***
Keira woke with a start. She had already forgotten the dream, but it had left her with a sense of dread that clung to her like a skin, and covered her body with cold sweat. She rose from her bed, the moonlight playing over her nakedness. The air was warm, but she felt chilled to the bone. She quickly dressed, noting that it was still several hours before dawn, by the feel of the night. She left the room, and wandered the dark passageways of the city. She had no real sense of purpose; she simply felt the need to walk off the feeling that clutched her.
It had been three weeks since the Merconium Blade had left Drurador. During that time, she had gone about her duties; delivering babies, tending the sick and wounded; all the while trying not to dwell on the thoughts of Mercius that constantly threatened to take over her mind. The look in his deep green eyes that spoke of passion and sorrow. The feel of his hand clasping hers: firm and hard, but with a softness that had made her knees tremble. She tried to push these thoughts from her head, telling herself that it was just lust, and that he was gone from her life. She tried, and failed.
Now, as she walked the dimly lit streets of Drurador, Mercius' face swam behind her eyes, and she did nothing to push it away. The dream that had woken her was tied to him. This she knew, as surely as she knew that the sun would rise in the east. She wandered the streets and thought of him. As she walked, aimlessly, she was overwhelmed with a strong feeling that Mercius was in trouble. It was a sensation that she had never before experienced, and it frightened her. She was unused to being frightened, and she didn’t care for it at all. She knew that Mercius was miles away, but she felt that if she lifted her hand, she could touch the smoothness of his face, see deeply into the flame of his eyes. She tried, futilely, to tell herself that it was a girl’s fancy, but the feeling wouldn’t be stifled. He was in trouble, and she felt suddenly that he needed her. She had no way to explain this, even to herself, but there it was, in her gut, telling her that she was right; that she must go to him.
She noticed with a small start that, during her mental wanderings, she had walked straight to the front door of Jax and Sophia. She had never been there before, and had only met the married couple in passing. She paused on the threshold, overcome by the silliness of what she was doing; of where she was. Just as she was about to turn and head back to her home, the door swung inward violently. Jax stood there, silhouetted against the glow of several candles in the room behind him.
Keira didn’t know the man well at all, but she knew that Mercius was close to him. Feeling slightly flustered--another feeling that was very uncommon for her--Keira said, “Forgive me, sir. I am sorry to have disturbed you. My mind was wandering.”
Jax peered at her for several heartbeats, then said, “What is your name, girl?”
A flare of annoyance flashed through her at being called ‘girl,’ but she let it pass and said, “Keira.”
“Well, Keira, you’d better come in out of the night.” She hesitated, not knowing what to do, before walking through the door. She hadn’t wanted to, but that feeling in her gut was compelling her to do unusual things. She saw that the room was richly furnished, and comfortably. There were several candles burning on a small table, at which the Lady Sophia sat, sipping something from a steaming mug.
“Come and sit,” the woman said. “Jax, get our guest some tea, please.” Keira sat, still unsure of herself and the situation that she had put herself in.
“Please, my lady,” Keira said. “I am sorry to have disturbed you, and I don’t wish to cause you any further inconvenience. I will leave you to your privacy.”
Sophia smiled a small, warming smile and said, “Nonsense, Keira. We were obviously already awake, and your company is welcome. I know you, and I know that we all three share something in common.”
“What is that, my lady?”
“First of all,” Sophia replied, her smile widening. “Let’s dispense with the formalities. I am Sophia, and this is Jax, and you are Keira. What we have in common,” she paused, unsure of how to continue. “How well do you know Mercius?” she finally said, changing her approach.
The question stunned Keira, and it showed on her face. “Not well at all. I tended to his wound for several days. We talked of inconsequential things whenever I was in his cell, but that is as far as our acquaintance goes.”
Jax set a steaming cup of aromatic tea before her, and she picked it up. When she drank, she found that it was hot and delightful, easing the tension that had been building up between her shoulder blades.
Jax sat down, gazed at her for a moment then said, “I woke up a couple of hours ago. I must have been dreaming, but I cannot remember it. All that I could tell, when I woke, was that I was horrified, and Mercius' face was in my head. When Sophia woke up next to me and told me that she, too, could think of nothing else but the lad, I thought it strange. Now you're here. So, I have to ask why? It isn’t normal for young women to be walking the streets of the city at night. What brought you here?”
His voice was firm, his gaze strong, and she knew that lying to him would be impossible. Furthermore, she felt comforted by the two people before her. They radiated strength and trust. She told them: “I, likewise, woke with a start. Sweating and scared. Mercius was in my head as well, and it felt, as I walked, that I could reach out and touch him, and that he was in trouble; that he needed me. I cannot explain it, and until you just told me that you had a similar feeling, I was trying to explain it away as childish fancy. But, now I'm not so sure.”
Sophia spoke softly, looking down into her tea. “The boy has a power on us, it seems. I have felt it since I first met him, and it has grown stronger with each passing year. Jax, too, has felt the same. Now, when he is so far away, I feel powerless to help him. For we were just discussing this sense of peril that you described; we feel it too.”
“So,” Keira said after several moments. “What are we to do? I still have a hard time putting faith into this feeling that has come over me, but I cannot ignore it either.”
Jax stood and went to the window. The sky was turning grey with the coming dawn. With his back to the room, he said, “I must go to him.” His voice was soft, but carried in it a heat and passion that spoke of utter conviction. “He is my friend, and he is in danger. I can't explain how I know this, but I know. And that's what I must do.”
There was silence in the room. Sophia and Keira didn’t look at each other. They both peered in silence at the table between them, each focusing on their own thoughts. Then, simultaneously, they said, “I will go with you.” They looked at each other, startled, then laughed.
“Well, that decides it,” Sophia said a moment later, the laughter gone from her voice, being replaced by strength and heat. “If we are to do this, then I would like to leave as soon as possible. Unfortunately, I have matters that I must attend to first. I can be ready as soon as the day after tomorrow.”
A thought came to Keira, and she said, “How will we find him?”
Jax rejoined them at the table and looked at each of the women in turn. “I can track them,” he said, “but I doubt that I’ll need to. I feel as if I could point to him right now, with certainty.” Keira had the same feeling. The thought comforted her slightly, but brought up its own set of awkward emotions. Why did this man have such power over her? How was he able to influence her so strongly, when he was so far away, and when she had known him for so brief a time? She decided that she could only hope to gain answers from Mercius himself, and resolved that she would find him and ask him. She would look deep into his beautiful green eyes, and ask her questions.