Token (Token Chronicles) (20 page)

“What is it Briel? What is so important?”

“Kincaid,” she says to me. “Tell him what you just told me. About your father.”

“Why?”

“Just trust me. He will want to know. He will be able to help.”

The genuineness radiates in her voice. I am going to trust her and her promise of help, even if it means telling a man who would almost rather have me dead than alive.

As I stare into Magnus’s eyes, I say, “My father had the ability to control the elements of the natural world. He could control all forms of Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. I am supposed to inherit those same abilities upon my sixteenth birthday. A birthday, which was only a few days ago.”

Magnus cautiously walks up to me and kneels down and starts closely inspecting my face. His face is only inches away from mine. His rough hands begin to slowly touch my cheeks, my forehead, my nose. He stops and looks directly into my eyes with both hands still on my cheeks, and his demeanor changes immediately.

“My God. You have his eyes. You have your mother’s good looks, but there is no mistaking, you have his eyes.”

“You knew my father?” I ask.

“Your father was Jackson Maddox?”

“Yes, at least that is what my mother told me.”

“Your mother? She is still alive? How is it possible? How are you even here? I saw your father die.”

“I only just found out. I told you the truth. I was a Token my whole life until recently. My mother has been operating under the cloak of being the wife of an Elitist. She told me everything after she bought me back at auction.”

“Please, continue boy,” he says as he sits down drawn into hearing the rest of my story.

“Well, my mother was already pregnant with me when my father was assassinated. She did not even know herself.”

“This can’t be,” he says in disbelief. “She and the nurse disappeared without saying anything to me. I could have brought them here. I knew Rhetta though, I am sure she was trying to be noble. If they caught her, she knew I would not be caught with her. But you said you were a Token? Why?”

“She said she gave me up to protect me. She knew that if Cromus or Laurel found out she was pregnant with Jackson’s child, they would kill me or use me for their own personal gain. So she gave me up to the Hawk Islands to become a Token knowing my identity would be lost there.”

“Kincaid, tell him the other part,” Briel says.

“She has been forming a new army. A new rebellion to go up against Cromus. I will be leading this army once I fully develop my abilities.”

“You plan on using your abilities?”

“If it means I can put an end to Cromus’s reign, I have to do what is necessary. No matter what consequences fall on me. I won’t make the same mistake as my father.”

“You do realize this is not a gift, it is a curse.”

“I understand, but if it means I can help all the citizens of Knav, how can I say no? I have to do this.”

“Very well, but you’re not going to be able to do it alone. You’re going to need my help. There were very few people your father confided in. Myself and your mother. But he told me things he could not share with your mother. He battled himself for years to suppress those abilities. He was afraid he would hurt others. But he told me he thought there is a way to control it. To be able to access that part of you, without losing touch with the reality of being mortal. It was only a theory of course, but if you are willing to listen, we can try to work together to hone your abilities. To give you the tools you will need to defeat Grodar without letting the power consume you. Would you be willing to work with me?”

“Whatever it takes,” I say valiantly.

He pulls out the keys from his pocket and takes my cuffs off. I extend my wrists out stretching, glad to be unshackled.

“Very well. We will begin first thing tomorrow morning. You have been through a lot the past couple of days. Briel, why don’t you show him around, and bring him to an empty room. Let him get cleaned up. We are going to have community dinner tonight to celebrate. I would be much obliged if you would attend Kincaid.”

“Of course,” I agree.

“Once again, I am so sorry for all of this. I hope you can forgive me.”

He extends his hand for a shake, and I graciously reciprocate. If he can actually help me hone my abilities, I am more than happy to forgive him. I probably would have done the same thing had I been in his shoes. Magnus leaves the cell hurriedly, and Briel stays in the cell staring at me in disbelief.

“Wow, I have not seen him that worked up in a while. Well, come on. Aren’t you curious to get the grand tour?”
Right now, all I can really recall was what I saw as we rode in, but I was barely conscious at the time. I do remember their lagoon that looked so similar to mine and Hadley’s. I would like to see it again to check and see whether or not my mind was playing tricks on me.

