Chapter 23
YAAF
Are you sure? the collective directed at Number One, meaning that telling Sullha was dangerous, that she didn't need to know about the assassination plan, that it might impact her feelings for Yaaf.
He didn't answer directly, letting them instead absorb the feelings he couldn't articulate without giving them much more thought.
He needed to share this with Sullha because, at some point, she had become his partner.
On some level, he'd started to think of her as the ninth member of their collective, just without the direct access the other eight enjoyed.
He needed to tell her what the others learned directly from each other's minds.
The collective responded by calming the surge of thoughts and expressing acceptance. They understood.
Yaaf reached into Sullha's mind, and with him, his seven counterparts reached as well.
They were gentle, circumventive, implanting a light suggestion of keeping what he told her a secret.
They laid the small, careful instruction over the new information she was about to receive and set it to engage only if she tried to speak of it to someone other than Number One.
It took no longer than two seconds.
Sullha blinked.
"Are you done?" she asked.
He nodded.
"I didn't feel anything."
"I told you that you wouldn't."
"What will it do exactly?"
"You won't be able to talk about this with anyone other than me."
The corner of her mouth lifted in a little smirk. "What if I write it down and pass someone a note?"
"You won't be able to do that."
"Are you sure?" Her voice carried a note of challenge. "What if I write the note now, while I'm with you, put it in my pocket, and give it to someone later?"
He had to smile. "You have a devious mind, Sullha. I didn't know that about you."
"You must have forgotten. I was always devious."
He tried to remember what she'd done as a kid that could be classified as crafty, but the worst thing Sullha had ever done was filch a double serving of dessert, and she'd done it for him because he was obsessed with anything with chocolate in it, and the kitchen had served chocolate pudding.
"Are you talking about the pudding?"
She laughed. "You remembered that. I'm impressed. There was more, but I want to hear about that thing that is more dangerous than your escape plan."
Number One drew a deep breath.
He hadn't planned to tell her about the assassination plot, let alone how to tell her.
The others were right that he had no reason to tell her about it.
He didn't need to burden her with the knowledge.
Still, he felt like he had to, like he needed to invite her into the fold, and to do so properly, he had to start at the beginning.
"I assume you know that Lord Navuh has sequestered himself in his harem, and that his son Losham is in charge."
She nodded. "We've heard rumors. The servants who shuttle laundry to and from the barracks talk, even though they are not supposed to. That's how we knew about the rebellion, but they never mentioned anything about enhanced soldiers. I didn't know about that until you told me."
"They could've been thralled to forget about the enhancement experiment," Number One said. "Lord Navuh didn't want people remembering his failure."
"So, why did Lord Navuh decide to sequester himself? Was it because of the rebellion?"
"Not exactly." Number One ran a hand over the back of his neck.
"The rebellion of the enhanced was quashed, and nearly all of the enhanced soldiers were eliminated because they were deemed too volatile and uncontrollable.
Only the Eight of us were spared because Lord Navuh refused to give up on his pet project, and he needed test subjects to refine the program.
He had new scientists brought to the island to design a better protocol. "
He could hear Sullha's heart rate accelerate, and her hand came to her chest. "That's horrible. Were you imprisoned?"
Number One nodded. "We were locked in the laboratory while the scientist figured out what to do with us."
"How did you get free?" she asked.
That was a fork in the story, and he didn't know which way to go first.
"Something happened, and Lord Navuh's control over the island suddenly loosened.
He didn't return to his mansion in the morning like he usually did, and he didn't respond to calls from his secretary.
His eldest son, Losham, took over managing things until it could be ascertained what happened to his father.
The problem is that the harem is isolated even more than the enclosure, and it's more heavily guarded.
No immortals are allowed in there either, and no one dares to go there and check what's going on because no one wants to court Lord Navuh's wrath. "
Sullha shook her head. "Where do you and your friends fit into this story?"
"I'm getting there. Once Lord Navuh's influence weakened, we could use our own power of compulsion and thralling, which we had developed in secret, and we commanded the guards to let us go.
