by A. G. Henley
Kai pauses. The thrush calls again from in front of us, much closer now.
“Peree?” I whisper. My mouth is so dry.
Footsteps come closer. Kai steps aside, and Peree wraps me up.
“I thought the Sisters might have caught up with you,” he whispers.
“They almost did,” I said. “We only made it because of Kai.”
He greets her warmly and takes us back in the direction he came from.
“Any problems?” I ask him. “Did you all get in?”
“The most important of us did,” Moray says in a loud whisper. “Me. Did you miss me, little Fenn?”
If living rough in the forest affected Moray, it doesn’t show in his voice. But I’m oddly happy to know that. So much has changed; I want something I can count on. Moray being his arrogant, irritating self is one of those things.
“You bet I did.” I smile toward his voice.
Someone tugs me away from Peree. Bear. His woodsy smell hasn’t changed either. He hugs me, and I hug him back.
“You okay?” he asks.
“I’m fine. Happy you’re here.” I squeeze his hand.
I greet Derain and Cuda, and, when I hear Amarina’s voice, I congratulate her on the success of breaking the men into the Cloister.
“Mirii—” she says.
“The Sisters have Frost.” Conda interrupts. “Do you know where they took her?”
“No! What happened?”
“We left our quarters and went straight to the damaged section of the wall, as we planned.” Amarina sounds upset. “Several Sisters were gathered there on the ground, guarding it. Before I could stop her, Frost went to them, saying we planned to escape the Cloister, but she did not want to go. She said we were leaving from the eastern wall, that they should look for us there. Her ruse worked—the Sisters left—but they took her with them. I remained to bring the men through.”
“It was smart thinking,” Cuda says. “Only a few guards were left on the wall. We had no problem climbing it and taking them out.”
“Are the Sisters… okay?” I ask him.
“We only knocked ‘em out. Might have a few headaches.”
That’s something, at least. I bite my lip. Frost led the guards away from us and from the men… but did she sacrifice herself in doing so? Where will they take her? How will we get her out, too?
“Let’s get the children out, and then worry about Frost,” I say. “How do we get into the compound?”
“Bust down the gate. There aren’t even any guards,” Moray says.
“But why aren’t there?” I say, partially to myself.
“Climb the wall. It will be quieter,” Amarina says.
“I’ll go first, take a peek,” Bear says.
Peree keeps me close as we all move quietly out of the protection of the forest. When we stop, I put a hand out to find the wall. Bear scrambles up, his feet scraping softly against the rock. An owl hoots from nearby, breaking the utter silence.
Why is it so quiet? Where are the guards and the Teachers? Are the children even in here? I want to know so badly if Kora and the others are safe. We’re so close now. Amarina picks up my hand, gripping it. I squeeze back.
“What do you see?” Peree asks after a moment.
“Nothing.” Bear’s whisper comes from above our heads. “The doors to the building are wide open. Looks deserted.”
“Can you jump down and open the gate? Let us in?” I ask.
I hear a solid thump from the other side of the wall a moment later. The gate squeaks open down the wall, mimicking the massive gate to the Cloister. Peree takes my arm, and we move inside the wall as a group. I catch the scents of nightshade and moonflower, and a sleepy bird squawks from somewhere to the side. Maybe it’s one of the ones Kai said the Teachers kept in cages, where the Sisters’ colorful feathers came from.
A few more paces and we enter a building. A few torches flicker, delineating the area of the large room. It’s otherwise completely still. Amarina’s quick steps, and Derain’s heavier footfalls are in front, rushing forward to look for Ellin, Kora, and Darel. I smell cooked meat, probably from dinner earlier, fainter scents of wood smoke, and something else. It’s a human scent, but not like the Sisters. It must be the children.
Only… they’re clearly not here now. Disappointment punches me in the gut. I can’t imagine how Amarina and Derain must feel.
