Anathema - The Song of Eloh Saga, Book 2 (12 page)

“He knows,” Mark said. “That bastard knew
all along what you were and he’d been keeping you hostage.”

“And using your gift for his own gain,”
Johna said. “Why bother with spies when a slave can tell you
everything you need to know? No wonder his sigil is the fox.”

“That’s why he’s been searching for her. He
doesn’t just want her back, he needs her back.” Mark punched his
fist into his open palm. “If her skill were to fall into someone
else’s hands, he could be ruined, either by his secret leaking out
or by someone else getting his advantage.”

“Everything makes more sense now, doesn’t
it?” I asked, stunned at how neatly the pieces fit together. Only
one spot remained blank. “Do you think this is the secret Ivy was
keeping?”

“Did she ever ask you to read the clouds?”
Mark asked.

I shook my head. I didn’t even have to take
time to think about it. Kandek was the only one I ever told stories
to, at least stories that came from gazing into the sky. I’d told
Ivy plenty of stories over the years, but none were a direct result
of seeing the clouds.

“Then it’s doubtful,” Johna said. “Ivy
didn’t seem to know what your power was any more than you did.”

“I agree with Johna,” Mark said. “That’s not
what Ivy was hiding. There’s something else. But whatever that is,
it’s not important right now. She’s gone and so is her secret.
What’s important is figuring out what to do with this proclamation
Kandek has issued.”

“I’ll turn myself in,” I said. “It’s really
that simple.”

“No!” Johna exclaimed. “We can’t let you
fall into his hands again. You have a greater destiny than to serve
him. You were born to save the Serenians.”

“Let’s take this one step at a time, Johna.
I consider poor people who stepped on the wrong side of the law to
support their families as part of the people I’m supposedly going
to save. If this is all true, then I have to try to protect
everyone I can, starting with these prisoners. I saw those people
tonight in the tavern. I know more than ever how much family can
mean to a person. I have to help them.”

I felt as though I should say something
more. The weight placed upon me tonight far outweighed anything I’d
ever considered for my life. How could they be certain? How could
I?

“I can’t do this alone,” I said.

“You’re not alone,” Johna said.

Mark sat down next to me, and put his arm
around me. I rested my head on his shoulder. I’d spent so long
avoiding him and now I couldn’t imagine not having him by my side,
not being able to touch him.

“We won’t let you do this alone,” he said
while squeezing my shoulder.

“How do I know where to start?” I asked.
Doubt rose in me. I didn’t know anything about the world. I
couldn’t do it alone, if I could even do it at all. “How am I, a
former slave, supposed to free our people? It’s laughable.”

I looked to both of my friends for answers,
but no one said anything. Mark took a deep breath, opened his
mouth, and then closed it.

“What’s going through your head?” Johna
asked. “You’re always so unreadable.”

“I’m gifted too,” Mark said. I slowly raised
my head off his shoulder and turned to look at him. He was opening
up to Johna. He’d known her for years and not once told her about
his gift. Today certainly was a day for surprises.

“I take it this isn’t a surprise to you?”
Johna asked me.

“I thought you wouldn’t read another gifted
person’s mind without their permission,” I said. I hadn’t felt
anything in my mind, but I wasn’t sure I would even know if she
did.

“I don’t have to. You didn’t even flinch. I
can read body language just like any other person, child. Someone
doesn’t make a statement like that without shocking people.” She
turned to Mark. “What’s your gift then?”

“I can build impenetrable walls in my mind.
I can also sense them in other people,” he said, shrugging.

“Useful,” Johna answered. “I presume that’s
how you knew about Ivy?”

Mark nodded his head.

“But you can’t see what’s behind the walls?”
she asked.

“No.”

“Too bad. Then you’d be even more useful,”
she said.

“Yet you don’t seem surprised,” he said.

“I knew there was something special about
you. That’s why I let you in on my secret. I may not have been able
to read your mind and see your little secret, but I knew you
understood.”

I slipped away during their conversation. I
knew about Mark and what he could do. I wanted them to work out
their relationship without me. Making my way back to the window, I
gazed out at the clouds again.

