House of Vultures

by Maggie Claire

  “Of course, I did!” Condor bites at me with a grin. “I specifically chose the House of Vultures because of Hawk! He thought I was dead, so he never suspected my true identity. I took the mask of a condor for a reason, Mynah. It is a scavenger bird, a death harbinger. That’s how I wanted my father to see me, once I finally revealed my face. He was a monster to me! Everything I did to him was vengeance!”

  A knife flashes before my eyes, the tip aiming at Condor’s heart as Wolf slinks up beside me once more.

  “Do not kill him!” Siri commands as she lands in the yard of the House of Vultures. The strength of the wind as she beats her wings is enough to push the point of Wolf’s knife toward the ground. “Twins are a precious rarity, Wolf. When they appear, it is with good reason. As much as you may hate the idea, you two need each other more than you might realize.”

  With great effort, Wolf replaces the knife in its sheath, a wicked smile on his lips. “I don’t need metal to hurt you, Condor. I can strip you of everything you love most without even lifting a finger. Or rather, Mynah can.”

  A shudder racks my limbs as Wolf puts an arm around me. I don’t like the ruthless side of him, I acknowledge as my back stiffens against his touch. “I don’t understand; what can I do to him?”

  “Do you know how leadership passes in the houses? By death and its hand—meaning that you are the true leader of the House, Mynah. You have been since the day that you killed Hawk.”

  I feel like all the air has rushed out of my lungs. I catch Wolf’s arm to hold myself upright as that sinks in. For thirteen years, this House has been under a false rule. The starvation, the backward rules about food going to the men alone when it’s scarce, the beatings and public ridicules, the traitor binds…. Guilt pours over me as I think of all the things that I could have done differently. If I had only known! “She’d never have died,” I weep to myself, knowing that I would have removed Creeper and Falcon long before they could have hurt Warbler.

  “You cannot fix that, love.” Wolf brushes a stray tear from my cheek, pulling me back from my heartache. He’s right; I cannot do anything about her loss now.

  But I can mete out justice for Condor and Falcon. “You are named as traitors to the House for assuming titles that were not yours to claim. I should remove your masks and let the others tear you apart. However, Siri believes that at least you, Condor, are of use to us, and I will honor my Ddraig’s wishes. I will not kill you; but I will do nothing to save you either. Find a way out of these binds and you are free. If you do, you are as the nameless unchosen, and none will hesitate to kill you.” Falcon wails as I finish, tugging on Wolf’s hand as I move toward Siri’s side. “Carry us to the Pith,” I demand, desperate to leave this place for a few moments of solitude.

  Chapter 11

  Neither Cane nor I speak during the flight to the Pith caverns. Cane, though I can feel he is furious with me, is too preoccupied by the scenery to argue during its view. He drinks in the sight of the hills and meadows, wondering at the River Sangre as it rushes to its oceanic end. My thoughts are far away, brooding over the Devil’s Spine.

  The boy is alive. He’s returning to Déchets injured and broken. Will he live, or will he die? Will his father come for vengeance? What will happen to Siri if he does? I brood over the possibilities just to keep my thoughts from turning to Cane, Condor, and Hawk. Father. I chide myself for letting my mind drift in their direction. What kind of cruel joke would pit two sons against each other? What kind of son would betray his father like Condor did?

  When Siri lands, she disappears into the Pith immediately. “Only enter this place when you are finished sharing what you both harbor in your hearts.”

  Before her long tail has fully slunk through the cave mouth, Cane removes his mask to face me.

  “I am so sorry,” I sob, my silver traced fingers wiping my eyes.

  “Now is hardly the right moment, Mynah.”

  The real you and the real me—hadn’t Cane said that to me only a few hours ago? Yet he’s still calling me Mynah. Is it a sign of a fickle devotion or the depth of my sin against him? With a whimper, I choke out the rest of my explanation, ignoring his admonition. “I did what I thought was best. I could not free Hawk! If you had seen him, you would understand how his death was a blessing. He begged me to die, Cane—”

  “Stop, please.” Wolf’s voice is gruff as he interrupts me. “I need space. Give me some time to be away from you.”

