“That was beautiful,” Lyric cooed. “Your voice … honestly, you could have sung about folding laundry, and I still would have been mesmerized.” She grinned, hair falling over one cheek.
“I suppose that’s good?” Kell asked, laughing.
Runa was surprised that she didn’t feel compelled to roll her eyes or make a snide remark. She agreed with Lyric; Kell’s voice was something rare. She studied him appraisingly. He was pretty, that was true, but she hadn’t expected such a powerful singing voice could exist in someone so young. There was something old about how he sang as if he’d had centuries of study. Obviously, he’d been instructed well in the Radiant Hall, but his voice was not pure training alone. Kell had been born with this understanding of music.
“It was beautiful,” Runa said, drawing Kell’s eyes.
“Thank you,” Kell said, looking surprised.
“I wonder what would make the Old Ones return,” Lyric said. “They didn’t come when Thenda disappeared. What are they waiting for? Are they waiting? Or was their promise to our ancestors a departing kindness and nothing more, like a parent on their deathbed telling a child they’ll see them again, will always be with them.”
Runa glanced at Elaina before she could stop herself. Their mother was staring at her, her eyes hurt, regretful, and before Runa could unravel what she saw, Elaina turned her head away and reached for something besides her knee. Her hair swooped over her face, and she took a slow, controlled breath.
“It was a beautiful song, Kell,” Elaina said.
Was there a slight tremor in her voice?
“Thank you, Mar — Elaina,” he said.
“Serith wasn’t mentioned at all,” Lyric said. “Is it a Raendasharan song?”
Kell nodded. “Bethsin Amera composed it a hundred years ago. She was a favored songsmith of the Scorched Court, and likely sought to avoid ruffling any royal feathers.”
“We should sleep,” Elaina said. “Rest for tomorrow. If we’re lucky, tomorrow night we’ll be in an inn in Yanessa.”
“Should we keep watch tonight?” Lyric asked. “In case the Sireni come?”
Runa opened her mouth to volunteer, but their mother beat her to it.
“I’ll do it,” Elaina said. “I need to wrap the fish for our journey.”
Deciding not to argue, Runa shifted the sand around to form a comfortable hollow for her body, and laid down.
“All right, wake me next,” Lyric said. She joined Runa on her side of the fire and laid down, head lolling against Runa’s shoulder just like she did back home.
Wrapped in her cloak, head pillowed on the sand, Runa stared up at the sky and thought about dragons. Her mind churned as she wondered where they’d gone and why. She wondered if they’d really come back, and what would happen if they did. No one living had seen a dragon, and she couldn’t imagine the kings and queens being happy about relinquishing their authority again.
When Runa finally fell asleep, it was to the sound of Lyric’s even breathing as dragons soared and bellowed fire inside her mind.
Runa woke feeling uneasy. There’d been no surprises during the night, no attack from the Sireni Screamers, nothing alarming at all, and yet Runa’s stomach felt sour and uncertain. She’d dreamed of creatures, big like dragons, flying over them in the dark. She’d dreamed of claws and blood and screams. She’d dreamed of Lyric dead, and their mother missing.
Dark thoughts for a beautiful morning, Runa thought, eyeing the cloudless sky.
Kell, having woke first, had found clams and a green plant he called sea grapes that looked like tiny spheres. He’d checked the crab baskets and said something destroyed them in the night, shredding them to pieces. “Probably just an angry Sawmouth fish,” Kell said, shrugging one shoulder. Runa wasn’t sure she believed him but didn’t challenge him, as she certainly wasn’t an expert on marine life.
Breakfast was simple and salty — roasted fish, raw pieces of clam meat, sea grapes and dried seaweed, washed down with purified water. The sea grapes popped as Runa chewed. She liked their peppery flavor.
After eating and attending to their individual needs, Elaina and Kell poured water on the coals of the fire, and everyone gathered up their packs.
Kell and Lyric hung back, letting Runa and Elaina take the lead.
Runa found herself side by side with their mother, but thankfully she wasn’t talkative, her head turning back towards Lyric and Kell as they followed the coastline south.