“It’s not bad.” Peree sounds surprised. “Tables and chairs, flowers in vases, beds in the far room. Everything’s neat and tidy. But they left their dinners half-eaten.”
“Any clues where they went?” I ask.
No one answers for a moment.
“Yeah,” Cuda says from somewhere across the room. “Right here.”
Peree pulls me toward his voice, following the footsteps of the others.
Derain curses.
“What is it?” I ask.
“A trapdoor in the floor. It’s wide open.”
“There’s a dirt tunnel. Can’t tell where it goes.”
Cuda’s voice is muffled. He must have stuck his head in the hole.
I slap my hands together. Of course the Sisters have a plan B for the children when something goes wrong. Maybe they took their cue from the ants, building an underground tunnel. But to where?
“We should follow them,” Amarina says.
“Yeah, and there’s liable to be a thousand Sisters with their spears pointed at us when we get to wherever they went,” Moray says.
“We could split up,” I suggest. “Half of us follow the tunnel, half look aboveground.”
“No. We’ve been split up for too long,” Peree says. “We all came here together. If we’re going to fight the Sisters, we’ll do it together.”
“This is getting better by the minute,” Bear mutters. Kai snorts.
It was probably inevitable that we would face the Fire Sisters at some point. I just hoped it would be more on our terms than theirs. It doesn’t seem like that’s possible now.
One by one, we jump down into the hole in the floor. I go last. Peree jumps, and then catches me. It’s not much of a drop. When my feet are on the ground, I reach to the sides, and above my head, feeling along the earthen walls. The men must have to stoop; it’s not very tall. At least it’s wide enough to walk one at a time.
Someone up ahead grabbed a torch, lighting the way through the tunnel as we go. I keep a hand on Peree’s back to orient me. The warmth of his body comforts me a little. A very little. This is going to be bad.
The way twists and turns. My guess is that we’re making our way farther into the Cloister. Where will we end up? Somewhere the Sisters can defend themselves and the children easier. The great hall comes to mind.
The tunnel is frigid; it seems to be growing colder the farther we walk. It occurs to me that we could have walked straight into a trap: the Sisters could lock the doors on either end of the passageway. Wait a few weeks… Problem solved. My body begins to quake.
“I think we’re at the end,” Conda says from in front. The torchlight staggers in the air. “There’s a ladder going up and a closed door above my head. What should we do?”
“Go on out. It’s not like we’re going to surprise them now,” Bear says. His voice is flinty; he’s preparing for a fight. Peree’s muscles tense under my hand. He slings his bow off his back with a twang.
No, I think, bloodshed isn’t what I wanted. But… we didn’t ask for any of this. Maybe, like Peree said, it couldn’t be helped. The Sisters took the children. We want them back. If no one will budge, fighting for them is the only way.
We huddle together as much as we can. Fear wafts from the others, a metallic scent. I sidle closer to Peree.
“Here I go,” Conda says. Each of his feet thumps the rungs of the ladder as he climbs. I can’t help thinking it might be one of the last things I hear.
We wait, listening, as he pulls himself up and out. There’s no other sound from above. He doesn’t come back to tell us what he sees, s
o we have no choice but to climb up ourselves. The others go, and, finally, it’s only Peree and me.
We cling to each other for a moment. He kisses me gently, one last time, and then he climbs.
Blood pounding through my temples, I follow.
Chapter Thirty
A stiff wind slaps me in the face, almost knocking me back down the hole. Goose bumps ripple along my skin. I pull myself up to standing and wrap my arms around my torso, staff almost forgotten.
The wind rushes past my ears, making it hard to hear. Smudges of torchlight blow sideways somewhere in front of us. Oddly, I can’t perceive the glow of the Eternal Flames or catch its sulfurous scent. The air smells fresh. Solid rock is under my feet. The sense I get is that I’m somewhere very open and exposed. But where?
“Peree?” I whisper.
“The Sisters have bound and gagged the men,” Amarina says from nearby, sounding defeated. “Kaiya and I are here, but we are surrounded.”
