House of Books - Chapter 6 - Loyalty and Obligation - Seg.2

{Arkyntesh}1

When it was Peroi’s turn to be look-out, Luciana decided to cling to Yoyuko as her second preference. He seemed indifferent, as usual. He sat at the kitchen table now, across from Kieren, with Luci on his shoulder. He watched carefully as Kieren demonstrated pulling a drop of water from a cup and raising it into the air. 2

“It’s harder, the less solid something is,” he explained, “because you have to hold the molecules together more. And of course, it’s even harder to separate molecules. That’s why it’s almost impossible to mess with the air.”3

“Almost impossible,” Yuko murmured dryly.4

Kieren laughed. “Yeah. Anyway, with liquid, you can sort of clutch at a piece of it and the rest willingly separates. But with air, you not only have to pick out certain molecules, but you also have to hold them together. It’s kind of hard to explain, but…”5

I didn’t sit down because I didn’t want to break Yuko’s fierce concentration, but I stood by and watched, trying to learn as well. I expected Kieren to glare at me until I left, but instead he’d decided to pretend I didn’t exist. Fine with me. Yuko pulled the glass of water closer to him and took a deep breath. “Pull at the surface, right?” he muttered, frowning deeply at the water. Kieren watched his adopted brother with glowing eyes, willing him to get it right.6

There was a tense silence for some time and Yuko was getting more and more frustrated. At one point the water rippled and it looked like he was finally getting it, but it flopped back down into a flat surface. Suddenly, a drop of water emerged smoothly from the cup. I expected cheers, but it made the boy seem even more disappointed. Kieren glared at Luci. “You know that doesn’t help, Luciana,” he said. “We all know what you’re capable of, but you can’t do it for him.”7

Pouting, the girl dropped the water back into the cup. I suddenly realised that my hands were balled up into fists at my sides; my whole body was aching to try this myself. I never wanted telekinesis, but now that I knew how to use it, I wanted to learn more and more.8

“What’s the point of this, anyway?” Yuko moaned. “Who needs to separate a drop of water from more water?”9

“It’s the exercise; I’ve already told you,” Kieren reminded him. “You’ll never work with air if you can’t do water. Keep practising, Yuko. I know you can do it.”10

“But not even Luci can work with air,” he argued. “Maybe you’re just extra-gifted in that area.”11

“Let’s remember that Luci shouldn’t even be able to lift a thimble yet,” Kieren smirked. “You’re probably right on schedule.”12

Yuko traced circles on the table with his finger. “Peroi can lift water,” he said quietly. “She’s younger than me.”13

“Peroi’s also special,” his brother shrugged.14

“Kieren,” I piped up, unable to stop myself. He looked up at me and glared, as if I wasn’t allowed to interrupt his pretence that I wasn’t there. “Can I try? Will you teach me?”15

His eyes narrowed.16

Blinking away his surprise, Yoyuko looked excited. “Yeah, let him learn, Kieren. Give him a shot.”17

“Hmm.” He scrutinised my appearance for a moment. Then he smirked suddenly. “Yeah, why not? Let’s see how good you are now. You’ve only just discovered telekinesis; don’t expect much.”18

I nodded and Yuko stood up so I could take his seat. I didn’t care; I just had to try it.19

“An introduction,” Kieren declared. “Do you know how we’re even able to use telekinesis? There are many parts of our brains that we don’t use at all. Anyone has the potential to use this particular part of their brain; people who are telekinetic just happen to find it easier.”20

“Oh…” I mumbled, “It’s ok, I’ve read about this in a book Mehyl gave me,” I told him absent-mindedly, watching the glass by Kieren’s hand eagerly. “Please, talk me through what you were teaching Yuko.”21

He blinked, clearly put out. “Mehyl… gave you one of his books?”22

Oh, I thought he had just been annoyed by the fact that I interrupted his speech. “…Yes, why?”23

“No reason,” he replied quickly. “Well, big-shot. You already heard what I was telling Yuko, so I’m sure you can have a go without my guidance. Here,” he said, pushing the glass toward me before leaning back in his chair, arms crossed.24

I pulled the glass so that it was right in front of me and stared down at the water, frowning. “Alright…” I tried to remember what Kieren had been saying before. Pull at the surface, and the rest will follow. Instinctively, my hands rested flat on the table on either side of the cup and a few loose strands of my hair fell along the sides of my face. I could see the water; I just had to lift it. But how could I lift something that wasn’t solid? It would be like grasping water with my hands; messy and impossible. But there had to be a way… if Kieren could do it.25

Pull at the surface. I let my mind reach out and sense the flat surface of the water. That was just what it was; flat, smooth. Trying to break the smoothness was like trying to climb a wall of glass. It was like polished stone. Impenetrable. 26

“Impossible,” I muttered. If I wasn’t concentrating on what I was doing, I would probably have seen Kieren smirk, but I wasn’t giving up.27

There had to be more than just the solid plane. Water was something that moved and changed shape; this could only happen if it were made of smaller parts. I just had to find these smaller parts. But how could I affect something I couldn’t see with my own eyes? Molecules… Just because I couldn’t see them, didn’t mean they weren’t there.28

I pawed feebly at the water, sending the tiny invisible hands in my mind’s eye across the surface, needle-thin probes digging at it, separating into smaller strings and digging deeper. Thinner and thinner, smaller and smaller, until I suddenly realised that the surface wasn’t precisely flat. And it moved gently beneath my touch, swirling ever so slowly in strange rippling patterns with every vibration that travelling through the earth, into the table and into the cup.29

The whole world seemed to be moving so that I became nauseous, pulling back from the water in shock, gasping. Everything was strangely still again as I dazedly looked around the silent room. The boy in front of me snorted.30

