Knights v Hunters: The Choice

A few days after Eden had departed the Hunter compound and when her family had finally settled down, Ava took a moment to reflect on what had happened since the arrival of the young Knight into their world.

Her sons had both been affected by their interaction with Eden. Caleb had seen Knights before, but he had never engaged with them and Rafe, well, her oldest son was affected because he remembered Eden from before. Ever since he was little, Ava had known that Rafe remembered everything – whatever he saw, heard, touched, smelt and felt. She shouldn’t be surprised then that he remembered Eden, but sometimes her son’s abilities still managed to shock her. In the past few days, both Rafe and Caleb were out training with the other young Hunters, but each time she saw Rafe, he seemed a bit distracted, a bit disconnected. She knew that if he even understood half of the powers he possessed, he would be overwhelmed, which is why, when she saw him last night looking lost, she had to curb her protective instincts. The training that Jude was facilitating for the young Hunters would help him to focus and maybe pay more attention to the clues his mind was providing him.

Rafe shared a sandwich with Ella during a break in training. Ella, the Healer in training, as his mother referred to her, was like a little sister to him. He remembered the day she was born - it had been raining for days, with barely a sliver of sunlight in between. And yet, the minute she came into this world, the rain eased up and a beautiful rainbow painted the sky. His mother had delivered her and he had been on hand to help where he could, so when Ella appeared, barely three pounds in weight, her mother, Maya, had cried in despair, convinced that her too tiny bundle of joy would not survive. A young Rafe had simply looked at the tiny girl in Ava’s arms and pronounced, “No, she will be fine Aunt Maya. She will grow up to be strong and powerful.” There had been silence in the room then, but in that moment, a bond had formed between Rafe and Ella that only grew stronger with time. Now, Ella spent most of her spare time in his parents’ home, helping his mother at every opportunity.

Ella, now fifteen, loved Rafe like a brother. He had been her protector since she had been born and had helped shield her from the taunting that accompanied her throughout her early years, when she had been the runt of every class at school. Even now, she was small for her age, but she was strong and the other young Hunters considered her an equal. She had excellent tracking abilities and had been instrumental in helping Rafe and Jude on a few of their missions. She wished she could take the lead on a mission but Rafe felt that she wasn’t yet ready and she trusted him. Her father, Ethan, also had the utmost trust in Rafe and Jude and would never go against their word. As she spoke to Rafe, Ella could see her older sister Becca trying to gain the attention of Caleb. A half smile lit her face as she wondered what Rafe would think if he knew that Becca had very un-sisterly feelings towards Caleb!

“Okay, break over, Hunters. Formation please,” Jude called out. He had been training the young Hunters for years and knew that discipline was key to their survival. Within a minute, the Hunters had formed two opposing lines, ready for hand-to-hand combat. They did not match in physical size or gender, but that did not matter, because either did not determine prowess. Becca and Caleb were paired up, which was interesting as they were the fastest amongst the young Hunters. The hand-to-hand combat continued for two hours until both Ethan and Jude agreed that it was enough. With sweat pouring down their determined faces, the young Hunters marched on home, ready for another gruelling day starting at 6am sharp. The Hunters were disciplined and operated in unison and being late was not part of their make-up.

Ethan and Jude were the last to leave, ensuring that the training camp was ready for the next day’s activities, which would include honing in on the mental strengths of many of the young Hunters. Both the men, friends since their youth, recalled their own training experiences which were run then by Jude’s father and Ethan’s uncle. Now, their former torturers rejoiced in the knowledge that their trainees were inflicting the same rules and experiences on the new breed of Hunters.

As Rafe, Ella, Becca and Caleb walked home together, Becca tried to gain Caleb’s attention once more.

“So, that was close,” she mentioned of their hand-to-hand combat. At the end of the session, they were both still standing, unlike some of the other pairings.

“Yup, you’re remarkably strong for a girl you know.” Caleb said, and Rafe who had overheard him, groaned.

The expression on Becca’s face was priceless. She looked like she wanted to deck Caleb. Both Rafe and Ella walked ahead, not wanting to engage in the verbal combat.

“Really? Do you think that girls are not strong enough?” Becca asked.

“Whoa, that’s not what I meant, Bec. I’m used to girls who are more, you know, feminine,” Caleb, continued, unaware of the anger starting to creep into Becca, “but you were great today. Right now though, I need a long shower to get ready for my date with Rachel.”

“You’re an ass, Caleb,” Becca spat out and literally ran away. She was much faster than Caleb, so he couldn’t catch up with her to find out what was going on. Women, he thought, as he mounted the stairs to his family’s home. Can’t live with them, but I sure love them!

