The Channel (The Gifted Book 2) (27 page)

Randell watched the commander and knew he was struggling to believe what Rhea was saying, but decided to ignore him for the moment. "Do you think he's watching us now?" he asked.

"I can't be sure he's not." Rhea looked at her watch, 11:15 p.m. "We're still in sync, so he could be. He can reenter Luxatra in the next five or six hours, if he hasn't done so already. He could be any place by now."

"What are you talking about? Watching us from where?" Commander Nauylor interrupted. If she talked of fairy tales again … he didn't know what he would do.

It was time to bring the commander into their fold. She needed his trust and cooperation, and the only way to get that was to be open with him, to an extent. "Commander, have you heard of the world of shadows?"

He didn't respond. There it was.
She was going to try and make a fool of him.

Taulin could see the commander's resistance to believe. "You've heard the tales of people disappearing into other worlds."

"Those are children's stories, fairy tales." His face was painted with skepticism.

"What if they weren't fairy tales?" Daen offered.

"Commander, the world of shadows is real," Rhea continued. "It's where I was raised. It's where I've lived all this time. It's possible to see into Luxatra from the world of shadows, as well as pass between the worlds. I believe whoever is behind these attacks is using the other world to spy on Luxatra and to move quickly from one place to another."

Commander Nauylor didn't take his eyes off Rhea. "And that's what you were doing out there, looking into another world?"

Rhea nodded.

The commander became distressed.
Should he believe her? What if what she was saying was true?
"Do you know what this means? Unless we can see the openings from this side, we'll never know if someone is watching." He was genuinely upset, and Rhea didn't blame him.

"If it helps, there are times a Luxatran standing in the world of shadows can't see into Luxatra. A day in the world of shadows lasts twenty-four hours. The times one can see into this world depend on the time of year, the position of the moon relative to the sun, the environment, the weather, and just plain luck.

"Not all moon shadows create an opening. The opportunities to pass between the worlds are even fewer. Luxatra's dark period has to be in sync with the other world's night for that to happen. Since Luxatra has a thirty-hour day, this isn't always the case. In other words, you can see Luxatra from the world of shadows, but you can't touch it or pass through to it."

Commander Nauylor's eyes darted around the tent.
Moon? Sun? Shadows? What was she talking about?

"I checked," Rhea continued, "and I don't see any openings in here."

He looked at her with frustration. "You aren't like any Luxatran I've known. Your gifts ... they are many. How did you come to be in this other world?"

Rhea looked at Randell for his assessment of the commander.

"I don't see anything wrong at the moment," said Randell, but his expression suggested caution.

"Commander, I can't share any more than I have right now. I'm sorry. I know it's asking a lot to trust me, but that's exactly what I'm doing. Our only goal is to save Luxatra's way of life. Change should never be initiated under false pretenses, and that, I believe, is what's happening."

Their eyes were locked as he considered her plea. "I will trust you for now, but I will have my answers."

The sound of hooves pounding the earth intruded on their discussion. When they exited the tent to investigate, Haurld and Danbr were dismounting, along with six other Sentran warriors.

Haurld approached the commander. "The station commander sent these men to help escort the prisoners back to the cells."

The commander turned to Taulin. "Do you want a say in how these men are handled? They attacked us but impersonated your warriors."

"What will become of them?" Taulin asked.

"I suspect they'll be given a chance to defend their actions. Given the number of witnesses, I doubt they'll win their arguments. Punishment for attempting to kill Sentran warriors is death."

"Very well." He located Bandon standing nearby. "Strip them of our uniforms."

"Yes, sir. Did you want to keep the uniforms?"

Taulin shook his head. "Burn them."

"Commander." Mearlin shouted as he and Barty dragged the archer and would-be assassin back into the camp. "He has something to say."

The man lay on the ground in pain, begging, "Kill me."

Commander Nauylor studied the man. "Tell me what I want to know, and I'll ease your pain."

The man nodded.

"Who were you working for?" Naylor asked.

