Well of Tears (Empath Book 3) (23 page)

“It’s the only truth. He’s tricking you like
you tricked me when I was younger, and I can help you learn the
truth. Please, just believe me, trust what I’m saying."

“So what would you have us do? If he wants us
to help him, how do we not? We are his daughters. We meant to help;
it’s what we do.”

“No, it’s not. We’re not his daughters Neyv,
we’re two of a collection of gifted orphans. You think Maertn was
his son? There were orphans like us all over the cities, and one by
one, Sammah has been killing them. Now he thinks they’re useless.
Don’t you understand that he’ll just do that to you, too? Once he
doesn’t need us any more, once he’s used us, then he’s just going
to get rid of us. He doesn’t want anyone and he doesn’t love you,
he isn’t capable of it. He is an apath. Everything he’s said to you
has been with the sole intention of making you become what he
wants. He sees us as weapons, not people, Neyv.”

“Not true! He is my father and he loves me; I
know it! It’s you—you that always gets in the way Quinn. Whenever
you’re not here, he speaks to me, he tells me he loves me, and that
he cares. Then you turn up, and it’s back into the background. Back
to the shadows with me. Everyone forgets me again, no one remembers
I’m here or that I even exist. Do you have any idea how lonely that
is? The only person in my life that has ever cared for me is our
father, and as soon as you appear,
he
forgets I exist too. I
wish you’d never been born.”

Quinn was speechless. She had not been
expecting the tirade, but she could see how Neyv—from her skewed
childlike perspective—was completely correct. Sammah kept this
ghost of a girl isolated, and twisted the truth so expertly with
her, the only saviour she could see was her father. This is what
Sammah had tried for so long with Quinn, so he already had his
practice. He’d executed it perfectly with Neyv, however.

“Honestly, I wish I’d never met Sammah. I
wish had never been born, too. I’d say you’ve got no idea what it
feels like to be me, but I think you know more than anybody
else.”

“What did it feel like for you, when father
found out that he’d won? That he’d made you change those farmers,
so they’
d kill
those men?”

Sammah had told her about that? And Neyv
didn’t care? “I felt like everything I was alive for, and
everything I believed in, was pointless. I don’t want to be this
person,
Neyv. I don
’t want Sammah to be
able to use my ability to make people kill each other. I don’t want
blood on my hands.

“Nerren, is the reason they think they can do
this to me. Nerren started a war, and because he did it, they think
I’m going to do it too. Sammah, Shiver, Pax, all they want is to
use me for what I can do. Only two men of ever cared about me for
who I really am. One of those is in Sha’sek, and the other is going
to be married. He is one of Shiver’s sons and we can never be
together. My life is empty, Neyv. It always was and it always will
be.”

“You can change it, can’t you?”

“The only way I could change it is if I
didn’t have this ability. But, I was born with it, so what can I
do?”

Both girls jumped as Elias banged on the
door. It was three solid blows, and there was no mistaking what the
meaning of those blows was. Conversation over, and time to go to
sleep. Quinn didn’t want to antagonise the man, but she didn’t want
to stop now she thought she was finally getting somewhere with
Neyv. The girl had finally exposed her true feelings towards
Sammah. Quinn thought, if only she got the chance to explain her
own feelings to Neyv, make her understand, if she was older, she’d
understand why she felt these things about Sammah. They’d both been
isolated growing up; the only difference between Neyv and Quinn was
that Quinn had Maertn.

But that wasn’t true was it? Neyv should have
had Quinn and Maertn too. She should have two elder siblings, but
she had none. Both Quinn and Maertn had ignored Neyv, but why? Was
it just Neyv’s ability? Could Quinn use that as an excuse, or had
they both simply ignored Neyv as a younger sibling that did not
affect their lives? Quinn was so confused, but Neyv didn’t give her
a chance to ask any more questions. The conversation ended
immediately, and the younger girl buried herself under her covers.
Apparently that was enough talking for one night. Quinn wouldn’t
let it end there, though. She wouldn’t rest until Neyv fully
understood that her feelings towards Sammah were wrong, and that
she should help Quinn to kill their father.

