Story of the Thoughtmovers

A compelling fantasy saga of good vs. evil tells of two powerful royal Thoughtmovers who fight ruthlessly to claim the High Crown. One who seeks to protect and strengthen his subjects, the other who opposes reform and demands only their obedient servitude, stopping at nothing to obtain it.

Their battle starts in a land where superior mind strength conquers the sword and each thought seduces the mind.

Being of equal strength, the race begins to find the one who gains them their advantage, a mysterious woman, holding the ultimate key to elevating their powers and claiming their victory.

However, a greater force is at play, spinning its magic and controlling its players to participate in a deadly game that determines their fate and that of humankind.

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Map of Kaldanien

Chapter One

Notice: This is a work-in-progress and some content may change prior to publication.

The Masters proclaim that darkness inside the mind frightens more than darkness outside the mind.

“Kill that thievin’ varmint!” Her stepmother’s shrill voice pierced her ears. “Kill it or I’ll flog ye and put ye in your hole again!”

Terrified, Selina shivered. She couldn’t kill the kitten but neither did she want to go back into her dark and scary hole.

“What ye waiting for?”

Selina breathed hard, and her knees trembled.

“Well?”

Not knowing what to do, she clutched at the amulet around her neck. The kitten had done nothing bad. It had eaten the food because it was hungry. She didn’t mind. She gladly shared her food. She didn’t like her meat anyway and taking some food was no reason to kill it.

Selina looked up with sorrow. “The kitten was hungry, Milady. It did nothing wrong.”

Angry eyes burned down upon her. “Ye disrespectful child! Don’t ye tell me what is right and what is wrong!” Her hand swung, burning a slap across Selina’s face.

Selina bit back her tears from the sting. Huetta hated her crying. She always got madder. Sometimes Huetta would keep slapping her until she stopped.

“Now, what’s it to be?” She thrust the hammer toward Selina. “I won’t wait any longer, child. Kill it!” her voice roared.

Selina stared at the small kitten, sitting on the floor, meowing, wanting to be picked up and held.

What was she to do?

The idea of going into her hole, a foul smelling area not much bigger than herself with no light, and no food terrified her, yet she couldn’t kill an innocent kitten.

Selina shook. She’d have to go into the hole. For the kitten’s sake, she’d have to do it. She’d need to be brave. It would only be for a few sunspans, so the kitten could live.

Frightened for both their lives, she dared a look up at her stepmother. “I . . . I can’t, Mi . . . Milady,” she stuttered.

“To your hole then!” Her stepmother grabbed her by the collar, hoisted her off the floor, then pinned her to the wall. Selina coughed, choking from the tightness around her neck.

“But first, I’ll show ye what we do with young ones that don’t behave!”

Her stepmother raised her other arm with the hammer in her hand and to Selina’s horror drove it down toward the kitten, toward its head.

“No!” Selina screamed. She squeezed her eyes closed. She couldn’t watch.

The kitten’s painful cries burned in her ears. With each thump, thump, thump of the hammer came a meow that made her feel sick and more helpless.

The meowing finally stopped, but she dared not look. The kitten had been her only friend. It had done nothing wrong.

“Now, ye be next!” her stepmother yelled.

Selina’s eyes snapped open. She was thrust harder against the wall; the air whooshed from her lungs.

She froze, seeing the bloody hammer point in her direction. She lifted her arm to shield her face when the hammerhead swung right at her.

“Wake up!”

Selina felt a shake at her shoulders. She jerked away. “No!” she screamed.

“Shh! Quiet! It’s all right! It’s me! You’re safe,” the female voice told her.

Selina gazed around, blinking, trying to orientate herself.

Where was she? And who was talking to her?

When her eyes focused, she found herself huddled against a wall, sitting on damp stones in what looked like a narrow alleyway, with a red-haired woman kneeling beside her, shushing her to be quiet with a thin finger pressed at her lips.

In the distance, a clock bell rang, the wind pushing the humming sound over the roofs of the city.

The flashback from her childhood was over, but her body still trembled.

“Who are you?” Selina snuggled closer to the moist wall, staring at the woman through cautious eyes. Her chest rose and fell with each heavy breath.