"We never knew his name. He appears out of nowhere, gives the orders, then disappears. We never know when he'll show or what he'll do when he does."

The commander looked at Randell. "Well?"

Randell nodded. "He's telling the truth."

"Do any of you have questions for this man?"

Daen stepped closer. "Where has he appeared, exactly?"

"I've seen him twice in a back room of the Lamp Light Tavern in Cauhill." He took a ragged breath.

Rhea looked at Daen to see if he had any more questions, but Daen shook his head. She knelt and took the man's hand in hers, his energy was dwindling. An odd sense of peace came over her and she knew. "I can ease your pain." As she said the words, she felt the Libraim flow through her and into him.

The man's breathing eased, his body relaxed, and he was gone.

The commander stepped closer. "What just happened?"

Rhea stood. "I can't say." And she really couldn't. She was truly a channel for what the Libraim wanted.

The commander stared at her. "But you know."

Rhea didn't look at Commander Nauylor. She simply nodded to affirm his statement, but she wasn't going to explain.

The shouts of anger from the false warriors prevented Rhea's thoughts from lingering on what had just happened. All heads turned towards Bandon and the impostors as he stripped them of the stolen uniforms.

"Will you have us freeze?" One of the men growled while he sat tied up on the ground.

Bandon yanked hard on the doublet to finish its removal. "It's your own fault for wearing something that isn't yours." He tossed the piece of the uniform into the pile he was creating.

"Please," One of the impostors pleaded. "Can I at least have the blanket I sleep on? It's tied to my saddle."

Bandon straightened his back and glanced to Taulin to see if he would be granting any favors, but it wasn't Taulin who interceded.

The commander ordered Haurld to bring any clothing the impostors might have with their belongings.

Daen watched Bandon and Haurld bring order to the impostors with blankets and miscellaneous garments found on their horses. He leaned towards Randell. "You ready to play lie detector?"

Randell nodded as he took in the scene in front of him. The dark auras, the dirty, smelly bodies, the barbarism he'd witnessed in this world were hard to swallow at times.

Commander Nauylor stepped closer to the men tied and sitting on the ground. "Which one of you wants to talk?"

None of the impostors bothered to even look at him, none except the smaller one who had asked for his blanket to ward off the cold. He lifted his eyes to meet the commander's stone face and quickly looked down to his feet.

The commander saw his slight indication of cooperation and jumped on it. "Fine. If you are going to be like that, we will have to do this the hard way." He pointed at the small man. "You there. You will be first. Haurld! Bring him this way."

The commander walked past the tents and into the forest for about fifty yards before turning to face the wide eyes of the obviously, frightened man.

Rhea watched as Randell and Daen followed the commander into the forest, not wanting to witness what might be done to extract information from the prisoner.

Taulin stepped closer to Rhea, putting himself between the other impostors and Rhea. They watched from a distance, and reluctantly waited for the cries of agony to begin.

Haurld released the small man, causing him to fall forward onto his hands and knees. He glanced around to see Randell and Daen standing behind him, stone faced, revealing nothing regarding their role in the upcoming interrogation.

Commander Nauylor folded his arms over his chest. "Go ahead. You have something to say?"

The small man got to his feet and nodded with enthusiasm, but he didn't say anything.

"Go on spill it," Naylor demanded. "Who are you working for?"

"We don't know his name, except you don't want to cross him."

Daen moved closer. "And why is that?"

"'Cause all he has to do is touch you, and you're a goner. He can appear out of nowhere, and you don't have a chance."

Daen mimicked the commander's stance. "Why the raids? Why attack innocent people?"

"We were told to. I didn't want to, but it was that or …" He dropped his head. "The others, they like what they do," he muttered.

"Where did you meet the man who hired you?" Naylor asked.

The captive didn't lift his head. "Drunsaur."

The commander's muscles flinched at the name of the town, a southern Sentran town. It was the second Sentran location named by an attacker.

