CHANGELING: Book Two in the Weaver Series Page 25
I asked although I knew the answer, “Lil can bend light can’t she, Cass?”
Cass spit her thoughts with laser precision. “Yeah, that’s problem one. Something isn’t right. Lil can talk to me in the Web but it’s like she’s disoriented. She keeps saying she’s going to fall apart. I don’t know what she means. I wanna touch her to see if she’s running fever or something.”
“Right, because a human hand is such an accurate thermometer. Wait here with her while I go check out her vitals in the Web, Cass.” I suppressed my frustration.
Eternal night greeted me with wide open arms. I took just a moment to revel in the freedom then gathered myself into a cohesive purpose. Lil’s pulsating pink light hung in front of us. I could see the connections to Vel’s robin egg blue, Jaz’s pebbled mercury, and another that ended in nothing so I assumed it was Kal’s. Carefully I broke off a probe and sent it to explore Lil’s surface. Penetration was on hold until I could figure out exactly what the issue was. The last thing I wanted was to make anything worse.
I thought outward, “Lil? Can you hear me?”
Words garbled like a fluctuating radio transmission, she sent, “Pull…stay…help.”
My probe made contact with her surface. I expected it to stop at her protective shell but it continued through her as if she were a ghost. Sensations swamped me as my tiny comma of light was pulled toward her core, which looked to be split in two and rotating in a whirlpool of her own essence. Lil’s voice was louder here.
Panicking she screeched, “How do I make it stop, Silver? Make it stop!”
Her split magenta core looked like two stars caught in the tidal forces of a super massive black hole. Some change was occurring, that was obvious. Lil couldn’t fight it but she was trying and maybe that was the root of the problem.
“Lil, it doesn’t need to stop. Let it go. I’ll go with you.” I didn’t have a choice really—my probe was going whether I willed it or not, sucked in by centrifugal force. The moment she ceased resisting the speed ramped up and I got caught in the rim of the funnel she’d created with her spinning dual cores. We went faster and faster and faster until with a soundless collision of light I was thrown back to myself, shaken and afraid.
“Lil?”
I got no answer. Fear curdled and solidified into sheer terror. Never before had I seen anything like this in the Web. There were no memories I had visited with happenings remotely close to these. Had I gambled wrong? I screamed her name again, “Lil!”
Sounding irritated she answered, “Stop your yelling, Min Druta; I can hear you just fine.”
Cass popped into attendance. “Uh guys, you need to come out with me, like right now.”
Lil left first and I stared at her shimmering core for a moment. It looked larger, as if the two had combined to one, increasing the mass and density. Her shell was back up and generally she looked the best we’d ever seen her look. Why were we so bothered then? Cass accepted the memory of the explosive reaction and her pathways sharpened as they came to a conclusion.
I asked, “What do you know?”
She whispered, “Come see, Silver. It’ll make sense.”
The physical world was too bright. Wind and wildly scented fresh air caressed our skin. The ground was warm and springy. Barely clouded sky capped the tree ringed horizon. I turned our head. Lil had a hand over her mouth and her normally large eyes were the size of saucers. A soft snout with short pokey whiskers nudged the back of our neck, making us jerk and turn. We were on the surface.
Cass laughed, startling the gentle curious wog away. Lil smacked the ground with her palms then put her fists to her closed eyes and shrieked in frustration.
I patted her back. “Cheer up, Freond. Your gemaetan was to be a bridge between two people—now you are. Annis has made you the embodiment of your mission. Jaz can’t argue against that.”
Her hands fell away and her expression was a giant open wound to her soul. “What if I fail? I am not strong enough for this.”
Cass smiled. “You’re as strong as you decide to be, Lil.”
Chapter Twenty Four: Time Flies
When we came out of Lil’s room Mez was the first to react. He scented the air, face portraying alarm then concern. Vel and Jaz were just confused. Their noses were as sensitive as Mez’s and Jaz looked like she might be about to tear into us for bending anywhere without permission. The crisp ozone of our ‘port from the surface was mingling with the growing tangy, tantalizing aroma of Vel’s secret sauce.
