I didn’t want an audience, but the deal had been struck. Any advantage I had ended the moment he agreed to my wager.
At first, I called to him weakly, then somehow I found the courage to scream his name. “Calish!”
“Una?” Calish ran, following behind our brother, frantically trying to find me. Graken chased after them, ordering the others to stay in the wagon.
“Over here,” I shouted, and they stopped.
They had a clear view of us once the Priest moved us beyond the brush.
“Noran?” Calish gasped.
“He’s here for the children,” I said, grimacing from the pain at my throat.
Marsh looked down at his arrow and glanced back up at me. Although he may not know the extent of the unfolding plot, he was not daft enough to question where the situation headed. I led him here. I armed him. Yes, he knew where we would end up, and his face fought the evidence of it.
“Let her go, Noran,” Calish ordered, “and you can have the children.”
“Shut up, you stupid Scab,” he hissed. “You think you have the power to make deals with me? I made you!” he yelled with such disgust, the birds flew out of the trees. “I will take your wife, I will take your orphans, and I will take your head!”
My eyes locked with Marsh’s. He barely shook his head, silently begging me to change our fate. His hands twisted across the grip at the center of the bow’s riser. Time passed in heartbeats, not minutes, and with each one drumming in my ears, his mouth turned further downward, his eyes filling higher with regret.
Oblivious to our exchange, Noran cleared his throat. “Now, remember our agreement, Mother.” He lifted up his hand to Marsh, covering him in a golden dust. Clearly and full of command, he said, “Marsh, you will kill your sister.”
“No!” Calish lurched forward, but Graken held him back.
“Sir, she is marked of the Woodsmen!” Graken warned while struggling to keep hold of Calish.
“Do you think I care about the Woodsmen?” Noran laughed. “Besides, I’m not the one killing her. He is. The bounty will be for him, which makes this scenario oh so much better!”
Calish pulled desperately against Graken’s hold. He may have had a good round or two with Marsh, but he wasn’t trained like his officer. Graken’s arms held tight. His primary duty was to protect the Lord, and that was exactly what he was doing.
“It’s all right, Cal.” Tears ran down my face. “I love you so much. I believe in you.”
Marsh fought but drew his weapon in the dust of Noran’s charm. His arm shook as he resisted the order of the Priest. A bead of sweat escaped his brow as he battled his own mind, yet the wooden limb creaked under the stress of the string pulling tighter.
Here it is. The breath before my last.
My mouth forced out the words. “Take the shot.”
“No! Una, no! Marsh, please, fight him!” Calish fell to his knees, his arms fixed behind him in Graken’s unwavering grip. “Please, for the love of the gods, don’t do this!”
As strong as I wished I could be, for as much as I knew the role the Great One gave me to play, I could never prepare for this. Being ready to sacrifice my life was not the same thing as being ready to die. A dream didn’t hold the truth of a moment. Dreams did not last once the eyes opened. Nightmares did, and they were much worse.
I could face Marsh more confidently if we were alone. Standing before Calish proved to be the one thing I could not endure. He would never understand. I’d never get the chance to explain. Even if I had, what would I say that he wouldn’t argue against?
But my choices robbed him of the very thing that should condemn my soul: his child. I wasn’t only sacrificing myself but an innocent as well.
Guilt and sorrow wove its way down my spine and reached around my ribs until it strangled my beating heart. It crushed my lungs and ate the very center of my being.
I will never know if I carry a daughter or a son, never hold them, give them a name, or see them smile.
My child will never grow to be strong or honorable like their father or wild and free like I fought against the world to let them be.
I wasn’t killing myself but murdering a being before its first breath. In a single decision, I stole everything from the only man I ever truly loved and the life of a person I would never know. That was enough to kill me without the release of Marsh’s arrow.
My end was known. My fate sealed.
Scavengers are destined to die.
“Take the shot.”
Turning my eyes from my brother, I took a last look at the children I vowed to protect. They too were watching.
