Phoenix Heart: Episode Two: Secret Keeper

by Sarah K. L. Wilson

  He said he was pleased. He’d lost his voice now that he was bound to me and he was ... pleased?

  I’m pleased with you and that is all that matters. Now, do not fear, little hawk, I will fly above, and I will keep us safe. Watch over Judicus Franzer Irault and try to keep that gull back from him and we’ll find a way clear of this place and our enemies.

  He launched himself upward in a flurry of sparks. I blinked my vision clear and when I turned over my shoulder to look at Judicus, he was fast asleep, his mouth hanging open. His injury really had taken a lot out of him.

  Before I’d even turned back again, the boat lurched forward and shuddered. I spun in my seat and met Mally’s grin.

  “And we’re off,” she said, grabbing her own oars. “South, I think. I’m sick of the cold and that’s clearly where he comes from. We’ll row out a little and then set the sail. I think I can manage that much.”

  I shook a finger, a clear warning sign, and she rolled her eyes.

  “If you think I’m going to let you choose the direction we go, you’re crazy, Sersha. This is my escape, and we’re doing it my way.”

  I tried again, pointing to the south and running a finger across my throat. If there were fires there, there was trouble there.

  Mally ignored the warning and began to row without another word. Stunned by her thoughtless bravery, I stared at her for long minutes. The world smelled of water and seaweed and the balmy breezes that sometimes rolled over Landsfall like a thick wool blanket. It also smelled a little bit of fear.

  Somewhere in the distance an owl hooted from the shore, its call barely audible over the splash splash of the waves on the shore.

  I bit my lip. How close were those fires?

  Not close. And this boat doesn’t look very fast.

  Was there some other way I could warn her?

  I suppose you could try to overpower her.

  And then what?

  Set your own course?

  But I didn’t know where to go, either.

  Hopefully, Judicus would wake before we reached those fires Kazmerev had seen and then I could convince him to listen. Hopefully, Mally would listen to him. Hopefully, I hadn’t just started a journey with two crazy people and one friend who would be gone with the dawn.

  But I will remain alive in your heart.

  There was that.

  And it would have to be enough.

  Chapter Six

  I was leaning over in my seat, half asleep, when I heard voices. I blinked fully awake. Across from me, Mally put a finger to her lips, tilting her head to the side as she listened. She kept one hand on a rope she held attached to the boom and another on the tiller. She’d been right, she seemed able to sail the boat – though where she’d learned that was a mystery to me. Tyndale was no sailor, and neither were any of the people in our family. Could a friend have taught her?

  She tapped her lips again, emphasizing the need for silence. The only sound came from waves lapping against the hull.

  Kazmerev was supposed to warn me if we were close to people.

  You shouldn’t be close to anyone there. From the air, I see nothing. The fires are still further down the coast.

  And yet, I still heard them. Their voices were faint, but they echoed over the calm water.

  “It won’t be easy to get them to attack again. They didn’t like the surprise that he was a rope worker.”

  “I thought you stabbed him. How did he get to the town when he was that injured? He should have died on the road, and the woman, too.”

  I clamped a hand over my mouth. These were the people who attacked Judicus!

  He woke, as if summoned by my thoughts, shuffling in the boat to sit up. I placed a finger over my lips. It was so dark that I couldn’t see individual people along the shore, just a vague outline of land and sea.

  Their next words were snatched away.

  “Where are we?” Judicus groaned, waking.

  “South,” Mally said in a low tone. “About two hours from Landsfall by boat.”

  Judicus cursed quietly, sitting up. “Are you crazy? We’ll have to backtrack the whole way. We can’t go south! The raiders are there.”

  I felt like rolling my eyes. Well, obviously. But no one was listening to me.

  “South is where you’re from and it’s where we’re going, isn’t it?” Mally said with a sniff. “It’s the middle of the night. If we stay quiet, we’ll slide right past any raiders and be on our way. You don’t know what’s north. There could be more raiders there, too. And the roads inland would take too long with all of us on foot. I don’t think you’re up to walking.”