“Before we go, do you think maybe I could get some dry clothes since you kind of drenched these?,” I ask as I gesture towards my dripping attire.

She laughs at me. “I am sorry about that. But I got you to talk didn’t I? And now you are free. So if anything, I think you owe me a big thank you,” she says in a smug tone. “Follow me. I think I know someone about your size who will have some clothes for you.”

We leave my cell, and I follow her down several corridors. All of the walls and floors seem to be made of the same cold gray stone. The temperature is warm down here, almost humid. We stop when we reach a hall containing numerous shoddy wooden doors.

“These are our quarters. Everyone lives in these hallways.”

The hall is pretty long with other halls intersecting perpendicularly, and there are a lot of doors, but I cannot imagine this is a very big community. Maybe the crowd of people I saw when the doctor was working on me was all. It could not have been more than fifty.

We stop at the sixth door on the right. Briel begins to bang on the door and yells out, “Open up Ollie. Come on. I know you are in there.”

The door opens with a tall black-headed boy who looks as if he just woke up. He may be my height, but he looks about twelve years old.

“What is it Briel? You know I have to be a Gatekeeper tonight?”

“I know, but Kincaid here is in need of some dry clothes, and you two are about the same size.”

He looks at me confused. I reach my hand out ready to greet him.

“Is this the outsider we threw in prison? Why is he out?”
“Don’t worry about it. Just go get the clothes.”

“Fine,” he says annoyed. He comes back and throws a shirt and pair of pants at me and shuts the door in our faces.

Briel takes me to an empty room so I can get dressed. I neatly lay out my wet clothes so they can dry. As I come back out to finish our tour, I say, “Well, your friend is quite pleasant.”

 “I know. He can be moody sometimes, but we did just wake him up. He has to go work at the gate tonight. You remember where we came in at, right?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Well, we all have jobs to do around here. Some of us are sent out as foragers for food. Some of us are in charge of cooking. Some of us are Gatekeepers.”

“What do you do?”

“Well, I prefer to forage because I get tired of staying down here all the time. I love the outside, but we all rotate jobs from time to time.”

“Well, let’s hope you are not as grumpy of a Gatekeeper as Ollie is.”

We begin to start walking out of the hallway, but she does not say anything at first. She just keeps walking with her head down as we continue to proceed down an unfamiliar hall.

“I am sorry. I didn’t mean to say anything to upset you about your friend. He just was not very nice.”

“No, it’s not that, it’s just…”

“What is it?”

“Well, he is technically my fiancé. I am supposed to marry him when we are both old enough.”

“Do you not want to marry him?”

“Well, he is a nice enough boy and all, but I just don’t feel anything for him. He is four years younger than me. Maybe my feelings will change over time.”
“How old are you?”

“17. I was born down here right before the Vurthoes Rebel forces were destroyed. My mother died giving birth to me. My father was off fighting with your father and mother. He didn’t find out until he came back. It has just been me and him together all these years. There are not many of us down here. I am the oldest of our generation, Ollie is the next oldest. They have paired many of us off already. There are not a lot of children here.”

“I am sorry,” I reply. “I believe you should only be with someone because of love. Nothing else matters.”

“Have you ever been in love?”

“Yes. Her name is Hadley.”

“Where is she now?”

“I don’t know. We were both Tokens raised on the same Island. She was sold before me to a different camp. She very well could be waiting on me when I get back to my camp. My mother promised me she would get her back. But it’s complicated. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay. But for what it is worth, I bet she is there waiting for you when you get back. I just know it.”

If Briel is right, then Benja will be dead. I push the thought out of my mind quickly.

“Maybe,” I say trying to sound hopeful.

“Do you really think the new Rebellion will be successful? Do you think you can really win?”

“If your father is able to help me, I like our chances.”

