Chapter 3
IT DIDN'T surprise Vivienne that the first thing the Orlins made her do at the meeting point at the train station was to surrender her cellphone. They told her that it wouldn't work in Manna City anyway.
Manna City was across the Anthias Sea, after all. There were two other Orlins who had been picked earlier in the month and were only summoned to the Lewisville Train Station now. One was a boy of sixteen, and the other was a skinny girl of fifteen. Both were dressed formally like they were on their way to a dinner party. The boy wore a dark-grey plaid suit that was frayed at the edges. The girl wore a bright-blue dress which seemed to be composed entirely of ruffles. She was overly tall and slender, like a blue grasshopper. Sallen was the shortest of the lot, but she made up for it with giant platform heels. She was wearing a pink dress that reminded Vivienne of her Aunt Sully's party dress.
Vivienne had decided on a pair of black jeans and a clean blouse. She felt underdressed at first, but when the Orlin guides appeared they were only wearing plain black cloaks are well. Their attire was just decorated by a thin gold chain around their wrists, and a white rose embroidered into their sleeves. The white rose was the symbol of the Princess. She was the leader of the Orlins and only she was allowed to wear a white cloak with a generous hood that concealed her face from the papers. No one had seen her face before. There were plenty of rumors that the princess was deformed.
That much — Vivienne knew from the newspapers, but she suspected she wasn't nearly as aware of the latest Orlin gossip as her peers.
There was a stretch limo there to bring them to the dock. There were two Orlins to escort them, one male and one female. The man, who introduced himself as Simon, sat in front. The female, Madame Jyger, sat with them in the back. Her hair was done in an austere grey bun at the top of her head. Across her forehead was a thick crater of a scar and her eyebrows were burned clean away. Like the others, Vivienne found herself trying not to stare.
Madame Jyger had an empty seat beside her, and since everyone else shrank away, Vivienne found herself sitting beside Madame Jyger. Sallen looked guilty at the prospect and immediately took the seat opposite to the two of them. The two others huddled together at the back of the limousine.
Vivienne had chosen to sit beside Madame Jyger because she wanted to ask why the Auguard had chosen her when she was already just about eighteen. It was unheard of for a girl to be chosen this late. Madame Jyger seemed to eye Vivienne from head to toe - sizing her up. As Vivienne opened her mouth to ask her question — Jyger reached over and gave her hand a gentle, knowing squeeze.
"Isn't it a beautiful melody?"
"What?" Vivienne asked, wondering if the old woman was nuts. "I don't hear anything."
As the car pulled out of the Station, Vivienne realized her opportunity to ask her questions had passed. Madame Jyger got down to business immediately.
"As soon as you enter the city you will be taken to the Pearl Tower and given the Orlin's Oath. You will be shown to your temporary rooms in the Pearl Tower where you will be instructed on the choosing of an Ansura. The events of the week will culminate in the Midnight Masquerade." Madame Jyger made eye contact with each of the inductees as the car picked up speed. "Any questions?"
There was silence throughout the car. Vivienne wondered if asking whether she could go home was an option.
"Many inductees often ask what exactly is an Ansura," Madame Jyger finally suggested with an air of exasperation. "An Ansura is vital to the survival of an Orlin. There is a saying among the Orlins that will soon become familiar to you — two souls one grave. Your Ansura will become the most important person in your life, even more so than your future husband or wife."
"Many Orlins never marry," Simon offered from the front seat. "Some even marry their Ansura." Simon grimaced. "I don't think I even want to know how the mind-reading part works in a marriage."
"Can you really read minds?" Sallen asked.
"Nothing like you probably imagine. Sometimes if you or your Ansura are in a dire circumstance, you will catch traces of thoughts. Sometimes, only moods. Sometimes it requires touching, sometimes an exchange of energy or blood," Simon offered with a hint of impatience as though Sallen's question was awfully childish. Vivienne immediately decided it was better not to ask questions.
"Now, do you know the rules of being an Orlin?" Madame Jyger asked. Sallen shook her head while Vivienne just stared blankly. Her low husky voice grew even quieter as though she wanted them to lean in closer to hear. "The first rule is the most important one — bound till death. You never purposely do ill to your Ansura or abandon them. The second rule — If you do catch traces of your Ansura's thoughts, you will not reveal them to others. And your Ansura will swear to do the same as well with your thoughts. Third rule — One bond, one life. You will not take one more than one Ansura in your lifetime or risk exile from the order of the Orlins."