Cass raised a hand. “We’re fine, cool your jets. Lil has something to say.”
Lil held her lips between her teeth for a moment and swallowed as if something sharp was stuck sideways in her throat. Thick red eyebrows dipped and her nictitating lens flashed rapidly over the glassy wet surface of her eyes.
Words warbling, she began, “Annis has blessed me with full Aniy gifts.”
Jaz put one hand over her mouth and the other over her heart.
Vel walked away from the pith. “When?”
Lil tore her gaze from her silent mother to answer the uncle who for all intents and purposes had been her only father. “After I shut myself in my warren I felt strange, and then colors burst around me—”
Jaz continued her daughter’s sentence, “—in a storm that blinded you. It happened to me as well. Why did you not call out to us?”
Our friend shrugged. “Something forced me out of my body and I could not feel it anymore. The core of me split and I thought I was dying but I could not reach out. Cass got through and then Silver came. When it was over we found ourselves in the fields by my doing.”
Vel stiffened. “By your doing?”
Mez closed his eyes. We didn’t know if he was telling the good news to Kal or reporting in to the Guild of Discovery. That was sobering. Mez had too many masters and we should have thought this through. He hadn’t yet betrayed Jaz’s secret of light bending, that we knew of. Elder Nyt could react badly to this. Nyt had wanted her children and grandchildren to pick up gifts from us, not an Imini girl she could care less for. Throw in the fact that Lil could get past DNA protocols and bend. The Elders could decide she was a threat. Shit. What if Lil’s mutation wasn’t just a one off and it was passable to her descendants? Would they forbid her from marrying another Imini and try to force Aniy-only marriages in the name of uniting their people?
Cassandra flicked at me mentally, “Slow down, Oh Borrower of Trouble. None of that has happened yet so simmer down. We’ll keep an eye out but that’s all we can do. Besides overthrowing Nyt I don’t see a solution right now anyway. Better the devil you know, and all that. We still haven’t gotten anywhere in our Baelc hunt so let’s contain ourselves here—last I checked we aren’t all powerful. Lil’s just in our boat now and we have to keep it from rocking.”
She had a point.
Jaz grabbed her husband’s arm so hard a shoulder seam ripped on his tunic but she didn’t notice. “What will we do, Vel? Will they take her from us? I cannot bear to …”
We all knew who the ‘they’ were but Vel glanced at Mez and frowned, probably having some of the same thoughts I’d just had. I spoke up for Mez since he was still ‘elsewhere’ talking to whoever the hell he was talking to. “He hasn’t told about Jaz, Vel. Not to our knowledge, and with us being joined by the Bindao it’s hard to hide things mind to mind in the Web.”
Vel blinked and the set of his features went from hard to contemplative. “You are correct, Neces, but that may only last so long. Ultimately Mez must be loyal to the Aniy and that is only right. We cannot ask him to betray his own people to protect our cilda.” He rubbed underneath his chin with his knuckles and placed his other hand like a long fingered collar around the back of Jaz’s neck.
Lil crossed her arms over her chest. “Could you all address me instead of speaking around me as if I am not here? Do you think I am stupid? I do grasp the gravity of what I will face as the only one of my kind. Kal had a hard enough life for me to learn from.”
Lil’s neck wove side to side and her arms tightened their hold as if they might force her chest not to heave in reaction to her mother’s near shouted questions. “I know, Modor, I know! I cannot deny it, but I cannot change it either. I must adapt to the Will of Annis because I was given no choice. Your fear does little to help me.”
Vel growled over the top of whatever Jaz was about to say, “Enough!” He squeezed his wife’s neck in warning and gave Lil the hardest look we’d ever seen. “This cynn will not be torn apart by circumstance. We are stronger in our love than this! We overcome, we do not falter. If a solution fails to present itself one way, look to another.” He released Jaz and scowled at the tear on his tunic. “We should take this as an opportunity to amend our ways and become more unified. You will all sit and we will have a respectable meal together. After we have eaten, then we will discuss what steps we may take without pulling this mountain down on top of our heads in worry.”