“Milady, don’t you remember?” she asked, whispering. “We collided near the tavern, down by the port. The soldiers, they were chasing you. I helped you to escape. We fled down a few side streets when you started having an attack. I pulled you into this alley for cover. I’ve been sitting with you since, trying to keep you quiet, and waiting for you to awaken.”

Selina rubbed her temple, unable to remember. A heavy fog from her flashback still lingered in her mind, clogging her thoughts, preventing her from remembering. The flashbacks appeared swiftly and brutally. Afterwards, they left her confused, disoriented, and weakened.

Selina raised her forearm to wipe the cold sweat collecting on her brow. Her shaking would not stop nor had her fear attenuated.

She peered nervously down the dank and unfamiliar alley, cluttered with loitering debris. With a swift shake of her head, she tried to clear the fog swirling in her mind, in hope of remembering where she was and how she got here, and whether this woman, so concerned and crouching beside her, could be trusted. She leaned her head back against the stone wall and squeezed her eyes closed in concentration.

Slowly the fog dispersed, leaving her with fragments of returning thoughts. She remembered passing the busy tavern down by the port as she headed home from the orphanage where she volunteered. She remembered noticing the group of red-jacketed soldiers exiting and ogling her. Loud whistles and inappropriate gestures rang out. Her eyes snapped open, recalling the shouted orders to capture her. Red uniforms had flooded in her direction. Her instincts had commanded her to run.

Visiting soldiers spelt trouble, and with hoards of them chasing her, she had been forced down the narrow dirt streets of the poor district, to hide among the crowded dwellings. A woman, strolling the walk, had grabbed her by the arm, tugged her aside, wedging them between blackened walls, and spoke words of help and escape.

Selina’s head jerked over and gazed at the woman crouched beside her who had tugged her through one endless street after another, tirelessly working to lose the soldiers hunting her. Selina’s lungs had burned from running. The last thing she remembered was the heavy fog clouding her mind, the one that materialized each time a flashback began.

“Do you remember now?” the woman asked again, with a tone of urgency in her voice. Her pale blue eyes narrowly watched her.

Selina mutely nodded. With all the help she had provided, she doubted the woman meant her any harm.

“Then you know that we must get moving, Milady. We managed to evade them for a time, but there are so many of them that search this area, I fear they will soon be upon us. A group of them is moving in our direction as we speak.” Her travelling eyes reflected her growing fear.

Selina tensed. How would they escape so many? Dozens had poured out from the tavern. A thick lump formed in her throat. She tried to swallow down her growing terror.

“Can you run?” The women rose to her feet, extending her a calloused hand to help her up from the floor.

“I can, but I don’t know how fast. It usually takes time for me to regain my full strength.” The situation imitated a bad dream, as if one of her flashbacks had come to life.

“You must try. Come!” the woman coaxed her.

After pushing her long blonde braid over her shoulder, Selina allowed the woman to hook under her arm. Bracing the flat of her hand firmly against the cold wall for extra support, she straightened up. Her legs wobbled, but she felt relieved at being able to stand.

A cool breeze funneled through, brushing against her cheeks and ruffling the skirt of her dress.

“I’m sorry about your attack.” Sympathy ran in the woman’s soft voice. “With the way you moaned and struggled, it must have been awful.”

They were more than awful; they terrified her to the point of insanity. “I’m always glad when they’re over,” she managed to say.

Selina released from the woman’s hold and tried to stand on her own. She still needed the support of the wall to maintain her balance.

“Do you get them often?” the woman asked, appearing genuinely concerned.

Selina felt her cheeks warm with humiliation. “Yes, too often.”

A look of pity formed on the woman’s face before she looked away.

In the last moon, the attacks had dramatically increased and struck with more severity. Selina wished she knew how to stop them. She hated having them and hated remembering them. Having lived through the experiences should have been punishment enough.

Why was life so cruel forcing her to relive her torturous past? Had she not paid her dues?

“I’m sorry you had to . . . watch.” Selina looked down and self-consciously adjusted the folds in the skirt of her long dress. The convulsive-like-states that overpowered her when the attacks struck were unsightly and pathetic looking.

“Don’t worry about propriety, Milady. I just wish I could’ve done more to ease your fear.”

Selina had long ago accepted the fact that her flashbacks were unconquerable. Once they started, her thoughts remained locked inside the prison of her mind until the flashback finished.

