by RS McCoy
Blossom shook her head, knowing she had no power in this. As clan leader, Da would make the final decision. The only person who could change this wasn’t even in the tent.
Blossom stepped back toward the flap, half-expecting him to stop her, but she pushed into the bright afternoon light without interference. She found Da, Parson, and Lathan standing in a small circle, their voices low, as they always were when they discussed something serious.
What could be more serious than this? Blossom knew they were talking about her.
Lathan lifted his head when she emerged, and the rest looked at her a moment later. Parson reached out his hand, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her against his ribs, too hard for comfort but she didn’t argue. She could feel his refusal to let her leave, and that suited her just fine.
“He’s the Vice Syndicate,” Da reminded them, as if they had forgotten in the last few moments.
“I don’t care if he’s the Alder Mother’s son reborn, I don’t like him and he’s not taking her,” Parson replied. Both Da and Lathan stared at him in shock at such open blasphemy, but neither made mention of it. They had other concerns at the moment.
“Da, we can get Norin here in a few hours. We can trade her to a clan in the Alderwood like we always said we would. She has no business with anyone else.” Lathan didn’t seem as if he liked his own idea.
Blossom, though, understood where he came from. It was hard for them to let loose the idea of a trade between clans, but she bristled at the notion she shouldn’t leave the Alderwood.
And here was a Vice Syndicate offering to take her away.
It was all she’d ever wanted and still she shied away from him.
“It doesn’t matter. He—” Da pointed an accusatory finger in the direction of the tent. “He knows of our operation and can reveal us to the Terra Syndicate.”
“We can run,” Parson offered, though they knew it was no use. They couldn’t pack the camp and remove all signs of their unceremonious crimes against the alder trees before they were discovered. There were too many in the clan, and as it was, they were mid-cut on a sizeable tree. There was no denying their actions.
“Da, please. Tell us what you’d have us do. There has to be another way.” Lathan’s voice caught when he looked at Blossom.
“There is another way,” came a deep voice behind her. Blossom spun to see the Vice Syndicate standing before the tent flap. She didn’t know how long he’d stood there or how much he’d heard.
The three Frane men lifted their heads simultaneously and awaited his words, eager to hear another option.
With careful steps, the Vice Syndicate paraded toward them. His shiny black boots were dotted with dust from his travels, barely visible under his long cloak. “Ms. Frane has asked that I do not use my position against you. However, it is my wish that she accompanies me to Pyrona. To that end, I have something else to trade.”
Blossom’s mouth hung open for the second time, though she caught it sooner. He wasn’t going to turn them in? And he still wanted her to leave with him? She couldn’t believe it. He had to be the dumbest Vice Syndicate in creation. She would never leave with him.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Da said as he stepped forward. “Would you accompany me back into the tent where we might finish our discussion in private?” They all knew it would be most unusual to conduct such business in the clearing.
A moment later, Da and the Vice Syndicate disappeared behind the tent flap. Had she the ears of a fox, she might have heard their words, but as a human outside the tent, she was at a loss.
“He’ll figure something out,” Lathan offered, though Blossom was sure he was trying to convince himself.
Parson paced back and forth across the clearing, one fist pressed tight into his palm. She hadn’t seen him so angry since the Renemy clan denied his offer for the beautiful Darsa, a girl they’d suspected he had genuinely liked despite his unwillingness to admit it.
Blossom stood by Lathan and let him blow off steam. No one wanted to see Parson lose control. As it was, she was a little surprised he hadn’t transitioned to his bear form and killed the Vice Syndicate outright. That alone was a great show of patience from her quick-tempered brother. Still, she had no doubt he could lose it at any moment. She was safer at Lathan’s side.
While her da decided her future with a stranger.
“He’ll figure something out,” Lathan repeated.
“Like what?” Blossom looked up at her oldest brother and hoped he could offer some of the sound advice for which he was famous.
But Lathan shrugged. “Maybe he’ll wait until your transformation. That would be reasonable.”
