“Go on. Please.” The tightness spread to her belly. Where were they now? Had her father survived his injury?
“With our help, your mother nursed your father back to some degree of health, all the while pleading with us to find you. We could not. You had disappeared without a trace. Now we know why. Not one of us suspected that a girl who had never flown before would make it clear across the Granite Sea without failing.”
There was a question in his eyes, but she only nodded. There would be time for answers to his questions later. She wanted to know more about her parents.
He acquiesced. “They stayed with us only long enough for your father to get back on his feet, although he could not walk without the use of a staff or a cane. Your mother refused to stay in Varidian another moment more. Her pain was too great, and your father told me he would follow her, wherever she needed to go. Without you …” Mellar’s voice trailed off for a moment. “Without you, Magnus said that your mother held the only purpose he had left. He had been so sure you were meant for something special.” He sighed heavily. “He felt he had failed you. If he had known you lived … That’s no matter now.” There was something in the set of his jaw, and Mariah was sure he was hiding something, but she didn’t press the matter. “With our help, he and Ashanya left the Cellar and did not return.”
“Where?” Mariah asked, sitting on the edge of her seat, her breath catching.
“Like you, they traveled across the sea, but to a Sovereign hideout in Eseth, as far from Varidian as they could get. I know they survived the journey, but I have heard nothing of them since.”
Mariah turned away, squeezing her eyes closed, trying to control her breath. Her parents … all this time, she had thought they were either dead or here in Varidian somewhere, and nearly the whole time, they had been in Eseth, Cillian’s neighboring kingdom, somewhere across the peaks of the Vegreset from Wellspring, perhaps even near Mount Edana. At least they were safe from the king.
She turned back to Mellar. “Thank you. I think someday, if you are willing, I should like to hear more about your friendship with my father. He and I were very close.”
Mellar nodded, a melancholy half-smile on his face. “As you wish.”
“But for now, we must move forward.” She wrangled her thoughts away from her parents and back to the slave camps. She took a long drink of water, forcing her mind away from her vision and away from thoughts of her parents. “Mellar, I want you to lead this … infiltration. Once you have gathered whatever help you can, I want you to attack the camp.” She put a finger on the map again. “If my mission succeeds, I will join you as soon as I am able. Do whatever you can to rescue as many Ceo San as possible.” Xae was suddenly beside her, filling the space between her chair and Han’s. She met his eyes and thought of his mother, Simone. “And any family being held there as well.”
“That’ll be difficult,” Mellar replied in a gravelly voice. “Anyone who goes in risks not coming out. And not all of the drudges—” Mariah’s face twisted involuntarily. She hated that term. It was what the soldiers called the Ceo San slaves, cuffed or not. She forced the look from her face and nodded. Mellar cleared his throat and continued. “Not all of the slaves will be willing. Some might even turn us in rather than be set free.”
“I know.” Xae had told her once upon a time about the brainwashing involved in the slave training, how it would be too late for his sisters if they didn’t find them quickly. Now, he squeezed her shoulder. They had learned that much of the brainwashing had been done through coercion, with the soldiers holding family members of the Ceo San children hostage to encourage obedience. His own mother had been held to keep Ayla and Nya in line. She took a deep breath. “Take those you can. Perhaps we can find a way to bring them back.”
“What about the Trappers and their … charges?” Han asked, leaning forward to meet her gaze around Xae’s body. “You said there were some in every camp.”
Before Mariah could reply, Mellar spoke. “There’s only one thing to be done with them. They must be executed. The cuff changes everything. Those charges are not Ceo San anymore. They serve the king and must die with their masters.”
Han nodded, but Mariah kept her gaze fixed on Mellar. “What? What do you mean? Surely, there’s a way—”
“I know it seems harsh, lady, but we’ve tried everything, believe me. Early on, we attempted to free some of them by killing their masters. Even then, they couldn’t be saved.” Mariah realized that Midelia and Teneth were no longer looking at either her or Mellar as he spoke. A thin sheen of tears sparkled in the older woman’s eyes. “They went insane, tried to kill us and escape, anything to get back to the king and be given to another Trapper.” His own eyes were glassy, and his look was distant. “Maybe if the cuffs could be removed but …”
“But what?” Mariah demanded.
“Have you ever seen one close up? One who’s cuffed, I mean?”
“Close enough,” she said, remembering an encounter in the Kannuk market. The man she had seen, the slave, had old burn scars on his hand above the cuff on the side she had seen. So had the owl man she had killed over Laikos and the Ceo San in her first vision. They all had damaged, scarred flesh around their dragon-etched golden cuffs.
“The cuffs aren’t buckled on our brethren like a standard shackle or a bracelet. They’re …”—he looked down for a moment and swallowed hard before meeting Mariah’s gaze—“They’re melted on, metal on skin. It goes deep … merges with the flesh.” He let out a loud breath. “There’s no way to remove the cuff without taking the flesh beneath with it.” He sounded like he spoke from experience.
Mariah’s covered her mouth with her hand in horror. She wanted nothing more than to scream. Instead, she shoved back from the table, stalking away and gathering her thoughts. She breathed deeply and pushed away the terrifying visions that Mellar’s words had summoned.
