Bone Crier's Dawn

by Kathryn Purdie

  “For all the times I should have hugged you more,” I hear her whisper. “Now seemed as good a time as any.”

  He pats her back. “Oh. Well . . . thanks.”

  She pulls away and coughs several times into her handkerchief. I catch a flash of red on the cloth when she straightens up. My heart kicks.

  “Was that blood?” I hiss as she comes over to say goodbye.

  She stiffens and slides the handkerchief behind her back. “It’s nothing to worry about.”

  “Nothing to worry about?” My voice rises. She smacks my arm to keep me quiet. “Merde, Jules, why didn’t you tell me?”

  “What difference would it have made?”

  “You shouldn’t have been helping me train, for one thing.”

  She rolls her eyes.

  “We’d better be going,” Cas calls to me. He and Sabine are already headed for the door. She’s got her quarterstaff in hand.

  I force a deep breath and try to not panic. The rest of the Chained are going to be ferried soon, and then Jules will be safe from the threat of any more attacks. She’s going to heal. I’ll make her. “Promise you’ll rest while I’m gone.”

  She waits a beat too long to answer. “Promise.”

  I stifle a grumble and throw on my cloak. Before I leave the church, I veer over to Marcel and whisper in his ear, “Don’t let your sister out of your sight.”

  35

  Sabine

  DARK CLOUDS LOOM OVER THE plateau leading to the cliffs above the inlet. The growing storm blots out Elara’s starlight. If not for my graced eyes, the night would be near black. I feel that darkness crowding in on me, quashing my Light. The closer we come to the land bridge, the more suffocating it becomes.

  Find your confidence, Sabine. You have the jackal bone. As long as you keep hold of it, you’re safe.

  My shoulders fall. If only I’d learned to share that grace with Cas and Bastien.

  I tug on the cord of my necklace. My grace bones don’t budge; I’ve tucked them under the tight neckline of my dress.

  “Do you sense your famille yet?” Cas asks, walking beside me. He’s carrying my staff while I drag the rowboat by a rope. He and Bastien helped me carry it for the first three miles, but then I forced them to let me do it alone. They were exhausting themselves, and it isn’t so much of a strain on me.

  “No.” My stomach knots. “I’m sure I will soon.” It’s hard to imagine Roxane and the elders will allow me to lead them again . . . or even let me into their presence. If they don’t, I won’t have a chance of freeing Ailesse tonight—or of defeating my mother and Godart and Tyrus and freeing thousands of Unchained souls.

  My chest seizes up. I realize I’ve stopped breathing, and I force a slow inhale. Relax, Sabine. Focus on one task at a time.

  I attune my senses to my jackal grace, checking once more to see if I can pick up any conversation from the Leurress. It’s close to midnight, and I’m not sure whether the Ferriers have arrived on the shore yet. I’m just out of range to be able to hear them. I’m counting on them to be there, desperately trying to open the Gates, even if they don’t know how to without me. My friends and I need their help. I can’t defeat my mother alone.

  Cas nibbles on his lip and casts a glance at Bastien, several yards ahead of us. He slows his footsteps. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

  The shy tone of his voice awakens some of the buried Light inside me. I drift closer as we walk side by side, and our shoulders brush. “You’ve been talking to me.” I grin, letting myself slip under the warm spell he’s always able to cast over me. Maybe it will give me courage. Tonight I need to perform my duties as matrone, even if my famille doesn’t give me back that title.

  “You know what I mean,” he says.

  Do I? His eyes grow soft, and my heart skips. If it weren’t for the rope in my hands, hauling the boat behind me, would Cas try to hold one of them? My nerve endings tingle at the thought. I want him to, the way he did when I first woke up after I was poisoned. I’ll never forget that feeling of being the vital center of his attention.

  He sets down my staff and moves nearer to me. I’m not breathing again. He touches my face, sweeping a wispy curl of hair behind my ear. His fingers are cool and slightly damp from the moisture in the air. “Drop the rope, Sabine,” he whispers.

  “W-why?” I ask, but I think I know why. Cas wants to do more than hold my hand.

  He chuckles quietly, his breath fanning across my face. “Trust me.”