If only the Vice Syndicate showed any sign of being reasonable.
“Blossom,” Da’s voice rang across the clearing as his head emerged from the tent flap. With his hand outstretched, he motioned her back into the gloom.
“That was fast,” she mumbled as she walked toward her father, trying with all her might not to look like a scared little girl.
Da held open the flap as she re-entered the tent as slowly as possible. The Vice Syndicate was still grim as he watched her. The single candle still burned. Nothing had changed.
They were still playing the game.
Da cupped her cheek in his hand but his lips remained clamped shut. His hazel eyes shone so many conflicting emotions she couldn’t begin to determine what they’d decided.
“Will you tell her, or should I?” the Vice Syndicate asked, his voice eerily quiet.
Da didn’t so much as glance back at him, but to Blossom, he said, “I have accepted Vice Syndicate Landel’s offer for your hand. We have agreed to terms. It was the very best I could do for you.” Da pulled his eyes from hers and gently kissed her forehead.
Blossom felt as if a strong wind had blown through the tent and sucked her straight out. She was as empty as a hollowed-out tree trunk. It was really happening. She was leaving. With him. Right now.
It didn’t seem real. Blossom didn’t know whether to laugh or cry or run away entirely. Instead, she stood frozen. Both Da and the Vice Syndicate awaited her reaction—any reaction—but she produced none.
“I’ll give you a few minutes.” The Vice Syndicate sailed past with a sweep of his cloak. He nodded to Da but failed to even look at Blossom.
Three seconds later, Parson barreled into the tent, followed closely behind by Lathan.
“You’re not serious!” Parson began the first of many angry shouts. “Pyros are dangerous. He could kill her.” His loud, desperate words rattled her to the core. So disoriented, all she could do was watch her world fall apart.
Da put up his hand as if that would lessen the impact of Parson’s words. “We came to agreeable terms. That’s the way of it.”
“But Da—” Lathan protested, though he too knew it was too late. The words had been said, the shoulders clasped. The trade was settled.
Blossom’s hopes sank like a fallen tree. Her palms slickened with sweat and her mouth went dry. Her body was as confused as her mind.
Parson renewed his shouting. “She’s not leaving with him. I swear on the Alder Mother—”
Now it was Da’s turn to get angry. He stood tall despite both sons having long since outgrown him. “You will do no such thing. You will respect your father and clan leader. Now, your sister is leaving. Maybe you’d like to use this time to say your goodbyes?”
Parson turned away and ran his hands through his hair so hard he all but pulled some out. Blossom watched him wrestle his anger, her heart guilty. She had done this to her family. She had ventured alone into the Alderwood and allowed this stranger to follow her back to camp. If she’d done as she was told, none of this would have happened.
Lathan was the first to step forward. He gripped each of her shoulders and stooped down so he could look into her eyes. Then, without a word, he clutched her tightly to his chest. He squeezed her so hard the air was forced from her lungs, but somehow she managed to wrap her arms aro
und his neck and squeeze him back.
Then, he pulled away and offered her a confident nod, one that made her feel invincible, before he stepped back.
Parson immediately filled the spot. So different from Lathan’s quiet farewell, Parson’s final words came in rapid-fire succession. “You can do this. You’re strong. You have bear’s blood in you. There is nothing that man can do to you that you can’t handle. Look at Tasia. As long as you stay strong, you’ll be fine.” Then, with the force of his bear-self, he too, squeezed her hard.
Blossom knew she would be sore the next day, though somehow, she knew she wouldn’t mind. She savored the strong embrace from her brother, knowing it was her last.
Parson didn’t release her until Da put a hand on his shoulder. As if a silent string ripped them apart, he stepped back. She heard the choke in his throat and saw the reflection of the candlelight flicker in his eyes. Blossom felt the parts of herself breaking off to be left behind forever, one for Lathan, another for Parson. And as Da moved in, yet another piece fell away.