Alarm whips through me. “Peree!”
The wind rests for a moment, allowing me to hear muffled voices and the sounds of struggling. With us popping out of the hole one by one, it must have been exactly that easy for the Sisters to take control of the situation.
“Thank Mother Asis for delivering you to us with no real threat to our daughters,” Adar says. Her voice comes from only a few paces away, near the torchlight; it’s whipped quickly away.
“What have you done with the guru—the children?” Amarina asks.
I wilt. All this effort, and the children aren’t even here?
“They are safe.” Alev’s voice comes from near Adar’s. “The Teachers brought them here through the tunnel at the first indication of trouble inside the Cloister, and then to a safe spot in the forest. They will return to their compound and secure the trapdoor. The fire at the gate will be extinguished soon.”
I mentally scramble to orient myself and make sense of the situation. There’s a mossy patch of light in the sky over my head—the moon? To my left, more light shimmers and shifts in the distance. The only thing I can compare it to is being by the water hole at home on a bright night.
It finally hits me: the tunnel led outside the Cloister, not to the great hall or somewhere else familiar. We must be by the eastern wall, and the shimmering is the moonlight kissing the Shivering Sea in the distance. What Adar said makes sense now—this is the Sister’s escape route.
I step toward the light, and someone grabs my arm.
“Careful,” Kai mutters. “We’re on the side of a cliff. The edge is only a few steps away, and it’s a steep drop. A narrow path in front of us skirts the eastern wall and leads around the Eternal Flames, back toward the forest, but the Sisters block the way.”
I freeze as my perception adjusts. Amarina, Kai, and I are trapped between the side of a cliff and the eastern wall. The children are gone, the Sisters surround us, and they have control of Peree and the men. I can barely think of a less hopeful position.
“Enough of this pretense,” Amarina says. “We want our guru back.”
“The girls will have the honor of one day becoming Fire Sisters,” Golnar says. “You cannot prevent it.”
“They are our children, not yours!” Amarina says. “You took them from us. What did you expect? That we would do nothing? You value them as your future, but we love them. They are a part of us, our families and histories and heritage. Give them back to us! Let us go free!” My friend’s high voice trills with emotion.
“We will not,” Adar says. “And I warned you, when we took you in, that the Fire Sisters do not forgive betrayals.”
Kai speaks up. “Is that so? Then I have a good story for you. I was here as girl, Gathered by Alev. After a few weeks, I escaped. Do you remember? How do you think I did it?” She pauses. “She helped me. If we betrayed you, then Alev did, first. If we are traitors, so is your sister.”
A few of the Sisters gasp. Alev says nothing.
Adar laughs. “Kaiya, do you have sisters? I think you must not. We have few secrets. I knew Alev had helped that girl escape as soon as I saw her face all those years ago. Although, I did not know until now that you were the girl. But it doesn’t matter. Alev is one of our own. She has proven her worth. You and your friends have failed us.”
There’s audible whispering, grumbling as Adar speaks. She might have known that Alev helped Kai escape, but I feel sure the other Sisters didn’t. I hear Grimma’s gruff voice mixing with the others.
“You know we came because of our children, Adar.” It’s a challenge to keep my voice steady and loud enough to be heard. Gusts of wind still beat against me every few seconds. “We couldn’t think of another way to free them, short of violence, which we don’t want. But you’re right; we weren’t entirely honest with you. Do what you will with us, only be merciful and bring the children back to our people.”
Golnar scoffs. “Mercy? To send innocent girls back to the homes of lustful men who will beat them and treat them as their property? That is no life for them.”
I hear Derain—I think—shout. The words are smothered, but his tone is one of outrage.
“That is not the way in Koolkuna.” Amarina sounds calmer. “I raise my daughter, Ellin, in a safe and loving home. Until the Sisters came, no harm had ever befallen her. There are many good men and fathers in our village, like Derain there, whose children you have.” She pauses. “You have sequestered yourselves from the world for so long that you no longer know what you’re hiding from.”
