Si glyph [https://i.imgur.com/mHhTdaF.png]

The door of the storeroom was shut when Simon arrived, and there was no response to his knock. Grace and his mother followed him in.

Grace eyed the gas tanks. ‘This is where you’ve been living?’

‘I didn’t have much choice.’ He ushered them to the table. ‘Sit down, please.’ He glanced around. ‘Nana,’ he called. ‘Lorie? Sam?’

Silence answered. His gut stirred uneasily. Nana and the children should have returned from the market hours ago. Had they gone out again? Gone looking for him? The steel plates remained on the table exactly as he’d left them, including the one he’d scratched a brief message on. No one had disturbed them.

The usually bustling corridors of the undercity had seemed quiet on the way here. He’d put the tense atmosphere down to his own nerves, but now he was certain something was wrong.

‘I have to go,’ he said. ‘My family ought to be here. I have to find them. Grace, will you stay and look after my mother?’

‘I’d rather come with you,’ Grace said.

He opened his mouth to protest.

‘Don’t think of leaving me behind,’ said his mother.

Simon rubbed his brow. His head still ached and he was too tired to argue. ‘All right. Together.’

L glyph [https://i.imgur.com/2vwU4yB.png]

Lorie sank down to sit on the edge of the pool. Steam rising from the hot water warmed her back, and for the moment, no one wanted her to fetch water or bandages or bedding. Weary muscles relaxed.

Of the initial crowd of refugees from the riot, about half had left once they were patched up and calmed down. Eleven remained of the more seriously injured, all now settled with pallets and blankets on the entrance hall floor. Nana and a Warden were tending to the southron woman with the stomach wound: judging from the hushed discussion, she wasn’t likely to live.

A woman with a bandaged head stirred. ‘Mari?’ She gazed around wildly. ‘Where are you? Mari?’

Lorie rose and went to her. It was the woman with the child, she realised, the one she had rescued in the market. ‘It’s all right. She’s safe. The Wardens are looking after her.’

‘You.’ The woman stared at her, eyes wide. ‘I saw what you did. Get away from me.’ Her voice rose to a shriek. ‘Get away from me. You’re a demon, a demon’s in you. You killed him. You’ll kill us all.’

Lorie backed away. Still the woman screamed and everyone was staring at her, at both of them.

‘What’s going on here?’ Nana asked sharply. She stalked over to the woman. ‘My granddaughter saved your life, you ungrateful bitch. Don’t you dare say such things.’

If anyone hadn’t noticed before, Nana’s strident announcement would have woken them for sure. Now they all stared at Lorie as if she were a monster.

Lorie put a hand on Nana’s arm. ‘Please don’t, Nana. She’s hurt and scared.’

‘I don’t care how scared she is. By the time I’m through with her she’ll be a damned sight more scared.’

Two Wardens bustled over. While one calmed the hysterical woman, the other steered Nana and Lorie away from the patients. ‘I think we should talk,’ she said. Even without the mask, her face was strangely expressionless. ‘Somewhere more private.’

She led them into a hallway. Their footsteps echoed off walls of plain black stone, lit by gas-lamps. She ushered them into a small square room with blank stone walls. In the middle stood a device of black iron as tall as Lorie, a cage-like framework full of spiky interlocking wheels. Chains with weights attached hung from the high ceiling.

‘What—’ Lorie swallowed. ‘What is that?’

‘Our clock,’ the Warden said. ‘One of the oldest in the world. It’s rather famous.’ A wheel shifted slightly, making a ticking noise. She gestured to a doorway on the left. ‘Through here.’

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

They stepped into a larger room, warmly lit by small gas-lamps. Bookshelves lined the walls. Chairs upholstered in russet leather were grouped around low tables.

The Warden turned to Nana. ‘Would you mind if I speak to your granddaughter alone for a moment?’

Nana eyed her suspiciously. ‘What for?’

‘I don’t mind,’ Lorie said. ‘Please, Nana. It’s all right.’

Still glaring, Nana eased herself into a chair. Lorie followed the Warden into the next room, which was more bookshelves.

‘Please sit,’ the Warden said. ‘I’m Talia, by the way. What’s your name?’

‘Lorie.’ She sat. In the quiet of the library, the pounding of her own heart was loud. She clenched sweating hands in her lap.

‘There’s nothing to be afraid of,’ Talia said. ‘I just thought you might want to talk. Do you?’

Lorie bit her lip. If she really were possessed, the Wardens might be the only people who could help. But from what Dad had said, even exorcism wasn’t a certain cure. Or she might not be possessed — she might be going mad instead, which didn’t seem much better.

Talia gazed at her with nothing but calm kindness. ‘All these books are prophecies. If you read them, you’d discover the world is due to be destroyed at least five times in the next few years. Whenever I’m worried, I remember that, and I find it rather comforting. Puts my problems in perspective. Why don’t you start with what happened in the market?’