“I would never give you up unless I thought you would be safe and happy. I know it’s hard, but you need to trust me,” he whispered. Blossom accepted his embrace and tried not to hate him. He had always done his best by her, and there was no reason to think this was any different. But that didn’t quell the sting of bile in her throat or the sharp edge of anger like none she’d ever known.
It would be hard to forgive him for this.
When Da stepped back, there was sadness in his eyes. He knew she didn’t want to leave with the Vice Syndicate, yet he had agreed to it anyway.
Blossom would let him live with that. She nodded to her brothers and marched out of the tent and into the daylight.
There, she found the Vice Syndicate waiting with arms clasped behind his back as he always seemed to do, watching them as if he didn’t notice anyone else. The other clan-members stared at him with decided interest—they’d likely never seen a Pyro either—but they kept their distance, peering at him from the edge of the clearing.
Only Gemini was brave enough to venture forward. She trotted over with her arms wide, flinging them around Blossom as soon as she was close enough to envelope her in an embrace. “Seriously? You can’t wait a single day?” Gemini joked despite the tears in her eyes. A second later, Gemini released her and backed away, leaving Blossom alone in the clearing with the Vice Syndicate.
“Is there anything you would like to bring with you?” he asked in the arrogant way she’d already come to expect from him. She realized his tone was laced with the satisfaction of his victory.
Blossom shook her head. The only possessions she wanted to take, her mother’s book and her ferret, were already with her. She had nothing else.
Then, she realized, in a moment of horror, there was one person missing. Her gaze darted across the gathered faces, searching but still not finding. In growing desperation, she spun to where Da, Parson, and Lathan emerged through the tent flap, one after the other.
“Where’s Hale?” she asked, all too aware of the catch in her voice.
Lathan shook his head but Parson answered. “He went into the wood to find you when—”
Before he could finish, she turned to the Vice Syndicate and said, “I need to say goodbye to my brother. You’ll have to wait until he returns.”
But he pressed his lips into a thin line and answered, “We need to leave now, Ms. Frane. We are already several hours behind and won’t reach our stop until well after dark. The Alderwood can be dangerous at night.”
“Not for me,” she spat.
He condescended to smile at her. “No, I suspect not. As it is, we need to depart.”
At last, tears spilled down her cheeks. “Please, I need to say goodbye. He doesn’t even know I’m leaving. Please,” she begged, careless as to how weak she looked. “I’ll go with you, I’ll marry you, I’ll do whatever you want.”
“If I could offer you such hours, I would, but we need to leave. We have a long road ahead before we reach our destination.” It was hard to tell through her tear-blurred eyes, but he almost looked sad, but that was impossible.
His words crushed her—crushed every last bit of her. She was really leaving with this stranger, and not only would she never see her family again, she didn’t even get to say goodbye to Hale. He would take it the hardest, she knew. And she would regret it every day of her life.
With nothing left to do, Blossom lowered her head and wiped away the traitorous tears on her cheeks. She would have liked to look contented and in control the moment she left her family behind, but there was little left in her that cared. She only wanted to keep the Vice Syndicate from using it against her later.
The Vice Syndicate led her away from the clearing. She remembered at the last second to look back. The three men stood together, her two brothers and her da, all distraught. Lathan’s arm pressed against Parson’s chest, holding him back. Otherwise, not a one of them moved.
She waved one last goodbye at them and followed the Vice Syndicate along the well-worn path, passing tents and the people she’d known all her life. They watched her as she left, staring as if they’d never seen her before, but Blossom didn’t care.
She’d never see any of them again.
Mother’s Inn
THE VICE SYNDICATE’S cloak was less than a finger-length from the ground, its swishing the only sound in the quiet of the Alderwood.
At least she didn’t have to talk to him. Now away from camp, she was all too aware of their isolation. She was alone with this stranger.
No, not alone.
