Out of the Mountain (15 page)

“Something funny?” she asked and everyone looked my way.

“Nope,” I replied, trying to keep my composure as I looked at the man in front of me. I reminded myself that these men had been creatures, and they had tried to murder my friends in cold blood. It hardened my heart toward them enough to allow me to take an even closer look. He appeared to be a normal man; no trace of the creature remained in his features. I noted a spot behind his ear that looked odd. It was black, a perfect circle, and I felt a sort of hum of magic coming from it.

“There’s something . . .” I began as I reach out to touch the spot behind his ear. A shockwave of fire burned through my veins, and my eyes went dark.

“What a discovery, Kieran! We can tie the Shade into the Shuni! How does it work?” A woman with a shrill and high voice said from under a cloak.

“It’s complicated, I’m not sure how to explain . . .” Kieran’s deep and cruel voice responded. This was my uncle. Kieran had black hair as long as mine tinged with gray and braided down his back. His features were pinched but the resemblance to Farran was uncanny. He looked hollow.

“Well, try,” the woman countered, voice impatient.

“The staff was starving, hungry for power, when I retrieved it from Farran’s hiding spot. I was on my way to harvest power when your Shade tried to tag along. The staff lit up and took the shadows within it of its own accord!” Kieran said, hands out toward the woman as if telling her to hear him out.

“When their power didn’t transfer to me, I wondered what it would do with them. Still though, I continued on my route. I could feel the staff pulling me toward something, and I veered off my planned path and followed it instead. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the family of Shuni in the forest. Brothers! Six of them! So much power. They were traveling to the palace to attend some sort of political function. I followed them until I could get each of them alone. When I tried to take the first brother’s power, I felt a Shade expel itself into the body! Imagine my surprise when instead of dying, his eyes glowed red before dimming and standing there motionless. I did not gain the power, but the Shade took over the Shuni body, and of course they still answer to you, my lady,” he finished, positively gleeful, proud of what he had accomplished.

“Creatures that can hide in the guise of Shuni! Under my command. You are magnificent, Kieran!”

A shock went through me again, and I was back in the lab. Rowan was in my face saying something, shaking me. I blinked a few times before he released my shoulders.

“What happened?” he growled, and I swallowed, trying to figure out what had in fact happened. Did I just have a vision? It wasn’t a premonition; this was something that had already happened. Was it even real at all? I thought of Kieran’s face and decided it certainly must have been.

“I don’t know.” My tongue felt thick in my mouth.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Rowan growled, and I looked around to see everyone staring at me warily.

“Can I have a drink?” I asked, mouth dry.

“What?”

“I’m thirsty,” I said slowly. I needed a second to think. Within a flash, Rowan was handing me a cup of water. I drank the entire cup before breathing. Then I told them what I saw.

“So what does that mean? She had a vision?” Adelaide scoffed and my hackles rose.

“It appears so,” Rowan said, studying me. Farran spoke from the back of the room and startled us all.

“Kieran has altered the staff so far from its purpose. Twisting and corrupting it to his will.”

“Why only Shuni?” Willa asked, and we all thought it over.

“My guess would be that since blood magic made the Shuni, blood magic can more easily control them. Who’s to say, really?” Farran sighed, shaking his head.

“We must alert the Six and figure out a plan to secure the people. What if there are others within the walls already?” Marlowe asked, looking around at the Shuni in the room suspiciously.

“It should be easy enough to spot them. Check behind their ears,” I said, pointing to the spot. Sure enough we checked the other slabs, and those men had them too.

“All right, let me see your necks,” Farran said, and Silas, Malachi, and Rowan obliged. He looked at me next.

“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.” I reiterated his earlier joke to him, and he laughed. We were both in the clear.

“So how are we going to go about checking everyone in the kingdom for a mark?” Tamora shook her head. We sat in silence for a while mulling that over. It was a conundrum. How could we convince people without alerting them?

“We could fake an outbreak of illness?” Adelaide finally suggested, breaking the silence, and damn if I didn’t nod along with everyone else.

“Yes, we could hold free health screenings, offer fake tonics to keep the illness from spreading,” Silas said, snatching hold of the idea and running with it.