Behind them, Kell and Lyric carried on a rambling conversation as the sun climbed higher and higher into the sky. The clouds were relatively thin, the blue sky peeking through, and Runa soon grew warm enough to remove her cloak.
Glancing towards the ocean on her left, Runa glimpsed a sleek, gray animal bobbing in the waves. She thought she saw a whiskered snout before it slipped beneath the water, flipping a large spotted tail into the air as it dove. An ocean bird sang to her overhead, and Runa watched it, wishing she knew its name. She was grateful for the distraction.
“Why didn’t anyone move down here after the Thendian cities were destroyed?” Runa asked aloud.
“I’m not sure,” Elaina answered.
Kell, who might have known, didn’t seem to have heard her. He was laughing at something Lyric said.
“Perhaps,” Elaina said distractedly, looking back, “it’s because of the dunes here, to the west.” She gestured at the mounds of sand. “Farther north, the Thendians carved their cities into the cliffs. They wouldn’t be able to do that down here.”
“But if they were fleeing for their lives, why not camp here?” Runa asked. “Or build a hut? There’s fish in the water and relative safety. It seems like a place they could have resettled.”
“Not many survived the destruction,” Elaina said. “Maybe the survivors didn’t want to stay near the Shore.” She shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe there’s another reason. You can ask Kell.”
“Yes,” Runa said absently.
“Has she spoken to you again?” Elaina asked.
“What?” Runa blinked and looked at their mother, not understanding.
“The ancestor who speaks to you.”
“Oh … no,” Runa said. Her face pinched and she looked ahead, not wanting Elaina to see her expression.
“You tried to do something with fire, when the Flesh Eater came,” Elaina said. “It didn’t work?”
“No, was I saying it wrong?”
Elaina hesitated. “No, not that I heard, but I was distracted.”
Runa gritted her teeth. It was uncomfortable discussing this with their mother, and she kept waiting for an argument to begin, the warnings.
She thought about Elenora and her hand clenched, nails biting into her palm. If the ancestor truly wanted her to fail, then perhaps Elaina was her best hope for honest answers. Despite what Runa felt about their mother, all the anger and pain, she didn’t believe she’d purposefully hurt her. Elaina would never knowingly risk her life.
“Could it have failed because I was outside my body?” Runa asked.
Elaina considered, her head tilting as they walked. “Possible. You are the first ghost I’ve encountered.” She smiled, and Runa smiled back automatically. Elaina caught the movement, and her face relaxed, her eyes turning bright and welcoming. She looked much like she had when Runa was a child — patient, supportive, loving.
Runa’s chest ached and she looked away. They’d lost so much time that they could never get back.
“Perhaps …” Elaina said tentatively, “it’s how you tried to use the magic. What did it feel like to you?”
“Like a river,” Runa said, “rushing beside me, dangerous, tumultuous. I tried to reach for it, grab it, but it kept slipping away. The harder I tried, the more it evaded me. It was like trying to chase an animal …”
“Hmm,” Elaina said. “Would you say you tried to force it to do what you wanted?”
“I suppose.”
“That might have been the problem,” Elaina said.
�
��What problem?” Lyric asked.
Runa stopped, turning around.
Her sister was staring at her, face flushed and happy. Kell, beside her, pulled his waterskin from his pack and took a long drink. He wiped an arm across his forehead, shoving back his hair.
“When I tried to use magic,” Runa said.
“You did?” Lyric asked with surprise.
Runa nodded. “When the Flesh Eater attacked us.”
“Oh.” Lyric’s face paled.
“You did magic, didn’t you?” Runa asked, furrowing her brows. “In the room with the Sireni. I was distracted but …you did something with the wind. Or was that Mother?”
“That was me,” Lyric said, nodding. Excitement flickered in her eyes.
“Was it difficult for you?” Runa asked.
A look of consideration crossed Lyric’s face. “No,” she said slowly. “It was strange and wonderful, and a little scary.” Lyric grinned. “It was like I opened myself to it. Let it rush through me. I thought I’d drown, but I didn’t.”
