The Desert (Song of Dawn Trilogy Book 1)

by Liv Daniels

  Leina advanced toward the sound, very slowly. Soon she could make out a quiet sniffling sound. “Hello?” she called cautiously.

  Leina was startled that the shaky response of “Hello” came from almost directly at her feet. Why had she not thought to look at the ground all this time?

  It came from a teary-eyed little girl, dressed in a puffy pink dress and a satin mask that covered her eyes. Leina’s shoulders drooped in relief. “It’s alright,” she called to Ruby, who had hung back.

  For a moment the girl stared up at Leina imploringly. Then she collapsed on the ground, sobbing.

  “Are you okay?” Leina asked, even though that was obviously not the case.

  “Noooo,” the girl wailed again.

  Leina looked back and forth between the girl and the archway at the end of the arcade. She couldn’t leave the poor little girl here, but they had already lost so much time. If she stayed, she might lose her only opportunity to observe the raid. From here, she couldn’t even hear the sound of it, so she had no idea if it was still going on.

  Ruby was still watching from a safe distance, as if the little child would bite if she got too close. “Stay here,” Leina told her. “Try to figure out what the matter is. I’m going to go on ahead.”

  The arcade opened up into a large square, with low railing at the edge where it made a sheer drop. Even with the pounding rain, Leina could hear the sounds of chaos below. She began to advance toward the railing so she could see what was going on.

  But then she saw him.

  Chapter 29

  “I can’t let him see me. I can’t let him see me.”

  That was what Leina found herself moaning over and over again once she was back in the safety of the arcade.

  Three very confused faces stared back at her: Ruby, the little girl, and frantic-eyed woman.

  A woman?

  “Who are you?” Leina asked the newcomer in a hoarse whisper.

  “My mother! She found me!” the little girl exclaimed jubilantly, and much too loudly. Leina cringed. Her eyes darted to the archway, where at any moment she expected to see him.

  “What’s going on, Leina?” Ruby said insistently, tugging on Leina’s arm. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. I just saw someone that I… used to know.”

  At the corner of her vision, Leina saw the masked face of the little girl, now adorned with a jubilant smile. The decorative mask had probably just been part of the celebration before the raid began. But now, maybe it could serve a different purpose.

  “Can I have your mask?” Leina asked the girl.

  The girl stared back at her questioningly.

  “Of course,” the girl’s mother said, taking the mask and handing it to Leina. “I’ll get you another one, Stella,” she said soothingly.

  Leina took the mask and immediately drew it over her eyes. “Thank you so much.” Then, before the woman could ask any of the questions that hovered in her eyes, Leina turned and fled in the direction of the arch.

  “So much for acting ordinary,” Ruby hissed at Leina’s side. “What are you doing?”

  They reached the arch, and Leina stopped abruptly. Balanced perilously on the square’s railing was an unmistakable caped figure.

  Ruby started to advance, but Leina held out a hand to block her. “Wait.”

  “You are right to tremble, O Estlebey. The source of all terror has come upon you. I am Dangerman,” the figure boomed.

  Ruby gasped. “Dangerman?”

  Leina silenced her with a piercing look that said, Yes, and he’s dangerous.

  Dangerman swooped down from the railing, a wicked grin on his face. Then he began walking briskly across the square, away from the dark arch where Leina and Ruby were hiding.

  “We have to follow him,” Leina said once he was a safe distance away. “If he bothered to come here personally, he must be up to something.”

  “Are you crazy? He’s Dangerman.”

  “As long as he doesn’t know who I am, we’ll be fine. Come on, or we’re going to lose him!”

  Before Ruby could protest again, Leina was halfway across the square. Dangerman’s dark caped figure was just disappearing into a narrow alley, and she followed as closely as she dared, Ruby trailing behind her. Leina knew that as long as she didn’t make herself too obvious, she would be safe. One of Dangerman’s faults was that he rarely thought to be careful. He didn’t think he needed to. He was Dangerman, after all. He was invincible.

  Maybe that was true when he was holed up in his fortress and surrounded by monsters and officers, but it wasn’t true here.

