15 Chapter 10

My husband practically marches us to Larcen when we reach the safe house.

Her attire got strange looks from those we passed but no one said anything.

Even Larcen raises an eyebrow at it, but wisely doesn't comment.

"So this is the master tactician?"

Larcen doesn't bother to hide his skepticism.

She raises her chin defiantly but says nothing.

My husband, seeing the tension in the air wisely chooses to excuse himself.

"Larcen, may I introduce Master Tactician and Strategist Helena Siyarne de Ausset."

I can feel her displeasure with my introduction.

"De Ausset? As in House Ausset?"

"No. My mother only wished to spite my father with that name. I have no claim to that House."

Illegitimate children never do.

"Ah, well, as she said, I'm Larcen. I'm the leader of this rebellion."

He holds out his hand for her to shake.

She doesn't take it.

"I don't touch anyone. Ever."

He drops his hand immediately.

"That seems like it'd be hard."

She shrugs.

"Trust me, it's for the best."

Larcen accepts that and turns back to the map he was studying before we entered.

"Do you want to get started?"

She shrugs and walks to the other side of the table keeping as much distance between them as possible.

Seeing that I am no longer needed I head back to my room.

I'm not surprised to see Adrian sitting on my bed.

"Sonia! Riel said you were back! Daddy said you wouldn't come back, but I knew he was wrong! I never doubted."

He knocks the breath out of me as he darts across the room to wrap his arms around me.

His joy is contagious and I find myself pulling him closer.

I hate to admit it but I missed him.

He's such a bundle of energy and life and he's wormed his way into my heart.

All too soon he pulls away.

"Riel says you brought someone to help us beat the bad guys. Is it another mage?"

"No, she… She's not a mage."

His face drops but he perks back up quickly.

"Well, I'm sure she's awesome anyway!"

"She's something alright."

I can't help but feel uncomfortable with the turn of this conversation.

"Oh! Tell me about your trip! You went to the scary mountains, right?"

This was something much easier to talk about.

I set about telling him a carefully edited tale of our trip to the mountains and back.

***

It's already nightfall and Adrian's gone by the time I see Helena again.

She's still wearing her cloak and looks thoroughly exhausted when she enters my room.

She sinks heavily into my chair without so much as a greeting.

I shrug.

"I tend to just stay in this room."

She shoots me a glare but the effect is ruined by a yawn.

"I don't just mean now. It can't have been much easier before you died."

"I've never had it as bad as you. Besides I had Kent as a buffer."

"Mmm, he is the best buffer."

Her words are dreamy, matching the lazy smile that breaks across her face.

She's fast asleep before I can say anything else.

I reach out to wake her before abruptly dropping my hand before it could reach its target.

Touching her would be a horrible decision.

"Hel?"

She doesn't respond.

"Hel, wake up. You can't sleep here. That chair's gonna mess up your back."

Still no response.

She has always been a very heavy sleeper.

I can't wake her.

I definitely can't move her.

I heave a sigh before draping a light throw over her, careful not to actually touch her.

That done, I climb into my bed.

One last look at my unexpected roommate and I find myself drifting to sleep.

***

She's gone when I wake up.

The only evidence of her presence is the neatly folded throw on the chair.

I hurriedly make myself presentable before leaving the room.

She may not be my favourite person in the world, but I can't help but worry.

Most people don't understand her unique… needs.

The last thing we need is someone setting her off.

I make my way to what I've started to call the war room only to freeze at the sight before me.

Larcen's there, of course, and so is my husband. That comes as no surprise.

No, the surprise is that she is kneeling before the kid and talking in soft gentle tones.

The kid looks is so engrossed in whatever she's saying that he doesn't even notice my arrival.

It rankles.

Larcen is listening just as intently.

My husband inclines his head in greeting, the only one who even seems to notice my presence.

No, not the only one.

She stops speaking.

Her gaze flickers in my direction before she abruptly stands.

The kid looks like he's about to protest, but that's when he notices me.

His entire face seems to light up and my irritation melts away.

Against his sheer joy it stood no chance.

"Sonia, Lee was just telling me some really cool stuff about healers. You should hear it. It's great."

I mouth "Lee?" at her, bemused.

She shrugs.

"She knows an awful lot about healers."

The kid's voice is full of awe.

"Yes. One wonders how she came across such knowledge."

Larcen's voice is full of skepticism.

"It's a tactician's job to the full capabilities of all their units. Research into powers was a natural byproduct of that. Granted, most of the theories and data were the work of Lord Auron, but I've been able to add a great deal from my time spent in the mountains surrounded by the gifted."

Her words bring back memories of my father pushing soldiers to their limits, testing the boundaries of what was possible.

They bring to mind nights that he'd spent in his study going over every bit of data he'd found and writing notes.

In a way I'm glad that his work didn't die with him.

"Pity you couldn't get your mountain friends to help. We could use all the firepower we can get."

It's my husband that speaks this time.

He sounds worried.

