The Unspoken: Book One in the Keres Trilogy (41 page)

“
Yes. Stand still.
”
He comes at me with the stamp raised. I
’
m held in perfect fear while he moves the stamp around my eye, looking for the precise spot. When he finds it, he inhales sharply and clicks the stamp. The piercing pain I
’
ve grown so accustomed to pricks through my body.

“
It
’
s not a matter of concentration, or a clear mind that
’
s important for the Expiscor group,
”
Abbot says pulling the stamp away and blinking at the new pattern of ink.
“
But I see you already have a good idea how to use it.
”

I turn my head slowly towards the wall of mirrors. Spilling from the corner of my eye is a stylized spider web, with two tiny stars sparkling on its delicate threads. While Abbot talks about the theory of enemy location and detection, I look fixedly at the triangle of web dripping down the side of my face until it begins to swirl out of shape. It morphs into two beautifully delicate comet trails spreading out from the two stars that were caught on the web.

“
Don
’
t pull from it unless it
’
s life or death. Not even to practice. It
’
s not wise to go looking for your enemies. Like thought clarification, this is an intangible magus and addictive.
”

I already use the tree tattoo too much- it
’
s too difficult concentrating without it. Last night I used it to be able to sleep. I do not want to become obsessed with knowing who has it in for me, who wants me dead.

“
Why stamp me if I
’
m not supposed to use it?
”
I ask Abbot petulantly.

“
Because you will need it one day. The longer the ink stays in contact with the Expiscor nerve group, the more accurate it will be when you have to pull from it.
”
Abbot leaves me gazing at my reflection. I stand in front of the mirrors until the lights signal dinner time. When Zink meets me at my den door, he starts at the sight of the Expiscor tattoo around my eye.

“
At least it
’
s got a soft pattern on you,
”
he says.
“
Some are really harsh lines. I
’
m glad it doesn
’
t look severe in the pattern form.
”

“
Me too. I already have trouble with Frehn wanting to lick the one on my neck. I don
’
t want to think about what he would want to do with this one.
”

“
It
’
s strange the different reactions people have. Delsum, my Banded parter, is terrified of them. She makes me turn off all the lights before I change. She doesn
’
t want to see them. Lucky for her my specialty is on my legs and not my face,
”
he punches the call button for the elevator. He has never talked about his PG before, though I have talked him deaf about mine.

“
What
’
s it like, being Banded?
”

“
Not so different from not being Banded. Ask Journer, she loves her partner. It
’
s probably different for her.
”

“
Oh.
”

The elevator lights quiver and the car vibrates slightly, I seize hold of Zink as he grasps at the side of the car. The door opens with the car a few feet lower than the floor of the Gratis Building. We have to climb out.

“
What was that?
”
I ask, panic racing across my chest. Before Zink can answer, an explosion breaks the windows to our left. Zink flings his body against mine and we go flying across the smooth marble floor.

Keepers begin to run past us, their shoes grinding in the broken glass. Zink and I struggle to our feet, pushing out the doors past the Keepers and run with all our might to the northeast of the city. As we top the hill, just as the mouth of the mine comes into sight, fire and rock explode from the entrance, spraying a wave of heat and shrapnel on us.

The ground shakes under my feet and I fall to all fours, panting. Zink covers me with his body, his arms flung over my head. From the mine entrance, smoke and fire pour past the bullet train parked at the platform. A tidal wave of miners who would have been walking leisurely towards the canteen for dinner surge out of the mouth of the mine in a vomitus mass of blood and flesh.

Healers are running in from the east, catching stumbling people and dousing them in water to quench the flames that rage through their clothes. Screams ring from every direction, Mothers swarming the scene making tutting noises and exaggerated moans in turns.

“
Frehn!
”
I howl,
“
Frehn!
”
I struggle against Zink
’
s weight to get up.

