Silence took Farah’s.
“You have lost much,” I said to Farah and turned to Silence. “And you never had much.” I held tight to both their hands. “And now we have each other. So we will part, but we’ll always be as one. We will always have each other. And if you’ll allow me to, I shall bind us together as sisters in a way that no matter where we are, if we need the others, we can call out and join together.”
“How would we do that?” Silence asked.
“I would tie us to each other so we can meet through the astral plane,” I told her. “We would not be together in physical form, but we would be there in mind and in heart. And that is always all that’s needed.”
“It is,” Silence whispered.
“Let us do that,” Farah said.
“Yes, let’s,” Silence agreed.
I nodded.
“Bring your hands up between us, all together,” I instructed.
They did so, I did as well, and we pressed all our clenched fingers together.
“Now, to bind our minds. Bring in your foreheads.”
We joined in that way, pressing our foreheads together over our hands, Silence needing to get up on her toes and Farah and I needing to bend to her, she was so petite, but we did it.
I held tighter.
They did too.
All we could see was our hands and the leaves and dirt beyond them.
And each other.
“I wish Ha-Lah was here,” Silence murmured.
“Me too,” I said. “I will reach out to her. I cannot say it will work, but hopefully it will, and it will bind her to us as well.”
I felt nodding against my head.
“Let us begin,” I urged. “Repeat after me. We are strong.”
“We are strong,” they said in unison.
The sensation gathered in my back and I sent it down my legs, to the earth.
“We are minds,” I chanted.
“We are minds.”
“We are hearts.”
“We are hearts.”
I looked between Farah and Silence, their eyes so close, topaz and silver, as I felt the swirling around our ankles.
“We are wombs.”
“We are wombs.”
The magic moved up, enveloping feet, ankles, calves and knees.
“We are survivors.”
“We are survivors.”
And up, to our thighs and hips.
“We are warriors.”
“We are warriors.”
And the whirlwind consumed our bodies up to our torsos.
“We are one.”
“We are one.”
“We are sisters.”
“We are sisters.”
Our hair blew and tangled together all around us as the vortex fully engulfed us.
“I have but to call, and you will be there.”
“I have but to call, and you will be there,” Farah repeated.
“I have but to call, and you will be there,” Silence intoned.
“Nothing will break us.”
“Nothing will break us.”
“We are of the blood.”
“We are of the blood.”
“We are of the moon and stars.”
“We are of the moon and stars.”
“We are of the earth and seas.”
“We are of the earth and seas.”
“We are born of magic.”
“We are born of magic.”
“We are Sisters of the Beast!”
I repeated it with them, and we all cried, “We are Sisters of the Beast!”
The cyclone grew stronger around us, slapping our clothing against our bodies, whipping our hair in our faces.
Then it flew up, carrying us off our feet several feet up into the air.
“Hold strong!” I yelled, surprised by the strength of the spell, for it was an important casting, but I’d never experienced this kind of power when in the thralls of it.
The twister forced our bodies tight together, and my sisters and I kept hold, even as a burst of energy exploded between us. It and the maelstrom rose up to the skies, whipping the branches in a frenzy above us, tearing the dying leaves from the trees while departing us.
We dropped to the earth, and our linked hands held fast kept us together and on our feet.
“Holy goddess, what the fuck?” Jasmine asked from close.
I looked about us.
All our guards were close.
The men were scowling.
Hera was smiling.
Jasmine was eyeing me.
“Sister, you are something else,” she decreed.
She was wrong.
I was not.
I looked to Silence and Farah.
We were something else.
With the astonishment I saw on their faces, I understood they knew it too.
We all smiled at each other before I let them go and linked arms with both of them, turning them back the way we came.
“Let us return.”
The guard fanned out again and we sisters walked.
“That was…that was…” Farah stammered.
“Amazing,” Silence breathed.
“I wish I could take you both to The Enchantments with me,” I told them. “I have a feeling you’d love it.”
“I have already been there, so I know I would,” Silence said. “It would just be all the better to be there with friends.
“I had never thought to journey there, but now…” Farah trailed off.
“When this is all done, we will meet there. One day,” I vowed.
“We will,” Silence agreed.
“Absolutely,” Farah said.
“With Ha-Lah too,” Silence said.
“All four. In celebration. When we vanquish the Beast,” I declared.
“I hope she is all right,” Silence put in. “Things did not seem a’tall well with her when she left with her king.”
“I will seek her, just to sense her, make sure she is all right, and when we meet on the plane, I will share,” I told them.
“If she isn’t?” Silence asked.
“We’ll figure it out then,” I murmured.
We walked.
After a time, Farah broke our silence.
“Can I…do you mind…can I…?”
She did not finish.
“Can you what?” I asked.
“True is not sleeping well,” she said on a rush.
I looked to her and Silence bent in front of me to do the same.
“There’s quite a bit happening,” Silence noted.