When we all stayed frozen he barked, “Sit!”
Mez opened his eyes to find us all staring at him from our places at the table while Vel cracked the pith in the kitchen. No one spoke. He hurried to sit near us and Jaz clicked her teeth then stood.
She motioned to her chair imperiously. “You sit there. They will have their gloves off to eat and I will not tempt you to touch them.”
Mez looked ready to argue but I shook our head and he walked to the end of the table to sit heavily. He stretched his legs out and nearly bumped ours with his feet but Jaz kicked his ankle. Her warning hiss at Mez wasn’t received well.
Vel set the open pith in the center of the table and our petty irritations with one another became an afterthought. The roly rice steamed, sending off swirling clouds of yum. The act of playing host calmed Vel and that transferred to everyone else. He bent gracefully at his waist as he placed a bowl and spoon in front of us one by one. I touched the interlocking curled lines that decorated the dish. They looked to have been painted one tiny woven swoop at a time and I wondered if Vel were the artist. He seemed the type to invest in such a small detail of their daily lives.
Cass took our hand into our lap and began to tug off our gloves. Lil was by herself on one side of the table looking lost and unsure but trying to hide it. Suddenly I wished Kal were here. My sister cocooned me in her second of that notion.
Vel took charge of the devotion. Coincidently he quoted the same passage Kal had the last time we’d all sat down to a meal. Maybe we weren’t the only ones missing our guardian. The words didn’t hold the same magic today. I felt empty, as if our body were a scraped melon rind. Jaz served and we all ate quietly. Well, mostly quiet, because Mez kept giving miniscule moans of pleasure after each mouthful was swallowed. Lil met our eyes across the table and we smiled, amused. For just a moment our spirits lifted.
Cass was taking our time with our food, pushing the spherical grains around in between every spoonful, so I asked, “What’s up with us? Do you think it has anything to do with our mess with Mez or is it more than that? Are we getting a gut feeling or what?”
She set our spoon down and took a deep breath. “It’s more than Mez, it’s more than Lil, and it’s more than Nyt or Baelc. I think it’s all coming to a head soon. The rebels haven’t retaliated or tried to break out the assassin they sent, even after their base got crushed. Nyt is putting pressure on us and it’s not just because she’s used to getting what she wants. The Galactic Alliance could be tired of the Axsian monopoly on transport. Who knows, maybe another planet or planets are behind the unrest here. I just think we’re a goldfish in an ocean of barracudas we can’t see.”
I changed the subject. “Eat before it gets cold, Cass. We always need the energy.”
When all bowls were emptied Lil cleaned the table. We tried to rise and help but she frowned us back to a sitting position. She seemed silly and frivolous in her bright colors. Brightest of all was her exposed hair and I began to get an inkling of how Jaz had felt the whole time we tortured her with ours down.
Cass angled our body toward Lil's mother and asked, “How are your Aniy guests holding up being immersed in Imini life?”
We hadn’t forgotten about Nyt’s daughters who were probably even now reporting to the Elder. It wouldn’t surprise us if they’d left listening devices in all the homes and some flunky was assigned to monitor all of the reunions today. If so, we were royally screwed. It was more likely that Elder Nyt didn’t really care about the Imini enough to go to the trouble though. We’d have to rely on Nyt’s arrogance to protect the secret of Jaz and Lil’s mutations.
In response to Cass’s question Jaz gave a harrumph and rested her chin in her hand as she looked down her nose at us. “They are unfailingly polite. Perfect specimens of Aniy breeding without an original thought in their heads. Anything that is asked of them they do without complaint. Aya, the one who sleeps in our home, has even scraped wog skins when asked. Something is behind their eyes when they smile though and they think we are too stupid to notice.” She wrinkled her nose in disgust.
