Under the Willow Root

Chapter 38

I'm on my feet and clutching his hand before I know what I'm doing. "Marcelo."

"Marcelo Andretti," he says, smiling at me warmly. "Parli Italiano, mia cara?"

"Niet," I breathe. "Vy govorite na russkom yazyke? Or English? Do you speak English?"

"English, yes," Bard--or Marcelo--says, speaking English with a heavy accent. "What is your name, bella?"

"Aleksandra," I tell him. I don't know why I use my full name. "Aleksandra Ashley Nikolayeva. I go by Sasha."

"You should call me Bard," he says. "I left Marcelo Andretti behind long ago."

Caris clears her throat. "In the common tongue, if you please. I'm sure we would all like to participate in this conversation."

"How did you escape?" I ask, reluctantly switching languages. It felt so good to hear and speak English. "Whose...um..."

"We shouldn't discuss specifics," Bard says. "It's--"

"Not safe," Sadra interrupts. "We know. Why don't we start with how the House of Light and Shadows has been lying to the entire world for the last century?"

"I want to know how I came here," I say. "And how I can go home."

Bard holds up his hands. "One thing at a time. Let's start at the beginning. Or as close to the beginning as we can get. Caris?"

"The House would have us believe that there are two kinds of power available to us," Caris explains. "But there's really only one. Gifts are powered by an individual's own energy and will. With extensive training, we can access the energy found in the world around us in order to perform feats outside the bounds of our own Gifts. But that knowledge has fallen out of use. People will always prefer the fast and easy option if there is one, and the House of Light and Shadow provides that option.

To use Light is essentially to use the same energy that fuels a Gift--but the energy comes from someone else. To create a thrall, mages of the House of Light and Shadow place a shadow in a person's mind which extracts energy and amplifies it for others to use."

"And they've been telling everyone for a hundred years that they're creating vessels from scratch to hold Light that's just...floating around the universe?" I ask, seeking clarification.

"And they've practically turned it into a religion," Sadra snorts. "That's revolting."

"Essentially," Caris says. "To be fair, only the most advanced mages of the House actually know the particulars of how thralls are made and what they are, and they put a lot of time and energy into making very sure no one has any reason or opportunity to ask awkward questions."

"We figured that part out already," Sadra says. "How do they find people to make thralls? Are they all from another world like Sasha?"

"Yes," Bard says. "At least, as far as any of us can tell. Natives of this world are accustomed to accessing and utilizing their own power. Doing so takes a certain strength of mind, and that strength makes their minds resistant to this shadow. So the House mages cast their net into another world."

"The earliest mages probably did think they were creating something from nothing when the first thrall was made," Caris says. "But they must have realized the truth at some point because, in addition to the shadow which converts a thrall's energy into Light, there is another which keeps the thrall silent and muddled. House mages call it the Pall. It's actually a very clever and elegant system, and completely self-sustained. The shadows only fail when the body fails."

"That must be why Dove was able to speak just before she died," I say.

"Either that or she was like you and she was just hiding it all that time," Sadra points out. "You said that the shadow only fails when the body fails. Does that mean that Sasha's is still there?"