The Gifted Heart (Marks of Inheritance: The Orkeia Cycle #1)

3. Wary Welcomes

Chapter three

Wary Welcomes

S ome of the members of the Grison clan were more receptive than others. The Paterson family welcomed me with open arms. Nathanael Paterson was the Father green witch. He and his wife, Brynna, had two sons who were a few years older than I was, and all four of them were green witches. My first morning there, the older son, Neal, brought me a delicious plate of fruit and cheese from their family breakfast. I didn't get much of a chance to thank him, however, before his brother coaxed him out of the shelter. After that, I didn't see them much over those first few days. The two of them were almost always outside. I thought it was reckless, but everyone else seemed confident that they were being careful.

The three white witches, including Helen, weren't as welcoming. They had joined the clan individually, and since they didn't have their own families, they all shared the same room. Even though they weren't as friendly, I offered to give Shae back her own space and share with them as well, but she refused. She enjoyed having someone to talk to. Honestly, I didn’t mind. Elizabeth had been right—it was nice to be around someone closer to my own age.

Shae was the youngest member of the clan, about three years younger than me. Her mother, Lyra, was also a green witch, and due to her training, Shae’s gift had developed exceptionally fast for her age. She had high ambitions for the future, despite the Slaughters. During my second night there, she exclaimed that she was going to invent a potion to make the drinker happy for the rest of his life .

“Well, that would be a bit unfair,” I said thoughtfully.

She sat straight up in bed. “Why? They would never feel sad again!”

“Yes, but if they had never been sad, they could never really be happy, could they?”

Shae stared at me for a moment, then shook her head. “Kenna, you sound just like Sybil. Sometimes I think all you white witches are old hags from birth.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Sybil Freeda was the Mother white witch of the clan and not particularly friendly. She was nothing like Elizabeth in that she had no patience for mistakes. When she heard me telling Shae about my initial struggles learning to travel to the Other Worlds, she scoffed, muttering to herself that if you couldn’t do something right the first time, you weren’t fit to do it at all. If she’d been the Mother of the clan I grew up in, I doubt I ever would have learned any magic at all.

Generally speaking, I did not like the white witches in the Grison clan. All three were constantly in bad moods and bickering. One of them, Ethel Brewer, brazenly told me in the middle of the common area that she should be the Mother white witch instead of Sybil. Of course, she left the room when she met Sybil’s harsh glance.

“Why doesn’t she challenge Sybil?” I whispered to Gideon as she left. “If she thinks she would be a better Mother white witch, why doesn’t she do something about it?”

“It’s not exactly her call. The talisman chose Sybil years ago.”

I raised an eyebrow. Each Mother or Father witch, white or green, wears a talisman to signify their position. I’d of course seen them before—Elizabeth always wore hers—but there’d never been contentions about who should lead in my previous clan. I hadn’t known that the talismans chose who wore them.

“So what happens if someone other than the Mother or Father tries to take a talisman?” I said hesitantly. I probably sounded incredibly na?ve.

In answer, Gid called to his father, who was crossing the room.

Julius joined us by the fire. “What can I help you with?”

“Would you mind putting your talisman on the ground? ”

Julius’s eyes darted from Gideon to me, and he grinned knowingly. He reached behind his neck and unlatched the talisman’s cord, pulling it from beneath his tunic. It was an opal, as they all were. The talismans were ancient—Elizabeth told me as much—but they were not all identical. Julius’s was a square with a simple casing, while Elizabeth’s had been a delicate, beautiful oval. He laid it on the ground, then stepped back.

“Try to lift it,” Gideon instructed.

Eyeing him curiously, I reached forward, wrapped my hand around the cord, and pulled. To my surprise, it didn’t budge. I stood to get more leverage and only succeeded in barely lifting the opal off the ground.

“So anyone other than the rightful Father or Mother won’t be able to lift it,” I observed, releasing the cord.

I looked up, surprised to find that Julius was frowning. When I looked back at Gideon, his eyes were wide.

“Did I do something wrong?” I asked.

“It’s just that usually people can’t lift it at all,” Gideon said slowly. “But you were able to get it off the ground.”

I opened my mouth to speak but didn’t know what to say. Slowly, I sat back down. Julius bent over and retrieved his talisman, still watching me curiously.

“You must be a special witch, Kenna,” he mused.

With that, he left. Gideon was still staring at me. I shifted uncomfortably.

“What’s Helen’s story?” I said, changing the subject. “My first morning here, I thought she was going to demand I leave.”

