Love in the Darkness (Tam Song x oc)

Chapter 5:

Cinnia's POV
"Let's see what Exillium has to offer today." Keefe said as we leaped there. The place had no sign of the plague. We made our way to the campus, and I  barely recognized the place.

New tents.

New mats.

Shiny new tables filled with . . .

"Is that breakfast?” Fitz pointed to the platters heaped with pastries covered in pink jam. I was about to nod when I heard a voice behind me. “Yes,” We turned to find me and Sophie’s purple Coach. “We’ll be starting each day with a meal. And our lunch supply has vastly improved as well. I’ve also been told that six new Coaches are being chosen to assist us, as well as a team of goblin bodyguards for protection. Plus this.” She held up her new pendant—a leaping crystal with three glittering facets. “Our access to the Lost Cities is limited, but we as Coaches are no longer completely banished, to give us a better channel of communication. It appears the Council has decided to pay more attention to our program.” She leaned closer to Sophie and added, “And I hear we have you to thank, Miss Foster.” I frowned. I never knew of this. “You know my name?” Sophie asked. “It will be impossible to forget a Wayward with friends on the Council—especially one who triggered these changes. I’ve never seen anything like it in all the years I’ve been here.”
“How many years is that?” I asked, taking my small opportunity. “Coming up on fifty. Seems too long, doesn’t it?”
My coach let out a wistful sigh, and Sophie tried to sound casual as she asked, “So does that mean you were one of the Coaches who ejected a rebellious Psionipath a few years ago?” she obviously failed because the Coach’s back straightened. “Why?”
“I need to find him.” Sophie moved closer and whispered. “He’s involved with what’s happening to the gnomes.” My Coach didn’t move. I wondered if she was still breathing. “You know who she’s talking about, don’t you?” I jumped in. “I might,” the Coach whispered. “But he was ejected. That’s where my knowledge ends.”
“What about his name?” Sophie pressed. “You know mine now. Did you know his?”
“I’m sorry,” her Coach said. “I can’t help you.”
“Do you know someone who can? Maybe the other Coaches?” I wanted to kick Sophie. She was asking way too many questions. “I can ask them. But I wouldn’t get my hopes up.” the Coach said. “I have to,” Sophie told her. “Hope is all we have left.”
Did you do this? Tam asked me. Not directly. I replied.

When we got home from Exillium, Sophie and I used the afternoon to study the maps Lord Cassius had found. We decided not to tell Keefe where they came from—and Sophie didn’t want him asking too many questions—so I offered to go up to my bedroom as Keefe never had reason to go there and spread them across the floor. There were maps of the Neutral Territories in the mix, along with maps of the Forbidden Cities and the Lost Cities. The Neverseen clearly had their eyes on everything. "Why would the Neverseen need so many maps?" I asked. Sophie shrugged. We focused on the Neutral Territories, hoping we could find a pattern between the plague locations. Maybe then one of us would be able to guess where the Neverseen would strike next. I rearranged the maps so we could see where everything was in relation to each other, and started with Wildwood. From there we moved to Brackendale, where Sophie, Calla and Biana had found the Psionipath’s tree. Next was Merrowmarsh, which Gethen had thought would be the next place. As far as either of us knew, nothing had happened there, but we decided to count it anyway and assume the Neverseen’s plans had changed because the Black Swan posted a dwarven guard. After that was the Strixian Plains, where the family of infected gnomes had been found, and then the Starkrial Valley, where Physic’s apothecary had been closed because of the plague. Then Bosk Gorge, where Sophie had found the gnome. That was where the plague seemed to be spreading faster, so had the Neverseen changed something there—maybe to make up for the time they’d lost with Merrowmarsh?

The rest of the week was full of changes, but they only seemed to happen at Exillium. The Coaches started using their names—the purple Coach was named Coach Rohana, the blue Coach was Coach Bora, and the red Coach was Coach Wilda—and Waywards were encouraged to do the same. We started working with partners or in groups. Me, Tam and Linh worked together often, though sometimes I worked with my other friends too. It made the lessons much more manageable. And at the end of the lesson on Friday, masks and hoods became optional. As the we tossed our masks into the ocean, I saw Sophie talking with Coach Rohana. “Of course. Change always has rewards and costs. But, it will be nice to have more interaction with the Waywards—most of them, at least.” I heard the Coach saying as I made my way over. “I’m guessing you never found out anything about the Psionipath I mentioned?” Sophie asked. Coach Rohana sighed. “Actually, I did. I found his list of transgressions, and it was far longer than I’d remembered. He’s not someone you want to encounter.” I sighed. "Too late." I muttered. Coach Rohana gave me a pitying look. “But I have to,” Sophie told her. “Please, if there’s anything else you know . . .”
Our Coach stared into the distance, her expression both weary and wary as she whispered, “His name was Ruy Ignis.”
A/N: Slight cliffhanger there! I found a place to get Neverseen online so now I'm taking extracts out of the book and adding as much of Cinnia in there as possible. Also, I know that there isn't very much of Tam and Cinnia moments yet but they'll be there at some point.