Daughters of Fire & Sea

by Holly Karlsson

  “Run to the gate,” Runa whispered. If they could get through, they could run to the next gate, get help.

  “Ru!” Lyric gasped again. “Look!”

  Turning her head away from the men, Runa looked back at the gate. A woman stepped through the small door followed by a man with dark skin and shoulder-length black hair. The woman, dressed similarly to the others, was wearing white cloth crossing over her breasts and around her neck. Her hair was braided in a heavy plait and tied with jute, strung with small glass beads and bits of seashells.

  Marching towards them, she pointed a long finger in Runa’s direction. “Who are they!” she demanded. “Why did you attack? This was supposed to be a quiet infiltration!”

  “We weren’t going to make it through, Kaia,” one of the men with braided hair said, “and I overheard that one say she’s a Raendasharan princess.” He pointed at Runa. “I reasoned a princess is better than being run off with empty hands.”

  Kaia's green eyes flicked between Runa, Lyric, and Kell. “That one looks Nilin,” she said, looking at Kell. “And that one …” She studied Lyric with a shrewd expression. “That one could be Rainaya’s sister. They’re a waste of time,” she snapped, “and now we have to return to the ship. Soldiers are coming from the castle through the third gate; the guards rang the alarm bell. They know we’re here.”

  The man shrugged, unconcerned by her anger. “Who’d pretend to be part of the Butcher’s family who wasn’t? You’d be putting your head in a noose.”

  “Let us go,” Runa said, stepping forward. “We’re not a threat to you.”

  Kaia whirled, the back of her ringed hand slapping Runa’s face and driving her head sideways. “Quiet, girl!” she snapped.

  Fury exploding inside her chest, Runa spat blood onto the ground and looked back at Kaia with a savage glare.

  Lyric stepped forward, and the Sireni shifted, raising their weapons.

  Kaia barked a laugh. “What, going to fight us all?” she asked challengingly.

  The black-haired man leaned towards her, murmuring something that wiped the smirk off Kaia’s face. Her eyes snapped back to Lyric and Runa, and then the ground started trembling beneath their feet.

  Runa shifted to maintain balance, grabbing Lyric’s hand. The sound of grinding stone grated in her ears.

  “What —?” Lyric asked.

  The wyvern statues were moving, coming to life. Their jaws opened, and their wings flexed. Bits of stone crumbled beneath their clawed feet as they scratched at the pillars, showering black dust onto the ground.

  “Royal blood!” Kaia gasped. “She’s Raendasharan royalty! Grab her! Back to the ship, now!” she roared.

  “Leave my sister alone!” Lyric yelled, throwing herself forward.

  Kell, gaping at the wakening wyverns, rushed after Lyric.

  Runa threw out her arm, trying to knock back the short-haired man lunging for her. He ducked and punched her in the jaw, knocking her back into the wall. Stunned, Runa was unable to push him away as he spun her around and pressed her face into the smooth stone, tying her arms behind her.

  “Grab them all!” Kaia yelled.

  Runa bucked, trying to get away but her captor lifted her off the ground and tossed her over his shoulder. Hammering her tied fists against his back, she saw the man with Kaia grab her sister.

  Kell was on the ground, hand covering his eye. One of the men with braided hair kicked him in the side, then hauled him back to his feet, tying Kell’s hands tied together with the knotted rope from his waist.

  Runa sucked in a breath to scream, but Kaia loomed up in front of her, staring hard into her eyes. “Do that, and I’ll slit your sister’s throat,” she said, pointing at Lyric.

  The air hissed out of her lungs, and Runa glared into the woman’s face.

  “Let’s go!” Kaia ordered, moving around them. “Hurry!”

  Arching up off the man’s back, Runa looked at the wyverns. The shaking had subsided, but she could still hear the scratch of stone. Were the statues breaking free? As she watched, one wyvern lifted a foot off the pillar.

  The short-haired man started running, ignoring Runa’s curses as she bounced on his shoulder. She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt him slip on the stone.

  A scream snapped her eyes back open, and Runa twisted to see Kaia sprinting through the first gate. Her sword swung as she passed one of the guards. Blood sprayed, and he toppled onto the ground.

