The Meridian Gamble (34 page)

I have never been in the presence
of so many of them before. The Luminos hide themselves too well for that, and
their collected brightness overwhelms me.

My father and Uncle stand beside
me, and though Uncle has shown me much kindness in life, he bears a cold expression
on this night. It is the same serious look my father wears, the one I have seen
on him my entire life. But unlike Uncle, I do not think I can recall a time
when my father has ever smiled, not even at the birth of my sisters.

Perhaps because they were a
disappointment to him. I am the only one of his children who is Luminos born,
and even I am not what he expected.

But, I am not to refer to this man
as “father,” unless it is necessary. I should not even think of him that way in
my mind. I must refer to him as the “General,” as his people do. It is an odd
rule, a conundrum; we must never call him the General around strangers, who
cannot learn his secret, but in private, we are not allowed to call him
“father.” We call him the General as they all do, as our constant reminder that
his life is devoted to the Luminos’ war.

“This is the girl, my daughter,”
the General announces to our audience.

And there is a moment of silence,
as the people gathered in the room seem to consider me. I look to the ground,
for fear that they will view it as a sign of disrespect if I stare back at them
brazenly, which could be a dangerous thing, to offend them. Each one is a
highly skilled assassin who closely hides their true identity. It is only out
of necessity that I am here, so that they can try to determine my strange
nature. Because even though I have the glow of the Luminos, none of the ones
who have passed through our home have ever recognized me from a past life. And
so far, no memories have triggered for me, as they do for the rest of their
people. If I have walked on this earth before, I have no knowledge of it. But
sometimes the memories come back to them slowly, or so Uncle tells me, and I am
still young.

“Do any of you know her?” the
General asks the crowd.

And they look to one another, and
spend a long time conferring. The suspense tortures me. Finally, an older man
at the center of one of the front rows speaks.

“We do not recognize her. What
about you girl? Look up. Tell us if you see something in any of our faces.”

Now that the light no longer
bothers me, I look around the room, trying to drink in the details of their
visages, because it is the one chance I will have to truly see the Luminos,
unless they decide that I should stay in this hidden place, to train with them.

The older man has a long grey beard
and tired eyes, and he sits next to a woman who’s face is covered, though she
has a large mole high on her cheek, the part that is left exposed. And there
are others, young men with dark beards and black eyes, women with long flowing
hair who do not care to cover their faces. But I know what it is they want.
They want to know if any of their appearances shift and bend for me, if they
become someone else before my eyes.

Someone I knew in another life,
though so far, none of them appear that way to me.

But, finally, I look to my right,
at a young man who sits at the front who is several years older than me. My
eyes keep returning to him, because he is so attractive. And as I stare at him,
my stomach begins to feel queasy, in a way that it never has before. He is
beautiful, with long hair filled with dark waves, and a light stubble on his
face. His eyes are green like a palm leaf, and the faint glow around him only
makes him seem all the more magical.

But I only view him that way for a
few moments, because his image shifts. He becomes someone savage, a creature
dressed in furs with a thick forehead, carrying a club. And somehow, I am
familiar with this other man, if you can call him that. For the first time in
my life, I realize it is no mistake that I am one of the Luminos, because I
have finally found someone I knew in another life.

I shake my head, and the image goes
away. But the young man only smiles in amusement, and talks with the person
next to him. He does not seem to recognize me in return, or hold very much
interest in my existence, which disappoints me.

And the General looks to me,
sternly.

“Well, what is it girl? Answer him!
Do you know any of them?”

And it is wrong, they are the
Luminos, I am of their people. I am meant to fight in their war. But for some
reason, I hold back the information.

“No, I’m sorry. I don’t know them.
I don’t see anything.”

And there is a murmur of
disappointment in the crowd.

“It means nothing,” the General
says. “The Luminos are spread throughout the world. Perhaps she knows those in
another clan.”

“Or she is firstborn. It has
happened before. Others have come to us in their first incarnation, though it
is rare. In any case, if she truly is one of us, we will know her when she
comes back in the next life.”

The next life. His words frighten
me, because I am not quite ready to leave the life I am currently living. There
is too much I would be leaving behind.

The older man confers with those
around him for a moment, and finally turns back to us again. And he looks to
me, coldly.

“It is decided,” he says. “She will
not stay here. You are to continue the training, and we will use her as
planned.”

His words frighten me; the Luminos
have a plan for me. Father and Uncle have been training me to fight, but I did
not know it was part of some secret plan, and the knowledge makes it feel like
a betrayal. And somehow, without it being said, I know this plot involves
killing Pharaoh. Father has told us more than once that he is one of the
monsters, the one they hate most.

The General
looks to me, and it is one of the few times I see sympathy in his eyes. And he
puts the sack back over my head.

I am in a small and windowless
room. The General and my uncle have other business to take care of before we leave,
and I am not allowed to mix with their people until they are sure I am truly
one of them, which may not ever happen in this life. So I sit in this place for
several hours, alone.

There is a clutch of straw on the
ground which must be meant as a bed, and I would be wise to rest on it, as the
journey home will take days. But I find it unappealing, so I sit at a chair
instead, next to a table with a small lamp.

There is little to do here, but it
doesn’t matter, because my mind is racing with thoughts. Of the dark-haired
young man and our connection. I try to remember our past life together, and I
long to be near him, if only to recall what once was.

The memories come back to me
slowly, and they are few, but certain images flash in my mind. I see myself as
a young girl in another time, working by a fire with my large tribe. I smash
berries, looking up as the young man is cheered by those around me. He brings
in a beast that he killed with the other hunters, at least that version of him
does, and my eyes follow him every step of the way. But he rarely looks at me.
And in an instant, I realize why the young man didn’t recognize me in the
arena. Because whatever happened in that past life, I am certain he barely knew
I existed.