"Who picks your Ansura?" the girl in the back asked. "Do they pick us?"
"It happens both ways," Simon offered. "Sometimes, the second you meet them you just know. For some unfortunate inductees, they don't feel that bond with anyone and in that case the Pearl Tower picks for them. You don't want to end up in those situations. So, work hard this week to find that bond. It makes things so much easier when you actually like the person."
The car slowed as it approached the harbor. There was a large grey boat waiting for them. It looked to Vivienne like a floating prison. The sun had come out and was shining on the Anthias Sea. The water was a crystal blue, but Vivienne knew that the next time they saw the ocean, in Manna City, it would be gold. Manna City, in Ignias they call it the city of sin and glory. Vivienne was reminded of the last time she saw the Anthias sea. She was only nine years old. It was the day Blake died. She had gone to the beach with her mother and Janun. Vivienne caught a crab, and she brought it home in a bucket to show her friend. Vivienne remembered being worried that her father would try to cook it for dinner. Maybe she could ask Blake to sneak it into his mother's extravagant fish tank.
Madame Jyger clapped her hands together.
"That's it for now. Once you are on the ship, you will be shown to your rooms. You will wait there alone until we reach the city. You will have some time to nap or meditate. If you are wise, you will use the time to think about the qualities you seek in your Ansura. A week will pass faster than you can imagine and it is a decision that will impact the rest of your life."
~*~
As Simon led Vivienne to her room, he left her with instructions to be respectful of the ship. It was an enchanted place where many Orlins before her had received signs of their Ansura-to-be. The walls were painted blue and lightly decorated with mosaics made of shell fragments. It seemed as though it was meant to invoke feelings of the exotic and calm. Vivienne's room was in the shape of a square with a mat to one side for sleeping. There were no windows. At the center of the room was a table with lavender-scented incense.
"This is Madame Jyger's favorite room. Legend has it that the face of her Ansura came to her in the smoke of a lit wick of incense." Simon smiled proudly. "She used to be an amazing Orlin before Lord Chaning was murdered. The two of them have known no parallel."
"How did he die?" Vivienne asked. She thought that the first rule of being an Orlin that is one never leaves their Ansura to die. It looked like even Madame Jyger bent the rules.
"Demon attack," Simon replied and grimaced. "You're a quiet one. I noticed you didn't ask any questions, but I sense that you are mighty inquisitive."
"All right, here's one — why do Ansuras need us?" Vivienne asked. "You say that they're powerful leaders and royalty. So why us?"
Simon chuckled. "We're Orlins, descended from the holy people of the past. They need us to save their souls. We're practically the Levanti around here." He paused and studied her. Although he was young and could pass for handsome, his beady eyes easily turned mean. "You're not as smart as you look."
"Looks can be deceiving," Vivienne replied sarcastically. She took a step into the room hoping that would prompt him to leave, but he caught her by the arm.
"Wait," he snapped. "You don't do anything before I tell you to."
Vivienne turned to face him. She gave him a wide-eyed look, letting him know that she was awaiting further instruction. She decided she was beginning to hate the Orlins even more. Simon produced a velvet sachet from the leather case he was carrying under his arm. He opened the sachet and pulled out a thin silver chain. He motioned for her to hold out her wrist.
"When the bond is complete you have a gold chain. For now, in its virgin form, it will help guide you to your destiny." He snapped the silver chain shut around her wrist and motioned to the room. "Now go in. See you when we're in a much better place."
~*~
Vivienne sat on one of the violet cushions and tried not to think about how homesick she was. She finally produced a slip of paper from her backpack and a pen from her school pencil case. She tried to imagine a face in the twirls of smoke, but her resultant drawing only looked like a mess of scribbles. She finally gave up on the vision part and simply attempted to draw a face. The resultant image resembled more of a monkey than a man.
Vivienne crumpled up the portrait and shoved it back into her bag. She wondered how terrible of an Orlin would she have to be in order to be fired and sent home. Maybe she'll wear her underwear on her head and advise her Ansura to jump off of a cliff. Vivienne smiled to herself at the thought.
She laid down on the mat and thought about Allison. Vivienne wondered what dark, murderous secret were hidden under all the perfumed riches of Manna City. Although Vivienne didn't know much about the Manna City high-society papers, she did know the ten Princes were not really royalty. They were called that because the Princess — Lady Maglania lost her royal title ages ago because she had an affair with a commoner. She was immensely popular with the Manna City citizens and out of respect for her — her ten loyal bodyguards were nicknamed Princes. It was still considered a great honor, the highest honor, in fact, to land one of them as an Ansura.