Lorie knotted her fingers together. Several people had seen what happened, including the woman who had accused her of being possessed. The story would come out, one way or the other. ‘I killed a man. Or I think I did. He was hurting that woman and I stopped him. I summoned fire and killed him. I’ve done it before — not killed someone, I mean, the fire.’

Once she’d begun, the words tumbled out. She was terrified to hear her own voice say such things, yet there was relief too. She couldn’t hide forever. ‘I was going to the Arcanum. Girls don’t learn magic, but they let me study because I can do these things, but it’s not right. Magic isn’t meant to work this way. Is it?’

‘If the Masters at the Arcanum couldn’t help you…’ Talia shrugged. ‘Magic isn’t my area of expertise.’

‘Would I know, if I was possessed? Is it possible to be possessed and not know?’

Talia showed no surprise at the question. ‘You aren’t possessed.’

Possession would explain a great deal though: the intrusive voice in her head, her sudden magic ability. ‘How can you be sure?’

Talia pulled down the collar of her robe. A thick ragged scar ran down her neck from jaw to collarbone. ‘My second year of service, a sixteen-year-old boy did that, with his teeth. Trust me, I know. If there was any doubt, firstly, there is a Watcher at the entrance to the Refuge. The presence of a demon would bring every Warden running. Secondly, you may have done something unusual, but you did it to help someone. Demons aren’t known for their altruism. Thirdly, if you were possessed, you wouldn’t be asking if you were — the demon would completely control your body and mind.’

‘Oh.’ Lorie sagged into the comfort of the padded chair. ‘Thank you. You’re very kind to explain all this.’

‘My pleasure.’

The tense knot in Lorie’s chest unwound. Not a demon. Not possessed. But then, what was wrong with her? She’d already told Talia so much, but there was more to say and what was the point in holding back? Secrecy had only made her miserable. ‘This power I have scares me. Sometimes I feel it controls me more than I control it. Like there’s someone else inside me, and if I relax, even for a moment, they could do terrible things. I don’t know what to do.’

Talia nodded. ‘I understand why you might feel that way. Power is frightening. Yet all power descends from the One, the Infinite and Eternal. Gods and angels are emanations of the One, and human souls too, though we are far removed… Even demons, though they have fallen further from the Light. All of us fragments striving for wholeness, for knowledge and unity with the divine.

‘The power you have may be capable of great harm, but make no mistake: it is yours. Your will, and your will alone, directs your actions. You choose whether to rise above your animal nature, whether to yield to fear and anger, or strive for the Light.

‘We all doubt ourselves. We all fear we lack the strength to do right. Have faith, Lorie. You are stronger than you know.’

Yes, Lorie thought. That’s it. Everything was clear, suddenly. In the market, she’d been angry, and acted on her anger when she blasted that man. The Voice hadn’t made her do it. It was her own action, right or wrong. Then when anger turned to horror at what she’d done, she’d wanted to blame the Voice instead of herself.

The Voice wasn’t a demon. It wasn’t taking control of her. It was simply part of herself, perhaps a part she didn’t much like, but still — the power was hers and the responsibility was hers.

Talia stood.

‘Is it all right if I stay here for a while?’ Lorie asked. ‘I’d like to think.’

‘Of course.’ Talia smiled. ‘I’ll tell your grandmother.’

When she had gone, Lorie sat and listened to the silence. Her mind stilled. It was enough to be alone with no one watching, or judging, or worrying about her. Air brushed the back of her neck. A draught, she thought, and sunk deeper into the cushions. Like being alone, comfortable seats were a luxury she had missed.

Something touched her cheek — the lightest brush, like cobwebs — and a voice breathed in her ear: ‘Lorie.’ Then in the other ear: ‘Lorie, Lorie.’

She started and twisted in her seat. The room was empty. ‘Who’s there?’ Soft fingers stroked her neck. She leaped to her feet. ‘Stop it. I’ll scream.’ The scream was in her throat, struggling for release.

‘Lorie.’ The voice brushed her ear, her cheek. ‘Don’t be scared. It’s Phin.’

‘Phin?’

‘I’m talking through a sylph.’

‘Oh.’ She collapsed back into the chair. ‘Oh!’ An Air Adept could summon a sylph, an air elemental, like she could summon a salamander. And a sylph could speak, of course, and be controlled at a distance. Phin was Anemari — they specialised in Air and Water. She was surprised he was so advanced in his studies though.

‘I wanted to know if you were all right… Haven’t done this before. Can’t keep it for long…’ The faint voice faded into the background hush of the gas flames in the lamps.

‘Phin, are you still there? Phin?’ She had wanted so badly to speak to him, and he had — and now he was gone. The air remained still, and she was alone with the silent books of prophecy.