Chapter One Hundred and Ninety-Seven: Vote

I fell silent as I looked around the cabin, just waiting for Serin to call the vote. As it was, she left it a few minutes so we could think on matters before she brought it up again.

Finally, she shuffled as she pulled herself up straight. “I think we should decide now. The later we leave it the more chance there is of something coming up…” She glanced around the cabin. “Are you ready to decide?”

The question didn’t seem to be aimed at anyone in particular, but rather at the group as a whole.

We all nodded giving our ascent silently.

“Good… Then, all those in favour raise your hand now.”

Everyone shuffled a little as they voted.

I kept my hand down. I wasn’t keen on the idea unless it was absolutely necessary, but I would follow the outcome of the vote.

Serin turned her head and quickly counted.

I already knew the outcome before Serin spoke next.

“That’s four to one.” She paused as she turned her attention towards me. “I’m sorry Theo, I know you didn’t agree with this.”

I sighed and forced a smile. “It’s okay. It wasn’t what I wanted, but I’ll stick to what I said before.”

“Thank you.”

Liz leant forward. “It’s for the best we do this.”

“Well that easy enough for us to say. We aren’t going to have our minds messed with. Would you want this done to you?”

“I wouldn’t normally, but if the other choice was death… That’s what we might have been faced with if the worst came to pass.”

“I know.”

“That’s why made the choice now.”

I understood why they decided that way, but I was the one that was going to have to go through with it.

As I looked around the cabin, I made eye contact with Aetherin. She looked worried. “You shouldn’t worry.” She told me.

“I can’t help. I feel bad about this.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I haven’t felt any ill effects of the technique.”

“But it has changed you. You can’t know if your past self would’ve been okay with it.”

“Perhaps not, not if I was given the choice at the time. But looking back on it now, I feel like it turned out to be something good.”

I knew she was trying to make me feel better, but it wasn’t helping.

Beth coughed awkwardly. “Look Theo, we’re only going through with this, because it’s you…” She fumbled with her hands. “If it was anyone else, we wouldn’t have made this decision. We know you don’t want to abuse this power. You don’t want to control people, your hesitance proves this power is in good hands.”

The other girls were all nodding in agreement with her words.

They actually made me feel a little better.

“Thanks Beth.”

She smiled. “It’s okay. I mean it.”

Knowing I would have to do this, I turned to Serin. “When are we going to do this?”

She was quick to answer. “We should do it before we stop for the night. I think we should pause for a rest and do it then. That way we can meet up with the harpies and Celine easily.”

“Okay, let’s do that.”

Despite my reservations, I was glad that Celine would be able to travel with us again and we wouldn’t need to be separated from the harpies for the rest of the journey.

For now, we carried on just like we had been. The miles steadily passed by.

When it reached late afternoon, Serin slid open the driver’s hatch. “Rosa, could we make a short stop soon?”

Rosa glanced back. “We can, it looks as if there is somewhere we can pull in a short way up the road.”

“Great, it’ll do us good to stretch our legs.”

The carriage rolled on for a couple of minutes and then we began to slow.

We had passed most of the hills that surrounded Silthorn now. We were once again on a flat plain. There were grassy fields either side of the road where we came to a halt.

Serin pushed open the door and stepped out.

I followed closely behind.

Altria climbed down from the driver’s bench. “We’re stopping already? I thought you wanted to make as much progress as possible today.”

Serin nodded. “I do, but nature calls. I thought it would be best if we didn’t push the horses too much either. We’ll just have a short break and a little food then head on our way.”

“Okay…”

“Besides, it will be good if we can talk a little with our new friends.”

“Sure. Rosa and I have been talking with them, they both seem friendly enough.”

“Good.”

The rest of the girls climbed out of the carriage, and we made our way to the side of the road. After finding a descent looking spot to sit, we dropped our bags and started to get some food out.

Lucy and Ameri tied up their horses and gave them some food before joining us at the side of the road.

“We’ve been so lucky with this weather, and this is quite a nice spot for break.” Lucy commented as the pair joined us.

Serin nodded. “It is, hopefully it will hold out for the rest of our journey.”

As the girls sat down, Serin turned to me and made a discrete gesture with her head.

I knew that was my signal.

I looked over to the two new girls. They were sat just across from me. There were well within the range of my skill and would easily be able to use it without affecting anyone else.

I took in a deep breath and fired off “Interrogate” twice in quick succession.

Lucy who had been talking with Liz glanced in my direction for a moment. I wondered if she had noticed something, but she turned back to her conversation right away.

There was no reaction at all from Ameri.

I turned to Serin. She was giving me a quizzical look.

“It’s done.” I said answering her unspoken question.

“Really… Did it work?”

“I’ve no idea, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t have. The only time it hasn’t was with that woman, and she defiantly seemed like a special case.”

“Still, we need to be sure… We need to test it somehow.”

Serin fell silent for a moment. Then she got to her feet.

Everyone’s attention was automatically drawn to her.

She cleared her throat. “So, Ameri and Lucy…” She was talking a little awkwardly compared to her usual self.

“Yes?” Answered Ameri. She looked unsure as to what was going on.

She wasn’t the only one.

“I know I’ve already introduced everyone to you earlier… But I’d like it if you could have a quick talk with Theo here.”

Both girl’s attention switched from Serin to me. Our eyes met and each of them smiled.

“That is if you don’t mind?” Asked Serin.

“No not at all.” Answered Ameri. She glanced to Lucy sat next to her.

Lucy nodded in reply and the pair got to their feet. They quickly crossed our small group and as Serin shuffled up to make room, they sat down next to me.

Both girls were looking at me expectantly.

I felt a little awkward at the sudden attention and wondered exactly what Serin was expecting me to do in this situation. She hadn’t given me the slightest hint before she called them over.