Would they know I did this for them?
Little Aria, alone in the front seat, clutched her blanket as she sobbed. Kii held and rocked her adopted brothers and sisters, trying to shield their eyes. And then there was Davin, my sweet, responsible boy, peering over the side of the wagon.
If I thought they would hear me, I would have yelled at them to look away. Knowing they were watching had to be Noran’s greatest form of torture.
“Graken,” I cried between my sobs, “you take them, all of them, to the Three Rivers like we planned. Do not let the Woodsmen harm them,” I begged.
He nodded, and with one hand restraining Calish, he pulled his shirt open with the other. A well-healed ornate letter K was scarred into his chest.
Suddenly it all made sense.
Hating the world and everything in it, I let my head fall back, and I screamed. I screamed so loud my body rattled and my throat eventually slammed shut. I cursed the gods of every kind, I kicked, and swore, and sobbed, and shook.
And the Priest relished every aspect of it.
My children were going to be taken no matter what I did. We had been led into a trap, one to kill us all.
How did I not see this coming!
My body went limp, and Noran, overjoyed by my performance, gave me a generous hug from behind, keeping me up and able to receive Marsh’s arrow.
In complete submission to Noran, the Woodsmen, and the gods who all despised me equally, I relaxed and accepted my fate. My last assignment thrust upon me by the Great One. The reaper had come to collect me.
A moment of clarity stopped my sobbing.
The reaper may be here, but I will make sure both his arms are full!
I pointed to the spot I knew Marsh’s arrow would go. “Take the shot.” I nodded, resolved to my purpose. “It’s all right, Marsh. Just do what I’m telling you to.”
“Yeah, listen to your lovely sister!” Noran’s encouragement resonated through the woods just as loud as Calish’s cries begging him not to.
“Take the shot.” I looked right into Marsh’s eyes. “Take the shot!” I screamed.
Marsh closed his eyes, and his fingers let go their grip. The arrow flew true to its target, the slick sound cutting the air. When it finally met my flesh, it passed between my ribs front to back, slowing to a stop in the inner chambers of Noran’s furiously beating heart.
I felt his breath hitch when it happened.
And there they were, the glorious farla-hawk feathers moving in rhythm of my shortened breaths. I recognized the arrow’s decor before I felt the burn of its fire through me.
My blood at the tip of the arrow counted as payment to the guards of his armor, breaking the Charmer’s protection. Together we fell back, bound by the same instrument of death. I felt his ribs crack against the rocks behind us. His body was weak, and his aged bones were brittle like dried grain. Noran’s breathing labored as his lungs filled with splintered bone and our mingling blood. His heart rattled as its fragile shell ripped open. Unable to preserve itself, it shimmied erratically before giving up and deflating to hang from the arrow’s tip. His breath faded, as did mine, although his ceased first.
In a flash of light, Calish fell to his knees beside me. His hands hovered above my body, unsure of what to do. Graken tried to pull him away, but Calish elbowed him back. “Don’t you dare,” he growled.
Graken listened with purpose. “Cut what?”
“His head—” I forced out. “Cut off his head.”
Calish understood my instruction and carefully lifted me off the Priest’s body. The arrow stayed wedged between my ribs, firmly sticking out my back.
Calish held me up. He didn’t know how to stop the blood flowing out of my chest around the shaft, nor could he lay me down. I coughed, and he lowered me down on my side.
I struggled to breathe. I tried to inhale, but no air would come. As if I were underwater, I felt myself drowning.
Calish lay next to me with his face close to mine. “Please don’t leave me, Una.” He sobbed, his trembling fingers brushing my cheek.
“Killed…Noran?” I coughed out blood.
“Yes.” He pushed the hair from my face as Graken took the Priest’s head and threw it deep into the forest. “Yes—” Calish smiled through his tears “—you did, but I need you to stay quiet. We need to get you help.” He stopped and looked past me. “Who are they? Are they here to help?”