"The mountains are a place of refuge not just for this kingdom, but others too. If they were to act against one King it would cause waves. Other monarchs would become wary. They will fear that they will be struck next and they will retaliate. The sanctuary will become a base of war. As for the war itself, it'll be of a magnitude you could not imagine."

"That's just speculation. The gifted could wipe out any army."

My husband says the words, but she has obviously spooked him.

"Perhaps, but perhaps not. Either way, they won't put their lives and the lives of their loved ones at risk like that. Not all of them can protect themselves. Take Adrian for instance. He has a great deal of power and potential but in a straight up fight it wouldn't be able to protect him."

"He could heal himself."

She lets out a laugh that sounds more choked than amused.

"Only if he survives and even then healing won't wipe the pain from his memory and it won't make the enemy stop attacking. What about telepaths? They'd hear the mental screams of others - hear their comrades' final thoughts."

"Stop."

My voice is small as I voice my plea.

She either doesn't hear it or just chooses to ignore it.

"And then there's the empaths. Forced to see and feel the pain and the ugliness. Do you have any idea what it's like to feel someone die? To feel their fear? Their anguish? Their hate? To be so filled with ugly emotions that you don't even remember how beautiful the good ones can be? To be so consumed with the feelings of others that you're not even sure you have any of your own?"

She practically sneers at him.

"You'd do well to remember that not all gifted are mages."

"Are you… Are you an empath?"

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Adrian's voice is small, barely a thread of a sound but there's no doubt that she hears it.

"Yes and I'm not the only one."

She looks at me then.

"Don't."

The command in my voice is clear, but I know it's already too late.

Larcen is the first to pick up on the implication.

"She's an empath? But she's a mage."

"Not all gifts are mutually exclusive. Having more than one gift does dilute either one or both to the point of uselessness but it is still possible."

"How so?"

Larcen's gaze is sharp and unwavering.

She looks around for a bit before drawing a circle on one of the sheets of paper scattered over the room.

She then bisects it twice so that there are four equal parts.

It's a shape I've seen my father draw before.

She then makes little stars on the circumference that fall in the centre of each piece.

That's new.

"Each of these represents a different gift. Healing, what's commonly known as magic, empathy and telepathy. Most people know that gifts can go from low level to high, what they don't realise is that it can go the opposite way as well."

"What? Isn't that the same thing?"

Riel doesn't waste time voicing his confusion.

She makes an impatient sound but continues.

The sheer amount of confusion that he's radiating must be maddening to her.

"Not quite. See most people think of each gift as an entirely separate category and that a low level is just a low level. In actual fact each gift is more of a spectrum. High-levels are extremely powerful and have great skill in their particular gift and no aptitude for any other. They are also extremely rare and when they do show up they have a tendency to go insane."

She points out the stars.

They are obviously meant to show the "peak" levels.

"Now, mid-levels have less power but that makes controlling the gift easier. They are confined to just one gift."

The kid's face falls at that.

"Then you have low-levels. Sometimes a low-level is just a low-level. Small amounts of power with intermittent usage. However it's also the point at which two gifts can overlap. Usually one will be dominant and the other will manifest only as an aid to it. At other times the lesser gift won't manifest at all. Then you get special cases, like our little Lordling's, where neither is truly dominant."

"So she can do magic and feel what others do? This could be useful."

I don't like the look in Larcen's eye.

"Empathy is more of a hindrance than anything else. Especially in battle."

Apparently she doesn't either.

"Because you'd feel what the enemy does."

It's the kid who voices the thought.

"Empathy is a bit of a tricky beast. At high levels you are always feeling what those around you feel. At mid levels you're always sensitive to what others feel and have the ability to block out some of it. The strong ones can shove their way into you… Physical contact makes it nigh impossible to block. I'm a mid-level."

Larcen nods.

"So that's why you shun physical contact."

She shrugs.

"A low level like Sonia can be influenced by the feelings of others, but is also more detached from them. Unless those feelings are particularly strong only physical contact can force them into her."

I can see the moment Adrian makes the connection.

"I'm sorry."

He sounds so apologetic that it nearly breaks my heart.

"Don't be. You didn't know."

I didn't want him to know.

It's then that Riel speaks.

"Going your entire life without physical contact seems harsh. I mean there's so many things that you wouldn't be able to do."

She's quiet for a long moment before the need to get rid off his pity overcomes her.

Not for the first time am I grateful to only be a low level empath.

"Not everyone broadcasts their emotions. There's a set of people, that we've taken to calling Voids even though it's not entirely accurate, that are very soothing to empaths. It's hard to pick up any real feelings from them and even when in direct physical contact they can choose not to let an empath leech their emotions."

There's a faraway look in her eyes and I know she's thinking about Kent.

"Focusing on a Void can help to block out other emotions. Most empaths are naturally attracted to Voids for that reason. Under normal circumstances there's no compulsion to seek out the source of an emotion when in contact with them. They don't cloud your judgement."

She lets out a long sigh.

"Speaking of clouded judgements, can anyone who doesn't actually need to be in here leave? It's really exhausting having to deal with all these feelings."