  Dangerman’s path led upward. Soon he was nearing the summit of the hill—and the castled outer wall of the Appeaser’s palace. He strode up to the cast-iron gate, and the guards let him pass with nothing more than a glance.

  Leina doubted that she and Ruby would get that kind of reception if they approached the guards. So, as the gates clanged to a close and Dangerman marched on, all that she could do was watch from the distance.

  “What’s he doing there?” Leina mulled.

  There was more grass, and trees, too, in the area surrounding the castle. It was like a park on top of a dome. And it was empty. An easy place not to be noticed. Leina and Ruby were crouched in the shade of a clump of trees, and the guards hadn’t even glanced in their direction. But that didn’t help them anymore, now that Dangerman was out of their reach. Though neither of the girls was eager to venture out in the heavy rain again, they could do nothing more where they were.

  “Are we going to go back and see the raid again?” Ruby asked.

  Leina shook her head. “No. I want to get into that palace and see what Dangerman is doing.”

  Ruby’s eyes bulged, as if she hadn’t even considered the idea. “Was that part of the plan?”

  “Dangerman being here wasn’t part of the plan. And anyway, there was hardly a plan to begin with.”

  “So how are we going to get in?”

  “I don’t know. Let’s look around a little.”

  They began circling the wall, moving away from the guarded gate. The wall was so thick and tall that Leina couldn’t think of a feasible way of getting past it. In books, there was always a convenient hole in the wall, or a loose stone, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen here. How did people outside of books get past walls?

  “We’re missing the raid,” Ruby said as she trudged along behind Leina in the muddy grass.

  Leina stopped and glanced down the hill, as if she expected to be able to see it from here. “I know. But this is important. Dangerman is why we’re here.”

  “If we can’t get in, that doesn’t make a difference, does it?”

  Leina sighed. “Just a few more minutes. Let’s see what’s past this curve. If we don’t find a way in after that, we’ll go back.”

  They went on. Leina was almost afraid of seeing what was beyond the curve in the wall. Why should it be anything but blank, like the rest? Leina wished that she hadn’t seen Dangerman at all. It was worse to be so close to answers, and to see them slip away unsaid, then to go on believing that they were out of her reach.

  As it happened, however, the wall was not blank. Past the curve there was a barred window. And the window had a face in it.

  Leina and Ruby were so startled when they saw it that they both screamed, injudiciously. But the face only looked on at them calmly. It was a kind face, belonging to an old woman. Leina looked closer, and for a moment she thought that it was Grandmother behind the window. No, this woman was older, and had a sharper face, but she looked so similar. Leina stared, unable to speak.

  “Well?” said the woman, gently but with a wary edge to her voice. “Have you come to mock me, too?”

  The words hardly registered with Leina. “What do you mean?” she said slowly.

  The lady sighed. “Haven’t you heard the announcements? I’m Katherine Holpe, the king’s new greatest enemy. Everyone must come here and publicly ridicule me, or else
they will be thrown in jail, too. But my guards ran off to subdue the monster raid, so if you do it now then they won’t know and no one will mark you down for completing your noble civic duty. You’ll have to come back later.”

  The old woman sounded amusingly like she was reading off some kind of lackluster advertisement, but Leina noticed only faintly. The name Katherine Holpe rang in her head.

  “I—I’m not here for that. I’m Leina Skyvola.”

  Mrs. Holpe gripped the bars that covered her window, her knuckles turning white. “Leina Skyvola? Leina Skyvola. Leina Skyvola! It can’t be.” Her features softened and a motherly look shone in her eyes. “How you’ve grown!” Then suddenly her face became grave again. “Don’t ever say that name again. That was foolish of me, just now.”

  Leina wanted to let forth the flood of questions that she had pent up for so long. Why? What’s so important about my name? Who am I? Where did I come from? How do you know me? But now, when at last all of the answers were near, Leina knew that she couldn’t hear them. There wasn’t time, and there was something more important that had to be done. “We need to get in to the palace. Dangerman is here.”

