*****
Anita woke up to the delicious smell of bacon cooking downstairs. She got out of bed and decided to skip her usual early morning yoga session, given that she was feeling a little delicate after all the ginger wine, and headed straight to the kitchen. Cordelia was standing over the stove singing to herself and turned when she heard Anita come in.
‘Morning,’ she said cheerily.
‘Morning,’ replied Anita. ‘What’s got into you?’ Cordelia was not a morning person, in that it was usually difficult to get her to be cheerful about anything before about eleven o’clock and at least three cups of tea, but today she seemed positively sparkling.
‘You got home late last night,’ Cordelia chirped, ignoring Anita’s remark.
‘That’s why you’re happy? Because I got home late last night?!’
‘So, tell me all about it,’ she said, putting an enormous plate of sausages, bacon and eggs down in front of Anita.
‘There’s not much to tell really,’ she shrugged. ‘We ate, we danced, we drank and then I came home.’
‘Really. You expect me to believe that’s all? You can’t think of anything else you might like to tell me?’
Anita shot Cordelia a curious look. ‘What else do you think happened exactly?’
Cordelia changed tack. Mildly subtle wasn’t working, so she may as well go for the obvious approach. ‘And Marcus? Any news there?’
‘Any news? You’re going to have to be a little more specific.’
Cordelia huffed; why did she have to be so damned difficult? ‘Do you think you will see him again?’
Cordelia didn’t need to wait long to get her answer, as at that moment, there was a knock on the back door, followed by Marcus’ polished voice saying, ‘hello?’.
Anita jumped up and ran out of the kitchen, throwing Cordelia a look which clearly said ‘don’t you dare follow me’. She approached the open back door saying, ‘hi! What are you doing here?’ as casually as she could.
Marcus leaned in and gave Anita a deep, enthusiastic kiss. ‘It’s lovely to see you too,’ he said, as he pulled away. ‘Can I smell breakfast?’ he asked, grabbing Anita’s hand as he pushed past her, dragging her behind him towards the kitchen.
Cordelia couldn’t contain her excitement when she saw them enter. ‘Marcus, how lovely to meet you. I’m Cordelia, Anita’s grandmother. She’s told me all about you,’ she lied convincingly.
Marcus flashed a charming smile, replying, ‘it’s an absolute pleasure to meet you too,’ whilst shaking her hand.
Anita gave Cordelia a stern look from where she was standing behind Marcus, before saying, ‘Cordelia was just leaving, weren’t you Cordelia?’ Anita placed her hand on Marcus’ arm to draw his attention away from her grandmother. ‘She was just about to take Thorn for a walk. You remember Thorn?’ she said with relish, denying Cordelia the chance to dispute her story.
‘Yes, I certainly do,’ said Marcus, shooting Anita a devilish smile.
Cordelia, who Anita had to admit, did at least know how to take a hint, rolled her eyes heavily as she placed a second plate of food down on the table. ‘There you go, Marcus. Come on Thorn. See you later Anita,’ she said, barely trying to hide her disappointment as she set off out of the back door with her dog, more than a little put out.
Anita and Marcus finished breakfast, then Marcus waited downstairs while Anita got dressed. She had lessons today, so he said he would walk her to the Temples as he had to go there anyway.
‘How did you get here so quickly last night?’ Anita asked, as they left the house. ‘We came straight here, but you got here first.’
Marcus smiled and looked pleased with himself. ‘There’s a back way that cuts across our estate, so nobody uses it. It’s much more direct,’ he said smugly.
But of course, thought Anita. They walked on in silence for a few minutes before she said, ‘so, what did Austin say last night?’
Marcus didn’t reply for several paces, seeming to contemplate what to tell her. ‘He wasn’t exactly happy. He thought the dance was totally inappropriate and made a mockery of the occasion, and he blamed you for leading me astray.’ Marcus smiled at Anita as he said the last bit and Anita raised an eyebrow, both of them acknowledging the absurdity of his assumption. ‘Amber, dad’s Chief of Security and Research, was there too; he’s always worse when she’s around. She really brings out his unpleasant side. Anyway, long and short of it, dad doesn’t like you. He thinks you’re a bad influence and not the sort of person that a future Descendant should be hanging around with, let alone going out with.’
Anita ignored the ‘going out with’ bit; they could deal with that later. ‘So he must be annoyed that you came here last night and again this morning?’ she probed.
‘He doesn’t know,’ he said honestly, ‘but even if he did, he can’t stop me from seeing you, or anyone else I want to see for that matter. Sooner or later he’s got to realise I’m not twelve years old any longer and he can’t dictate what I do and who I see.’
‘I’m not sure he wants to realise that.’
‘He doesn’t have a choice.’
‘So, how come the Descendants get to skip weekend classes when the rest of us have to suffer?’ Anita firmly changed the subject, trying to brighten the mood.
