“No.” Timbrelle repeated herself.
“No? ‘No’ what?” Fede furrowed his brows at her. “I simply said that we will return to Tellcentra and stay at the Rigel property. There is nothing to refute. The property has plenty of room for you to do your Unmade training. Now that you have been banned from the temple, the estate is your only option. Where else can you find a knightage devoted to your protection? Your refusal is truly baffling.” The old man huffed.
Outside the fortified walls of Fede’s office, Adna and the congregation were observing the Yostier tradition of roasting a pig in the ashes of a recent house fire. Macabre as it seemed, the practice was time-honored. Morto had dug out a pit in the remains of the drawing room earlier that day after Dorsus foretold Timbrelle and Adna’s return. As the food neared completion, the heady aroma of barbecue permeated the estate ruins.
“Fede… How do I explain this? On Earth, they have all sorts of laws around the care of wild animals. People used to do the craziest shit—dressing them up in miniature human clothes, treating them like dolls or babies, teaching them to perform. After training, these people expected the animals to act and reason like humans, not understanding the strain it put on the animals. They couldn’t live up to human standards. They weren’t designed to.“ She squinted at him. “Is this making sense?”
“It is quite the disturbing likeness. You are the same as any other young, scared girl—not some wild animal.” Fede insisted.
“Is that the issue? You honestly believe that, don’t you?” She frowned at him. “Do you know how Plimt, the gem harvester, died?”
The duke straightened in his chair. “I saw his body myself. You stabbed him repeatedly with an assortment of knives. Whether it was blood loss or a puncture to his heart, I camperr be cer—“
“I ate his soul, Fede. I don’t remember if he was fully dead yet but I ripped it from his body. Now, even as I sit here with you, I crave that taste again. If we’re being honest, I would do just about anything to eat another one. That kind of impulse is why I need training.” Over the long hours traveling to Yost Proper, she’d grown gradually more certain of one thing. Timbrelle needed Brandon. Running blind around Kitos had quite literally gotten her killed. “After I’m trained, I can come back and help house Rigel. Certainly you can’t expect me to work for your house without training. Just think of it as an investment into your Unmade.”
Fede paused. He looked at her carefully, as if trying to discern something. “Do you know why I adopted you?”
Timbrelle’s heart seized. “You needed an Unmade, but you couldn’t hire one. It was a pretty smart idea, all things considered. I don’t blame you for seizing the opportunity. I just… wish you hadn’t let me think I was family.”
The old man hung his head “You are absolutely correct about one thing: I should have been honest. During our first meeting, you were a threat to me. Who better to be ‘chosen’ than the High Priest who had served Our God the longest? So why was it you? You who knew nothing, had no background and could not attune your gems. Arrogant, I know. And yet, here comes some tiny little girl that Our God’s plans somehow cannot function without. To my great shame and embarrassment, I harassed you to the threshold of an anxiety attack on our first meeting.”
“I remember.” She mumbled.
“Yes… well, it was in that exact moment that I realized why He chose you.” Fede reached across his desk and placed a hand on hers. “You were vulnerable and easily manipulated.”
Timbrelle balked at the man but he squeezed her fingers gently.
“Our God… Nerrus had another purpose in mind when choosing a young, traumatized girl for His quest—a purpose you had to be manipulated into fulfilling. I made my choice then and there to interfere with His plans.” The High Priest of Nerrus slouched back into his chair, slapping a hand onto his face that slid slowly downward, pulling his features along behind it. “Do you know what He wanted from you? I am at a loss.”
“I—here, I’ll just show you.” Timbrelle stood and pulled aside her cloak to reveal her outfit. The sports bra and bicycle shorts were a far cry from the conservative attire of Yost.
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“T-Timbrelle!” He stuttered. “What in the world are you… doing… What is that?”
Hundreds of aurora gems rose to the surface of her body. The bulk were small topaz that facilitated the movement of spectral energy through her body. Sapphires maintained the tension of her tendons. Rubies in every shade of red rose from within her muscles where they had been lurking. Emeralds the size of freckles dusted her forehead and cheekbones. The final gem to surface came from just behind her navel and was a deep amber that loosed aura rays of brilliant gold. The cantaloupe-sized stone held Fede’s attention the moment it became visible.
“The topaz medium…” He breathed.
