Songs in the Night: Book One

by Laura Frances

  Carter’s men rose. The knight’s sword rang out as he unsheathed it. An unsteady laugh broke past his lips.

  “Don’t be a fool.”

  Carter laughed too, but there was no humor in it. He grabbed the knife from the stump and turned it effortlessly in his hand. The air charged. Dangerous. He commanded his men, “Put her in the cage.”

  Two men rushed over, grabbing me up and unchaining my wrists once I was securely inside. Across the camp, the knight watched me, and his expression was no longer fear...but worry. Guilt even. Carter stood between us, poised for an attack, as if Maledin had attempted to intervene.

  I held tight to the bars, silently begging him not to leave me. His presence made me feel safer, a king’s man or not. Whatever he was, some level of compassion coursed his blood. I couldn’t say the same for his brother. A few beats passed this way, our eyes locked, then he slid the sword back into its hold. He tore his gaze from me, and my heart fell.

  Please, I mouthed, uttering below a breath. But he untied his horse and exited the clearing without looking back.

  “Are you all right?” whispered Mags.

  I sat trembling in the drag of exhaustion, staring at the gaping dark where he left, the flicker of hope following him out. Carter stepped into my view, a cruel grin stretching his mouth. He ambled toward the cage.

  Pressure built in my center, driving upward, forcing a roaring cry from my mouth. I shook the bars, squeezing the metal until cold became hot. Until sweat slicked beneath my skin. Carter rushed the last steps and threw the black cloth down, bathing us in darkness.

  Anger poured over in tears, and I curled on the cage floor. The longer I lay still, the more pain registered. Throbbing in my head. Aching in my arm and stabbing my ribs. I breathed into the hay, hot tears tracking over my nose and cheek. Did Danior know? When he stood guard at the border of the northern woods, protecting me from the other men...was he aware of his father’s plan? Was he driving me toward these traders?

  “I’m sorry, Eris,” came a sweet, trembling voice, cracked by violent shaking. If the fever didn’t lower on its own, she’d be in danger of seizing.

  Mags startled when I sat up. I retrieved the plants from my waist, plucked the thick green leaves, then found her hand, pressing them into her palm.

  “Chew these and swallow. It would be better with water.”

  Mags took the leaves, and though I couldn’t make out her expression, I sensed her shock.

  “I thought you were trying to escape.” The words resonated with a deeper meaning.

  I thought you were leaving me behind.

  “I don’t know if it will be enough,” I answered, stretching out on the floor. In the pitch black, I squeezed my eyes shut and wept in silence. Had I a mother who wanted me or a father who searched me out, I might have found some strength to cling to. But hope eluded me. There was no one in the wide world beyond the cage who loved me.

  Carter ordered the men to clean up camp, and soon we were bumping and jostling, rolling over the rough ground faster than the cart should travel. The cage swayed wildly from side to side. Mags sat beside me for a time, a hand holding me for support. Then she moved behind me, lying down. Not close enough that I felt the heat of her fever, but near enough to run fingers over my hair.

  Chills trickled down the back of my head at the brush of her fingertips, sending waves of cool relief through my spine. Danior’s grandmother did this once many years back, but my mother never soothed me this way. With her, my tears brought only punishment. Careless words spewed without remorse. I fought back a surge of memories, the youngest years I spent loving her like a daughter should. Believing in her love for me.

  The cart rattled on, racing away from the knight and any hope of rescue. The wheels drowned out forest sounds, but in the dark of the cage, a gentle voice drifted around me...singing.

  Rest, little lamb,

  Dream worlds away,

  Surrender now to night.

  The stars will keep

  The wolves at bay

  You’re safe within their light.

  Be still, small lamb,

  Wipe dry your tears,

  The owl’s call is good,

  Beneath his watch,

  You’re safe and sound,

  Deep in the shadowed wood.

  I stilled and waited, hoping for more song. But she was crying now, smoothing my hair and sniffling.

  “Who gave that to you?” I asked quietly. The gift of a song was the only kindness I’d known in years. It was a precious thing to share. I turned over until we were facing one another, though I couldn’t see her in the dark.

  Her voice fell forward weak. “My mother. But my sister sang it last...on the night we were taken.”

  Fresh sobs tumbled free. I stretched my fingers, finding her arm. Her skin burned under my touch, and I prayed the plant was enough. I’d used it with Nan and many others over the years. But the method involved boiled water and brewing.

  “Where is she now?” I asked.

  “Dreonine kept us in his dungeons. In caverns carved below his fortress.”

  I sat up. “Dreonine. The Sithian king.”

  “Yes.” She rose beside me. “He took my father’s kingdom, and Alice and I as plunder.” In sorrow she whispered, “I don’t know if my father or mother still live.”

