Rogue's Gambit - Chapter 7

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Heart palpitating, hands slick with sweat, Kaila paced the dimly lit basement until she reached the far wall. Snarling, she spun in frustration and stamped back the way she had come.

Whywhywhywhy!

Stepping over a roll of fabric and piles of discarded silk, she made another lap of the basement, barely taking in her surroundings. Red. All she saw was red. Panic had set in long ago and now her mind whirled from one thought to another, tossing them about like a haybale caught in a whirlwind. She ran her fingers through her hair, tugging at the dark locks until pain prickled her scalp. It did nothing to stop the whirling.

“What were you thinking?” the words tore from her, echoing loudly in the empty room.

Well, almost empty.

Eliza Wrenn lay on a pile of scrap material where Kaila had dumped her. Thankfully, the Daughter still hadn’t woke. Maybe Kaila had hit her too hard, and she never would.

Not that her old rival’s death would solve anything.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Kaila hadn’t been thinking—that was the short of it. For one joyous moment, she’d felt elation as Eliza slammed into that wall. But her euphoria had been short lived. Even as the Daughter had fallen to the ground, her body crumpling like a ragdoll, Kaila had been struck by a sense of dismay.

She’d watched, horrified, as her former friend and enemy struggled to lift herself. Even then, the rage had warred with her shame. Atar bubbling in her veins, Kaila had advanced on the girl, eyes blazing, veins thrumming with the ecstasy of her Gift.

But at her approach, the young woman had looked up. Their eyes met. And the magic had stuttered in Kaila’s veins. As the power slipped from her control, she had lowered her hand. Looking down at Eliza Wrenn, she didn’t see a Daughter of the Magisterium, or even the girl who had mocked and tormented her for all those years, but another child of Elgoss, lost and alone in this terrible city.

“K…Kaila…” Eliza had rasped, almost managing to rise—before pitching face first into Kaila’s arms.

She didn’t have a choice. She couldn’t just leave the young woman lying in the street. Eliza had seen her face! If the Magisterium knew that Kaila lived, the girl from the mountains, the Elysian that had evaded their Trials, who wielded the power of a Warden…who knew what they would do to hunt her down.

She had to kill her, and yet, she couldn’t. Not now. Even if Kaila hated the girl for everything she represented, something inside her balked, some last fragment of affection from her former life.

So instead, Kaila had brought her to the tailor’s shop.

Her gaze returned to the pile of discarded linen where Eliza lay unconscious. Fortunately, the shop hadn’t been far from her ambush. The sight of an unconscious Daughter being dragged through the streets of Tah’raus would have raised questions. But it also meant the inevitable search wouldn’t have to look far to locate the missing Daughter.

Because they would come looking. You didn’t touch a Daughter of the Magisterium and expect to survive. They would tear apart the city to find Eliza and then those responsible would be hung, drawn and quartered for the whole capital to see.

Little wonder then Ambrose’s reaction when she showed up on his doorstep with an unconscious Daughter in her arms. His anger had been something to behold—the burning in his eyes, the way his lips parted, baring his teeth as though he was a hound about to bite her.

But then he had stepped aside and gestured for her to enter.

She wouldn’t have blamed him if he’d left her standing in the street. Idiot! But seeing Eliza smiling, smirking, enjoying the life of privilege that had been denied to Kaila…it was like being back in Elgoss, suffering the things that had been done to her all over again.

Trembling, Kaila came to a stop over Eliza’s body. There was a bruise the size of an egg on her forehead, already turning purple. She must have struck her head when Kaila had launched her into the wall.

First Matron, what was I thinking?

Wrapping her arms around her chest, Kaila resumed her pacing. At least no one had seen her. She hoped. Ambrose was checking into it. Or his man was, the big one with the ugly nose, Garrick. What would happen if she had been spotted? Even now, Wardens and soldiers could be surrounding the shop, readying their terrible blades to take her and rescue the Daughter…

She forced the image away and sucked in a breath. Ambrose had been apocalyptic, but bringing Eliza here had been the right choice. She could have hardly brought her anyplace else! The basement was meant for eventualities like this, wasn’t it? So why was there still a lead weight in Kaila’s stomach?

The squeal of hinges sounded from above as someone opened the hidden door. She expected to find Ambrose returning to berate her some more, but instead her heart sank further as Theron, Quintin and Ambrose descended the iron staircase. This was bad. Theron’s presence meant she had put not just herself at risk, but the entire plan.

“Theron!” she gasped as they reached the basement. “I can explain!”

The man came to a stop before her, his eyes narrowed. The silence stretched out as he seemed to search her face for something. The others lingered behind him, both flicking glances to the corner where Eliza remained unconscious. At last, Theron raised an eyebrow.

“Well,” he said, “I’m waiting.”

