Page 85 of A Monarch's Fall
“A whole class of children born for the potential to have a novel ability,” I told her. Unable to keep the secret a moment longer. It was like a confession. Telling Ana lessened my guilt of simply knowing.
“Why are you lying? Novel abilities can’t be predicted,” she said, but I saw the uncertainty in her eyes.
“Did you know that the Flores coven had a law forbidding marriage and mixing with other covens?” I asked her.
“It was assumed, no one knew for certain, of course, but it was kind of obvious,” she answered.
“Yeah, that was for a reason. Flores' magic doesn’t act like normal when mixed with other magic lines. I guess it usually creates dual users and, with predictable regularity, novel abilities. My mother was a dual user of Aqua and Flores. They covered up her heritage and explained her dual use as simply a Flores magic affinity for marine plant life,” I told Ana, watching confusion and then understanding spread across her face.
“You’re saying that Flores' magic has a unique ability to produce dual users and novel abilities?” she asked.
“Yes! And the New Foundation is creating witches for their potential abilities to fight in this war, and to keep control. I don’t know the exact plan, but it’s messed up, Ana, it’s not right,” I said, pleading with her to understand.
“Child soldiers?” she asked.
Chapter nineteen
One Step Ahead.
Percy Flores
“I, I don’t know what to think,” Ana said.
“You don’t believe me?” I questioned, somehow hurt that she would think I was lying, even though I wasn’t even sure if we were really friends anyway.
“No, no, it’s not that,” she tried to reassure. “I believe you, it’s just, it’s so against everything that we’re meant to be building that it doesn’t make sense.”
“It makes sense. You know what my novel ability can do. It’s eerily similar to the stories of inter-coven magic, and we agreed, every witching community and coven, so long ago we don’t even have written records, only stories, that inter-coven magic was too powerful, too dangerous, that it had to be outlawed. Flores, for as long as anyone knew, had always prohibited marriage and relationships with other covens. We have no land, we’ve always been few in number, strictly pacifist, until now. There wasobviously a reason for that, Ana. Flores' magic has the ability to merge, to form new and powerful novel abilities. My mother was a dual user, and now I have this death within me. Selene was concerned for me, that I’d be used as a weapon or killed to stop me. And she was right, The New Foundation wasn’t interested in me before my novel ability appeared. I’m just me. A half-witch. Imagine what damage a whole classroom of kids with novel abilities, indoctrinated into a military, could do to the kingdom, to the world,” I told her.
“It would be absolute power,” Ana whispered.
“No one will be able to stand against The New Foundation. Every power needs to be held accountable. The House system isn’t perfect; there are problems, maybe it can’t be reformed, and the only way forward is to dismantle it. But what replaces it? It can’t be a military dictatorship that no one could ever hope to challenge.”
“How are they hiding this from everyone?” she asked.
“The kids are kept within the Witching Command mansion. In the basement of all places. They never leave. Not every Flores witch knows that they are there. They think they’re orphans, the children of single mothers who need to be protected. I don’t think many in the Witching Command know that they are powerful. They’re young, only just coming into their magic. All they know is The New Foundation. They’re just kids,” I said.
“How did you learn all this?” she questioned.
“Lady Flores trusts me, at least she does now,” I told her. “When I first awoke here, I spoke with Arvid Halvorsen. He’s playing both sides, and he doesn’t trust Lady Flores. He made me an offer. If I find out whatever it is Lady Flores was keeping from him, he would help me escape and return to Selene.” I took hold of Ana’s hand. “Ana, if we’re still friends, if you were my friend in the first place, if you care at all about any of this, you’vegot to believe me. Come with me, I’m going to Arvid now to tell him everything. We can leave here together,” I pleaded with her.
She squeezed my hand and smiled sadly.
“I am your friend. I…” She released my hand and ran both her hands over her head and through her short hair. “This is so much to take in. You don’t understand how much I’ve given up. I can’t believe I’ve been so stupid. I thought… I thought I was doing the right thing,” she said and looked at me. Her face was such sadness. “What does all this mean?” she asked.
“It means that Lady Flores has her own agenda and she’s convinced her coven and every member of The New Foundation that all she wants is a just and peaceful society. And I think she wants that, but she also wants revenge and power. We can’t allow her to take power like this. Are you with me, Ana?” I asked.
“I want to be, but I can’t just sit back and do nothing. What are you even suggesting? That we just go back to how things are, because they’re not that bad for you with Selene? It’s pretty bad for almost everyone else. And you can’t just tell Arvid Halvorsen about a bunch of children with that type of power. He’ll kill them,” she warned.
“I —” I went to respond but stopped. Ana was right, I had no plan, and I couldn’t tell Arvid about the children in Witching Command, either, not if I really cared about them. I was selfish. All this time, I just wanted to get back to Selene.
“I want us to be on the same side. But I don’t think that will ever happen, not with your ties to Selene,” she said solemnly and turned to walk away.
“Wait,” I said and took hold of her hand. “You think Selene is a monster that wants nothing more than power and domination, right?” I asked.
“But that’s not true, Ana. It’s not! She wants change. She wants the Houses to be like Viridis. That’s why she took over House Ardens,” I told her desperately, remembering my conversationwith Selene on the bench on the hilltop overlooking Ardens Estate.
“What?” Ana asked, turning back to me.