He thought of Commander Marric, his counterpart in the south, and wondered what he might know. As for Cauhill's connection to this so-called
troublemaker
, that was his responsibility, and it pained him to know such activity was happening in the region he commanded.

Daen glanced at Commander Nauylor, observing his reaction. He wasn't happy about what the small man had said, but he was glad that it was no longer just his word that accused Sentran of being the origin and host of such activity.

"How many teams of false warriors are there?" Naylor continued.

The small man shook his head and lifted his eyes to the commander. "I don't know. Honestly, I don't."

The sounds of two people approaching got everyone's attention. Taulin stepped into the small clearing. "Where did you get the uniforms?"

"They was given to us. There was a pile of them that we were to choose from."

Rhea positioned herself close to Randell and watched.

"You try to get anything out of the others?" Randell whispered to her.

Rhea nodded. "But they're singing the same song as Bestian. They don't know who hired them, and their motivation comes from the fear of death. And of course, they offered to send us to hell a few times." She shrugged. "You know ... same old, same old."

Randell stifled a laugh. Rhea's attitude had definitely toughened up since the day they'd met in class.

"Did you see any Sentran uniforms in the pile?" The commander asked.

The small man shook his head. "No."

Nauylor looked at Haurld. "Take this man back to the others and prepare them to be transported to the cells."

The small man dropped to his knees. "Oh, please, don't put me in the cells. I answered your questions, the ones I could."

The commander knew what the others would do to a snitch. The small man groveling at his feet wouldn't last long in a shared cell with the other seasoned robbers and murders in the bunch.

"Haurld. See that he's kept separated from the others."

As they returned to the camp, Daen recommended that they get word to Taulomi and Laundan as well.

"You'll find what you need to write your messages on the table in my tent," Naylor offered. "Just bring them to me when you're ready."

Taulin nodded. "Thank you."

Rhea reminded Daen that Gaibel would be in the south quadrant station, awaiting word. He wrote on the tiny strip of parchment: 'Queen notified of Rhea and false warriors' and addressed it Gaibel at the south quadrant station.

Taulin's message skipped the part about Rhea but advised: 'More impostors caught. In Sentran now' and addressed it to his father.

As they prepared their messages to Taulomi and Laundan, the Sentran warriors tied the prisoners to the horses they had found corralled a short distance from the camp. When they were ready, the commander gave orders to have Taulin's and Daen's messages sent by bird as soon as they arrived in Cauhill.

As the guards and the prisoners were leaving, the commander turned to Rhea. "It's late. You're welcome to use my tent. It should give you some privacy."

Before she could politely decline, not wanting special treatment, Daen gave her a look, indicating that she shouldn't refuse.

Rhea went along, reluctantly. "Thank you, Commander."

"I'll just get my things." The commander stepped into his tent and retrieved the few personal items he had and placed them in the next tent over where he would share with one of his men.

"You are Sentran royalty," Daen whispered in her ear. "It is expected that you will sleep in a tent if one is available."

She spoke out of the corner of her mouth. "I could have taken a smaller one." It was her fault. She was the one who told the commander who she was. Now she had to play the part. She felt bad leaving her friends out in the open, but that didn't last.

The commander returned and addressed the remainder of Rhea's party. "If you don't mind sharing, those two tents are available for you to use." The commander pointed to the two tents to the right of where Rhea would be sleeping.

Daen and Randell took one tent, and Taulin took the other. Bandon slept outside the entrance to Taulin's tent.

28
Runes

It was still dark when Rhea awoke only having dozed for a few hours. She hadn't really wanted to sleep for fear she would dream, but her body had had other plans.

She formed an energy ball for light and looked at her watch. It read 5:00 a.m. A quiet groan escaped her lips. Her inner clock was still tuned to a twenty-four hour day. If she were home, she would be getting up to go for an early morning run.

She lay with her eyes closed, listening to the sounds of the forest, the men on guard duty walking the perimeter of the camp, and the snoring from the other tents. Her mind raced through all the experiences she'd had since learning she was from Luxatra.