No trace: Part Two of The Accidental Trilogy

Chapter Twelve

The inn I found was well run. They had flags up, against the wooden panelling. I rather liked it. During my ride there, I eavesdropped on every conversation. They seemed to think the war would soon be over. They had French assistance now, and the 'Brits' would soon be sent packing.

If they only knew, one more had joined them. Outside the inn, I found the stables for Andrea and became quite forceful with the stable foreman. He sneered and smirked but took my money, as did the man inside the inn.

In my room, I unpacked all my clothes, some souvenirs, my weapons. I knew that someone would try to make contact, becoming an elder was an important rite of passage. The moment that changed a Khalinyne forever. I wanted no one to see my weapons, any clue that would pinpoint where I was.

Precisely two hours before I was due to become an elder, Louis contacted me.

'Amy.'

'Louis.'

'You are close I take it; your tone suggests that you are preparing yourself.'

'Yes.'

'Would you like to hear how Rosa is progressing?'

'No.' If my answer should surprise me, it doesn't. I am now inured to wanting to hear her or even hear about her.

'She has had a son and both her and her children are happy. The Comte treats her well.'

'Enough.'

'As you like. Yourself?'

'I have been travelling.'

'You have grown then.'

'As you like.'

'I am pleased to hear it, regardless,' here Louis pauses. 'You are to become an elder very soon, I take it. Take heed and take warning Amy, it is a very heady experience. Scan for others in the area to assist you. You may be a rogue, but if you do not control your new gift, you could become dangerous.'

'I am already dangerous Louis.'

'Yes. Dangerous and ruthless, the Comtesse told me what occurred.'

'You have given your warning. You may go.' Forever, I would prefer.

'As you wish. I will not offer my aid a second time.' He then departs the conversation, as do I.

I lie back onto the bed and revel in the luxury, the bed on the ship was nowhere near as luxurious or so soft. I stretch out on the bed, revelling in the privacy and comfort.

Then it begins.

At first, it feels like I am burning, then freezing, and then drowning under some invisible weight. It feels though I must fight some great battle, or at least survive this onslaught of various pains and tortures.

And deaths. It feels as though I am being strangled, then whipped, bones are broken and I am shot. I feel the bullets pass through, others don't. I keep on fighting through the pain, the agony of so many deaths.

Poisoned, stabbed, various body parts are cut off, consumption, a few arrows to the chest and starved.

I lie there, and slowly it feels as though it might be ending, but then my eyes feel strange and my neck burns, as though branded and I wonder if it will ever end.

I close my eyes.

And when I open them, it is morning.

I very gingerly get up off the bed, testing my strength cautiously, before it feels like I am perfectly fine.

I walk up the small mirror in the room and examine myself carefully. That extra pain I felt, I see what has changed.

My irises, no longer grey, are now a strong shade of violet. To match my violent nature, I smile to myself. I turn and I notice the brand on my neck.

I bend and contort to see the brand, but then lose patience and take the mirror off the wall to see it properly.

It is the infinity sign. Portends something important, I should think.

I poke my head out the door, not yet trusting my senses that what happened to me did not affect the immediate surroundings.

Or the people, for that matter.

I open the lines of communication to Louis this time. It is not out of a sense of obligation or decency that I am doing this. If I am cutting ties, let it be as an Elder.

They do after all appreciate hierarchy, as the humans do.

'You have become an elder.'

'Yes,' I reply, before leaving the conversation. Let Louis read into that and hear what he likes.

I have something important to uncover.

My elder gift, what it is, how I use it.

Must be something to do with my eyes, that is probably how it works, by eye contact. So, if that is true, it possibly means that it affects others and not myself. Time to conduct an experiment then.

I dress carefully, none of my homemade or roughhewn clothes, I wear a corset for the first time, all my best, which by now looks quite ordinary.

Perfect.

Stepping out of the inn, I feel like I could fight everyone on the street, but I control this and it soon fades.

Walking at a quiet pace, I watch the humans, narrowing them down to find someone easily misdirected.

It doesn't take long and the man walks into an alleyway, which turns into a dead end.

I face him, he's young but I push that aside. I gain eye contact and concentrate. A space in my mind that I wasn't quite aware before, opens to me and thinking quickly, come up with an action.

'Hop three times.'

And the young man does. I don't believe in coincidences. I leave quickly and walk around the other buildings, before walking back to the inn and to my room. I am almost elated by this rush of power that I now possess as an Elder. Ordering the humans about like my own personal household. Quite thrilling.

Something else occurs to me. For some time I have been quite bereft of purpose in this life. I am a monster, and what do monsters do?

They fight other monsters. I would not be so gentle with the human amateurs of this world.