Looking For You
@flashfictionfridayofficial Back to emotional apprenticeships.
“He’ll come and find us. It’ll be okay.”
Sharra slid down further against the wall. “Can’t you do something? Break a hole through the wall or–”
“My powers aren’t that dramatic.” They were speaking in whispers. The man who had them hostage was in the front room of the store, keeping guard over the door to the back room where Dessi and Sharra sat. Dessi went on, “Nobody’s really are.”
Dessi rolled her eyes. “Well, his were. Which is why everybody knows about him. Wouldn’t’ve been such a big deal if everybody could do it.”
“Oh. Yeah.” After a moment of silence Sharra said, “So what good is it if he comes?”
Dessi’s eyebrows came down and she started to say, “What?”
“If he can’t do anything special, how’s he going to get us out?”
“You’ll see,” said Dessi, with a sneaky smile.
Sharra closed her eyes and set her teeth. “You don’t know, do you? You don’t know how he’s going to get us out. Or if.” Her voice cracked, rising above a whisper. They both turned quickly to glance at the door.
When they looked back at each other, Dessi had dropped the act. Her chin was straight and her eyes solemn. “I don’t know how but he’s going to get us out. You’ll see.”
Dessi was sitting with her head leaned back against the wall and her eyes closed– sleeping? meditating? doing something special with her power?– when a voice spoke loud enough to be heard from the door. Though it was loud, it was gentle. “All right. I’m here.”
Dessi let out a slow breath, and though she didn’t open her eyes, she was smiling.
“What do you want from me?”
Dessi opened her eyes and seemed surprised Sharra was looking at her. She touched a finger to her lips, as if Sharra had any reason to make noise.
“Yes, you knew the way to get my attention.” The voice was a little lower now, with a hint of amusement. “Why did you want it?”
Dessi had a little smile on her face that nicely matched the amusement in the man’s– Naeth’s– voice.
“Why do you think I wanted it?” said the man who was holding them hostage, and there was a quaver in his voice, a little hollowness.
“Well, you didn’t want money from me, I hope.” There was still gentle amusement in Naeth's voice. “Or you’ll be disappointed. I think the most likely answer would be that you wanted me to use my power to do something for you. You’ll be disappointed by that too, if you’re expecting me to be another Lorcen. Or maybe you want me to do something else for you? Bring attention to a cause, help someone?”
There was silence on the other side of the door.
“Is there someone you want help for?”
“You think I would do this to get help for someone?”
“For you to threaten my apprentice there must be something you need.” A breath’s-length pause. “You pointed out yourself that you knew you'd have my attention if I knew my apprentice might be hurt.”
Even without seeing them, it was clear who now had control of the situation on the other side of the door. “He’s good,” Sharra whispered.
“He is,” Dessi agreed. Then she seemed to really hear the words, and looked down at the floor, and said more to herself, “I don’t think he realizes it, but he is.”
“I wouldn’t have hurt her.” The man’s voice quavered even more. “I wouldn’t have hurt either of them.”
“You made a good show of being willing to.”
Sharra leaned forward, trying to figure out what was happening in the silence that followed.
“You’re looking at me,” the man said on a breath. “People listened to me, I got your attention, and you’re looking at me.”
Very close to the door, Naeth said, in a voice like a stern teacher, “There are better ways of getting people’s attention.”
The other man didn’t respond, but Sharra imagined him with his head down like a scolded student. When she looked at Dessi, Dessi was grinning.
"Better for everyone," Naeth continued in a lower voice, "including you." He raise his voice again and called through the door, "Dessi?"
"I'm here," Dessi called back. "We're both okay."
As soon as the door was open, Dessi ran to Naeth, who pulled her into a hug. Sharra could hear her saying, “I told her you’d come.”
Feeling a twisting in her chest, she looked away, at the man who was now standing surrounded by guards, also gazing at them. When her gaze brushed across his, he winced and said just loud enough for her to hear, “I’m sorry.” He started to say something else, but then swallowed it and said, “I can’t ask you to understand.”
Sharra thought she might, watching the protectiveness in Naeth’s eyes as he released his apprentice and looked at her. Looked at her, like no one ever really looked at Sharra, either.