For the first time, Selina scrutinized the woman standing beside her. Long hair shimmered red and was tied back in a tail by a simple green ribbon. Gray-blue eyes, molded into a beautifully sculpted face, matched the ivory skin and resembled that of a porcelain doll. The only markings that hinted at imperfection were a few freckles splashed across the bridge of her nose. Her tattered brown robe in no way matched the attractive woman inside of it. She shared Selina’s exceptional height of well over six feet. Selina thought the woman looked misplaced, here, in the slums that overflowed with ugliness and criminality.

The woman’s arm wrapped gently around Selina’s shoulders and urged her on. Selina edged away from the wall and hobbled along beside her.

“What is your name?” Selina asked, as she concentrated on dragging one heavy foot in front of the other.

They continued to shuffle their way down the long narrow passage. Weeds sprouted between the cobblestones, and rats scurried through the festering garbage strewn about.

The high stone barrier prevented the lower caste from invading the wealthy district of the higher castes and the wealthy from seeing the poverty and ugliness from their side.

“I’m Miranda but most call me Mira.”

“Mira, I owe you my life. I could not have escaped the soldiers on my own. With my flashbacks and the unfamiliarity of this district, I had little chance of a successful escape.”

Mira chuckled. “Milady, how nicely you refer to our slums.”

Selina stopped and looked at her respectfully. “I meant no offense. And if you must know, I am not of a high caste as you think me to be.”

The declaration put a frown on Mira’s face. “No offense taken, Milady, but your clothes clearly attest that you are not poor and at least, near nobility. That dress of yours is worth more aurums than most huts on this side of the wall.”

After Selina had stolen away from her stepmother’s place in the mountain village of Iola, she sought refuge in Alzura, a city south of Tanlia, to gain distance and hide amongst the populace. Eventually, she’d been found and taken in by Emily, a wealthy widow. Despite being well beneath the woman’s noble caste, an immediate and inexplicable connection had taken place between the two of them. Emily had accepted Selina like the daughter she never had, and Selina regarded Emily like a true mother. Emily’s noble caste had falsely elevated Selina’s status.

Hobbling farther down the dank alley, Selina dared not tell Mira that this was a working dress and that her usual dresses outshone this simple one, because she had herself been in a dire situation before and knew what it felt like to be judged by ones station. Character and actions molded the person, and Mira had revealed to her a courageous and caring individual.

Selina glanced at her. “Please do not judge me by my clothes, and I promise you that I shall not judge you by yours.”

Mira nodded with a smile. “We have a pact, Milady.”

Having reached the end of the alleyway, Selina stopped to catch her breath. “Please, call me Selina.” She puffed in and out with exertion.

Mira’s eyes widened. The lower caste always addressed middle and upper castes formally.

“I insist,” Selina told her, fighting to gain her breath.

Mira eyed her with a look of skepticism but finally relented. “All right then, Selina. Do you think you can manage on your own? I don’t recommend we leave the cover of the alley before you can run off on your own two feet.”

Mira was right. If the soldiers spotted them, she would need to run fast without help.

Selina stepped away from her, to test her strength. “It’s better, but I’ll need more time.”

Mira nodded, but Selina sensed in her the urgency to move on, hesitant to give her that time. Terrified of the soldiers, she wanted to accommodate Mira, but her body needed more rest.

“We may not have time to wait!” Mira cried out as shouting voices drifted closer.

“But what shall I do? I can’t run in this condition!” Selina felt helpless.

The voices escalated. The soldiers were coming closer. Mira snapped her head back and forth as if in panic. Her body stiffened. Her expression told Selina that she was considering running.

“Please, I beg you, don’t leave me here!” Selina pleaded.

Help from strangers, especially in the slums was seldom awarded, unless aurums were paid. After escaping from her stepmother’s hut seasons ago and arriving in the city, no one had concerned themselves with her. People kept to themselves, did not want to get involved, did not want to help others without profit. At the time, she liked it that way. The last thing she wanted was to attract attention while passing through. Selina distrusted everyone. She had to with Huetta hunting her down. With Mira, she needed that trust desperately. She was totally at the woman’s mercy. Dare she hope that a stranger like Mira would stay and help her?

Mira gazed toward the entrance with fear creasing her brow. When she stared back at Selina, her demeanor relaxed. “All right, if you can’t run, then follow me.”

