by Jen McIntosh
Sure enough. ‘Can we think about it?’
Their mother’s lips twisted into a small smirk, but she said nothing and nodded. Suriya nudged him again, and at her pointed glare, he wolfed down some breakfast before they excused themselves and bolted for Renila’s rooms.
His sister’s pacing was making Lucan’s head spin, but she was showing no sign of stopping soon, so he closed his eyes and flopped back on Erion’s bed. Neither he nor Renila were in their room, but they hadn’t expected them to be. Erion would be working in the stables, and Renila was still upstairs in their chambers changing the bedsheets. It was just a safe space to talk. Away from their mother.
‘How can you sleep right now?’ Suriya snapped.
‘I’m not sleeping,’ he grumbled. ‘Your pacing is just giving me a headache.’
Suriya spun to face him, her hair crackling with static again. Lucan tried not to laugh – he really did – but she looked ridiculous.
‘This isn’t funny, Lucan!’ she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation.
But Lucan could hardly breathe through the fit of giggles gripping him. ‘Sorry,’ he choked eventually. ‘You just look ridiculous when you’re angry!’
The look she gave him was pure death. He stopped laughing and sat up straight.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said as sincerely as he could manage. ‘But I don’t understand what you’re so stressed about. I know it’ll be hard to have separate rooms, but won’t it be worth it for her to treat us like grown-ups? She wants me to train with Farran!’
‘That’s exactly what I’m so stressed about,’ Suriya retorted, folding her arms across her chest. ‘You’re so enamoured with the prospect of learning to fight that you’ve forgotten everything else she said.’
‘What do you mean?’ he asked, not really listening as he brandished a broom handle around in mock swordplay. Suriya caught the other end and wrenched it from his grasp.
‘I mean that you’re so wrapped up in yourself you’ve forgotten the part where she said we have to get rid of Renila,’ she snapped.
‘I am not!’ he objected, snatching back the broom handle. ‘I know what she said. But Renila would still be around. And we’re old enough now; we don’t need a nanny.’
Suriya dodged as he over-extended and almost thumped her across the head with his mock sword. He knew she was scowling at him, but he didn’t care. She was just trying to ruin his fun. She was so boring sometimes.
But she was also extremely stubborn. ‘What if she sends Renila away? We’d never see her or Erion ever again,’ she persisted. ‘If you’re training with Farran all the time, you won’t be able to spend any time with Erion anymore. He’s your best friend, and he’s sick, and you’re just going to ignore him because you’re so selfish!’
Furious, he rounded on her, waving the broom handle in her face. ‘You’re just jealous that I get to do something exciting while you’re stuck inside doing girly things with mother. But you are a girl Suriya – maybe it’s time you learned how to be one. You act like you’re so clever and better than me, but you’re wrong. You’re just a scared little girl pretending to be something you’re not!’
Suriya flinched at his words, and he felt a flash of guilt. But he knew he was right, so he pushed those feelings down deep and looked down his nose at her with smug superiority. He was nearly a man, and she was just a silly girl. She couldn’t understand how important it was that he trained with Farran.
‘This is what she wants,’ she choked. ‘She’s trying to divide us, because she knows that we’re stronger together.’
But the unshed tears shining in her golden eyes only strengthened his resolve. ‘No. You are stronger with me, because alone you are weak and pathetic,’ he snarled.
She shoved past him and ran to the door. But she paused on the threshold and looked back at him, tears now staining her rosy cheeks.
‘You’re nothing but a bully, Lucan, picking on people smaller than you to make you feel better about yourself. You’re a coward.’
And then she was gone.
Suriya wiped her cheeks dry as she slipped through the corridors. She wouldn’t let anyone else see her cry. Her mind was racing. It wasn’t their first argument, but Lucan had said nothing so hateful before. It hurt, even though she knew he hadn’t meant it. He was angry and scared. He always preferred to hide from a problem rather than confront it head on. For all his brashness, Lucan hated conflict.
