “Of course we do,” he said. Councilman Thompson and Gibbs nodded in agreement.

“I swear that what my daughter has claimed is the truth,” my father declared. “Not only do we not have a single drop of Healing Water in our possession, but I was fatally wounded, to the point of no return, in that explosion planted by Voss this morning, and I can attest without hesitation that if it were not for my daughter, and whatever this unexplainable power is within her to heal, that I would in fact be dead. She, on her own, without the aid of Healing Water or any other device, brought my dying body back to life, through her own inner resources, and restored my body from all injuries. Sadie’s mother and Agent Stevens were both there and can bear witness to this event.”

Councilman Thompson examined my father’s face. “Hamlin, I’ve seen a body heal itself countless times on Ambrosia in my lifetime, seen many injuries, even fatal ones, repaired outside the Threshold by the Healing Water, but I have never once, in my entire life, heard of any person who could take the power of healing from within themselves and transfer it to someone else. As much as I want to trust you on this, I find it difficult to believe.”

Suddenly, Rayne interjected. “She can show you. I have a wound on my leg from the explosion. Sadie can heal it right here.”

The older man, Gibbs, tried to push himself up from his chair with shaky arms, and with renewed interest said, “Now
that
is something I would like to see.”

“I would as well,” Orion agreed.

With Councilman Thompson’s approval, I followed Rayne around the table where he pulled up a chair in front of the Council members. He elevated his leg and lifted the bottom of his pants, revealing a large bandage wrapped around his calf. When he unwound the white cloth I saw that it was riddled with blood. I felt myself shutter. His leg looked worse than my arm did just a few minutes before.

I kneeled down beside him with pained eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I whispered. “I could have fixed it sooner.”

 “It wasn’t important,” he said. “All I cared about was making sure you were safe.” I nodded with understanding, and with everyone watching in silence, I moved to place my fingers on Rayne’s leg.

My hand stopped just before I touched his skin. It was strange. I could already feel the injury. I didn’t even have to touch it this time. Now that I understood what I was searching for it was so much easier to see.

I let my hand hover just above Rayne’s leg, maybe an inch, and then I closed my eyes to concentrate. The harmful energy moved to the surface as I connected myself to it, enveloped by the longing to take away his pain. I sensed that I could remove the damage with little difficulty, and with hardly any effort, I knew the injury was fully healed.

I was ready to let the connection go, sever the bond once the repairs had been made. But just as I was about to pull the tethers away, a new sensation overcame me. I saw something, a shimmer of light. It called to me, pulled me in from somewhere deeper inside him, and I yearned to find it.

All the other desires within me disappeared as I searched for it in longing. It was so familiar, so warm, like a burning in his heart that I couldn’t live without. The deeper I pulled myself to it, the stronger and brighter it became.

The glimmer of light embraced me so fully that I moved right to the center of its strength. It was suddenly so clear. I knew it completely. It was love, Rayne’s love. I could see it like a tangible thing, like a vision of inner strength that surrounded his entire being. Emotion poured through my soul, radiated through me until I could hardly contain it. The power was too strong. The force of it overwhelmed me, and I could feel my body collapse to the floor as the vision of light disappeared.

My mind lingered inside itself for only a moment, searching for strength, but I could sense movement around me, and I pushed my eyes open.

Rayne fell to his knees beside me, gazing at me with a look of both concern and admiration.

“I’m okay,” I told him. I lifted myself up, moving to stand, and Rayne took my hand to help me.

As soon as I reached my feet, I found three stunned councilmen staring at me in awe.

Councilman Thompson could hardly utter the words. “So then…it’s true…”

Gibbs reached forward, taking my hand and holding it with a strange sort of reverence to his chest. His voice was low, almost a whisper as he said, “
Aurora
… I knew you would come.”

The name sent a shiver up my neck. What did it mean? Why did I keep hearing that name?

Before I could even think of a response, Orion stepped forward. “Sadie’s right,” he proclaimed. “You both saw it. She belongs at the Academy. When the other members of the Council hear of this, I am certain they will approve. This talent cannot be wasted. I will mentor her myself.”

Councilman Thompson still looked bewildered. “Yes… I believe…I agree.”

The throbbing in my heart finally went still, and I knew that everything was just as it should be. I was more certain than ever before. This was right. This was my future.

After that, everything seemed to fall into place. I took my oath of allegiance to Ambrosia without a stutter or doubt. Then they escorted us away from the beautiful big house, up a short pathway outside that would lead us to the border gate. I couldn’t help but glance behind me as we walked. Past the flowers and the green grass along the path, past the faces of the agents surrounding me, there was a magnificent view of the ocean and of the world I was leaving behind.

We reached the plain concrete door that would take us to the border, and I glanced back at the view one last time, feeling at peace, knowing that it would not be goodbye forever. I had a reason to return. I had a gift to share.

Then, I walked through the door, finally ready to embrace the destiny that was calling to me. When we reached the bottom of the stairs, the Threshold glistened before us, my mom, my dad, me, and Rayne. And we stepped forward through the shimmering wall of light, my mom’s eyes wide with wonder, to a new life, a new world, a new future, together, as a family.

The old Bennett family estate stood, with all its prominence, up in the high hills of Banya. It was one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city, not only for its unequaled views and landscapes, but for its nearness to the Sacred Pool.

The large bedroom door creaked as Orion pushed it open. His father’s nurse looked up with a start from where she stood beside the bed.

“I need to speak to him,” Orion said, “alone.”

She glanced at a food tray sitting on the table. “I was just about to feed him.”

“It can wait,” Orion replied.

Without speaking again, the nurse nodded quietly and exited the room. When the door closed behind her, Orion moved beside the bed.

The old man strained to shift his head. His voice wheezed. “You have…good news?”

“Well, I have news,” Orion replied. “Some good, some… questionable.” His father’s eyes followed him carefully as Orion continued. “Hamlin has been discredited in the eyes of the public, and the Council has forced him into hiding. He will no longer have a voice with the people to rally support of the Keeper program.”

His father managed a nod. “Very good.”

Orion’s mouth curved upward. “It won’t be long now. The Ambassador’s chair is right within my grasp, just as we always planned.”

“And the bad news?” his father asked.

Orion swallowed and took a step closer. “There’s something I must show you.” He reached into the inner pocket of his suit jacket, grasped the Briolette between his fingers, and held it out for his father to see.

His father’s eyes grew wide. “Is it real?”

Orion nodded. “Yes. I fear the time to complete our purpose is growing short.”

His father’s arm strained to reach off the bed, holding out his hand for the stone. Orion set the Briolette inside his father’s grasp and helped him lift his arm closer.

His father marveled down at it. “Where? How?”

“A girl,” Orion explained, “born outside the Threshold, yet she bears the mark of the Sacred Pool. She had the stone in her possession.” He paused to take a breath as he said the words they both were dreading to hear. “She is… the Aurora.”

His father inhaled so quickly he almost choked. As he struggled to find his voice, he closed his eyes, wrapping his shaky fingers around the Briolette. “I feel it,” he finally said. “It holds the power of the source, the key to igniting the three spheres…the Aurora, the Threshold, the Sacred Pool.”

His father’s eyes opened abruptly, voice straining to continue. “The girl must not get it back. Prevent the unification at all costs.”

“It’s too late,” Orion said. “The power of her mark glows white and ceases to end. She heals without the Healing Water. She projects the healing power outside herself to others. I saw it with my own two eyes.”

His father’s hand clenched tighter around the stone, his jaw trembling. “Then it has already begun. The Aurora is here.”