“You’re just going to lie to an entire city of people, give them fake health screenings and sugar water to check for marks? That’s diabolical,” I thought out loud, and they all looked at me.

“It’s for their own good,” Silas replied, and I could tell he believed it.

***

I was told to go straight to my room and not speak a word of what was happening. Farran volunteered as my escort and then he happily left me at the barracks to tell my friends the new developments.

“You want to see my what?” Luca asked, eyes wide, and I laughed.

“Your necks, all of you,” I said, lining them up and checking for a mark. I let out a sigh of relief when there was none. I filled them in on my morning, and no one spoke when I was finished.

“Well?” I asked, waiting for their input.

“This is insane,” Briony said with a shake of her head.

“When are they planning to do this?” Griffin asked, and I shrugged.

“They kicked me out so they could plan. I was told not to breathe a word of it, so keep your mouths shut,” I threatened and they grinned, happy to be in on the secret. We were discussing theories when we heard something fall outside the building. Luca jumped up to see what the noise was.

“It’s all right, just some equipment that fell over,” he said, reentering the barracks and swiping his head. We were all jumpy.

“So why do you think you saw the vision?” Peyton asked quietly, and I shrugged.

“I honestly don’t know why I saw it. It happened when I touched the mark on his neck . . . The only other time I’ve seen something like a vision was when I saw Master Liung’s premonition . . .” Thinking of Master Liung made me think of the coin necklace he had given me. I hadn’t worn it today, but I remember feeling its power, feeling the connection to him through it. I thought of the dagger in my boot. I wondered.

I took out the small dagger and looked more closely at it. It took a few moments, but I felt a pulse of energy and a pull to touch the blade. When I did I felt the burst of power and gasped at what I saw.

A woman with dark hair and milky skin was singing quietly under the light of the moon. Beautiful magic filled the air. She funneled this magic into two daggers that were sitting on a stone in front of her. She sprinkled dirt atop them and blew it off immediately after. She then rose and turned to a fire burning next to her, thrusting the daggers into the flame and quickly dipping them into water. She didn’t stop singing, even as she cut her hand on each dagger and set them back onto the stone. A man with dark hair and ice-blue eyes held a toddler out to her. She poked the girl’s finger with a needle and squeezed the droplets of blood onto the daggers. The girl didn’t cry, but the woman kissed her finger and the blood vanished. The woman held the girl as the daggers began to glow brightly into the night. They shone for a long time before the light finally dulled and the woman ended her song.

“It is done,” she said, exhausted and pale, but still smiling at the man who kissed her and the girl on the head in turn.

I blinked frantically, coming back to myself surrounded by my friends’ concerned faces. I just had another vision! What did this mean?

“You guys are never going to believe this!” I said excitedly. Just then, the door to the barracks flew open and Silas came in followed by the smug faces of Cassia, Oliviana, and Joel.

“Well, well, well . . . look what we have here! These three felt the need to inform me of this little meeting. Imagine our surprise to find that the princess was not in fact locked up in her room, but instead down here mingling with the commoners and telling royal secrets,” he barked, but I noticed the shine of humor in his eyes at his mention of me. The others must not have seen it, for they sat rigidly awaiting their punishment. I glared at Cassia; she returned in kind.

“I’m a loose cannon,” I informed him.

“Are you finished breaking the rules yet?” Farran popped back in. Silas looked from me to Farran and shrugged. This wasn’t his problem to deal with.

“As for the rest of you . . . since you all know about the illness that is about to have an outbreak, I imagine you’ll all have it! Quarantined in your barracks until the symptoms are gone. Such a pity.” He smiled, turning on his heel and leaving us behind.

“He’s joking right?” I asked, but everyone shrugged.

“I guess we will find out,” Luca complained.

A couple of days later I was being thrust onto a platform in front of a crowd of people to have the first free health exam. The Six insisted that I do it publicly for the people’s benefit:
If the Princess does it, we should too.
I was wearing a simple dress, and my hair was braided down my back. The kingdom had only one healer, but there were many physicians who trained under her. The one that was about to examine me in a show for the public looked like a kind old man, silver hair, slightly bent. He gestured for me to sit in a chair and I complied, glad to be off my feet. I wasn’t fond of being made a public spectacle.