Selina gasped with utter relief.

“Come, we must hurry!” Mira grabbed Selina by her shirtsleeve and dragged her back the way they came. “They’re getting closer. We don’t have much time.”

Just then, the shouts amplified, informing them of the soldiers around the corner, closer to the alley than they realized.

“Thank you,” Selina told her, trying to keep up. A lump formed in her throat, touched by Mira’s sacrifice. At the same time, she felt terrible that her expression of gratitude was entirely inadequate for what the woman risked. If caught, the soldiers would be merciless. This woman was risking her life for her.

“No. I thank you,” Mira called back, surprising Selina. “For reminding me not to be selfish. We females must stick together and help each other, no matter the cost. Those red uniformed men are beasts! What they do to females like us is appalling. We need to help each other or we don’t stand a chance.” Mira rushed onward.

Selina wondered what Mira meant by females like us. Usually the soldiers weren’t selective of the females they captured. Stories had circulated of grandmothers being attacked and used for their pleasures. Selina felt goose bumps run up her arms at the thought.

Having reached the other end of the alley, Mira shoved aside some broken crates, revealing a huge wooden door with rusted hinges. The dark walls camouflaged the grimy entrance, making it almost impossible to see.

The shouts from the soldiers indicated they were almost upon them.

“Hurry! In here!” Mira waved her along.

Selina followed her inside to what looked like a one-time theatre hall that had seated hundreds of guests. Most of the seats lay broken or had been removed. Wooden planks from a raised platform had, all but a few, been stripped away from the floor. A single remaining tattered curtain, hanging on one of the dozens of broken windows, was long faded. The trim work broken beyond repair, and the unreachable sculptures and moldings atop the high ceiling gave the impression it had once been a stately room. What stole her attention were the golden colored walls. Although coated with gray dust, the gold shimmer shone through.

A loud thud sounded as Mira barred the door behind them.

Selina jumped from the pounding on the other side. Her head whipped around, staring at Mira. The woman had paled. Selina drew in a quick breath, shuddering. Dear Masters, the soldiers had found them.

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Chapter Two

Notice: This is a work-in-progress and some content may change prior to publication.

Muffled curses rang from the soldiers’ inability to break down the door. Heavy banging replaced the yelling, sending thunderous sounds reverberating through the large dilapidated hall. The intensity of the noise made Selina’s flesh prickle.

“Come!” Mira shouted, shaking Selina from her fearful thoughts. “We don’t have much time. Now that they know we’re in here, they will soon find another way to enter.”

Selina wondered if there was a safe way out or if they were trapped.

“There are many ways out,” Mira replied, as if knowing what she had been thinking. “The trick is to find one where there are no soldiers waiting for us.”

“How about using a main entrance? I doubt they would suspect that.” Selina had learned many tricks over the years by trying to outsmart her stepmother. Obvious choices were often best, disregarded or overlooked by their simplicity.

Mira stared quizzically at her for a moment. “You could be right,” she finally said. “It’s a big risk, but I think we should try it. These soldiers aren’t the brightest. They will be expecting us to leave out the back or a side entrance.”

Selina gathered that Mira had endured her share of running from the soldiers as she had run from her stepmother.

Ten summers had lapsed since Selina had escaped from the woman, yet her stepmother still fervently hunted her. Huetta despised that she had escaped her control. Selina suspected her stepmother’s lack of success resulted from her having risen to the noble caste. Moving up in station was normally impossible, not to mention strictly forbidden and harshly punished. Huetta’s searches would center in the slums of each city instead of the wealthy districts where she resided.

“Come!” Mira signaled for her to follow. “If we get to the hallway where there are no windows, it will stifle our scent and not allow them to know our direction. Hurry!” she implored her.

Stifle their scent? What did that mean?

Selina wanted to ask but found it difficult to keep up with her by dodging broken seats and rubbish scattered across the dismantled floor. A thick layer of dust swirled up and coated their long skirt bottoms as they dashed through, attesting to the room’s lengthy disuse.

The violent banging continued on the other side, carrying through the vast room as if following them. They both hastened their steps.

Once through, they entered into another smaller room where numerous sets of double doors exited. A narrow window allowed in a few rays of the sun. The banging sound rang muffled in the distance. She had no illusion that they had escaped them.

