-23-
Transference
The next day Charlotte awoke with a throbbing headache. She brushed her russet strands from her lips and sat up in bed. Whik was nowhere to be seen.
The ceiling of her quarters, like most of the rooms in Eckrondale, featured abnormally high ceilings. She slept on a thick, wool blanket that made her sweat throughout the night.
She ran her comb through her hair. The talons of the bone tool rustled between her strands. The one thing he gave me worth keeping. Take the ring, but leave the comb. The utility of the object or the rareness of the bone wasn't what had attracted her. It was the carvings inlaid upon the base. The eastern white wolf. A symbol of rarity and fiery determination. The same things he said I had.
Charlotte stared at the engraved eyes. The wolf stared back. She stood and walked out the door. The morning sun forced her to wipe her eyes and defend them against an onslaught of light. The city had awoken without her. It was not unusual for Whik to wake up before her and wander off on some made-up quest, but they'd never visited Eckrondale before. She rarely woke without worrying about him.
She immediately headed for Millstone's temple, who was sitting at his desk, scribbling words in his journal.
"Frankford?" Charlotte started. It was more of an announcement of her presence than a question seeking an answer.
"Ah, Charlotte. What foul accusations do you have for me today?" Frankford gave her a fleeting glance before returning to his writing.
"I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I know you were trying to help."
"The boy may be beyond help."
"Why would you say that?"
Frankford set his feather down, grimacing as the ink tip dirtied his parchment. "His visions have gotten worse. This phantom, as you call it, seems to be interacting with him more and more. Can't you feel the shift in the wind, Charlotte? Can't you feel the darkness approaching?"
I shouldn't have wasted my breath. She rolled her eyes. "So you resort to experiments that make him relive these visions?"
Millstone breathed in deeply as if he was saving up the air in his lungs for a long, exasperated rant. Geoffrey walked into the temple. "Morning you two. Blackberries, anyone?" Geoffrey held out a wooden bowl filled to the brim with luscious berries. Black juice oozed over the rim.
"No," Frankford told him. "I've eaten."
"Probably nothing but blackberries, you spend so much time with the vines. Why'd you grow them there? So far outside the city?"
"So people wouldn't find them," Frankford grumbled.
Marg stiffened. "That reminds me. Look who I found sneaking around the armory, playing with swords much too big for him."
Whik walked into the temple and hid behind Geoffrey Marg. Ash was smeared across his face. "Look at your face," Charlotte said. "Where have you been?"
"Just around the city, exploring with the other Whik."
"You know what I said about..." Charlotte's words caught in her throat. "The other Whik?"
Millstone finally looked up from his writings, offering more than a cursory glance at the boy. "Is your friend here?" Whik looked to the floor. Millstone cleared his voice and stood from his seat. "The other Whik is here, with you, in this city?"
Whik nodded. "Yes."
Millstone moved his finger through the air, signaling for Whik to come closer. He put his hand on the boy's back. "Whik, I thought you only see this friend in Tannuchi? Isn't that what you told me?"
"He arrived last night. He said today was Marg's big speech."
That makes no sense. Charlotte sat down on the stone bench.
"Wait, wait," Geoffrey interrupted. "My big speech? That was yesterday. You know it's wrong to lie to the Steward?"
Whik nodded again. "Hold on, I can't hear him." Whik looked anxiously at thin air, nodding at times and shaking his head at others. "You're lying," he said to the shadows. "Tully is fine. I saw him this morning."
Frankford put a hand on his shoulder. "Whik, what is he saying?"
"He's saying that the speech was postponed because they found Tully. He's dead. They found him washed up in the river."
Charlotte stepped forward. "He's making this up. He's just a child. Children do this. We all know Tully is alive."
Whik frowned and stared at the stone wall. "He's saying he that I killed him. With my slingshot. No, you're lying. I didn't shoot him. I was going to, but I didn't."
Geoffrey Marg set the berries down, his face clouding over. "What is he talking about?"
"Yesterday," Charlotte said. "By the river. I rode upon Whik about to shoot Tully with his slingshot. But I stopped him. He didn't harm the boy."
"See," Whik said. "I never killed Tully."
"What's the harm in a boy talking to his friend?" Geoffrey said. "The thing about Tully is odd, yes, but harmless. Boys play make-believe. There's no harm in that. Whik knows better than to injure a fellow Hemonstalian, right Whik?"
Whik lifted his arm and pointed his finger in the direction of Millstone's desk. "I'm telling the truth! He's right there. And he said he heard you two drinking wine and talking last night. Who is Henry? He said Henry made Charlotte sad."
