“But, you said… two days ago. You stopped being a member two days ago,” she stuttered.
“Yeah well, three years ago I found Shiphra. She asked me to remain at the Hovel. Remain a Guard member.” His voice had become sharp, and she saw the darkness within him come out. He shook his head and replaced his smile. “It was a hard thing for her to ask of me, I could tell, but they wanted people on the inside to watch and help those that needed helping.”
“What do you mean? How would posing as a Guard member help anyone?” she asked skeptically.
“I gave Shiphra information I learned by being close to the Guard members and The Ancients. I helped Healers who didn’t want to be there get out, Healers like you and me. I helped them find their new home.”
“Wait a minute, other Healers left? I wasn’t the only one?” she asked, breathlessly feeling a weight lift off her chest.
He stared at her with understanding eyes. “Yep, you and me were the only ones stupid enough to go back, that’s all,” he said with a grin. “People leave that place pretty regularly. It tears The Ancients up that they can’t stop the steady leak. The thing that makes them crazy is that they know only one thing could put the Healers beyond their reach. Shiphra has them under her wing.”
“Shiphra is hiding Healers from them?” She was baffled. How was it possible she knew nothing about this person a week ago?
“Why wouldn’t she? Unlike us, she never ran from responsibility. She just stood up to oppression. When the other Ancients started to look at the Healers as their possessions, she said no. Anyway, she was forced to run and has been trying to save as many Healers as she could from a distance, leading them to her,” he said. The tone of his voice showed his admiration and devotion to his leader.
“That’s how I found New Hovel. After I ran away, I just went where my feet took me, and a few weeks later, I was standing next to her.” He shrugged.
“So, why are you here?” she asked.
“Oh! I’m sorry, I thought I made it clear earlier. Shiphra sent me to fetch you,” he said.
She looked him up and down ignoring his devilish good looks. He was tall and seemed confident in his abilities, but she didn’t think this baby-faced boy was special enough to be a one- man task force.
“Why did she send you? Just you?” she asked in bewilderment.
His smile faded, and he puffed up his chest.
“If we run into another thirty Guard members, I don’t think one guy is going to be much help,” she said.
“She had her reasons,” he said in a light voice. “You’re more trouble than any refugee I’ve ever helped, do you know that? Nell told me you two were practically sisters… I thought maybe you would be more like her. You know, helpful. But you couldn’t be more different,” he said, shaking his head.
“Nell? How do you know Nell?” she asked in a high voice that made her cringe.
“She was in the last group I took out of the Hovel. Actually, she’s kind of the reason I couldn’t go back to being a Guard member. I beat a guy down, and apparently, word spread that I couldn’t be trusted. I’ll forever be grateful to her,” he said dreamily.
“She’s safe in this New Hovel, right?” Amanda asked.
“Yes, she’s safe. Much safer than she was at the old one anyhow. I wish I could have gotten more out. You don’t know how bad things have gotten back there. It was like The Ancients were being wound tighter and tighter every decade, and this thing with you finally made them snap.” His blue eyes bore into her. “They aren’t pretending anymore. They openly killed a Healer in front of everyone. Guard members line the hallways, preventing escape. It’s crazy. I never thought I’d see it, but then again, Shiphra is never wrong.”
“What do you mean? She knew this would happen?” she asked.
He closed one eye and scratched his head. “Well, I don’t know if she knew exactly how it would go down, but she knew The Ancients would snap. She worried that every Healer they lost was just another straw on the camel’s back, and she was right. I suppose she knows them a lot better than any of us.”
“Yeah, I can see that. Baal told me he might as well be God, which isn’t all that shocking. I saw the way he looked at the Healers, and he thinks of them as power, not people,” she said.
“Wait, he actually said that to you?” he asked in astonishment.
“Well, he told me in my mind so no one else would hear, but yeah he did. He was thinking I’d be dead though. I think he likes showing his true colors to people that aren’t going to be around anymore.”
“You have no idea,” he said, standing up. “The things I saw when I was on the Guard. Baal loved the sight of blood…” He stopped and looked at her apologetically.
“Don’t worry. I know you can’t talk about it. Neither can Cole,” she said.
He shook his head and moved to the stream, dipping the canteen in the cool water. “No, I can talk about it. I just don’t want to. The things I witnessed aren’t topics of civilized conversation.”
“But, Cole can’t talk about it,” she said furrowing her brow.
“Funny thing about the Ancient’s magic, if an Ancient has done it, an Ancient can undo it. Shiphra told me it was like Newton’s law of physics. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction and all that. It takes the same amount of energy to do something as it does to undo it. So she just took the binding spell off of me.”
“That’s why they locked Shiphra up instead of killing her, you know. I’m sure they would have given all of the Healer’s lives to put her down, but it doesn’t work that way. It takes an Ancient to take out an Ancient,” he said, looking back over his shoulder.
“Why is that?” she asked.
“It just takes so much energy to kill an Ancient, probably would have taken more than most to put her down too.” He chuckled.
“Seems like it would have been easy. Five against one.” “Sure they outnumbered her, so they could have, but it wouldn’t have been easy. I wouldn’t want to be on the other end of a fight with Shiphra. She understands and controls magic and energy like no one else. In the end, they just wouldn’t risk their own lives.” He laughed, shaking the excess water from his hands as he stood up. “My name is Armaan, by the way. If you’re done interrogating me, we can go now,” he said, looking into the darkening forest.
She followed his gaze and thought that they probably should head back. “I’m Amanda, but I’m sure you already know that,” she said. “I need to head back to Cole and Madgie; you can come with me. Just stay behind me in case we’re attacked.”
She moved her eyes from the forest back to Armaan. The right corner of his mouth was turned up in a half smile. How many darn smiles can one person have? She was immediately annoyed at herself for even noticing.
“You want me,” he said, gesturing to his large frame. Blood rose to her cheeks, and she was about to argue when he continued. “To stand behind you.” His hand rested on the top of her head, which was a good foot lower than his. “In case we’re attacked?” He finished with an eyebrow cocked skeptically.
“Yes, you idiot, and get your hand off my head.” She swatted away his big palm.
“Wow, calm down. I just had to make sure I had it right.”
He moved behind her and crouched down. “Onward bodyguard!” Armaan whispered.
Amanda growled. “Have I called you an idiot yet?” she asked moving forward.
“Yes, yes, you have,” he said, following in her footsteps. “I think I found the one thing you and Nell have in common.”“And what’s that?” She let go of a branch early and sent it smacking into Armaan’s face.
“Ouch!” he said, rubbing his cheek. “I was going to say bravery. But now I see you volunteered to lead the way out of sheer jealousy.”
“Jealousy?”
“It’s okay. I’m not mad. I’ve dealt with this kind of thing my whole life. You’re jealous of my chiseled face and want to see its destruction,” he said in an overly dramatic voice.
She tried to stop her laughter, but was unsuccessful. “Well, I do believe people have been smacking you in the face your whole life,” she said.
It was silent as they walked, and they had just reached the densest part of the forest when he put a hand on her shoulder. She stopped, waiting for him to say something funny.
“What is it now?” Did he not understand that she needed to get back to Madgie? He didn’t say anything, so