  In the veiled darkness, beneath the magic of the black cloth, I asked her, “What is your real name?”

  “Briar,” she said, and there was something of relief in her tone, though she breathed it soft like stray ears might catch it.

  “Where do you come from?”

  “It’s called Loryn.”

  “I’ve never heard of it.”

  “Few have. For centuries we were left in peace. But Dreonine sent warships out of nowhere. With no warnings or demands. My people were no match for his relentless evil.”

  Fear expanded in my chest. “Do you mean the diavok? Do you know what they are?”

  “There was no sorcery involved with our attack. And I only know what my teacher shared. They are magical beings cursed as infants. He once told me that diavok cannot resist the darkness of their enchantment. Once they bend to evil, they cannot be saved from it.”

  “Not ever?” I whispered, a weight settling in my stomach.

  “You are not what he said,” Briar soothed. “I’ve seen no evil in you. And you are old enough that such things would’ve been made known. They are revealed as children.”

  Despite her words, I felt no relief. We sat in the sway, in the heaviness of all that had transpired.

  I asked, “How did you escape him?”

  Briar lowered to the floor again, and her voice rose cracked and thin. “It was my sister’s gift.”

  I settled beside her, feeling the tremors as she shivered. Praying relief would find her soon. Her breaths slowed, and when I thought that sleep had finally come, the cage filled again with the sweet sound of singing. I closed my eyes, feeling the pain of her words in my chest.

  How fair the night

  My father died.

  The owls and wolves did sing.

  The stars shone white,

  His soul to guide,

  To far off kingdoms bring.

  Would flowers bloom still

  While I weep?

  Would moonbeams paint the sky?

  They do not cease,

  Not for the king,

  When in the ground he lie.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  ETAN

  Our humor faded the farther west we journeyed. My eyes moved from the path ahead, slipping now to bushes and shrubs. Had he been skewered by a boar, Maledin may have crawled to hiding before bleeding to death. As wind ushered in the scent of rain, this is where my mind dwelled.

  But my fear was short lived. From the west came the echo of a brisk gallop, and soon Maledin appeared before us, reining up to avoid a collision in the dark.

  “Where have you been?” Aldred scolded, but Maledin heard none of it.<
br />
  “We must gather more men,” he said in a rush. His horse shifted nervous, matching the temperament of his rider. “They’ll be gone now. But if we fly, we can catch them!”

  “Catch who?” I asked, leaning forward to sooth my animal. Aldred watched Maledin with unmasked irritation. Our bodies were tired, still recovering from battle. No doubt he was longing for sleep. But I reveled in the excitement, still a child in the shadow of such men.

  “Carter! He rides to the border, but we can catch him if we hurry!”

  Aldred leaned into his saddle horn, exhausted. “Nothing you’re saying makes sense. Who is Carter?”

  Maledin edged his horse nearer, finally able to steady the beast. “He is my brother,” he answered, measuring his words more carefully. “He’s captured two women, and one of them...I believe she’s a diavok.”

  The hair on my arms stood on end, but Aldred stared blankly and asked, “And what is that?”

  “Gregthain,” I said. “And the fires at Bryn.”

  “So, it is magic...”

  “No,” answered Maledin, breathless. “It’s something...vile. A curse.”

  Aldred considered this, and Maledin grew impatient. “Every second you ponder they move closer to the border!”

  “The king will want her,” I added, trying for urgency. Hoping to rile Aldred into flight. “To know a diavok is so near and we can catch her. She must be weak if this man holds her captive. We can bring her for questioning.”

  At last, the spark struck in Aldred’s eyes. He turned his horse back toward camp. “Will he surrender these women? Bring them willingly?”

  Maledin’s jaw clenched, and he shot a hard look to the distance. “He will not.”

  Aldred’s gaze lingered long on the young knight, and in it, I read a hint of distrust.

  We raced north, off the beaten path, making straight for the closest encampment of soldiers. They startled when we burst through the trees, and we were met by swords and spears.

  Aldred called for eight to ride with us, explaining nothing except the close proximity of a threat. The men leapt into action, and we took off behind Maledin, charging toward the border.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  ERIS

  The sky flashed white when the black cloth was thrown back. It could have been hours that passed, but I had no sense of it. I pushed up on tender palms from the rough, soiled floor, rising to the rumble of thunder. I touched the tough scars stretching the skin on my hands and wondered at the raw pain that followed.

  Beside me, Briar lay shivering.

  “Get them out.”

  As he passed the bars, Carter held my gaze in a look of wicked triumph. But there was panic too. A twitch of urgency in the sharpness of his eye.

