Do you think I cant tell when a girl is lying? she demanded. I should have known from the moment you came here that you were a wicked thing, given where you came from. Ill make you properly penitent, though. Ill beat the wickedness out of you if I have to!
She turned to the others there, and Sophia hated the fact that they were still just watching, still as statues, frightened into immobility. Why werent they helping her? Why werent they at least recoiling in horror, running from the House of the Unclaimed to get as far away from the things it did as they could? They all just stood there while Sister OVenn stalked in front of them, her bloodied scourge hanging in her hand.
You come to us as nothing, as evidence of anothers sin, or as drains upon the world! the masked nun called. You leave here shaped into boys and girls ready to serve the world as you are required. This one sought to run before her indenture. She took years of safety and instruction here, and she tried to run from what it costs!
Because what it cost was the rest of the orphans lives, spent indentured to whoever could afford the cost of their upbringing. They might theoretically be able to repay the cost, but how many did that, and what did they suffer in the years it took them?
This one should have been indentured days ago! the masked nun said, pointing. Well, tomorrow, she will be. She will be sold as the ungrateful wretch that she is, and there will be no easy time for her now. There will be no kind men looking for a bought wife, or nobles looking for a servant.
That was what passed for a fine life, an easy life, in this place. Sophia hated that fact almost as much as she hated the people there. She hated the thought of what might happen to her too. Shed been about to become the wife of a prince, and now
The only ones who will want a wicked thing like this, Sister OVenn said, are cruel men with crueler aims. This girl brought it upon herself, and now she will go where she must.
Where you choose to send me! Sophia countered, because she could see from the masked nuns thoughts that she had sent for the worst people she could think of. There was a kind of torment just in being able to see that. She looked around again at each of the masked nuns there, trying to stare through the veils to reach the women beneath.
Im only going to people like that because you choose to send me. You choose to indenture us. You sell us as though were nothing!
You are nothing, Sister OVenn said, shoving the dowel back into Sophias mouth.
Sophia glared at her, reaching out to try to find some speck of humanity somewhere in there. There was nothing that she could find, only cruelty masquerading as necessary firmness, and evil pretending to be duty, without even real belief behind it. Sister OVenn just liked to hurt the weak.
She hurt Sophia then, and there was nothing Sophia could do except scream.
She threw herself against the ropes, trying to tear free, or at least find some iota of room in which to escape the scourge ripping out penitence from her. There was nothing she could do, though, except scream, begging mutely into the wood she bit into while her power sent her screams out into the city, hoping that her sister would hear them somewhere in Ashton.
There was no reply except the steady whistle of braided leather through the air and the slap of it against her bloodied back. The masked nun beat her with a seemingly interminable strength, long past the point where Sophias legs could hold her up, and past the point where she even had the strength left to scream.
At some point after that, she must have passed out, but that made no difference. By that point, even Sophias nightmares were things of violence, bringing back old dreams of a burning house and men she had to outrun. When she came back to herself, they were done, the others long gone.
Still tied in place, Sophia wept while the rain washed away the blood of her beating. It would have been easy to believe that it couldnt get worse, except that it could.
It could get so much worse.
And tomorrow, it would.
CHAPTER TWO
Kate stood above Ashton and watched it burn. She had thought that she would be happy to see it gone, but this wasnt just the House of the Unclaimed or the spaces where the dock workers kept their barges.
This was everything.
Wood and thatch caught light, and Kate could feel the terror of the people there within the wide circle of houses. Cannon roared over the screams of the dying, and Kate saw swathes of buildings falling as easily as if they were made from paper. Blunderbusses sounded, while arrows filled the air so thickly it was hard to see the sky beyond them. They fell, and Kate walked through the rain of them with the strange, detached calm that could only come from being in a dream.
No, not a dream. This was more than that.