“Oh!” she said. “Ah—”

“She clearly wasn’t thinking,” a growl came from Ambrose. Light burned in his eyes as he advanced on Kaila. He seemed to grow larger as he did so, teeth enlarging, claws extending from his fingers, his face twisting into an image of horror.

“Ambrose—”

“She kidnapped a Daughter, Theron,” the monster swung on the thief, waving a fist. “Do you know what she’s done? They can track those collars, sense where they’ve been. Once she’s reported missing, they’ll be all over this place. If they find us, it’s over.”

“I’m sorry…” Kaila tried to speak over the screams.

“Sorry?” Ambrose snarled. “That’s all you have to say for yourself? Sorry?”

“When I saw Eliza…I just…I just lost it.”

She closed her eyes, trembling, but she could still sense Ambrose looming over her, the roaring of his anger.

“I told you she would be a liability,” the tailor said at last.

Kaila winced. She had no words to defend herself. Strangely, it was Quintin who came to her rescue.

“You know her, don’t you, Kaila?” he asked in his soft voice.

Swallowing, she shook her head. She couldn’t talk about that, not with these men. She clenched her hands, but nothing would stop the shaking.

Footsteps approached, then a hand settled on her shoulder. “Kaila, look at me.”

It was like a cool breeze blew over her soul. All her fear and anger, her hatred and guilt and grief, all of it receded as a soft melody played in her mind, carrying with it a gentle peace. The trembling finally stopped. She opened her eyes. She wasn’t surprised to find herself looking up at Quintin.

“Who is she, Kaila?”

She surprised even herself when the words flowed from her. “Her name is Eliza Wrenn. I knew her back in Elgoss.”

“An old friend of yours?”

“No,” she whispered. “More like an enemy.”

“If she’s an enemy,” the tailor snarled, “why didn’t you leave her dying in the street?”

“Ambrose,” Quintin said, “let me handle this.”

The tailor grumbled a few choice words, but fell silent. Quintin turned back to Kaila. His eyes glinted a soft silver in the gloom of the basement.

He’s using his power on me, she realised.

She still had the crystal in her pocket. Her fingers closed around it, drawing on some atar of her own. She wanted to see what he was doing. The world shifted with the glow of a thousand soullights. For a moment, she saw nothing; then a silver thread shimmered into existence between herself and Quintin, connecting them. She struggled to follow it, to understand how he could make her feel like this, like everything didn’t hurt. But she could make no sense of the swirling lights of her own soul. It was as Theron had told her—each Elysian could only control one aspect of reality—

Skree!

A sharp screeching filled her mind, like broken glass scraping across a chalkboard. Clapping her hands to her ears, Kaila flinched away, but her foot caught on a loose scrap of fabric and sent her crashing to the ground. The crystal jarred from her hands and the lights of the world flickered out. Groaning, she clutched at her knee where it had slammed into the brick floor.

“Kaila,” Theron said, stepping towards her, “are you all—look out!”

Her head snapped up at the panic in Theron’s voice, but it wasn’t some demonic vision that came at her this time.

It was Eliza.

“Murderer!”

Screaming, the Daughter launched herself at Kaila from the pile of linen. She must have woken unnoticed during their argument, for she was on Kaila before anyone could react. A loose brick gripped in one fist, the girl swung it for Kaila’s face.

Kaila ducked, but she wasn’t fast enough and the blow struck her collar instead. Pain flared in her shoulder as she hit the ground. Then Eliza’s weight crashed into her, pinning her to the floor. The others shouted and shadows flickered around the basement as they drew on their power, but the Daughter was already drawing back her fist for another blow. Desperate, Kaila fumbled for the agimet in her pocket. Her fingers closed around the eight-sided crystal as the brick descended. Silver light lit up Eliza’s face. Her lips were drawn back in rage and blood dripped from her forehead as she swung.

Then she was hurtling backwards, the brick tumbling from her fingers as Kaila’s Gift hurled her across the basement. She landed with a crash amidst the great rolls of silk and did not rise.

Groaning and muttering a few choice words to herself, Kaila climbed to her feet. The others gathered around her to check whether she was alright, but Kaila shrugged them off. Gritting her teeth against the pain in her shoulder, she advanced on the Daughter.

Eliza lay moaning and clutching at her wrist, which judging by the swelling had probably been broken, but she stilled as Kaila approached. There was a moment as the two girls from Elgoss watched one another. Then Eliza’s lips drew back in a sneer.

“Do it,” she hissed. “Kill me like you killed everyone else.”

Her words gave Kaila pause. “What?” she asked, her rage giving way to confusion.

“My parents,” Eliza snarled. “Sister Eurador. Your own father. EVERYONE!”

To Kaila’s utter shock, the girl surged at her again. Eliza had no weapon now, just her tiny fists, but she didn’t seem to care. Not even the silver glow of atar in Kaila’s eyes was enough to deter the Daughter. But she wouldn’t catch Kaila off-guard again.