“It is a soldier’s burden,” Farah whispered.
I stopped, but even if I didn’t, Silence did, so we all did.
“I don’t know how to help him,” Farah announced, sounding just that.
Helpless to help True.
It did not surprise me, but nevertheless, it broke my heart to hear that True had the battle dreams.
But I liked to see how distraught it made Farah.
Not that I wished her to be distraught, or, say, more distraught after all she’d endured.
But I did like that it was clear she cared that much about True.
“He is not of them,” Silence told her.
I looked to Silence but it was Farah who spoke aloud my question.
“What?”
Silence shook her head and moved to form a huddle again.
“He is not of them. Uncle Wilmer. Aunt Mercy. Carrington. Courtiers. Castles. Pomp. Pageantry. Tradition. When you arrive at the castle, watch his face when someone bows to him. It…” She shook her head and finished on a whisper, “It always distressed me.”
“I don’t understand,” Farah whispered in return.
“He would be a shepherd, if that was his lot, and be that happily,” Silence shared. “A farmer. A forester. The keeper of an inn. He would have a hearth and a wife and a family and have naught even a line in a single tome in Go’Doan written to record his life and his mark on this earth after hi
s passing. And he would do that with gladness in his heart, if he passed knowing in that life, he gave love and protected the ones he gave it to.”
Farah was staring at Silence.
I was doing the same.
“But he will be the greatest king Wodell has ever known,” Silence said fiercely. “And he will be because of this. Because he takes the hand of a farmer, he feels the callouses, and he knows the toil. Because he watches the ribbon weaving of the Day of Alabasta, the smiles on the children’s faces, and he understands a day of rest needs to be proclaimed across the kingdom so his people can rejoice. Because, Farah, when he arrives home after a battle, he does not send lieutenants to share of the fallen. He travels Wodell with his men and he tells wives and mothers this news himself, he understands their suffering and it makes an indelible mark on his soul.”
“Dear gods,” Farah whispered.
“I didn’t know he did that,” I said.
“He does,” Silence confirmed. “A man who is like that, I do not know.” She shook her head sadly. “What I do know is that True needs to be needed. The only healing I suspect he can feel is to know he is helping someone. That they not only wish his presence but need it. Need him. Need True. Not Prince True of Wodell. True Axelsson, a good man, a kind man. And although, if it was in my power to give back to you what you have lost, I would do so, I suspect now, and it should be noted, every day in your futures together, you would be doing all you can simply needing him to be with you.”
“I suspected this too,” Farah said. “The weight of it seems to leave him when he feels useful.”
Silence gave her a small smile. “Your instinct is right. And as such, I would not question it in future. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”
“It doesn’t seem like much,” Farah noted.
“Perhaps, but for True it would be everything,” Silence replied.
“Is he…Mars is…” Farah took in a deep breath and let it out, saying. “Mars is revered in Firenze, as his father was. He is strong, and he is sure in his vision for our realm. The improvements King Ares began, and Mars continues, have made life much better for those who had very little before. Which makes those who had very much not so happy. But I believe they are coming to understand that if Mars carries the hearts of the common, they must learn to adjust, for their number is much smaller. Every coup attempt against Mars has been taken quite badly by the people, and they have been hard to control in their desires to rise up against those who wish our realm taken back to tyranny. And the assassination of Ares caused such grief across the land, I do not think even now, years later, they have recovered. It is only Mars’s continued and resolute campaign to carry on his father’s work that heartens them. This land…Wilmer…his counsel…and, well…me, a Firenz. I do not know. It is much different here, and it troubles me. It troubles me for me, and it troubles me for True.”
When she was done, Silence gave her a bright smile and declared, “I am most pleased you travel our realm with True. For you will see.” Her smile got bigger. “You will see.”
“I’ll see what?” Farah asked.
“You will see he is not revered,” I chimed in.
Farah looked alarmed.
“He’s beloved,” Silence shared.
The alarm fled, and Farah’s lips parted.
“He has but to look upon you with adoration and respect, which he already does, and the Dellish will adore you, Farah. Do not fear,” Silence urged. “Aunt Mercy and Uncle Wilmer, my mother and father too, they are not like True, and the people of Wodell know it. He is of royal blood, ’tis true. But he is of them, and they know that too.” Silence got closer to Farah. “And Mercy should heed that. You are from Firenze, but you could be from the moon, and if True wanted you, the people of Wodell would want you too.”
“Truly?” Farah asked.
Silence nodded. “Truly.” She smiled again. “And truly, I love this for you. You will have a grand and wonderous adventure, Farah, after all you’ve endured. And True will be thrilled he is the one who gets to give it to you.”
“I had looked forward to this, for True seemed keen to have it, but I now look forward to it all the more,” Farah said, moving them all so they’d start walking again.