“I’m surprised she didn’t,” he said, lowering his voice. “She doesn’t trust outsiders.”

I frowned. “But you saw me with my summoning candles. I’m obviously Gifted.”

He shook his head. “It has nothing to do with whether you’re Gifted or not.”

“Then what does it have to do with? ”

His eyes darted around the room before he leaned in close to me. “When she was little—six or seven, I think—she and her parents were traveling to a new clan. They met another traveler, a sorcerer, who didn’t have a tent or anything with him. Since theirs was large, they let him take shelter with them for the night.”

He dropped his voice even lower. “He killed both her parents while they were sleeping and took all their supplies. She didn’t wake up until he was gone.”

My eyes widened and I opened my mouth to speak, but stopped when a door behind me slammed. We both spun to see Helen standing outside her room. Our eyes met for a second and, again, hers narrowed dangerously. Darius, who’d been speaking with Julius in the corner, crossed to her and took her arm. He kissed her cheek before they headed down the hallway out of the shelter.

“Darius’s parents found her,” Gideon explained when I raised my eyebrows. “From what my dad said, he was immediately attached to her and promised to protect her. They’re engaged.”

“So Darius and your father have known each other for a while?”

Gideon laughed. “They’re practically brothers! In fact, Darius’s father was the Father of the clan before he died.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “Then why isn’t Darius the Father? Doesn’t it usually stay in the family?”

He shrugged. “The talisman chose my father. Darius understands.”

I frowned, my mind wandering back to Darius’s comment that his and Julius’s roles ‘should be reversed.’ Julius had laughed it off, but it made me uneasy. Maybe the magic in the talisman knew something about him that the others weren’t seeing…

Shae’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “Kenna! Will you go to the beach with me? I need some shells for a potion.”

“Sure,” I said, standing.

“Can I come, Shae?” Gideon asked.

She rolled her eyes. “You just have to follow Kenna everywhere, don’t you? ”

My mouth opened slightly and Gideon’s cheeks turned pink. “Don’t be ridiculous. I just want to make sure the two of you stay safe.”

Shae sighed exasperatedly. “If you must .”

As she turned away, Gideon rolled his eyes. We both chuckled before heading after her.

Shae wasn’t exactly wrong, though, at least not over those first few days. When I visited Elizabeth in the other worlds, Gideon watched me, claiming he would protect me if the knights attacked. When I practiced conjuring spirits, he asked me to teach him, excusing the extra time he spent with me for his studies. Honestly, I didn’t mind—in fact, I think I enjoyed it. It was familiar and comforting, like falling back into my old routines with Elizabeth.

Of course, not exactly like that. For one thing, we were the same age. And I still felt that uncomfortable heat in my cheeks occasionally, which I hadn’t ever experienced before. But the warm connection between us was similar. For some reason, it seemed like I’d known him much longer than a few mere days. Already, his friendship was the one thing keeping me from trying to get closer to the castle. Closer to justice for my family.

I sighed as the three of us walked to the beach. I should be moving on and making my way to the village I’d found my first night here. The security I felt in this underground shelter and friendships I was forming shouldn’t matter. The king of Orkeia had my family killed. I would have been killed had I been there, and every time we left the shelter—like now—we were taking a risk.

Someone had to do something .

It didn’t take long to gather the shells Shae needed, and she eagerly headed back to the shelter with them to get started on her potion, but froze after just a few steps.

“I forgot I told Nathanael I’d get some angelica for our stores,” she groaned.

“Angelica?” Gideon asked.

“It’s a plant with white flowers. It’s really useful during the cold season for healing potions. It grows just west of here.”

“Okay, so we head west,” he said.

“But I already started boiling the water I need for my potion! I’ll have to start all over!”

She groaned again and I glanced at Gideon before sending her a supportive smile. “We can get some for you. I know what it looks like.”

Shae beamed and gave me a huge hug before running back towards the shelter. Gideon rolled his eyes.

“She always does this.”

“Does what?”

“Conveniently ‘forgets’ what she’s been asked to do and gets someone else to do it for her,” he said.

I shook my head as we started to walk towards the hills. “I don’t think she does it on purpose.”

“You haven’t been here long enough to know better.”

I chuckled, changing the subject to describe angelica in a bit more detail as we walked. Plants were few and far between on this part of the island, and we fell into silence as we searched. It wasn’t until we reached the third hill that I was able to show Gid what it actually looked like, but we would need much more than what was there to gather enough for the clan.