Mez knocked his knuckles on the table for attention then handed Lil the final dish on its surface—the emptied pith. “Kal said he can be here with Sil shortly. Sil agreed not to report his findings to the Elders or his Guild if you let him examine Lil.”
Vel leaned back in his seat; both palms flat in front of him, and then wove his neck in query at Mez. “Why would Sil promise this? He would lose his place in his Guild and be tried for treason if anyone found out.”
Mez’s head tilted just slightly in Jaz’s direction. “He feels he owes your cynn a debt.”
No one spoke for a moment as they all remembered Lil’s dead father, Vel’s brother and Jaz’s first husband. Kai, aka Shiva, had killed him merely to make a point to Kal and Sil felt responsible since his DNA tampering had given the renegade Agent the ability to unite Baelc Eftborenne.
I put in our two cents, saying, “Back on Earth, someone gave Cassandra some good advice. She told her that secrets, no matter how well they’re kept, usually come to light. The only thing you can hope for here is to be in control of when knowledge of Lil and Jaz’s ‘gifts’ get out. It’s better if we have an audience for the reveal so the Aniy can’t sweep you two under the rug and pretend you never happened.”
Lil sat back down, casually placing a hand over one of Vel’s. “We could alert the council, Faeder. Modor will have to admit she kept her light bending a secret from the Aniy during the investigation of…the murder.”
Vel’s lip curled slightly on one side at Lil’s use of the word for father. He placed his free hand on top of his adopted daughter’s and said, “That is perhaps the wisest course, Swetee Gemedrian.” His attention turned to Jaz and his eyebrows rose just slightly. “How do you feel about this, Min Gebedda?”
They were all being so careful of one another. All these titles and endearments were a delicate tap dance around grief and a past that had never been let go. While Lil felt free enough to call Vel father, it was obvious he didn’t feel free to call her the same, even if he felt it. The words he’d used, swetee for sweet and gemedrian for adopted child, had been uttered with unfiltered affection but they’d caused Lil to withdraw her hand from Vel’s and Jaz to flinch at her daughter’s reaction. If we could see all of this why couldn’t Kal? Why hadn’t he stepped in?
Cass mentally murmured, “Maybe he can’t see the forest for the trees. Kal’s got his own guilt here. He’s the one Kai was really after when he killed Lil’s real father. Everybody’s got problems, Sister—we can’t solve them all.”
Jaz began to speak next to us only to b
ite off the sound. Ozone laced with an undercurrent of something that made our adrenaline spike hit our nose.
Kal materialized inside the sealed arch. “Could you please open your home so Sil may enter, Vel?”
A speck of black morphed into the dimly lit tunnel but no one was there. Kal nodded to Vel after a moment and the portal closed again. In a flash-bang release of illuminated particles, Sil’s blue black face hovered in the air, seemingly unsupported before the rest of his body unwrapped.
His eyes were grave. “We only have moments before Kal and I are missed.” He beckoned to Lil. “Come. Bend if you have the control to do so.”
Lil took a shuddering breath. It helped that her home was familiar but if her nerves were jangled then it would interfere with her concentration. One moment we were staring at our friend’s clenched hands on the dark brown table and the next she was gone, leaving a burned citrus undertone in her place. Sil smiled encouragement, taking a step away from Lil who’d nearly ‘ported on top of him, even as Jaz gasped beside us.
Sil mumbled a fast, “Very good, very good,” under his breath. His instruments did an airy dance all around our friend’s body then he went over the collected data. He hummed, clucked, raised one eyebrow and another, frowned, and generally made enough faces to drive his captive audience bat shit crazy. Minutes passed like eons.
Kal lost his patience first. “Sil, would you please illuminate the rest of us?”
The scientist’s eyes widened and his nictitating lens fluttered. “Oh, my apologies, Kal. Your nece is fascinating. She displays the symmetrically hybridized biological characteristics of two races in one. The closest I have seen is you, Kal, as a matter of fact. Lil is a seamless blend of perfection while you are a haphazard hit and miss, random genetic mixture.”