Path Of The Broken

28. The Same?

28

The Same?

In The Time Of The Sundered War

Edward sat on the windowsill, one foot dangling down towards the ground, his other leg propped up against the other side. He looked down into the courtyard below as his father's advisors droned on in the background. It was rare for him, as the fourth son of the king, to actually be involved in one of his father's meetings. Still, he guessed they would get to why he was asked to attend this meeting eventually.

If he had to guess, it was likely to be about the rumours spreading that those with access to the veil were going mad and killing people. The tales were wild, everything from single people to entire families to villages being slaughtered. The one thing in common between all of the recent deaths was that the acts had been committed by someone who bore the talent.

Forgetting himself, Edward chuckled as one of the young guardsmen below in the training ground fumbled his sword, dropping it to the ground. It was the trials today, the young men around the realm to try out for the guard, or even for selection to the Elite if they were good enough, though it was rare for anyone to progress straight to the Elite from such trials. It was clear that the young man who’d dropped his sword wouldn't even get into the guard. Edward hid a smile behind an upraised hand, as some of his father's advisors glanced at him, clearly irritated. Edward didn’t much care.

Aware of a silence that had grown in the room, he finally looked over to see that everyone was looking at him, including his father, who at least seemed amused, and his sister Jocelyn, who was biting her lip, looking suspiciously like she was trying not to laugh. Edward gathered he’d missed his cue.

"Sorry, I was watching the training session below. You finally need me for something?" Edward smiled, trying to put all the charm and sincerity that he could muster into his voice.

"We were talking about all these recent deaths, Ed." Jocelyn's voice didn't give away a hint of her amusement.

"Specifically, whether you, your friends, and guard could go out and investigate the claims?" While his father's request was phrased as a question, he had no doubt that there really wasn't a choice involved.

Edward looked away out the window, although this time to the forest he could see beyond the palace walls, thinking of the rumours. He also wondered whether this was the time to admit that he could hear the mad ones. Their screams rang out, day and night; there was little sense he could make from them other than pain, and rage, like an animal that had been provoked and driven into a frenzy. He doubted that either he or his friends could help them.

"We will, of course, go to investigate, Father. I think you need to consult with the healers, though." Edward kept his gaze out the window but knew all at the table would be trading glances.

"I have talked to our Master Healer. He told me there wasn't much that he knew or that he could do. Unless you had more information for me…?" His father's voice was calm, but Ed could hear the firmness and the surety. His father, as always, knew he was hiding something.

Ed closed his eyes, letting his head sink into his hand, his fingers absently massaging his temple.

"I can hear them, Father."

The silence in the room was deafening, the only noise coming from the clash of blades down in the practice ring below.

Edward heard the wooden scrape of a chair being pushed back, the rustle of skirts and the clip of court shoes, telling him without having to look that it was Jocelyn who was coming to his side. He didn't look even when a hand was placed on his shoulder.

"Are you all right, Edward?" Jocelyn's voice was soft, a hint of concern escaping her usual blandness.

Edward couldn't help it; he flung his head back and laughed. He turned his head to look at her, only seeing the concern in her features.

"Yes, Jocelyn, I'm fine. We all are. But you need to understand what you're asking us to do." Edward kept his gaze on her, the coolness of the stone wall soothing to the skin. He was aware that the rest of the board members were almost holding their breath, listening avidly to their exchange.

"So explain it to us, Ed. You know none of us has enough of the talent to understand this."

"They scream. It's like a never-ending wail of confusion, pain, rage. They just want the pain to stop, so they kill those around them. Sometimes they come back to themselves, and they discover themselves covered in blood. They’re horrified, sister. They have no understanding of what they've done except that they must've killed their family and friends. They must've slaughtered those that were closest to them. Then the cycle begins again—the shock, the wailing, confusion, pain, rage." Edward shook his head, still ignoring all the other advisors, noting absently that none of them had moved. "We've been blocking them out; it's the only way to keep our own sanity."

Ed turned away from his sister’s concerned gaze to stare at the distant trees. Taking a deep, steady breath, he opened his barriers just enough, and he could hear them: crazy ones crying out in pain, in confusion, begging for what they’d done to not be true. Edward winced, slamming his barriers back in place. Rubbing his temple once more, he chuckled. It had been a while since he’d tested. Still, at least he knew that he could track them down. It didn't seem like the mad ones, the broken ones, were trying to hide their presence at all. That would have taken some intelligence behind the madness. Ed pulled his attention back as he heard his father's voice.

“Is it different from what you went through with your own transition?”

One of his father’s councillors leaned forward to stare at him intently, waiting on the reply.

“Yes... no…” Edward shook his head, trying to think. “You don’t understand, it’s different for everyone. More power charges into you, your shields falter, opening you to other thoughts not your own, you know nothing but pain and the increased power can cause you to black out.”

“You think it is normal?” Jocelyn frowned, clearly trying to understand what he was having trouble explaining.

“It could be. I can see how it could drive some mad.”

“Mad enough to kill their entire family?”

“I didn’t suffer from it, but I’ve heard transition can cause blackouts and in that state some have been known to kill. Although it is usually when someone makes the mistake of confronting the person in that state. Sometimes the power can explode out of control, destroying everything. There really are not many of us at this power level, not like the healers. We call some of our own the Broken. Some recover eventually, some do not, transition is enough to break their minds” Edward looked away from the intent stares of the entire council and returned his gaze to the window.

"If it's too much for you, Ed, for all of you, if it's too dangerous, then you shouldn't go. We will think of something else." The king looked around at his advisors, receiving nods all around. He was about to launch into a strategy when Edward interrupted them.

"No, Father. My friends and I will go, and most of our guard. It's too dangerous for you or any of the others to go after them. They kill not just with their own hands, not just with weapons; they kill using their talent as well. No one else that you send will be capable of standing against them." Ed put his hand on the windowsill and jumped to the floor in one smooth motion. "I will leave half my guard with you, otherwise you will be unprotected should any here at the palace and surrounds who bear the power of the veil suddenly go mad." Ed strode towards the door, pausing just before walking out. "With your permission, Father, I need to do some planning with my men. We shall leave in the morning." Seeing his father's nod, and a look from his sister that said they would be speaking later, Ed turned and walked out the doors that were hastily opened by the servants.