With her father's sending stone held loosely in one hand, Arsha paused at the foot of the stairs and took a breath. Once again she repeated the lie that she'd been carefully rehearsing; that she'd found her father's stone where he'd left it on the bathroom sink. Just an absent minded mistake. It wasn't her fault. She had to keep telling herself that, but the thought just wouldn't seem to stick. She could feel her hands trembling.
She looked up the stairwell, towards the bridge, and reached out one hand to grip the railing. Then she heard a door opening, and the sound of voices from above. She froze, one foot on the bottom step. Her father and the others must have just stepped out of the Captain's ready room and onto the bridge.
“You can look for your damn stone in a minute Rishi, this is important,” Milima said, her voice clear and sharp.
“Yes, Milima, I'm sure you think it is, but right now, I really don't...”
“Rishi, we'll be in London in a little over a day. Don't you think it's about time you told us just what in the Seven Names we're doing out here?”
“Rishi, she's right.” Abasi's voice, deep and gentle. “When you told me where we were going, I didn't ask any questions, because I trusted that it was important, and that you'd tell me everything in good time. But you can't ask me to take my ship into a situation like this without you at least telling me what we're doing.”
There was a long pause in the conversation. She wondered what could be happening. Then she heard her father's voice again, quieter this time. He sounded tired, worn down.
“There's... There's a girl. She's in danger. And I have to protect her.”
“Why?” Milima replied. “Rishi, I don't mean to be cold, but there are millions of young girls out there that need protecting. Are you going to go chasing after every single one of them? Why is it so important that you save this one child?”
There was another long silence. Arsha held her breath and pressed herself up against the wall, as she counted off the seconds.
“Because if we don't,” her father said, heavily, “a Seed is going to open in London.”
“Seven...” Milima gasped.
“Rishi, you can't be serious,” Abasi said.
“It'll tear the Veil apart. The damage will be unimaginable,” her father continued.
“And this girl, she's going to open it?” Abasi said.
“That's right. Unless we can get to her first.”
“Fates, Rishi, you should have told us sooner. We could have brought help, we could have warned the Guild, alerted the Wardens...”
“Abasi, what makes you think they would listen? If I, of all people, told them a Seed was going to awaken, and that somehow no one else, not even the Chamber of Foresight, knew a damn thing about it? Why would they believe me?”
“So how did you find out?” Milima said, her tone taking on a razor fine edge. “If even the Guild doesn't know yet...”
“Or haven't admitted that they know,” Abasi interjected. “If a Seed really is going to awaken, the Chamber would predict it. They couldn't miss something like this.”
“Which means someone in the Chamber...” Milima continued for him. “Seven Names. Rishi, if they find out. Gaining access to a prediction. Spying on the Chamber. If they ever learn what you've done...”
“Rishi, she's right. You know the rules about the Chamber of Foresight. This is incredibly dangerous.”
“If they can prove it,” her father replied, curtly. “Which they never will.”
“Rishi, you can't know that,” Milima said.
“Maybe not, but I trust my source. And if I'm wrong, it's on my head.”
“Seven Names it is. Rishi, if they even suspect, they'll come after all of us with everything they have. Even if they can't prove it, they'll find something. We could be charged with trespassing the Veil, breach of the Accords...” Milima said, her voice rising like thunder.
“Milima, love,” Abasi said, his voice soft, “it's done now. And Rishi is right. If we let this happen...”
“The damage this thing could cause, if it awakens,” her father added.
“You really want to talk to me about damage?” Milima replied, her voice a sharp hiss.
“Fine. So we turn around. We walk away and do nothing. Is that what you want?” her father said, sharply.
“You know damn well I don't. You're right, we're committed now. But I don't like this one bit, and you had no right to lead us into this in the first place. That's the thing about trust, Rishi. You're supposed to earn it.”
When Arsha heard the sound of Milima's footsteps on the stairs, she barely had time to react. Without even thinking about it she slipped her father's sending stone back into her pocket, just before Milima rounded the corner and saw her standing there.
“Arsha? What are you doing love?” Milima said, looking almost as shocked as Arsha felt.
“I... Ummm... I was just coming up to ask if... If we'd be putting in any time soon,” she stammered.
“Uh, yes, I imagine we'll need to stop to recharge soon. We're coming up on an outpost in a few hours.”
“Oh, OK,” Arsha said.
“Listen, love, why don't you go down and check on the washing for me?”
Arsha nodded, feeling a wave of relief wash over her. She turned and slipped back down below decks, taking the stairs two at a time, her heart still pounding.
Comments (0)
See all