She activated her Gift, more gently this time. Grasping Eliza’s soullight, she lifted the Daughter off her feet instead of hurling her across the room. Unfortunately, it did nothing to calm Eliza’s rage. Screaming and thrashing, she tried to kick out at Kaila with her boots—anything, it seemed, to attack her old enemy from Elgoss.

Only when Quintin approached and laid a hand on the girl did she finally quiet. This time Kaila didn’t try to figure out what he was doing—with all Eliza’s writhing, it was taking all of her concentration just to keep a grasp on the girls’ soullight. Only when the Daughter drooped in the air did Kaila feel confident setting her back on the ground.

“What was that all about?” Theron asked as he joined them.

Kaila could only shake her head. “I don’t know,” she whispered, even as her mind shrank from the possibility and the void inside her trembled.

“How dare you?” Crouched on her knees, there was an emptiness to Eliza’s eyes as she lifted her head to stare at them. “You slaughtered our home, and now you won’t even admit it?”

“What?” Kaila whispered, shaking her head. “No, Eliza, we left Elgoss. The Warden chased us…”

“You killed them all,” Eliza glared at her from the floor, anger shimmering in her eyes. It seemed not even a Psionic’s power could keep it bottled. “They told me what happened when I arrived here. The Matron herself came to me and told me everything.” Her words were like venom, eating through Kaila’s rage, her hatred. “How you butchered them like animals, the people who called you their friend, your family. You killed them all!”

The accusation rung in Kaila’s ears. She stumbled back, unable to face the hatred in Eliza’s face. Hatred, so like her own. She was innocent. She hadn’t touched any of the villagers in Elgoss. She and Theron had fled rather than fight. But those words, Eliza believed them.

They’re all dead.

“No,” she whispered. “It wasn’t me…”

Eliza looked like she might hurl herself at Kaila again, but Quintin’s eyes burned brighter and she slumped to the floor instead, a long sigh whispering from her lips. Kaila stared at her former enemy, trembling, shaking at those final words. They had been rivals for years, but that look in her eyes now, the rage…

“Kaila…” Theron said, resting his hand on her shoulder. “Are you—”

“Did you know?” she asked sharply, spinning on him. The void roared and she lashed out with her power, pushing him away from her. He staggered back a step, looking shocked. “Did you know?”

“No!” he roared, straightening, his own eyes lighting up with atar. She felt his power pressing back against hers. “Of course not! How could I have known?”

How could I have known?

The anger went from her as quickly as it had appeared. She sank to the floor and hugged her knees to her chest, still staring at her former friend and rival. Just when she thought the Magisterium couldn’t grow any more vile, they found a way to plumb fresh depths of cruelty.

An entire town, destroyed, butchered, all so they could keep their secret. So the agimet they used to fuel their vehicles and power their contraptions would continue to flow without cost or interruption. They were beyond evil.

“…dispose of the body.”

Theron and the other men were talking again. She barely heard them over the pulsing of blood in her ears, but now she jerked as though stung.

“No!” she said sharply.

Three heads turned to stare at her. “No?” Ambrose growled. “No? Girl, this isn’t your decision to make.”

“I don’t care,” she snapped, defying the Weaver’s glare. Rising, she moved to stand between him and the now-unconscious-Eliza. “It’s not her fault she’s involved in this.”

“No, it’s yours,” Ambrose said bluntly.

She swallowed at that, jaw clenching. It was true. But it didn’t matter. She couldn’t take back what she’d done, however much she might wish to. But she could stop them from doing something worse.

“Please…you can’t just kill her.” She turned to Theron, desperate. “You don’t kill slaves, remember?”

Theron shook his head, looking unconvinced. “She’s a Daughter, Kaila. They don’t count.”

“She’s barely been a Daughter for a few months,” Kaila croaked, glancing over her shoulder at Eliza. “Maybe…maybe she didn’t know the truth, like the rest of us in Elgoss.”

“It doesn’t matter what she knew,” the tailor growled, eyes glinting silver as he advanced. “She can’t go back. She knows too much. And she can’t stay here. I have protections on this basement to protect against atarsight, but if the search goes building to building, they’ll find it.”

“What if there was no search?” Theron interrupted, stepping between the two, arms extended.

The rest of them frowned. Quintin was the first to speak, sounding hesitant. “A Daughter has been taken, Theron. Of course there’ll be a search.”

The Mover’s eyes shimmered. “But what if a Daughter hadn’t been taken?” He turned from the others to look at Kaila. “What if in a couple of hours, Eliza Wrenn shows up on the doorstep of the Sanctum, all in one piece?”

Kaila frowned. Why was he looking at her like that? “Ambrose already said she can’t go back.”

A grin spread across his lips. “I wasn’t talking about Eliza.”