‘Because they make us study three times as hard as everyone else when we’re children. When you lot were all running around playing after school, we were still in lessons learning how to be Descendants. We’re not born with all the skills we have; a lot of them are taught. I mean, obviously, something like Alexander’s ability to read energy you’re either born with or without a tendency towards, but pretty much everything can be learned, if you work hard enough. Descendants have to be adept in all disciplines, which means we have to work hard when we’re growing up to get there. It was bad back when I was eight, but it does have its advantages now, like, for example, not having to go to school at the weekend.’
‘So that’s why you were all at the front of the Chase?’ she asked happily, the pieces all falling into place.
‘Yep.’
‘So even though I’m appallingly bad at Mind disciplines, there could be hope for me yet?’ Anita joked.
‘Yep, maybe even for you,’ he said, smirking, shoving her playfully.
‘Have you ever seen anyone move anything using just their mind?’
‘Of course I have. I’ve done it myself once or twice.’
‘Really?’ said Anita, her voice heavy with scepticism.
‘Really,’ he replied, looking absolutely serious.
‘Could you teach me?’
‘It’s not something you can learn to do overnight, Anita. You need to be really good at the basics first and build up to it. I’ve been dedicated to Mind disciplines my whole life, and I’ve only managed it a couple of times.’
‘But we could try?’ Anita wasn’t sure why she even wanted to. She’d never liked Mind disciplines, but somehow private tuition with Marcus made it sound much more appealing. Besides, it was a challenge now she knew moving objects with one’s mind was actually possible, although she wouldn't one hundred per cent believe it until she saw it herself.
Marcus looked at Anita. ‘Would you take no for an answer?’
Anita didn’t say anything. She smiled at the ground before looking Marcus defiantly in the eye.
‘As I suspected,’ he said, rolling his eyes. ‘Yes, Anita, I suppose we could try,’ he said, draping his arm around her shoulders and playfully kissing her hair.
They arrived at the Temples; Anita relieved that Marcus had removed his arm from around her shoulders by the time they got there. They ran into Cleo and Bas outside the Mind Temple, which was good, Anita thought, as it would give everyone less to talk about than if she and Marcus had walked in on their own together.
They entered the Temple, and Marcus said he would come and find Anita later, when he’d finished what he needed to do. He lef
t them and headed for the hole in the floor, which he descended through effortlessly. Bas, Cleo and Anita sat down in seats as close to the back as they could. Anita’s hangover was abating, but the other two, along with the rest of the class, didn’t look in such great shape, so the lesson was pretty subdued.
The Spirit lesson was also a total waste of time, with most people requiring concentration just to stay awake, let alone do something that required as much focus as meditating.
As usual, Anita didn’t attend the Body lesson, telling the others she was going for a run instead. However, as she went back passed the Spirit Temple, she thought about what Marcus had said. If someone like Gwyn could master the art of meditating, or the Mind disciplines, through nothing more than practice, then Anita was pretty sure she could too. Then there was the added benefit that if she hung around the Spirit Temple enough, she would have to bump into Alexander eventually, so she entered the Temple and picked an open space on a large rectangular mat near the back, and sat down to meditate. She closed her eyes and cleared her mind, trying to push away thoughts of kissing good looking men in the middle of the night. After about five minutes of sitting with blankness in her mind, the image of an eagle soaring high above the world glided into her thoughts. The eagle started to descend towards the ground, and Anita could see only Wild Land all around. There were no houses and no people, just heather and trees and rocks, but as the eagle swooped further downwards, she could make out a large, earth coloured yurt in a clearing. The eagle flapped its wings and Anita suddenly felt herself falling, before landing like a cat on the ground next to the yurt’s entrance. It felt safe and familiar here, so she stood up and walked towards the tent, pushing aside the canvas covering the door and making her way through to the other side.
She emerged in a place that looked exactly like you would imagine the inside of a yurt to look, although oddly it was filled with light. There was a low bed covered with animal hides, several small tables and chairs made out of bits of wood lashed haphazardly together, and a rack of drying herbs. However, in the centre of the yurt, sat on top of a waist high pillar, was a brass cylinder. This looked alien, like it wasn’t supposed to be there, and Anita felt suddenly uneasy. She made her way towards the cylinder, about to pick it up to see what was inside, when she felt an overwhelming urge to leave it and turn around. She turned, and to her surprise, saw Alexander sitting on the bed, hair unkempt, shirtless, revealing a glorious honed torso and wearing a pair of battered old cotton trousers. He looked amazing and it was all Anita could do to keep herself from running to the bed and jumping on top of him right there and then.
Anita’s energy was at an all-time high and Alexander smiled knowingly at her. ‘Anita, you need to leave the cylinder alone. You need to make it disappear. Reject it from your mind and it will go.’ He spoke to her, and she could hear him, but his lips didn’t seem to move.
‘Why do I need to leave it alone? What is it? Why’s it here?’
‘I can’t explain now; we need to be careful, but trust me, you need to reject it.’
‘How?’
