Purity of Mind

Chapter 2

"Report, Initiate" the taskmaster said to me.

"Portia Windelm." I replied. "Contrary to the name, she's a Pure Water."

The taskmaster just grunted his agreement with my discovery. Clearly, as I'd thought, this was not exactly news to the organization. The fact that it had taken me a week went entirely unremarked and was hopefully just as expected.

My initial sweep had been a success, nearly too much of one. I'd looked for people who didn't react to my thoughts, and I'd found more than a few. The rest of the week had been dedicated to further investigating them. Most of them just hadn't been paying attention; the next time I'd gone by with thoughts of hunting in my mind they'd reacted accordingly. It didn't take long until I had only a few suspects left. Portia was the first I'd found and by far the strongest lead, since she'd made no secret of her garden's continued success even through the city's droughts.

Finally, the taskmaster seemed to decide something. He turned to go, making a gesture that clearly indicated I was also to leave. Shit, had I failed somehow? If I left, I might never find my way back here, the organization was legendary for not being found when it didn't want to. That was practically the only thing anyone outside of it knew of it, which only reinforced the legend. I spoke up.

"Nazir Windelm." I said. "Her husband. He's a Pure Earth."

That got the taskmaster's attention. He turned, looking me over. "You were supposed to find Hakan Alsden."

"I did," I said. "He was a less strong lead, but I suspect he is a Pure Air; his windmill has never ceased operating."

The taskmaster nodded. "I see. Come with me, initiate." He didn't wait for me to do so, but instead resumed walking the direction he'd begun moving earlier. I stood and ran to catch up, relieved that I'd correctly determined the identity of the city's three Pure.

"Tell me how you discovered Mr. Windelm," he ordered.

"It was incidental." I said. I thought it strange that he'd focus on the one that was the easiest of the three to find, but didn't comment on it. "I noticed that he was the one who got his wife's attention when I came by, the thought of seeking the Pure in mind."

The taskmaster nodded. "Future tasks may require more subtlety on your behalf, initiate." My specific strategy appeared to have been anticipated, but his tone didn't seem harsh at all. "If Mr. Windelm was the one to alert his wife to your seekings, it seems unlikely that he would be Pure."

"That is what I believed, as well. Every time I neared their house or any place that had them both, he alerted her."

"Then what gave him away?"

I didn't like to admit I hadn't planned this part, but luck had its place in our organization. "Coincidence. On the fourth day, I was investigating both Mrs. Windhelm and making my way to the Alsden Mills. I did not have time to do both, so I hired a rickshaw to take me through the city at a higher speed."

"And?"

"Mr. Windelm did not alert his wife. Both remained entirely ignorant of my passing."

The taskmaster stopped moving suddenly. He turned to face me and even though he'd always looked a bit upset, now he truly looked angry. "Initiate, I am taking you to our Queen, do you understand?"

I didn't. We were two stories underground in the abandoned city that the city proper was built on. Clearly Her Royal Highness was not down here.

"You, Initiate, are a Pawn. I am a Rook - in fact, the only one. Should you ever address me as anything other than 'taskmaster', you would call me 'Rook'. I am bringing you to the Queen. Do you understand?"