The next day at the training camp, Caleb could swear that Becca was avoiding him. Apart from a terse greeting in the morning, she seemed to stay far away from him, even ensuring that there was little chance of them pairing off for any of the training events. Although he initially found it amusing, he became concerned by midday when she sat and ate her lunch with Ella and a few of the young Hunters who lived in the same street as her and she barely glanced at him. He had known her his entire life and their parents were the best of friends, so this behaviour seemed more than odd.

After lunch Jude and Ethan paired off the trainees to determine whether any of them had natural reading abilities. Jude knew that his boys were great in this area; they had been doing that since they were little, much to Ava’s delight. He also knew that Rafe could read the minds of Normals, and recently, a Knight in the form of Eden, but he and Ethan wanted to train their young charges to not only read, but to use that skill to communicate, which would be invaluable during their missions. Both Ethan and Jude’s parents were Readers as well and had also determined that this was a skill that could be acquired with intense training.

It was a frustrating afternoon for the trainees, but a fruitful one for their mentors, for Jude and Ethan were able to sift out the Readers in their pack. There were only a handful of the forty young Hunters who had any potential and they would undergo separate training over the coming weeks. Rafe, Caleb and Becca were amongst this small group and as much as he tried though, Caleb could not read Becca’s mind. That might have been useful today, he thought, as he and Rafe proceeded home.

As he showered and dressed for dinner with his parents Rafe meanwhile, was wondering about the strength of his abilities. I think I’ll try them later tonight, he thought, as for the first time in days his focus returned. If his parents noticed at dinnertime that Rafe was more animated and jovial than he had been all week, they said nothing. But a few times, Caleb frowned across the table when Rafe mentioned something that was so un-Rafe like.

Later that same night Eden decided to turn in, whilst her brothers and sister continued to play and fight over Monopoly downstairs. Their parents were away on a mission and Eden, who was now almost completely healed, allowed herself to stay up later than usual to battle with her siblings in a game that they had played for years and which she had never won. Kyra and Josh were brilliant at it and were usually the two players left standing, whilst Matthew dabbled with the odd victory. Eden had left them squabbling as she lost her final assets and gracefully withdrew from the game.

After a quick shower, she slipped into bed, her mind once again drifting to the Hunters, well, one in particular and wondering what he would be doing this evening. She had heard them talking about a training camp while she was there. Maybe Rafe and his entire family were away. No point in thinking about them Eden, she chastised, it’s not like you will get to see them again.

“Eden, Eden, can you hear me?” Eden almost screamed in horror when she heard someone calling her. What the hell! Did she dream that? She quickly scanned the darkened bedroom. There was no one there, no secret shadows. Where did that voice come from? She hadn’t bothered with charging her cell phone since she’d come back so it definitely wasn’t her phone.

“Eden?” This time the voice was gentler and more distinct and for an instant, she thought that it sounded like Rafe! “If you can hear me, don’t be scared.”

“Rafe?” Eden whispered and thought at the same time.

“Yes, yes, it’s me! I can’t believe you can actually hear me!” Rafe exclaimed.

“Where are you?” Eden asked, almost scared for him if he had ventured into Knight territory, for the Guardians would have spotted him and been in hot pursuit already.

“At home, actually.”

“What? Why can I hear your voice then? Eden asked, sitting up.

“I’m talking to you telepathically,” he announced, sounding as incredulous as she felt.

Rafe felt Eden’s disbelief.

“In fact, you don’t even need to talk out loud. Just think what you want to say and I can hear it.”

“I’m going crazy!”

“No, you’re not,” Rafe laughed, attempting to reassure Eden. “You already have the skills of a Reader, this is just the next step.”

“But I couldn’t read your mind the other day, Rafe,” Eden reminded him.

“I know. You still can’t. Knights can’t read Hunters, but I can read you! I’m learning to hone my skills,” he said proudly. “You’re not really reading me of course, just listening to me and I can only communicate with you this way because we’ve already met.”

“I can hear you. Wow, I didn’t even know that was possible!”

“Well, the main reason I wanted to talk to you apart from finding out if I had distance control, was to see how you were doing,” Rafe continued.

“I’ve healed really well. I should be able to go out on missions in a few days,” she said. I’m actually talking to Rafe!

Rafe smiled as he read her thoughts, but sobered up when remembering her earlier words. “Don’t go out on missions alone, okay? It’s not safe,” he warned.

