Page 102 of All That Has Flown Beyond
“Can’t you just tell me what you want from me?” He needed to know if the Garrows were in danger. If they had been… “I’m tied to a chair. I’m at your mercy. I just want to know what’s going on,” Kaiyo went on softly.
Finn paused. After a moment, he raised his eyes to look at Kaiyo.
“It’s not personal, Shaman Amanati. There are people who seek your power. We’re just giving it to them,” he said eventually.
That’s not personal?Kaiyo thought angrily. “So, you’re, what? Selling me?” Kaiyo asked.
Finn shrugged, grabbing the tray and getting up.
“Wait. The pack. The Garrows. Are they…”
“We have no business with the Garrow pack,” Finn said before leaving.
Kaiyo closed his eyes, the relief almost crippling. Finn had no reason to lie. He hoped.
*********
Days passed. Apart from Josephine’s singular appearance, Finn was his only visitor.
“I’m going to die if you leave me here much longer,” Kaiyo told him.
“We’re feeding you,” Finn replied.
“You don’t understand. I was bonded against my will to the Garrow’s land. There will be nothing left of me to sell.” Kaiyo could feel the sickening effect of the land’s pull on his Ousía, even if he couldn’t reach it.
Finn looked at him carefully. “We’ll figure something out.”
“You can’t! Finn. Listen to me. I’m going to die. And, before that, I’ll be left powerless. You can’t just break this without damaging me completely. Whoever you’re selling me to isn’t going to be happy. You need to return me, at least until spring ends. The bond will break by itself, then.”
Finn got up, tray in hand. “We’ll figure something out,” he said again and disappeared.
*****
By the feel of whatever was blocking his Ousía and Finn’s behaviour, Kaiyo figured out that whatever was enchanting him depended on a spell tied to a physical space. A containment circle around the room he was in, probably, or they would let him out to at least pee.
Kaiyo could barely think beyond the ache of his body, the ache in his draining soul.
He was going to die there.
He was going to die.
**********
“Just one hand. Please. The position—I can’t hold it anymore,” Kaiyo pleaded.
“I can’t.” Finn shook his head.
“Please. You have the power to stop me if I try anything. Just for a minute. Please.”
Finn looked at him. His eyes didn’t give anything away, but he had been Kaiyo’s only regular visitor for the length of his stay. However long that had been. He had fed him, helped him pee, collected his shit from a bowl under his chair. The seat had a hole in it apparently.
Lucky Kaiyo.
“You try anything…”
“I won’t.”
Finn hesitated for a moment longer before leaving. Kaiyo watched helplessly but almost sobbed in relief when Finn came back with a knife and a fresh set of ropes.