Impossible. I never told him my husband's name.
Geoffrey laughed. "I'm sure there's at least one Henry in this city."
Frankford turned to Charlotte and said, "Who is Henry?"
"He was my husband. Geoffrey, did I mention-"
He shook his head before Charlotte could finish the question. "No, I never got a name. Whik, tell us more."
"He said that's why Charlotte always brushes her hair with the bony comb thing. Because Henry gave it to her."
Tears welled in Charlotte's eyes. She knelt down in front of Whik. "Whik, what is going on with you? Who told you this?"
Geoffrey placed his hands on his hips and watched in confusion. "Whik, you swear to me that you are seeing this boy? That he told you these things and you didn't overhear them yourself?"
Are we honestly consulting a child? It was very possible she had slipped the name of her husband to Geoffrey Marg the night before. She'd had too much wine, and wine brought out things in her.
"I swear," Whik told them.
Frankford stood, grunting as his old bones straightened. "Let us have another session. With both of you here, so you can see for yourself."
What does he mean, session? Charlotte didn't like the sound of that. But something was going on with Whik. If the old man could show her, maybe there was no harm in that.
Geoffrey shook his head. "Frankford, you are welcome to explore your theories in privacy, without compromising the safety of others. But messing around with magic, magic that could severely harm this boy, cannot happen."
"Forgive me, Steward, but it is not magic and it will not harm him. It could, however, show you both a speck of evidence that something is indeed going on here. If nothing comes of it, I will leave it alone, permanently."
"So be it," Geoffrey said, his lips stained with the berries' innards. "If Whik gets uneasy, you'll stop it immediately."
Millstone reached beneath his desk, picked up the parchment, four magnets, and an empty mug.He placed the magnets on the stone slab in the center of the temple. He then walked to a cauldron and dipped the mug into the metallic liquid. He's done this before, Charlotte thought. Too many times.
Frankford handed the mug to Whik. "Drink this. Don't worry, it won't hurt him. It activates the magnets. For this to work we need more energy, and they'll provide it. The liquid will pass through his body within a day. No harm done. Now, Whik, lay on the slab."
Charlotte stood against one of the curved walls, watching with wonder and worry.
Frankford placed two magnets in Whik's palms, then centered the parchment on his chest and placed the third magnet on top of it. "Whik, is the boy here with you?"
"Yes."
"Is he alone?"
"Yes, he says he's alone. He says you are in the room next door with your head in your books and that you don't know he's here."
"Tell your friend to place his hands on the parchment."
Whik's eyes blinked repeatedly from the intensity of the ray coming through the hole in the ceiling. "His hands are on the magnets."
"Good. Whik, we're ready to start. Just like last time, I want you to relax. And I want you to tell the boy to do the same, in tandem with you." Geoffrey Marg and Charlotte both took a step closer. "Whik, you'll become very sleepy, but you won't want to sleep. Focus on the warmth of the light, and only on my voice. You will start to feel very relaxed, releasing all tension from your muscles. You're very comfortable now. You will see the light and nothing else."
Charlotte eyed Whik's extremities. His fingers shook. His chest rose and fell beneath the magnet.
"My voice will guide you now. Focus all of your energy on the parchment resting on your stomach. Without moving, envision that you are picking it up and handing it to the boy. Pass the parchment to him." The magnets shook. The one on Whik's left hand fell on the floor with a thud. The parchment rustled in an invisible wind before Whik's mouth flew open. He gasped for air as his back arched off the stone slab. In an instant the parchment disappeared.
Geoffrey stood next to Charlotte, gaping. Frankford lifted his head and looked up at the other two. Charlotte knelt by Whik's side. "Are you hurt?"
"No, but my friend is gone. He ran out of the room."
How could it be? Something that was so visibly there and a moment later just vanishes. "The note. It's gone."
Frankford nodded. "It worked." He bent down and retrieved the magnets. "We must stay quiet about this."
Charlotte heard the sound of the wooden bowl hitting the temple floor before she saw the yellow foam seeping from Geoffrey's mouth. The berries smashed against the floor and smeared black drops across the stone. Neither Frankford nor Charlotte could help Geoffrey before he toppled over, falling in a pile of Frankford's berries, frothy drool coating his mouth.
Author's Note: Please don't forget to vote if you've enjoyed this chapter. I also try to respond to every comment, so don't hesitate to drop me a comment if you're angry, loving it, in awe or you want to throw your mobile phone (or whatever you're reading on) across the room.