“Look straight ahead, please,” the physician said loudly enough for his voice to carry.

“Follow my finger with your eyes,” he said before passing it from side to side in front of my face.

“Good, now let me feel your throat.” He pressed his hands against the sides of my neck gently.

“Now I’m going to check your ears,” he said as he pulled out a little magnifying tool and pointed it inside my ears. If I wouldn’t have known what he was doing, I wouldn’t have noticed the brush of his fingers as he checked for the mark.

“One last thing, please. Tilt your head back and open your mouth wide.” He looked into my mouth and then patted my shoulder.

“The princess is healthy,” he said with a smile, and the crowd cheered as he handed me a little vial full of liquid.

“This is to make sure she stays that way,” he continued, and I drank it quickly and smiled to the people. As if to say,
See? That was easy
.

“Who’s next?” I asked cheerfully, playing the part, and the line began to flow. I was led away from the crowd and into the Guard HQ, where I was happy to see that the novices were waiting.

“How’d it go?” Briony asked, taking a sip from the cup that was in her hand. An assortment of sandwiches and cheeses was laid out for a lunch spread. My stomach rumbled at the sight.

“Not bad,” I replied, taking the seat next to her and grabbing a sandwich. I hadn’t had the chance to tell anyone about what I had seen with the daggers in my vision, and now I wasn’t sure I should. Clearly it had been my mother and father, but she had used our blood to seal the spell. Wasn’t that blood magic? I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t want anyone to know until I knew more.

“I’m glad you talked Silas into letting us keep you company.” Luca smiled, and I returned it fully.

“Me too,” I said honestly. Even if the three rats of the group were glaring in the corner. I noted Cassia, Oliviana, and Joel when I had entered the room.

“So what’s the story with them? They don’t act as if they even want to be here . . .” I whispered, nodding toward their spot in the corner.

“Cassia’s boyfriend—well, ex-boyfriend now—signed up for the novice training at the beginning of our final year of school. He was a catch: rich, smart, and gorgeous—” Briony began, and Luca interrupted her.

“He was also a pretentious, uptight jerk . . . but I don’t suppose you remember that part . . .”

“Anyway, like I was saying, he was a real catch. She wasn’t about to let him out of her sight, so she signed up too. Her mom freaked out on her, but she was twenty, and a contract is a contract. What she didn’t realize was that Roy—that was his name, by the way—was still nineteen, and though he had signed up, he hadn’t actually signed on . . .” she continued.

“Uh oh . . .” I had a feeling I knew where this was going.

“Uh oh is right! He changed his mind, you see. In the middle of the year they brought us to actually witness the training in progress, and as you well know, it’s no walk in the park. He decided not to sign on, and Cassia couldn’t withdraw without some form of punishment.” She shook her head.

“Not true love then?” I asked, feeling sorry for her a little bit.

“Definitely not. He is studying under his dad instead and she managed to talk the other two over there into joining her here. None of them had ever worked a day in their lives before this, and it’s been a difficult adjustment.”

“I’d say . . .”

“So does anyone know what they are planning to do if they find anyone?” Genevieve asked the group, pulling us out of our gossip and back to more important matters. It was a good question, and I was surprised I hadn’t thought about it yet.

“Probably lock them up, try to get information from them,” Griffin replied.

“I doubt they will give any information. They are slaves, mindless and obedient,” I said with a chill going down my spine.

“How are they even supposed to keep track? It’s going to take at least a week to get through everyone that is willing to participate, and who’s to say nothing will happen to those same people by then?” Jonah asked, and I frowned.

“Knowing what we are starting with is better than knowing nothing,” Rowan countered as he entered the room. I sat straighter. I hadn’t seen him much at all in the past few days with everyone being so busy. He nodded to me before grabbing a plate, and I smiled a bit too brightly at him. I needed to tone it down. Briony tried to hide a giggle from beside me, and I turned on her, remembering for the first time since the night of the attack the whistle that Rowan had supposedly given her.