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

5. Plans and Promises

Chapter five

Plans and Promises

S ince we were on a beach now and not in the middle of the hills, Darius built the new shelter above ground, far enough away from the ocean and close enough to the cliffs that it wouldn’t be seen by passing ships. I requested to have my own room, a decision Shae was very unhappy about.

“Do you not like me anymore?”

“Of course I like you, Shae.”

“Then why don’t you want to share a room again?”

“It’s just—”

“Is my talking annoying you?”

“No!” I sighed. “I just need time to myself occasionally. And now that I’m the Mother white witch, I’m going to have to speak privately with Ethel and Helen from time to time, and your father might have me working on projects for him. Do you understand?”

Shae pouted. “Promise we’ll still spend time together?”

“Promise.”

When she left to help her mother find some food, I sat on the beach and buried my head in my hands.

How am I going to leave now?

It wasn’t just the attachments I was forming with Gideon and Shae—how could I leave now that I had responsibilities in the clan? Could I really just abandon them and give it all up? I wasn’t even sure what my responsibilities were as Mother white witch, aside from being part of Julius’s council and helping Helen and Ethel if they needed it. But they were both so much more experienced than I was.

I fingered the talisman around my neck. Sybil had entrusted this to me. And yet, when I closed my eyes, all I could see was her mangled body, lying with those I had already lost. Wouldn’t it be better to try to put a stop to all of this than just stay with the clan?

But even if I did decide to abandon my new responsibilities, for all I knew, we were now on a completely different island than before. The village where I’d been planning to start my journey could be far, far away, and I’d need a new plan for how to get to the main city for when the time came.

The sound of someone running up to me from behind interrupted my thoughts. I looked over my shoulder and saw ponytail-boy—Julius had called him Jonas—jumping down a hill to land on the beach, his eyes darting this way and that. When he saw me, he put a finger to his lips before taking off to the right and diving behind a boulder just large enough to hide him.

I scarcely had time to raise my eyebrows before another person appeared at the top of the hill and jumped down. It was the other Paterson boy, his brother—not that I should really call them ‘boys’ since they were both a couple years older than I was. He had green eyes and black hair that fell to just below his shoulders. It was pretty clear he was looking for his brother, but when he saw me, he stopped and smiled.

“Hey, did you see Jonas run by here?” he asked.

“Um …”

I glanced at the footprints he left in the sand, and his brother followed my gaze. He smirked, but rather than immediately running to go after Jonas, he brought his attention back to me and sat down.

“I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced—I’m Neal,” he said, extending a hand.

There was something about his smile that made me smile, too, even in the midst of my confusing thoughts. “Kenna,” I responded as I took his hand .

“So, Kenna - how does it feel?” he asked, gesturing to the talisman.

I sighed, looking down at the ground and absentmindedly drawing in the sand. “I’m not really sure …” I said awkwardly.

“Well, I for one think you’re brave to accept it,” he said, leaning back a little and looking up at the clouds. “My dad’s the Father green witch, and he’s made it pretty clear that that’s probably going to pass on to me, but honestly, I don’t want to be tied down like that.”

“Tied down?”

“Yeah—stuck here, having to help lead the clan, not being able to run out and have fun anymore,” he said with an exaggerated yawn.

I raised an eyebrow. “You don’t plan on staying with the clan?”

“Oh, I didn’t say that,” he said, sitting back up and turning to look at me more directly with those dark green eyes. “I’d just rather spend my time living while we’re young, you know? After all, who knows how much longer any of us have?”

A lump formed in my throat at that and I looked away. He seemed to sense that his comment had been a bit crass given recent events, and he cleared his throat.

“Sorry, I’m not really expressing myself well—do you want to go for a swim?”

I stared at him. “What?”

He smirked and jumped to his feet, extending a hand to help me up. “Come on, life’s short, we’re young, let’s go for a swim.”

“The water will be freezing,” I protested.

“You get used to it pretty quick.”

“Our clothes will get soaked.”

“So?”

He asked the question in such an innocent, casual way that I actually laughed.

“Aren’t you at all worried about getting sick?” I asked.

“Nah,” he said, shrugging. “Mum’s soup pretty much cures anything.”

“I thought you were looking for your brother.”