That was, even if the job wasn't a long or a secure one. The Princes disappeared on a regular basis. No one knew why. Vivienne didn't know what became of their Orlins although it was well known that their family back at home kept receiving money and impersonal messages from them. They were just gone, like Allison.
From their paparazzi pictures, the Princes all looked suspicious, especially the ugly ones. There was one with an especially big nose that Vivienne found detestable. Vivienne sleepily wondered if having large ogreish features was a sign of a vampire. If anything, it was the last one, the one with the flaming red hair. That one had a piercing glare as though he could rip out a throat with his eyes alone.
The dream started in the attic of the Thorne Manor. Vivienne found herself among the charred remains of porcelain dolls. These dolls, they were where she had met Blake for the first time when he had caught her playing with his ancestors' dolls.
"Viv," a voice whispered from the darkness. She looked up and caught the sight of two burning eyes peering at her from the shadows. He stepped forward into the light. His blond hair was dusty, as though he had been sitting in the attic for ages along with the dolls. Blake stared down at the torso of a blackened porcelain ballerina. "They burned them, you know. The vampires."
Blake reached out with one hand. She took it in hers, but his skin felt ice-cold to her. He wasn't alive. She wrapped her hands around his and tried futilely to warm his slender fingers. He shook his head. It was no good.
"Did the vampires kill Allison?"
"You'll know soon enough, Vivienne. They're coming for you."
He tilted his head up, and she saw two large bloody incisor wounds in his pale neck.
She suddenly remembered that Blake had died. The memories came back to her in a terrifying flood. They told her the gardener had found him in the abandoned arena. The servants said the gardener carried Blake back to the Thorne Family manor where Lady Thorne held him until he died. Lady Thorne said that he stopped breathing before they were able to call for a doctor. Vivienne never even got a chance to see him one last time.
"Do you remember the last thing you said to me?" Blake's ghost asked.
"I said I would keep the locket for you until you came back," Vivienne said. "But I never saw you again. I wasn't even allowed at your funeral."
Blake stared back at her, the dark circles under his eyes looked like holes in his skull. He was a ghost, but she still felt comforted in his presence. He was the only one who understood, who believed in the vampires. He was Blake Thorne; he feared nothing. When she was with him, she was powerful too. She could take on the Orlins.
"You're one of them now."
"I won't help them. I promise!" Vivienne exclaimed. "I'll find out the truth. I won't forget what the vampires did to you."
"They killed my father, you know." Blake mused sadly. His green eyes lingered on her before he turned to leave. "I never even found out what really happened to him."
"Blake!" Vivienne cried out. "Don't leave me."
The dream ended. She woke up abruptly to the shocking eggplant-colored room. Momentarily, she was shocked that it wasn't her room.
Then Vivienne remembered with dismay that she was on the Orlins' ship, on her way to the dreaded Pearl Tower.
The incense had burned out. The rocking of the ship had knocked her paper and pencil across the room. As Vivienne collected them, she noticed that the chain of the cameo necklace was hanging out of her jean pocket. She pulled it out and momentarily glimpsed the carving of a moon goddess which formed the cameo. Vivienne remembered the doll who inspired Blake to give her the necklace.
~*~
It was the last day of summer when her father was invited to Thorne Manor to tutor Lady Odelia Thorne's son. The Thornes were reclusive to a fault. Although Vivienne's father desperately wanted to boast to everyone what would listen who his newest employers were, he was contractually obligated to secrecy. Although eventually, her father would loosen his tongue up, in the beginning, he didn't tell his family anything about his new employers or the boy in his charge.
On the day Vivienne met Blake, her father was preoccupied in preparing for his lessons, and Janun was busy running around Manna City with her new girlfriends from school. Vivienne was left alone to wander.
Somehow, out of sheer boredom, Vivienne ended up following a house cat into the attic in the northern wing of the manor. It was quiet in this part of the mansion. From the windows, she could see the cottages which served as a guesthouse for the many visiting tutors. Also, nearby, she could see the steeples of the extensive servant's quarters.
There, she found an array of the most gorgeous porcelain dolls she had ever seen. There were ballerinas with little pink tutus, maids with lace aprons and miniature feather dusters, harem girls with veils and embroidered slippers, and Victorian ladies with parasols and spectacles. There was a lady in a deep purple dress sitting on a wolf. She wore a cameo necklace around her neck and a crescent-shaped circlet over her head.
