One is Come (Five in Circle) (4 page)

Chapter 5

Failed Test

Crystyn pounced on Abrennin the instant he came in the front door. He caught a glimpse of his daughter lost in a book, like usual, but not much else. The light in his wife’s eyes, and her steely grip on his arm, convinced him to follow her without protest into the office. She let go of him and waited for him to sit down at his desk. She remained standing in the spot she usually stood during their discussions.

“Yes, sweetie? How was the day with Hayl?” he asked. “Did you find out her friends' last names?”

She waved off his questions. “We have a problem. I think we have to move,” she said.

He blinked. He wasn’t done with his current contract, wasn’t even close.
She talked to Haylwen, didn't find out names, and now we have to move?
Possibilities clicked into place and his surprise vaporized. “Oh?” he said.

“Haylwen got her period yesterday.” She paused, waiting to see if he would say anything.
Her period
, he thought.
That might mean something, but might not
. He didn’t say anything, just raised an eyebrow.

“
And
…” she said as she answered the implied question, her voice dropping to a whisper, “she broke me in a Gaze Challenge.”

Not many things surprised Abrennin Rightad, and he never let his surprise show. Almost never. This time, his jaw dropped wide open. Crystyn crossed her arms, conflicting expressions of pain and pride made war across her face as Abrennin recovered.

“They were Tested. Twice, right?” he said flatly. It wasn’t a question and not really an accusation.

“They failed both times, and neither Cadarn nor Haylwen have shown a single sign since,” she agreed. Neither voiced what they were thinking. “Have you felt anything from them?” she finished.

“Not my place,” he said gently enough to defuse a bit of her defensiveness, “but, no. She broke you…” he continued slowly. “So she did cause that explosion?” This was also not an accusation.

“Moving won’t solve anything once she fully Awakens, especially if she is that powerful,” she said.

He nodded, slowly, his mind busy in a far-off gaze.

“But it might buy us some time,” she finished reluctantly.

“Yes, I think we need to take steps to give the kids some transition time and enough room to cover our tracks,” he said, his gaze still far away. “Yes, we can move, for starters. I'll have to do all the fieldwork up front, sort the data later... it will be messy and take a lot more time. We'll have to tighten our belts until I can find new work... if I can ever go back.” He shook his head and looked at his wife. “But it won't matter if they catch her using magic. And there is only one way to even suppress a magic user.” He gave her a rueful smile. “Short of an Oath, that is.”

She sighed. “I know we discussed it in theory, but does it make sense? Now that I know, I can cloak her energy. We don't really need to poison our own child, do we?”

Abrennin's eyes snapped back to his wife's face. “It’s not poison, just suppresses a part of her energy. It doesn’t cause any permanent damage, and you know it. And… there is no way you would be able to keep the cloak on without being near her at all times.” He tried and failed to keep his fear from sounding like anger. “Let’s suppose it was possible for me to reestablish contact with the Rogues. They could protect us.” He knew it was a sore point, but he had to try.

Her only response to the unasked question was to tighten her lips.

“Well then, until we are ready to risk having our daughter taken away from us, we can’t chance the Conclave' monitors sensing her,” he said. “What choice do we have?”

“I know, we talked about this, but it seemed so far away, and after they failed Testing, I thought we were safe,” Crystyn said hesitantly. She shook her head. “It’s going to take me a while to find the ingredients, and you will need to Cast them, and we have to figure out how to get the poison, I mean, potion into her. It is going to take some effort...”

“I know.” Abrennin slumped a little, and rubbed the back of his neck. “I can cast them in the middle of the night, and for starters, we'll put it in tomato sauce. Her first dose can be in one of your special lasagnas that she loves so much. She'll never know.” He let his hand slide forward, along his jaw and then fall limply. “We’ll all eat it. Even though Cadarn isn’t showing signs, it’s not a bad thing for him, just in case. You and I can take the counter-potion right after eating.”

She nodded, hesitated, then asked, “It won't last forever, and we can't keep doing this. What is our long-term plan? Are you sure it’s better this way?”

His eyes never wavered, but his voice did. “I don’t know.”

“If you want me to consider going to the Rogues, maybe you should consider…”

The doorbell startled them into silence. A moment later, a familiar voice sprang their eyes wide. They scrambled for the office door, their look to each other exchanging the same question and answer.
Did you know? I didn’t know
.