Alexander got up and moved towards Anita. He stood in front of her so he could see the cylinder behind her back and looked into her eyes. ‘Do exactly what I tell you.’ Anita nodded, no idea what was going on. ‘Imagine the cylinder lifting off the pillar,’ he said. ‘It will be difficult and heavy, but lift it up. You’re strong; use your strength to raise it.’ Anita concentrated. She did everything she could to lift the cylinder, but it wouldn’t budge. ‘Try harder Anita,’ came Alexander’s gentle yet firm command. She tried, but nothing she did would lift it. She could feel her energy draining and she dropped her eyes to the floor. ‘Anita, look at me. I’m going to help you, but it’s very important you stay focused on the cylinder, okay?’ Anita nodded. Alexander reached forward and touched Anita’s index finger very lightly with his, and the cylinder felt immediately light as air. She could easily lift it now and made it fly into the air behind them. ‘Very good Anita. Now I need you to imagine the cylinder falling to the floor, but before it gets there, it vanishes, okay?’ Anita nodded again, Alexander’s finger still touching hers. She was concentrating on the cylinder falling when the mood shifted. She felt both another presence and Alexander’s finger leave hers. The cylinder fell, but bounced when it hit the floor and rolled through the door out of the tent.
Alexander had disappeared, and a furious voice suddenly invaded her mind. ‘What the hell do you think you’re playing at?’
Anita was jolted back to the Temple and almost fainted when she got there. She looked up to see Marcus and Alexander standing over her, Marcus looking livid. ‘I was teaching her a thing or two about the arts of the Spirit,’ Alexander replied easily. ‘Maybe you should think about doing the same with the Mind disciplines, so she’s not so vulnerable to attack.’
‘What?’ said Anita and Marcus together.
‘You attacked her?’ spat Marcus, squaring up to Alexander. Anita had to suppress a smile despite the situation, as the idea that Marcus could beat Alexander in a fight was pretty funny.
‘Don’t be ridiculous; I didn’t attack her. But given what I just saw, it wouldn’t take much for someone else to try and almost certainly succeed.’
‘Who would want to attack me?’ asked a confused Anita. Alexander rolled his eyes, giving her a ‘do we really have to recap already’ look, but Marcus answered.
‘It’s just a good idea for you to know how to defend yourself,’ he said. ‘It’s basic training for Descendants, and I’m not sure why it’s not taught to everyone. It just means that if some crazy person tries to get into your mind, you’ll know about it and will be able to defend yourself. Much as it pains me to admit it, he does have a point. I’ll have to teach you.’
Alexander laughed openly. ‘You think you’ll be able to teach her? You can barely defend yourself, let alone teach someone else how to do it. Don’t you think you should leave that to an expert?’
Marcus was livid now, both Alexander and Anita could tell from the energy steaming off him, but neither said anything, each holding their breath, waiting tensely for his answer.
‘Well, I suppose, seeing as I’ve already agreed to teach you about the Mind disciplines, it would be a bit intense for me to teach you about the Spirit ones as well. And I’m not too proud to admit that, although I am far from a beginner, I’m not a Spirit expert. Alexander would be a more suitable candidate. But if you lay so much as one finger on her, you’ll regret it.’
‘Marcus, I’m not in the least bit interested in your little girlfriend here. But I am interested in someone close to you being vulnerable to attack. As you know, I would feel the same way if any other Descendant were in this position.’
‘I suppose you have a point. We don’t want someone getting at me via Anita.’ Marcus sounded cringingly pompous, reminding Anita strongly of Austin, but she didn’t say anything given how close she was to being able to spend a great deal more time with Alexander.
‘Although I’ll obviously be laying a finger on her in a plutonic way. As you know, some of the meditations require it.’
‘There is no requirement for you to show her those poses.’
Alexander looked at Marcus as though he were a petulant child. ‘Marcus, you know I need to show her every pose if she’s to be properly protected.’ Anita was intrigued, wondering what the offending poses were, but again thought it best to keep her thoughts to herself for the moment.
‘Fine,’ spat Marcus, ‘but not until she is ready.’
Alexander gave Marcus a terse look and walked away. ‘Meet me here tomorrow evening at seven, Anita. Marcus, don’t even think about coming too.’
Marcus helped Anita up, his face like thunder. Alexander was right, he was possessive, and half of her loved it while the other half couldn’t stand it. On the one hand, she wanted to spend more time with both of them, and that was what it looked like she’d be doing, and
she quite liked having men fight over her, but on the other hand, she’d had no say in the matter, something she was really quite irked about. However, this didn’t seem like the right moment to bring it up, so she tried to lighten the mood instead. ‘So,’ she said flirtatiously, ‘when do we get started on my Mind lessons?’ Marcus visibly perked up.
‘Tomorrow morning at mine?’ he replied, and she nodded, kissed him playfully on the lips, flashed him a flirty, disarming smile and sauntered out of the Temple.