“Is it because I’m a woman that you’re saying that?” Eden asked, almost combative.

“No, I’m saying that because even the Hunters don’t hunt alone. My father always pairs the Hunters up. We can’t afford to lose a single Hunter and the Normals are more armed nowadays, more dangerous to handle unprepared.”

Eden couldn’t argue with that. In fact, she had overheard a similar conversation the other day between her parents and her brothers. Her father had expressed the view that they had to be prepared to fight on two fronts going forward, the Council and the condemned Normals. He had also expressly requested Josh and Matthew to ensure that their sisters were always accompanied on missions, stating his regret that he had to learn this lesson in a painful way.

“So, what became of the Knight who didn’t strip Harry Tyler of his abilities? Did your father banish him?” Rafe asked, keen to know what had transpired in Knight town after Eden’s return.

Eden wasn’t sure if she should share Knight business with the enemy, but was Rafe really the enemy? “Well, there’s some stuff my father has to do first before he can confront the Knight in question,” Eden answered. Well, at least it’s the truth, she thought. Rafe read the hesitancy in her thoughts, knowing that although she wasn’t lying, she wasn’t telling him the whole truth either. He ignored his slight irritation, knowing that he would have done the same in her place.

“Okay, well I hope you recover fully, Eden. I almost hope to run into you on a mission,” he concluded. He was reluctant to tune out, but he wanted to build Eden’s trust in him before they engaged in lengthy conversations; that is if she wanted to talk to him again.

“Thanks Rafe. I enjoyed chatting to you. Maybe we can do this again sometime?” she asked expectantly.

Rafe could read her thoughts in that moment and he smiled. So, she did want to speak to him again. His feelings weren’t just one sided then!

“Of course. I’m away tomorrow during the day, so I’ll try again at night. Goodnight Eden, sleep tight,” Rafe said.

“Goodnight Rafe,” Eden said. She could almost feel him tune out and disconnect as a sudden chill crept up her body. She envied Rafe’s ability, whilst amazed at her own ability to communicate with him. What other abilities did he have, she wondered. Her brothers were both equally skilled in tracking and Matthew was a Sensor as well as a Cleaner. In his role as a Cleaner, Matthew would occasionally be required to erase the memories and abilities of the Untouchables and those Knights who chose to become Normals. Kyra, her older sister by two years, was also a Tracker and an exceptional one at that. Like their mother, Kyra seemed to have been born with that skill and was one of the most skilled amongst the Knights. Apart from being a Reader, Eden could only claim her strength and speed as her other skills, although she wasn’t fast enough to evade Harry Tyler all those days ago!

Ah, well, seems as if I’m the odd one out, Eden thought as she drifted into sleep.

Hours later, when their house had settled down for the night, Gabe and Grace walked in tired, but satisfied that the mission had gone off without a hitch. Gabe enjoyed working with his wife, for there was no one he trusted more or was more attuned to. Grace could hold her own and there were times over the years where she had prevented great harm from befalling him.

On this mission, Gabe had double-checked the information received to ensure that they didn’t have another Harry Tyler situation on hand again. The condemned Normal they saved tonight had been accused of beating her husband to death while he slept. She had refused to speak to the police, even with her lawyer present and the evidence against her was strong. What the police didn’t want to admit they knew, was that Rose Greig had been a battered wife for seven years, during which period she had miscarried three times due to her beatings and that despite all her cries for help, the police had done nothing to help her, because her husband was a fellow cop. Sitting in that jail cell, she felt that she had done the right thing by not talking, that her life was meaningless anyway and she would probably spend what time she had left, locked away.

What Gabe and Grace had found in that cell, was a broken woman, her soul shattered by years of abuse, her spirit levelled by punches to the centre. It had taken them hours to convince her firstly that they had been sent to save her and secondly that she was worth saving. When eventually she was absolved of her crime, she was overwhelmed when she witnessed the life she was meant to have, the life she still could have if she believed. For Grace, that had been one of her most gratifying missions in years and she knew that Rose Greig would start her new life soon, somewhere far away. It had taken some time, but eventually Grace and Gabe had succeeded in untangling Rose from the crime which she had committed. Her involvement in her husband’s death would be ruled self-defence; the district attorney had already signed the papers to drop the charges against her. The absence of any Hunters around Rose was also telling, for it meant that the Hunters hadn’t viewed her as a further threat to the Normals either.