  I clutch the rope tighter. I don’t know the first thing about kissing. What if I’m terrible at it?

  “Trust me,” he murmurs again. His thumb brushes across my cheekbone.

  My knees knock as I let the rope go. I suddenly don’t know what to do with my hands. Cas does. He takes both of them, and twines our fingers together. He draws me even closer. A rush of heat shoots up from my belly to my chest and neck and ears. Help me, Elara.

  His hands shift to my waist. I’m hyperaware of his thumbs as they slide up from a spot just above my navel to rest on my lower rib cage. A thousand butterflies take flight inside me.

  He leans his head nearer, pausing when our faces are almost touching, like he’s gazing at me. How well can he see me in the darkness?

  His mouth slowly lowers . . . mine rises . . .

  It would be so easy for Cas to pretend I was my sister right now.

  The fullest part of his lip grazes the end of my nose by accident. He’s missed my mouth.

  I can’t do this.

  I shrug away from him.

  He stands stunned, his cheeks flushed. “What’s wrong?”

  “This—it isn’t the right time.” I fold my arms against my chest and hold my muscles rigid like armor. “If we succeed tonight . . .” I draw a tense breath. We’re going to succeed. “Ailesse will be back, and well, she’s your amouré.”

  She’s more than that. She’s the daughter who should be matrone.

  “Your lives are still bound together,” I say.

  “Ailesse doesn’t love me.”

  “You love her.”

  He shakes his head. A strawberry curl tumbles across his brow. I fight the urge to touch his hair like he touched mine. “Sabine . . .” He sighs.

  “The gods designed her for you,” I rush on before my defenses break. “I can’t compete with that. I don’t want to be the one you fall back on because you can’t have what you want.”

  “That’s not what—” He reaches for me, but I take another backward step.

  “I mean it,” I say. “I’m tired of being second best.” Even if I am. The muscles tighten along my jawline. I suddenly realize what I have to do after Ailesse is free: accept my place within the famille and let the fiercer, stronger daughter be matrone.

  Bastien ambles back in our direction. “Did I lose you two?” he calls.

  “No, we’re right behind you.” I pick up the rope and start tugging the rowboat again. “We have to hurry,” I tell Cas, without meeting his eyes. “Come on.”

  Bastien reaches us and squints at me in the darkness. “You’re going to have to take the lead from here, Sabine. I don’t know where the entrance to the hidden stairs is.”

  I nod and walk past him, biting my quivering lip as I drag the boat. Don’t say you’re not enough. I repeat Ailesse’s words from my vision, but it’s still my first instinct, still my reality. Maybe the golden jackal grace is preying on my doubts, seeking to grind me underfoot even while it grants me perpetual life. But I can’t imagine I’d feel any different if I cast off the bone—which I’d never do, anyway. I need every ounce of its power and protection tonight.

  Soon I come to the two boulders that conceal the hidden stairs and pause, staring at them. I’m lightly panting, finally feeling the toll of walking seven miles with this boat. My mother won’t be weary like I am when we come face-to-face.

  I’ll never defeat her. I’m going to fail at freeing my sister and saving the Unchained.

  “Why have we stopped?�
�� Bastien asks.

  I swallow and point at the narrow gap between the two boulders. “The pathway isn’t wide enough for the rowboat. I didn’t think this through.”

  I didn’t think anything through. We know what we want to have happen at the land bridge, but we have no real strategy on how to accomplish it. We should run while we still can and come back next month, better prepared. If we don’t, Bastien and Cas will die tonight, and it will be my fault.

  I hear it then . . . a beautiful melody echoing up from the shore: the siren song to open the Gates. Except some of the notes are off and not held out long enough.

  Footsteps pound up the stairs. Adrenaline flares through my veins. The Ferriers have sensed our arrival.

  I drop the rowboat. Kick it up on its side. Yank the bone knife from a sheath at my thigh. “Take cover,” I tell Bastien and Cas. They duck behind the boat just as Dolssa and Vivienne burst out from between the two boulders. I stand my ground.

  Dolssa flings a dagger at me. I react fast and knock it away with my blade. Vivienne raises her staff, ready to strike, but then freezes. “Sabine?”