I saw the fat man who had been at my
branding ceremony. He was drinking a cup of wine with his wife, who
sat nearby looking at him out of the corner of her eye. I could see
her plotting a way to kill him in his sleep and still maintain her
graceful position. I could also see a bird’s nest in her hair.

Another cloud showed me scores of people
banding together in a town square. They shouted to each other. One
woman waved a knife in the air and a man next to her whispered in
his friend’s ear. They were arguing about how best to proceed in
finding someone.

“If we catch her, all our problems will be
solved,” the woman yelled, stabbing the air with her knife while
the man next to her ducked to avoid losing an ear.

“If we go along with this, we’ll be just as
bad as him. There must be another way,” he said.

“I want my son back!” she
wailed. “He was only trying to feed his little sister. What’s the
life and safety of one woman compared to the freeing of our
family members?”

I shrank back from the window. They were
talking about me.

“Did someone see you?” Johna asked, running
over to close the shutters. “You must be careful, child. What if
someone should see you?”

“I need to go back,” I said. “I have to turn
myself in to save those poor prisoners.”

“I already said no,” Johna insisted.

“Before we get sidetracked again,” Mark
said, “let me offer an alternative. I’m also a member of the Sons
of Silence.”

He paused, looking at us both. I have to say
I wasn’t surprised he told Johna. Nothing could shock me today. I
wondered, not for the first time, how many of the rumors about the
Sons were true. Did they kill innocent Serenians to get to the
Malborn? I couldn’t imagine Mark doing that.

“Tch,” Johna said. “You don’t know what
you’ve gotten yourself in to. They are dangerous people.”

“No more dangerous than the Malborn,” he
retorted. “At least we’re doing something to take back our land.
What about all of the hidden gifted? What are they doing? Nothing.
I want to help Reychel and I know we could work well together.”

Johna smiled at me with the same look in her
eyes when she suggested I was in love with Mark all those weeks
ago. Now wasn’t the time to sort out complicated feelings. I turned
away from her and looked to Mark.

“Do you think they would help?” I asked.
“Peacefully?”

“I do. There is a man living in our town who
might be able to help us. If you’re determined to turn yourself in,
maybe we can rescue the petty criminals at the same time. Create a
diversion.”

“Rescue? Why on earth would you rescue them
when he’s said he’ll free them?” I asked.

“Do you really think he’ll keep his word?”
Mark asked.

“I don’t know,” I rubbed my fingers through
my short black hair. A few months ago I would have said an
unequivocal yes. After everything I’d learned I didn’t know what to
think about Kandek’s honor.

“Do you want to take the risk that he
won’t?”

“Risk? You’re talking about risking the
prisoners and completely ignoring the fact that Reychel’s
delivering herself back into slavery. That cannot happen,” Johna
said.

“We’ll figure that out too,” Mark said.
“It’s a detail.”

“Detail? Just giving our Prophet of the
Clouds back to a man who has used her for her entire life to
forward himself politically? I won’t have it! I’ll call in the
council!” Johna insisted.

“Council?” Mark and I asked.

“Of course there’s a council of gifted
people, you foolish children. Do you think that we operate
independently? You’re both so young and you know so little,” she
sighed. She shook her head at us. I knew there would be much to
learn, but time wouldn’t afford me the option to learn now.

“I’m seventeen and army trained. I’ve had
more life experience in the last year than most people do in ten
years,” Mark said.

“There’s only one week,” Johna argued.

“Yes,” I said. I grabbed Johna’s hand and
Mark’s hand in my free hand. “That means we have seven full days to
make a plan. Where do we start?”

Chapter Fourteen

For the first time since leaving Tania’s
cottage, I ventured out into the world in daylight. The sun shone
brightly in the clear sky, giving me chance to view the town
without worrying about visions intruding. Mark and I were on our
way to visit his contact with the Sons of Silence. I was more than
a little nervous, but I couldn’t relate the stories of heartless
thugs to Mark and I hoped his friend proved the rumors wrong
too.

I resisted the urge to scratch my head under
the wig. Having avoided using it in Johna’s cottage, I was having a
tough time getting used to the rough netting on my head. The warm
weather didn’t help either. Rather than beads of sweat, the tickles
reminded me of tiny bugs scrambling around underneath the wig.

