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k_a_webbSighing, Kestrel rolled over. The headache still hadn’t faded and all she wanted to do was sleep, but that seemed impossible. Insomnia was probably another green level withdrawal symptom or whatever it was. She was angry with Falcon for not being honest with her and it made her feel unwillingly grateful towards Ash. Falcon had always kept things from her, so it wasn’t a surprise that he hadn’t told her. He also hadn’t told her that getting to a higher level would cause her to become infertile. Biting hard on her lip, because she wanted to scream out her rage at her ever irritating brother, she stood and began pacing the room.
Infertility wasn’t a problem. Kestrel had never wanted children. They would be born mages and that was something she wouldn’t wish on anyone. As they’d be born Black Hollow mages, nieces or nephews of the leader, they would automatically become a part of the battle that was going on between all of the houses. Some days she wished that she’d never been born the younger sister of Falcon, the only daughter of the leader of the Hollow, and the only one in the family who could see the problems the division caused. Maybe it was because she was the person who bothered to study the history of magic, in place of being taught how to use her powers the same way Falcon had.
When Kestrel looked out of the window all she could see was the Gardens. It was a huge place, the second built of all the safe houses, and she knew that Heliopath was the only other person who understood why the division of the town was so dangerous. Being a member of the Hollow meant that she was automatically an enemy of anyone at the Gardens, especially Heliopath. At the same time she wished, sometimes, that she didn’t have to be. He was a dangerous black level mage who was the leader of the enemy stronghold, and yet he was trying to convince the people of the Hollow that it was time to put aside their differences.
Falcon would never agree to that, even though he didn’t understand what had caused the problems in the first place. He didn’t want to know. It was easier just to be ignorant because then he didn’t have to believe a word that Heliopath told him. Kestrel had tried to talk to Falcon about why it would be a good idea to maybe think of working with the Gardens, but he didn’t want to listen to his baby sister. His baby sister had no understanding of what was really going on or what Heliopath was really trying to do. On days like those she really wondered why she felt any loyalty to her brother at all.
“How are you?” a voice asked, making her jump.
Kestrel turned to look at Ash. “Tired, annoyed, and I have a headache that won’t go away.”
“What were you thinking about?”
“Jumping out of the window.”
“That would be an interesting way to die, but I know that you’re not the sort of person to just give up.”
“You don’t know me at all.”
“Kestrel, you poisoned a blade. No one does that now.” He smiled. “Buying a death spell is much easier and doesn’t involve having to get close enough to be able to stab them.”
“I couldn’t afford a death spell, even if I wanted one.”
Ash raised an eyebrow. “If you want to make money all you need to do is sell your poisons. You could even sell poisoned blades. People would spend a lot of money on them.”
“Then I would have to admit to Falcon that I know how to make poisons.” Kestrel sighed, wondering when she had decided to be so honest. “He would then have a real excuse not to teach me higher level magic and he already has enough of one. When do you think he would have told me that he never planned on teaching me higher level magic?”
“If I was Falcon I’d do it on your twenty-first birthday.”
She smiled. “How did you even know he’d told me that he’d teach me then?”
“I can’t answer that question. If you decide that the Gardens is a better place for you that the Hollow then I can tell you our secrets, but until then I won’t put people in danger.”
“That’s a decision I will never make.”
“Are you related to Falcon?”
“It really doesn’t matter whether I’m related or not. He is my leader, therefore I am loyal to him. I have always been loyal to him and I will always be loyal to him.”
“Even though he lied to you.”
“He always lies.” Kestrel shrugged. “I should have known better than to believe he would teach me higher level magic when there are only four female mages and none of them are past orange.”
“I’ll teach you.”
“Thank you for the offer, but I’m never going to take you up on it.”
“Why?” Ash asked, looking at her closely.
“I can’t.”
“That’s not a reason.”
“It’s enough of a reason for me.”
He shook his head. “I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t care if you believe me or not. I can’t, and, won’t learn higher level magic from you or anyone else at the Gardens.”
“You don’t want to feel like you owe me, do you?” He smiled. “I understand, but I think you’re an idiot. No one else will teach you to use higher level magics.”
Kestrel tried not to show how much that thought hurt. “Falcon may decide to give me the choice whether I want to give up my fertility or not.”
“He won’t.”
“There’s no way you can know that.”
“If you were my sister then I wouldn’t give you a choice.”
“When did I become Falcon’s sister?”
Ash took a couple of steps towards her. “It’s amazing the information a telepath can pick up when the person he’s talking to is angry. I’m not a good telepath, but even I picked up on something when Heliopath told Falcon that you were here.”
“I thought you said he was quite insulting.”
“He was. If I remember correctly he called you some rather nasty names for getting yourself caught, followed by him telling Heliopath that if he didn’t get you back within three days he’s going to take you back.” He grinned. “I’d love to see him try that.”
Kestrel turned to look out of the window because she knew that her emotions would show on her face. She was too tired to hide them. Maybe they didn’t always get on and they argued a lot, but they still cared about each other. Falcon would do something stupid if she didn’t manage to contact him before the end of the three days, would probably end up dead, and then she’d have to take control of the Hollow. That was the last thing she wanted to do when she was at green level.