Vivienne picked that doll up and was enchanted by her smile. She looked like she had a dark secret. There was a magnificent dollhouse under a muslin sheet. Inside, there was a table all set for tea complete with miniature silverware and candlesticks. Vivienne posed the Wolf Queen at the head of the table. She picked up the ballerina and posed her in the seat opposite her. Vivienne picked up the miniature teapot and served the two dolls. Then she passed out tiny glass cookies and sandwiches.
Delighted in the game, Vivienne quickly decided that the tea party was going to take a dark turn. The Ballerina had betrayed the Wolf Queen by sleeping with her enemy, the Moon King. The Wolf Queen had poisoned the tea, and she intended to feed the Ballerina to her pack of ravenous wolves who had been starved in the darkness of her cellar for three weeks. Little did the Wolf Queen know, the Moon King had sent a dragon to save his love. Vivienne found a crystal statue of a lizard that she softly crept up under the table of the tea party.
As Vivienne picked up the lizard-dragon to send it swooping in to save the Ballerina, who would have otherwise faced certain doom, she was interrupted by the sound of a creaking floorboard. The crystal lizard fell from her grasp and smashed into the floor, breaking in two at the torso. To make matters worse, as she spun around — there was a boy standing behind her.
"Who are you?" he demanded. "And what are you doing here?"
"I'm Vivienne Minthe, the English Professor's daughter," Vivienne replied, hastily. "I'm so sorry. I know I don't belong here. Please don't tell the Thornes."
The boy stepped into the light. He had a scowl on his face. He held a cane in his left hand which he leaned on to walk. Even with the help of the cane, his steps were clumsy, shaky, like he could fall at any minute. He continued to scowl at her as he took in what she done to the toys. He seemed like such an angry, irritable boy, Vivienne didn't feel sorry for him at all.
"What's going on here?" he asked and pointed at the lizard statue that was lying in several shiny pieces. "Did the reptile upset you?"
"It's not a reptile, it's a dragon," Vivienne corrected. "And she fell."
The boy seemed to roll his eyes that Vivienne was insisting the dragon-lizard was female. "Why did she fall?"
"She slipped out of my hands," Vivienne replied sheepishly. "Are you going to tell?"
"No," he replied curtly. He crouched down opposite her and slowly slid the pieces of the broken lizard back together again as though he was trying to bring the lizard back to life. For a second, the lizard had its spiked tail back and its toothy mouth was attached to its body again. Yet, Vivienne could see the broken segments reflecting the light differently than it had before. Not even the most artful of tiny fingers could put the crystal pieces back together again, not exactly as they were before the fall.
"Are you trying to fix her?" Vivienne asked, ashamed that she broke the priceless crystal toy.
"No," the boy replied as he looked up and his scowl seemed less angry. "I was just trying to imagine what she looked like before she broke." He raised a bushy blond eyebrow at her. "Tell me about your dragon, what was she doing before I showed up?"
He didn't seem concerned about telling on her, so Vivienne breathed a sigh of relief. "She was going to save the Ballerina princess," Vivienne replied. "The Moon King sent her to save her before the Evil Wolf Queen could feed the Ballerina to her pack of hungry wolves."
"That sounds brutal," the boy replied as he eased himself into a kneeling position beside her. Vivienne noticed that his joints moved stiffly as though they were frozen in place. Despite, his handicap, his hands were fast and his eyes moved quickly around the room. He set his cane aside and settled down beside himself. "How many wolves are there?"
"Almost twenty!" Vivienne replied gleefully. "They're starving. The evil Wolf Queens is going to lower her feet first so she could hear her scream."
The boy finally smiled. "Slowly, I would hope."
"Yes," Vivienne hesitated and snatched up another figurine. This one was a replica of a cardinal bird with blood-red feathers. This was going to have to be her replacement for the lizard-dragon. "But the dragon is coming back. She's going to fight off the wolves."
Vivienne noticed his arm had a slight tremor as he leaned against it. The boy tugged at his sleeve to keep her from staring.
"Who wins?" The boy asked, redirecting her attention back to the game. "Your bird-dragon is too pretty to lose to some mutts."
Vivienne smiled. "The only way to defeat a fire-breathing dragon is to plunge a sword into its frozen heart." She looked out the window and saw that the sun was setting and her mother would be looking for her in the cottage gardens. "It's getting dark. I have to go home. Can we play tomorrow? We have to fight the dragon!"