A couple of older boys, in ragged clothes with unruly hair and soiled hands, sat off to the side, startling her. She gasped with the realization they were spotted.

Mira did not react. She had expected someone to be there.

The boys were playing a game with a broken bottle and a few pebbles and buttons. Selina recognized it; Ludrot, known as a peasant’s game due to its adaptability of using simple items that peasant children possessed. Her orphans had taught it to her.

Two heads popped up and scrutinized them.

“Come,” Mira called out to Selina, ignoring them.

The lanky boy jumped to his feet, causing Selina to jerk back. “You two wouldn’t happen to be ye women the soldiers are askin’ for on ye street?”

The smaller scrawny boy moved up beside him, eyeing both of them in the same critical way. “Ye looks like them,” he replied.

Selina froze. Would the boys divulge their location? On this side of the wall, people were reputed to sell their souls for a few aurums. She prayed it was not greed sparkling in their eyes.

Mira turned to face them. The boys, as if losing interest, both sat down again, and without a word or stare in their direction, continued playing.

Selina looked to Mira then back to the boys then back to Mira, baffled. “What happened?”

Mira frowned as if she’d asked a stupid question. “Come!” She grabbed Selina’s shirtsleeve and pulled her along. “These walls can only block out so much. We must keep moving and get to the thicker walls of the hallway.”

Mira’s words made no sense to her, but she dared not ask or further annoy her, Mira needed to concentrate on their escape route.

They rushed through another set of heavy oak doors and walked into an almost black corridor. A small amount of light seeped in from a tiny round window up near the top of the horrendously high ceiling, allowing a slight reflection off the glitter of the golden walls. The air felt cooler in this area.

As Mira guided her down the long hall, Selina noticed rusted metal sconces, shaped in the form of a cross, affixed to soot-laden pilasters. No torches lay inside and the thick coating of dust attested to their lengthy disuse. When they approached another set of heavy doors, Mira stretched out her arm and blocked her exit.

“Stop! These are one of the main doors of the building.” Mira rested her hand on the huge handle. “We need to decide which direction we are going before we leave. Soldiers patrol the courtyard. Once we step outside, there is nothing to hide us until we reach the left or right side streets.”

Selina looked over at Mira. “We need to go in the direction of the wall, so we can get to the other side.” It was self-evident to her. “Over there, we will be protected by the Tanlian guards.”

“They will not allow me entrance, being of the lower caste.” Her face sat creased with concern.

Mira had a valid point. Upper caste members already ignored the middle caste, and they despised the lower caste more, segregating them, not permitting them into their domain. To get Mira entry, the guards would need a lot of persuading. Selina felt convinced she could do it, if for no other reason than her deep appreciation and indebtedness for Mira’s help in saving her life.

“Don’t worry. I’ll get you in,” she said, trying to allay Mira’s concerns. She would find a way.

“That is very gracious of you, but I doubt we will reach the other side.”

Selina anxiously searched the hall before bringing her eyes back to rest on Mira. “What do you mean?” Her only hope lay in reaching the wealthy district. The longer she stayed on this side, the greater her chances were of being caught. Peasants would refuse to help. They hated the nobles for their arrogance and envied them for their status and wealth. A price was likely already on her head, encouraging them to betray her. She had no other choice but to get to the other side, and fast.

“The area before the gates is heavily patrolled by the red soldiers, making it impossible to get through.”

Nothing was impossible, she told herself. The fact she had escaped her stepmother’s enslavement proved it. Huetta had always told her that she could never escape. One sunspan, she achieved her freedom by outsmarting the woman. There was always a way, its path was merely concealed. Selina had to believe there was a way, or she would panic and lose the semblance of sanity she had left.

“We could hide until darkness falls and then slip through?” Selina suggested.

The gateway of the golden wall was enormous and not well lit on the poor side. Slipping through in the nightspan would give them a good chance of being unnoticed.

Mira’s head moved back and forth in a negative gesture. “No! The soldiers will see us.”

“Not in the dark!” Selina emphasized.

“You know they see better in the dark.”

“Without light? How?” She thought Mira to be exaggerating. There were no lanterns or torches on this side of the wall, and the moon had shrunk. The night sky would offer them little assistance.

