Blood of the Fold

She lowered the lamp. "Maybe one of the staff she trusted. Someone without the gift so she wouldn't have to worry about them being…" She glanced back up the dark, empty hall. "You know what I mean." He nodded that he did as she started out. "I'll have to look into it."

Flashes of light were coming from under the door to Sister Simona's room: silent little flickers of lightning licking out through the gap under the door. The shield sparkled when the crackles of light managed to reach it, dissipating the power with counterforces, grounding the magic with an opposite. Sister Simona was trying to break the shield.

Since Sister Simona was deranged, that was to be expected. The question was, why wasn't it working? Verna recognized the shield around the door as simple one used to keep young wizards confined when they were being mulish.

Verna opened herself to her Han and stepped through the shield. Warren followed as she knocked. The flickers of light coming from under the door cut off, "Simona? It's Verna Sauventreen. You remember me, don't you, dear? May I come in?"

No answer came, so Verna turned the knob and eased the door open. She held the lamp out before herself, sending its yellowy glimmers ahead to break the darkness within. The room was empty but for a tray with a pitcher, bread, and fruit, a pallet, a chamber pot, and a filthy little woman cowering in the corner.

“Leave me be, demon!" she shrieked.

"Simona, It's all right. It's only me, Verna, and my friend, Warren. Don't be afraid."

Simona blinked in the light, as if it were the sun just risen. Verna set the lamp behind, so as not to blind the woman.

Simona peered up. "Verna?"

"That's right."

Simona kissed her ring finger a dozen times, gushing thanks and blessings on the Creator. She scurried across the floor on her hands and knees to snatch up the hem of Verna's dress, kissing it, too, over and over.

"Oh, thank you for coming." She scrambled to her feet. "Hurry! We must escape!"

Verna grasped the small woman's shoulders and sat her down on her sleeping pallet. With a gentle hand she smoothed back the shock of gray hair.

Her hand froze.

Simona had a collar around her neck. That was why she wasn't able to break the shield. Verna had never seen a Sister wearing a Rada'Han. She had seen hundreds of boys and young men wearing one, but never a Sister. The sight of it turned her stomach. She had been taught that in the dim past, Rada'Han had been put around the necks of Sisters who had lost their minds. Having one with the gift afflicted with insanity was like loosing lightning in a crowded market square. They had to be controlled. But still…

"Simona, you are safe. You're in the palace, under the watchful eye of the Creator. No harm will come to you."

Simona broke into tears. "I must flee. Please, let me go. I must flee."

"Why must you flee, my dear?"

The woman wiped tears from the dirt on her face. "He comes."

"Who?"

"The one from my dreams. The dream walker."

"Who is this dream walker?"

Simona shrank back. "The Keeper."

Verna paused. "This dream walker is the Keeper?"

She nodded so hard Verna thought her neck might come unhinged. "Sometimes. Sometimes, he's the Creator."

Warren leaned in. "What?"

Simona flinched. "Is it you? Are you the one?"

"I'm Warren, Sister. A student, that's all."

Simona touched a finger to her cracked lips. "You should run, too, then. He comes. He wants those with the gift."

"The one in your dreams?" Verna asked. Simona nodded furiously. "What does he do in your dreams?"

"Torments me. Hurts me. He…" She kissed her ring finger frantically, beseeching the Creator's protection. "He tells me I must forsake my oath. He tells me to do things. He's a demon. Sometimes he pretends to be the Creator, to trick me, but I know it's him. I know. He's a demon."

Verna hugged the frightened woman. "It's just a nightmare, Simona. It's not real. Try to see that."

Simona almost shook her head right out of its skin. "No! It's a dream, but real. He comes! We must run!"

Verna smiled sympathetically. "What makes you think that?"

"Told me, he did. He comes."

"Don't you see, dear? That was just in the dream, not when you're awake. It's not real."

"The dreams are real. When I'm awake, I know, too."

"You're awake now. Do you know now, dear?" Simona nodded. "How do you know, when you're awake, if he isn't there in your head to tell you, like when you dream?"

"I can hear his alert." She looked from Verna's face to Warren's, and back again. "I'm not crazy. I'm not. Can't you hear the drums?"

"Yes, Sister, we hear the drums." Warren smiled. "But that's not your dream. It's just the drums announcing the impending arrival of the emperor."

Simona touched a finger to her lip again. "Emperor?"

"Yes," Warren comforted, "the emperor of the Old World. He's coming for a visit, that's all. That's what the drums are."

Her brow creased in worry. "Emperor?"

"Yes," Warren said. "Emperor Jagang."