Fortunately, none of the officers found out about my powers. Unfortunately, Wolfgang Faust did. I don't mind helping people, but the way in which my help was enlisted I did mind. First, that same girl showed up and tried to abduct me. Luckily Ara showed up. I hated to get her involved, but I certainly couldn't have fought that girl off. In any case, it doesn't matter, because they still kidnapped me.
I guess it wasn't so bad, really. They treated me well enough. I just helped him and then he sent me back. He even promised not to tell anyone. No, it wasn't so bad looking back. But I don't like being dragged into situations against my will. Plus, things just continued to go downhilll from there. People just kept getting hurt and things were completely chaotic.
It was after that that I first realized my secret was even less of a secret than I had thought. After Alistair was taken out of power, Lt. Devereaux approached me. I was out in the garden, just minding my own business, when he walked up behind me.
"MacKenzie," he said softly. It was probably about as gentle as I'd ever heard him sound, but it still startled me. I jumped as I turned around. He nodded as I watched him carefully. "How are you?"
"Fine." I said, after a few seconds' hesitation.
He nodded again. "You're doing well in class."
"Yeah." Another awkward silence passed. He was not the kind to make small talk, I was sure, and his attempt at it was making me ill at ease.
"You don't seem to be doing quite so well in some of your other classes. The training."
I glanced away and shifted from foot to foot. "Well, I try."
"You might try harder." I glanced up suddenly at this unexpected turn. "And you might consider working on some of your other . . . skills."
I stepped back and picked my brain for safe responses. "I . . . I don't nkow what you mean . . . "
He raised an eyebrow and looked me in the eye. "Alethea, you do know. Why are you keeping it a secret?" I'm sure I paled considerably and I turned away, but he stepped in front of me. "I'm not trying to threaten you. Just hear me out. Why are you hiding what you can do?" I didn't answer and he went on. "What can you do, anyway?"
"You're awfully nosy," I threw out defensively.
He inspected me for a moment. "You know what I can do, don't you?" I nodded. "So what is it?"
'Oh no. He's going to hate this,' I thought, then replied shyly, "You . . . make things grow."
He sent me a faint, wry smile. "Yes. Sometimes." I looked at him quizzically and he pointed to a weed. "I could also kill them if I wanted to."
I watched him in surprised, expecting him to follow through, though he never did. "You can?"
He nodded. "Yes. They've even had me do that sort of thing before. Entire fields."
I let the information process. "The crop failures in Alchaven . . . that was you?"
He nodded again. "Yes. Do you know what that was like?" I shook my head. "I hated it. As stupid as growing things may sound, that at least feels right. I don't like making them die."
I nodded and glanced at the weed again. "Have you ever had to hurt anyone?" he asked.
"No," I replied softly.
"Then I hope you never have to."
I let a few seconds of silence pass, wondering where he was going with all of this. " . . . Lt.?" I asked, when it didn't seem he was going to volunteer any more information.
He watched me for a while longer, not saying anything. "I'd like to help you develop those powers of yours."
"I don't-"
"No strings attached," he cut in. "I won't tell anyone. It can just be between you and me. But it's a waste, not using them or even trying to learn. You have them for a reason."
I hesitated and glanced away. "Do you promise you won't tell?"
"I promise. Word of honor."
I glanced at him nervously and gave a small nod. "Okay."
"Good." He smiled and patted my shoulder. "Meet me here tomorrow after dinner." I nodded again and he walked away.
Things didn't calm down after that, but at least I was somewhat more qualified to handle them. Gavin trained with me about twice a week and helped me with my magic. For the first time I had someone to give me tips and explain things to me. Like the more I used it, the more I'd be able to.
"Right now you just know how to heal symptoms, I think," he told me one day. "That's because you're just flying by the seat of your pants. You know how to heal obvious things, like cuts and open wounds, because you don't have to think about them, you just do it. But something like a chronic disease or a sickness, on the other hand, you've got no idea how to heal that. Healing the symptoms may not solve all problems. You need to know what to target."
I stared at him blankly for a while. "Don't you just-?"
"No." He frowned. "You don't just do anything. You have to think it through. Let's say I've got a cold. You try to heal my cough or my running nose, but the problem is still there because the virus is still there. It wouldn't do much good, would it?"
"Oh. No." I took a breath. "I would have to get rid of the virus."
He gave a slight shrug. "You have to know what you're dong."
I suppose he was right about learning about my magic, and he was a good teacher. Before long, something came up again when Ara and Rachel were hurt. Gavin had someone get me and I could actually do a decent job of helping them . . . and I think he helped me with that in the short time he had been working with me.
It wasn't long after that that Ara and I both faced problems though. Wellington tookit upon itself to enforce stricter standards for academics and training. Gavin certainly heard a bit of discontented mumbling from me during one of our magic training sessions. He didn't put up with it though.
"Lt. Aldridge is right," he said. "You're going to be in the military and you better learn how to fight." As if that wasn't enough, he went on. "What if you don't and you get into a situation where you're in extreme danger? If you don't have a way to fight back, you'll fall back on your powers instinctively. Without even meaning to. It's a lot easier to destroy than it is to mend. Is that what you want to happen?"
I shook my head and looked away, thoroughly put in my place. "No. . . but I'm no good at it."
"Then get help," he said. I could see that I would get no sympathy from him. "Your roommate, Ara, is good. See if she'll help you. I can help you too. Either way, you need to learn."
So I took his advice, and Ara agreed to help me train while I agreed to help her study. I still feel bad that she had to help a hopeless case like me train, but I didn't know who else to ask.
To be continued . . .