I woke up to people talking around me, I froze for a moment, trying to get a reading of the situation, to find out what was happening and why, it only took me a few seconds to place the voices and see they belonged to Kimball and Ethan, and to know I was safe, even if my body hurt and my head felt like it had been hit by mallet.
“How are you feeling?” Kimball asks, he clearly wasn’t going to be fooled into thinking I was still asleep.
“I think that right question is, in the scale of 1 to 10, how strong is your desire to drill into your head?” Ethan asked. It was a joke he liked to make, he always said that when having a psychic headache he felt like drilling his head to let the pain get away.
“I think that at the moment I would really appreciate some silence, my head does feel like it’s about to explode.”
“I think you forced yourself too much this time,” Kimball reprimanded me. “I’m not blaming you for that, I know that you did what you needed to do, and I would have done the same in your position, but you pushed yourself too hard. You have been sleeping for almost twenty hours and we needed to give you an IV just to give you some liquids and nutrients,” I hadn’t noticed the IV until he mentioned it.
“I’m just tired, what happened wasn’t that bad,” both Kimball and Ethan looked at me in a way that made it clear they weren’t buying my words, but that wasn’t important, for the moment all I needed was a few more minutes of rest.
“I will call for some food, you need real food, before you think of anything else,” I knew that anything I said would be a waste, it was obvious Kimball was worried and he would do whatever he thought was best, besides, I was hungry and wouldn’t say no to something to eat.
“Can you bring me up to speed while we wait for our food?” I knew that Kimball wanted to wait until things were calm, but I wasn’t going to be able to relax until I had an update on what had happened.
“All you need to know is that everything is alright,” Kibmall said, and I turned to see Ethan.
“That’s true, nothing interesting to report. Right now the discussion is all about what they are going to do with that think they created, they are debating between destroying it or studying it. Some think it’s too dangerous to keep, others are dying to find out what applications it could have.”
“So they still have it here, from what they said I thought it was too dangerous to keep here, what happens if it gets out of control again?”
“We found a way to keep it stable, and right now they are updating the security protocols to make sure there isn’t another incident like it, to make sure we will be able to stop it before it causes damage.”
“I will have to trust you,” was all I couldn’t think of answering, and it was true, I trusted them, if they thought there was no danger, then I had to believe them.
After getting something to eat and rest for a while, the headache finally calmed down enough for me to be able to take the suppressor off and get my powers back. It didn’t matter if the suppressor was needed to minimize the pain and speed up the healing, having it on affected me more than I cared to admit.
Everything had gone back to normal and I felt rested and much more calm, still, the peace didn’t last for long, just a few weeks later, while we were in Mzansi, I got a vision that pushed everything else to the back. In just an instant time had gone by and a new Clan’s Reunion had arrived. It was time to get ready and prepare for another trip, one that would have a bigger impact.
The first step, as always, was to get Fatima and ask her to take a walk through the fog with me. I knew that the vision I had was not written in stone, I knew there were alternative endings, that there was something I could do to avoid it, and just as I expected, I was able to see many paths opening before me, paths where I could make sure everything was fine, and that not unnecessary deaths would take place.
“What do you have at the moment?” Kimball asked.
“I have a date, and since we are part of the Empire we can be there, even if we haven’t been officially summoned, as allies we are automatically invited, all we have to do is be there.”
“Are you going with us?” Ethan asked, assuming he was going to be part of the group.
“No, not yet. There is a chance there is another fight between Antrax and Pompeyo, and there is a chance there won’t. By being there I will only make the situation worse. There is a chance nothing happens, in which case my presence won’t be necessary, but if things start to get back, you can be sure I will get there, but to avoid problems between the clans, if I go, I will go not as a Shadow, but as a former member of the Imperial Clan.”
“Won’t it be problematic if you go there and don’t present yourself as part of our family?” Kimball asked.
“There is a rule that says that only five representatives from each clan can go to the reunion, if I go and say I’m part of your clan, there the Shadows will be over represented and that can cause trouble, but if I go there and ask my place as part of the Imperial Clan, at least in name, then they won’t be able to accuse you of having more people than allowed.”
“Even if you play that card, everyone knows you are part of my clan, I’m not sure most people will buy that argument as easily as you think.”
“Don’t worry about that, I can be very convincing when I need to. For now, what’s important is getting ready for our trip.”
Both Kimball and Ethan accepted my words, I was the expert, after all, and if I said that it was the best way to deal with the situation, they had to accept that.
