The Outskirts: The Sky Raiders (Jace x OC)

Part 25

"Good morning!" Mira said as I opened my eyes. "You slept late. We need to talk."
"What's up?" I said, rubbing the sleep out of my
eyes.
Mira shook her head. "Go shower and change first. I washed your jacket and got you new leggings."
"Okay. Thanks."
I showered and got changed and brushed my hair, then walked out to meet Mira again.
"Okay," I said plopping down on the bed.
"What's up?"
"So . . . I have some secrets."
"Okay," I said patiently. "About what?"
"These secrets are dangerous, Kendal. They could get you into trouble."
I smiled. "Everything we do here is dangerous, what's a little more? We've been through some harsh stuff already."
"I know," Mira said. "It's why I know I can trust you. I have to be careful about who I trust. At Parona, you didn't have to save my life, but you did. I don't think anything less would let me confide in you. Without Durny, I need someone by my side. Before he died, he said it should be you. I think he's right."
"Of course I'll be by your side, if you'll have me."
"So I should tell you?" She asked.
"Well now you have to. I'm way too curious." I said.
"It's not gossip." She warned. "These secrets matter. People have died because of them."
I thought about it. My life was already nightmarishly hard. What was a little more?
"Go ahead." I said.
She gave a nervous laugh. "I've never talked about this with anyone who didn't already know most of the story. You're so new here. I hardly know where to begin."
"Just go for it." I said.
"Do you know about Junction? The High Shaper?" She asked me.
"Is hé like the High King?" I asked.
"Yes," Mira said. "The High Shaper is the High
King."
"Then I know he took some of my friends as slaves." I said.
"Really?" She asked.
"Remember? Me and Cole came here because the slavers kidnapped our friends."
"Right. But how do you know they were going to the High King?"
"After I was captured, a women examined me.
She said I had shaping potential, but not enough to go to the king. But some of my friends were set aside for the king. That included my best friends, Dalton and Jenna."
"You can shape?" Mira asked. "Huh, Durny never told me, but we can talk about that later.
The High King must need more slaves with shaping talent. That could be good or bad for your friends."
"How come?"
"Slaves who can shape get the best treatment.
And if there going to be slaves, the Royal Palace
is more comfortable than most places. But the High King is a maniac. Anyone who works near him is in danger."
"What do you mean?" I asked her.
"It ties directly into my secret. What do you know about how the five kingdoms are
governed?"
"Nothing." I said. "I don't even really know
what they are."
She nodded. "There are five major kingdoms in the Outskirts: Sambria, where we are now, Necroum, Elloweer, Zeropolis, and Creon.
Junction is more or less between the kingdoms.
It's the capital of the Outskirts. The five kingdoms used to be governed by the five Grand Shapers. The High Shaper outranked them all and lived in Junction City. Together they formed the Governing Council, and they ruled the Outskirts, as a group. Except, around sixty years ago, the High Shaper decided he wanted all the power to himself. The Grand Shaper of Zeropolis became his puppet, and the rest went into hiding."
"This is the secret?"
"This is the background." She corrected. "You don't know any of this do you?"
"Nope. Who's the High Shaper now?"
"The same guy." Mira said. "The more advanced shapers have ways to slow the aging process.
They can live for hundreds of years."
"The Grand Shapers are that powerful?"
Mira nodded. "There the best of the best."
"So what does this have to do with you?"
"I'm getting there. More than sixty years ago, the High Shaper lived with his wife and five daughters. The five girls all showed promise of shaping powers. Their father, not so much.
Although he came from a long line of powerful shapers, and married a women who was a powerful shaper, he held his position more by pedigree and political games than by talent.
Anyhow, one day there was a terrible accident, and all his daughters died."
"What happened?" I asked.
"Their carriage went off a bridge into a raging river. It was huge news throughout the Outskirts. All the kingdoms mourned. But I know some secrets about the accident. Secrets about the High Shaper. Things he would do anything to cover up." Mira said.
"Was he involved?" I asked.
Mira stared at me. "We're talking about the most powerful person in the Outskirts. And yes, he was behind the accident. He planned it."
"His own daughters?" I said in bewilderment.
"I don't think he ever saw them as daughters."
Mira said. "More like rivals."
"He killed his own kids and got away with it?" I exclaimed.
"He still rules the Outskirts." Mira said. "Almost nobody knows what really happened. The High King is ruthless and selfish. He destroyed his own family to get what he wanted. The more his power grows, the more people are seeing that side of him. And his power keeps growing every year. Everyday even."
"My friends went to that guy?" I said, feeling ill.
"Hopefully they don't work with him directly." Mira said. "There's more to the secret, but I shouldn't share to much yet. The more you know, the more danger your in. The High Shaper has killed to keep these secrets and wouldn't hesitate to kill again. But I want you to know enough to appreciate the seriousness of my situation."
"How did you learn this stuff?" I asked, still shocked.
"My mother is close to the High Shaper." Mira said. "I used to live in his palace. She still does.
If I say much more, I'll end up telling you everything. My mother sent me away for my safety and then sent Durny to watch over me."
"We're you and your mother slaves?" I asked
her.
"We weren't slaves," Mira said. "I got marked as part of my cover, to help me hide. But whatever reasons behind my bondmark, having it makes me as much of a slave as you."
Mira choosing to have a bondmark proved her desperation. "But why tell me?"
She glanced over her shoulder to the door before answering. "Because Durny and I were planning an escape."