We went to the mansion, got into the lord's office, and thought that we could just take over and run the island ourselves because we were now the most powerful compellers around. "
Sullha's eyes widened. "You could do that?"
"Not really, and we quickly figured out that despite having this unprecedented power, we didn't know the first thing about running an organization this big."
"What did you do?"
"We offered Losham an alliance. We will help him keep control of the island so he can keep managing everything and prevent chaos."
"What did you get in exchange?"
"A partnership," Number One said. "But originally, we thought we would be Losham's puppet masters. With our ability to control the minds of other immortals, we could do that."
She looked at him with fear in her eyes, and he didn't like it.
"You no longer want that?" she asked quietly. "I mean, to control Losham?"
"We don't need to. We can do whatever we want, but Losham is crucial to the survival of this island.
The problem is that the army is loyal to Kolhood, Losham's brother, and the only reason Kolhood doesn't kill Losham and take the throne is that he's afraid of their father.
For now, Losham can claim that he has Lord Navuh's mandate, but once the brothers discover that Lord Navuh is not in the harem, Losham's life is forfeit. "
"Where is Lord Navuh?"
That was the other fork in the road, and so far Number One was doing a good job of preparing the background for the assassinations, so once he got there, Sullha wouldn't be horrified by the prospect because she would understand the necessity of it.
"He's no longer on the island. Losham and my team went into the harem through a secret tunnel and discovered that Navuh and his ladies were all gone.
Losham assumed that his father had one of his fits of uncontrollable rage, killed the ladies by throwing them off the cliff, and then, realizing what he'd done, jumped after them. "
Sullha's hand was still on her chest, and her heart was racing. "But that's not what happened, right?"
"No. The clan extracted them somehow. We picked it up later from Losham's mind. During his conversations with them, he was told about his mother being there, and if she's there, so are the other ladies. We don't know, however, if Navuh is in the hands of the clan or if they killed him."
Sullha's hand moved from her chest to her mouth. "I don't understand what you're talking about. What clan?"
You haven't told her about that, the collective answered.
They had retreated, leaving him to tell Sullha the story from his individual point of view, but they'd been listening.
He let out a long breath. "The clan is a long story that goes back all the way to the era of the gods.
There was a split a long time ago, with Lord Navuh creating the Brotherhood, and the goddess Annani creating a clan of immortals to fight him.
Supposedly, the clan are the good guys, and they are going to help us once we escape, but I'll tell you about that later. One of Lord Navuh’s sons defected to the clan, and with his help, the clan was able to contact Losham.
They have a very powerful compeller that is strong enough to control Losham through phone conversations. "
Sullha shook her head. "This is the most unbelievable story I've ever heard."
"But it's true."
"How was it possible to keep all of this a secret?"
"Which part?"
She waved a hand. "Let's start with Lord Navuh's whereabouts."
Number One smiled. "We thralled the entire harem staff to believe that Lord Navuh is in his apartment and doesn't want to see or talk with anyone.
The ladies are where they always were, on the second floor of the harem.
We just went there a few days ago to reinforce the thrall.
The staff prepare meals for him and the ladies and behave exactly as if they are all there.
The only thing that has changed in their daily routine is that they don't see him, and we compelled them not to find that strange. "
She was quiet for a long moment.
"You used the secret tunnel again."
"Correct. Because the harem is completely isolated and the staff are human and thralled, it's possible to keep up the ruse. Lord Navuh's rule about no immortals allowed in the harem is working in our favor. The same goes for the enclosure. I couldn't have told you all the things I had otherwise."
"You could have thralled me or compelled me, or whatever it is you do."
He shook his head. "If you had contact with other immortals, they could have picked it up from your mind. My compulsion would have been useless. The only way to mitigate it would have been to thrall you to forget what I told you, but then what would have been the point?"
"True." Her hand returned to the book in her lap. "That's a lot to take in. What you are saying is that the enclosure and the harem are freer than other parts of the island because they are secluded?"