control some things were just too painful to say, and neither of us could afford to start crying in the street.
“There’s an empty storeroom under the street over there,” I said pointing to an alley running alongside the temple. “We can enter there without anyone noticing us and it should be a short walk from there to the cells the priests sleep in.”
A minute later we were standing beside the building, in the alley I had indicated. “I don’t see an entry,” commented Rose.
“There isn’t one. It’s directly underneath us,” I informed her.
Her eyes widened as she looked at me, “How far beneath us?”
“Fifty feet or so, would you like to come with me or wait up here?”
“I’m coming with you. What do I have to do?” she asked.
I was surprised at her easy acceptance. “Shouldn’t you be warning me not to do anything stupid?”
Her face softened, “I’m not Penny dear. I expect you to make your own judgments regarding magic, but if you damage this dress I’ll take it out of you in blood.”
Her remark made me want to laugh and cry at the same time, so I ignored it and moved on. “I’ll need you to get close to me for this to work.”
“How close?” she said.
“I’m not sure, in physical contact at least,” I told her.
She stepped into me and wrapped her arms around my waist, “Is this sufficient?”
I had been thinking that holding hands would suffice, but I wasn’t going to tell her otherwise now. I put my own arms around her and tried to concentrate. It took longer than I had expected. Rose smelled very nice.
Pushing those thoughts aside I listened carefully to the stone beneath us. It was a complicated mixture of cobblestones laid over gravel and sand. Beneath that was layer of clay and then more stone, this time natural stone. I struggled to integrate it all into my ‘self’, while at the same time maintaining Rose as a separate physical entity. I didn’t want to think about what might occur if I accidentally blurred the boundaries between us.
After a moment I began to sink into myself, or rather into what I would previously have called the ground. Rose wasn’t moving however and I had to make a conscious effort to allow her to pass through me. If it sounds confusing that’s because it was. It was hard enough to visualize and language isn’t really made for describing the mixing of perspectives between animate and inanimate.
Eventually we both emerged from the ceiling of the store room deep below. The ceilings down there were low so we managed to reach the floor without much of a drop. I took a moment to disconnect myself from the stone and earth above us and return my consciousness to normal. Once I had regained my proper perspective again I realized I was still holding Rose.
Holding her close like that felt good, and for a second I didn’t want to release her. I hated myself for that thought immediately. I took my arms away, “It’s safe to let go now.”
“I wasn’t sure,” she said. “That was the strangest experience of my life. It felt as though the stone and earth itself were flowing around us.” She was staring upward at the ceiling in wonder. “I can’t imagine what the world must be like for you.”
“What do you mean?”
“You have the power to change the world around you, to suit your whims. If I had such power I’m not certain I would use it wisely.”
I’m not sure I will either, I thought to myself. “I never had a choice in the matter. I’m just doing the best I can to use it for the greater good.” That was a presumptuous line, but I didn’t know how else to phrase it.
“You will succeed Mordecai. You’re a good man,” she patted me on the cheek as she said it.
“Not as good a man as Dorian was,” I said thinking of my lost friend.
“True,” she agreed with a sad note in her voice. “He was the truest, most honest, and chivalrous man I ever met. Not just in his word and deed, but right down to his very bones. You are not as ‘good’ as he was.”
Her explanation was a bit excessive, but it was accurate in every particular.
“But still, I think you are the best one to bear the burden of that power,” she added. “The choices and responsibilities that your power will thrust upon you would undo someone as pure as he was. Your power and goals will require compassion, adaptability, and cunning.”
I didn’t really want to engage in excessive philosophic discourse in a moldy storeroom, though her words did strike a chord in me. “Let’s go find Marc before we talk the day away.”
“What if we’re seen? We don’t exactly blend in,” Rose pointed out, gesturing to her red dress. It was of a practical cut, but the color and the woman wearing it would draw attention no matter where you put them.
“There’s no one in the halls. Those that are moving around are up above. I think I can get us to his room without encountering anyone from where we are now,” I explained. It was very useful being able to explore the layout without venturing there, and even more useful knowing where all the inhabitants were.
I opened the door and led her into the corridor. It was a short walk and a few turns before I led her into the hallway that served the cells where Marc was currently ‘engaged’. We reached his doorway without being seen. The noises coming faintly through the door made it plain that we had reached the right room.
“Now what?” said Rose.
“Shibal,” I said sternly in the direction of the door. The sounds inside changed, as one of the partners abruptly stopped vocalizing. Marc of course was wearing the necklace I had given him. The door had no lock, but was barred from within; another word and I removed the bar. Rose and I stepped inside quickly and closed the door behind us.
“Son of a bitch!” Marc exclaimed coarsely. “You bastard, you scared me half to death.”
“I can see that,” I said smugly, glancing down at the woman who had collapsed beside him.
“Boys… behave,” Rose admonished us. She leaned over to pull the blanket up over the woman’s naked form. I was oddly disappointed, but no one else needed to know that. Rose looked at Marc, “And you… cover that thing up, no one wants to see that.”
I stuck my tongue out at him from behind her, while he responded with wounded dignity, “I’ll have you know that a number of ladies have expressed quite the opposite opinion.” He drew the other side of the blanket up to cover himself as well. “I’m assuming you have a good reason for barging into a young priest’s room without so much as knocking.”
As usual I found myself smiling at his banter, until I remembered the news I had to give him. “I do. I can’t spend too much time in the city and I didn’t know how long it would be before you returned to the house.”
“You must have important news then. Is it safe to talk here? How long will she be out?” he patted the woman next to him gently on the rump.
“An hour or more, but my news can wait. It will take longer than that to discuss,” I replied.
Marc answered quickly, “If you like I can come and meet you at the house, say around noon?”
It was closing in on somewhere past nine already at my best guess. “You can leave without ruining your disguise?”
“Certainly, I do so all the time. This cell is just a courtesy for a visiting brother,” he said gesturing with his hand to include the room, as if he were in grand surroundings.
“Why exactly did you need to stay here?” I said suspiciously.
He grinned, “It helps further the disguise. I’ve learned innumerable things while sharing meals and accommodations with the Iron Brothers.”
“And?”
He smirked, “and your house is rather unfriendly to strangers that you haven’t personally vouched for, like sweet Marissa here.”
Rose spoke up, “Can we save the chatter for later gentlemen?” I got the impression the setting made her uneasy.
“Noon then,” I said looking at Marc. He nodded in acknowledgment and drew Marissa closer as if to snuggle as we started through the door.
Rose stopped in shock, “Have you no shame? The girl’s still unconscious!”
Marc was unabashed, “That’s disgusting. You should wash your head out for having such dirty thoughts; I was planning to wake her up first.” Then he tilted his head as if thinking, “Though your idea does have some merit, sick as it is.”
I ushered Rose out the door before she could kill him, trying not to laugh as I did. “That man is unbelievable!”