The next
night, when they were left alone in their room, Quinn decided that
she was going to start on Neyv earlier. She behaved herself
throughout the whole day. Sammah ignored them both, apparently
feeling like giving them a day off from manipulating each other.
Quinn didn’t care what his reasons were, she just she was just glad
of the respite. She didn’t protest when Elias led them into the
room, and she didn’t say a word as the door shut behind them. She
spun instead to Neyv, who was silently getting into her night
clothes.

“Neyv, what we talked about yesterday, can
you remember?”

“Of course. We were disagreeing about our
feelings towards our father, and you were saying how you wished
you’d never been born. I didn’t disagree with that.”

The words were so callous that they gave
Quinn pause. Perhaps Neyv was more like Sammah than Quinn had first
thought. Still, she didn’t want to stop there. The girl was young,
she’d been manipulated. Quinn had to help.

“If we join together, we can beat him. Please
believe me, Neyv, that it’s possible. I never used to think it
would be. When I was growing up, the only person that I couldn’t
sense with my empath ability, was our father.” Quinn saw Neyv’s
eyes light up. She could see then that these words—the impact of
their abilities on Sammah—resonated with the girl. Neyv knew that
Sammah wasn’t affected by her abilities. Quinn ploughed on,
clinging to this common ground that she’d found. “I used to lean on
him for that. You can’t believe how noisy my life was always like.
Everywhere I went, I could feel everything everyone felt, and it
was absolute hell. Then, Sammah came along, and he was like a calm
like after being thrown around an ocean. If I wanted peace I’d
concentrate on him. I clung to him like a rock in the ocean.
Because of that, he was my world. I thought everything he said was
true. How can I not adore this man who gave me so much peace, and
helped me to survive so long? But then I got older. I could sense
more, and I became stronger. I rejected what he’d told me, because
it turned out, absolutely none of it was true. I could sense
Sammah, I just hadn’t been strong enough. You’re the same Neyv, I
think you’ll be able to sway Sammah in the future too, you just
need to grow up. You just need to be stronger.”

“How did you magically get stronger,
Quinn?”

“I can’t explain it, I just did. Each time, I
was near death, but I’d use my powers in an extreme way."

“You think, if I do the same as you, that I
will somehow be able to manipulate our father too?”

“I do, but…”

“But what?”

“When I did it, Maertn was here. He was able
to bring me back from the Beach of Bones, and that’s the only way I
was able to stay alive. Each time I came back from the beach, my
powers were increased. I think the same could happen to you.”

“
Is Maertn
here?
”

“No. He’s not.”

* * *

Quinn hadn’t been the only one thinking of
their conversation the previous night. Neyv had been rolling it
over in her mind, too. She anticipated that Quinn was still going
to try convince her to stop their father. This wasn’t good. Neyv
knew that Sammah was right, and anyone else was a threat to them.
Now it seemed Quinn was a threat too, and yet their father just
couldn’t see it. Neyv had to kill Quinn now, not just for her own
standing in her father’s eyes, but for his safety, too. Sammah
might be angry when he found out, but he’d understand in the
fullness of time.

If what Quinn was saying was true, then maybe
one day Neyv would be stronger. Sammah would understand, like
everyone else understood, that what Neyv said was right. Quinn’s
words, and the way she was independent now, made Neyv hopeful that
the other girl wasn’t lying. Still, Quinn was there, a barrier and
a threat to all of their careful plans.

Then, the answer came to her. Her entire
childhood growing up with this girl had given Neyv some familiarity
with her, none of which had been returned by Quinn in kind. All of
the conversations with Maertn she’d listened to, all of the bedtime
stories and gossiping rumours, Neyv had let none of it go to waste.
She tried to remember every little detail she could have Quinn, to
try think of some way to kill this girl without Sammah really
blaming her. The answer came to her when she remembered their
bedtime stories. It was perfect. Neyv knew from their sessions now
that Quinn was resisting Neyv because she didn’t trust her. Quinn
knew when to anticipate her manipulations. So she naturally guarded
herself against them. What would happen,
Neyv
wondered
, if Quinn wasn’t guarding, and she just thought a
normal bedtime story was taking place. Would she guard herself
then, or would Neyv’s abilities take the empath exactly where Neyv
wanted her to go?