Gabe sat down thoughtfully for a moment as Grace prepared tea for them. He knew that his daughters were asleep in their rooms and that his sons were now in their own small home down the road. All the other Knights were also in their homes, where they should be, he thought. He thought of the other day when Eden had gone missing. He had known where she was until the moment she had entered the police station. He couldn’t track a Knight if they were with a Hunter or if their life force was no longer there, and when he had lost track of Eden, he had prayed that she was indeed with a Hunter. Thankfully, that had been the case and she had been returned to them almost healed.

Gabe’s tracking system of the Knights, as Grace called it, was always accurate. However, he only used it when necessary, when the other Knights were on missions and when they were little, to find his busy children. He rarely used it otherwise and Grace had forbid him to use it to track their children unless the children were on a mission. Most of the time, he complied, but there were instances, like tonight, when he needed to know where they were, and if they were safe. Safety within the town in which the Knights lived, was paramount. The Guardians at the gate, with their physical strength and their tracking and sensory abilities, kept the town safe, making it almost impenetrable. And closed off to Normals and Hunters alike, thought Gabe.

After a cup of tea, Gabe and Grace retired for the evening, but they couldn’t fall off to sleep, the happenings of the night weighing heavily on them both.

“Did I tell you today how much I love you, Gabriel?” Grace whispered.

“No, but you may have hinted that you did!” Gabe teased.

“Well, let me tell you my sweet Gabe, that the day you asked me to marry you is still the best day of my life, because I knew then, as I know now, that I could never have found a better man.”

Gabe smiled under the cover of darkness. His wife didn’t know that he had spent days working himself up to ask her out that first time. He had been so sure that she would have said “no” and gone out with the more dashing and charming Noah. “Well, that was the best decision I have ever made,” he eventually said. “I knew when I met you that I would never love anyone more, trust anyone more, or even want to protect anyone as much as I did you.”

Grace sighed. This man still made her weak at the knees after all their years together. She knew that her best friend also felt the same way about her own marriage, so they had plenty to talk about when they met. The women both wanted this for their own children.

“Grace, tomorrow we need to sit down with our children and discuss how we will take this issue of Seth’s possible betrayal further. Seth and the Council had to have known about Harry Tyler when they handed out the mission. They handed us Knight intelligence confirming that Harry Tyler was wrongfully accused and needed our assistance. I find it very curious that they haven’t enquired how the mission turned out, especially if Seth knew that his son still had his powers and that he could hurt us.”

“I was thinking about that as well. Gabe, I would hate to think that the entire Council was involved in this duplicity. We would then have to question every mission we have undertaken in the past twenty years.”

“I know. It’s not something you want to believe. However, after what happened to our daughter, I can’t take anything for granted. I was the one who banished Lucas, with the blessing of the Council. I don’t want him to think that he can go after my children or other Knights because his son was deemed an Untouchable!”

It was almost as if Seth had heard their conversation the previous night, Gabe thought. At breakfast, Gabe was surprised to find a smiling Seth at their kitchen door.

“Hello, Gabe. Hope I’m not disturbing you. I know that you and Grace are early birds like me,” Seth said as he walked into the kitchen. Grace was indeed preparing breakfast at that moment and Gabe hoped that his wife would keep a neutral expression, for Grace had a face that spoke a thousand words without actually saying anything.

“Morning, Seth. So nice of you to drop by,” Grace said with a smile on her face as she went to drop a kiss on the old man’s weathered face. Seth was approaching his seventy-fifth year, but still looked decades younger. His hair was a darker blonde, now lightly dusted with grey, his eyes a light green, still with a twinkle after all these years. Seth and his wife Dina were two of the oldest and most respected Knights in the town and had served the Knights admirably in the past. Even when their son Lucas had brought such disgrace upon the family, the Knights’ respect for them had not waivered. That would all change if they had had anything to do with breaking the rules related to an Untouchable, even if that Untouchable had been their son.

“Would you like some coffee, Seth?” Gabe enquired out of courtesy.

“That would be good. Dina doesn’t allow me any now. Something about peeing out my bones!” he complained.

Laughing, Grace poured Seth a cup of coffee and added a few of the biscuits that Kyra had baked and which she knew Seth loved. Gabe patiently waited for Seth to make the first move.

“I haven’t seen both you and Grace in a week Gabe, so I invited myself over to see how you were doing. How are the children? I’ve seen the boys around of course, but I haven’t run into Kyra or Eden.” Gabe inwardly cringed listening to Seth. He needed to respond very calmly.

“We’re well as you can see. Just been a bit busy. The children have been out on missions, but they are fine,” Gabe answered non-committedly. All his children were out on an early morning run before breakfast. Eden needed to improve her strength and the boys wanted to get in some exercise before their planned meeting later in the day.