“Nerrus wanted the medium, but after dying, getting Unmade and attuning my gems, He lost His opportunity. This rock is mine now too.” She tapped the diamond in her eye socket with a fingernail. “Adna said that Nerrus made a golem with the sapphire medium by throwing it and a bunch of gems into a pile of clay. Do you think He could do the same with a dead body? My body?”
Fede watched the medium retreat back into her abdomen, dazed. “How is this possible? You are a…”
“Golem.” She finished for him.
“Indeed.” He groaned. “You sit at the center of a deep mystery, my child. For what purpose were you created? Is there any purpose, or were you an accident? Who else knows of your existence?”
“…so you do understand why I have to leave.” She said lightly.
Fede looked as though he’d been slapped. The truth was finally sinking in. “I cannot keep you safe, can I?”
Timbrelle shook her head. “When I can do that myself, I’ll return. I’ll protect the Rigels as your Unmade… and, if you’ll have me, as your granddaughter. But first, I need to be trained by my own kind.”
***
Timbrelle and Adna watched Davian pull the pig out of the pit, Adna with much less respect for the man’s shirtless, sweaty body. Morto prepared a feast that he brought to the estate in a number of trips while Loren combed through the ravaged library for salvageable tomes. Tuna had returned from Fede’s office with a somber expression now befitting their surroundings. She sat beside them on a slanted sofa.
“I’m told that this party has become a send-off for our girls.” Tuna took a ragged breath, fortifying her will. “Come with me. I need to give you your going-away presents. My safe is hidden in the basement. Perhaps you two could help me retrieve it.”
The three descended a staircase blocked by fallen beams. Tuna, using her ursine strength, let them into stone a hallway that had turned pitch black from soot. She stopped at the second door. Like others they had encountered, the door opened only for a spectral seal.
The moment the door shut behind them, Tuna began to unravel. Her fury filled the small storage room. She stomped past them
“Nerrus, that rotten bastard.” She spat His name like it was a pustule in her mouth. “Fede told me everything. It makes sense now as to why He seemed more concerned about recovering your gems rather than saving your life. That weasel!”
Adna choked on the skewer she’d been munching on. “Can you say things like that?”
“I joined this religion to marry Fede. Crystalurgy is miraculous and beautiful, the congregation is wonderful and their leader is the love of my life. I hold no affection for Nerrus, merely His High Priest.” She explained. “I asked you to come with me so that I could give you some things without all the boys watching.”
Tuna turned to the wall and popped out four grey bricks that hid a small metal box the size of a toaster. With another flash of her seal, its door popped open. There, on a satin pillow, laid two citrine aurora gems of canary yellow.
“I intended to pass these on to my children but by the time I came along, Duke Rigel was done having children. After decades I considered eating them myself but I am proud to have an inheritance to give you two as you set off on your first adventure. Since you cannot attune citrine, I will send you off with a necklace setting.” She brushed a hand across Adna’s cheek as she made the promise, deep in thought. “I know it is silly to be so protective of two fully-grown adults, but someone needs to do it and you could not stop me if you wanted to. Go on. Take them. The congregation will come looking if we are gone for much longer.”
“Is this some kind of secret?” Adna asked, picking the gem closest to her. “Such a clandestine meeting.”
“No. There is another reason for the secrecy. I will not risk Fede overhearing what I say next. Your mentor…” She narrowed her eyes, the silence compounding. “It is the Night Hawk, correct? The one in service to Tellushra?”
Timbrelle nodded woodenly. There was no use in hiding from such a rhetorical question.
“You will meet her soon, then. When you do, I need you to check something for me. That girl lived in this very estate ten years ago, we were as close as mother and daughter. Tellushra was my life’s joy. There was not a single grain of hate or malice in her. She was a princess on the periphery without a chance of inheriting the throne. Not this… this… monster.” Tuna’s immaculate regality faltered. The Duchess hung her head, avoiding their gaze. “Federick will not hear it. For a man so adept at manipulating the emotions of others, he cannot seem to decipher them in himself. ”
“Wait a second.” Adna demanded through a mouth of seasoned meat before swallowing hard. “You want us to secretly collect information on the crown princess of Tellcentra? I can’t see that going wrong. At. All.”
“You are uniquely qualified for this task.” She promised Timbrelle. “There is only one reason I know for someone to develop that level of sociopathy. I need you to check and see if she has been Unmade.”