I beg of you, do not do this in this manner. I…” He hesitated when the desperation in his voice caused their energy to beat at him with curiosity. “I would not wish to reveal the future to my Companion in such a coldhearted manner.”
Julian could tell they did not understand. It was very likely that they wouldn’t, even with an explanation. The Ampliphi, like so many of his people, were quite disengaged from their emotions much of the time. Compassion chief among them.
“Julian, you are being oversensitive,” Ampliphi Sydelle scolded him.
“Too much time exposed to humans, no doubt,” Greison considered.
“No,” Julian retorted sharply. “I merely suggest that it would be cruel to force my Companion to so abruptly face the one who will replace her.”
“Ridiculous. Ariel knows she is not your kindra, and as such expects this day may be in her future. We assigned her to you. You never made a commitment, and even if you had, it would have been foolish of her to accept it at face value,” Kloe scoffed.
“Julian would never make a false promise,” Gisella defended him, making him recall why he had always been partial to her, even though she had not been the one to mentor him. Then she turned to him and reminded him of why the Ampliphi so irritated him at times. “Ariel is your servant. You are her master. She is to obey you in all things and accepts this as her place. You do her discredit to attribute nonsense to her sensibilities.”
“I beg your humble pardon, Ampliphi, but you don’t know a damn thing about Ariel. You haven’t been Companioned with her for sixteen years as I have. I doubt any of you have had more than cursory contact with her in all of this time. Ariel is…insecure. Possessive, you could say. She will not take this well.”
That was understating matters. Over the years, his long, continued absences when his Gatherer duties took him to Earth time and again had germinated small seeds of jealousy and loneliness into full-blown and often debilitating characteristics in Ariel. Characteristics he could have had her dismissed for a long time ago. Perhaps he should have done. Unlike his methodical compatriots, however, he had not had the heart to tip her over the edge by confirming her every doubt that she would never quite be enough for him. Since he was so rarely present in this realm anymore, it had not been much of an issue to leave her to do her work as always.
It would be now.
His days as a Gatherer were on hold for quite some time, if not permanently. Asia had seen to that in more ways than one.
“If this is the case, why did you not approach us with this? You ought to have shed the defective girl immediately. These types of distractions are the last thing our Gatherers need. We have rules and bounds for a reason, Julian.” Sydelle shifted in a rare show of irritation. “Companions are assigned to ease your cares and needs, not compound them. We will have her ejected from your living spaces immediately.”
“You will not.”
Few dared to countermand the Ampliphi, least of all in such a resounding and dire tone of voice. The chamber fell quite quiet, energy ebbing away from Julian now as his own surplus flared hard with his temper.
“You will allow me time to gently and thoughtfully prepare a longtime Companion for her transition to retirement. She will not serve me so long only to be dismissed in shame at the very end. She deserves better, for, despite her weaknesses, she has done her service well and thoroughly. It is not Ariel’s fault that her trainers did not see the flaws in her confidence that made her unsuitable for a role as Companion. She hid them well, even from her own awareness, I assure you. It was years before the cracks became large enough for me to see them. This transition will be done with respect and in private. I will not force her to keep composure in front of you all even as she helps to carry the end of life as she has known it into her own home. She will be rejected, evicted, retired, and obsolete in all of an instant. That instant should be between her and me alone.”
Julian did not wait to see if they agreed or disagreed with what amounted to a command. Despite his position and power, he risked much taking authority with the Ampliphi in such a manner. He doubted anyone else would have been allowed to get away with it.
He knelt again, this time in all steadiness, because so much balanced so precariously on his strength in that moment. He lifted Asia tight and close to his chest and rose smoothly to his feet. He exited the chambers in a few sharp strides.
“He was ever willful,” Sydelle mused.
“His unflagging confidence is what made him so ideal for the role of Gatherer,” Kloe said with no little amount of smug pride. She was the one who had insisted on his training, grooming him from the first day. She would not let them revise all her hard work at this late date.
“He should be checked for this,” Rennin grumbled. “It does not do for him to think he can get away with—”
“He will be more powerful than us all one day,” Christophe interrupted sharply and definitively, quelling the debate before it began. “If any of you doubted that, those doubts must end with the taking of his kindra. Without her, he would be formidable. With her, he will be nigh unstoppable. There are no limits to what he will accomplish.”
“He needs to win her first. Stealing her from her life will not make an easy way of it,” Rennin mused. “To be his match, her will must be equal to his own. They could just as easily destroy one another.”
“Do not look so eager for the prospect, Rennin,” Christophe warned. “You may fear your future if you must, but you ought to fear all our futures if something significant does not happen soon to interrupt the disaster we are rushing toward. Losing Julian will only make it happen all the quicker.”
“God forbid it,” Sydelle whispered with the dreadful respect their situation called for.
“God may yet grant your wish,” Christophe sighed. “But until then…”
He reached for the bell. He fed energy into the ring, sending out a distinctive frequency. Every being among them had their own toned signal. They knew it instinctively, felt the pull to answer the call of the Ampliphi whenever it was sounded. They were born with it, their auras resonating it. Only the six bells in the chamber could create the match. It could not be duplicated any other way.
Within a moment, the Ampliphi’s call was answered, a rush of energy displacement at the center of the chamber rolling off the newcomer in dark, overwhelming waves. It was so different from Julian’s righteous and bright abundance of energy. But then, Julian spent much time feeding from human energy.
This one was from the very bottom of the energy food chain.
Greison narrowed all of his energy on his Gatherer, studying him silently for a long space of time. The others waited patiently as he ordered his thoughts.
“We have a task for you,” he said, the gravelly resonance of his voice echoing throughout the Hall.
Julian entered his home quickly, closing the door against curious stares that rankled so easily. He didn’t even bother to locate Ariel, knowing she would be on him in just moments once she sensed his arrival. He swiftly made his way to the second level of the structure and carried Asia into the unoccupied room he maintained for visitors. He had no sooner set her down than the excited greeting burst along the walls.
“Julian! Julian!”
Ariel ran into the room as he turned to face her. She rocketed her soft, rounded little body up against him and hugged him until he was throttled by her strength and her excitement. Her hair hung damp against her back and wrists, telling him she had been bathing. Her robe, in fact, was damp, as if she’d leapt straight from the bath and donned it.
“You’re home! I wasn’t expecting you at all! No one warned me. I will ready your things as soon as I—”
“Come now and be easy.” He chuckled softly against her temple. “There is time for everything. Mostly there is time for you to take a breath.”
“Then