  Oh, how sharp are those words as they twist into my heart! I fully expect to lift my shirt and see blood pumping from a wound in my chest. Yet didn’t I want the same exact thing when he killed Lion? Is this how he felt when I pushed him aside? Staring at the vast expanse around us, I whisper. “Well, there is plenty of room in the Pith, isn’t there? Where do you want me to go? There’s nothing in this wasteland that will hide me from your sight.”

  Without a response, Cane stands up and turns in a circle, gaining his bearings with every move. He takes off in a blur, kicking up sand and grit as he scurries as far from me as possible. In the solitude, the weight of everything bears down upon my head. What happens now? I cannot change what I have done any more than I can change the path of the sun across the sky!

  “You did what was right by me.” Hawk’s familiar voice rings in my ears. His throaty laugh, his calloused fingers on my elbow. If I close my eyes, I can still see him as he was before Falcon tortured him. Though he was a bulky man, his large hands were surprising good at tasks requiring a gentle touch. He’d be sitting beside me right now, fletching arrows or sewing patches onto his overly mended jacket.

  “You were always a fair-minded leader, but in this instance, I think you are just showing me mercy,” I croak, inhaling the familiar scent of rosemary water. He always used to soak his clothes in the stuff, leaving the pricier soap for the women of the House.

  “I held everyone to a hard standard,” Hawk admits with a sigh, “I should have been less demanding.”

  “You were tough, but you were good, Hawk. People knew where they stood with you. I’d give anything to go back and change the events that led to your death.”

  “Little Mynah.” Hawk’s voice holds the upturned hint of a smile as he says my name, “You can only move forward. You are not a child anymore.”

  “Oh, how I have missed you so,” I whisper, scarcely able to breathe as his piercing eyes turn on me in my imagination. “Where did I go wrong, Hawk? Was it when I killed you, or was it when I spared Antero? Or was it when I killed Creeper? What gives anyone the right to decide the life or death of another person?”

  I swear I almost feel the warmth of his body and hear the gentle scratching of sand as he pushes his toes into its depths. “Can you not see that I asked you to kill me so you could lead the House of Vultures? Little Mynah, you did exactly what I wanted. I just wish you’d known the laws better.”

  “As do I! Oh, what am I going to do?” I wail, burying my face in my hands.

  “Whatever you do, little Mynah, do it with conviction.” Hawk’s voice begins to fade as his vision disappears from my mind. “Stick to whatever you think is right.”

  “How do I know what is right and what is wrong?” I question, but an answer from Hawk does not come.

  After a while, the distinct sound of boots crunching the sand catches my attention. I do not have to look to know that Wolf is finished brooding. His hardened gaze bores hateful holes in my forehead as he waits for the fight to begin. I swallow, forcing myself to breathe before I whisper, “Well? Do I have the right to apologize? Will it even make a difference?”

  “No, Mynah, you do not have the right to say such things to me. How does ‘I’m sorry’ bring Hawk back? A simple apology cannot undo the taking of a life!”

  “Do you really believe that I don’t know that?” I snarl, my own temper rising at his callousness. “I have missed Hawk every day since his death! If there had been an alternative to killing him, I would have found it before I drew the knife across his throat! But
he was dying, and he used what little strength he had left to beg for a quick end. I showed him the only mercy I could afford him. Can you really not see how his loss has affected everything I have done?”

  Wolf scoffs, pointing a finger at me as he accuses. “Murder, Mynah. You murdered him! And you cannot possibly know what I am feeling right now.”

  “Really? Because there’s blood on your hands that belongs to my kin too,” I answer stoically, my outrage growing so strong in my heart that it turns my body cold. My words are expressionless and frozen as I explain my familial connection to Lion.

  Wolf sinks into the sand, hands covering his eyes. “I did not know,” he mutters with a small, frail sounding voice.

  “Those words don’t magically remove the pain, do they? I told you I didn’t know Hawk was your father, but the ache of his loss remains. Nothing can remove the bloodstains from my hands.”