She wanted to scream. Her mother’s games were simple enough to see, but there was nothing she could do to fight them. She was just a child, powerless to dictate her own life. It was as though her mother didn’t want children at all – just obedient pets.
Suriya scowled, staring out the window at the nearby forest. She wasn’t some well-trained dog, kept to perform tricks to entertain her mother. She was her own person, and she was damned if she was going to let anyone else control her life a moment longer.
A vision pierced through her thoughts. It was blurry. As if viewed through the fog of time, or the haze of a dream. An indistinct face hovered just beyond reach and … were those kind, golden eyes smiling down at her? A woman’s voice spoke and, though she didn’t recognise it, she felt a warm, safe sense of familiarity when she heard it.
‘Fate and destiny are for those too weak to forge their own paths,’ it said.
Suriya blinked, and the vision vanished. Had it been real or imagined? She wasn’t sure. But those words tugged at the edge of her memory. Wherever they had come from, they’d struck a chord deep in her soul. Even if unease did coil in her stomach at the whole thing. Dreams were one thing, even daydreams. But visions? Magic? It wasn’t possible …
With a deep breath, she set her shoulders and shoved the fear from her mind. No matter what Lucan or anyone else said, she was not weak. And someday, somehow, she would prove it to him.
Suriya’s words haunted Lucan for the rest of the day. He didn’t like what she’d said, and he liked the fact that he’d had no response even less. There wasn’t much he hated more than not getting the last word.
Desperate for vindication, he sought Erion in the stables. The stable master scowled, warning him not to distract the boy from his work. He waffled some promises he had no intention of keeping and dashed off in the direction the old man pointed.
Erion was alone in a stall, brushing down the Lady’s coal-black mare. Storm was a vicious-tempered brute, prone to biting and kicking almost anyone who came near her, and as big as some stallions. She’d always behaved for Erion, and Lucan’s mother had eventually conceded that his friend had a gift. Allowing Erion to care for her mount was about the only concession she’d ever made for him, so he took his duty seriously, much to Lucan’s disappointment. Work was so boring.
Storm snorted as he approached, warning him to keep his distance even as the gleam in her eye dared him to get closer. Well-versed in all her tricks, he swiped an apple from Erion’s pocket as he entered the stall and held it out as a peace offering. She snatched it from his hand and turned away, grudgingly accepting his presence while she chomped on the treat.
‘Bribery,’ Erion said, rolling his eyes. ‘I was going to give her that as a reward for being good once I’d finished!’
‘So give her another one.’
‘It’s not good for her to have too many.’ Lucan just shrugged, perched himself on the small bale of fresh hay in the corner, and didn’t apologise. Erion heaved a heavy sigh and shook his head. ‘What is it?’
‘What do you mean?’
Erion turned and afforded him a long, flat stare. ‘You’re in a foul mood; you clearly want to talk about it – why don’t you just get it over with and tell me about whatever’s bothering you?’
‘Suriya and I had an argument,’ Lucan admitted with a scowl. Erion crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, waiting. Lucan rolled his eyes and elaborated. ‘My mother is going to let me train with Farran, but Suriya told me not to do it. She’s just jealous, because she’s a girl, so s
he has to do boring girl stuff with Mother. I told her as much, and she called me a bully and a coward – which is ridiculous, because I’m far braver than she is.’
‘I’m sure she didn’t mean it—’ Erion began.
Lucan cut him off. ‘Yes, she did. She’s mad! She thinks my mother is plotting to split us up and send you and Renila away! All because Mother said that, now we’re adults, we should have different rooms and that we don’t need a nanny!’
Erion was quiet for a while, toying with his ring. ‘What if she’s right?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Lucan snapped.
Erion’s eyes flickered from storm-grey to wolf-yellow as his worry gave way to annoyance. ‘But what if she is, Lucan?’
Lucan leapt to his feet, anger rising in his throat. ‘So now you agree with her? You think I’m being selfish!’
‘I didn’t say that,’ Erion began.
‘That’s what Suriya said! She said I’m selfish and cowardly, and you think so too!’