Crystyn made it out of the door first. Looking past his wife, Abrennin saw Haylwen standing there, holding the front door partially open.

“Chuck!” Crystyn rushed forward and scooted Haylwen aside. “Chuck, come in, what a surprise!” She stood on her tiptoes to give him a quick hug, careful to not wrinkle his expensive suit.

“Yes, I was just in the neighborhood and thought I would pop in,” he said, still in the doorway. “My, my, Haylwen, you have grown!”

“Of course you remember your Uncle Chuck,” Crystyn supplied for Haylwen, turning to further move her aside. Noticing him as his head popped out the door, she included Cadarn. She gestured for him to come out, but he was already on his way. His door left open, his music became a pounding background noise.

“Uncle Chuck!” Cadarn ran forward and slapped Chuck’s offered palm.

“Yep, that’s a zinger,” Chuck said, pretending to be in pain and shaking his hand.

“What brings you by?” Abrennin asked, leaning against the office door frame, arms crossed.

“As I said, I was just in the neighborhood. It’s been a long time, and I thought I would bring Cadarn’s birthday present myself this year. You don’t mind that it’s a bit early, do you?” he said, turning to Cadarn.

“No way!” Cadarn said, eyes gleaming.

Chuck disappeared into the hall as he bent to pick up something from just outside the door, reemerging with two large boxes. “Of course, I brought a little something for my little Hay bale, too.”

Ushered in by Crystyn, he looked around the small apartment for somewhere to put the boxes. Abrennin shut the office door and stepped forward to take the boxes from him. He led the several steps into the living room, putting the boxes on the table in front of the couch.

“Can I get you anything?” Crystyn asked.

“No, thank you,” Chuck replied, his smile thinning as it went from Crystyn to Abrennin. “I can’t stay long. Even private jets have to answer to air traffic control.”

Cadarn and Haylwen sat next to each other on the couch. Cadarn, having unstacked the boxes and finding out which was his, looked expectantly from his parents to Uncle Chuck. Chuck, all smiles, nodded and motioned to go ahead. Cadarn didn’t need more, and ripped open the wrapping paper and into the plain brown box. Packing peanuts spilled as he rummaged in the box. Cadarn’s fervor erupted in a little ‘ooh’ as he carefully pulled out the prize, a black cylinder. It was a bit longer but thinner than a roll of paper towels. It looked heavy from the way Cadarn was moving it, trying to figure out what it was.

Haylwen opened hers, immediately revealing a large doll with blond pigtails. Its opened- eyes moved, found Haylwen’s face, and a smile slid onto its face. Haylwen quickly put the doll on the table and sat back. Haylwen’s doll took that momentary silence to speak. “Hi, Haylwen. Would you like to have a tea party?”

Haylwen just looked at it.

“Or would you like to hear a story? I have a full library.”

Chuck took the black cylinder from Cadarn. “It’s the latest prototype from my portable division.” He set it on the table, on its long side, pulling on two recessed tabs. From each side he pulled a thin flat panel, the one extending up twice as long as the one lying on the table. A row of red lights lit up between them. “Full screen monitor and keyboard. Three cubic processors,” he paused, checking to be sure Cadarn was lost. “A cubic processor has more processing power than nine standard CPUs.” When Cadarn’s eyes widened, Chuck rattled on.

Haylwen’s doll stood up and reached out its arms. “Would you like a hug?” it said.

“Um, how do you turn it off?” Haylwen asked, backing even more into the couch.

Without looking, Chuck said quickly, “Go to sleep.” The doll lay on its side and closed its eyes.

Chuck reached the end of his demonstration. “And it uses quad-compressed WiFi for connectivity,” he paused again, but Cadarn looked sad instead of confused. “What?” Chuck said.

“No WiFi.”

“Oh. Well. You can link to your mobile carrier, but that slows it down to T1…”

“No mobile,” Cadarn said sadly.

Chuck’s look of shock and dismay was as if Cadarn said he wasn’t being given water. “Well, that is something I can quickly remedy…”

“We can manage that, thank you,” Abrennin cut in. He immediately continued to Cadarn, “we will discuss it,” with a look that meant not now. Cadarn’s mouth closed and his brows sank. Abrennin crossed his arms and didn’t uncross them until Chuck had finished his visit, accepted hugs from his sister, Haylwen, and Cadarn, and then left. The smell of his expensive cologne followed Abrennin into his office. It goaded him to keep working furiously late into the night, doing all he could to try to protect his beautiful wife and children.