  “When did you realize that Lion was your uncle?”

  “Not until it was too late. When I saw his face, I remembered seeing him at my old family house. It had been so long since I had seen him, and with the added barrier of a mask, he was quite forgotten to me.”

  “That explains why you were so prickly toward me that evening.” Wolf gulps, his hands burrowing into the sand around his legs. “I had just assumed it was the brutality of Lion’s punishment. Had I known he was your family, I….” Wolf’s words trail off.

  “Lynx deserved justice for what she endured at Lion’s hand. It took me a while, but I came to realize this.”

  “But why did you not tell me sooner?” Wolf demands, turning to face me once more.

  “I needed space, much like you just did here and now. Then, everything was happening so fast that there was never a good time to talk about it.” We sit in defeated silence until the sunlight makes the sand burn like flames on my skin. I do not apologize aloud anymore. I could say those words every day, and it would never be enough.

  “Can we move past this, Iris?” Wolf asks me suddenly, his hand running through his hair as he stares at his feet, unable to look me in the eye.

  I know he’s forgiven me by the way he uses my true name. Still, I need to hear the words aloud. “I don’t know. I mean, I’ve known about Lion since the day of his death. Despite everything good that I remember about the man, Lion became a monster in this broken world. His death avenged Lynx and her unborn child. You are the one who has to find a way past what I have done. I killed an innocent man.” The kindly laughter of Hawk seems to float on the breeze, haunting in its soft lullaby.

  “I loved him, Iris, I won’t deny that. But Hawk was not exactly an innocent man either. He had his own dark secrets,” Wolf answers as his tentative fingers run along my jaw. Even though his eyes tear, I can tell he’s not repulsed by me. “Iris, I have kept one thing more from you. Siri said that we both had to unburden our hearts, and I think it is time to tell you this. There is nothing you have done or will do that can change how I feel. I have loved you for a long time, and if you killed Hawk to save him from misery, I can accept that. This damned world that we live in turns the best of us into monsters at times. But I love you. I will love you more tomorrow, and nothing you’ve disclosed to me changes that.”

  The racking sob I’ve been holding in my chest pours from my heart as I climb into Cane’s waiting arms. Between my sorrows I tell him everything that I remember about his father, leaving out only the way I’d found him before his death. All the happy moments—how he’d taught me to shoot a bow and throw a knife, how he’d sing by the fire light when we’d had good luck while hunting late on warm summer nights. One dusk, when I was barely ten years old, he’d found me crying and told me stories until I could fall asleep. He’d carried me to my bed and tucked me in just like my own father used to do. As I finish my tales, Cane raises my face to his, kissing away my tears. We hold each other in the scalding sun and let ourselves burn, needing each other in that moment more than anything else.

  When we can finally break away, Cane pulls me toward the cave’s entrance. He leans over and kisses my forehead before disappearing into the cavern, calling, “I will catch you when you fall.”

  I hope those words are meant also for my heart, I think as I jump into the darkness.

  Cane’s steady arms never falter as they halt my descent. Fire erupts in an arc around us as I push out of his embrace. My eyes search the cavern’s expanse for any sign of danger. “Siri! What’s wrong?”

  Another Ddraig, a black iridescent creature, roars over us, his scales glistening green and blue as he shakes his head. “It is a welcome, Cadogan, the first of many, we hope.” The beast focuses its great eyes on Cane, twisting his head from side to side as he inspects the newcomer. The Ddraig sniffs the air, staring at Cane expectantly.

  “What is your name?” I call out to the black Ddraig, but he seems to be too interested in Cane to hear me.

  “How are you claimed? Who determines which Cadogan and Ddraig belong together?” Cane inquires of the hulking creature. He is one of many in the cave; glittering eyes in various hues pepper the shadows along the cavern walls. Some spiked tails swish impatiently in their hiding places. All it would take is for one of them to startle, and the entire cavern would be a blur of wings and fire.