He smirked a little more. “Yeah, but you’re much prettier than him. ”

My cheeks warmed. As I stared at him in indecision, Jonas moved out from behind the boulder and started to sneak up from behind. Before I could decide whether or not to warn Neal, Jonas tackled him to the ground, and both of them rolled around in the sand shouting at each other. Their scuffling finished with Jonas on top. Neal threw a handful of sand at him and Jonas simply messed up his brother’s dark hair in response, which was apparently all it took for Neal to admit defeat.

“Enough!” he said with some annoyance. As the two of them straightened, Neal furiously tried to fix his hair. I held back a laugh.

“Thanks for keeping him distracted,” Jonas said to me with a wink.

Neal’s jaw dropped in a look of betrayal. “You were in on this?”

“What? No! I was just sitting here!” I said quickly.

“Well, you can make it up to me by having dinner with us,” Neal said, his offended expression replaced by another smile. Up until that point, I’d only ever dined with the Grison family. The Patersons had their own eating area in the previous shelter and the other white witches had kept to themselves.

“Um…sure,” I said.

“Great!” Neal said enthusiastically. Jonas elbowed him in the side, which resulted in another brief wrestling match. Shaking my head, I stood and left them to it, moving in the direction the rest of the clan had gone.

With shock I saw that Darius had almost completely finished the shelter. From first glance, it looked like just a cave set into the side of the cliff. From the outside, it reminded me of my former home, and all of the levity I’d felt talking to Neal and Jonas vanished. I swallowed the knot in my throat as I entered, looking around the new space.

Darius lowered his arms when he saw me, his exhaustion only just apparent, and forced a hesitant smile. No doubt he thought Helen should be the next Mother white witch. I felt an awkward heaviness in the air between us, but we both seemed to be pretending it wasn’t there.

“Your room’s the second one on the left,” he said, nodding toward it. “It’s already finished.”

He walked toward one of the other rooms before I could say thank you. I let out a breath as the air lightened and approached the door to enter my new room.

The fire was already lit, but it wasn’t too warm. The bed still needed bedding, and the dresser had yet to be filled, but it was a nice, cozy room. I could be comfortable in here.

For the moment.

I stood in the center of the room for a few minutes before setting down my pack and opening it. My mind still swimming with my earlier thoughts on the beach, I pulled out my summoning candles and set up the circle.

Just before I stepped inside, I heard a knock on my door and turned. Part of me wanted to just ignore it, but instead I said quietly, “Come in.”

Gideon opened the door, glancing at the candles briefly before meeting my gaze with a small smile. “Hey…I just wanted to check on you,” he said. “Are you okay?”

My lips quivered as I tried to smile back. “I’m fine,” I said. He raised an eyebrow and I sighed as I sat on the edge of the bed. “At least, I’m doing as well as can be expected.”

He slowly moved to sit down next to me, glancing again at the candles before looking ahead at the wall. For a long moment we sat in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. I could feel his quiet support and concern.

“I know you weren’t planning on staying with us,” he eventually said.

Surprised, I looked up at him. He was still looking at the wall.

“How do you know that?” I asked.

He shrugged. “You never unpacked. And I just felt like…like there was somewhere else you thought you needed to be. You get this distant look in your eyes.”

I bit my lip and looked down at my lap.

“You can tell me, you know,” he said after another moment of silence, tearing his eyes from the wall to look at me.

I hesitated, rubbing my hands on my skirt. My plan would likely sound crazy to him, and I wasn’t even sure if it was worth repeating at this point, not when everything had been upended by the knights’ attack .

“I just feel like someone needs to do something,” I finally said, meeting his gaze. “I mean, what is it going to accomplish, just constantly running and hiding? The last shelter—it should have been easy to stay hidden, but the knights found it anyway. The Slaughters are never going to stop if someone doesn’t confront the king.”

He frowned. “And you think you’re the one to do that?”

I pressed my lips together. “I just know someone has to. And there must be a reason the Giftgiver spared me when my clan was murdered.”

“Have you considered that maybe you were meant to find us?” he asked, and I was surprised to see color come to his cheeks. “I mean, you’re the Mother white witch now, not just because of what Sybil said. The talisman chose you. And…well, selfishly, I haven’t really felt like I could talk to anyone else the way I can talk to you, especially about not knowing what my gift is. I just…I think there’s a reason we’re the ones who found you…”

His voice trailed off and he looked away once more. I watched his expression, frowning slightly as I pondered what he said.

“You could be right,” I admitted quietly.

Gid sighed, looking back at me with a soft smile. “Well, whatever the reason, and whatever happens, you’re going to do great,” he said. Reaching out, he took my hand and gave it a supportive squeeze. I returned his smile with a shaky one of my own.

