Free The Dark Water by Seth Fishman

expressions.
    â€œLong have we known of the Topside, and our sisters and brothers who live there. It is an honor to see you, after all these years.”
    He seems to expect a response, but what do you say to that?
    â€œI am Randt,” he says, indicating himself and speaking slower, louder, as if our silence has made him distrust his English. “The water spoke of your arrival.”
    â€œThe water told you,” I repeat, dubious. “But I drank the water. It didn’t tell me about
you.
”
    He shakes his head, looking at Straoc in amusement. “You are right to think as you do, young Mia, but the source speaks only to the Three, we who the source has chosen.”
    â€œSo if you knew we were coming, and you knew our names,” Rob says, “why did your man Straoc here have to be all sneaky to get us away from those other guys?”
    Randt looks at Straoc questioningly.
    â€œLittle Rob tells true,” Straoc replies reluctantly. “Arcos’s men were there first. They came back after they took the other one.”
    â€œMy dad!” I burst out, unable to help myself.
    â€œDisappointing,” Randt says, looking at me thoughtfully. His pupils go wide. I feel strange, my skin tingling. Like he’s doing something more than staring. When he smiles, I can’t help but think it’s about something he’s learned from me, something I didn’t want to share. “You are the daughter of the Topsider who came this morning? I saw of him this morning and so did Arcos, but you three were not so clear. You were merely a haze, a
feeling.
Three, four shapes and words and newness coming. The water speaks in riddles as often as it speaks in color and I sent Straoc to the gates just in the case others came, but apparently so did Arcos. For such a hefty one, he moved quite fast to secure your father.”
    â€œAnd Feileen’s people approached us at the Exchange,” Straoc says. “They are becoming angry. They want a member of her clan to take her place at the Three.”
    â€œOf course they do,” Randt says. “They have been holding quorums in their towers, attempting to choose a successor from their clans. Though no Keeper comes to mind. There has never been a succession, and there are no rules or traditions to stand by, so they move with confusion.” He taps his cheek with a slender finger, thinking. “You see, young Topsiders, we three used to rule Capian quite effectively. Keeper Arcos, who took your father, he has long been the voice of balance, with Feileen on one side and me another. But Feileen is gone in such a tragic manner and the axis is tilted; how far will Arcos go to preserve that familiar order? Will he attempt to shift the dynamics after all these cycles? He wonders the same of me, which is why he moved so quickly to take your father. Having a Topsider as a pawn is important. He can play the judge, gather Feileen’s clan to his side and then, I’m sure, he will install a puppet on the Three that he can control. Capian will be his.”
    I’m tempted to ask about my father but Randt stands up and heads to the glass wall behind him. He’s even taller than I thought. Seven four, seven five, I don’t know. He’s a basketball giant. He’s not as big as Straoc, but his movement is so sinuous, so graceful that it’s way more intimidating.
    â€œCome with me,” he beckons, and then presses his palm against the glass, which swivels open along a near-invisible crack, creating an exit.
    Randt leads us out and the first thing I notice is that there’s no real change in air temperature; it’s like we’re in a bubble. There’s a railing, and room for twenty or thirty people. Above and behind us arcs the dome of this building, glistening in the gaslight. We’re in one of the tallest buildings in Capian, high enough that it’s surprising to find only darkness when I look