The Coalition Episodes 1-4 (8 page)

CHAPTER 20

Shai

They crashed through the woods. Shai stumbled over a root, scratching her face on a low-hanging branch.

“Aliah, stop!” She tried to yank her arm from his grip, but he grasped her firmer. “Stop! You’re hurting me! Where are you taking me?”

Aliah didn’t stop until they reached a three-strand barbed wire fence that blocked their path. Aliah looked for the cut in the fence and they slipped through it. He led them along his most familiar route to Thunder Manor. When they reached his hide-away, he stumbled through the door and pulled her inside by her wrist again. Only when the door was shut did he yank his hood off.

She whirled around to face him. "Where are we?" Shai's round blue eyes flicked from his face, to their surroundings and back again. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear that had sprung loose, and crossed her arms.

"Sorry it was so abrupt, but I had to get you out of there. I worked it all out. You've been exiled. Welcome to your new home. We're outside of Lael… in the Borderless." He breathed heavily and wiped the sweat off his face with the back of his hand. He reached out to touch the scratch on her face but she slapped his hand away, her cheeks red.

"What do you mean you
worked it out
?"

"Your infraction, your exile. I made it up. You're shaking. Here." He pulled her into the living room and grabbed a thick, grey Laelite blanket to wrap around her shoulders. He took a seat close to the fire in the Great Room but she remained standing.

She looked around the room, face pale and lips pressed into their familiar thin line. “I can’t believe this! First you faked my exile then you
kidnapped
me? What were you thinking? Where are we?”

"We're at Thunder Manor." His head spun and his skin prickled in spite of the sweat pouring in rivers down his face and back. He shivered then stood and walked to the window; the curtains were drawn, but he could think better if he didn't look at her.

"Thunder Manor? I don’t understand. I thought it was just part of a story. The story that I have pieces of in my mind. It was supposedly destroyed during the War Between Worlds. What is going on?" The anger in Shai's voice stabbed at his heart. Silence filled the room. He removed his cloak, draped it over the arm of a nearby chair then turned back to the window.  He ran a hand through his hair and breathed deeply. Out of the corner of his eye he glimpsed her sitting down with her head in her hands, her hair catching the golden glow of the fire. How many times had he seen her vulnerable like this? More times than she'd care to admit in the past few days.

He turned back to stare at the folds in the thick, red drapery, his heart summer-saulting in his chest. There was no turning back now.

He strode to the front door and shoved a large steel deadbolt into place. They were safe from the Laelites, but not from Samael.

Aliah slowly turned from the door to look at her blanket-clad back for a moment before speaking. "The Leader never destroyed Thunder Manor. He sealed it up when he fenced in Lael to protect it. I've been staying here for a while." He couldn't tell her that guilt drove him here.

"I... I don't understand. Why did you bring me here?" She shrugged off the blanket and got up to stand by the fire.

"To protect you."

Shai met his eyes. "You faked my exile! How is that protecting me?"

He licked his lips with a tongue too dry to moisten anything. "I had to save you. I...I had to play the part of a Watcher to get you out of there before... Recruitment Day." Aliah crossed the floor to stand in front of her then reached out to touch her shoulder. He had to make her understand. She needed to trust him.

She stiffened. He dropped his hand and set his jaw.

Soft shuffling behind them interrupted his explanation. Zev stood there, his shoulders straight, hands behind his back like he was waiting to deliver some important news.

"What is it Zev?" Aliah's impatience made his tone sharp and Shai's wide eyes looked from him to Zev.

"Who are you?" She turned back to Aliah. "Who is he? What's going on?"

"Shai, this is Zev. It's a long story."

Zev shifted from one foot to the other until Aliah nodded at him.

"I've just come from Lael. You told me to report anything unusual going on. Well, there's something you need to know. One of the Mother's, Eliana, was exiled right after you left. She defended Shai and... committed a…what do you call it? Uh, an infraction. She publicly dishonored the Leader."

Shai looked away and Aliah swallowed. Any words he had stuck in his throat.

Zev continued, "I decided to follow her. I saw her go through the cut in the fence-line, but when she began running I lost sight of her."

Shai's shoulders slumped as she stood in silence. When at last she raised her head her eyes were hard. Her pupils dilated until only a small rim of pale blue outlined them. "All this mess is because of me."

Aliah cleared his throat. "No. Don't think of it like that."

"Did they take her pendant?" Shai asked Zev.

"I'm sorry...I don't know." Zev backed away then left the room. But Aliah knew. He'd been a Watcher long enough to know that part of the territory the Watchers watched included the Borderless. It was only a matter of time before the next group of Watchers went out on another raid. And if a Borderless person was found having taken anything from Lael, it would be confiscated. If they refused to part with the item they would be beaten.