Seth smiled. “They are all grown up now, even Eden. And soon she’ll have to make the Choice. She’s different from your other children, Gabe. Any idea which way she will go?”

“The Choice is up to her as you know,” Gabe said. “Grace and I won’t interfere. She knows what she will lose if she decides to live amongst the Normals.”

“Well, it’s good of you not to interfere, but she will need some direction, Gabe. The world of the Normals is very different to when we were growing up. Their morals as a society leave much to be desired. It is a pity that Lucas has to grow old there, but I wouldn’t want that for Eden,” he said. Grace tried to keep a straight face.

“Do you keep track of Lucas, Seth? Via the Normals, I mean” Gabe innocently asked.

“I did, in the early years. Dina became too sad when she heard about him so I stopped, because I didn’t want to keep anything from her.” He looked sad as he said that and for Grace, a sliver of doubt crept in.

“Well, hopefully Eden makes the Choice that most makes her happy,” Gabe said. I know she’ll choose us, Gabe thought.

“Ah well, the young will make their own paths in life, despite what we want for them,” Seth said. “You and Grace have built a great family Gabe, something of which you can be proud. The new leaders of the Knights are amongst them alright.”

Gabe heard no malice in the old man’s voice. Long after they bid Seth farewell, Gabe and Grace sat discussing what had just happened. Where they wrong about Seth and his part in breaking the rules of the Knights? Nothing he had said had given the slightest indication that he had known about Lucas. He had spoken openly and with the hurt of a father who had felt that he had failed his son. Or maybe, he had become so accustomed to deception, that he could play the role of grieving father, caring elder, with comfort?

They were still pondering this when the children came back from their run, all sweaty and ravenous.

“Shower first please,” Grace ordered as she heard them mutter in unison. The boys promised to be back in ten minutes for pancakes whilst she elicited no such promises from her girls. Lo and behold, exactly ten minutes later the boys were back, wet hair curling at the ends, looking as handsome as their father, Grace thought. They were already eating their second round of pancakes when the girls came into the kitchen, neatly coiffed and better smelling.

Both Gabe and Grace shared their thoughts and the events of the morning and questioned whether they were right about Seth.

“If not Seth, then who?” Josh asked. “Who would have the authority to ensure that Lucas left Knight town with his memories and abilities intact?”

“Exactly,” Matthew noted. “Seth had the most interest in ensuring that Lucas thrived amongst the Normals. There is no redemption for the Untouchable, so he knew that Lucas would never be allowed to come back. He probably left him with his abilities to improve his chances of survival.”

“Yes, but Seth is one of the Elders of the Knights. He understood and accepted Lucas’ banishment and respected that decision. I remember that he excused himself from the Council then, so that the Council’s decision could be unbiased. Lucas’s crime was not trivial; his actions on a mission led to the deaths of two innocent Normals, those we are exist to protect, thus threatening the existence and purpose of the Knights. He would not take responsibility for his actions and the deaths of those Normals resulted in a high profile police investigation. Seth would not have done anything to jeopardise our existence further,” Gabe argued.

“That sounds like a reasonable argument, but at the time of Lucas’ banishment from the town, there were only two Cleaners available at home, Seth and Noah. Noah has been unsuccessfully trying to get Seth to support him to wrest leadership of the Knights away from you, Gabe,” Grace reasoned. “If Noah had failed to execute his duties as a Cleaner as a favour to Seth twenty years ago, he would be the leader of the Knights today. We both know that Seth is extremely influential.”

“True,” Gabe agreed. “Seth could just be in on this alone. We need to get a list of the Untouchables and former Knights from the last two decades and then very discretely enquire about them. Some of our Normal friends should be able to help.”

They left the breakfast table, each with an idea of what needed to be done. Gabe would obtain the list and then each of his children would start conducting enquiries amongst the Normals. Generally they moved with ease amongst the Normals, not standing out, but rarely blending in. This time they had to ensure that they blended in during their missions so that if tracked by any other Knight, they could provide a reasonable explanation for being where they were. In a week’s time, Gabe hoped that they could relieve themselves of their suspicion.

Later that same night, Eden, troubled by the events of the past few days and even more so by the thought that something untoward was happening amongst the Knights, went for a walk along the boundary walls of their town, well within the protection of the Guardians. Gabe joined her and they walked together in silence for a while. Gabe could sense that something else was troubling his youngest; she had been a bit off since she had come back from the Hunter compound.

