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Chapter 12: The Interview
Part 3
Atrocity sighed and shrugged. Then she laughed and said, “No. I did not. Then I got caught by their rearguard. Instead of sharding for help I tried some Icevein, it’s just what came natural. That far from town, it lasted all of four seconds before I was out of cycles.”
“Did you learn Icevein from the mindtether as well?” asked June.
“There are courses, yes.”
“A tough bit of Artwork, Icevein is. You sure your second crystal shouldn’t be blue?” June light drummed three fingers over her right crystal.
“The Steamwards? I’ve not ruled it out. But then I’d have to travel for training.”
“Is that an issue? The travel?”
She was quiet for a moment. “Yes,” she said.
They were close to town now. The tops of the community and feasting halls were visible in the distance. Junelight said, “So you were out of cycles, at this Falsesparker’s mercy.”
“Right. I thought that was it. I was dead. Teetered my luck on fate’s edge at the bridge and here I was jumping straight off. I was scared, so mad at myself too, for being so dimwitted. But it was the same fella from the bridge, the one who had let me go before. I thought, maybe, I might be able to reason with him. Instead, I started gibbering and crying…” she looked away, her hands finding the pockets in her jumper.
“Do you remember what you said, exactly?”
“No, not really,” she said. “Begging, lying, stalling, anything. I made up something about how his friends were walking into a trap, which I guess was partially true. He bought it. He was actually… you know, seemed like he was concerned. Not just for his friends but for me. And that’s when he told me about the large assault that was supposed to come from the north.”
“And how does that fit into your Falsesparker behavioral studies?”
“Well, at the time I wasn’t really thinking about that. But yes, it’s completely unprecedented in their modern culture. The last major conflicts were hundreds of years ago, and were always centred around bigger population densities.”
“So you think he was lying?” said June.
“Maybe. I mean, I hope. I think maybe he wanted an excuse to let me go.”
“Really.”
“Have you ever killed someone?” said Atrocity.
Junelight’s training caught her, muting her expression from a start to a casual glance.
“Never directly,” she said.
“Kiss the shore, wash clean away, to the depths we return, where they hope we stay,” intoned Atrocity.
The old Ghost Tide mantra brought back memories of her initiation and seahoning—the years she had spent learning Culdur’s uncommon arts and dark techniques. How much time did this girl spend in the mindtether?
Atrocity continued on, gazing ahead. “He’s not a killer. I felt that much in him. But I don’t think their kind tolerates much mercy. Maybe he could excuse away what happened on the bridge but twice? Anyway, it’s only a theory. We came to a compromise—he’d let me go if I helped to light the pyre.”
Here was the key part. “But, you said you were out of cycles.”
“Yeah. I…” Atrocity stopped. They were almost at the edge of town.
The women stood looking at each other, Atrocity’s eyes wavering, her fists fidgeting in their pockets.
Junelight said, “You haven’t told anyone.”
Atrocity shook her head.
“You didn’t learn it from the mindtether, that I guarantee.”
The girl shook her head again, and she brought a hand out to rub at her chin. She glanced away and said, “Junelight… it was that, or die.”
“Who taught you? And when?” asked June, keeping her tone as casual as she could.
Atrocity took an uneven breath, and said, “My father showed me the gist. I practice here and there, on things like trees.”
June resisted folding her arms, and forced a conspiratorial smile onto her face. “Drawing cycles from anything non-aspectral is something certain people take very, very seriously, as I’m sure you’re aware.”
The girl nodded, lips tight. “I never thought I’d spin it out. I never planned to. It just… it was that or die.”
“I understand that. You don’t have to worry about me reporting you. I’ve much more pressing matters at hand. But you’re sure you’ve never discussed this with anyone else? Your practice?”
“Never.”
She was lying. She was good, but June caught the way the muscles around her eyes squeezed, fighting the natural urge to look away. The clipped response. The nervous energy. June ran her tongue along the back of her teeth, feeling the ridges and keeping her heart rate in check. This part of the world was too remote for it to be a coincidence. She’d bet a clipper and its crew that The Poacher had met this girl. How long ago, well, she’d have to find out. Painfully, or not.
“Alright,” said June. “What happened next?”
Visibly relieved that the topic had moved on, Atrocity began to walk again, explaining the rest of the story. When they reached the community hall, Zoey-Lee materialized in a storm of greetings and demands for news of the match. Atrocity excused herself to lunch.
Junelight watched the sisters escape towards the feasting hall, fingers clenching the edge of her lapels, rubbing the fabric back and forth. After some time, she sensed a presence approaching from behind.
She turned to see the Town Anchor, beaming a toothy smile.
“Hello, Puresear Doci,” she said. “You weren’t following us the whole time?”
“It’s Kelron, please. And never!” he said. “Just heading in to start my shift. It’s in about half an hour, if you wanted to grab a bite?”
“Hmm, a bite of what?” She bit her lower lip and fixed his eyes.
As he stammered and blushed, she laughed and said, “So kind of you to offer, but I’m not quite done running diagnostics on your stone yet. I’ll be in the temple for a while yet.”
“Ah, oh, ah-ha, um, okay,” he managed. “Did you have a good chat with ‘City?”
“Yes. Are you two close?”
“I know everyone here,” he said.
“Her father. I should like to speak with him before I leave.”
Kelron frowned and looked at the ground. “That won’t be possible, I’m afraid, Miss Junelight.”
“Passed on?”
He nodded, eyes coming back up. “Her mother too.”
“A terrible thing. Explains some of her fire, I’d say.”
Kelron didn’t seem to know what to say about that. June started towards the temple, looking over her shoulder as she did so. She flickered her eyes at him and said, “Put a shard up when your shift’s over. I haven’t had a good bite in an age.”
She left him there, stunned and grinning, as she started to sequence the Artwork for the probes that she’d soon feed to the town’s heart.
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