An Ember in the Ashes

Page 14

  “I know the story,” I say in response to the Augur’s question. But I don’t believe a word of it, since it’s mythical horse dung.

  “Neither mythical nor horse dung, I’m afraid,” the Augur says soberly.

  It becomes harder to breathe suddenly. I haven’t felt fear in so long that it takes me a second to recognize it. “You can read minds. ”

  “A simplistic statement for a complex endeavor. But, yes. We can. ”

  Then you know everything. My plan to escape, my hopes, my hates. Everything. No one turned me in to the Augur. I turned myself in.

  “It’s a good plan, Elias,” the Augur confirms. “Nearly foolproof. If you wish to carry it out, I will not stop you. ”

  TRICK! my mind screams. But I look into the Augur’s eyes and see no lie there. What game is he playing? How long have the Augurs known that I want to desert?

  “We’ve known for months. But it wasn’t until you hid your supplies in the tunnel this morning that we understood you had committed yourself. We knew then we had to speak with you. ” The Augur nods to the path that leads to the eastern watchtower. “Walk with me. ”

  I’m too numb to do anything but follow. If the Augur isn’t trying to keep me from deserting, then what does he want? What did he mean when he said my future would be punishment enough? Is he telling me I’ll be caught?

  We reach the watchtower, and the sentries stationed there turn and walk away, as if following a silent order. The Augur and I are alone, looking out over darkened sand dunes that stretch all the way to the Serran Mountain Range.

  “When I hear your thoughts, I’m reminded of Taius the First,” the Augur says. “Like you, soldiering was in his blood. And like you, he struggled with his destiny. ” The Augur smiles at my stare of disbelief. “Oh, yes. I knew Taius. I knew his forefathers. My kindred and I have walked this land for a thousand years, Elias. We chose Taius to create the Empire, just as we chose you, five hundred years later, to serve it. ”

  Impossible, my logical mind insists.

  Shut it, logical mind. If this man can read minds, then immortality seems like the next reasonable step. Does this mean all that drivel about the Augurs being possessed by spirits of the dead is true? If only Helene could see me.

  How she’d gloat.

  I watch the Augur out of the corner of my eye. As I take in his profile, I find that it’s suddenly, oddly familiar.

  “My name is Cain, Elias. I brought you to Blackcliff. I chose you. ”

  Condemned me, more like. I try not to think of the dark morning the Empire claimed me, but it haunts my dreams still. The soldiers surrounding the Saif caravan, dragging me from my bed. Mamie Rila, my foster mother, shrieking at them until her brothers pulled her back. My foster brother Shan rubbing the sleep from his eyes, bewildered, asking when I would return. And this man, this thing, pulling me to a waiting horse with the barest explanation. You’ve been chosen. You will come with me.

  In my terrified child’s mind, the Augur seemed larger, more menacing.

  Now, he comes to my shoulder and looks as if a stiff wind could knock him into the grave.

  “I imagine you’ve chosen thousands of children over the years. ” I take care to keep my tone respectful. “That’s your job, isn’t it?”

  “But you are the one I remember best. For the Augurs dream the future: all outcomes, all possibilities. And you are woven through every dream. A thread of silver in a tapestry of night. ”

  “And here I thought you drew my name out of a hat. ”

  “Hear me, Elias Veturius. ” The Augur ignores my barb, and though his voice is no louder than it was a moment ago, his words are wrapped in iron, weighted down in certainty. “the Foretelling is truth. A truth you will soon face. You seek to run. You seek to abandon your duty. But you cannot escape your destiny. ”

  “Destiny?” I laugh, a bitter thing. “What destiny?”

  Everything here is blood and violence. After I graduate tomorrow, nothing will change. The missions, the rote viciousness, will wear me down until there’s nothing left of the boy the Augurs stole fourteen years ago. Maybe that’s a type of destiny. But it’s not one I’d choose for myself.

  “This life is not always what we think it will be,” Cain says. “You are an ember in the ashes, Elias Veturius. You will spark and burn, ravage and destroy. You cannot change it. You cannot stop it. ”

  “I don’t want—”

  “What you want doesn’t matter. Tomorrow you must make a choice. Between deserting and doing your duty. Between running from your destiny and facing it. If you desert, the Augurs will not stop you. You will escape. You will leave the Empire. You will live. But you will find no solace in doing so. Your enemies will hunt you. Shadows will bloom in your heart, and you will become everything you hate—evil, merciless, cruel. You will be chained to the darkness within yourself as surely as if chained to the walls of a prison cell. ”

  He moves toward me, his black eyes pitiless. “But if you stay, if you do your duty, you have a chance to break the bonds between you and the Empire forever. You have a chance at greatness you cannot conceive. You have a chance at true freedom—of body and of soul. ”

  “What do you mean if I stay and do my duty? What duty?”

  “You’ll know when the time comes, Elias. You must trust me. ”

  “How can I trust you when you won’t explain what you mean? What duty? My first mission? My second? How many Scholars will I have to torment? How much evil will I commit before I’m free?”

  Cain’s eyes are fixed on my face as he takes one step away from me and then another.

  “When can I leave the Empire? In a month? A year? Cain!”

  He fades as quickly as a star into the dawn. I reach out to grab him, to force him to stay and answer me. But my hand finds only air.

  IX: Laia

  Keenan pulls me to a cavern door, and I hang limp, my breath gone from my body. His mouth moves, but I can’t hear what he’s saying. All I can hear are Darin’s screams echoing in my ears.

  I’ll never see my brother again. The Martials will sell him if he’s lucky and kill him if he’s not. Either way, there’s nothing I can do about it.

  Tell them, Laia. Darin whispers in my head. Tell them who you are.

  They might kill me, I argue back. I don’t know if I can trust them.

  If you don’t tell them, I’ll die, Darin’s voice says. Don’t let me die, Laia.

  “The tattoo on your neck,” I shout at Mazen’s retreating back. “The fist and flame. My father put it there. You were the second person he tattooed, after my mother. ”

  Mazen stops.

  “His name was Jahan. You called him Lieutenant. My sister’s name was Lis. You called her the Little Lioness. My—” For a second, I falter, and Mazen turns around, a muscle in his jaw jumping. Speak, Laia. He’s actually listening. “My mother’s name was Mirra. But you—everyone—called her the Lioness. Leader. Head of the Resistance. ”

  Keenan releases me as quickly as if my skin has turned to ice. Sana’s gasp echoes in the sudden silence of the cavern. She’ll know now why she’d found me familiar.

  I glance around at the shocked faces uneasily. My parents were betrayed from within the Resistance. Nan and Pop never learned who it was.