Eventually, Gabe broke the silence. “You seemed fine after your run this morning. No aches and pains?”

“What? Oh no. I think I am completely healed.”

“What’s on your mind, my child?” Gabe asked.

“This thing with Harry Tyler has got me thinking about us, as Knights and our purpose in life. Father, why do we wait for the Normals to fail before we offer them a new path in life? Why can’t we prevent the actions which led to them being condemned in the first place?” As he pondered over that, Gabe’s mind quickly went to his sister, who had passed on almost twenty-one years ago. Delia used to ask similar questions at Eden’s age, frustrated that their role as Knights was almost passive in nature when compared to the Hunters.

“We don’t interfere in free will. That is our law. Sometimes Normals, and Knights, veer off the path that is their destiny, the paths that have been chosen for them. Our offer of salvation helps them to find their way out of the temporary darkness that has overcome them, back to the path they are meant to be on. That is our role, to offer them hope and most importantly a second chance. We save them when they are worth saving and only if they are of no future harm to other Normals.”

“You believe strongly in second chances, Father?” Eden stopped and asked.

“Yes, I do,” Gabe answered.

“Would you give a second chance to an Untouchable” Eden asked.

“It’s complicated.”

“Why? I don’t understand.”

“Because we have higher expectations of Knights, higher value systems, different rules. Besides, the Untouchables are already on their second chance when they are sent to live among the Normals. They have no memories of their pasts as Knights, their abilities or us, so there is nothing to hold them back. If they can’t make a success of their lives then, there is nothing that we can do to bring them back to their intended paths.”

“So their second chance is actually being part of the Normal society?”

“Yes, and the role they want to play is up to them,” Gabe answered.

“Can their memories as Knights ever come back?” Eden asked.

“Not own their own. Our Cleaners, when they actually do their jobs, are brilliant!” Given her questions, Gabe thought it appropriate to share a story he had only done so before with Grace. “When I was younger, my closest friend Jonah, was banished to live amongst the Normals because he had failed many times to follow the instructions of his team leaders which compromised their missions and placed the lives of a few Normals in danger. The Council wanted to remove his powers, but when he found this out, he was so angry, that he interacted with condemned Normals, ones that we weren’t planning on saving, and rescued them from their fates. Well, that meant that he had broken a few sacred rules of the Knights. My father, who was Leader of the Knights then, had no option but to banish Jonah from Knight town. He became an Untouchable in a matter of minutes after his abilities were removed and he was left to live with the Normals.” Gabe paused and Eden could sense that this was not easy for him.

“What happened then?”

“Well, Jonah was sent to live in the South, his memory as a Knight completely removed by Seth. Although I understood the decision of the Council and of my father, Jonah was my friend, someone I grew up with and who knew me better than most. So, I followed him when I could, just to make sure that he was okay. He got a job in maintenance and became the caretaker in this block of apartments. He seemed to be doing well and I made certain that he never saw me. Unfortunately, one day, I literally ran into him outside a laundromat. He looked at me and there wasn’t a flicker of recognition on his face. My lifelong friend didn’t know who I was! I apologised for bumping into him and l made some statement about having met him before. He said that he’d never seen me before, but given my appearance, he would have remembered. I used to wear my hair longer when I was younger. I knew that he had been given a different identity when he became an Untouchable, but I didn’t understand the power of the Cleaner until that moment. Jonah’s memories were gone; he didn’t know me and it was the hardest thing I had to deal with for a long while. Jonah had been such a large part of my life that it felt like someone had robbed me of my memories too.” Gabe still felt overwhelmed.

“Do you still keep an eye on him?” Eden asked.

“Now and then. He is now married, to a very lovely woman. He has two children and is also a grandfather and he is still working in maintenance, although more in management. He’s happy.”

“You miss him?”

“Always. He was like a brother to me. But he used his second chance to do something good instead of turning to crime. That’s how it should be.”

“Father, what was it like when he didn’t know who you were?”

Gabe paused for a minute, as if he was searching for the right words to express his feelings. “It felt as if I had been sucker-punched. For the rest of my life, I’ll never forget that blank look in his eyes when he saw me. It hurt. Sometimes, it still does!” Gabe turned towards his daughter; saw the concern in her eyes.

“What bothers you about that, my child?”

“It almost seems cruel, the way we can abandon our own,” Eden declared.