He gripped the edge of the mantel to steady himself. He was part of the group scheduled for the next raid. He had to go. He had to find Eliana and take her pendant before someone else found her. If he didn't help Shai's favorite Mother, she would never forgive him.

"Aliah, why'd you do all of this? You should've just let me go with Elchai. It would've been better than staying in Lael anyway. And better than hiding out here. How long can this last? When I don't show up for my “reward” he'll discover that you set this all up. How many infractions would that be?"

His heart sank.

"I can't let you go, Shai. Ever. I don't care if I spend the rest of my life running. I only want to protect you. You hate the Laws. Do you really think you're better off being with the man responsible for making them? I don't believe you do."

Several moments passed in silence. Then Shai's face softened suddenly. "I know you put yourself in danger to rescue me. Thank you."

His heart beat so furiously he was afraid she might hear it. Light-headed and short of breath, he whispered, "Stay with me, at least for now. I'll keep you safe.  In a few days if you really want to go to Elchai, I'll take you myself."

She reached out slowly and touched his hand. He took her fingers and pressed his lips to them, never taking his eyes from hers.

When she spoke, her voice was soft but strong. "What if we die?"

He shook his head. "We won't die. We still have our pendants." He stopped himself. "I'll go back and get yours. It's probably in the vault. Stay here until I can go back to Lael and figure out how to get it. Zev will look after you until I return."

She nodded. "I've always hated those things."

He took her hand and put it through his arm. "I know, but they keep us safe. As long as we keep the Essence safely inside them we'll be fine."

 
Wearing a pendant did nothing to keep Sileas safe.
He bit the inside of his lip. He knew Shai would be thinking the same thing.

"Come. I want to show you something." He led her down a massive hall with high ceilings made of curved stone, flanked with wooden doors on both sides. He stopped at the last door on the right.

The solid wooden door had a dark oil finish that made the grain stand out against the light grey stone walls. He turned a small key that protruded from the lock, then pushed the door open. A damp mustiness greeted them as they entered. More expansive stone walls similar to the hallway extended at least twenty feet high before they met with thick log rafters. But in spite of its opulence, the room had an oppression like years of sadness had been sealed inside of it.

Aliah took a lit lantern from a round table near the door and gripped her hand tighter in his other arm. He pulled her into the room and walked towards the opposite end. Their boots clomped on the stone floor and the sound echoed back to them.

Lonely. Hollow.

He cleared his throat and swallowed. His chest ached as he tried to breathe the stale air.

Shai stared at the oil paintings hanging on the walls, Thunder Manor in its glory long ago. Its crumbling exterior walls had been alive with curling tendrils of ivy, and the grounds had been lush with grass and multi-colored blooms.

"Elchai and his sons lived in this Manor a long time ago." Aliah's voice sounded too loud in the long room. "My mother used to tell me stories about him. She said he was kind and gentle."

Shai took her hand from his arm to run her fingers along the stone walls. "I remember some of those stories too. I was younger than you so I don't remember all the details. Your mother used to talk about Elchai and his sons, one of them they called the Son of Thunder. She used to say Elchai's Laws were there to help us be who we were meant to be. To protect us from ourselves. And one day, when the Laws were abolished, infractions and their penalties would no longer be needed. On that day, the Son of Thunder would take the rest of Elchai's land back from his enemy, Samael. I always thought your mother made up those stories so we wouldn't be afraid to obey Elchai. That we would see him as some kind of hero. But the more time passes, the less I believe that Elchai is as kind as that." 

The look on Shai's face revealed her dislike for their Leader. It was the first time Aliah had heard her come close to committing an infraction by speaking against their Leader. Maybe she felt free to do so because for the next twenty days she was free from the Laws and Rules, or maybe it was just being in Thunder Manor.

"So I didn't believe any of the stories anymore. But sometimes... when I'm alone, I think I see it: the Old World. I mean, I have these
thoughts,
daydreams, that seem so real. And they make me think that maybe everything’s true: the stories about Elchai's land, and the land of Edan being divided during the War Between Worlds. And I dream of someday leaving Lael. Crossing the fence-line and going into the Borderless to see if the Sectors exist."

She had stopped walking and stood on the opposite side of the room, cast in shadows. Aliah lifted the lantern and its light bathed her face in a soft glow. Her blue eyes shone like two bright stones in her pale face.

"But then I realize how stupid that is. And I make the thoughts go away. But being here...what if it's not just some story? I want to believe but it's hard to think of Elchai or even his sons as a savior when to me he's a bully. Part of me wants to go to him. To meet the Leader no one's ever seen because he lives in the Borderless. And then I could see if the Sectors exist." She closed her eyes and leaned her cheek against the wall.