Whatever the powers of Siobhans fountain, they ran through Kate now, and she saw death all around her. Horses ran through the streets, riders cutting downward with sabers and backswords. Screams came from all around her until they seemed to fill the city as surely as the fire did. Even the river appeared to be on fire now, although as Kate looked, she saw that it was the barges that filled the broad expanse of it, fire leaping from one to another as men fought to get clear. Kate had been on a barge, and she could guess at how terrifying those flames must be.
There were figures running through the streets, and it was easy to tell the difference between the panicked citizens of the city and the figures in ochre-colored uniforms who followed with blades, hacking at them as they ran. Kate had never seen the sack of a city before, but this was something awful. It was violence for the sake of it, with no sign of stopping.
There were lines of refugees beyond the city now, heading out with whatever possessions they could carry in long rows heading out into the rest of the country. Would they seek refuge in the Ridings or go further, out to towns like Treford or Barriston?
Then Kate saw the riders bearing down on them, and she knew that they wouldnt make it that far. There was fire at the back of them, though, so there was nowhere to run. What would it be like to be caught like that?
She knew, though, didnt she?
The scene shifted, and now Kate knew that she wasnt looking at something that might be, but something that had been. She knew this dream, because it was one that she had far too often. She was in an old house, a grand house, and there was danger coming.
There was something different this time though. There were people there, and Kate looked up at them from so far below that she knew she must have been tiny. There was a man there, looking worried but strong in a noblemans velvet, hastily thrown on, and a curled black wig discarded in his rush to deal with the situation, revealing cropped gray hair below. The woman with him was lovely but disheveled, as if it normally took her an hour to dress with the aid of servants and now shed done it in minutes. She had a kind look to her, and Kate reached out to her, not understanding why the woman didnt pick her up, when that was what she usually did.
Theres no time, the man said. And if we all try to break free, they will just follow. We need to go separately.
But the children the woman began. Kate knew now without being told that this was her mother.
They will be safer away from us, her father said. He turned to a servant, and Kate recognized her nurse. You need to get them out, Anora. Take them somewhere safe, where no one will know them. We will find them when this madness is done.
Kate saw Sophia then, looking far too young, but also looking ready to argue. Kate knew that look far too well.
No, their mother said. You have to go, both of you. There is no time. Run, my darlings. There was a crash from somewhere else in the house. Run.
Kate was running then, her hand held firmly in Sophias. There was a crash, but she didnt look back. She just kept going, out along corridors, pausing only to hide as shadowy figures passed. They ran until they found an open set of windows, heading out of the house, out into the darkness
Kate blinked, coming back to herself. The morning light above her seemed too bright, the shine of it dazzling. She tried to grab for the dream as she woke, tried to see what had happened next, but it was already fleeing faster than she could hold to it. Kate groaned at that, because she knew that the last part hadnt been a dream. It had been a memory, and it was one memory that Kate wanted to be able to see more than all the others.
Still, she had her parents faces in her mind now. She held them there, forcing herself not to forget. She sat up slowly, her head swimming with the aftermath of what shed seen.
You should take it slowly, Siobhan said. The fountains waters can have aftereffects.
She was sitting on the edge of the fountain, which looked ruined again now, not bright and fresh as it had been when Siobhan had drawn water from it for Kate to drink. She looked exactly the same as she had what must have been a night ago, even the flowers twined into her hair looking untouched, as though she hadnt moved in all that time. She was watching Kate with an expression that said nothing about what she was thinking, and the walls that she kept around her mind meant that she was a total blank, even to Kates power.
Kate tried to stand simply because she wouldnt be stopped from it by this woman. The forest around her seemed to swim as she did, and Kate saw a haze of colors around the edges of trees, stones, branches. Kate stumbled, having to rest her hand against a broken column to steady herself.
You will have to learn to listen to me if youre to be my apprentice, Siobhan said. You cant expect to be able to simply stand up after that many changes in your body.
Kate gritted her teeth and waited for the sensation of dizziness to pass. It didnt take long. Judging by her expression, even Siobhan was surprised when Kate stepped away from the support of the column.
Not bad, she said. Youre adjusting quicker than I might have thought. How do you feel?