“We don’t abandon them, Eden. The Untouchables have broken our covenants. If we keep them amongst us, then it means that we condone their wrongdoings. Our people have survived for centuries because we are credible. Our purpose in this world has been defined. It is sacred. That is why we offer our young the Choice. It gives you the opportunity to decide in which world you want to live. In my time, there have been Knights who have chosen to live amongst Normals because they didn’t want the Knight lifestyle. I respect the fact that they chose to go without defiling our lifestyle; that they chose to live honourably amongst the Normals. The Untouchables chose to betray us. We don’t abandon them; we give them the opportunity to redeem themselves amongst the Normals. Most succeed,” Gabe announced passionately.

“Father, I know it might seem as if I’m questioning our ways. Maybe I am. I just need to be sure that I am aligned to the values and beliefs of the Knights before I make the Choice and that most importantly, that I can always live by those,” Eden said. All the while Eden thought that should she choose to live among the Normals, she would forever be robbed of her memories of her family and one day, should she ever cross paths with any of them, she would look at them like Jonah had looked at her father.

Gabe felt a sense of uneasiness for the first time about Eden’s possible decision. He had thought that since she had never known any other lifestyle, her decision would be simple and that she would choose the lifestyle to which she had become accustomed. By now though, she had interacted with the Normals on her missions and she had spent some time with the Hunters. The Normals didn’t worry him too much but the Hunters might be appealing to someone like Eden, given her inclinations.

“I trust you,” Gabe simply announced. “When it is time for you to announce the Choice, I know you will do what is right for you.” He had to restrain himself from saying what was in his heart, choose us.

Eden looked at her Father. He was a strong man, grey before his time, weighed down by the pressures of leading the Knights in an ever-changing and confusing world and fighting off challenges to his leadership. Her father had been the leader of the Knights for a long time, his father before that. What Choice had a young Gabe been given, she wondered, when his path had already been chosen for him? Would she be subjected to the same fate?

The next few weeks loomed dark and gloomy, seeming to match the mood in Gabe’s household. Grace couldn’t understand what was plaguing her family as they all ate breakfast in silence once again. In fact Gabe excused himself from breakfast early each day, claiming that he had to track a few missions, while her sons decided they needed to check out a few leads provided by the Normals. Eden and Kyra were both on a mission and had thus not been home in two days, although Grace knew they were safe. Ah well, maybe the stress of this last month is catching up on all of us.

Grace spent some time thinking over what Gabe had told her the night before. He had spent days investigating Seth, wanting to know if he had been performing the role of the Cleaner with honour and nothing untoward had been revealed. If Seth had given his son a free pass, it seemed as if that was the only one he had issued.

Yet Grace was convinced that something untoward was occurring amongst the Knights. Her husband’s leadership position was being attacked from all sides, most notably from Noah and Noah seemed to be gaining favour amongst some of the Elders on the Council. If Noah ever gains control of the Knights, then I’m going to freely live with the Normals, Grace thought. Noah, tall, broad-shouldered and too handsome for his own good, was wily whilst her husband was an honourable man, too honourable to fight dirty. Grace needed to talk to someone about her suspicions and since her family seemed to have momentarily abandoned her, she decided to call upon her best friend.

It was hours before Grace returned home, but her mind was clear and she had developed a plan of action. Her husband might not be able to fight dirty, but there were other innocent ways to get ahead and her best friend whom she had known for more than twenty years was as mischievous as her and equally protective of her own family. Hence, armed with the insights gained from their discussion, Grace proceeded to invite Seth and Dina to dinner and then shocked her children by asking them to make their own dinner plans. The girls, who were back from their mission, were nonplussed but her boys, who had inherited her lack of natural cooking ability, were a bit more taken aback. They will probably end up eating something unhealthy, she mused.

When Gabe arrived home shortly before dinnertime, Grace calmly announced that guests would join them for dinner. If he was surprised by his wife’s choice of dinner companions, he said nothing, but quietly washed up before dinner, carefully selecting the wine that would accompany their meal. Although he knew that his wife was not the best cook, he knew that Dina and Seth would be too polite to say anything negative about the meal, a tradition they had thoughtfully followed over the years.

“Seth, Dina, how wonderful of you to join us for dinner,” Grace said as she met the older couple at the door. “Please come in.”

Dina presented Grace with the dessert she had made, a chocolate cake, expertly decorated with frosting, which was Grace’s favourite dessert. “For you,” Dina said as she walked in. “Thanks for the dinner invitation. It was Seth’s turn to cook so you saved me from some unidentifiable concoction!” she joked, ribbing her husband. Seth took it in his stride and drank the aperitif that Gabe had poured them.