  Would we have to go on foot? I wondered if Kazmerev could carry all three of us.

  Not far. Maybe a short hop. I could carry you and one other a long distance, but that takes a lot of strength and practice from my Flame Rider since you’d be manifesting my physical presence enough to carry another person. For the first few months, we should stick to just the two of us. We need time to adjust to each other.

  That made a lot of sense.

  I smiled slightly, imagining I was on his back right now with my hand buried in his bright-lined feathers and his wings spread into the wind. My heartbeat sped just thinking about it and a little hard lump formed in the back of my throat.

  I think so, too. As soon as we don’t have to watch for enemies, we’ll fly together again. I will teach you the ways of the Flame Riders.

  I’d like to hear more about them, too. I knew so little.

  I shall regale you with their great tales and stories, the histories of when my people have tangled with yours.

  I was so busy listening to him that I hadn’t noticed how long Judicus was silent until he hissed his reply to Mally.

  “You’ve put us in real trouble, Ai’sletta. If we go back, we’ll have to fight the wind and get past those voices.” So, he had heard the voices. He must know then that the ones who had stabbed him were lurking on the shore. “And we don’t know if there are more raiders down the shore.”

  I nodded my head as if to try to tell him that there were indeed more raiders further south, but he wasn’t looking. His head was in his hands as he thought.

  I swiveled back to Mally and tried to convince her with signs that there were people further south. She waved a hand through the air, irritated. She didn’t want me distracting from her plan.

  “If you’re going to travel with us, Sersha,” she whispered. “The least you can do is keep rowing. And just so the pair of you know, if you think this journey is hard on you, it’s just as hard on me. I’m the one who had to leave Tyndale behind, but you don’t see me moaning about it constantly.”

  Remind me why you put up with this from her?

  She was my cousin. She wasn’t all bad. We’d been friends our whole lives.

  If this is what “friend” means to you then I am not your friend. We’ll need a new word for what we are because I don’t plan to treat you like this.

  He sounded angry again.

  Of course I’m angry! She’s treating my Flame Rider like a common servant.

  I’d be lucky to find a job as a common servant. That kind of regular pay without being a burden on your family was a real step up.

  I could feel his mental eye roll.

  Now that you are my rider, there will be no more talk of servants.

  But ...

  None.

  “Can Kazmerev carry all three of us?” Judicus asked, looking up at me. It took me a moment to pull myself back to our conversation. Even in the faint light, he looked like he was barely keeping himself conscious. He ought to have more healing tea, but there was no way to brew it in a boat.

  I absolutely cannot. I could feel his feathers puffing in irritation. Judicus Franzer Irault should remember he’s speaking to a phoenix, not some farm ox he found on the side of the road.

  I leaned forward to feel Judicus’s forehead. How sick was he? Was the fever back? He gently caught my hand and turned it aside.
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  “Can he?” he asked again.

  I shook my head sadly and tried to indicate with signs that there were many fires south of here.

  He sighed. “I can’t see your hands in the darkness and even if I could, I don’t know what you’re saying, Sersha. I promise I will ask the ai’sletta to help me learn your signs so we can speak, and we’ll keep light with us so I can see. You must be very frustrated.”

  I was. But I was more worried about running into that party of raiders. I bit my lip and tried again.

  “I’m sorry,” he said again, still not understanding. “I promise we will try. For now, we’ll follow the ai’sletta’s plan. Our best hope is to get as far away from the voices that claimed they were responsible for stabbing me before they try to do it again. I don’t much care for being stabbed.”

  He huffed a wry laugh and Mally joined him.

  “Exactly,” she said, satisfied with our decision. “Now, head down Sersha, so I can shift this sail, and let the poor man pass out again. You and I will get us down the coast and in the morning, you can talk all you want with your hands and I will translate.”