Graken answered from a few steps away. “They are Woodsmen.”
“You can’t have her!” he yelled, shielding me with his body.
Graken stepped into view. “She’s not going to make it, sir.”
“You don’t know that!” he cried. “She’s not that bad. She just needs us to help her.” He tore off his shirt and pressed it around the shaft of the arrow while covering the exit wound with his bare hand.
“I know it’s hard. We’ve all lost someone we love. You’re a righteous man. You should come with us.”
“Us?”
“You are welcome to join us. Fight against the Authority. Together, we will bring true justice to the lands.”
“You’re one of them? I trusted you!” he shouted. “I trusted you with my family! Get away from me and my wife.” He threatened them with the incompetent blade in his shaky grip. “If I ever see you again, I will cut your heart out.”
Graken stepped back. “Take the children to the cabin,” he ordered his men. “The bounty for Marsh’s murder of Una will begin at sundown tomorrow.” He looked down at me, for the first time with pity in his eyes. “Her death will be slow with a wound like that,” he said somberly. “Make no mistake, Lord Calish. When word of your involvement in the Priest’s death gets out, the Authority will put a bounty on your head as well. It would serve you well to come with me now. I’ll take care of your wife, sir. She won’t suffer needlessly.”
“Get away from me, you traitor,” he hissed through his uncontrollable sobs.
Please, my love. Don’t worry.
The pain I had was leaving. A calm washed over me, and my head became heavy. In time, Calish’s pleas were made silent. My head rolled forward, and my eyes rested in the direction of the wagon. Graken took the driver’s seat and turned it around. With what little strength I had left, I reached out for my children as they were taken by the man once charged to protect us.
Marsh stumbled into view, interrupting my line of sight. He fell on the forest floor next to me, clutching my outstretched hand. I didn’t need to hear his words to know exactly what he said.
If only I had the strength to speak. It’s all right, brother. I’m so proud of you. Thank you for helping me. I will love you until the sun fails to rise and the moons fall from the sky. I only wish you knew what a hero you are to the world.
Eventually, my eyes refused to blink. They refused to flutter. When I closed them, a bliss of relief filled my spirit and freed my soul. Calish pulled my eyelids open, but they were too heavy, even for him.
My purpose here is served.
Chapter 44
Warmth.
The sun glowed softly, and the breeze blowing through the trees kissed my skin. I woke in the meadow grasses filled with five-petaled flowers tended by iridescent butterflies. Happiness shared the sky with the moons and all the stars. It was breathtaking. I wandered aimlessly to the crest of the hill and watched the small, busy village. Children ran with little nets, chasing glimmers of light dashing around them, and the people celebrated with songs written by the wind.
Everything had a glow, and a sweet fragrance filled the air. Birds flew gracefully, singing sonnets of beauty and appreciation.
“Welcome,” a woman with long waves of hair greeted.
“Mother?”
“I am known by many things.” She took my hand. “You may call me whatever you wish. I know where your heart is.”
“Where am I?”
“You are here, of course.” She smiled. “I have something for you.” She reached up, and from the sky, she pulled a single sparkle from the great blue nothing. Putting it into her other hand, she closed her fist tightly around it.
“What is it?”
She held up her finger and hushed me. Opening her hand flat, she blew it away. It flipped and turned, banked left and right, eventually landing in the grass. From the green blades of the lawn, an amber branch twisted out of the ground. It grew thicker and taller at an incredible speed. As it widened, it sprouted limbs in each direction, rolling purple and silver leaves all over the tips. When the tree was tall and strong, she brushed her open hand between us, turning the center of the trunk into an ornately crafted door. When her work was done, she took both my hands and smiled. Nervous to ask my question again, I stared back at her.
“This is what I wanted to give you. It’s what I wanted for you since the day I knitted you together in the womb. The freedom to choose.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Freedom is not free. There is a price to be paid. Those who follow me will find it in time. What I’ve given to you may not be easy, but it will always be free: the opportunity to choose is yours alone.”