He looks tired, Gabe thought. He looked at Grace and knew that his wife was thinking the same. During the meal, the couples relaxed and chatted like old times. The dinner of roast chicken, stuffing and potatoes with a green salad went down much better than Grace thought and when it was time for dessert, Dina helped to make the coffee while Grace stacked the dishwasher.

“I’ve really had a great time tonight, Dina,” Grace commented honestly.

“Me too,” the older woman said. “It’s been so stressful at home recently that it’s nice to go out to friends. We haven’t done this in a while.”

Grace looked at Dina and smiled. “Well, I hope to repeat this soon. It has been too long.” She paused. “If you don’t mind me asking, why are you and Seth so stressed?” Dina almost looked sad for a moment, Grace thought.

“Well, I think it has been hard on Seth knowing that he can’t go out on missions anymore. It has taken him a while to settle into just being part of the Council of the Elders instead of an active Knight. Also, I don’t think that the Council appreciates him because the other members are much younger, with newer ideas, so much different to what we believed in growing up. Although, he would never say that, of course. He is way too stubborn, but recently he has been a bit sad.”

“Is there anything Gabe and I can do to help?” Grace asked.

“This helps,” Dina said. “Seth respects Gabe. He might not always agree with him but he knows that Gabe has the best interests of the Knights at heart. I don’t know if that is true of some other Council members, but it’s just my feeling.”

Grace was shocked by Dina’s words. So, it’s not only me who has these instincts, she thought.

“Anyway, I guess at our age, all we want is to still feel important, you know.”

“Well, you two are extremely important to Gabe and me and our children!” Grace said and meant it. Whatever was going on in their town had nothing to do with Seth and Dina.

“You know our children respect you and consider you their grandparents,” Grace continued. It was true. Since the passing of her parents and Gabe’s father, her children referred to Seth and Dina with the same respect that they had held for their own grandparents and always checked up on them, which is why they were so hurt at the thought that Seth could have anything to do with the incident with Eden.

“And we couldn’t love them more if they were our grandchildren,” Dina said. “There are times though when I miss Lucas so much!” Tears welled up in Dina’s eyes and Grace could not overlook a mother’s anguish as she went to take Dina in her arms.

“I’m sorry,” Dina sniffed. “I can never forgive what Lucas did but he’s still my son. I haven’t seen him in twenty years. I wonder what has happened to him, what sort of man he’s become. Recently, I have this feeling that maybe he is no longer alive!”

Her instinct is spot on, Grace thought.

“Seth doesn’t want to know how Lucas might be doing, but sometimes, late at night when Seth is asleep, I lie awake wondering what has become of our son. Does he have a family of his own? He was so young when he was banished. He had his whole life ahead of him and he threw it away. It embarrassed and hurt his father. It was the first time that a member of the Council had had his child become part of the Untouchables.”

“I remember that. Some of the Knights weren’t so kind towards your family.”

“No, they weren’t,” Dina said. “But you and Gabe have never judged us or held that against us. You will never know how grateful we are for that, Grace.” It was a heartfelt conversation and Grace knew that she would never recover if one of her children were banished to the world of the Untouchables. Dina was a strong woman!

“Well, now’s a good time for dessert, I think,” Dina laughed, wiping the remnants of her tears.

When the ladies returned to the lounge, the men seemed to break off in mid-conversation. Gabe helped Dina with the coffee tray and passed out scrumptious pieces of chocolate cake. When the evening was eventually over and Seth and Dina had taken their leave, Gabe and Grace sat with a final cup of tea before bed.

“So, Dina looked as if she had been crying,” Gabe casually mentioned.

“Yes. She was missing her son. Oh Gabe, my heart doesn’t want to believe that these two people could be involved in any of the wrongdoings in our town!”

“I know, me neither ” Gabe conceded. “It just seems wrong! But I have to consider all the possibilities. Tonight when I chatted to Seth, he expressed some misgivings about Noah. Nothing serious of course, but it is the first time that he has expressed any doubts in Noah’s leadership. He has been one of Noah’s staunchest supporters in the past, but now something seems to have changed.”

“Well, sweetheart, I think that you just have to keep your eyes and ears open at the Council meetings. I have a feeling that more is to come our way.”

“Okay, on that note, I think it is a good time to retire for the evening, m’lady,” Gabe said, reaching for his wife’s hand.

“I agree. Do you know if the kids are asleep yet?”

“Yes, they are already in bed. The girls are staying over with their brothers tonight.” Grace smiled. Of course Gabe would never stop tracking his kids and she knew that if any one of them had ever become an Untouchable, she would never stop keeping her eyes on them!