“If you can’t do it, let Yuko have a turn agai—”31

“Shh,” I hissed, throwing myself back into the tiny, crumbling world. It was easy to find this time; my little probes were ready to split into thin wires and they reached swiftly down into the cup, feeling the surface. I could see everything in my mind; I could feel each little fragment of wood beneath my hands, I could almost feel each microscopic part of myself, but the sensation when I tried to think about it sent pain jabbing through my skull. The water. I just had to gather a few million molecules into a ball and raise them above the swirling mass.32

So I scooped them out with my tiny probes, pulling them away from the water. At first there was a sort of resistance, but once it gave way, the water broke apart. The consciousness of this world made me feel like I was being shaken in all different directions at once, so once I had the sphere, I pulled back from it and the probes merged back into one smooth hand around the water.33

I realised then where I was, and that there were now four sets of eyes on me and my sphere. “That’s amazing,” Terisu observed from the kitchen doorway.34

“He… he did it on his first try!” Yuko breathed. “How did he do that? He’s only just found his telekinesis!”35

“I guess our new addition to the family is also gifted,” the woman said, smiling faintly at Luci. “Can’t help but feel a little jealous of these three geniuses, huh, Yuko?”36

Still left with a sort of shadow of awareness cast over everything around me, I sensed the boy stiffen a bit at this. “Yes.”37

A sudden weight slammed down on my sphere, breaking my hold on it and smashing it downward. It made something snap painfully in my head, and I gasped, collapsing onto the table, knocking over the glass. Water seeped into my sleeve as I struggled to breathe again.38

“What the—” Terisu began.39

“Someone needed to pull him back down to earth,” Kieren grumbled. “He could have hurt himself, learning so fast. Get out of Yuko’s chair, Arkyntesh. You’ve interrupted our lesson long enough.”40

“Kieren, you invidious little shit,” Terisu chided; though her tone of voice made it sound like she was simply discussing the pleasant weather we’d been having. “You could have hurt him when you crashed down on him like that. You didn’t think you’d be the only one able to manipulate water forever, did you?”41

He stood abruptly, pushing his chair back with a loud scrape. “Shut up, Terisu! What do you know? He’s probably going to use everything he learns against us as soon as he can.” He glared at me again as I touched my aching head. “If you’re such a quick learner, you should have been able to defend yourself, huh? You don’t know anything, you stupid Ilian!”42

“Well, maybe you should take a break anyway,” Terisu said thoughtfully. “Kieren did say once that it can make you sick if you do it too long.”43

I nodded and rose from my chair. I’d never been contested by another telekinetic force before; I didn’t think of the possibility, so I wasn’t really prepared for it. It had been a crushing and painful experience. If only Kieren didn’t hate me so much; there were so many things I wanted to learn from him.44

I headed into the warm kitchen where there Nina always seemed to have some sort of snack waiting, still warm, as if she knew exactly when you were coming. There were some muffins cooling on a rack, and I took one, looking out the window above the sink at the backyard, where Nina was hanging the washing on the line. The muffin was delicious and I wolfed it down quickly before turning decisively for the back door. I’d decided this was what I should do earlier this morning. Heading down the short garden path, I stopped by the woman’s side.45

“Oh, hello sweetheart,” she greeted, folding a white shirt and dropping it into the wash basket by her feet. “Are you alright? You look kind of pale.”46

“Hmm? Oh, no, I’m fine.”47

“I’ll be washing your clothes this afternoon, if you want them back.”48

“Oh. Thankyou,” I replied; I’d forgotten all about my clothes. “But Nina, I’d like to help you. Everyone else pulls their weight around here. Malfash, Terisu, Kieren, Yuko… They all have jobs. Malfash has a weekend one as well. Even Peroi helps out around the house. So, because I can’t go out and work, please let me help you.” Hell, it was the least I could do, considering they were risking their lives every moment they spent in my company.49

“Oh, Arkyn,” Nina smiled. “Thankyou, but you don’t need to do that. You aren’t any extra burden to us; I usually cook a little extra just in case and you only throw another shirt or two into the wash. You have enough to worry about. Let’s just get this trouble behind us before we start thinking about putting you to work,” she laughed.50

I had enough to worry about? What did she mean? I was in the same amount of danger as anyone else here. Oh. Perhaps she was being nice to me because of all the deaths I seemed to be leaving in my wake lately. “I insist,” I told her. “It, um, unsettles me not to be doing anything.” I’d known Nina for only a short time, but I could guess that she would do anything to be kind.51

“It does?” she asked. “Well… Well, I suppose I do have a couple of things I need done. You don’t have to do anything though, alright?”52

“I understand.”53

“Good. Let’s see, then…” she thought for a moment. “Would you like to get a start on the dishes for me?”54

“Of course.” I started back to the house and hesitated. “Um… Nina?”55

She looked up. “Yes?”56

“I actually… Well, I’ve never washed dishes before. Is there some sort of method to it, or do you just…”57

She laughed out loud, “Oh, I’m so sorry, Arkyn! I guess I just assumed everyone knew something like that. Let me start you off once I’ve got these off the line, ok?”58

Washing the dishes was surprisingly more complicated than I thought. I had to make sure I cleaned every surface before rinsing, and everything had to be set in the drainer so that the water could run off the easiest. Nina dried while I washed, and I was rather slow due to wanting to be certain that I hadn’t missed a spot, but she was patient. She started cooking some soup for lunch while she waited for the dishes to pile up a bit.59

After that, I was handed a broom so that I could sweep the floors. I had seen people do this before in the palace back home, but I had no idea where the dirt was supposed to be pushed. Kieren watched me for a little while. When I asked Nina if there was a special hole or corner to sweep everything into, he laughed and teased until Terisu came and told him he was an idiot. How was I to know it went into the bin with everything else?60