Aliah sucked in a breath then coughed. "I don't know, Shai. I stopped believing too. Just because the Manor is real doesn't mean the rest of the stories are true." He paused and ran a hand through his hair. "You know Zev is actually from out there. He says there's nothing left. The Sectors don't exist."

Aliah lowered the lantern. He had to change the subject. The hope he suddenly saw in Shai's eyes was worse than the pain he usually saw there. He didn't want to see her disappointed.

"I will get your pendant from Lael when it's safe, then I'll take you to Elchai if you want. You can see for yourself that there's nothing out there." His stomach was suddenly in knots. What if she decided she
wanted
him to take her to Elchai? He shouldn't have offered to.
I’m a fool!

The room spun and its windowless walls seemed to close in on him. He took a step backwards.

Shai's footsteps sounded on the stones as she approached him. "Aliah, you don't look well. You should go lie down." She pulled on his sleeve.

He walked slowly to the door with her then stopped, and put the lantern back on the table. With one hand still on the door he put his other hand on her back and pulled her to him.

He kissed her forehead then pushed her away. She stumbled backwards a few steps looking surprised. He moved into the hall, then swallowing past the lump in his throat, he shut the door and locked it. He couldn't risk that she might leave while he was gone.

"I have to keep you safe...I'm sorry." His hoarse whisper punctured the silent hall. Heat flooded his chest as he ran.

Her cries echoed down the hall after him.

CHAPTER 21

Shai

Aliah's footsteps thundered down the hall then faded. Shai's stomach churned and her head ached. She pulled on the door handle, twisting it back and forth then kicked the door. Burning pain seared her throat from screaming his name over and over.

After several attempts to break open the door, she looked around the room at its sparse furnishings: a large bed near the door, a low wooden table beside it, the lantern Aliah had carried in, a metal bucket near the bed, and a willow rocking chair tucked into a corner by the fireplace at the opposite end of the room.

The long, narrow room felt more like a meeting hall, not a bedroom, which made the furnishings seem out of place.

Tremors seized her and made the room tilt and spin, so Shai made her way to the bed to sit down. She shivered as cold waves of fear washed over her.  Thoughts of Eliana and Sileas crowded into her mind, but she pushed them away. Eliana was right. Strong emotions led to dangerous behavior.

Her stomach cramped and rumbled violently. What if Aliah left her here for good? She'd die all alone. She could almost feel the icy kiss of Death on her skin. Its poison oozing into her bloodstream and taking over every cell, every organ. Crushing the life out of her.

Fear robbed her of breath. She slid off the bed and dropped to her knees then retched into the metal bucket until her stomach emptied.  She shook and shivered, weakness stealing strength from every limb until she slumped into a heap on the cold floor.

A soft knock on the door startled her and she nearly tipped the bucket. Zev entered without waiting for her invitation. He carried a small plate and a pitcher, which he put on the low table near her. She sat up as he began to back out of the room. Her eyes met his. He stopped and crouched next to her. His fine-featured face held no expression. Large grey eyes flecked with the same color as his hair, looked steadily at her. He was thin and wiry but she could make out the bulge of his muscles beneath his tunic. He looked similar in age as her.

She touched his hand. "Please, let me go. Aliah never meant to lock me in here. He hasn't been acting right. It's a mistake."

Zev stood and narrowed his eyes. "My assignment is to watch you."

She threw herself towards him as he backed out the door, but he slammed it before she reached him.
No! Please!
When the sound of his boots on the stone floor could no longer be heard, loneliness crawled up her stomach and into her throat. She was sick again in the bucket, the bitter taste of bile burned her mouth and throat.

She pushed the vile bucket away then eased herself up onto the bed again. A shiver prickled her skin. She looked around for something to start a fire. A scratchy brown blanket from the foot of the bed would keep her warm for now. She wrapped it around herself before making her way to the fireplace.

This end of the room was similar to the other side with its high ceilings and smooth, stone floors. A small mantel protruded over the arched fireplace on one wall. The hearth and mantel were a darker, smoother stone than the walls and the fireplace. Using the lantern light she inspected the area for kindling and matches, but came up empty-handed. The fireplace was empty too except for a metal grate; even the ashes had been swept up.

She sat down cross-legged in front of the fireplace with the lantern in front of her.  Now what? It really seemed she would be stuck in this room. She wished she had her pendant right now; she'd empty it herself and let Death come for her. In a way she envied Sileas.

The lantern's flame flickered and danced, casting its lazy light into the dark recesses of the fireplace.

Suddenly the lantern sputtered, scattering the shadows. Plunging the room into total darkness.