Chapter 6

Fish Wink

Haylwen ran. Her knees hurt, her thighs chafed, her belly and boobs jiggled out of control.
Stupid bras were either hideous or didn’t do anything
, she thought. She hated running, and still she ran faster. The pain in her knees and thighs distracted her from thinking about how sad she felt.
Moving again! I wouldn't even get to tell Kim goodbye!
So she ran, and didn’t care how she looked holding her chest.

She ran from her stupid parents telling her they were going to move again, knowing it was all her fault this time. She ran from the fear she would never have any friends. She ran away from her creepy doll, and the fact that it didn’t matter that Cadarn’s present was confiscated, it was still so much better. She couldn’t even really see where she was going, but still she ran. She left the road and took to a hiking trail.

Maybe I’d never go back. Maybe I'd get so lost that I couldn’t go back. That would teach them. Stupid brother would probably be happier without me there.
She finally slowed to a walk when she realized she really had no idea where she was. She looked back, and around.
Where did the hiking trail go?
Surrounded by trees, she heard water trickling nearby. This must be the woods on the other side of the old train tracks. She didn’t remember crossing train tracks. She went a bit further, then stopped where the little creek came out of a small lake. Looking back, it wasn’t really a trail, just happened to be where there were fewer bushes and ferns, where the tree leaves had collected randomly. She could be the first one who had ever been here. Struck by a feeling of loneliness that overwhelmed the last of her anger, she fell to her knees and cried.

Something in the lake came up to investigate. As it got closer, it took the form of a giant catfish. It swam closer to where Haylwen’s tears were falling on the creek bank. It hesitated for a second, its long antennae slowly waving. Then it swam up to Haylwen and poked its head up out of the water.

Haylwen heard the soft sound of the big fish’s head coming out of the water and sat up, her tears suddenly stopping. “Crap!” she blurted, startled.

The fish didn’t move, just slowly waved its long antennae.

Haylwen choked out a laugh of a sort. “Or, carp?”

The fish just floated there. Somehow its wide mouth and whiskers made it look solemn.

Haylwen looked back. “Um, hello?”

Nothing. But it didn’t swim away.
That’s weird
, she thought.
Or maybe I’ve gone crazy
.

“Sorry if I am disturbing you, Mr. Fish,” she said. Oh, for sure, she was crazy, talking to a fish. Not that she cared, at this point. Apparently, she was desperate enough for a friend that even a fish would do, never mind if it wasn’t a very attentive fish. So, she started talking. Softly, starting with how she was going to have to move and that it was her fault, somehow. Soon, she was crying, telling about all the times she had lost friends… well… kids who could have been friends if she stayed anywhere long enough. About how lonely it felt to have no friends, and how maybe it would be better if she just didn’t exist. She had never really said that out loud, never really even thought it out loud before. She just sat there and sobbed, the tears pouring down her face.

Her sobs slowed, then stopped. She looked up, and was somehow not surprised to see the fish was still there, antennae waving calmly. She wiped the tears from her face, shaking them off her hands with a flick. She saw the tears hit the fish right between the eyes, heard the soft splat.

The fish blinked in surprise.

“Oh, sorry, Mr. Fish,” she said. “But it's water, right?”

The fish seemed to smile.
I am
crazy
, Haylwen thought.
Fish don’t smile. They can’t. They can’t blink, either,
she thought.
Well, I don’t think they can blink. I saw it blink, didn't I?

The fish turned and swam underwater, disappearing. Haylwen looked for it for a moment, and was rewarded with a rapidly growing spot coming toward her in the water. The catfish poked its head up, then spun around. With a quick flip of its big tail, so quickly Haylwen could do nothing other than gasp, the fish splashed water directly on her face. A lot of cold water.

Stunned, she felt it slide down over her chin and seem to settle at the hollow of her neck. She sat up, and tried to wipe her face off somewhat, and looked at the fish in shock. She may be crazy, but that was not her imagination.

The fish smiled, or whatever it was, again. It tucked its antennae back against its head, giving it a pleased expression.

Haylwen sat there for another moment, then laughed. “It’s only water, right?” She couldn’t help herself. She laughed again, laughed some more, laughed until she was crying again. She purposely flicked those laugh-tears at the fish, but missed every time. The whole situation was so ridiculous, her emotions were so out of control that she could do nothing but laugh.