Elaina nodded. “Lyric let it move through her. She relaxed. Forcing and controlling it doesn’t work. It wants to work with you. It’s alive, in a way. Like a shy animal,” she said, nodding at Runa.
“You should try again,” Lyric said.
Runa chewed the inside of her cheek. Could it be that easy? She didn’t like the idea of giving control to something she didn’t understand. How could she relax and let it do what it wanted? What did it want? What was it?
Grimacing, Runa wrenched back her spiraling thoughts. It wasn’t like magic could do anything on its own. It had to create what she wanted. Runa had to name the runes first for anything to happen.
Taking a breath, and trying to ignore everyone staring at her, Runa raised her palm. She stared at her hand, at the space above her skin, and spoke the word for fire. An awareness of power came over her and it shifted inside her chest like an animal in the dark. The magic had heard her call but was hesitant to come.
It’s safe, Runa thought, trying to be calm, to relax and let it flow naturally. For a moment the notion that the magic felt alive seemed utterly ridiculous, but she shoved that reflection away and focused on remaining serene and non-threatening.
The power flared, growing brighter, humming excitedly. Runa took a deep breath and held it, then let the air rush out of her lungs. She ignored everything but the awareness of her body softening, her muscles relaxing, as she let herself trust the magic. Imagining a tiny flame above her palm, Runa spoke the word for fire. Excitement filled her as orange-red fire sparked into life in the air above her skin. It was small and guttered in the wind, but it was hers.
A huge smile spread across Runa’s face. She wasn’t broken; she could summon magic.
10
Elaina
Elaina watched her daughter, a coldness spreading through her heart, even as her skin tingled pleasurably as magic sang out to her. The fire dancing above Runa’s palm reflected in her large eyes. Elaina wanted to grab her daughter’s hands, smother the fire.
Swallowing, Elaina forced her hands to remain at her side. “Let’s keep on,” she said.
Runa looked up, regret showing on her face, but she let the magic go and dropped her hand. Fierce pride burned in her eyes as hot as any fire.
As they started walking again, Lyric joined Elaina. Kell followed, a step behind her as if he’d tied himself to her wrist.
Elaina clenched her jaw in annoyance. What are you doing, Kell, she thought, shooting him a threatening look.
His sea-blue eyes flicked to her, then away. He did not fall back with Runa.
I’ll have to do something about this, Elaina thought. She liked Kell, and trusted him, at least this version of him, unaware of his dormant power and past life inside the Veil. Sometime soon they’d find his mother or the Daughters of Valen would realize who he was.
One way or another, the Kell Elaina knew would change or die, and when that happened, she didn’t want Lyric anywhere nearby.
Lyric glanced at Kell with a look of pure adoration, and her pale skin flushed. She’d fallen, as quick and hard as Elaina had when their father had shadowed her doorstep, arm bleeding from the wolf that’d caught him in her woods. She couldn’t change how Lyric felt, couldn’t spare her pain, but she could save her from heartbreak and desolation. She would save her.
“How did my mother help you?” Lyric asked suddenly as if Elaina’s thoughts had entered her mind.
Kell cleared his throat, embarrassed.
Elaina smiled, unable to keep the satisfaction from her face. Might the story give Lyric pause? Make her look at Kell a little differently? Elaina looked at him, waiting for him to respond.
“I … someone died,” Kell said finally, looking down at the sand.
Lyric’s head snapped towards him, breath puffing out with surprise. “Died?” she asked. Her eyes flicked back to Elaina.
Elaina swallowed her smile and nodded solemnly.
“Someone was blackmailing me,” Kell said. “I got angry, refused to pay any more. He threatened me; we both started yelling. He hit me, then pulled a knife and I ... we were on a balcony, and I shoved him and then he tripped and ... he fell. I tried to catch him, but he slipped out of my hands. I tried to save him, Lyric, but I couldn't hold him.” Kell's face was earnest, his eyes pleading as if Lyric held his absolution.
Guilt wriggled inside Elaina’s throat and she looked away, down the beach.
“It looked bad, they wouldn’t have believed it wasn’t my fault and … your mother helped me. Said I was with her, somewhere else. I can never repay her.”