“
We
’
ll find him, Keres. Try and stay calm,
”
Zink tells me, keeping tight hold on my arm, pulling me to my feet.
“
He
’
s always one of the first ones out for the day because of the cart. He
’
s never late, Keres.
”

What if he chose today to move the explosives to our escape tunnel? What if that explosion was him?

“
Zink, there
’
s someth-
”

“
No, Keres,
”
he cuts my words in half,
“
There
’
s nothing. We will find him.
”

I can only whimper slightly and we move towards the mine, searching every face trying to see past the gore and flame and mud. I look for his green eyes in a sea of indistinguishable grime covered faces. People are running at random, Play Groups looking for their members. Zink and I hang on to each other tightly while we rip through the crowd. Everything feels like it
’
s been slowed down. Soon bodies start appearing, slung over the edges of rail carts and across shoulders of friends. A boy stumbles past me with blood gushing from the side of his head. The entire left side of his face, from his ear to his chin, completely gone. His orange service uniform wet and clinging to his body with blood.

My stomach lurches at the sight of the butchered people surrounding me as we advance on the mine entrance. Zink and I lift our shirts over our noses and mouths to keep from choking on the smoke. I scream Frehn
’
s name over and over, trying to make myself heard over the strange wailing that fills the air. Zink pulls me forward, deeper into the accumulation of bodies and blood. The Mothers hold their tunics close to their legs so as not to get them wet in the sticky red pools forming around the people on the ground, their eyes triumphant with the pain.

“
Zink, I have to find Doe before she sees this.
”

“
There he is,
”
Zink points over my shoulder. My head whips around and I see him. He is standing in his cart, the last in the line on the tracks, helping injured miners out of it and into the arms of their panic stricken Play Group members. I run towards him, yelling his name, blinded by tears.

“
I
’
m alright, nothing Doe can
’
t fix,
”
he says to me, handing the last miner over to her Banded partner.
“
Just some scratches.
”
He winces stepping over the side of the cart and I see both of the legs of his overalls are ripped to shreds. Zink and I get on either side of him and help him to the grass outside near the Healers
’
makeshift first aid station.

“
Some of the explosives supply was being moved deeper, cart jumped the tracks, set off a chain reaction. No big cave-ins, but whoever was within five hundred feet of the cart didn
’
t make it,
”
Frehn says between gasps of pain.
“
I had just passed them going to pick up the last crew for the day. Force blew my cart off the track, had to reattach it before we could come up. We were miles deep.
”

“
You can tell us later,
”
I say to him.
“
Let
’
s see how bad your legs are first.
”

Zink and I lower him to the grass and remove his pack so he can lay flat on the ground. I grab water bottles from a Healer
’
s cart passing our position and gingerly try to wash the layers of clay and soot from his legs. He digs his fists into the ground, clutching at the grass, baring his teeth.

I turn to Zink,
“
Can you find PG3456?
”

He nods and starts to move away, but Frehn grabs his arm,
“
And there
’
s a girl in PG3453. Sotter, factories.
”

“
I
’
ll find them, don
’
t worry.
”

I rip the legs off Frehn
’
s uniform completely and continue to wash away the layers of earth and blood.

“
When I saw the explosion, I thought- I thought it was you,
”
I say, my voice catching.

“
Plenty of time to confess your love for me when I
’
m all bandaged up.
”

The water removes the last wad of clay and I put the back of my hand over my mouth. Through layers of mutilated flesh, I can see the bright white of his shinbone. Where is Zink? I need his healing! Ointments and magus and something to take the gray look out of Frehn
’
s face.

“
Ok. Ok,
”
I say casting franticly around my mind for what to do next. Blood has swirled back over the bone and is spilling over the edges of the wound. I wash it away again and take off my shirt to staunch the flow.

“
Knew I would get you naked one day,
”
he says winking up at me from the grass.

“
Frehn! Shh!
”
I bend my head over the gaping hole in his leg to get better leverage in order to make the knot tight.