Chapter 2-44

I tried to ask Sati what had set her so off kilter, but she deferred my questions, and I didn’t press. Once her shock had passed I could tell that she was, in fact, happy, and so I tried not to worry over the issue too much. Instead I set out to speak to Siobhan immediately, and set that particular issue to rest as soon as possible.

Leaving my vas to handle our belongings, I passed quickly to Clan Ket’s portion of the camp. Their group was already awake and packing up, and they eyed me warily, though not with the hostility they’d held not even a week ago. I was glad, as we still had just over two weeks to make the journey to their home, and who knew how long we’d be spending in their company after.

“UnKet.” I nodded to Siobhan, who wasn’t exactly hard to find. The group was gathered around a small fire to prepare a morning meal of gruel and preserved meat. “Are we not sharing food?”

I had been under the impression that the company’s cooks were feeding our Metic allies. Siobhan, however, gave me a chagrined smile and shook her head.

“I raised the ire of your quartermaster, and she cut us off,” she replied with a wince.

“I can speak to her about…” the clan leader was already shaking her head before I finished my thought.

“It’s fine. I don’t entirely blame her. She’s a proud woman, and I’ll accept her judgment as a show of my respect. It’s only for a few days in any case.”

I wasn’t sure that I loved Peta doling out judgements like that, but if Siobhan wanted me to stay out of it then I would, for now. It wasn’t relevant to my visit anyway.

“I heard that you wished to speak to me. Something about a personal matter?”

She nodded. “Would you walk with me?”

Leading me well away from the campsite, the tall woman took a deep breath, clearly nervous. It was an odd look on her, she clearly wasn’t used to not being in control of every situation, so I decided to ease her mind a little.

“Your sister told me that you would be obligated to ‘consider me’.” I offered. “If that’s what your concern is, I’m neither offended, not opposed. You’re a formidable, and attractive woman.”

“No, Esur.” She smiled, and laughed a little. It wasn’t a mocking laugh, but surprised and warm. It visibly eased her tension, which at least meant that I’d achieved my goal. “I appreciate that, but I suspect we wouldn’t be compatible. That does mean that Saoirse likes you, which is a good sign.”

“I rather thought she hated me?” I was surprised, and curious where this was going.

“She hates everyone, except me” Siobhan’s voice was completely serious. “Our mother suffered through some of the Pure’s experiments. It damaged her spirit, badly. When we were born, it affected us as well, and shortened her life.

“Saoirse suffers from constant pain, her spirit is unstable, and I wasn’t exaggerating about her hating everyone. We’ve never been able to determine if her anger is due to her pain, or a separate symptom, but her temper is legendary across Metic.”

I would normally have taken her final statement with a grain of salt, but her tone was dour, rather than proud. The Metic were notoriously hot headed, and the clans heavily valued what they called ‘a fighting spirit’. If Saoirse had anger issues to the point that it was seen as a negative thing, then she’d have been before a judge anywhere else.

“And you?” I asked, after I’d taken a moment to digest that information.

“My spirit is weak.” Siobhan replied flatly. “I’ve nae talent as a shifter or a druid, and when we were born the druids claimed we couldnae be sisters. We all thought Saoirse would lead the clan, until her issues didnae pass.” Her accent got thicker as she spoke, and though her expression remained fixed, I could practically feel the heat of anger coming off of her.

“You were twins?”

“Aye.” She took a slow breath to calm herself. “They said we looked too different, that only one of us could be mother’s child.

“I can understand,” I offered gently. “It isn’t about your physical appearance, some twins do appear different. And it’s not exactly the strength of your spirit. It’s your aspect. Twins are normally always born with the same aspect. If they aren’t, one or both die in the womb.

“The druids told us,” she nodded. “But parroting the common wisdom was just insulting. Only Riona would even admit that we were sisters, and she was there for our birth. Just because something is normally one way, doesn’t excuse them calling a clan head a liar. Why would she even lie about a thing like that?”

“People don’t like to be wrong, especially those who usually know the most.” I shrugged. “Do you mind if I examine your spirit? It may feel odd.”

She waved her hand in assent, and I began to look her over with my spiritual sight. I’d taken only a cursory glance at her before, but my closer look revealed some peculiarities right away. Siobhan’s presence was nearly nonexistent, even less than what a healthy unawakened adult should have. Her anima however, was incredibly dense and refined in comparison. The effect made her appear as though she were a sorcerer of moderate power, who had just recently exhausted herself.