When she finally stopped laughing, the fish started swimming in circles, slowly heading back to the center of the pond. At the point nearest Haylwen, it poked its head up.

She got up and brushed herself off. “Yeah, I guess I should get home too.”

The fish winked and slipped away under the water.

Haylwen shook her head. Even if she had friends, they would think she was crazy if she told them. She touched that spot on her neck that was still cool and promised herself she would get her mother to go bra shopping when she got home. Whenever that was. And look up if fish can wink. She got up and started walking back, not even feeling a gentle touch on her mind.

By the time she got home, she was exhausted and starving. She went to the bathroom, then into the kitchen to get a snack. Her father was there, making a cup of tea.

“Hey, Hayl.”

Haylwen attempted to ignore her father. She didn't expect him to let her get away with it, and he didn't.

As she stood there with the door to the fridge open, he stepped in front of her. “I said, Hey, Hayl. And you say...” He had a small smile on his face, but his eyes were searching hers.

Haylwen closed the door, trying to squish her father into the fridge. “Excuse me,” she said.

Abrennin stepped out of the fridge and looked at her again. “Where did you get that necklace?” he asked quietly.

“Necklace?” Haylwen said, touching her neck. The spot that had stayed cool, the spot where the water had collected now held something there. Had it always been there? She could feel a cool metal necklace around her neck, with a small round ball dangling in the hollow of her throat. Part of her would have sworn it had not been there two seconds ago. But somehow it felt like it had been there since she could remember…

Her father raised an eyebrow. “Yes, necklace.”

“Oh, this one. Um-mm...” Haylwen had the urge to say she had no idea, but that made no sense. “I've had this for a while. I found it. Outside. Away from everything. Um, in the gutter. I found it a while ago.” She was not a good liar, but didn't have any other choice if she wanted to keep it.

“May I see it?” her father asked. Haylwen scowled, and tried to think of a protest. She unclasped it and watched the necklace lift away in her father’s hand. It was her first look at it, even though she felt like she had seen it a million times. She only got a glimpse, but she remembered it clearly, a single large pearl on a silver chain.

“Seems odd to end up in the gutter completely intact,” Abrennin said, looking at Haylwen over his glasses. “Found it? You sure someone didn't give this to you?”

She still said nothing, but nodded. What could she say at this point?

“It looks expensive. I'll bet someone is looking for this. You wouldn't want to keep something someone was looking for, would you?” His eyes had taken on that look when he was trying to teach her something. She hated that look, and his questions.

“No, but...”

“I didn't think so. I will take the necessary steps to make sure the rightful owner gets this.” He tucked the chain into his pocked and picked up his tea.

“If no one claims it, I can have it back, right?” She fought past the feeling of being in a lie, and focused on getting the necklace back.

“Sure,” he said. “Don't eat too much, dinner is in a little while,” he said, walking to the study.

Haylwen didn't notice her mother follow him in and close the door behind them. She didn't see the contents of the fridge, either. The rest of the night sped into a blur, with only brief images of the necklace echoing in her mind's eye as she fell into a dream-filled sleep.

***

After Haylwen left, the big catfish slid quickly to the center of the lake. Lakes can be deceptively deep, and this one was especially so. The catfish had plenty of room to morph into his true form, a silver-scaled dragon, as he swam in slow circles. He kept his clawed hands and feet tucked close, his powerful tail pushing him easily through the dimly-lit water.

Fire asked me about the Rightad family hinting at
prophecy, he thought. I don't trust her, but there is no way she could have arranged that!
He shook his head, underwater light glinting softly off of his scales.
Well, the first Gift is in play, there is no stopping now.
He swam a lazy circle as his thoughts raced.
Ok, Fire, you must be plotting how to bring Earth in. With his past, much less as Head of all Clans, he must be coaxed gently. Subtle is not your way, so it must be me.
He chuckled, bubbles trickling up from his nose.
Unless you are setting me up!

His laugh dried up as his eyes were caught by a glimpse of the shore.
Could it be? Little one, could you possibly be strong, smart, and subtle enough to face all the challenges you would be thrust into? Such a little, pretty one, but there was something... I've never seen another quite like you.
He whipped his tail, forming a complex pattern of bubbles as he debated with himself.
Yes, I must,
he decided.
Dangerous for me, and dangerous for you, but important for all. I will ask Fire to read these possibilities, but I must do my own Read of this one. There was something unique about this human, regardless.