Chapter 10 #3
The tonic Tala insisted Aela drink held truth-telling properties, and while Aela was under the influence of the crystal tonic, Tala was ruthless in her questions. The Adjacent never inquired what Aela did on Prente, the details of an effectively mortal life irrelevant to the truth she sought.
Aela was intimately familiar with the effects of the unique blend of crystals within the tonic she was forced to drink—being a crystal expert, even self-made as she was.
In the century she had spent marooned on Prente, Aela had nothing but time to experiment with the crystals she mined and, as Fate would have it, had gained an immunity to a multitude of crystals and their potent effects.
In her own experiments using the same crystals in Tala’s tonic, she found that if the subject believed what was an obvious untruth, no dosage would divulge a lie; the patient believed what they said to be true.
There was always a workaround, always a balance with nature.
After several attempts to pry information out of her through the tonic, Tala stopped proffering the mixture.
Although she didn’t want to admit it, she respected the Adjacent. If Aela were in her position, she didn’t think she would act with half of her composure.
If I knew who posed a direct threat to my House, I’d burn them without name.
During one such conversation in the days that followed the last dosage of truth-telling tonic, Tala’s unruffled demeanor finally slipped.
“You think I’m a threat? What have I done to warrant this confinement?” Aela said as their volley of words had picked up in intensity.
“I know you’re one!” Tala snapped, slamming a palm flat against the dining room table.
“That display of power during The Games was something we haven’t beheld in quite some time, if ever.
I’m still trying to figure out how one such as you could have been hiding all that power right under our noses. ”
Aela only sucked on her teeth and crossed her arms as she leaned back in her chair, her gaze pinned through an open window.
“The confinement is of your own making. Tell me what I want to know, and you can leave.”
It’s not that simple. If you knew the truth, you’d never let me leave.
Tala studied her intently, then at her continued silence, left without another word.
Aela shifted. Again and again, she propelled herself through her dreamscape, not knowing where she was going, only that she had to escape.
Always a step behind her, darkness coalesced whenever she paused to get her bearings or, Fates forbid, think.
Lately, she never had a moment to herself.
If she wasn’t being questioned by Tala, then attendants taunted her with the ease with which they came and went from her apartment.
She was too preoccupied keeping everyone in her sight to do much more than that.
Aela noticed the wards were similar in Avarice to the ones on Prente as she tried to will herself home and tried to step from her dreams into reality, as her nightmares had the tendency to do. It was no use.
Aela shifted and flew through the night air. Skating on streaks of starlight, she tried to ignore the gathering dark. Perhaps it was nothing. Maintaining her secret while trying to gain the Taureons trust had her on edge.
As she glided through the open night sky, a tugging sensation bloomed in her gut.
Curious, she slowed her trajectory. Her magic was closely tied to her emotions, and while the feeling in her gut was less emotional, she homed in on the internal feeling, trying to get a better sense of what it was. Shift.
At once, Aela had the distinct impression that she was no longer in her dreamscape but someone else’s.
The invasion curdled her tongue, but she kept herself silent and still.
It had been so long since she had dreamwalked that she had nearly forgotten how.
When her powers manifested as a youngling, her father gave her a crystal to wear to keep her from dreamwalking until she understood how to use her Line’s gift responsibly.
On Prente, the wards of the planet had locked her power down.
Perhaps the wards around Avarice were different… or her power was growing.
Aela observed the dream. She was in an exotic garden beneath a periwinkle sky with dark coral clouds; it was a planetary feeling.
Tala appeared a moment later, walking by herself.
Her appearance was hazy, the garments she wore glitched between sleeping clothes and her favored two-piece style of clothing.
Aela was frozen in place, unsure if the Adjacent could see her within her dreams. Slamming her intention into Tala’s dream to remain invisible, Aela held her breath.
Tala appeared lost in thought, hardly blinking as she caressed the springy texture of a flowering hedge.
She followed a path deeper into the garden and passed by where Aela stood.
A longing seeped from her that Aela could practically touch.
Unable to stand the imposition any longer, Aela willed herself away.