  Mrs. Holpe smiled softly again. “Trying to save the World already? So young,” she mused.

  “I don’t know about saving the World. I—” Leina’s voice trailed off. Even though she trusted Mrs. Holpe, she wasn’t sure how much she should reveal.

  To Leina’s relief, Mrs. Holpe didn’t pursue the matter. “There’s a servant-door farther down.” Mrs. Holpe disappeared, and Leina heard a gentle rustling in the dark cell beyond. Then a hand appeared through the bars, clutching a rusty key. “I slipped this from the boy who comes to feed me. Not a very bright little lad; didn’t even notice. Here, take it. I was going to use it myself in case a chance of escape was to present itself, but… this is more important.”

  “Are you sure?” Leina said, hesitating to take the key.

  “Of course, dear.” Mrs. Holpe thrust her hand out further.

  Leina took it. “Thank you. Thank you.” It was all that she knew to say.

  “Just one more thing,” said Mrs. Holpe. “How is Sasha? She’s okay?”

  “Yes—“ Leina stopped short and checked herself. How did Mrs. Holpe know about Sasha? Had Leina accidentally mentioned her? Could everyone see through her that easily?

  Mrs. Holpe didn’t appear to notice Leina’s sudden panic. “Good. Now you go on, and be careful.”

  Chapter 30

  Leina and Ruby found the servants’ entrance easily enough. The key fit. The door opened. An entrance to the castle itself had been left hanging open. It was as easy as that.

  “Where is everyone?” Leina whispered, not willing to believe it.

  Ruby shrugged. “If they don’t want to be here, it’s okay with me.”

  Leina smiled a little. “Just don’t let your guard down, okay?”

  Leina had thought that Dangerman’s palace was lavish, but it was only a shed compared to the great castle of Estlebey. Though Estlebey’s grandeur of old had long faded away, here a shadow of it remained. It was brilliantly lit, and the floor was of gleaming marble. Columns soared high above the girls’ heads, and the walls were covered in beautiful tapestries and paintings. In the center of the round hall was a great fountain. It was stone dry, but magnificently carven in the likeness of a great bushel of flowering vines that rose almost to the ceiling.

  Leina had never seen such a place. She almost could have liked it. And yet there was something still that made her want to turn her eyes away. Maybe it was because the city below was in decay, and its people confused. What good was such a place if it was surrounded by a veil of darkness? Maybe the darkness was heaviest here, in the place that tried hardest to hide it. For all its columns, and lights, and paintings, this place had a stagnant feeling, like a bog left alone for a thousand years. And this was what the people put their trust in.

  But what bothered Leina most was that the castle was empty. Still she neither saw nor heard any sign of guards. She was tired of silence. It only made her feel like she was being watched.

  Then, suddenly, the quiet was shattered by a piercing yell. Instinctively, Leina and Ruby dove behind a column. A groveling voice answered from somewhere in the distance. Though the yell lingered on as an echo, it was not repeated.

  “Dangerman,” Leina whispered. She cringed as her voice carried through the hollow space like the wail of a ghost. Drawing her face closer to Ruby’s ear, she continued, “It sounds like he’s in there.” She pointed to a vacuous archway across the room. “I’ve got to go in. You stay here. If there’s any trouble… I don’t know. Save yourself, I guess.”

  “But…” Ruby protested.

  “It’ll be okay. I won’t be too long.”

  When Leina stood up, her wet shoes on the marble made a shrill squeaking sound that resonated horribly. Cringing again, she slipped the shoes off and inched her way silently across the marble floor.

  When Leina reached the doorway, she cautiously peered in. Beyond was a great shadowy hall, lit only at the far end, where a man sat in a golden throne. Before him was a boy in a cape. Dangerman.

  Leina could hear echoes of their conversation, but the words had been lost long before the sound reached her ears. All she heard was an eerie ringing jumble. She had to get closer.

  With a deep breath, Leina slipped through the doorway. Though the hall was dark and vast, Leina felt more exposed here than in the well-lit room before it. She felt certain that the man in the throne was staring at her even as he spoke. It took all of the presence of mind that she had to keep herself from fleeing. She clung to the wall and inched along it behind a row of columns.