  The man with braided hair, the one not holding Kell, rammed his shoulder into the second guard and tackled him to the ground, slashing at his neck with a long knife.

  Skidding to a stop beneath the gate, the short-haired man abruptly dropped Runa on her feet. She wobbled, almost falling on her face before he grabbed the rope around her wrists and yanked her upright. He shifted his grip to her upper arm and hauled her along beside him as they ran onto the cobbled street.

  Screams rose into the air as well-dressed citizens, many still wearing masks, fled from the bloodied Sireni. Someone yelled for the city watch.

  “This way!” Kaia called. She led them east past a row of trees then ducked into a shaded alley. They wove through a confusing maze of streets, their passage heralded by screams and shouts as panicked people ran away.

  A group of pigeons scattered noisily high above and Runa looked up. Her mouth fell open. A stone wyvern was chasing them, its heavy wings flapping at the air, somehow keeping it aloft.

  “They’re following!” the short-haired yelled. He yanked on Runa’s arm, and she tripped, unbalanced with her hands behind her back.

  The Sireni ducked into another narrow alley, trying to maintain cover between them and the stone creatures above. Runa saw a flash of black out of the corner of her eye. It was a squad of soldiers, yelling over a group of panicked people blocking their path.

  Runa staggered as the Sireni man pulled her around a stack of crates and into an open street. Pain rippled along her waist, her muscles cramping. She panted, trying to ignore it. She could see the docks ahead and the masts and sails of ships on the water.

  Kaia barreled into a uniformed dock guard gawking at the sky, a small crossbow halfway out of the holster on his back. She kicked him to the ground and whirled, cocking and raising the weapon, pointing it back towards Lyric and the man holding her arm.

  Horrified, Runa yelled as Kaia fired, but the bolt flew over her sister’s head. She watched it pass, resisting as the short-haired man yanked her sideways.

  The bolt hit the diving wyvern square in the chest, knocking it away from Kell and the other Sireni. It tumbled sideways in the air, roaring soundlessly, and smashed into a cluster of wood barrels.

  Lyric screamed as tiny shards of wood and black stone sprayed across their heads, drawing blood.

  “Come on!” Runa’s captor yelled. He dragged her across the nearest pier, the others scrambling behind him. They passed the bodies of four soldiers crumpled on the wooden dock and Runa stared at them in confusion. Unsure who’d killed them, she raised her head and saw four more white-clothed Sireni waving their arms by a small boat at the end of the platform.

  “Hurry!” one shouted, jabbing a finger at the sky above their heads.

  Tumbling into the boat, the Sireni shoved Runa, Lyric, and Kell into the center and piled around them. Once everyone was aboard, the four new sailors pushed away from the dock and began hauling on the oars.

  Kaia, scrambling to the boat’s prow, leaned over and stuck her hands in the water. She began chanting, her voice quick and lilting. Runa recognized her words as runes, but they sounded different on the Sireni woman’s tongue.

  Responding to Kaia’s power, the water curled around the back of the boat and pushed, propelling them out of the bay into the open ocean. Unfazed by their sudden speed, the wyverns pursued them. The one Kaia hit with the crossbow had recovered and flew close behind the first.

  Runa craned her head to see past Kaia. A boat waited ahead, a large, sleek ship with blue sails. She looked back at the wyve
rns and the rapidly receding docks of Rathgar’s Hold. Whatever spell Kaia cast had increased the distance between them and the stone creatures. Looking at the city, Runa watched the black shape of the castle dwindle in size.

  “He’ll know now,” Runa said softly.

  Lyric, pressed against her, looked up. “What?” she hissed, shielding her eyes from the strands of hair the wind had pulled free from her braid.

  “Our grandfather. My blood activated those creatures. They must be trying to help us. Grandfather will know we were there, or think Mother was.”

  “Will he come after us?” Lyric asked, looking back at the city.

  “I don’t think he can,” Runa said. “What will he chase us in, a merchant’s ship?”

  Their boat bumped alongside the Sireni ship, and a rope ladder dropped down. Sailors lined the railing, firing at the wyverns with crossbows.

  “Cut their ropes!” Kaia ordered. She grabbed Kell’s hands, quickly slicing through his bonds.