Her riddle didn’t make sense.
“Where does the door lead?”
Mother shook her head lovingly.
“How am I supposed to choose if I don’t understand the options?”
“Una, you have always followed your heart.” She embraced me. “You’ve remained true to it. Follow it now.”
“But what if I make the wrong choice?”
“You are the daughter of whom I’m proud. Why would I tempt you? This is a gift.”
“But—” I looked for her, but she had gone. I picked up the skirt of my white dress and sat, trying to make sense of it all.
The village or the door?
Maybe she’ll come back if I wait.
I lay down in the grass, watching the wisps of clouds pass in pastel colors across the powder blue sky. How was it possible to see stars in the light?
I bet Calish would have an explanation.
Feathering my arms across the tops of the lushness of the land, I rested. My toes tickled the sparkling dust of the air, and I listened to the rain that never dampened my skin. In time, I realized the woman would not return.
When I sat up, I felt restored. I plucked a white flower and, not wanting to waste it, held it up as if it were an offering. A tiny bird with wings moving faster than I could see dropped down and took it away somewhere in the tree my mother had grown.
This is a gift. And now, I’m sure the door is also.
“I’m not ready to be here.”
Taking one more breath of the sweet-smelling air, I leaned into the roughened surface of the door. A gentle nudge broke the seal, inviting me into the great light beyond.
Chapter 45
Even after the light’s intensity waned, it still took a while before my eyes fully adjusted. The door I passed through led me somewhere completely unfamiliar. Sure, the things were the sort of stuff you’d expect to find in a room fashioned from a tent, but I knew not where I woke. The bed I lay in had soft padding and appropriately weighted blankets. Not too cool but allowed for the escape of the stuffy air a body produces. The small table to my left offered a single glass of water, condensation gathered around the base and dried rings where pr
evious ones had been left too long. There was a pitcher and basin atop a small dresser in the corner. They were a mismatched set but in otherwise perfect condition. Next to it sat an overstuffed chair and ottoman with a blanket and pillow lying haphazardly across it. In the opposite corner, next to the tent’s door, stood a wooden chair crafted from stripped tree branches and twine. Draped over the back waited a robe and peach-colored nightgown.
The woven linens across my body covered me perfectly. There wasn’t a wrinkle to be found. My nails had been cleaned and trimmed; my hair was soft and untangled. Everything appeared clean and elegant, but an unpleasant odor filled the spaces between the room’s perfections.
Is that me?
I lifted my elbow and smelled under my arms.
No, thank the gods.
Something on the floor next to my bed moved. I flinched back as a wolf’s head plopped up on the edge of the linens.
My eyes narrowed. “Rain?” My parched voice broke as the growing wolf leaped onto the bed, landing with all four paws hitting me at once. I was pinned to the bed by his remarkable weight as he licked my face with more moisture than I’d ever known. I couldn’t breathe in his stench without retching.
“Get down!”
He did not.
I did the best I could to cover my face with my arms, but his tongue was so long I was defenseless against it. Before I knew it, thick slobber covered my face, arms, neck, and half my hair.
With all the strength I had, I shoved the wolf off the side of the bed. “I said stop!” I panted, wiping the fluid from my face. “Yuck!” I flung the gelatinous substance from my hands onto the ground. I pushed the blankets off and hung my feet over the side as the wolf began a similar assault against my legs and toes.
At least it’s not my face.
“You’re much bigger than you were when I left.” I smiled. Thinking my observation was an invitation, he jumped on the bed, taking up most of it. He pushed his head under my arm and onto my lap. I pet his head, and he rolled, kicking his legs straight up toward the ceiling. Just like a pup, he wiggled and chomped at the air instead of just relaxing and enjoying my attention.
Scavenger Girl: Season of Toridia Page 50
