September Surprise Story Week: Heliopath continued: Heliopath's World collection: 1051 words

[k_a_webb]

See the beginning of this story here (LJ link).
See the second part of this story here (LJ link).
See the third part of this story here (LJ link).
 

“I wasn't planning on dropping her at all,” Heliopath muttered, wondering why he had made the decision to put his bed so far away.

“That's good.”

Heliopath raised an eyebrow at the sarcasm in Jasper's voice. “Do you know how this happened?”

“It was luck, but I'm not sure yet whether it was good or bad. Someone saw her coming out of the library and took the initiative.”

There was a moment of silence as Heliopath carefully put Kestrel on his bed. “Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to give out those sleep spells.”

Jasper shrugged. “We need the money.” He stood next to Heliopath and looked down at Kestrel. “What are you going to do with her?”

“I don't know.” Heliopath sighed. “Do you know much about female mages?”

“No one knows much about female mages.”

“That's what I thought.”

“Rumours are really the only thing we have right now, until Benedict does his research.”

Heliopath shook his head. “Do you know everything?”

“No, but I thought I'd check Benedict out before I backed you on giving him the job. I think he's the best person you could have chosen.” Jasper turned and smiled at Heliopath. “From what I've heard there are no female mages not because it's believed that learning magic will make them infertile. I have no proof that this rumour is true, but I know a lot of people do, so it wouldn't surprise me if she's only green level because Falcon believes it's true.”

“The question then becomes: why does Falcon care so much?”

“She looks a lot like Falcon.”

“Family?”

“I'd say sister, but she could be a cousin or something like that. She is definitely family though.”

“I think I have some work to do before she wakes up.”

“Yes, you do. The most important thing right now is working out what name you're going to use around her.”

Heliopath shrugged. “Ash will be safe enough. I doubt anyone in the Hollow has even heard of Ash, and I know they don't have any idea what Heliopath looks like, so I don't think I'll have any problems.”

“You need to be careful.”

“I'm not stupid, Jasper.” Heliopath looked at Kestrel. “She should be taught how to use her power.”

“What if the rumour is true?”

“It's her choice, and I doubt that Falcon would feel the same way, especially if she is family, so I think it's up to me to give her that choice.”

“You're playing with fire.”

“I know I am. It's what I've always done and if you think that I'm going to change now then you're mistaken.”

“Just be careful with her. We don't know anything about her.”

“She had a knife on her.”

Jasper nodded. “What would you have done if you hadn't been able to use magic?”

“Learnt to fight.”

“I doubt she's just learnt to fight.”

“You think poison?”

“It's what I would do. She's not very big, so having poison on a blade can be a huge advantage.”

“How would I be able to tell for sure?”

“There is no way. You're just going to have to play her and see what happens.”

“I don't know if I can do that.”

“Ash, listen to me. Kestrel, no matter what you're feeling right now, is an enemy. You know that. If this is going to work then you need to be the same person you were when you took over the gardens, at least in the beginning.”

Heliopath looked at Jasper. “I don't want her to hate me.”

“She's going to hate you in the beginning no matter what you do. People from the Hollow have never got on with people from the Gardens and if you still want to change that then I think she might be the way to do it.”

“That's what I thought, but I have to convince her I'm a good person.”

“You are a good person, even though you have to put the Gardens first for a while.”

“It's possible that she might not have gone through the withdrawal process.”

“Green level symptoms aren't that bad.”

“They aren't that bad if you go through them once every couple of weeks. She could have been using those powers for years without even knowing that she needs to go through the process.” Heliopath looked back at Kestrel. “Putting her in this room might be a mistake. It's not as though she can do anything to hurt us.”

“Stop it. You made the choice, so stick with it. Remember that she's an enemy.”

“I hate this. If Falcon would just listen for five minutes then we wouldn't be in this position.”

“The likelihood of Falcon listening was always low and as the days pass it gets lower. He doesn't want to think about what might be outside this town, because then he'll have to come face-to-face with the fact that he's really not that strong a mage. I don't think that he's the right person to control the Hollow.”

“Maybe he's not, but that doesn't do us much good now. He is in control of the Hollow and he is the person we need to convince of the possibility that someone from outside might see us as an easy target because we're all fighting against each other.” Heliopath sighed. “I just don't know what else I can do.”

“Convince Kestrel.”

Heliopath raised an eyebrow. “How?”

“One step at a time. First you find out whether she has poisoned her knife, then you help her deal with any withdrawal symptoms she may have, and finally you convince her to learn how to use her power properly from you. It will take a long time to teach her, so that should give you a chance to talk to her about the same things that you talked to Falcon about.”

“She reminds me of Mina.”

“I know, Ash, but you have to remember that she isn't Mina. She's Kestrel from the Black Hollow and at the moment she is our enemy in the same way that everyone else from the Hollow is. With time she might become an ally, or even a friend, but until that time comes she is one of Falcon's.”

Heliopath nodded. “It's going to be hard.”

“Nothing that's worth doing is easy.”

© K A Jones 2011


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