Nada's Escape: Fighters' lies

16.1 Cause

The front door creaks open under my hands. I feel my way through the darkened bungalow, noting the half empty mug on the table. I head for the fridge and my eyelids flutter at the glare of the light. I let my fingers wrap around a milk carton, bringing it to my lips, and notice a flicker of movement.

My heart skips a beat. Finley peers out of his bedroom door, leaning sleepily against the frame.

I swallow, trying to fight the guilt welling inside me. He doesn't say anything, just lets the silence stretch out uncomfortably long. Classic Finley tactics. I let the fridge door shut, plunging us into darkness.

"You're going to say no, aren't you?" I say, gripping the sides of the carton.

"To your next plan?" He gives a classic Finley sigh. "What would be the point?"

"Look I'm not a traditional girl but..." My mouth dries up. My plans always work? They don't. Not for lack of genius though.

"It's fine." He sighs. "What did you come up with?" He sits at the table and lifts the mug, swirling the contents. His nose wrinkles and then he sets it down to one side.

I hook a clean mug from the cupboard, and pour myself a cup from the slick-sided carton. I make sure to take a long, slurping sip before I plant myself at the table across from him. The kitchen window lets in enough light to see his hands but not his face. Thank god.

"I'm going to need to see the council again," I say.

"They'll be in the meadow again tomorrow."

I blink into my mug for a second, nodding slowly.

"I need to show you something too." I carefully press the switch on my arm and the table between us lights up. It's a soft pink glow, illuminating his face in the top of my peripheral vision.

"By the mage," he breathes, his hand stuttering across the table towards it.

"It's real." I say, practising my lies. "I was asleep and then I woke up to this..."

I catch his questing hand with mine, pressing my wrist down to hide the light against the table. "But I don't think it will be visible in sunlight. So we're going to have to move quickly."

I hear him nod. "Tell me everything."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Every time Josef opens his mouth it's like a nail being driven into my skull. Finley's hand rests on my shoulder like weighted sandbag. It's not like I could flee; I'm hemmed in by a dozen councilmen. Some to my left, some to my right and even some crammed in the doorway behind me.

Before me sits Rivers, his long beard pooling on the desk, framed on both sides by Josef and Percival.

"Like I said," I continue where I left off, "I just woke up from a dream. There was this hooded figure-"

"In the dream?" Interrupts Josef for the hundredth time.

"Yes. In the dream there was a hooded figure, and the cloak made that outline, the one that looks like this," I point again to the faintly glowing skin of my forearm. Finley had filled in that little detail, that the warrior mage would look like his symbol. And now that I can see it, I can't unsee the person in the symbol. The tear drop hood, the rounded shoulders and sweeping skirt; it is a cloaked figure.

"I thought you didn't have the mark before you went to sleep?" Josef's voice bores into my mind again.

"I didn't," I grit my teeth. "Are you going to keep interrupting me?" Josef just folds his hands under his armpits.

"So... I woke up and my arm was glowing like crazy, so I woke up Finley and he came to Rivers'. "

"Tell them what the warrior mage said to you." Rivers prompts, lacing his fingers over the tangles of his beard.

"I can't really remember..." I reply blankly, "It's hazy. Like it was something about responsibility, something I was supposed to do. I promised him something. To protect the weak I think. And then he touched my arm and I woke up."

"Can we wrap this up so we can all go back to bed?" Moans one of the council men behind me. I wholeheartedly agree. My head is throbbing.

"Oh but all the questions we could..." Rivers protests.

"You've got the answer you were looking for," Percival interrupts, "You wanted to know if the mage truly endorsed her and its clear now that he does. Anything further is unimportant at this hour."

"Hear, hear," agrees at least two of the surrounding councilmen. I concur silently, head pounding with the need for sleep.

Josef nods, "Fine, fine. We can reconvene at noon to conduct the formalities."

I reluctantly raise my voice again.

"There is one other thing." I broach. Weary eyes swivel back to me. I gulp down a flutter of nerves.

"You need to let the girls in Seven go. All of them. Don't terminate them."

Movement ripples around the room and then murmurs.

"Did the warrior mage tell you that?" Rivers asks seriously. My eyes narrow on Josef's fingertips, tapping one after the other across the desk. It's so tempting to say yes and be done with it. But...

"Not exactly," I shrug the reply. "Like I said, our conversation was pretty vague, protect the weak that sort of thing. But I feel like this is the right thing to do. And I sort of think you do too, somewhere-"

Under all the shit. I choke on the lie and have to cough into my hand to hide it.

Percival and Rivers both lean in to whisper in Josef's ear. I wait, trying not to twitch with anxious anticipation. Finley leans down to breath against my ear.

"You're doing well. Just a little longer."

Welcome encouragement for a skill I'm less than expert at.

Finally Josef straightens, his face still and mask-like.

"Are you sure you want to take on this responsibility?" He asks formally.

I nod. "Mhm."

"You will take full responsibility for all five unsponsored girls?" He doesn't need to raise his voice at the end to sound incredulous.

"Five?" I ask. "I thought there were six."

"It was brought to our attention that your friend Amy, and yes let's call her a friend, is almost the same age as you. We can't see how you could possibly be an effective mentor to one such as her. But if she agrees, Percival will happily sponsor her alongside Macie."

Is this a trap? I watch Josef's fingers tap the table again as he waits. One-two-three-four, one-two-three-four.

"If she agrees?" Is my response. Because that would be impossible.

Josef nods, "We're sure you can persuade her."

Ah, that's the trap then. The test of loyalty. If I can't convince Amy, then in Josef's eyes at least, I'm a fraud. Sneaky. And borderline impossible. But that's a problem for later.

"Okay, I'll do it," I promise, focusing on keeping my voice steady, believable.

Josef nods. Then Rivers and finally Percival nods as well, with a twisted little grin on this lips.

"Then let's get the hell out of here," Growls the same councilman from before. The tension breaks around me and soon after, the meeting.