The Bonded: The Allseer Trilogy Book I (19 page)

Nyson grimaced. “I am greatly upset over this matter, but the punishment of the criminals must come first. Herzin will be dealt with.”

“Kirheen broke her bond, she did something foolish. What Herzin did was practically murder them both and she’s out there running loose while my student knocks on deaths door.” The floodgates of his anger had been drawn back and the words poured out of him like acid, scalding everything they touched. He was out of line, he knew that much, but he didn’t seem able to stop once the words started to flow.

Nyson took note. “Your tone is becoming entirely disagreeable. I understand you're upset but I am not the person to be pushing right now. Watch your tongue, Tomias, or have it removed.”

Tomias gritted his teeth and gave a curt nod. Nyson took the moment to reach for a pitcher of water and poured himself some into a ceramic mug. He sipped from it slowly, giving Tomias the chance to calm down. Sure that he’d gotten his anger under wraps, Nyson continued. 

“Kirheen is a special case. The details of her punishment are...complicated. Your students displayed remarkable talent in battle, Kirheen in particular. She can think on her feet, she's determined and has shown a wide range of skills I could find useful. I need someone like that on the Council. Ordinarily her crime would be met with a lifetime of work or even exile, but I find myself leaning towards leniency if certain conditions are met.”

“And what are those conditions?”

“Kirheen agrees to join the Council and dissolve her bond. I would expect a public apology for her actions and a vow of loyalty. If she will submit to my will, I will forgive her crime and allow Garild and Isa to join up with the armies in the East when they feel ready.”

He’d known all along that Kirheen was being groomed for the Council. He expected this day to come sooner or later, but after everything that happened, it shocked him that Nyson would still push for such an outcome. Tomias shook his head in disgust. “You know that wouldn't happen. Kirheen may not love Garild, but she wouldn't dissolve her bond just to serve you.”

“She would if it meant their lives. Guilt makes one do all manner of irrational things. And I expect your help with pushing along this outcome.”

“My student was just brought to the edges of death and had her mind bashed in for no crime other than being young and stupid. And now you want me to lie to her, to convince her that unless she joins the Council her friends will be exiled or worse? That's what you want me to do for you? I don't understand you.”

“There is much you don’t understand. You’re barely more than a child yourself and you’ve hardly got the world figured out, much as you think otherwise. I can’t expect you to understand the reasons for the things I do, but I can expect that you’ll follow orders. For her sake and the sake of the others, I suggest you try.”

There were daggers hiding in his words, lurking at the edges and waiting for him to slip. If his loyalty faltered now, he knew that the daggers would cease to be metaphorical.  They’d become real and one night he’d find one sticking out of his throat.

Despite the very real threat of death, he needed to know the truth. He’d spent so long in the dark, willingly wearing a mask so he wouldn’t be consumed by all his questions. They’d been kept at bay, locked away and constantly distracted. He couldn’t do it anymore. The questions were becoming hard to ignore. They danced at the edge of his vision, laughing at his blindness, his reluctance to see the truth.

He refused to be blind any longer. “You’re right. There is so much I don’t know…so much I don’t understand. I’ve been on the Council for years and I’ve always accepted that I’d never have all the answers, that I’d never have all the cards in my hand. Up until today I’ve been pretty happy not knowing everything. I haven’t wanted your burden. But I can’t ignore the things I see anymore, Nyson. I can’t will myself to be blind.

You know, I’ve never stepped foot outside of Sanctuary. I’ve never seen the village where the workers live. I’ve never faced the Darkness, never seen those sent away come back. We’ve grown up on a tale of a tainted world beyond our borders and I’m starting to feel like we’re jumping at ghosts. I’ve lost a lot being loyal to you all these years. My brother lost a lot. I can’t keep being loyal to secrets. I can’t keep sealing my questions away and expecting to not burst apart at the seams. So please, enlighten me. Make me understand. You give me those answers and I’ll give you my life. I’ll give you Kirheen. Make this worth the sacrifice.”