  “Cadogans and Ddraigs are matched by blood,” Siri answers as she slinks up beside the dark creature, nuzzling his chin. “The blessing skips generations at random, but it connects you to one of our kind. No one has ever quite understood it. What is your true name, boy?” Watching them, I am sure that they are communicating beyond what my ears can hear. I see it in the way the black Ddraig’s eyes squint, the subtle shake of his head, and the widening silver eyes of Siri before she stares at me once more.

  “Cane,” he replies, his hand slowly linking to mine.

  A murmur rumbles through the surrounding Ddraigs as they pass his name through their ranks. While only Siri and the other Ddraig stand before us, the sounds of the others resonate through the tunnels. When no beast steps forward to claim Cane, dread thrums through me as loudly as my heartbeat, and I squeeze his hand in reassurance. Surely, if anyone of us has the heart of a warrior, it is Cane. “Are there other Ddraigs still hidden in the cavern’s tunnels?” I ask hopefully. However, Siri’s silence is answer enough. This can’t be right! Cane has to have a Ddraig!

  “You have a twin, do you not? What is his true name?” the black Ddraig inquires, his gruff voice softening as he speaks.

  I did not want to hear Condor’s true name, to have that binding of minds grow between us. I breathe a sigh of relief when Cane answers stiffly, “I do not know; we were never close enough to share such intimate information. Why does the name of my twin matter to you?”

  “There is something strange about your blood, Cane. I am sorry.” Siri sits in front of me and says no more, as if that explanation is enough to end our conversation.

  Her revelation fills me with shock. “Wait, what? There’s got to be more—”

  “What do you mean, ‘there’s something strange in my blood?” Cane demands over my confusion, pacing in front of my Ddraig. “What does that mean?”

  Siri huffs indignantly, breathing deep around Cane once more. Her nose wrinkles as if she smells something rotten. “I can’t explain why you should carry this odor, but you will find no Ddraig here that will claim you. I am sorry.”

  “What happens now?” I press, unwilling to let this conversation go. “There has to be a way to remove this impurity…,” I give Cane an apologetic look before continuing, “so that he can become a Cadogan once his blood is cleaned, right?”

  “We will bring the rest of your houses here to see if they are of Ddraig blood. Then we teach you to be a true Cadogan leader, as is your right, Iris.” Siri lowers her head before me until her eyes are on my level.

  “And what about Cane?” I eke out through gritted teeth. You will tell me what I seek to know, Siri. Now.

  Fine. “Cane will not have a Ddraig, I am afraid. He will have to st
ay with the ones that are unchosen.”

  That word drives a hiss from my throat. Unchosen. Up to now “unchosen” has meant a death sentence. Cane drops my hand as though stung, squaring his strong shoulders in preparation for a fight. “That’s not good enough! I’m not letting Iris stay behind with you monsters until I know more about your kind. Find me a Ddraig too, you huge, hideous brute!”

  Iris snorts, a plume of fire circling Cane’s body as if in warning. All the fight leaves him the moment he chokes on acrid smoke. “One of us will take you back to your camp.”

  An iridescent black creature looms over us, sparkling riots of color bursting where the light touches his scales. “Say your goodbyes here, Iris. It may be a while before you meet again.”

  “There has to be another way,” I protest even as Cane bundles me under his arm close to his heart.

  “I can’t fight them. It will have to be this way for now,” he breathes into my hair feebly.

  “It’s not fair!” I cry into his chest. Everything keeps pulling us in opposite directions! You just told me you love me, and I…. Desperately I want to say the words aloud, but something stays my lips. His cruel and grasping actions lately make me wonder if I really know him at all. Maybe a little space would be the best thing for me right now.

  “We will see each other again. I meant what I said earlier, Iris. I love you, and that hasn’t changed.” He kisses my forehead, a tear slipping down his face to land just below my eye. “Be careful. Learn what you can about these creatures, but do not trust them.”

  A dragon of a brilliant green like new tree leaves screeches as it barrels toward us. Claws outstretched, the creature rips Cane out of my grasp and out of the Pith before I even have the chance to scream.

  Wheeling, I stare into the silver eyes of my Ddraig. “You knew all along, didn’t you? You knew that Cane loved me, and that he was not a Cadogan.”