"Why would we do that? Is there some kind of reward for slaying the dragon?" He asked. He had a nice soothing voice when he wasn't angry. It made her felt like she could tell him anything. Vivienne's hand brushed against his as she started to put the dolls back into the shelf from which they came. There was a layer of dust over everything so it was easy to see where each doll had come from. She noticed he recoiled from her touch and placed his hand deep inside his pant pocket. She couldn't figure out why he didn't want to be touched, his eyes remained engaged and patient. Was he embarrassed? By what?
"Well, you'll have to slay the dragon first to find out," Vivienne told him. Even though he was a strange kid, she was excited to meet another child to spend time with. "Please say we can play together tomorrow?"
"Very well, Vivienne," he replied. Although his face was beautiful and calm, there was a glimmer of a calculating intelligence in his eyes. His curly blond hair shone beautifully in the sunlight, but his pale skin belied a boy who didn't often go into the sun.
"What should I call you?" Vivienne asked. "You haven't told me your name."
"My name is Blake."
"Do your parents work for the Thornes too?" Vivienne picked up the broken crystal lizard. She naturally assumed he belonged to one of the other visiting professors or house-staff. Who else would be creeping about the dusty attic except the unattended children who were trying their best to be invisible? "I'm going to take this back and glue it together before anyone notices. I heard the boy who lives in this mansion has a bad temper."
"Don't bother," he said. He took the broken crystal from her and tossed it across the room.
"Wait, stop! That was expensive!" Vivienne exclaimed. He slowly pushed himself into a standing position with his cane. She noticed it took a while for him to balance himself against the cane.
"It's useless, and it belonged to one of my long-dead ancestors." He wiped his dusty hand against his dark blazer and it out for her to shake. "I'm Blake Thorne."
~*~
Vivienne felt the ship came to a jarring stop. A knock came at her door and then before Vivienne could answer, it was opened. It was Madame Jyger. She was holding a baggy cloak trimmed in black feathers.
"Put this on, Vivienne," she said. "There are vultures who are looking for a glimpse of the new Orlins. Your appearances must be kept a secret from the press until the Golden Masquerade. Cover your face well."
Vivienne took the cloak and draped it around herself. It was thick and heavy around her shoulders. The hood went over her face and shrouded her in mystery. However, it still wasn't enough for Madame Jyger. She entered and adjusted the cloak about a dozen times before she deemed it fitting.
"Over your shoulder is the sign of a gray raven. That will be your name when you are in the Pearl Tower. This will preserve your anonymity." Madame Jyger motioned for her to follow. "Come with me. Your fellow inductees are already outside."
Vivienne followed her outside. She caught a glimpse of the shining Anthias sea, now a river of gold in the sun. She felt a pang of nostalgia. Once upon a time she had run through these beaches happy and free. Now she was returning as a prisoner. Sallen was waiting for her at the end of the line. Over Sallen's shoulder was a silver fox. The other girl had a blue dragon, and the boy had a white tiger.
Vivienne knew that legend had it that the symbol they were assigned represented a quality inside themselves. Usually, it was chosen by the Auguard who had first selected them to join the Order. Dragons, tigers, birds were common, that usually meant that the Auguard didn't know what to pick. Ravens, however, that was an unusual choice. Vivienne didn't know what to make of it.
"Move in a row please," Simon ordered as he followed along. She noticed now that they were walking in the sunlight that Simon's cloak had designs embroidered in gold over his collar. Over his shoulder was a very ornate orange rooster. It seemed fitting that he was given the sign of a cocky but harmless animal. Underneath the cloak, he was wearing high-top sneakers. When he noticed her staring he pulled out a dagger from his shoe. "Are you admiring my silverware?" he asked."If my Orlin powers fail, I can back it up with a cold steel dagger in the heart."
"Have you ever used that?" Madame Jyger demanded in alarm. It made Vivienne almost chuckled to Simon squirm. She was sure throwing daggers broke one of Madame Jyger's Orlin rules.
"Of course not," Simon replied. "But it's for protection. This cloak sends out a signal to every pickpocket and royalty hater in the city."
"You need to stop wandering the red-light district in the wee hours of the morning," Madame Jyger admonished. "Imagine an Orlin with Syphilis. That's going to make us all look great."
"I'm careful," Simon replied. Simon winked at Vivienne as he shoved the blade back into his boots. "Hey Pretty-Eyes, either find yourself an Ansura with bull-sized muscles or get yourself a decent set of throwing knives too."