When she came back, she spoke, her jaw stiff, and gave her first order. “Do not kill anyone if you have a choice. If you can, take them prisoner. And we’ll revisit this when we return.”
“And if you don’t return?” Mellar asked simply.
Mariah’s irritation got the better of her. “Then I guess you’ll just have to figure it out on your own, won’t you?”
* * *
Early that evening, sitting in a little skiff with Berg and Shira, Mariah regretted her final words, but it was too late to take them back. Mellar and the Sovereign were taking a great risk in her name.
Nonetheless, because the council had insisted that she appoint someone, she had left Nilovi in charge. The Sovereign seemed to respect her choice, and that brought her a little relief at least. She would make any necessary amends to Mellar when … if she returned.
When the last meeting was finished, their plans finalized, and their supplies gathered, Berg had led the party down to one of the little docks that extended into the Dragon’s Breath, the noisy river that ran through the main cavern of the Cellar. Earlier in the day, Nilovi had helped Han locate Shadow. The horse had been kept in a stable close to where they had been brought in and had been exercised and cared for every day by none other than Eva herself. Relieved that the Sovereign would continue to take care of Shadow until he returned, Han had agreed to leave her behind for the time being.
As they prepared to depart, Nilovi, Kaddan, and Grelem had accompanied them as far as the river’s edge. Grelem had agreed to stay with Kaddan and her mother. Although he hadn’t wanted to be separated from Shira and had wanted to help save Rose and Jahl, he had acquiesced when his adopted sister had told him that she needed to focus on getting her parents out of Glenley.
“I need to know that you’re safe, kid,” Shira had muttered as they said their goodbyes. Grelem had nodded, and they had embraced. Mariah had barely caught the fierce whisper that followed. “I’ll bring ’em back. I promise.”
Now, the party of seven—Maria
h, Shira, Xae, Han, Berg, Midelia, and Teneth—and their supplies were split among three little boats, each with a lantern anchored on its stern, gently gliding through a vast maze of dark caverns. She had learned quickly that even a soft voice echoed loudly in the place, and she had fallen silent, as did her companions. There was no need to row, although Berg placed an oar in the water to keep them near the center of the widening river. Its natural flow ensured that they remained moving along in the blackness, sometimes at a tranquil pace and sometimes at a fast clip. Midelia and Teneth steered the other boats.
Before they departed, all of the quest goers had been given new sets of clothes. The Sovereign, it seemed, were used to disguising themselves. The subtle differences in the outfits were designed to fit in with current styles in Glenley. In addition, Mariah’s hair was once again dyed, this time a muted brown instead of the carrot red she had sported when they had saved Xae’s family. Nilovi had also used a tiny bit of some clear oil to tame it from its normally wild angles to lie close to her head and had passed the little green corked bottle to her so she could reapply it as needed. Shira’s normally riotous curls were now gathered in a severe bun at the back of her head, and some paints and powders had been applied in a way that made her appear a decade older. Han’s hair was still cut short, but Xae had refused that particular pleasure. The boy had agreed to tie his own longish hair back with a leather strip. Nilovi had also shown him how to apply some powder that added some color to the paleness of his face and hands.
In the end, with the exception of her own hair, the changes didn’t seem too drastic to Mariah. If someone was really looking, they would be able to recognize them. She guessed the point was to make them less likely to garner that attention. For that, their plain brown cloaks would also help. No one would think twice about their hoods being up if the weather cooperated. For once, she hoped warm, dry weather would hold off just a little while longer, but Imbermon, the first month of spring, was already upon them.
As Mariah sat in the gently rocking boat, so many thoughts flickered in and out of her head that she couldn’t hold onto or focus on just one. The revelations of her vision, Mellar’s news about her parents, and the plans they had made were just a few of the scattered fragments that swam in her mind. Among them, the quiet thought came to her that the network that she had been trying to build to help the children already existed. She would not need to build it from scratch after all. She silently but reluctantly thanked the gods for that. The scope of what was possible had suddenly become so much vaster.
She caught herself drifting off to sleep in the dark silence when Berg pulled up the second oar and maneuvered it into the water opposite the other. Water splashed gently nearby as Teneth and Midelia did the same in the other boats. Shortly after, the skiff began to move faster, and the noise of the river began to return, amplified off the walls of the cavern.
“We’re nearly out,” Berg said. “The channel narrows quite a bit here.”
Almost as soon as he said it, the little boat began to rock, and Mariah grabbed the sides to steady herself. A narrow sliver of glowing light appeared ahead through a crack in the face of the stone ahead. She looked over her shoulder and saw that the other two boats were now almost directly behind them, one behind the other in a line.
She held on more tightly as the water became more turbulent, but Berg navigated the river with ease. After they went through a short series of rapids, the boat spilled through the opening in the cave wall and over a short fall into a widening stream. Wiping at the water that had splashed onto her cloak, Mariah marveled at the moon sparkling on the water as she turned back again to see the others emerge. Behind them, she spotted the huge, tree-topped cliff that hid the origins of the Dragon’s Breath and, somewhere miles back, the Cellar.