“I hope so. I would like that. To not have to be afraid anymore. To be free to live outside. To have the opportunity to fall in love. Yes, freedom sounds nice.”

“I want it for you too,” I say as I put my hand on her shoulder. She has a way of staring at me that makes me forget where I am for a second.

When I look away, I realize we had come out of the hallway and were back in the room with the familiar lagoon.

“Well, this is our main floor. Almost everything is located down here.”

We begin to descend down the steps to take a closer look. Those people that are still bustling about continue to look at me with fear in their eyes.

“Don’t worry about them,” she says. “They are just afraid of what they don’t know.”

We begin to walk over to the cooking area where an intriguing aroma is delicately hanging in the air.

“Aunt Nilly, what’s on the menu for tonight?” Briel asks as she jumps into a wooden chair at a table close to the cooking area. I grab the seat right next to her.

An older woman with her graying hair wrapped up in a bun turns around with a dazzling smile.

“Well, I was going to make a rabbit stew from one of the critters we caught yesterday, but your father has requested us to prepare the deer tonight. I think he is planning a festivity, and I am guessing it is on the account of this young man. And you are?”

I respond, “Kincaid, ma’am.”

I take the hand she has extended out as she introduces herself.

“My name is Nilly, Briel’s beautiful and quite young aunt I may add,” she says in a theatrical manner

“Nice to meet you,” I say chuckling.

Briel interrupts, “What time do you think it will begin tonight?”

“Shouldn’t be any more than a couple of hours, I’d imagine.”

“Alright, we will be back by then. Come on let’s go,” she says quickly as she grabs my hand and starts pulling me away.

We begin to leave the main floor, but I can still feel many eyes boring into my back as I walk away.

“Bye,” Nilly yells as we are already making our way off the main floor.

“Where are we going?” I ask once we are out of hearing distance.

“Just saving you from Nilly. She is not my real aunt, just an old family friend. But she has always been very protective of me, especially since my mom died. She has known Ollie since he was a baby and still doesn’t approve of him for me. She probably would have kept you there and questioned you for hours since you are with me.”

“That’s nice. To have family looking out for you I mean.”

“So you just met your mother? Must be exciting for you after all those years.”

“I thought it would be. I had so many images of her in my head over the years. But she definitely isn’t what I expected. She may be my mother, but she is not my family.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I am having trouble loving her. I don’t know if I can forgive her. She abandoned me to the life of a slave. How could someone do that to their own child? Your father went into hiding. He protected you. My mother could have done the same, but instead, she decided to discard me like a piece of trash.”

“You know, you may be surprised at what people would do to protect those they care about. She did what she thought was best to save your life. You are alive, aren’t you? She bought you back. Just give it time. You get a second chance with your mom. I wish I could be so lucky.”

“I am sorry, Briel. That was inconsiderate of me.”

“It’s okay. I love my father very much. From the stories, I have heard over the years, your father was a great man too. He admired him. I am sorry you never got to meet him.”

“Me too.”

“How about we go do something fun? We have a couple of hours before dinner. What do you say?”

“Sounds good.”

She stops in the middle of the dimly lit hallway and drops to a knee. She rolls away a stone revealing the presence of an opening big enough to fit a person.

“Where does that go?” I ask.

“Well, won’t that just ruin the fun of it? You trust me, right? I will be right behind you.”

“You mean you want me to get in there?”

“Well, yeah. It will be fun. I promise.”

I walk over to the hole and slowly begin to climb in feet first. I look back up to Briel and ask, “Are you sure about this?”

“Absolutely,” she says as she gives me a push, and I go flying down the chute. I see the light at the end of the slide, and I come flying out and find myself in midair plummeting towards a large body of water. I plunge in feet first, and come back up quickly for air. I can hear Briel’s screams of excitement as she comes flying out of the same chute landing in the water right next to me creating a big splash.

When she comes up for the air, she has the biggest smile on her face.

“I am glad to see you can swim,” she says. “I didn’t know if I was going to have to save you or not.”