‘I didn’t—’
‘Well, I’m not! I’m brave and strong, and I’m going to prove it!’
Turning on his heel, he stormed out, so angry he barely noticed where he was going. But as he passed Copper’s stall at the far end of the building, he stopped. An idea formed. His mother had never allowed him a horse of his own, but Renila had taken him out on her placid – if stubborn – mare plenty of times. He glanced around, checking nobody was watching, and slipped inside.
Copper’s saddle was slung over the wooden partition separating her from Farran’s stallion, and her bridle hung from a peg on the wall. The mare eyed him curiously but accepted his presence.
‘Time for an adventure,’ he murmured.
Copper was whinnying, as if in warning, as he led her from the stables. He hushed her with a gentle hand, but she continued to push her nose into his shoulder and snort unhappily until they were outside the castle walls. Even when he calmed her enough to mount, he could feel the tension radiating through her body. He briefly recalled Erion talking about how smart some animals were and wondered if the mare could sense the trouble he would be in for breaking the rules. He pushed the thought from his mind. She was just a horse.
She squealed in protest as he dug his heels into her sides, but she did as she was bid. He urged her into a gallop, charging through the farmers’ fields towards his shadowy goal.
The Ravenswood. The one place he was forbidden to go, above all others. A place of mystery and nightmares. A place he was tired of fearing. Suriya had called him a coward. Worse, he knew Erion agreed with her. Well, he would prove them both wrong. Only the bravest souls would ever dare to enter that accursed forest.
He slowed Copper to a walk as they approached. His heart was pounding in his chest, his breath catching in his throat while he battled with himself. Beneath him, Copper shivered with apprehension, her footsteps hesitant as he pressed her onward.
Any warmth left in the autumn air evaporated as she stepped into the shadows beneath the tall trees. His senses were overpowered with the tang of pine, and he breathed it deep. It was a soothing smell, and he found himself drawn further into the forest. The light of the afternoon sun filtered through patches in the canopy, bathing the world beneath in a soft, golden glow. The ground was thick with moss and ferns, the last of the heather still in bloom. It was enchanting. Lucan wondered what he’d been so afraid of – and why his mother had banned him from ever setting foot in such a beautiful place.
But Copper’s steps were still tentative as she carried him deeper into the wood, and Lucan understood why. The forest was closing in about them, the thickening undergrowth slowing their progress as the world grew darker. He’d proved his point, so he reached for the reins, intending to turn Copper for home. But the mare froze, sniffing anxiously.
She snorted, stepping back, her eyes rolling in fear. Lucan tried to calm her, but she only whinnied in fright, shaking her head as if to clear some disturbing scent from her nose. He gripped the reins tighter, trying to bring her under control as she grew more and more distressed. But it was no use. She screamed in terror, rearing and throwing her rider. Lucan tumbled to the forest floor, letting out a sharp yell of pain as his head cracked off a rock. He tried to stagger to his feet, blinking to clear his blurred vision, but he could only watch as Copper vanished into the shadows.
Nausea churned in his stomach. The world around him seemed altered somehow. The light filtering through the trees seemed too bright, yet everything else seemed darker than it should. And his head hurt quite a lot. He touched it with a tentative hand, probing the newly formed lump on the back of his skull as he tried once more to stand. His legs protested at his weight, and he took a shaky step forward – only to bump into a tree that seemed to have moved into his way. He glared at it as the world swayed and then frowned in confusion as he realised he was once more looking up from the ground. He blinked. He didn’t remember lying down. But he was exhausted. Maybe he would just close his eyes. Just for a moment …
‘Lucan, where are you?’
Lucan’s eyes opened wide at the sound of his sister’s voice resounding in his head. He groaned as he sat up, wincing as he touched the sore spot on the back of his head. What had happened? How long had he been lying here?
He staggered to his feet, casting around for some clue as to where he was or how he’d got there, but all he saw was darkness. He must have been out for hours; it had been broad daylight when he’d left the castle.