Kate shook her head. I dont know.
Then take the time to think, Siobhan snapped back with just a hint of annoyance. I want a student who thinks about the world, rather than just reacting to it. I think thats you. Do you want to prove me wrong?
Kate shook her head again. Im getting the world seems different when I look at it.
Youre starting to see it as it is, with the currents of life, Siobhan said. You will get used to it. Try moving.
Kate took a faltering step, then another.
You can do better than that, Siobhan said. Run!
That was a little too close to Kates dreams for comfort, and she found herself wondering how much of it Siobhan had seen. She had said that she and Kate werent the same, but if they were close enough for the other woman to want to teach her, then maybe they were close enough for Siobhan to see into her dreams.
There was no time to think about that right then, because Kate was too busy running. She sprinted through the woods, her feet skimming over the moss and the mud, the fallen leaves and the broken branches. It was only as she saw the trees whipping by that she realized just how fast she was moving.
Kate leapt, and suddenly she was springing into the lower branches of one of the trees around her, as easily as if shed stepped up from a boat to a dock. Kate balanced on the branch, seeming to feel every breath of wind that moved it before it could shake her off. She hopped back down to the ground and, on impulse, moved to a heavy fallen branch that she could never have hoped to lift before. Kate felt the roughness of the bark against her hands as she gripped it, and she lifted it smoothly, hoisting it above her head like one of the strongmen at the fairs that came to Ashton every so often. She threw it, watching the branch disappear into the trees to land with a crash.
Kate heard it, and for a moment, she heard every other sound around her in the forest. She heard the rustle of leaves as small things moved under them, the chirp of birds up in the branches. She heard the scuff of tiny feet against the ground, and knew the spot where a hare would appear before it came. The sheer panoply of sounds was too much at first. Kate had to clamp her hands to her ears to keep out the drip of water from leaves, the movement of insects along bark. She clamped down on it the way shed learned to with her talent for hearing thoughts.
She returned to the spot where the ruined fountain stood, and Siobhan was there, smiling with what seemed to be a hint of pride.
What is happening to me? Kate asked.
Only what you asked for, Siobhan said. You wanted strength to defeat your enemies.
But all of this Kate began. The truth was that shed never believed so much could happen to her.
There are many forms that magic can take, Siobhan said. You will not curse your enemies or scry on them from a distance. You will not call down lightning or summon the spirits of the restless dead. Those are paths for others.
Kate raised an eyebrow. Is any of that even possible?
She saw Siobhan shrug. It doesnt matter. You have the strength of the fountain running in you now. You will be faster and stronger, your senses will be sharper. You will see things that most people cannot. Combined with your own talents, you will be formidable. I will teach you to strike in battle or from the shadows. I will make you deadly.
Kate had always wanted to be strong, but even so, she found herself a little scared by it all. Siobhan had already told her that there would be a price for all of this, and the more wonderful it seemed, the greater she suspected that price was going to be. She thought back to what shed dreamed, and she hoped that it wasnt a warning.
I saw something, Kate said. I dreamed it, but it didnt feel like a dream.
What did it feel like? Siobhan asked.
Kate was about to say that she didnt know, but she caught Siobhans expression and thought better of it. It felt like the truth. I hope not, though. In my dream, Ashton was in the middle of being razed. It was on fire, and the people were being slaughtered.
She half expected Siobhan to laugh at her for even mentioning it, or maybe she hoped for it. Instead, Siobhan looked thoughtful, nodding to herself.
I should have expected it, the woman said. Things are moving faster than I thought they would, but time is one thing even I cannot do anything about. Well, not permanently.
You know whats happening? Kate asked.
That earned her a smile that she couldnt decipher. Lets just say that I have been expecting events, Siobhan replied. There are things that I have anticipated, and things that must be done in only a short amount of time.
And you arent going to tell me whats going on, are you? Kate said. She tried to keep the frustration out of her voice by focusing on everything that she had gained. She was stronger now, and faster, so should it matter that she didnt know everything? It did though.