Suppliant

  Chapter 22

  I rise early and get dressed. Then I head off to the cafeteria to get breakfast and am waiting at the clinic when Doctor Hester walks in for the day.

  “What a lovely surprise, Layla. What are you doing out of your wheelchair? You should take your injury seriously, or you could injure yourself permanently.” She unlocks the office and motions me inside.

  “I am here to get cleared for all of my classes. I’m healed.” She glances down at my knee, speculation written all over her face.

  “Let’s have a look then,” she says. I pull up my pants leg and look at my knee with her. There are no marks, and the swelling is gone. Her mouth is practically touching the ground.

  “Can I see your hand?” she asks. I take off the bandage and turn my palm up. The wound is completely healed, making the stitches look out of place.

  “I have learned not to ask questions after working here for some time, but it appears that you are correct. Feel free to attend your classes this morning. I will inform your professors,” she says. After she takes out the stitches placed there only the day before, I thank her.

  “Layla, if you have any problems in the future, don’t hesitate to contact me,” she says. I nod and head back to my room. I still have an hour before my first class starts.

  My mood instantly lifts as I get closer to my room. That’s one less thing that I have to worry about. I am healed and protected, though being dually protected just adds to my stress level.

  I decide that it’s best to get it over with. I’m not sure how Damien will take it, but I don’t think it will be good. With intentions of telling Damien everything, I steer myself toward his room.

  ...

  Damien opens the door with a smile. I mentally check to make sure that my wall is still intact, and it is. Damien pulls me inside and closes the door. Then he takes me into his arms for an embrace.

  Though I’m not ready for a romantic relationship with him, I can’t resist his touch. Now that we’re connected it’s so much stronger that it dominates my thoughts around him.

  It’s powerful. I can feel everything. I can feel his heartbeat speeding up, causing his body heat to permeate mine. I can feel his emotions and hear his thoughts. He pulls back with a grim look on his face.

  “What are you hiding from me? You’ve blocked me out.” Damien turns to pace the room, running a hand through his hair.

  “Damien, I have something to tell you. Last night didn’t go exactly as planned. There was a complication,” I say, still not sure how to put this.

  “What complication? We are joined, I can feel it,” he says.

  “Yes we are.” I take a step toward him, and lay my hand on his arm to console him. “Zeke was there. He was in our circle when we joined. I am joined with him too,” I say, feeling relieved to get it off my chest.

  “That’s impossible. Why are you saying that?” He pushes my hand away.

  “I have a connection with him too. I feel the same way with him as I do with you. It’s hard to explain, but I know it’s true,” I say.

  “Layla, Joining doesn’t work that way. You can only join with one Protector. There has never been a Suppliant who has joined with two Protectors before. If it were possible, we would know about it. You are joined with me, not Zeke,” he says.

  Oh great, I didn’t expect denial. I figured he would be angry, but not dismissive. My anger starts to rise up in my throat. I want to scream. So I do the only thing that I can think to do to let Damien know that I’m serious. I let my wall down.

  I think back to the Joining and the time that Zeke and I spent together right after. I remember the fire in his kiss, and the ache that I felt when he left.

  When it’s over, Damien is staring at the ground. Understanding laces his face. Disbelief is in his voice. “We need to go see the Shaman. He can tell us if this is true or not.”

  “Who is the Shaman? How will he know?” I ask with equal parts curiosity and hope. If this isn’t true and I’m only joined with Damien, that would uncomplicate my current situation.

  “The Shaman is very powerful. The Native Americans used the Shaman as a medicine man, but he’s much more than that. He has a connection with the Realms and receives knowledge and wisdom because of it. Although I must warn you, if he doesn’t think it will benefit anything, he may not help us,” he says.

  “It’s worth a shot; we have to try. I want to get this mystery solved so we can move on,” I say.

  ...

  The Shaman is located in a remote part of campus. His office looks more like an herbalist’s office than what I expected. He leads us in and tells us that he has been expecting us.

  “How can I help you?” I thought he would look like a Native American Indian, but he looks like a Wizard. He carries a tall staff with an opal--looking stone to accentuate it. He has long white hair and a long white braided beard. His robe is blue with twinkling yellow stars.

  I look around his office. There are bookshelves built into every wall, covered in books. His desk is in the center of the room and is rather cluttered. There are papers lying skewed and books that are opened.

  He has a crystal ball that looks like a snow globe setting on the corner of his desk. I glance inside to see a swirling mist of blue. Blue fits my mood perfectly at this moment.

  On the wall with the entrance are shelves covered in bottles. I can only assume they are potions. Some have what look to be dried herbs. This must be where Damien gathered the necessary materials for the ceremony.

  “There has been a problem. The ceremony did not go as planned. There happened to be another Protector in the circle calling for Layla as the Joining was complete,” Damien speaks in hushed tones.

  “I see.” The old man begins to scratch his beard. “Is there a connection to either Protector?”

  “Both,” I speak up.

  “This seems to be a problem,” the Shaman says. “There has never been a Suppliant joined to more than one Protector before, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t possible. The way the ceremony works, the Protector gives the opening to the spell, but the power to close the spell comes from the Suppliant’s blood. In theory, if the blood is powerful enough, the Suppliant can take on two Protectors. There was a case once when a Suppliant tried this feat. She was killed in the process, as were both Protectors. But it is possible.” He studies my face.

  “You must be very powerful young lady,” he says. I can feel the surprise rolling off Damien. I am in shock myself. I was hoping that this was not the case, and that I was mistaking my connection with Zeke for mere lust, or my new powers.

  “Can I test your blood for power? It will tell us if this were possible, or if we need to look for another explanation.” A shiver runs down my spine. I want to get to the bottom of this, but the blood part is catching me up. How is he planning on getting my blood? It’s not something that I like to give away.

  Damien looks at me with sympathy. He must have seen my hands shaking last night when he handed me the knife. I need to be brave. Besides, if Damien trusts the Shaman, I should too.

  With a nod of agreement, the Shaman turns to start gathering supplies.

  He comes to me with a sterile needle. “It’s just a pin prick.” The blood starts to drip down my finger. The Shaman takes my finger and squeezes it until three drops of blood land in a small container.

  He adds a cloudy mixture to the container and watches. I’m beginning to get anxious when my blood starts to move; it starts to swirl around and then suddenly stops. It changes from bright red to the blackness of outer space. It’s separated into five different spots with a faint circle connecting each.

  “I have never seen this reaction before.” The Shaman is once again scratching his chin.

  “See these dots? They mean that you are equally powerful in all of the five realms. This circle means that you are connected to all realms. The color is the most interesting part. The darker the color, the more powerful the magic
. You are one very powerful Suppliant. You are joined with both Protectors, of this I am sure,” he mumbles in awe.

  I’m in shock for the second time today. I’m connected to both Damien and Zeke. I know that what I’m feeling is a Joining with both, but I hoped it was not possible.

  “You will need to keep this quiet. This is very dangerous information, Layla. You are the most powerful Suppliant that has ever come into existence. I have personally tested for the Council, and you are more powerful than all of them put together. Of course you would crumble if you lost a Protector. It would require incredible strength to overcome something of that nature,” he thinks aloud.

  Somehow, I don’t think keeping it quiet will be a problem. I’m not sure that Zeke will like it and I know how pleased Damien is. I was planning on telling Trish about the Joining today, so I will have to come up with a side story for Zeke.

  With a promise of confidentiality, Damien and I make our way to the stable. I need some time with Silver and my thoughts.