His pale green eyes looked at me through the red firelight and he sighed, waiting for me to speak.
“I feel angry at you, yet I trust you.” The words croaked out.
“That makes sense.” He picked up a pitcher and poured me some water, handing me the cup. I sipped it tentatively, then drank the whole thing, handing it back for more.
“Explain it to me, please, charzbos… I’m confused.”
“Call me Cartari.” He handed me a new glass, which I felt satisfied to drink more slowly. “We were in the cell together in the south precinct, do you remember?”
“Yes, I remember. How did we get out?”
“I compelled you to help me escape.”
Compelled me… The hairs on the back of my neck bristled and fire rose in my temples. My fingers clenched the mug tighter. “You controlled my mind.”
Cartari returned my gaze evenly and nodded. “I did. I didn’t realize it would have such strong effects.”
“Had you never done that before?”
“Curans aren’t susceptible to mind control, except the very young, which is just cruel. We are all telepaths. So, I had never really experimented with it. I don’t know if I used too much power or if people from Vailstor are too…” He trailed off and furrowed his brow. I bristled even more.
“Too what? Too weak-minded? Too easily swayed to your wicked ways, charzbos?” I swigged the last bit of water and then threw the mug at his head. He lashed it away with a quick flick of his wrist, telekinetically deflecting the throw without hardly any movement. That just made my blood boil even more. “How dare you take me captive that way! How dare you take advantage of me!”
“I rescued you, didn’t I? And I have been nursing you back to health, keeping you safe in this storm. If I hadn’t been, you would have died.”
“That’s your fault!” I screamed, I looked around for more things to throw, releasing the cloak, struggling to my knees to grab the fire poker for support as I gripped various shards of kindling from the fire bin. I lasered them at his head. My heart was beating fast, my vision blurring a little, as he dodged or ducked or flung aside my little pointless bullets of rage.
“Zaya, please…” He flicked aside the last kindling I could reach and then I struggled to my feet, using the poker as a cane. I held it out in front of me, brandishing it awkwardly like a sword. He crossed his arms as he stood, and a slight smile tugged at the sides of his lips, which infuriated me: it was incredibly cute and incredibly insulting.
I flared the poker at him and took two unsteady steps his way. I wobbled to the side a little. He moved to catch me, but I waved the poker toward him more intensely, its end flaring red from having recently been in the fire.
“Don’t touch me, don’t come near me again! You fooled my brain! You are a charzbos, a true barbarian! How could you do that? Will I ever be the same?” I jammed the poker into his chest, so it sizzled a bit against the fabric of his garment. He pushed aside the shaft of the poker with two of his fingers, releasing the heat. He studied me a moment and I wondered what he was thinking.
“... I can never trust her, though. In the same way she will think she can never trust me….”
I took a step back and dropped the poker. I had heard his thoughts! Clearly and without question! I had heard what he thought!
I put my hand up to my head. Surely, I was just still dizzy and under his control. That was the only explanation… But the echo of his thought, and it wasn’t really words, it was more the impression of exactly what he was thinking… I had heard it! So clearly, as if he had actually been speaking! How was that so?
I moved back to my mound of blankets, towels, and cloak. He settled back into the chair, seemingly unmoved by my half-delirious, half-hearted attack. I sat down, looking at him warily. I decided to try again and wondered what he was thinking.
“I have to ask her… The storm is still raging. We have food and wood left for one, maybe two more nights. Then we need to hunt for more of both… And, hopefully, head north, storm or no. I have a mission to complete… I have to ask her.”
The exigency he felt at asking me whatever question he was thinking of was clear, and he was very worried about it. I wondered when he would actually bring it up. But this was amazing! Electrifying! I could feel his thoughts, hear his thoughts, connect to him… How was that possible? Was that what Curans could do so easily? How did they ever hide anything from anyone?
“What?” Cartari asked with a smile. I had been staring at him. I rubbed my face and looked away.
“Do we have anything to eat?”
“Yes, there are some fruits and vegetables, preserves, that were in the shed here. Then there are some fresh food stuffs, jerky and the like, that I picked up in the market when we were fleeing the city. But we are getting low. We will need to go hunting. We are also running low on firewood.” Cartari stood up and began gathering some food for me to eat. I admired his swift, sure hands as they turned the jars and tore the jerky. I couldn’t help but laugh as he handed me the plate. He had made a smiley face with the food.
He smiled back at me and settled in his chair.
“How long have we been here? When was it that you took control of my mind?” The jerky was salty against my lips and seemed just the spike of electrolytes I had been missing. My body tingled as I ripped into it and slid peaches down my