Only after he’d stopped speaking did he realize he was leaning halfway across the table, his hands balled into fists on the desk. He was shaking, his arms quivering like branches in the wind. Nyson smirked but the thoughts dancing behind his eyes were unreadable. “You’ve fire in you, boy. Best temper it now before it grows too powerful…before it consumes.”

Tomias sank back into his chair, feeling the weight of his promise settling over his shoulders. If Nyson chose to confide his secrets, if he chose to give him the answer he so desperately needed, it would change everything.  The Union Master sat quiet, mulling over his thoughts as if he were slowly chewing a piece of steak. They were all just pawns, moved piece by piece into position. But what was the game? And the question that dug at him the most; who were they playing against?

“This world is complicated and dangerous beyond measure. If I have withheld information from you, it has been solely to protect and preserve all I have worked for. I value those that have helped me keep it safe throughout the years, you and your brother included. The time was coming when the veil would be pulled back, when answers would come to the light, but with recent events, things have become muddled. Things will have to settle before I can show you the card up my sleeve.”

“But---”

Nyson glared, cutting his protest short. “But, I can see when withholding information works against me. I can see when it starts to develop a rift. You are part of my Council and therefore part of a much bigger plan, a plan that you’ve yet to know. I can’t expect you to be loyal if you don’t have the information you need. You’re intelligent and that intelligence demands you seek answers. I know you won’t stop until you have them.”

He stood then, crossing the room and procuring a locked box from one of several book cases. It was inconspicuous, made of smooth wraith wood and glowing brightly. He set it on the table between them, his expression grim. Reaching into his robe, he withdrew a small, delicate key and held it out. Tomias simply stared at the key dangling before his eyes.

“I’m offering you answers, Tomias, but the choice is yours. Once you choose to take this key…”

“I can’t stuff the answers back in the box. I know…”
Choose wisely.

The key was cold to the touch but it warmed quickly in his hand. He leaned forward, letting the key slide into the lock. It unlatched with a pop and the sound set his heart to beating frantically.
Once you know the truth…

His hands settled on the sides of the lid and he lifted it slowly, afraid of what might jump out. Much to his surprise, the only thing within the box was a pile of dusty scrolls. They looked old and frail and he looked to Nyson for approval before reaching in and taking one out.

He unraveled it slowly, the paper crackling loudly as he did. It was a map, worn and faded, but a map none the less. It took him a moment to take it all in and even longer to realize it wasn’t a map of their little valley. “This is…”

“This is the world beyond the mountains. This is what exists beyond Sanctuary.” He knelt forward, weathered finger pointing to a small valley to the northern corner of the map. “This is Sanctuary, this little patch right here. This is where our kind fled when the Darkness consumed the rest of the world.”

Sanctuary took up such a small portion of the map in his hands. It was hard to imagine the rest of the world was corrupted, fallen to an ancient evil he couldn’t begin to comprehend. “And the rest of this belongs to the Darkness…”

Nyson simply nodded his head. Tomias let the scroll snap back together and pulled out another. It was a faded piece of art, showing impossibly tall buildings stretching far into the sky as if they were trees. Smaller buildings surrounded these towers, spreading off into all directions. This must have been a picture from before, from a time when humans hadn’t huddled in a valley, chipping away at the Darkness one bit at a time.

So many people…gone. All of them corrupted. Broken. Turned to husks.

He shook his head and let the scroll settle back into the box. Only one remained and he grabbed it carefully. It was more worn than the others, as if it had been taken out and looked over time and time again. The center of the scroll was taken up by a sketch of an old man. He was rough looking, with wild eyes and a long bushy beard. His face was sharp, carved from stone and brought to life on paper.

The rest of the scroll was confusing. The top of it requested information about the man and his whereabouts and listed crimes he had committed, the primary of these relating to something called black magic and the use thereof. There were also charges for manipulation of a public official, coercion, and attempted murder. The bottom of the scroll announced that he had been last seen fleeing to the North and others had followed in his wake. There was a reward offered for his capture, dead or alive.