“Alev, I think you understand this,” I say. “You talk to the Sisters about the future of the Cloister. And you’ve tried to persuade them to stop Gathering. You know it’s not right.”
“Adar, they know too much about us.” Golnar speaks quickly, as if she doesn’t want to give Alev a chance to respond. “They criticize and threaten the very fabric of the Cloister. It is time we finish with them.”
I’m disoriented by the wind, but when Amarina and Kai pull in tight against me, I realize the Sisters must be closing in. Fear chokes me with clawed hands, but I have to try one more time to prevent bloodshed. If I possess any power at all, like Kai said, it’s time to embrace it.
I step around my friends, toward Adar, Alev, and Golnar’s voices, and drop my makeshift staff at my feet.
“Stop!” I shout. “Fighting isn’t the only way. We can negotiate. Even work together, help each other. We have solutions to problems you have. And there are things you can offer our people, too. Your community is safe, efficient, and you are all so dedicated to each other; there’s much to admire about the Cloister.”
“You speak nonsense,” Golnar says from in front of me. “We will not help, or accept help, from men.”
“It’s not nonsense,” I say. “It’s cooperation. You see the advantages of this, don’t you, Alev?”
The wind dies down for a moment, as if waiting to hear what she says. I grit my teeth. C’mon, Alev, I know you agree with me. Stand up.
“I do,” Alev says.
I cheer inside. The Sisters murmur and mumble, sounding surprised, confused.
“You said you have solutions to problems we have,” Grimma tentatively says. “What did you mean?”
“You all saw that I was able to go among the sick ones—the wailers—and not be affected, even after I was bitten? It’s not a special power. I can do it because I know their secret.”
“What? What is it?” Grimma asks from somewhere to my right.
“I’ll tell you… if you free us and our children. It can be part of the negotiation. We can help each other. Let me show you how.”
The Sisters mutter together, talking that over.
“Sisters, Adar,” Alev says, “listen to me now. I think we should consider what Fennel proposes. You all know I’ve been curious about the world outside the Cloister and the people in it. From my own travels, I have seen and experienced acts of kindness by men and cruelty by women. I believe… I believe we are equal. Capable of both goodness and evil.”
/> “Alev!” Adar sounds shocked, and I swear, I hear Golnar actually growl. I jump in to support Alev. Together, maybe we can pull this off.
“In my own life, both men and women have hurt me, but many, many more have helped me, cared for me, and loved me. Peree, one of the men who is here with us, is a Lofty—the bitter enemies of my own group—and he’s one of the best people I know, male or female. Bear—another man here—will help anyone in need. He’s strong, loyal, and trustworthy, and he always does what he thinks is right. Derain is an incredibly loving father.”
I lift my hand, sweeping it toward the Sisters, wishing I knew exactly where the men were. “At first, I thought these other men with us—Moray and his brothers, Cuda and Conda—were those kind you fear, the kind who prey on people weaker than them. And… sometimes, they are. But not always. They’ve saved my life more than once, and they want peace now. My fellow Initiates—Amarina, Frost, and Kai—we come from different places, and we’ve led very different lives. I didn’t know them before, but they are now my friends. I’ve come to appreciate each of them for the gifts they bring. I’ve learned that no matter where we come from, we’re more similar than different.”
“I agree,” Alev says. “I believe we can learn from these people, and from other communities. I have spoken about this kind of cooperation with some of you before, Sisters. I ask you now to consider if our current path is the one we truly want to walk.”
“Enough of this.” Golnar sounds repulsed. “Adar, do not let the Initiate drip her poison in your ears. That you have not already given the word to silence these intruders tells me that Alev’s dangerous ideas sway you. We have been protected within the Cloister for many years, kept safe by our walls, our dedication to each other, and our commitment never to allow the outside world in. Sisters, now is not the time to back down or give in!”
Some thump their spears on the ground. Others shout.