“I need to talk to him.”
“You can’t.”
“Under what circumstances would I be permitted to contact him.”
There was a long silence. “I don’t know, Kestrel. Heliopath doesn’t want you to contact Falcon at all, even if you do agree to learn magic from me. I may be able to convince him otherwise, but I think it’s very unlikely, unless you give me a reason.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
“Then you have a problem.”
“Can you give him a message for me?”
“It depends what the message is.”
“Tell him not to do anything stupid. Any attempt to get me back is going to fail and he’s going to leave the Hollow open to attack.”
“He won’t listen.”
“I know, but at least then I’ve tried.” She sighed, resting her head on the glass. “What will Heliopath do if he catches Falcon?”
“The most likely thing is an execution, because Falcon is one of the major blocks to beginning a reintegration process of all the mages in town. Possibly, if Falcon bothers to listen and come to an arrangement with Heliopath, then the outcome may be different.”
“Falcon doesn’t listen to anyone.”
“I’m sorry.”
“What for?”
“That you’re a part of this.”
Kestrel shrugged. “I should have been more careful.”
“Do you know what happened?”
“Obviously someone hit me with a spell when I was coming out of the library. I wonder what happened to my book.”
“It isn’t here, so I think you probably dropped it. Someone will pick it up. What book was it?”
“Complete Fungi.”
“Like you need that.”
“It was for an assignment. I had to complete a section on non-lethal fungi and I never bothered to study them before.”
“You’re at school?”
“I am eighteen. I still have a couple of exams to do before I can leave school for good.”
“The leader of the Black Hollow is sending an eighteen-year-old green level mage to school…” Ash sighed. “I can’t help wondering what his next trick will be.”
“Falcon was never meant to be the leader.” Kestrel turned to look at him. “Surely you know that.”
He raised an eyebrow. “He’s still an idiot.” He shook his head. “Every one of that family should have been trained to be the leader of the Hollow.”
“Maybe, but they weren’t. Falcon is still learning.” She sighed. “He does make mistakes sometimes and I think he can be foolish at times, but he’s doing the best he can.”
“His best isn’t good enough. That’s why you got captured.”
“That wasn’t his fault. I should have been more careful because I knew what could happen. Really, I’m lucky that my fate wasn’t worse.”
“You wouldn’t have been in the position if he’d chosen to keep you at the Hollow rather than sending you to school.” Ash smiled. “I agree that you should have been more careful, but I put the blame entirely on Falcon’s shoulders. You shouldn’t even have been there.”
“Why are we even talking about this? It happened. You should be happy about it.”
“Happy? I’ve got to put up with Heliopath complaining that he lost his bedroom because we put you in here and you think that should make me happy.” Ash laughed. “At least killing you would have stopped him complaining about that, but he would have been disappointed that I went to such an extreme.”
“Kidnapping me was never his plan.” Kestrel studied Ash’s expression, even though she already knew she was right, and there was a flash of shock that he managed to hide almost as fast as Falcon would have been able to that made her even more certain. “Trying to talk to Falcon may well have made him feel like this was his best option, but he would never have done it, because he knows that having me here is a bad idea, even if my leader has decided not to come for me.” She managed to smile, even though her head would not stop pounding. “Heliopath isn’t an idiot. That doesn’t mean the Gardeners aren’t and they could easily confuse an exasperated idea with something he really wanted.”
Ash, after a moment, nodded. “You are right about that, but you’re here now and that means we have an opportunity to make things happen the way they need to, because otherwise there won’t be an Ildieu or a Grey Gardens.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I think the only one of the Houses that might be safe from them is the Emerald Warren and even that’s debatable.”
Falcon had never let her in to the meeting where he talked with his advisers about what they should do, but she was good enough at eavesdropping to have heard more than she really wanted to. Kestrel wondered if it might be a good idea to find out more about what Heliopath believed was coming, so she had a better understanding of what was coming, rather than simply knowing the little she had overheard, which was terrifying enough. She bit her lip, trying to think things through as best she could with the pain of her headache making her wish for something that would put her to sleep, because she knew there was more to the world than Ildieu and more to Ildieu than the little that Falcon let her see. By trying to protect her he’d made her vulnerable.
“Are you permitted to tell me what Heliopath told Falcon?”
“I don’t know. That isn’t something we talked about before he sent me to talk to you, but he did tell me specifically not to antagonise you. He wants you, Kestrel, because he knows how important you are, and I’m almost certain that he will give me permission if I ask him, although I’m not certain that I should. Falcon has been belligerent. He doesn’t want to accept what’s coming, even though he’ll have no choice in the end. There is nothing to say that you won’t be exactly the same way.”
“Except I’ve asked you to tell me.”
Raising an eyebrow Ash smiled. “That is a good point and one that is well made, but I don’t trust you.”
“You shouldn’t. If I get a chance I will kill you and I will escape, but until then…” Kestrel sighed. “I think it’s time I learnt a little more about the world, Ash, and right now you’re the only person who might give me the information that I need.”
Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.