I followed Mark closely, not wanting to lose
him. Though the town was small, I didn’t know my way around nor did
I feel confident enough to ask anyone for help. One look at my eyes
followed by a tug to my hair would reveal my identity. I gazed at
the people as they walked by, noting the sadness in their faces. No
wonder they’d be willing to turn me in to Kandek for the return of
their loved ones. I couldn’t blame them. I couldn’t hate them.

As Mark stopped at a doorway and knocked, a
lone cloud drifted into view. Before I could tear my eyes away, I
saw Ivy wearing embroidered clothes and sitting in an over-stuffed
chair. She looked angry as she ripped the leaves off of a flower in
her hand.

I could see the whole room was filled with
flowers, but Ivy wasn’t happy.

“This is for you,” a little girl said,
interrupting my vision and handing me a flower. “I love your hair
and I thought it would look beautiful in it.”

“Thank you,” I said, pushing the stem into
my hair just above my ear. “What’s your name?”

“Sara,” she said, smiling. “Are you here to
see my new baby sister?”

I looked up at Mark, not quite sure what to
say.

“We’re here to talk to your dad. Is he
around?” Mark asked.

“Sure, follow me.”

I smiled at the carefree little girl
skipping through her cottage. All children should be able to smile
and play like this. I never had, there hadn’t been time. Even as a
young child, I was forced into chores and duties nearly all of my
waking hours. Granted, they were easier tasks when I was little,
but I couldn’t remember one day where I bounced around smiling.

As we followed Sara through the cottage and
out the back door, I spied a man brushing a horse in the stables.
He seemed content enough, but the way he carried himself reminded
me of older slaves. Years of hard labor showed in the body, along
with a resigned slouch to the shoulders. As he heard his daughter
and turned to see us, I saw a huge smile break up his shaggy beard.
I smiled back, glad to see that not every part of him was feeling
beaten down.

“Mark! What can I do for you?” he asked,
shooting a side glance at me. The two shook hands.

“I want to introduce you to my friend,
Reychel. She’s someone I think you’ll want to meet,” said Mark

“Sara, why don’t you go back in the house
and help your ma with your baby sister. She’ll be needing a good,
strong girl like you.”

“Okay, Da.” Sara skipped back into the
house.

“Hi, Reychel. I’m Roctor,” he said, holding
out a hand.

“Roc!” I knew I had recognized his voice.
“You’re the man who was asking Johna about your baby before she was
born a couple months ago. Congratulations, by the way.”

“I don’t remember seeing anyone there that
day,” he said, looking from me to Mark. “But, I think we ought to
talk elsewhere. Follow me.”

We followed Roc into the stables. To the
back of a tall wall of stacked hay, was a door hidden behind
hanging dirty horse blankets. We stepped into a tiny room no bigger
than a double-wide outhouse. Roc closed the door behind us and lit
a candle.

I looked around at the tiny table surrounded
by short stools. On the opposite end, I saw the wall was made of
mortared logs. Clever. The opposite side must be where Roc stored
his firewood. No one would even suspect the tiny room hidden in the
stable.

“I don’t have a lot of time,” he said,
settling down on a stool. He motioned for us to sit down. “I hate
to be blunt in front of a lady, but who is she and why did you
bring her here?”

“Reychel is the Prophet,” Mark said, pausing
to let the words sink in. Roc stared at me with keen eyes. I had a
feeling that little escaped him and he was so much more than just a
normal blacksmith. “She’s also Kandek’s missing slave.”

“I had heard about that,” Roc said. “He says
he’s going to let the petty criminals go if she turns herself in.
But you say she’s the Prophet. How do you know?”

“She can read clouds, like the prophecy
states. Johna and I saw her do it.”

“How long have you known about her?” Roc
asked.

“I met her a couple months ago,” Mark said.
“But we didn’t know she was the Prophet until yesterday.”

“I didn’t know myself,” I interjected. I
didn’t like being talked about as if I wasn’t sitting at the table
with them. “I was told I had the potential for a gift, but I never
had any idea what it might be.”