  At least I won’t have to be there for that. I have a bad feeling that she’s quite loose with the translation.

  Sometimes I couldn’t tell if Mally knew she was doing foolish things and just didn’t care, or if she really didn’t realize what she was doing but her confidence fooled you into thinking she did. Whichever it was, it could be deadly to have that kind of confidence in this situation.

  I bit my lip and wondered if Kazmerev could help us at all.

  Usually, I could help by warning that there are fires ahead and getting closer by the minute. I think I also see movement on the water.

  Great. That was just great.

  But since no one will listen to us, I think you and I need to prepare for danger, Sersha. Are you ready to fight raiders with me again?

  Chapter Seven

  The clouds are getting too thick. That’s what Kazmerev had said an hour ago and at first, I was worried he meant that they got in the way of flying, but now I realized the real problem – they got in the way of seeing.

  I haven’t seen your boat in an hour. I can’t get low enough. Can you see?

  Honestly, I couldn’t see either. I’d tried to tap Mally’s leg and then her arm to ask her if she could see well enough to guide the boat and she’d just shaken me off while shushing me.

  “They’re going to hear us, Sersha. Is that what you want?” she whispered fiercely.

  And that’s when I knew I’d made a terrible mistake. I shouldn’t have gotten into a boat with Mally at the helm. I shouldn’t have let Judicus do it, either.

  Honestly, it might be best that she left her betrothed behind. She doesn’t seem to play well with others.

  I slipped to the front of the boat and shook Judicus awake.

  “What? Who is it?” he sounded only half awake.

  “Leave him alone, Sersha!” Mally hissed. “I’m more than able to sail this boat without consulting the rope worker for every high wave.”

  “Sersha?” I couldn’t even see Judicus’s face in the darkness. I leaned back so he wouldn’t sit up and bump his head on mine, but that was the best I could do.

  All joking aside, I’m getting anxious up here, Sersha. Kazmerev sounded more than nervous. I tried to get low enough to find you and one of my wings dipped into the sea. It’s fog all the way down to the water.

  That wasn’t good. And I couldn’t even tell Judicus. I bit my lip and tried to think. Could I draw Kazmerev to where we were? Could he help us tell Judicus what was happening?

  No. Wait for him. He’ll figure it out.

  He seemed deadly calm. Which was utterly different from the anger he kept letting out. Why be angry at everything else but not at this?

  The anger is my grief, the only way I have to express my loss. This is a problem that needs solving. Immediately.

  I waited long moments until Judicus spoke again, this time with eerie calm.

  “Mally,” he said slowly. “I feel that I do you an injustice asking this, and yet I am very nervous about what your answer might be. Have you – by any chance – sailed us right into a bank of fog and then continued to sail, not knowing where land is, not dropping an anchor, and not waking me to tell me of this predicament?”

  “We’re fine,” Mally said confidently. “It’s just weather.”

  And that’s about when Judicus realized he’d also made a huge mistake.

  “What have I done,” he moaned.

  I waited. After a minute he’d realize – like I did – that there was really nothing we could do now except take down the sail, drop the anchor, and wait it out. At least there wasn’t much breeze in the fog.

  Whoa now! Kazmerev said and then he made a sound I didn’t know that sounded almost like a combination of a bird screeching and a human being cursing.

  What was he seeing? What had happened?

  His mental voice was clipped.

  Sudden wind. Can see. Ships. So many ships.

  What? What should we do?

  Get that sail down! You’re going to crash!

  At that exact moment, a wind hit the sail, slamming the boom to one side and dragging Mally with it. She clung to the rope, nearly falling out of the boat as it leaned precariously to that side.

  Her shriek – more anger than fear – cut through the air.

  I was glad that I couldn’t speak, because I wouldn’t be able to hold my tongue now. With all my strength, I jammed myself to the other side of the boat, trying to even out her weight.

  Judicus, being gifted with a voice, let out a startled yell and then we hit another boat – well, boat was too small of a word for it. We hit a ship with our boat.