Elaina looked sideways, catching Kell’s eyes and the guilt became a rock inside her stomach. “You didn’t deserve to hang for it,” she said, giving him a nod. “He tried to kill you first.”
“Kell, I’m so sorry,” Lyric said. Her voice was soft, sorrowful.
Elaina waited for her to ask about the blackmail, but her daughter put her hand on Kell’s arm.
“I’m glad she was there to help you,” Lyric said.
Elaina bit the inside of her cheek and stared straight ahead. I’m sorry, Kell, she thought. But you’re no good for her. She’d have to find a way to keep them apart after they arrived in Rathgar’s Hold, and send Kell away.
Several hours later, Elaina still hadn’t figured out how to convince Kell to leave without Lyric chasing after him.
They stopped for a quick lunch, resting on large pieces of driftwood, then continued on their way. The dunes had mostly disappeared, the marshland coming to the beach’s edge. Though the sand beneath their feet had started lightening to a pale gray, peppered with charcoal, the bog remained the same murky black, the islands of grass growing smaller and farther apart as if someone had poured a giant bottle of ink onto the ground, covering them up.
Elaina wished they had a boat to go across it, reach the Northern Road, but she knew their oars would stick in the dark muck and they’d be trapped. They had to stay on the beach. Surely Yanessa couldn’t be much farther?
She was dreaming about a hot bath for her tired muscles when Elaina saw a faint ribbon of smoke rising in the air. Was someone on the beach? Had they reached the town? Instincts gave her pause, and she rested her hand on her belt.
“I see smoke!” Lyric said suddenly, pointing ahead of them. “Are we there?”
“I don’t know,” Elaina said.
The smoke disappeared, dispersing in the air. It’d come from behind a large dune that hid whatever was beyond it. To the dune’s right was a massive pile of driftwood, half-submerged in the inky marsh.
“Let me check it out,” Elaina said. “Wait here.”
“I’ll go with you,” Runa said sharply.
Elaina looked back at her red-haired daughter and saw the set of her jaw. “Fine,” she said. “Lyric? Kell?”
“We’ll wait,” Lyric said, exchanging a look with Kell.
Not wanting to leave them alone, Elaina hesitated. Lyric gave her a curious loo
k, so Elaina grit her teeth and nodded, then began walking towards the dune.
Runa, tugging on the straps of her pack, followed after her.
They walked in silence, their quickened breaths and the whisper of sand shifting under their feet ushering them forward. Reaching the dune, they climbed up, using their hands. Elaina stopped Runa just shy of the top with an outstretched arm.
“Stay low,” she whispered.
Lying down, they wiggled forward until they could see over the top of the dune.
Elaina’s pulse quickened, her heart throwing itself against her ribs like a startled rabbit. A squad of Sireni waited on the beach below, arguing over the remnants of a fire. She recognized one of the men from the Veil. He had a bandaged leg, and he was gesturing angrily at a white-clad woman standing opposite him. Bracketed by two men, the woman held something in her hand.
South of them, another man lounged against a pile of bleached wood. He raised his hand, staring at a trio of rocks stacked atop each other, and Elaina felt magic brush across her skin. The ground vibrated beneath them, the stones toppling over, and Runa’s hissed in surprise.
The woman turned away from the man Elaina recognized, and said something to the casting Screamer, her hand cutting through the air.
The magic cut off, and the lounging man gave a bored shrug.
Elaina touched Runa’s elbow, then began to wiggle backward, as silently as she could. Her daughter followed, and they climbed down the dune. Brushing sand off their clothes, they hurried back to Lyric and Kell.
“What is it?” Lyric asked when they reached them.
“Sireni,” Runa said. Her voice was tight, and she worried the strap of her pack with one hand. “One of the Screamers from the Veil is with them.”
“What?” Kell said, eyes flaring.
Elaina gave a tight nod. “There are four of them, waiting on the other side of the dune. They must have realized where we are.”
Lyric moved closer to Kell, her hip bumping his. “Can we get around them?” she asked.
“No. They’ll see us if we go in the water.”
Daughters of Fire & Sea Page 13