He had no idea of the feelings I
held for him, ones that I am beginning to feel again.

A knock sounds at the door, and I
push away my thoughts of the past. I’m nervous about what will happen next, but
it is only a woman who opens it, without waiting for my permission. I see she’s
carrying a plate, but I look away, as the General has given me strict
instructions not to stare at any of their faces.

And she laughs.

“You may look at me,” she says. “I
don’t mind. I am not so worried as the others. You are clearly one of us. I can
see it for myself.”

And she sets down the plate on the
table beside me.

“My name is Magda.”

“I am Saga,” I say.

“What a pretty name,” she says,
with a smile. “For such a pretty girl.”

And I can’t help but to smile back.

The woman is beautiful, with long
hair that shines, and bright white teeth. Her black eyes sparkle, and she has a
nose that is just a bit round, which makes her seem friendly, and all the more
attractive. She wears a green flowing dress that is lovely, one of the finest I
have ever seen, and I wonder if she is royalty.

I cannot help myself from staring
at the food she’s brought me, as I am hungry and it looks delicious. There are
spiced dates and roasted meat, some bread and cheese on the plate. And there’s
also a glass of wine.

And I get the impression the
Luminos are having a celebration outside.

“Go ahead, eat,” she says, with the
same smile that makes me feel warm. “Today is a joyous occasion. We have killed
one of the monsters.”

“You did? That is very good news,
indeed.”

The General will be pleased. There
is nothing so important in this world as killing the monsters. I have never
seen one before, not unless you include Pharaoh and his court, who I only
viewed from a distance as they paraded through our city on an important
occasion.

And I wonder about the Luminos’
enemies. The General has said the creatures drink blood to stay alive, which
sounds ghastly. But I wonder what else it is about them that makes them
monsters, because looking at them, they seem the same as the rest of us.

Unlike our enemies, I must survive
on food, and I try to eat what Magda has brought me slowly, so as not to come
across as a savage. And she seems to take pity on me. I think she suspects that
I am away from my mother and sisters for the first time. Or maybe the General
has told her so.

“So you did not recognize anyone?”

And again, I don’t know why, but I
instantly feel the need to lie. It goes against everything the General has
taught me.

“No,” I say. “Is that a bad thing?”

“It only means that you are a pure
soul. And that we will meet again as friends in another life.”

She smiles, but another memory
flashes in my mind. And I’m certain of another reason why the young man
couldn’t recognize me. Because he died young in those ancient times.

I see it clearly; his lifeless body
being dragged back to our camp by the other hunters. I can see the wounds at
his neck that look like they were made by an animal, bite marks. But no animal
drove it’s teeth into him; it was the monsters. And I can feel the pain my
savage self felt over his death, my need for vengeance. Even now, it makes me
shake with anger, which is silly, since I know he’s alive. But I cover the
emotions with a cough, and pretend I am only cold, and just a bit scared.

Magda looks to me with concern. But
I seem to return to normal, and she doesn’t say anything. And again, she
smiles.

“You know, you are very beautiful,”
she says.

And I look at her in surprise.

“I am?”

I have been told I am pretty
before, by my mother and sisters, but no one has said it in quite that way.
That word. Beautiful. And I can’t help but to wonder if it’s true.

“You have a radiance about you that
has nothing to do with your Luminos spark,” she says. “And people will want to
help you because of it. Always remember to use it, like a weapon.”

And with that,
she slips back through the door, leaving me to ponder her words.

My uncle holds a stick, and though
he loves me dearly and has always been kind to me, he comes at me without
mercy, the way one would do if they were trying to kill you. He is a young and
strong man, and it is frightful to face him in battle.

He fights like a demon, and I
wonder if perhaps a part of him really does want to kill me, to save me from a
life of misery, and death at the hands of the vampires.

He jabs the stick into my shoulder,
and though the pain stuns me for a moment, I grab onto it and kick him back
with a shout, dislodging it from his grasp. Which surprises me; it is the first
time this has ever happened. But he uses my small victory against me, grabbing
the stick again and twisting it, and me along with it. Uncle lands a vicious
punch to my face.

It stuns me again. Never has he hit
me so hard. And I fall to the ground. My hair comes loose from the pins that
hold it back, and I let it cover my face.

“My tooth!” I scream. “You’ve
knocked it loose.”

“Saga, are you all right?”

Uncle comes to me with concern. But
I give a battle cry, as I imagine I would shout if one of the vampires suddenly
appeared in my room, and kick out his legs from beneath him. In a moment, I’m
on top of him, and in one swift movement, I pull out a knife that’s been hidden
in my boot and hold it to his throat.

“Today you die, vampire,” I hiss.

And Uncle gasps in shock.

“Enough!” the General screams. “You
have fought without honor, using trickery and deceit. Which is the only way you
could conquer your more skilled foe.”

He seems angry, and I hang my head
in shame. But slowly, I see a certain glimmer in his eyes.

“Which is exactly what I would have
you do, my daughter. Use anything you have against them, do anything you can to
destroy them. Fight without mercy.”

The General helps me up, and it is
the first sign of approval I have seen from him in a long time. But he looks to
my uncle with disgust.

“And you are too easy on the girl.
You should know better.”

Uncle looks away, pretending to be
upset. But as we follow the General from the room, he gives me a small smile.

We walk upstairs from our basement,
which is cooler than the rest of the home, and into the kitchen. And the sun is
blazing hot outside. The dusty walls around us seem as though they are baking
us alive, though luckily, it will be evening soon.

Though our family is ready to eat,
I do not sit down with the rest of them just yet. Even though I am being taught
to fight, I still have my duties, and I gather a plate for my sister,
Samahlina, and take it to the room we share down the hall, in the bowels of our
home.