Berg spotted where she was looking and said, “There are caves up there, inlets really. If you know where to find them, they’ll eventually get you back to where we came from.”
Mariah had to admit she had wondered if there was a way back besides rowing upstream. She nodded and turned back to find bare trees dotting the shores beside them. In the distance ahead, the river, now barely more than a stream, flowed seamlessly into a huge lake.
“Falmermere,” Berg said.
In the quiet of the night, he steered the skiff into the lake and around the southern shore into a small, sheltered cove, where a narrow dock jutted out into the water. As they climbed out and Berg handed them their things from the boat, Shira began to look around, her face puzzled.
“What’s up, fuzz face?” Xae asked as he disembarked across from them.
“I feel like I’ve been here before,” she said, continuing to scan the trees.
“That’s because you have,” Berg said. He took the rope Mariah had been holding and tied off the skiff. He straightened, one hand supporting his back, and gestured with the other. “Up that path about a quarter of a mile is the cabin where we’ll be staying tonight. It’s owned by one Pol Miranda.”
“Papa? You mean …”
Berg laughed. “Yes, little one, it’s the same cabin where I brought you and your mother when she smuggled you out of Westholde when you were just a wee tot.”
Shira grabbed Mariah’s hand and pulled her forward. Mariah couldn’t help but smile. In a line, they all followed Berg away from the boats, up the trail, and into the trees.
Mariah and Shira stayed together. They picked their way slowly upslope along the trail. Berg carried a lantern, and behind them, Midelia and Teneth lit the way for the others. Taking advantage of their little bit of semiprivacy, Mariah finally asked Shira a question that been nagging at her all day. “Why did you change your mind? About where we should go first? I mean, you didn’t seem upset when I made my decision.”
Shira touched Mariah’s arm. “You’re gonna laugh at me. It just came to me this mornin’ when I woke up. Ya see, Biorna keeps repeatin’ herself. ‘Stay with the Hawk,’ she says over and over. ‘Stay with the Hawk.’ Well, I finally realized that she wasn’t sayin’, ‘Don’t save your parents.’ She just says to stay with you. Then, you go off and say you’re goin’ to Glenley. So, guess what? I’m stayin’ with you, wherever you go.”
Mariah’s mouth widened into a huge smile. She put her arm around Shira in a quick side embrace, and they laughed together as Shira’s childhood home came into view in a clearing up ahead.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The Capital
The night was long, and once again, Mariah barely slept. After listening to tales from Shira and Berg about their times at the cabin, they had gotten into a long debate over their plans and had argued for several hours before finally coming to an uncomfortable consensus. Just before she retired to the room Berg had given her to share with Shira, Xae, and Han, the old man had given her a letter.
“Mellar gave it to me before we departed, said he’d been holding it for you. This may be the only time you’ll be alone to read it.”
She cocked her head at him, but he had already turned away, heading toward the other room, which he would be sharing with the two other Sovereign. Mariah looked at the envelope in her hands. It was buttery soft and yellowed with age, and the edges were beginning to come unglued. Her name was written in a jagged scrawl across the outside, and her heart jumped in recognition. Sitting down at the table next to the only remaining lantern in the room, Mariah carefully pulled the letter out, her hands shaking, and unfolded it.
The handwriting on the paper was the same, and she knew it immediately, although she hadn’t seen it in ages. It was her father’s unsteady print.
Although the letters were faded, they were still legible.
Dearest Mariah,
I hope beyond hope that you are well. The days since my accident are a blur. Our lives were upended in so short a time. I was sure I’d have more time to prepare you. I keep going over and over everything that happened in my head, but it all comes out
the same. Your mother and I have lost our home, but it means nothing compared to losing you.
Where are you, girl? Our friends have been searching the land, and there’s been no sign of you since you used those wings of yours to fly away. I’m proud of you for doing that, you know. If I know you as I think I do, you probably wanted to turn yourself in, to save your mother and me, but you did the right thing. Your mother and I can take care of ourselves. But that doesn’t stop me from worrying about what’s happened to you since.
I’m writing this because we can’t stay here. Now that I can get around a bit, we’re going someplace safe, somewhere the king can’t reach us. I’m hoping someday you’ll make it here and get this letter. These are your people, after all. The ones that call themselves Sovereign—you can trust them. They’ll take care of you. I’ve known Mellar since I was a boy and still trust him with my life. You can do the same.
Whenever you get this letter, no matter how long it’s been, know that your mother and I love you and miss you fiercely. There is so much we need to tell you. Please come to us when you can.
Your Father,
Magnus Griven
As if someone had added another chain to the ones pulling her in different directions, Mariah’s heart ached. She held the letter to her chest but refused to cry. She had things to do, and she would not deviate from that course now. Shira would not have to go through years of her life without her parents as she had.
And although she made up her mind quickly and went to bed, Mariah still laid awake for a long time, the letter clutched in her hand and memories of her father and mother and imaginings about where they were now dancing through her mind.
* * *
Revelation of the Dragon Page 25
