The Iron Butterfly (Iron Butterfly #1)

And in that moment, that’s exactly what I felt like doing. You could feel the tension in the air and I was finding it hard to breathe. I was given a wooden chair to sit on and even though the healers mended and set the bones in my leg, I was still weak. The chair was also much needed support because Joss’s words were still echoing in my mind. I didn’t believe him at first, and well, I still didn’t believe him.

Nervously I scratched my healed leg, still feeling the itchy warmth of newly re-knitted muscles. I watched Lorna stand and address the Adepts.

She gave the Adepts Healer Prentiss and Joss’ report of what happened the previous night. I watched as Breah’s face paled and then become wary. Her cute pixie face would bob in my direction, and then look away as if she was afraid to make eye contact.

Pax Baton was frowning so hard, you could almost imagine a stormy cloud gathering above his head. Kambel was by far the most excited at the news and you could see him twitch with excitement, jumping across the table for a spare scrap of parchment, pulling from a hidden pocket in his robe a spare quill and ink set. He immediately started to document this whole affair; after all, this was history in the making. Cirrus and Lorna were the most calm, with Cirrus being openly curious and thoughtful and Lorna being nothing but cautious.

Lorna continued speaking in a monotone voice. “We offered Thalia shelter and work here because she wasn’t a threat, just a child that had, for all intents and purposes, been abused. She was a normal human girl who we deemed safe to have among us. But apparently through the Septori’s experiments, we can say that is no longer true. We don’t have any clue to what else he has done to her except that he has succeeded in changing the child.”

“She’s an abomination, the antithesis of everything that we stand for. I think she was sent as a deliberate spy!” Breah spat out. “Why else do you think she’s here?”

“So the experiments worked! Now what! Something like this has never happened before in Calandry or anywhere else in the world,” Kambel interrupted. “The Great Council ruled any experiments on Denai or humans to be outlawed. It is considered a serious crime to tamper with either.”

“So are we going to hold a child responsible for something done to her without her consent?” Pax Baton intoned with his deep voice. “That would be a crime in and of itself.”

Even though Pax looked every bit an assassin or killer, his sense of honest sincerity when it came to right and wrong made me look at him with silent respect. His large frame held an intelligent mind. And though his body language bespoke a quick fighter, he was slow to make any hasty judgments.

“No!” Lorna firmly stated. “And I think I speak for the Council when I say that it would be wrong to punish her for something done against her will.” Unanimous nods went around the table. Lorna took a deep breath and looked right at me. “First we have to decide if she is a threat; to us, to Queen Lilyana, to the people of Calandry?”

“Well, what is she actually capable of?” Cirrus interjected for the first time. “Mayhap it was a fluke or residual effects that will fade in time.”

Five heads turned in my direction waiting for an answer.

My skin itched under their wary gazes. I myself wanted to know the same answer. I barely could get my voice to work. “I don’t know. I was told that I pulled Joss into my memories.” I tried to make myself look as unthreatening as possible and shrunk back into my chair.

“That’s not exactly what happened, Thalia.” Lorna spoke softly.

“I’ll tell you what happened!” Breah spoke up heatedly. “I was the one that interviewed the student. What the Raven has done was create something twisted, broken and unholy. He has created a monster!” The way Breah yelled the word monster made me flinch in horror, but only for a moment as she picked up her heated debate with much more fervor. “She ripped the power from a student and then imprisoned him in her memories. He said he could feel his power being siphoned off and that he was weakened, helpless to defend himself without fear of hurting her. We can’t trust her; she could steal all of the student’s power and then turn against us. Or worse, we know that our power is connected to our physical being. If she didn’t stop she could have drained all of his powers and killed him. She needs to be locked up, for our own protection!”

Breah was standing addressing the room. She was beautiful in her righteous anger, a vision of inspiration. I was almost swayed by her words until I realized she was speaking about me.

“BREAH!” Pax barked. “You are not allowed to use compulsion in the meeting rooms, we have said this before.” I shook my head and all of a sudden Breah didn’t look as beautiful and awe inspiring. Suddenly, I realized what her gift was. She had the ability to persuade others or even compel them.

I had to speak up. “I have no recollection of doing it or how it was done. I don’t even think I could do it again. Lorna, you believe me, right?”

“Thalia, I know that when I read your mind I didn’t sense any deceit. But remember, there is a whole section of your mind that is gone.” She turned back to the Adepts. “I can say this to you, the student Joss will vouch for her and swears that she is harmless and has shown no ill will toward anyone here.”

“He barely knows her; we can’t take that into account,” Pax Baton remarked. “But I think we are missing something important. She may not be the only one out there like her. What if he has done this with more humans?”

Cirrus stood up and looked at Pax. “What are you implying?”

Pax was a born and bred fighter and could see the hidden implications that the others could not. “What I’m saying, my dear friend Cirrus, is what if she is not the only one? What if he is trying to create more? A race of humans that was stronger, swifter, more powerful than any single Denai in Calandry? It was reported that she broke through his defenses pretty easily. What if he is creating an army of humans like her?”

“Then we are looking at war!” Cirrus dropped to his seat, face turning pale. His hands started to visibly shake. “We may have time to prevent it, if we can find him and stop these awful experiments,” he spoke slowly. “There may be hope to prevent a future war.”

“What about now? What I want to know is what is to become of her?” Breah kept readjusting her skirt around her feet. “We can’t continue to keep her here.”

“Of course, you ninny, she has to stay here!” Kambel said, flying from his seat. “Don’t you understand? She’s the only one of her kind as of this minute that we know of. She’s unique; she’s irreplaceable and should be studied. If more are created we can study her and thereby understand their weaknesses and how to stop them.”

“NO!” I yelled.

I had sat patiently long enough, listening to them go back and forth discussing me. Jumping up, I startled the Adepts. “I refuse to be scrutinized or studied like some sort of experiment. I would rather live on the street than stay here.”

“She mustn’t leave. She must be dealt with.” Breah paled. “She could endanger all the Denai. She’s an abomination, I tell you.” I had no idea what she was talking about but I headed for the door.

“And what do you propose we do?” Pax yelled back. “Kill her?”