* * *

“What if we do this a different way?”

“What you mean?” Quinn asked. “How can there
be any other way? We are stuck here.”

“What if I told you, that there was a way to
get rid of your abilities?”

Quinn’s mouth dropped. “That’
s impossible. I
’d have heard it before.”

“You have heard of it before, you just never
understood the true meaning of the story."

“What story?”

“Indigo and the well of tears."

“The well?” Indigo and the Well of Tears was
Quinn’s favourite bedtime story, in fact her most favourite
mythological story of all time. She knew the story of Indigo inside
out, and she was sure that, if there was some facet she didn’t
understand, she’d have asked about it by now. There was nothing
about the well that would affect her power. “You’re lying. That’s
not true?” This to Quinn, sounded feasible. Other things were
affecting her abilities, so why couldn’t this? The Beach of Bones
was where she got stronger, and the Sea of Sighs was what had shown
her full potential, whether she’d wanted to see it or not. So what
if what Neyv was saying was true? What if the well really could rid
Quinn of her empathic abilities? That would solve everything for
Quinn. She would be free, and no one could use her again.

“The tears of the monster are the key. When
Indigo sat there, and the monster wept, all of its power seeped out
in those tears. The monster drowned in the loss of its own power,
Quinn, and anybody with abilities, who submerges themselves in
those tears for long enough, will be free.”

“But it’s just a story—the well doesn’t
really exist.”

“Everfell was built around the well Quinn.
You know that. So, where in Everfell could the well be?”

“The springs—but I’ve bathed in the springs
many times, and it’s never affected my ability.”

“You only bathed. What if you submerged? What
if you stayed underneath the water, held your breath for long
enough, what then?"

Quinn was nervous. This didn’t sound right.
Her ears rang, and her mind felt cloudy. Was this Neyv playing
tricks? No. Why would she say this, even with Sammah’s influence?
What good did this to Sammah? None at all. No, this sounded right.
Quinn wanted a solution, and Neyv was trying to help her.

“I often did that too, though. I loved it
just beneath the surface, hearing just my own heartbeat. The water
swirled around my ears and it was always bliss."

“But you always came back up again?”

“Of course I did, otherwise I’d have
drowned.”

“You need to leave it to the last second,
Quinn. You told me about the beach? It’s in those last seconds
between life and death that your abilities are exposed. This
way—staying to the last minute submerged underneath the waters of
the well of tears—is the only way you can rid yourself of those
powers.”

It made sense. It made complete and utter
sense. Neyv was right, and Quinn was overjoyed. She could be rid of
these powers in one simple gesture, and everything she hated about
the world she was forced to live in would be gone.

“You have to help me, Neyv! You have to go
with me to the well. We have to do it tonight, before Sammah finds
out. He’ll know—he always knows when people start to plan
things.”

Quinn was desperate. The need to go to the
well and expunge her powers was so powerful, that she knew she
wouldn’t sleep a wink if she didn’t try to do it tonight. “Call
Elias in here. You can convince him, can’t you? He’s susceptible to
your ability? We can tell him that Sammah wants us to go down
there. If he takes us, and the other mercenaries see us with him;
they won’t be suspicious.”

"I can convince Elias to do anything. Any of
the mercenaries really. None of them are hard to trick. Not like
you. We just need to make sure that we avoid our father. Do you
know where he might be this time of night?”

Quinn would have been able to say in a
heartbeat where Sammah was when she started working in Everfell.
Now, the situation had changed so much she had no idea what her
father’s movements were.

“He’s one man, and Everfell is huge. We would
have to be desperately unlucky to run into him. We just need to
make sure that, when we go, we go quickly. Shall we try it
now?”

“I can’t see any point in waiting.”

Neyv could barely contain her excitement.
She’d been daydreaming about this all day, wondering whether or not
the deception would work, and just like that—Quinn was hers. The
girl had resisted her so well when Sammah was forcing things. Neyv
had beaten her, though. Neyv’s theory had been right, the more
invested someone was in believing the lie, the easier it was to
deliver.