  The Sireni freed Runa and Lyric next and forced them to climb the rope ladder onto the deck. They were shoved towards the center mast and pushed onto their knees.

  “Get underway!” Kaia yelled, running towards a tall, muscular man with gold-tinted skin and coarse, brown hair. “Blood trackers!” she said, pointing at the sky.

  One of the wyverns shattered and fell into the sea, unable to withstand the barrage of crossbow bolts from the ship’s sailors.

  The other wyvern crashed into a sailor on the deck, ripping open his chest with stone claws. The man screamed. Runa smelled the tang of fresh blood. Crouched where she was, she was staring into the fallen man’s eyes as his light faded.

  Sailors fell atop the wyvern with curved swords, hacking at it until it came apart in large chunks. The sailor lay dead beneath it; his face turned towards Runa.

  “Toss it into the ocean!” Kaia yelled, heading towards the prow.

  The sailors began to haul the pieces of stone to the railing and throw them into the dark water. Others picked up the dead man and carried him away, leaving behind a trail of blood.

  Runa grabbed Lyric’s hand, and Kell put his arm around her sister’s shoulder.

  Kaia, hands raised skyward in the ship’s prow, yelled into the air. The ship lurched into motion, wind rushing across the open deck.

  Runa watched Rathgar’s Hold disappear, as the Sireni ship carried them away into the open sea.

  20

  Lyric

  Lyric clung to Runa and Kell, watching the fast movements of the Sireni crew as they scrambled across the ship’s deck, pulling on ropes and climbing the rigging. The sails snapped as they caught the wind, billowing out above their heads, and Lyric felt the ship speed up.

  A woman came for them with blond hair and a square, sun-browned face. “Kaia wants them below decks,” she said.

  The man guarding them nodded and looked at Lyric. “Get up,” he said.

  Kell helped Lyric stand, and they followed the woman to a hatch in the center of the ship. She wrenched it open and pointed at Lyric to climb down. Doing so, Lyric found herself in a large room filled with hammocks strung between the posts and beams overhead; some occupied by sleeping Sireni sailors.

  Once Runa, Kell, and the two Sireni climbed down into the chamber, the sailors propelled them past the hammocks to a storage room. It was filled with iron-wrapped barrels and stacks of bundles carefully wrapped in stiff, waxed fabric. At the back, secured to the sides of the ship and separating the room in two, was a tall iron cage. A large, flat plate was attached to the door where the lock should be, dark gold mage runes interlaced across its surface in a teardrop pattern.

  The female sailor slapped her hand against the plate, and the door unlocked with a soft click. Wrenching it open with one muscled arm, she grabbed Lyric by the shoulder and stripped off her pack, tossing it in the corner. “Get in,” the woman said.

  Looking back at Runa and Kell, also being relieved of their packs, Lyric warily stepped into the cage. Runa and Kell were shoved in behind her, and the woman slammed the door shut. It clicked, the lock engaging.

  “What do you intend to do with us?” Runa demanded, glaring at the sailors through the iron bars.

  “That’s up to the Captain,” the woman said. Her eyes lingered on Lyric for a moment, and she shared an uncertain look with the second sailor. “Do you think that …” she started, then trailed off, indicating something with a flick of her eyes.

  The man shrugged and tapped the sword at his waist. “Where would they go?” he asked.

  “True.” She slapped the man on the chest. “Let’s go.”

  Turning, the two Sireni walked back into the sleeping chamber and slammed the door.

  Runa crossed her arms and started pacing back and forth like a cat, her face a mask of rumination.

  A bone-chilling numbness sunk into Lyric’s bones as she stared around their prison. It seemed like only minutes ago that they’d been speaking to Captain Pelaran at the gate. He’d been about to let them in. Whether or not he’d planned to detain them, assuming they’d stolen the pendant, they’d have been within the same building as their grandfather.

  But now, kidnapped and sailing away from Raendashar, help for their mother was farther out of reach. How many leagues now stretched between them and Elaina? She was going to die, and they could do nothing.

  Kell, shrugging off his cloak, pulled Lyric into his arms. She leaned into him, pressing her head against his chest and tried to rise above her despair.