“You should. The home of my birth is charming and second only to The Enchantments in being filled with magic,” Silence told her. “With True as your guide, you have no hope but to fall in love.”
“I already find it very beautiful,” Farah decreed.
I looked to my right to see Wallace and Luther both walking, and scanning, but their backs were straighter, their chests more puffed out.
Their future queen was becoming enamored with their land.
And their future king.
And they liked it.
Brilliant.
Things had not been going all that well, I sensed, for any of us.
Or amongst all of us.
And now we were parting.
I got to go home, something I greatly looked forward to.
Silence and Farah, I had worried, were facing things they wished not to face.
I felt this way no longer.
Silence seemed again lively and engaged, as she had before the attack on the palace.
And the veil of grief had not completely subsided, as it wouldn’t for some time.
But Farah’s smiles were coming freer, even freer than before her mother died.
And the distance between my two sisters was gone.
So we would all be apart.
Then we would all be together, with Ha-Lah again completing us.
But at least for now, all was well.
52
The Allies
Prince Cassius
Fifty Miles Inside the Southern Border
WODELL
Prince Cassius stood with Macrinus and Antonius in the forest on the opposite side of the moors to the wood where the women were taking a stroll, and all three men stared at the oddly transparent witch who was upright, but equally oddly floating above the earth before them.
“They have been waiting many a year for just this chance, Your Grace,” Fern promised. “They will be ready.”
“It’s essential this is kept completely secret, Fern,” Cassius reminded her. “The new proclamations haven’t yet been made. We can’t begin to know how they’ll be accepted. It might not be they’re needed.”
“They will be needed, my prince,” Fern said in a dire tone. “Word has spread wide about the weddings, the identity of your intended and the preparations at the citadel for your own nuptials. There is unrest.”
This was not news to him. Nero had reported much the same in the birds he’d sent.
It still did not fail to annoy him.
Fern took in his expression and went on, “Though, there is also much hope.”
“We’re making maneuvers to quell any unrest,” he told her. “Otho is heading to you. After Nero delivers Aelia to The Enchantments, he, too, will return to Sky Bay. Soldiers loyal to me have been dispatched in squads to keep inconspicuous but close eye on the gentry. And your spies will be helpful.”
She dipped her chin, ever humble.
But it could be that history would repeat itself and the arrogance of the ruling male elite would be their downfall.
Many of them didn’t think twice about talking openly in front of a scullery maid, a mistress or a wife. The confidence they felt in their superiority meant they completely missed, in many cases, they were living with the enemy.
And in what was sure to come in Airen, that enemy was Cassius’s ally.
He just hoped it wasn’t so fucking bloody this time around.
“Mars has dispatched four regiments to the northeastern border of Firenze,” he reminded her. “They will remain in their own land, but two thousand men will more than likely not be missed by Airenzian scouts. If any in Airenzian should act on this unrest, they will be sent the order to move in and keep peace, with five more regiments to follow. Not to menti
on, Aramus’s fleet will be at the ready to blockade all ports if they’re called. And I will ride with my men, and True’s, entering Airen from the western borders. If any make moves, before you put your women in jeopardy, let us see if these alliances make the statement we wish them to make so arms are laid down before too many, if any, are lost.”
“Please do not be mistaken, Prince Cassius. The women are ready to fight,” Fern told him.
“I am not mistaken, Mistress Fern,” he replied. “However, they are not trained.”
“They were not trained the Night of the Fallen Masters, and they still successfully executed a revolution,” Fern replied.
She was not wrong about that.
Therefore, to that, he dipped his chin to her.
“Thank you for casting your protections over Aelia and Nero,” he said.
She nodded and replied, “Be safe on your journey to The Enchantments.”
“And you just be safe,” he ordered. “With this instability, you will naturally be under suspicion. I do not need to tell you that they do not need to know their suspicions are accurate.”
Fern tipped her head to the side in acknowledgement before she blinked out of sight.
Cassius turned on his boot and started walking back to where they had camped.
His men fell in step at his sides.
The tents were down. Belongings packed. The horses loaded. And hundreds of soldiers had readied their mounts, prepared to move out.
Once the women returned, it would be time for all of them to go their separate ways.
However, now that the talk was accomplished with Fern, he needed a word with Mars and True before he and Elena started on their journey to The Enchantments.
“I don’t like it,” Tone muttered.
“Which part of the many things not to like that are happening are you referring to?” Cassius asked.
“You, riding solely with Mac and Ian to The Enchantments,” Tone replied.
“Mac and Ian, Elena, Hera, Jasmine, and Elena tells me Hera’s lover, Rosehana will also be with us,” Cassius corrected him.
“Only five guards for a future king and queen?” Tone inquired.
“We will be all right,” Cassius murmured.
“We’re spread too thin,” Antonius returned. “Nero and Otho in Airen. Me and Rus staying with your father. You heading with minimal guard to The Enchantments.”
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