  Something gave way under Leina’s fingers, and she barely stifled a gasp. But it was only a decorative curtain hung against the wall. Leina was close enough to hear what was being said, so she slipped behind the curtain, more to retain her own sanity than to avoid being seen. When Leina dared to peek out, she got her first good look at the Appeaser.

  The Appeaser. Leina had heard so much about him that seeing him was almost a disappointment. He didn’t look wicked or deceitful. He just looked like an ordinary, slightly plump man wearing a crown, and a very flustered one at that. Could such a man really cause so much evil? Leina remembered Max’s description of him: a petty liar. Hadn’t she been the one that had insisted that petty liars were dangerous? It was easier to believe that when you weren’t looking at one.

  Dangerman, on the other hand, wielded his usual bravado. Though he was much smaller than the king before him, he was clearly the one in control of the situation, and not afraid to show it. A wave of loathing passed through Leina even at the sight of him, who she had once thought that she would never see again. She hadn’t been entirely opposed to that idea.

  “I’m still not impressed, Drakus. Why are there guards fending off my monsters?” Dangerman demanded, waving his hands in rapid angry motions. “I thought you said that there would be no resistance this time.”

  The Appeaser mopped sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. “I tried. I told my guards to stay put. But they all panicked and ran down to help, against orders. I couldn’t stop them. I’ll have them punished, of course.”

  “That doesn’t help me,” Dangerman growled. “Did you even remember the decree?”

  “Of course, of course.” The Appeaser fumbled through a stack of papers on a table next to his throne, producing a small scroll. “Here it is.”

  “Read it.” Dangerman tapped his foot on the marble floor, making an insistent clicking sound.

  The Appeaser stood up and rolled the scroll open hastily. He read, “King Drakus II hereby orders that all traffic into and out of Estlebey be halted indefinitely. Anyone attempting—“

  “Why?” Dangerman interrupted with the tone of a short-tempered teacher addressing a student. “Aren’t you going to say why? That’s the whole point.”

  The Appeaser groped for a pen and scribbled something do
wn on the scroll. “In order to protect the city from harm—“

  “No, no! From me. Dangerman. The fearsome Dangerman. Say that.”

  “In order to protect the city from the fearsome Dangerman, King Drakus II hereby orders that all traffic into and out of Estlebey be halted indefinitely. Anyone attempting to enter or leave the city after the time of this decree shall be seized without warrant.”

  “Good enough. I’ll call the monsters off and get them out of here. I want that decree in place in twenty minutes. Twenty minutes, Drakus. And if I hear of anyone making it past your borders—“

  Without bothering to finish the thought, Dangerman turned heel and stormed away, leaving the Appeaser to wipe more sweat off his forehead, and Leina to let it all sink in. In twenty minutes, she and Ruby would be trapped in Estlebey.

  Chapter 31

  Panic was welling up within Leina almost faster than she could repress it. It took all of the strength that she had to keep herself still while Dangerman left the room. In an attempt to calm herself, she counted his pounding footsteps as they receded. But they seemed to be only a stabbing echo of her racing heart. As soon as he was gone, she ran. Though she was still concealed by the shadows and the largeness of the throne room, it was a wonder that the Appeaser didn’t hear her in her haste. But then maybe he was too nervous himself to notice.

  When Leina reached the outer room, she was relieved to find it empty, because that meant that Dangerman had already left. But the next moment, that same fact caused Leina to stop suddenly, and the panic to swell up again. Where was Ruby?

  Leina searched the room in frantic circles, but there was no sign of her friend. Leina’s own shoes still lay on the floor behind a column, but that was all. She could all but see Max glowering at her. Worse was the terrible pang of horror and guilt in her stomach. She shouldn’t have left Ruby alone.

  Unwisely, Leina called Ruby’s name. The resounding echo caused her heart to sink even further, not because she was afraid of being heard, but because the sound rang through the room uninterrupted, unheard.