“This is no time to jest!” Mira replied, sounding annoyed. She kept her eyes moving around, surveying the area for any signs of approaching soldiers.

“Why would I jest? How can they see us in the dark?”

Mira jerked her head back and stared at her as if she had sprouted two heads. “Trust me; these soldiers have black enough eyes. We need to find another way.”

Black eyes? “What are you talking about? I’ve never seen black eyes.”

Mira rubbed her temple. “Listen, we don’t have time for your games. We need to get moving before they find us.” Her head swung back and forth again. Her creamy face looked paler.

Prudence told Selina to keep quiet. They had already wasted too much time standing there, debating. Mira knew her way around the slums better than she did. She had to trust the woman.

“What then do you suggest?” Selina asked.

“For starters, let’s move closer to the wall.”

Selina wanted to feel more assured by her decision but didn’t. If they reached the wall safely, what would they do then? Her heart pounded harder.

Mira slightly opened the door and peered outside. “If we move fast, between their watches, we can make it.” Her head bobbed back and forth, scanning the courtyard.

Selina bit down on her nail with concern. Dare they risk going out this way? She began to question her suggestion.

Mira looked over her shoulder. “We can’t go back,” she said as if reading her thoughts again. “We’ll run into soldiers, and any other route will take us farther from the wall. We must go this way.”

Selina nodded, but perspiration rolled down her back in knowing the risk they were taking.

A clattering noise down the hall followed by stomping footsteps made them jump. The soldiers had gained entrance and were heading in their direction.

Mira snatched Selina by the sleeve and pulled her out through the domed entrance before she could register her overwhelming dread. Thankfully, her legs had gained more strength, allowing her to move faster. She pushed, hard, trying to keep up to Mira.

They moved swiftly through the cobblestone courtyard and into a group of dilapidated dwelling. Being adjacent to the larger structure, Selina guessed they were once used as servant’s quarters. Mira pulled her down behind a bushy hedge that surrounded the dwelling.

A handful of soldiers stormed outside, shouting and cursing. Selina froze up against the crumbling bricks of the structure. Mira sat scrunched motionless beside her. The rage carved into their faces made Selina shudder. Multitude of weapons, tucked around their red jackets, made them appear more threatening. Her throat went bone dry.

The soldiers quickly dispersed; thankfully, none had chosen to move in their direction.

Mira looked over at her. “We must wait here before we continue, until they are a good distance away.”

Selina simply nodded, unable to speak from sheer fright. Her heart pounded hard and her legs throbbed from the run. She forced herself to ignore the heavy ache.

“It will take them time before they can sense us again,” Mira said, as if trying to convince her there was no need to worry.

How could soldiers sense them?

Although Selina thought it impossible, the very idea frightened her.

“So many hunt you,” Mira whispered. “At first, I thought it was your exceptional beauty. Any man would kill to have your aquamarine-colored eyes gaze upon him.”

Her eye color had always drawn enormous attention, attention she hated and feared.

“But usually they hunt in packs of twos and threes and resign their search after a time, looking for easier victims to prey upon.” Mira continued with a concerned look deepening her brow. “Dozens hunt you. They must want you badly. I can’t help but wonder if they search you out for another reason.”

Selina shivered from the implication. She had no idea why they hunted her. Until this sunspan, she had never encountered the red jackets.

Why would they want her?

Since moving to Tanlia, she led an uneventful life. Not that she was complaining; she preferred it that way. She’d had enough upheaval in her childhood to last her a lifetime, and her flashbacks continually reminded her of it.

“Perhaps they are determined because there are two of us now,” Mira suggested. “They have tried to catch me many times with no success. I have become somewhat of a trophy for them that each hopes to win.”

Selina felt pity for Mira. With Huetta’s people after her, she knew what it felt like being hunted, having to continually glance over her shoulder and never get a good nightspan of sleep for fear of being caught.

The injustice drove up her ire. “The soldiers shouldn’t get away with what they are doing to innocent women. Why is nothing being done?” She tried to keep her voice low.

“Because it’s the slums. Because laws mean nothing on this side of the wall where only the low caste resides. And for females far less. We are forced to rely on each other or the help of our male counterparts.” Mira’s tone softened. “By the way, congratulations; I noticed you are connected.”

“What do you mean connected?”