  There was a crunching sound and a sudden lurch that rattled my teeth together and made my head feel like it had been cleaved open. Pain rolled through my neck.

  Cold, inky water bit my feet, swirling up in the darkness to reach my ankles and shins and knees.

  “She’s going down,” Judicus yelled, scrambling backward, gathering our leather bags of supplies and holding them up out of the water. Our boat tilted to one side, leaning painfully as the bow was lost to the depths.

  Kazmerev! Was he close enough? Help!

  Coming. Coming. Coming. He sounded as panicked as I felt. Hold on! I’ve lost sight of you again.

  I couldn’t see well enough in the inky darkness to see anything other than a vague outline of the ship we’d hit. There were shouts from above, but the exact words were blocked out by Mally’s cursing.

  There was a sound like something huge swallowing and then the boat and everything I had was swallowed by the waves.

  I opened my mouth – to scream perhaps – and I suddenly found myself neck-deep in water, trying to swim. The wound in my arm burned and my panicked breathing made my lungs burn right along with it.

  I tried to turn in the water, searching for Judicus, when Mally’s loud cursing abruptly stopped, and something grabbed the collar of my dress and dragged up upward.

  Chapter Eight

  There was a scream from above and I felt the brush of something warm against the back of my neck.

  Kazmerev! He was here to save me.

  I reached for him with my heart, all my hopes stretching up with me.

  I began to smile and then – like a knife slicing through soft earth – the clouds parted, and a beam of dawn struck me.

  I felt like I almost heard a bird-like shriek and then Kazmerev was gone. My heart fell.

  “Bring them aboard and let’s take a look,” a gravelly voice said, and my vision was temporarily blocked by a flurry of dark shapes hauling me forward, the timbers of a ship, and a variety of boots.

  My heart was pounding, and I felt as agitated as the shrieking gulls swirling around us. All it had taken was a breath to lose the boat and Kazmerev.

  I was dropped unceremoniously to the deck beside Mally whose lips were slightly purple in the pal
e dawn light. Her skin pebbled with cold, and her hands wrapped around herself as if she could clutch her warmth to herself. Our supplies were dumped beside her and water spilled out of the sodden leather bags, spilling across the rough wood of the decking.

  I bit my lip.

  “It’s them,” someone said. “That’s the rope worker.”

  Judicus groaned and they all stepped back. I took a chance and peered around Mally to where he was slumped on the deck, dark hair plastered against his face. He looked half-drowned even though I knew he couldn’t be. It must be his wound. He wasn’t even close to healed and the sudden movements needed to scramble out of a sinking boat followed by being dragged and hauled upward must have hurt his side.

  Yes. Right there. Fresh blood stained his linen shirt.

  I started to move to help, and a hand clamped on my shoulder.

  “You’re not going anywhere,” the same gravelly voice said.

  I pointed to Judicus’s injury and the man laughed at me, grabbing me by the chin and forcing me to look up at him. The lower half of his face was wrapped in a swath of oilcloth with a pair of leather buckled straps keeping the cloth up and a deep hood surrounding it all. Only his eyes were visible, set in weather-beaten skin that crinkled around their edges. They were steely and hard – hard enough that I didn’t want to make him angry unless it was my only option.

  “Cat got your tongue?” he asked – my least favorite expression. It’s moments like this when I want to curse people and tell them exactly what I think that I am grateful to be voiceless. I’m glad there’s something to keep me from ripping them apart – because I could. Oh, I could. I’ve practiced all those words and speeches in my head. I know exactly what I’d say. I know how it would make me feel powerful. And it’s best not to say any of it at all.

  Words are their own kind of magic and even against enemies, they need to be used sparingly. They are arrows. Once loosed, they don’t come back without striking.

  “Well? Speak or we’ll give you reason to speak.” A sharp dagger appeared in his hand, flicking at the cloth of my sodden dress near my belly. I bit my cheek, trying not to panic.