She blinked. “Then who…”

“Theron…” Quintin said, a hint of warning in his tone, “you cannot seriously be thinking…”

“You’re talking about impersonating a Daughter,” Ambrose said, shaking his head. “It will never work. There are too many Wardens in the Sanctum. They’ll drain any crystal faster than the nexus can recharge it. Why do you think we’ve never managed to replace one of them before?”

He was right. From what Theron had explained about weaving back at the Falkenrath manor, no crystal could possibly be large enough to maintain an illusion around too many Wardens, not unless…

Kaila’s skin crawled as she realised what Theron was getting at.

“Oh ye of little imagination,” Theron continued, grinning as he met Kaila’s eyes. “Just for a moment, think what we could achieve with someone inside. Someone that could find out everything there is to know about the princess, about the king’s illness and what the Sisters might be scheming.” He eyed Ambrose. “And most importantly, ensure no one goes around asking questions about one missing Eliza Wrenn.”

“Your speculation is pointless—my weaving would fail. You can’t simply alter facts, Theron, however much you might wish it.”

“The illusion wouldn’t fail if you sent someone who can charge agimet crystals,” Kaila whispered.

Quintin and Ambrose turned to stare at her, both wearing a frown, while Theron beamed. “Exactly!”

“That’s not possible,” the others said in unison.

“Unless you’re a Warden,” she said quietly.

Silence.

“What is this?” Ambrose asked, looking from Kaila to Theron. “What is she saying?”

The Mover shrugged. “We always wondered what the selection criteria for a Warden was,” he said. “Kaila has definitively solved that mystery.”

Two heads turned to stare at Kaila once more.

“I can charge agimet without waiting for the nexus,” she said quietly, lowering her eyes. “I was meant to be a Warden, but a mistake was made during my Trial.”

“Theron, you knew about this?” Ambrose demanded.

“I told you she was an asset,” he replied. “She also passed her Trials without revealing herself as Elysian.”

“What?” Ambrose’s voice rose above the others. “How?

“I don’t know,” Kaila croaked.

“How can you not know?”

“She never knew her mother, but her father swore she wasn’t Elysian.”

“You and I both know that doesn’t mean much, Theron.”

Theron shrugged, but offered nothing more and silence fell over the basement. Nostrils flared, Ambrose turned his gaze back to Kaila, though there was less hostility this time, and more curiosity. Kaila swallowed. It was like he had just seen her for the first time—and was now sizing her up as prey. She preferred the open hostility.

Quintin, on the other hand, was slowly shaking his head. “Forget it, Theron. Whatever strange powers the girl has, she’s not ready for something like this.”

“What other choice do we have?”

The Psionic pursed his lips, glancing at the unconscious Daughter. “Plan A.”

Kaila’s stomach clenched. He was talking about killing Eliza. She couldn’t let it happen.

“I’ll do it.”

Even as Kaila spoke the words, she doubted them. The trembling from earlier had returned and the iron band around her gut had only grown tighter.

They killed everyone.

She thought of the townsfolk in Elgoss, the people she had seen every day of her life until Theron had come. The former soldiers, Tomas and Sareen, doing their best to keep their little paradise safe. The men in the mine who had served with her father. Evan the village baker and poor Jacob, just a scared little boy. Now they were all dead, and she and Eliza were the only ones left.

Kaila couldn’t let them hurt her. Even if it meant marching into the heart of the Sanctum and taking on the Wardens and the Sisters and Daughters, she couldn’t. So when the three men turned to stare at her, she lifted her chin and met their gaze with defiance.

Theron was the first to break. Chuckling, he turned to the other two. “There you have it.”

“Are you sure, Kaila?” Quintin asked.

“No,” she said quietly, “but Ambrose is right—this was my fault. And if this is the only way to protect Eliza…” Her gaze shifted to the unconscious girl. “Then this is what I have to do.”

There was a final silence as Quintin puffed out his cheeks and exhaled, before offering a nod. Together, they looked to Ambrose, who was still studying Kaila with that odd look.

“You can really charge agimet?” he asked, his eyes never leaving hers.

She nodded.

He pursed his lips. “Well then, it’s doable. But there’s one other problem.”

“And what’s that, my grouchy friend?” Theron asked with a roll of his eyes.

“The collar. Like I said, they can track those things, and if she shows up outside the gates of the Sanctum without the real thing, she’s toast.”

“Well, its good thing we have a real one on hand.”

“Only if the girl is willing to remove it,” Ambrose replied. “We don’t exactly have a key.”

They all turned to stare at Eliza. Kaila shivered as the smile faded from Theron’s lips, a glint appearing in his eyes.

“She will,” he said quietly. “I’ll make sure of it.”

Become a paid subscriber to access early chapters of this series, plus many of the other series I have written! You can even take a free 7 day trial to see if my books are for you. You can find my other books on my website.

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