Blossom rubbed her hand across the lump in her tunic where Fig sat. At her signal, he crawled up her torso and emerged alongside her neck. She collected him in her hands and rubbed the top of his head, finding the smallest measure of comfort in his soft fur.
“Did you have that animal in your shirt?” the Vice Syndicate asked. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. She noticed he looked at her now, when before he’d refused, though she didn’t know what caused the change.
But Blossom didn’t look back. Instead, she nodded and continued rubbing Fig’s head, walking through the wood with no idea where the Vice Syndicate was taking her.
“May I?” He extended his hand, smooth and elegant, so unlike the brutal claw she imagined he had.
Blossom clutched Fig tight against her chest in answer.
“You don’t trust me yet. I wouldn’t trust me either. Your suspicion serves you well.” The Vice Syndicate seemed amused. It almost sounded like a compliment.
“I have no reason to trust you.” She filled her voice with all her grief and anger, but it came out sounding small. There was an edge of fear she couldn’t overcome.
They walked for several more minutes before he spoke again. “I know this will seem quite unfair, but I must require that you leave your innocent in the Alderwood.”
Blossom’s feet froze in place. “No, I’m taking him. There’s nothing in your terms about him. If you wanted me to leave him behind, you should have said so before we left.” As much as she argued the point, she was glad he hadn’t made mention of this stipulation back at camp. It would have been just enough to push her over the edge.
Out here, her anger now somewhat hardened, she only fought back. She didn’t have room in her heart to bear anymore loss.
“I would have insisted had I known. Believe me, Ms. Frane, Pyrona is no place for an innocent. He will fare better here.” The Vice Syndicate turned and faced her, looming over her with a bowed head as close as he could get without stooping down. His cloak smelled of ash and his chest beat like a quiet drum, fast-paced like hers. “You may keep him as long as we are within the Alderwood. I encourage you to find a suitable location for his release before we reach the city. After that, I can make no promises for his safety.”
Blossom nodded. Fear gripped tight around her throat like a constricting snake. She was afraid of the Vice Syndicate—afraid of the Pyro city that was too da
ngerous for Fig.
At least she didn’t have to make the decision now. Here, closest to the camp, he had the best chance of finding his way back, but Blossom knew he wouldn’t make it. They’d already gone too far. She clutched him to her chest and resumed the walk to wherever they were going.
Minutes later, a carriage appeared in the distance between the alder trunks. It was one of the finest things she’d ever seen. Covered in luscious crimson fabric and framed in polished alder wood, it had large metal wheels and stood hitched behind a pair of grey horses.
For a moment, Blossom thought them to be the two men accompanying the Vice Syndicate when she first saw him in the woods, but they emerged in their human forms from the far side of the carriage as soon as the Vice Syndicate was in view. They trotted to the carriage door and stood to either side, bowing deep and low.
“Good afternoon, Vice Syndicate. Ms. Frane,” they said together as the one on the left pulled open the door.
“I know how to ride,” she offered. Blossom was no delicate princess to travel the realm in a fancy box. She’d much rather feel the life of a horse underneath her.
“For your safety and comfort, Ms. Frane,” the Vice Syndicate answered and motioned once more to the interior of the carriage.
Blossom huffed and darted inside, throwing herself onto the rear-facing seat of matching crimson fabric. On her right, a tiny window stood open, covered with a thick black curtain. To her left, the Vice Syndicate climbed through the open door and occupied the opposite seat. His legs were so long, they nearly bumped each other’s knees, but she was careful to keep her body tilted to avoid touching him.
When they were both settled, the carriage vaulted into motion. It was slow at first, but soon the horses found their rhythm. The carriage jarred and jumped with the uneven floor of the Alderwood, tossing them around so hard she had to keep one hand braced against the carriage wall.
Through the tiny opening, Blossom watched the trees pass by in a blur. It wasn’t the fastest she’d ever gone, but without the familiar feel of bear muscles underneath her, the motion made her stomach flip and flop. Her mouth filled with saliva and she felt the coolness of sweat on her brow.