I wrapped her in my own presence, so that I could examine her spirit more closely. Her anima, while strong, had inconsistencies that reminded me of scars, holding Ket’s bloody aspect in thick, clearly defined streaks. I’d rarely seen anything quite like it. Even when integrating a new aspect as we had done with the company, it would spread relatively smoothly through one’s anima. The process might be slow, but the aspect would either be rejected, or steadily diffuse.

I put a small amount of pressure on her with my presence, and she grimaced in discomfort. But that proved the strength of her spirit, as an unawakened person would have collapsed. Next I peered into the sea, looking for connections, and signs of more Pure meddling. If she had even the smallest connection to the sea, then I might be able to examine her more closely, without having to damage her anima.

It turned out that she had far more than a minor connection. I found her inner world, no, her domain, immediately. The UnKet shared her domain with Ket, as did the Clan Ket shifters. The goddess welcomed me into her realm immediately, so I knew that she was watching, but she didn’t say anything as I examined what was happening.

Ket’s domain was a dark forest, reminiscent of Metic. But the shadows seemed alive, each of them whispering of unseen threats, and blood flowed from the trunks of the redwoods. I had known that Ket’s aspect touched on fear, darkness, and blood, but her domain brought it clearly into focus. She was a night terror, an unknown threat that could claim even the bravest and most skilled warrior. Causing them to disappear into the darkness, and leaving behind nothing but uncertainty, and perhaps a splash of blood.

As impressive as Ket‘s domain was, I wasn’t visiting for the view. Shaking off my reverie I looked for Siobhan’s connection to this realm. It didn’t take long to find, but I didn’t understand it immediately.

A great redwood, carved all over with Ket’s image, bled from those carvings in large streams. Those streams led off into a number of pools, each of which I guessed was a shifter who was bound to her. But when I found the pool that represented the clan chief it was distorted and wrong. Rather than a circular pool like the others, this one was lopsided and uneven, and it churned as though something was thrashing or fighting in its depths.

Given what I knew, it didn’t take much for me to realize what was happening here, but the let my fingers trail in the crimson fluid just to confirm. I managed to pull my fingers back before I was hurt, grunting in thoughtful dissatisfaction.

“Well, I know the basics of your issue, and your sister’s,” I told Siobhan after refocusing on the physical world. She squinted at me in evident disbelief.

“Just like that?”

“Just like that,” I confirmed. “You and your sister are linked, you share mana, but she is pulling it away from you and twisting it. Making it worse.”

“If that’s true, she’s nae idea that she’s doing it. And she doesn’t have the skill or patience for such a thing.” While skeptical, she didn’t sound angry, for which I was grateful.

“That’s not surprising,” I nodded. “This is due to the Pure’s experiments, no doubt. I have no idea how, but whatever the did to your mother got passed to your sister, and you are bound to her. I’ll know more when I can look more deeply, but I need to heal my spirit first. It would kill me to check right now.”

Siobhan’s face was a stoic mask, but if I had been in her place I’d have been buried in conflicting emotions. Suspicion that a stranger had the answer to her lifelong problem, relief and hope that there might actually be an answer, impatience that it was deferred. To her credit, none of that showed in more than the trembling of her hands as she clenched her fists to steady them.

“We’ve waited this long. I suppose we’ll last a wee bit longer.” The false cheer in her voice was obvious. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you along.”

“I will,” I gave her a level look as she blinked rapidly. “I’ll look deeper as soon as I can. I swear.”

Nodding, she turned on her heel and walked away, deeper into the woods, rather than back towards camp.

“I’ll kill you, if you betray us.” I wasn’t in the least surprised to hear Saoirse speak from behind me, and her comment made me laugh.

“I don’t doubt it,” I replied, turning to see her glaring at me. “But trying to help you might just kill me anyway, so it’s not my top concern.”

“It’ll be that dangerous?” She asked warily. “Then why try to help us at all?”

“My family did this to you.” I smiled wryly. “And I probably helped them, knowing or not, I don’t want these horrors to be my greatest legacy.”

“What do you want then?” Came her unexpected question.

“I’m not sure,” I replied slowly. “I’ve defined myself as being against, for so long, that I’m not sure what my own dreams are anymore.”