Mira rolled her eyes as if she asked another stupid question. “You know . . . attached.”

“No, I don’t know. Attached to what?” Selina didn’t understand.

“Don’t be silly! Not to what but to whom. And why is he not helping you? Does he not sense your fear?”

“I’m not attached to anyone,” Selina said in frustration, trying not to yell. “There’s no man in my life to help me.”

Mira stared at her with confusion. “But you’re wearing a . . .”

“Look!” Selina held out her hands with the palms down. “You’re mistaken. I’m not wearing a ring.” She wiggled her bare fingers for her to see.

Selina had never been with a man. Although she was twenty-four summers old, for a long time, she had never desired a relationship. Not that she disliked men; she craved a man’s love like any other woman, but after escaping from Huetta, she trusted no one. Only in the last few summers had she become more trusting of others and took notice of the opposite gender.

Mira’s raised brow indicated her disbelief. A logical assumption, Selina realized, considering her age.

Shouts started coming closer. Selina froze. She noticed Mira stiffened as well.

Where were they to go now?

“We have a big problem,” Mira said. “There is no way to get to the other side of the wall other than the gates.”

The golden wall, massive in both height and thickness, kept the poor out of the wealthy district. Mainly low-caste villagers, who had migrated down from the mountains in search of work–but were unable to find any with their inadequate skills and low station–inhabited the slums. Poverty and criminality had increased. The wall assured the middle and high caste protection from the corruption while keeping out their inferiors.

“There must be a way through!” Selina said, taking a deep breath, finding it difficult to concentrate with her growing panic.

Mira shook her head. “It’s not possible. The wall is thrice the thickness of a normal stone wall.”

Selina would not allow pessimism to dominate her thinking. Their lives depended on it. It was then that she remembered her orphans had mentioned a shortcut they often used to avoid the long walks to the gates. Selina desperately tried to remember what they had told her, something about it being near the old clock tower.

Selina faced Mira. “Do you know the clock tower?”

“Of course. It sits just beyond the other end of this courtyard. Why?”

“I may know of a way through. Take us there.”

The children had mentioned the passage was well hidden and narrow; but maybe with their slender forms, they could possibly squeeze through.

Mira nodded with a skeptical look but proceeded to check to see that no red uniforms lurked near before signaling Selina to follow her.

They crept along the wall of the dwelling in the shelter of the high bush for as long as it was possible before moving off down a narrow alley that divided two buildings. A breeze funneled through and Selina wrinkled her nose in disgust at the nasty stench in the air. The poor district lacked the in-ground sewers that the wealthy district held.

They crept on, and with Mira’s expert knowledge of the area they avoided any soldiers and soon neared the old clock tower.

Despite its graying with age, the stone structure with a clock atop still stood proudly erect. A five-sided base, decorated with a massive oak door, supported a square column that on top housed a cracked marble-faced clock. On its head was a pointed bell tower with five arched windows that allowed a peek at the tarnished bell inside. In its youth, it would have looked impressive. Dawn, midday, and dusk of every sunspan, Selina heard the bell ringing in the distance from her bedroom window.

Mira turned to her with a serious demeanor, shaking her from her reverie. “Before I can decide our next move, tell me how you plan to get to the other side of the wall.” Her eyes darted back, to check that no one had followed them.

Selina steadied her breath. “Across from the clock tower, somewhere, there’s a crack that cuts through the wall.”

Mira brought her eyes back to her, holding a crinkled brow. “Are you sure? I’ve lived here many seasons, and I’ve never heard of such an opening.”

“My orphans mentioned it.”

Distrust flickered across Mira’s face. “Children told you?”

“I trust them!” Selina said, before Mira could question her further. “It is something they only discovered recently and they keep it amongst themselves. It’s well hidden with overgrowth. We will need to search for it.”

Mira’s features remained tight with uncertainty, but indicated with a nod that she’d give her the benefit of the doubt.

Selina trusted her children implicitly. The special relationship she shared with them had earned them that trust. The crack was there; she just wasn’t sure if they would fit through. In her opinion, it was a risk they had no choice but to take.

“Searching for it could pose a problem,” Mira said. “There is not always a good coverage of foliage along each section of the wall.”

The close shouts of the oncoming soldiers didn’t allow Selina a reply.

