AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We studied boys, too. We needed to see how the experiments would affect male offspring. They did not seem to possess the necessary abilities, so we felt assured we could measure and control the populace. We could easily guess which girls might be born with the ability. Marriages were arranged, children were watched, we waited for signs.”
I recall Loricel telling me how she watched me, covered up for me. No one would second-guess her motives. It was clear she had wanted to be done with the system after decades of choosing sacrifice over self, but how had they not known I could be the thing they dreaded the most?
“So you tagged us?” Dante says with a note of disgust.
“I’m afraid so. When we realized we had misunderstood the nature of the genetic ability in boys, I saw my opportunity. A child born with both sets of the genetic makeup to weave and to alter could bind Earth off. Everything centered on that child.”
“It couldn’t have been a boy then?” I ask.
“No, only a girl could possess both genetic traits. The weaving trait refused to manifest in male children, but alteration could pass to a female. The Guild worked hard to prevent that through monitoring the population,” Albert explains.
“But I don’t understand,” Jost interrupts. “How can she have both if the abilities are both born of the same engineering?”
“The genes evolved, much in the way that genes have evolved to make us smarter, more resilient. Think of it as lines in a book.” Albert lifts a volume from the table near him and opens to a page. “We cannot have two line ones in the same book. Weaving is line one, and Tailoring, or altering, is line two. They are different lines of the genetic code. Adelice possesses both genetic lines from her parents. They are separate and unique abilities, even though on a fundamental level their structure and composition are strikingly similar.”
“And because I have both I can capture the elements needed to ensure Arras is whole—”
“While being able to tie it off, altering its fundamental makeup in the most profound way,” Albert says, his words more an intonation to the universe than fact.
“Good,” I say, blinking. “I wouldn’t want this to be easy.”
“I know it is a lot to take in,” Albert says.
“Yes, and we’re on a timetable,” Dante butts in. “We’re going to have to sort out this tangled web elsewhere.”
Albert gives him a curious look. “You assume Lucas will betray you?”
“Remember how we said we fell in with Kincaid,” I say quietly. “We gave him the slip, but it won’t take him long to track us.”
“I see,” Albert says. “If you have the abilities you claim, you know it will be difficult for me to leave this island. I will need your assistance.”
I pause and stare at him, not understanding.
“You must see it,” he prompts. “Use your sight, Adelice.”
Everything around me fades to the b
ackground, softening into a weave. The room comes to life in a snarl of colors and light. The time threads are frozen into place. I stare harder at Albert, willing myself to see his composition. It’s still difficult for me and I slow my breath and let go until he shifts into strands of the universe—strands tied to the time of this room.
“That’s why you’re allowed to live here,” I say. “They’ve bound you to this moment. This house.” Albert couldn’t leave if he wanted to, not without help from someone who had the skill to disentangle him from the weave of the house’s place and time. He was frozen in a prison of space and time.
“Say what?” Jost asks.
“He’s been altered. They’ve wound Albert’s strands into the time and matter here.” I turn pleading eyes to Erik, knowing he can see it as clearly as I can, but he gives me the barest shake of his head. He won’t reveal his secret, and I feel the burning promise I made to him in my very flesh.
“So he’s a part of the house,” Erik says slowly, obviously playing dumb.
“More or less,” I confirm for the benefit of the others.
“Can you, I don’t know, extract him?” Erik asks.
“I think I can.”
“I was hoping for a bit more assurance,” Erik says.
“I can,” I say more confidently, “with Dante’s help.” I want Erik to volunteer, but he’s made it clear that he won’t admit his alteration skills to his brother.
Dante nods, surveying Albert and the objects in the room.