A rustle of leaves and the flicker of movement to his right made him start, and he turned. But there was nothing there. He whirled as something stirred behind him and froze when he saw a single pair of glowing red eyes peering at him through the gloom.
He ran.
It had been about an hour before sunset when Suriya, fed up with waiting for Lucan to come and apologise, had started searching for her brother.
But he was nowhere to be found. He’d missed dinner with their mother – something she seemed surprisingly smug about – and Mal hadn’t seen him near the kitchens at all. When Suriya had finally tracked Renila down, she hadn’t seen either Lucan or Erion since before breakfast.
Puzzled, Suriya went down to the stables. The stable master was far from pleased to see her and grumbled under his breath about entitled noble brats before pointing her towards the stalls.
She found Erion sitting in the hay in the corner of Storm’s stall, worrying at the ring his mother had given him so long ago. The Lady’s mare nickered – almost in greeting – before returning to munching her oats. Suriya skirted round the notorious beast as she crossed to Erion’s side and flopped down in the hay with him. He looked tired, worn out from his day’s work. She felt a flash of worry. He was weakening, no matter how he pretended. His eyes were storm-grey, a sure sign that he was upset, so she waited for him to speak.
‘Do you really think your mother might send us away?’ he asked.
Suriya bit her lip. She’d said that to provoke a reaction out of her brother, but there had been a ring of truth to her words. ‘It worries me she has the power to decide.’
Erion gave her a sideways glance that said he didn’t appreciate the very diplomatic answer. But he let it go.
‘Lucan can be selfish,’ he said instead, ‘and impulsive, and reckless. But he’s not a coward.’
‘I know,’ she agreed. ‘I was upset.’
Erion snorted. ‘Understandable. He always overreacts when he’s wrong and can’t admit it. What did he say?’
‘He called me weak and pathetic.’ She sighed. ‘He said I was just a silly little girl, and I was jealous of him.’
‘You’re a lot of things, Suriya,’ he told her, taking her hands in his, ‘but none of those are on the list.’
Suriya bumped his shoulder, and they fell into companionable silence for a while. ‘Where is he anyway?’
‘Don’t know. Haven’t seen him since he ran out of here this afternoon.’
‘What trouble is he up to this time?�
�� she muttered, more to herself than Erion. She just wished she could reach out with her mind and ask him, ‘Lucan, where are you?’
His voice rang in her head, screaming in fear, and she flinched with surprise. ‘Help!’
‘Suriya?’ Erion asked, placing a steadying hand on her shoulder. His voice was thick with concern as he peered at her. ‘What is it?’
‘I thought—’ she broke off, shaking her head as if to clear it. But it was as if Lucan’s mind had invaded her own. Like he was inside her head – no, like their minds had become tangled together. His panic, his pure terror, pounding through her veins like it was her own. ‘Lucan?’
Her fear – his fear – made her breath catch in her throat and her chest squeeze tight. She felt light-headed, and her heart was thundering like she’d just finished a race. Erion called her name again, but she held up a hand to silence him as she closed her eyes and tried to concentrate.
Lucan’s thoughts were almost incomprehensible – a jumble of emotions and sensations. Images flashed through her mind of shadows and a shapeless menace. Then she saw it. A pair of red eyes glowing in the darkness. Two single words pierced through the chaos of Lucan’s terror. ‘Darkling. Ravenswood.’
Suriya gasped aloud, and her eyes flew open. Erion was leaning over her, expression grim as he read the emotions flickering across her face.
‘What’s wrong?’
She forced herself to meet his eyes, but the words were difficult to force out past the tightness in her chest. And how could she possibly explain something she barely understood herself?
‘Lucan. Ravenswood. Danger,’ was all she could manage. Erion nodded curtly and helped her to her feet. In different circumstances, she might have noted how composed he was, despite the tension radiating off every line of his body. How the weariness that seemed to hold him in its grip had slipped from his shoulders like a disused garment. But she was barely aware of her surroundings, her mind still entwined with Lucan’s as he careered through the forest.
