She waits, watches for my reaction, but I remain stoic, the fury still bubbling, waiting for a reason to erupt.
She continues quickly, “Okay, well, you see…” She takes another big breath, appears to be counting in her head, then exhales. “I’m not a good necromancer, never have been. I’m a defect, born to a family already deemed broken. We lived on the outskirts of the district with my parents and three siblings. Every year, the king’s scouts would travel the land and seek out anyone powerful enough to serve the kingdom. My younger sister caught their interest. My parents said it was an honour,said it would bring glory to our family name, but she was so scared so I… I volunteered to go with her as an aid.”
A soft wave of dread settles in the air and my anger softens. Kacey peers away, her eyes glazing over with memories and the guilt spikes with terror.
“The things they made her do,” she whispers, staring out the window as the sun sets. “I watched from the sidelines, unable to intervene. It was… they… she was only ten. Ten years old and they physically and emotionally tortured her. Called it training.” Kacey wipes at her face. “She pushed through, I healed her in the evenings, held her as she cried herself to sleep. The other recruits were so much older—meaner. They weren’t like us. Then, she had one more test, the final one. I thought if she failed, we could go home.”
She shakes her head, tsking at herself. “I was so naive, like the necromancer king would ever allow that.” She finally looks up at me. “It was a fight to the death, but you didn’t actually get to die. You were brought back, to serve the victor for the entirety of their life. My sister was about to be a ghost, a slave spirit, trapped forever. And…” She stops herself, rubbing at her cheeks again.
My flames have gone, returned to coils around my skin, holding me as her sadness sweeps the room.
“I couldn’t let her die. I couldn’t. So I intervened. I lost control. I killed every one of the recruits, injuredthe king. I didn’t mean to, it just… I…”
There are too many tears to catch, and she tries desperately to rub them away as she stares at me.
“We ran, Jasmine. I took my sister and we ran. I killed so many people. The barrier guards, anyone who got in our way. We just kept running and running, but then… we were separated…” The sob she releases shakes her entire body.
I’m about to go to her when ghostly paws settle on her shoulders. Mr Bear stands behind the sofa, watching Kacey as she cries out her words.
“I told her, if we got separated, to keep running, to head south and I’d meet her at the next barrier. So I kept going. When I got to the next barrier, I didn’t even know what district I was in. But she wasn’t there and I lost it. I mean totally lost it.”
She’s consumed by the memory. Strands of hair floating with her power, then she shakes herself, wiping away the final tears.
“The barrier guards were going to kill me. I was an out-of-control necromancer without the correct paperwork, and I’d no doubt the king had already warned the other districts about two runaways. I knew I wouldn’t make it out alive… or worse.” Her gaze locks with mine. “Then Ezekial appeared.”
At his name, my entire body tenses. I wait silently, desperate for her to continue.
“He created a barrier around us, blocked every one of my attacks, let me exhaust myself. Then Kane stepped into the darkness and made everything… silent.”
A shiver runs down my spine. I can picture it all so clearly, as though I can see Kacey’s memories painted before me.
“At first, Kane wanted to send me back, but I was right about the king. They were looking for me and my sister… which meant she was… somewhere. I begged them to let me stay, said I’d do anything if they kept me hidden and helped me find her. I need you to understand that they owed me nothing, J. Nothing.
“Saving me put them at risk, and finding my sister didn’t benefit them. But they still helped. They told the king I was now their prisoner for illegally crossing into the Council District. I’m sure he was furious, but he didn’t have the power, or the army, to fight the Council.
“I met Sai and Julien a few weeks later. Sai seemed almost… excited at the thought of defying the necromancer king. They never said, but I think there’s some history there…”
I slump back on the sofa just as two ghostly paws place our abandoned cups of tea onto the table, and I watch as he returns back to his original spot behind Kacey, touching her shoulders once more.
“And they searched, J. They looked for my sister.” She shakes her head in disbelief. “Ezekial gave me somewhere to stay and a job. Whenever I lost control, Kane stepped in.”
Now that comment hurts. She sees it and quickly moves on.
“Julien taught me breathing techniques and Sai, well… he made me laugh.”
This is agonising.
This is torture.
“I hadn’t laughed in so long…” She stares out the window, watching the final beams of light dip behind the hills circling the district. “So, that’s who I am. That’s why I trust them.”
“Are you sure they’re not your bonds?”
Laughter bursts from her as she whips around to face me. But I don’t find it funny.
It sounds like the fairytale story, those in the romance films I used to binge watch with Alexis on a lazy Sunday morning.
“No, J. No way.” She wipes tears from her eyes, but I remain solemn. Unmoving. “For one, I still find them absolutely terrifying. I know they wouldn’t hurt me but… I mean… do you really find them attractive?”