  “Yes.” My voice is suddenly hoarse, but I clear my throat. “I’ve come to help. I’m the only one who can open the Gates. You know it.” Stay calm. Be strong and follow through tonight. You won’t have to act as matrone for long.

  Vivienne looks to Dolssa, one of the elders. Dolssa sighs. “Roxane banished you, Sabine, and for good reason.”

  “I know, but I’m here to prove myself. Give me this one last chance. If you aren’t satisfied, I’ll relinquish my title and teach Roxane the siren song before the next ferrying night.”

  Dolssa rubs her snake rib necklace. “Who is behind the rowboat?”

  I swallow, bracing for their reaction. “Bastien Colbert and the usurped king of South Galle.”

  The two boys slowly rise to their feet and hold up their hands to show they’re not a threat.

  Dolssa’s eyes widen. Vivienne gasps. “They are forbidden to come here.”

  “I need their help,” I say. “I need yours, too. Ailesse is alive. We know how to bring her back from the Underworld and free the imprisoned Unchained, but only if the Ferriers take a united stand against my mother.” I take a fortifying breath. “Because Odiva and King Godart are also coming tonight.”

  Vivienne and Dolssa exchange a pensive look. Finally Dolssa says, “Follow me.”

  “What about the rowboat?” Bastien asks.

  Cas picks up my staff and nods politely at the two Leurress. “The rowboat is essential to our plan.”

  Vivienne studies him, intrigued by the son of King Durand. “I will find a way to bring it to shore,” she replies.

  We leave her to manage the boat while Dolssa escorts us between the boulders and down the hidden stairs to the inlet.

  When we walk out of the cave at the bottom and onto the beach, I see Roxane standing ankle-deep in the shallows, playing the bone flute I left behind at Château Creux. Pernelle holds a woolen blanket over Roxane’s head, like she did with me, to keep the instrument out of the rain.

  Roxane still struggles with the siren song. Beyond her, I see Birdine was right about the tide. It would need to lower at least another seven feet for the land bridge to surface, but this is the lowest it will recede tonight.

  Ten of the Ferriers, the strongest swimmers, are already out at sea. They’re staggered in a line that leads to the place where the Gates should rise. The other twenty Ferriers, not including Dolssa and Vivienne, are waiting on the shore. Their plan must be to herd the souls there, then send them in controlled numbers to the Ferriers treading water. It won’t be easy. Many of the Chained have grown in power from stealing Light over the last month. But no souls are here yet. The song isn’t working to lure them.

  Our arrival is noticed at once. Several Ferriers gape. No boys or men—no living ones, anyway—have ever been to this place. Bastien and Marcel came the closest two months ago, but they only made it as far as the cliffs above. Now Cas and Bastien are standing in the middle of the beach, in the very heart of the place most sacred to my famille.

  I hold my shoulders square against all the mounting pressure, and I channel the jackal inside me. I have the strongest grace bone of any Leurress. Even Ailesse. Even my mother. I take hold of its fierceness and feel my blood quicken. I’ll use that strength to win my famille’s trust. I won’t let them underestimate me.

  Dolssa holds up a hand, preventing the nearest Ferrier from attacking Cas. Roxane turns and pulls the flute from her mouth. In addition to her three grace bones—an antler wreath, her spotted eagle wing bone earrings, and a bracelet made of fangs from a gray wolf—she’s wearing two new pendants on a necklace. The five bones officially declare her the new matrone. I stifle a flare of resentment.

  Dolssa brings us closer to the shoreline, then motions for us to stay back as she wades into the water to reach Roxane. She relays everything I’ve told her. Roxane narrows her eyes on me. “Why would Odiva and King Godart come here?”

  I stand taller, wishing I’d taken the time to tie my grace bones back onto my own antler crown. “My mother still serves Tyrus, but not Elara. She wants to steal the rest of the souls from Paradise and force the goddess to join kingdoms with the Underworld. Tyrus is taking extreme measures to reunite with his bride.”

  The Ferriers break into tense murmurs.

  “Joined kingdoms?” Élodie asks.

  “But all souls would be Chained,” Maïa says.