My heart ached as we moved to the next hill. The last time I’d been searching for supplies like this, I’d come home to a massacre. My lips quivered as the images flashed in my mind, and I quickly redirected my thoughts back to my plan. Somehow, I needed to get close to the king. Once I found passage, it would be easy to get into the city, but much harder to get into the castle. Maybe I could get a position as a maid? Then again, I didn’t know any of their traditions. Hiding my mark was one thing, but blending in was another.

And then there was Gideon. How would he feel if I left? Even though we still didn’t know each other that well, I felt comfortable with him in a way I hadn’t really experienced before, and it was obvious that he enjoyed spending time with me. Surprisingly, I had to admit that I would be sad to leave him behind.

Maybe I’ll ask him to come with me …

I sighed at the thought. He couldn’t come. His mark was clearly visible on his shoulder. Only I would be able to enter the city unnoticed. Not that I knew where to go from there.

“What’s your mark?” Gideon asked, making conversation.

Great timing , I thought, looking up from a bush. “A heart.”

He turned and raised an eyebrow. “I’ve never heard of a white witch having a heart as a mark.”

“Neither have I. Elizabeth wasn’t sure what it meant for a long time, either.”

He frowned. “Are you sure you’re not a sorcerer?”

I bent to inspect the plants. “Don’t be silly, Gideon.”

“You don’t actually know, do you?”

“Gid—”

“I mean, sorcerers can learn other magic, right? So what if it is something else?”

I sighed. I wasn’t going to get out of this conversation.

“I don’t know what to think,” I admitted, looking up at him. “When I was younger, people thought it meant I had power over the human heart, but that never seemed right to me.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I don’t read people very well,” I laughed. “I never know what they’re thinking or feeling, and I’m horrible at manipulating them to get what I want. Believe me, I tried with Elizabeth my entire childhood. It never worked.”

He raised an eyebrow. “So why do you think you’re a witch and not a sorcerer?”

“When I saw my first spirit, one of the sisters in my clan—I think it was Cassandra—guessed that the heart represented a soul. Elizabeth started teaching me, and while it wasn’t easy to learn, the skills seemed to come pretty naturally. So we just kind of…went with that answer. I mean, what else could it be?”

“Well,” he said, scratching his head. “Where is it?”

The corner of my lips twitched in an awkward smile. “My leg. ”

“Can I see it?”

I blushed. “The upper half of my leg.”

“Oh.” His face turned even redder than I imagined mine was and he quickly stooped down to inspect some flowers in the grass.

“What’s your gift, Gideon?” I said quickly. “You’ve never told me. I saw your mark the night you found me, but I can’t think of what it means.”

He forced a laugh, his cheeks still flushed. “Maybe you could tell me.”

My lips curved into a smile. “You don’t know either.”

He shook his head. “Any theories?” he said, lifting up his right sleeve.

I inspected the perfect circle. “Is it supposed to represent a shield? Defensive powers?”

“My father and I already thought of that one.”

“And?”

“And he had to try hard not to kill me.”

I bit my lip. “Let’s see, something round…seeds are round, fruits are round—”

Gideon let out a loud laugh. “You make it sound like I should be a green witch.”

I placed my hands on my hips. “What’s wrong with being a witch and not a sorcerer?”

“Nothing,” he said quickly. “It’s just that I can’t even make the simplest healing potion without blowing something up or making whoever I’m trying to heal even sicker.”

He returned his attention to the plants, his easy-going nature turning more melancholy. I frowned. I could certainly relate to being discouraged about not fully understanding your gift, but it seemed like he’d already given up.

“What else is round?” I mused aloud.

“It doesn’t really matter, Kenna,” he sighed. “You asked about it and I was curious what you thought. You don’t have to—”

The clouds parted, letting the heat warm the back of my cold neck. “The sun!” I exclaimed. “The sun, stars, moon, and earth are all round!”

He stared at me. “What are you suggesting? ”

“You’ve heard of Hanson, right?” I asked. “Elizabeth used to tell me stories about him. They said he had power over the planets.”

“Yeah, and they called him World-builder,” he said. “But that’s just a legend, Kenna.”

“All legends are based in truth, right? Elizabeth said his mark was a circle—”

He snorted. “You can’t be serious.”

I opened my mouth to respond but was interrupted by a thundering sound in the distance, growing louder every second. Gideon motioned to me to remain silent and crouch down. He climbed the hill to peek over the top and his face turned white. Even without seeing it myself, I knew what he saw.

Knights.