Ant waved me off, kneeling before Silence. “Let me see,” he said tenderly. It took a couple of tries before Silence let the large man look at his hand.
Ant took the hand and surrounded it with both of his — much larger — hands. Then he closed his eyes, took a long deep breath, and seemed to concentrate. I watched, fascinated. So did Silence who sniffed back his tears as a look of blinking wonder came over him.
“There, better?” Ant said, releasing the hand.
Silence nodded. He wiggled his fingers and thumb, then smiled. “You can heal?”
Ant nodded. “I can heal.”
“Is that an ant thing?” I asked, a bit stupefied.
“No,” Ant said softly. “Has anyone ever told you about spirit-gifts?”
We shook our heads.
Ant sat, and even sitting was still taller than Silence, but not me. “Some True-Bonded, who have been with their Lumani for a while, and are strong in spirit, develop special abilities.”
Oh… that sounded familiar.
I told you about them, not that long ago, at Silverveil. Though I didn’t recall the name for them at the time. None of my Hosts has ever possessed such abilities. Ant must be truly a powerful True-Bonded if he has them.
So, I listened intently as he told me about them. “Several of us in Maverick’s crew have them.” He chuckled. “If you think I can sneak up on you, wait till you meet Midnight. She can be as silent as the space between thoughts, and be standing right next to you, and you’d never know.”
She sounded powerful and mysterious. I sort of loved that everyone talked about her with such awe. It made me want to meet her all the more, and also… terrified of her.
“And Fin, our resident whale, he’s developed the ability to instantly move between locations, but only going to a place he knows. I can heal, and Amber… she can take control of a person’s mind.”
“Control of their mind?” I blurted. “That’s…”
“Yeah, she doesn’t do it often, and doesn’t like to do it.” He hesitated. “Well, I don’t know how much she likes to do it. She says she doesn’t like it, but… these powers you see, they come from… something deeper within us, a fundamental part of our spirit manifesting itself. I heal because I have a drive to help people, do things for them, aid them. Fin loves to travel and see different places. Midnight loves to be hidden and secretive. Amber… my theory is… she loves to be noticed, the entire focus of a person’s attention, so… mind control.”
He smiled at both of us. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you develop a spirit-gift someday. Maverick has a knack for picking people with strong spirits. Not everyone in the House has one, just us four and Maverick… so far. They often take some time to develop. I was in my early twenties before I began to sense… something, and it took years to harness it and use it effectively.”
Fascinating.
Isn’t it, though? Auwei was just a bit haughty sounding when she added,I think of all my Hosts, you have the greatest potential to have such gifts.
You think so?
I do. You’re special, Legs, I know it.
Wow, thanks. I wish I felt that way.
That’s part of what makes you special. You’re modest about it. But that’s also keeping your potential restrained, I think. Whenever you have your bold moments, like wearing that dress the first day at Silverveil, or your Nobles’ Test, that’s when I feel it. There is more to you. You’ll see.
I smiled, sending Auwei a sense of gratitude.
Since Ant had mentioned it and not gone into detail, I had to ask, “What’s Maverick’s gift?”
Ant smiled. “He doesn’t like me sharing. You’ll have to ask him yourself someday.”
Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen any time soon. The well-built leader of our House still intimidated The Pits out of me.
“Now!” Ant said rising. “Back to training. After those punches, I have a sense for your skill and natural ability. I’ll work out a training program for each of you. Today, we’ll just work on basics.” He paused then, looking at me curiously. “Is it true, what I heard? Were you the girl who killed three assassins at Silverveil?”
Yup, that was me.“And nearly died in the process.”
“Still…”