  It was unfamiliar being on a ship. The constant sway made Lyric’s stomach flip. She’d been on a rowboat before, but only on a lake where the water was calm and free from waves.

  “It’d be laughable if this weren’t the worst thing that could have happened,” Runa said.

  Lyric blinked and lifted her head to watch her sister. “What?” she asked.

  “The Sireni have been trying to kidnap us for who knows how long, and now they’ve done it,” Runa said. “Only, the people who took us don’t even realize who we are.”

  “Maybe not yet,” Lyric said. “But they believe you are a princess. Maybe they think you’re a daughter of one of Mama’s siblings.” She rubbed her forehead, trying to think. “They must be taking us to the Gale. Right, Kell?” Lyric asked, looking up at him.

  The skin around Kell’s eye had started to bruise, darkening to a wine-red.

  Kell frowned and nodded. “I think it’s likely. I assume kidnapping a member of the Scorched Court; specifically, someone from the Raendasharan royal family would require a meeting of clans. The Gale will be the ones to decide what to do with you.”

  “She’ll interrogate us, won’t she?” Lyric asked. “The woman, Kaia.”

  “I would if I were her,” Runa said.

  Lyric chewed on her lip, thinking back to Kaia’s comment about her looks and the vague conversation between the two Sireni who'd locked them up. “They think I’m Sireni,” Lyric said, “or that someone in my family is.” She watched Runa pace. “But they don’t think I'm a princess. They must not know our father is Sireni.”

  Runa nodded and worried her thumbnail with her teeth. “I wonder if it helps or hurts us when they realize we share their blood. Does it make us allies, or do we become more dangerous?”

  “I suppose it depends on how much they hate us,” Lyric said.

  “Either way, you’ll be valuable to them,” Kell said. His arms tightened around Lyric.

  “Should we tell them who we are?” Lyric asked. “Maybe we can negotiate. Agree to willingly meet with the Gale, if they let us send a message to help Mama.”

  “Send a message to who?” Runa asked. “King Rakarn?” She barked a laugh. “I’m sure they’d consider that treasonous.”

  “For one of them, maybe,” Lyric said. “Not us. We have to do something, Ru. The longer we’re captives, the longer Mama goes without healing. Grandfather might think it was Mama at the gate and assume she’s hurt, but he won’t know she’s dying in Ivernn. He�
�ll think she’s here.”

  Runa nodded. “We try to negotiate then, and if that doesn’t work, we’ll escape.” She glared around their cell with a fierce expression.

  “Yes,” Lyric said.

  “If we can get to the smaller boat, maybe you can summon wind to blow us to shore,” Kell said.

  Lyric nodded, feeling hopeful. “Yes, we can’t be that far from land.”

  Unfortunately for their plan, no one came.

  After pacing with Runa and Lyric, shouting for help, Kell had sat down with his back to the ship’s hull, and Lyric joined him. It was rather intimate how they were sitting together, with Lyric leaning against his chest and framed by his legs, but she was too tired and thirsty to care what Runa might think. Also, it was decidedly more comfortable than having her back against the wood or iron.

  Lyric’s head lulled against Kell, as she watched Runa flex her hands on the iron bars. Her sister refused to sit, pacing like a caged animal intent on being free.

  “The bastards could at least bring us water,” Runa growled, her voice raspy. “Why hasn’t anyone come down? Where’s Kaia?”

  “Maybe they forgot we’re here,” Lyric said, shifting her legs. She was beginning to worry that the sailors intended on ignoring them until they reached their destination. What if they had hours more to sail? What would she do if she had to relieve herself? She couldn’t, wouldn’t go in front of Kell. She blushed, happy he couldn’t see her face.

  “We’re willing to talk, but no one is here to listen!” Runa said. She growled and stalked back towards Lyric and Kell, finally sitting across from them atop her cloak.

  Lyric looked at the large metal plate on the door and chewed on her lip. She thought about how the sailor had opened it with her palm. The woman hadn’t said anything, hadn’t whispered a rune word. Why had it opened? Was the lock tied to the woman in some way? No, that wouldn’t make sense; having a cage only one person could open. Could it be like the wyverns? Could the lock read your blood and respond in a specified way?