“What is this,” Tomias asked, not understanding what he held. “Who is this?”

“That would be my great grandfather, Elis, the founder of Sanctuary,” Nyson said. “A great man with a grand vision that earned him the scorn of those not gifted with powers. He was forced North, to the safety of a land seemingly made for his kind. And others followed. They formed Sanctuary, formed this land so we could be safe from the darkness gathering out in the world. Safe so that we could one day strike back at those that drove us here in the first place.”

Those that drove us here…

“No…” Tomias looked again at the scroll in his hands. He knew it was real, knew it to be a tangible thing. He could smell the age of it, could feel the roughness against his fingertips. Stains from another time and place scarred the page. A place that still existed. “No, no, no.”

Scared for so many years, words and stories used to trick the mind into fearing the unknown. They’d been lied to all along. Kept in line, bred for a purpose, bred to fight against a corruption beyond their land, a human corruption. They’d been jumping at shadows on the wall all along.

“Who else knows about this,” Tomias demanded. His fingers had lost their grip on the scroll and it rolled back together, making him jump. “Who?”

“Only a select few.” His voice was stern. “I intend to keep it that way. We aren’t ready to face this. We get closer every cycle, but we need more time, more strength. If everything dissolves before then it will all be for nothing. You see? Now do you understand? Tomias?”

“Y-yes, I understand,” he sputtered
. Get yourself under control
. “I need air. I need to be outside.”
Make me understand. You give me those answers and I’ll give you my life. I’ll give you Kirheen. Make this worth the sacrifice
. He rose from his chair, staggering to the door on legs that seemed to sway beneath him. The world was new and foreign and moving under his feet, spinning at impossible speeds and he couldn’t keep up.

Nyson stopped him at the door. “Tomias. This is a lot to take in, but I expect this to stay as it is. You’ve opened that box and you can’t put it back. It goes no further. You offered me your life, your loyalty. If these words slip from your lips, if I hear them whispered in the wind, it is your life I will take.”

“Of course… My life is yours.” He bowed deeply to the Union Master before slipping out the front door. He felt sick, bile burning in his throat as it rose from the depths of his churning stomach. He could feel eyes watching him until he disappeared around a bend in the path. He tried to remain calm, tried to keep his thoughts filled with loyal intentions. However, he could not still the beating of his heart, the nervous twitch of his right hand. He could not stop the sweat from beading on his brow or keep the saliva from fleeing his mouth. All were signs of the guilt and anger and shock he felt. Nothing could hide such things.

He stood with his hands pressed against the door of Trista’s home, too afraid to knock. His breath came in great gasps and when the door disappeared beneath his fingers he thought it might leave him altogether. Trista guided him inside and forced him to sit down. She filled his blurry vision a moment later, taking his hands in her own. “Tomias. I need you to answer me. Tell me she lives? By the Allseer, please tell me she lives!”

He hadn’t even been aware she’d been talking. The words seemed fuzzy and distant, taking shape one syllable at a time until his brain could decipher it all. Did she live? Kirheen…

“She lives,” he sputtered. “But she isn’t safe.”

“What…happened? Tell me.” Her hands grabbed his face, pulling him closer until he had no choice but to look into her green eyes. “Speak.”

“They aren’t safe here anymore. They’ve never been safe.”

“Who isn’t safe? Damn it, Tomias, what are you talking about?”

“I’m sorry, Trista. It’s all clicking into place… I can’t even focus.”

Trista shook her head. “You’re tired. You need rest. I don’t know what’s happened to you, but you aren’t making sense.”

He grabbed her wrists, pulled her close until her face was mere inches from his own. She looked frightened and he knew that if he didn’t convince her within the next few moments, she was likely to beat him over the head with a frying pan. “I spoke with Nyson tonight. I went by myself, I needed to find out what would happen to my students. I needed to know. He gave me a key to a box…and Allseer be damned… It isn’t real. It’s never been real. The Darkness, the war… none of it’s real.”