Image (Insight #3)
Jamie Magee
Chapter One
Make peace, not war. That’s what we’re told...if only it were that simple. What we’re never told is that – invariably – throughout the history of mankind, war always comes before peace.
It’s been one week since we moved through the souls in the city of Delen, since Donalt lost his life...one week...you’d think in that amount of time, the message of Donalt’s death would have spread throughout the dimension of Esterouis, that people would have thrown down their black cloaks and began to cheer.
Instead, the city of Delen - the largest in Esterouis - is now seen as demented. The surrounding cities are in the process of building a great wall; in their ignorance, they believe that if there is a wall between them and the people of Delen, they’ll be protected. Protected from what? That’s what I wanted to scream at them.
Rumors led us to believe that Drake was at the estate in which I’d been held, on the other side of the world. People now looked to him for direction, and I could only imagine what he was telling them: that it was I - not him - that had betrayed them. That he would continue to fight for my heart so they could all be redeemed. We’d heard from the people in Delen that, before we came, the world was warned that a false leader would emerge, but that he wouldn’t be powerful enough to move them all; only Drake and I would be, together. I accused Drake of misinforming them, but August, Landen’s grandfather, told us that it was Donalt that had said those words in his last speech.
Landen I and were sitting on the wall that surrounded the palace; the dark storm in which it had been immersed days ago had diminished. The people of Delen were painting the gray stones white and planting beautiful gardens throughout the court. We could see their intent: they thought that if they made it beautiful, Landen and I would stay there. Neither of us had stepped foot inside since we ran from the roar of Donalt’s death; Landen feared that if we went in, the city would see it as a promise to rule them – which was something we refused to do.
In the distance, we could see the neighboring cities building their walls as fast as they could. Our first effort to hinder them was to move through the builders, encouraging them to join us; we’d managed to save just over a hundred more people, but now armed guards stood behind the workers – with every intention of killing anyone who even seemed to smile. We held back from helping any others; the risk to their lives was just too great.
As Landen slowly reached his hand over and gently placed it on my knee, I felt a numbing calm ease through my soul. I looked up into his waiting blue eyes to find him smiling at me.
“You’re going to wear yourself out trying to calm me all the time,” I thought.
He grinned and looked into the distance. You know my only intent is to keep you happy, he thought, wrapping his arm around me.
“What are we going to do, Landen - wait for another planet?” I asked, frustrated.
“One day at a time; you need to take time to appreciate what we’ve done,” he answered.
“It's not enough; we have so much more to do. Beyond this world, there are others...I don’t have time to be grateful.”
“You have to be grateful for what you have if you want to bring more things to you that will make you grateful.”
“Wise words...did you just make that up?” I asked bleakly.
“That’s the law of the universe, the law of all faith,” he answered, pulling me closer to him and immersing me in a blissful calm.
I smiled at myself, realizing that my impatience was ruling me again. I then sighed and looked up at him. “I’m grateful,” I whispered.
He leaned down and gently let his lips rest on mine. Me, too, he thought.
Brady and Dane came to the base of the wall where we were sitting and looked up. They were both covered head-to-toe in ash; our family had spent every day in Delen, helping the people begin to build homes that showed their individuality.
“Are you guys ready? It’s almost dusk.” Dane asked.
I looked to the West and saw the sun lowering itself into the gray clouds. Dane was like a human clock; he would always appear at my side at dusk. He never wanted me here when it was dark; the nightmares I had as a child seemed to haunt him just as much as they haunted me...maybe it was because he had to watch me suffer growing up. Between him and Landen, I wasn’t even allowed to yawn here.
“Whenever you guys want to go,” Landen answered.
“Everyone else already left. Let’s go,” Brady said.
Landen wrapped his arms around my waist and let us fall. He’d gotten really good at using his energy to move him wherever he wanted to go. As we walked through the streets to our passage, the people all smiled and bowed their heads. Their affection always made us uncomfortable; Landen and I both feared that they’d never really know how to live on their own. They’d rebuilt Patrick’s home, the rusty staircase was replaced by beautiful white wooden steps, and there were usually flowers running across each one, leading our way. Landen had asked Patrick several times not to allow people to mark a path, but the only response he ever get was a bow - and the flowers remained.
The string was calm; it had been since we’d managed to dismantle the looking glass. As I walked in front of the others, I could sense that Brady wanted to talk to Landen. Brady, who’d always defended our right to do what we wanted to do – which was to help others, no matter the risk – had been wavering lately. He’d never stand in our way, but he feared - just like all of us - that each time we faced the conditions of a planet, we’d risk our lives.