The Unspoken: Book One in the Keres Trilogy (36 page)

“
Keres, dear, don
’
t you want a treat?
”
one of The Mothers says while she rearranges the cushions around me and turns on the lamp.

I jump up with a,
“
thank you,
”
and a quick,
“
yes, please,
”
and hurry over to the fireplace to join Harc in ooing and ahing over the chocolate. When The Mothers finally leave the common room, we put down the skewers and Frehn picks up his fiddle again. All of us exhale in collective relief. No reasons to watch the notice board for punishments in the morning.

Doe curls around Frehn
’
s feet, Merit and Harc sit on the hearth so close to each other you couldn
’
t shove a piece of paper between them. Wex sinks onto the floor. He reaches up putting his hand in mine and pulls me down into his lap encircling me with his arms, his nose tickling the little curls of hair around my ear. I lean into him listening to Frehn
’
s song, smelling the toasted marshmallows and watching Doe sway to the music as she gazes up at Frehn. What was I thinking when I decided to let them go without me? There aren
’
t five people on earth more important to me than the ones in this room. I am the only one who can protect them- from The Mothers, from the Unspoken if they follow us, from the strange creatures in the woods- from everything. Even if they escape The Mothers, they wouldn
’
t last two days against beasts like the hecates. Catalyst or not, there
’
s no way I
’
m sending them to face their deaths alone. If we die, we die together. And it won
’
t be at the hands of The Mothers.

In the Warren the next morning, I head straight for the target range. Loshee is already there practicing with her staff against an unending stream of overlarge barrel-chested dogs. I watch her quietly from the door until the run is over. Her braids swing as though caught up in a crosswind. For someone so small, she covers a huge amount of space between magus throws. Spinning and flipping as if war is a dance performance, she twists and bends creating beautiful lines with her body as different colors of light leave her palms and staff. The lights of magus explode like fireworks when they come in contact with their targets. She
’
s using more flash than force, but if her targets are human, they will be transfixed by her movement. Just as I am now.

The last dog erupts in a shower of fire and purple sparks as Loshee
’
s magus hits it in the chest. The force of impact sends a wind around the room, and it grinds across my forehead like hot sand.

“
Hiya,
”
Loshee says, straightening up. Her eyes change from wild to teasing the instant she sees me in the door.
“
Saw your Play Group at breakfast this morning.
”

“
I didn
’
t see you,
”
I answer.

“
That
’
s because you were looking too closely at someone else, someone with biceps the size of tree trunks. How did you get all the luck landing in a PG with two out of three guys who are drool-worthy?
”

“
Uh-
”
I stumble over words trying to think of something to say. It
’
s common knowledge that Wex and Frehn are the envy of every girl in our year. They wish Wex and Frehn were in their Play Groups so they would have a chance at being Banded to them, but that
’
s as far as any talk goes.

“
They are just kids, of course. But the chances of them going backwards up the ugly pipe are next to nil. By the time they are eighteen, I
’
ll be shocked if someone hasn
’
t gotten a handful.
”

My entire face and neck have to be beet red. Embarrassment from partially understanding her meaning covers me in confusion. I fumble with my wristbows, trying to buckle and unbuckle them at the same time. Loshee eyes me attentively for a moment.

“
Listen,
”
she starts,
“
just because The Mothers dictate who we are Banded to, doesn
’
t mean we aren
’
t all feeling the same things. And a Banded partner who is forced on me is not stopping me from noticing, and acting, on what I feel. Same goes for most everyone.
”
She shrugs,
“
Just gotta be sure they don
’
t catch on.
”

“
You mean, you kiss boys you aren
’
t Banded to? Who aren
’
t even in your Play Group?
”
My mind is reeling. The only real kiss I have ever gotten resulted in a two year solitary confinement. Frehn kisses me all the time on the cheek and hands. He
’
s been paying more attention to me since I have started gathering ink. Each time his lips come in contact with my skin, I break out in goosebumps.

Loshee just laughs and grabs my wrists to fix the mess I
’
ve made of the straps.
“
Keres, open your eyes. The Mothers can
’
t control what anyone thinks and feels, just our actions when we get caught. So we don
’
t get caught. Tree Trunk Arms serves in the mines right? Listen to some of his stories and songs sometime. Really listen. They
’
ll tell you everything you need to know. All set,
”
she gives my hip a pat,
“
Let
’
s see what you can do with two arms of ink. Try combining multiple nerve groups for one magus to send through the wristbows or send one magus pull through both wristbows at the same time, see what that gets ya.
”

Loshee pushes me to the limit in combinations and tumbling around the room to keep from being hit by oncoming targets. She shows me how to throw magus mid-somersault while blocking advancing targets. By noon I am able to throw various combinations of magus. One of my favorites from the day is the sharp curved knives which cover the target in a thick layer of ice, created by pulling from the double blade dagger tattoo on my lower right arm and the face blowing snow and frost on my upper arm.

Walking to the canteen for lunch, I become acutely aware of people. I have never looked beyond PG3456 before. Our group was enough for me, enough for each of us. Now, as I walk the streets of Chelon, it is apparent that we are the exception rather than the rule. Pairs of men and women covertly hold hands and touch each other, others simply look on in a daze. Girls and women giggle to their friends as men walk by and smile at them. When a Mother comes into sight, everyone in the vicinity instantly, seamlessly melds into their groups of six. As The Mother passes on, the pretense is dropped and everyone relaxes back into cross-Play Group interaction.

“
What are you looking at, Keres?
”
Frehn has come up beside me without my noticing.

“
People. I
’
ve never really seen them before.
”

“
I can tell you anything you want to know. I
’
ve been watching them my whole life.
”
And he has, looking for his twin. He was always watching people while looking for Sotter.

“
Do they actually have friends outside of their Play Groups?
”

“
All the time.
”

“
Why don
’
t we?
”

“
Don
’
t need to, we got lucky. We are the best looking PG in the city. We are also the most intelligent. We all get along. We don
’
t need to find stimulation outside of the six of us.
”

“
Stimulation?
”

“
Keres, do we need to have the procreation talk again? You see a boy has a-
”

“
NO!
”
I say loudly, with firm decision,
“
I mean, no. No, I don
’
t need to hear about procreation again.
”

“
Do you want to know about kissing?
”
his voice is low and intensely deep all of a sudden.

“
I-
”
I don
’
t know what to say. My palms are clammy and Frehn is exceptionally close to me.
“
I do, yes. But not about the way Banded partners go about it. I mean, do people truly kiss each other outside of their own PG? Have you?
”

Frehn pulls me behind a building into a clump of thick trees and swings me around so my back is against an elm. He leans one hand on the trunk and sort of purrs in my ear,
“
Maybe.
”

“
Why? Why not just kiss us? I can
’
t even imagine what The Mothers would do if they caught you with someone outside our Play Group. At least if it was Harc or Doe or me, it would be a simple, straightforward, non-painful, consequence. I mean, you
’
ll be Banded to one of us eventually and you
’
ll have to kiss us then.
”

“
Maybe none of you have wanted to kiss me yet. Maybe somebody else did. Maybe I wanted a kiss so badly, I couldn
’
t say no,
”
his voice turns to gravel and I can smell the mine on him, sweat and rock. The gold dust on his neck glimmers a little in the late afternoon sun. His mouth is as close to mine as Wex
’
s was last night.

“
Don
’
t you love Doe?
”
I ask.

“
More than anything.
”

“
Then why are you kissing other girls?
”

“
Because she doesn
’
t love me. Not that way. She idolizes me like one of the ancient gods and that
’
s not what I want, godlike as I am.
”

“
What do you want? Assuming you have a choice.
”