“Come quick!” Mira grabbed Selina by the wrist and pulled her along to a stack of broken wagons. She gave a quick glance back before facing Selina. “I hope you’re right about the opening. They are closing in on us. They sense us in this general location. I doubt we will get another chance now that they have narrowed their search area.”

Selina grasped Mira’s arm in panic. “How is that possible?” she kept her voice subdued as they crouched down.

“Don’t play dumb!” Mira’s features twisted with annoyance.

“I’m not! What do you mean they sense our location?”

Mira gave her a sharp look. “What game are you playing with me?” She edged back, yanking her arm away, forcing Selina to release it.

Selina’s breath hitched, stunned by her sudden hostility. “I’m not playing any games. I swear!” She tried to keep her voice low. “How can they sense where we are?”

Mira eyed her skeptically. “A part of me wants to believe that you are ignorant with that fear shining in your eyes, yet another part of me thinks you might be a good pretender and this is an elaborate ruse to entrap me.”

Selina had no idea why Mira distrusted her; all she knew was that she needed the woman’s help to escape the slums.

“Mira, please,” she begged her. “I mean you no harm. All I want is your help, to get us safely to the other side of the wall.”

Mira’s eyes remained narrowed with leeriness. She looked as if she was about to run.

Selina clutched her wrist in panic. “You must believe me,” she pleaded.

For a long time, Mira’s gray-blue eyes stared hard into hers. After what seemed like an eternity to Selina, Mira’s body leaned in closer. “All right, I’ll stay, but I still don’t know whether to trust you,” Mira said, her gaze moving toward the sounds of the soldiers before returning to hers. She edged in closer. “Just know that everyone has unique energy surrounding them,” her words came in a clipped tone as if annoyed by needing to say something that Selina should already know. “Some have the ability to sense and track that energy. These soldiers have a general idea of where our energy is located.”

Selina stared at her dumbfounded. What did she mean by energy? Was it magic she was talking about? Were the rumors true? Were there really witches out there with magic powers?

Stories had long circulated of witches casting spells on people to have them do what they wanted; think what they wanted them to think, and say what they wanted them to say. Whenever she had asked about the stories, she had been ignored or given vague answers. Many dared not speak of the magic for fear it would visit upon them; others said it to be rumor. Her mother had told her that unexplainable things had happened and they blamed magic for it. Up to now, the events remained unexplainable and so did the existence of the magic.

Yet, what else could it be? What allowed the soldiers to see in the dark or to sense their location?

“Are they . . . witches?” Selina had to ask.

Mira rolled her eyes.

Selina was unsure if Mira was avoiding the question or if she thought it a ridiculous one.

She was about to ask when Mira interrupted, “That’s all I can say.” Her tone still held a sense of mistrust.

Selina nodded but felt apprehensive; Mira had not denied it. The idea of witches out there with great magical powers unsettled her. A part of her was uncertain if she wanted to know the truth, another part of her wondered if she could afford not to know it.

Crunching gravel under foot nearby made Mira put a finger to her lips. They backed up firmly against the wagon’s side, hiding under a protruding lip.

Selina tried hard to silence her heavy breaths. Her heart pounded heavily in her chest to the point of aching.

What other magic did these soldiers possess? Did Mira and she have any chance of escaping them if they did?

The footsteps moved closer.

Selina squeezed her eyes shut in fright.

“Damn that bitch! Where is she?” the soldier grumbled in a low tone. The two soldiers stood only a few steps behind them, a single board separating them. “I know she’s in this area, somewhere. I can feel it.”

“I sense her, too,” the other one added with a scratchy voice. “But the scent is weak. Too weak. Something must be shielding it.”

“Whatever it is,” the first one barked back, “it won’t stop me for long. I intend to find her, and then, I will have my reward.”

Selina’s eyes snapped open. Sweat trickled down her back. She dared not think of what his idea of a reward was, or she would scream from sheer fright.

Daring a peek through a crack in the wagon, she saw them up close.

Dear Masters, the soldiers looked even bigger, burlier, and more dangerous. They stood unusually tall, well over seven feet. She doubted she’d ever seen men of that size and build. Their bodies were a mass of solid muscle that bulged through their red suits.

Selina quivered.

How would they fend against brutal men of that size and strength, men that hungered to rape and kill them?

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