“Thanks,” I muttered.

He glanced at the candles again and nodded to them as he released my hand and stood. “I’ll leave you to it…see you at dinner?”

“Actually, Neal Paterson invited me to have dinner with his family tonight.”

This seemed to make Gid pause, but he gave me another smile, this one a little more forced for some reason. “I’ll see you in the morning, then. Make sure you get some rest.”

“I will. Thanks, Gid.”

As he left the room, I let out another heavy breath. Maybe he was right. Maybe I was supposed to stay here. Maybe I was supposed to help strengthen this clan, and together we could come up with some sort of solution.

But for the moment, I turned my thoughts to other matters. Pushing myself up from the bed, I moved into the center of the circle and closed my eyes, whispering the Sacred Words of Passage. They’d become more and more familiar to me as I’d spent time visiting Elizabeth, and soon enough I was standing before the Golden Gates once more.

It wasn’t a surprise to see Sybil near the gates. Her youth in spirit form had changed her. She looked much happier, even given the fact that she had just been murdered. She was speaking with others waiting at the gates, her smile bringing a brightness and beauty to her expression and visage. When I recalled the bitter old woman I had known, it was hard to believe that her beauty had once been so overwhelming.

Slowly, I approached. Sensing my mortal spirit, other spirits stepped aside to allow me to pass. As I drew closer, Sybil turned her head and her eyes met mine. Her smile brightened even more and she moved towards me.

“I must admit, I didn’t expect to see you here so soon,” she said. “But I’m glad. Is everyone all right?”

I nodded. “Yes, thanks to you.”

She shook her head. “I never could have held them off effectively without your help.”

There was a knot in my throat. Even though we hadn’t gotten along in my few days in the clan, it was still emotional to know that she had sacrificed herself for us. And here she was, thanking me for the small part I played. It felt unfair.

“Sybil…” I started awkwardly after another moment. “Are you…are you sure I’m supposed to be the new Mother? I know the talisman has its own magic, but I’m only seventeen. I don’t even know everything I’m supposed to do…”

“Kenna, what you did down there—summoning spirits that had already passed—that was incredible,” she interrupted. “In all my years, I’ve never heard of anyone doing such a thing. I had no doubt the talisman would choose you once I was gone.”

I shifted where I stood and looked down at the clouds beneath my feet. Sensing that I was still unsure, Sybil added, “As far as what you’re supposed to do, Julius will help you. So will the talisman. Your main role is to support the other white witches and the clan in general. Make sure they are taken care of and have the spell components they need. Help Julius make decisions for the safety and betterment of the clan. Oh, and keep a record of our history—I passed mine on to Helen when everyone was packing, assuming she would be the one to take on the mantle.”

“Keep a record?” I asked. I had seen Elizabeth write frequently while I was growing up, that much was true, but I always assumed it was notes for herself. I hadn’t realized there was a history written of our people—a history that was now lost and destroyed thanks to the knights.

Sybil nodded. “It’s tradition. Like Kindra and the Mothers of old.”

Kindra . “The wife of Hanson?” I said in recognition. My eyes widened a bit as I thought more about it and added, “Hanson, the one that had power over the planets generations ago?”

“That’s right.”

“So it’s more than just a story?” I asked hopefully.

“Oh, it’s definitely more than just a story. My former clan used to have copies of some of Kindra’s writings. They were left behind when we fled from the Orkeian knights, unfortunately, but they were very real. She set the precedent for us to keep records of our people and pass them down to the next leaders. That will be one of your responsibilities now.”

Slowly, I nodded. The responsibility already felt overwhelming, but Sybil’s calm demeanor soothed me. I felt like I finally understood why the talisman chose her to be the Mother white witch while she was alive. I wondered if her cold nature had been the result of hardships she faced in life, and now that she was relieved of them she was free to show the care and compassion she had really felt for those around her—the care and compassion that had led her to give up her life to keep them safe .

“Thank you,” I said. “If you meet another white witch, a woman named Elizabeth, will you please let her know I’d like to speak with her again soon?”

I took a moment to describe her, and Sybil assured me she would relay the message if she could. As I returned to my body in the summoning circle, the weight of the amount of magic I’d expended in the past few hours suddenly hit me. With a groan, I closed my eyes and moved to the stone bed, not even caring about how hard it was as I finally did what Gideon suggested and laid down to rest.