  Roxane lifts a hand to silence them. “Perhaps you shouldn’t raise the Gates then, Sabine.”

  You, she just said. She’s acknowledging she can’t do it on her own. “The Gates will be raised tonight,” I reply, “whether by me or by my mother. Odiva has the original bone flute.” She took it with her when she entered the Underworld, and she would have brought it back.

  “These matters concern only our famille.” Roxane’s gaze cuts to Cas. “The usurped king should challenge Godart elsewhere and take that commoner with him.” She spares Bastien a glance.

  Cas steps forward, addressing Roxane with a diplomatic bow. “If you will permit me to speak, I’ll have you know that a Chained killed my father, King Durand, body and soul. Hordes of the dead also ravaged my people. As for my friend”—Cas gestures at Bastien, who stands with his arms crossed and legs planted wide—“he also has a keen interest in ensuring that the Chained face justice. His father, one of your deceased amourés, is now in the Underworld, along with the other trapped Unchained.”

  “And along with Ailesse.” Bastien glares at Roxane like all this trouble is her fault. “I have a keen interest in her, too, and I don’t need any soul-bond to prove it.”

  I hastily shift in front of him so he’ll bite his tongue. “We plan to throw Odiva through Tyrus’s Gate and bring Ailesse out again,” I explain. “It’s how Odiva switched places with her before,” I add, looking around at all the Leurress. “We need your help. I can’t overpower my mother without the strength of several Ferriers working alongside me.”

  Roxane frowns. “And does this command come from him?” She turns her hardened gaze on Cas. “We are not accustomed to taking orders from men—especially mere boys.”

  “They aren’t my orders,” Cas replies.

  “They’re mine,” I say, lining my voice in steel. “I am the matrone of this famille. I will not be banished or ignored. We will save Ailesse. We’ll ferry souls, as well. And when Ailesse is free, she will help me connect the Gates and return the Unchained to Paradise.” I try not to think about how a reversal might inadvertently happen instead, or the thousand other things that might go wrong. “We are daughters of Elara. We should honor her by protecting her kingdom and returning her souls.”

  Roxane twists the bone flute in her hands, deliberating. Beside her, Pernelle speaks up. “Sabine is right. We can’t call ourselves true Ferriers if we don’t give the righteous dead a safe passage home.”

  Roxane’s brows furrow as she turns the flute over one
more time. She finally walks out of the shallows and onto the sand. She passes me the flute.

  Warmth shivers into my chest as I take hold of it. I look into her eyes. I don’t see my rival anymore; I see the elder I’ve always admired, someone who has tried her best to help the Leurress, like me. “Thank you.”

  Bastien grins. “We need to hurry.” He turns around to scan the shore and mutters, “Where’s that Leurress with my rowboat?”

  “Up here!” Vivienne calls, her graced ears acutely sharp. She’s standing on the cliff backing the inlet. She pushes the rowboat to the edge of the limestone. “Catch!” she shouts to the Ferriers right below her.

  Bastien stiffens, watching the boat drop a hundred feet to the beach.

  I’m not worried. I know the strength of my sisters. Four of them converge, and the boat lands safely in their arms. Vivienne tosses down the oars next. The Ferriers place them in the boat and bring it to the water’s edge. Bastien steps inside and sits on the plank seat. Two of the Leurress give the boat a strong push and help him launch against the tide.

  Cas touches my arm, and I shiver with warmth. “Ready?” he asks.

  I meet his gaze. A few of the storm clouds have parted, and gentle starlight shines down on us. He must be able to see me a little better, because he’s looking directly at me now. The sprinkling rain mists across his face and clings to his loose curls. My chest tightens with the familiar ache of wanting something I can’t have.

  I wish I’d let him kiss me on the plateau. I wish I’d believed I was someone he could love without comparison.

  “Ready.” I swallow.

  He squeezes my shoulder and takes a few steps back, allowing me room. Pernelle brings the woolen blanket and holds it over me. I shake out my hands, clear my throat, and bring the flute to my lips.

  Now is your moment, Sabine. Now I show my famille I can be their matrone without running away.

  Now I finally save my sister.

  I blow a focused breath into the mouth hole, and I play the siren song.