I knew that we were taking great risks, but those were necessary. If there was a chance for things to resolve peacefully, if Pompeyo and Antrax were capable of reaching an understanding, then I would stay away, but if there was a slight chance of things getting out of control and putting the lives of my loved ones at risk, then I would have to intervene, no matter the consequences.
Getting ready for our trip was easy, so we prepared everything so we would be able to spend some time with my daughters in case I didn’t get to be part of the Reunion. We arrived at the Empire with more than enough time to get to the reunion, and set camp on the route I knew the Assassins were going to take. With the help of mzansiers’ technology, it was easy to hide our camp, we used the same camouflage tech that had surprised me so much the first time I had been in one of their camps. From the road the Assassins were coming, it would be impossible for them to know there was a camp there, but I was sure than once they were close, my daughters would be able to tell there was something in the way.
Ethan had offered to wait for them and receive them, he was sitting in the middle of the road, just a few yards from the camp. Since I didn’t want to miss the show, I was hidden near him, in the tree line, something Ethan had caught even if I was using some of my tricks to hide my position.
“Greetings,” Ethan said to the Assassins’ scouts. “I’m waiting for Malkia and Antrax, please let them know that Ethan is here.”
The soldier didn’t look convinced, but he turned around without attacking Ethan, and that was a good sign. Ethan turned to see me and then put his attention back on the road. A few minutes later the rest of the Assassins’ caravan came into view.
“We need to stop meeting like this,” Malkia said, approaching Ethan.
“Ethan! It’s so good to see you, are you alone?” Greca asked.
“Of course not,” Malkia said, her eyes turning to where the camp was, then turning and staring directly at the shadows where I was hiding, with Greca turning my way a moment later.
“I can’t say how glad I am to see you again. I hope you can accept our invitation to spend the night at our camp,” I told my daughters.
“I think it would be pointless to ask how you knew we were going to be here,” Antrax said, moving to stand next to Malkia. “But you should know we already picked a place to set camp for tonight.”
“I just want to spend some time with my family, you don’t have a problem with that, do you? Nothing is going to happen if my daughters stay with me tonight, you have more than enough time to reach the Palace tomorrow.”
“I guess the camp you’re talking about is behind us, right? I can feel a huge settlement, but I can’t see it.”
“That’s one of the Mzansier’s many tricks. You are right, the camp is right behind us,” I took a small remote control, one Kimball had given me, and disabled the camouflage on the camp for a moment, so the Assassins could see the three huge structures we had set.
“That’s impressive,” Antrax said, even if he sounded more angry than impressed.
“Just wait until you see the interior,” Ethan added, clearly trying to get a rise out of Antrax.
We moved in silence to the main tent, where Kimball was already waiting for us with some food ready. My daughters avoided asking questions, but I could feel their curiosity, they were just willing to accept the fact that we had appeared in the middle of nowhere for the chance to talk to them.
For a while we just enjoyed our mutual company, talking about superficial topics and enjoying the food. Dendro, as always, was happy for the chance to talk to us, but it was clear that Antrax didn’t share his feelings, he was on the other side of the common room, staring at us, with an attitude that made it clear he didn’t like the situation we were in.
“Are you finally going to present yourself to the rest of the clans?” Greca asked, voicing the question everyone had.
“The Shadows’ representatives are going to be there, but I will stay away unless my presence becomes necessary. With the way things are between Pompeyo and your clan, my presence would only make things worse, I don’t want to be the excuse he uses to start something with you.”
“We can take care of Pompeyo, you don’t have to worry about him,” Antrax said, as if my actions were an insult to him.
“He is the Emperor, and despite his behavior, the fact is that he is the most powerful warrior in the Imperial Clan, and he can be a powerful enemy.”
“I’m not afraid of him,” Antrax declared.
“Then you are a fool,” I replied. If that was the attitude he was going to have while facing Pompeyo, it wasn’t surprising that the situation had such a high possibility of getting out of control.
Antrax opened his mouth, and I was sure he was ready to say something I wouldn’t care for, but he was interrupted before he had the chance to speak.
“I would think twice before speaking,” Kimball said, “you don’t reach our age, getting over multiple battles without learning a thing or two, you should listen and learn, instead of rejecting and fighting.”
“Everything was fine before you decided to come here, and they would still be fine without you. I don’t need your help of constant interference.”
“What you may not understand is that we didn’t come just now, we allowed you to see us, but we have always been here, watching from the shadows and helping when it was necessary, and we will keep doing it as long as it’s necessary.”
Kaiserin Novel 