  Briar screamed as they pulled her past the doorway. She’d reached delirium, beyond consoling and reason. I called her name as Mags, but my voice had no effect on her madness. She collapsed into the arms of her captor, and from her palm fell a single crushed stem.

  The second man reached for me with fearful eyes, but I came willingly, crawling through the door on my own. I wouldn’t leave Briar again.

  The forest groaned, swaying under the forceful wind of a coming storm. Our hair flew wild as the men led us deeper into the dark. Even the brute followed, carefully climbing down from his perch on the cart, calling his dog to come. His eyes, too, were wicked. The pleasure he felt for the things coming showed clearly on his wide, bulbous face.

  Lightning lit the path, revealing the tree line and a wide field beyond. We stomped through a low bramble wall as we exited the forest, and pain shot through the soles of my feet, washing me a moment in cold shock. I hobbled forward on embedded thorns.

  From the other side, torches moved steadily closer. The faint shadows of men grew into a small band, seven or eight, with weapons hanging from their waists. Their clothes were filthy and torn, ripped and resewn where blades had scarred both cloth and flesh. They wore blood stains as medals, proof of their savagery.

  The hot breath of the brute whispered passed my ear. “Your men come to claim you.”

  Sithians. It was the first true panic I’d felt since the cave. The first real fear that my path ended here: dead in the hands of my countrymen. Until that moment, I’d held the belief that Omarians and Sithians were equals in both stature and guilt. But as the Sithians drew closer, I knew in my gut I’d been wrong.

  These were barbarians. Nothing like the memories I held of Ada and the master. Nothing like the mean-hearted scowls from my mother. Even she possessed a glisten of something light. I’d sensed it when she stared at me in the moonlit hut before abandoning me-there had been guilt.

  But these men glowered through lifeless eyes...devoid of humanity. Their gazes moved over my body as a man examines a cut of meat, and I trembled.

  Their leader stepped forward, a large man late in his years...but strong. Well-built for one so close to the grave. He wore his gray hair long and loose, and his left eye was colorless...blind. An untamed beard fell over his chest. At his approach, lightning slashed across low hanging clouds, and the sky growled.

  His voice rose from deep in his chest.

  “I hear your king sleeps beneath those trees.” His good eye glistened, and he gestured to the forest at our backs. “And a host of wenchsons sworn to allegiance.”

  Carter folded his arms, lifting his chin. “I’ve heard little of it.”

  The old man laughed, a coughing sound. “So, you are loyal to the Blessed King. I never took you for a man of honor, son of Slade.”

  Carter bristled at his father's name. But a smile still played on his lips. “My loyalty lies with the highest bidder.”

  “Highest, eh?” The Sithian stepped closer, pinning Carter with a death stare. “Where are the others? I see no line waiting for a taste of your wares.” His gaze flicked to Briar, her curled body cradled in a man’s arms. “What’s wrong with that one?”

  “She needs a hearty meal and a day’s rest, nothing more.”

  “How does she please?”

  Carter’s expression smoothed, the trick of a practiced salesman.

  “With song,” he said, sliding a hand over Briar’s hair. The poor girl shuddered, barely aware of the situation unfolding. I scanned the group, but there were too many to take on by myself. Even if I could secure a weapon, I’d never fought so many healthy men alone.

  “It’s been some time since we moved a lark,” the man murmured as he studied Briar’s frail form. He touched her neck, moving then to her forehead, and his eyebrows fell. “This child is hot with fever.”

  “With treatment, she’ll be well. I promise you, Gerlach, she will fetch you the price you seek.”

  “What assurance is that? Our last trade brought nothing but a corpse to be buried. Your standards are slipping.” His loathsome eyes fell on me. “And what of this one? Don’t tell me she’s soft in the mind.”

  “She stays with me,” Carter answered, stepping closer to my side. His arm brushed rough against mine, and I bristled.

  Gerlach stroked his wiry beard, crushing me under his gaze. I held it for only a moment before dropping my eyes to the ground. Were I to challenge him the way I challenged Carter, the outcome would be different. I took Carter for a coward. Weak in his core where it mattered. But Gerlach was built of rock and iron. A hard man who had long since lost his honor.

  “What do they call you?” he asked me. Carter took my arm and squeezed. A warning.

  “I am Eris.”

  Carter huffed.

  Gerlach repeated my name again and again, musing over the sound of it. Trying the rhythm on his tongue. He made a study of my features, of the eyes and lips and chin. I watched his gaze move, all the while battling a burn in my chest...a writhing, building tension. His men inched in, pinning us against the forest’s thorny edge.

  “Tell me, Carter,” said the man at last, “when did Omarian mothers begin naming their daughters after the Sithian dead?”

  Beside me, Carter s
tiffened. His grip pinched my skin. “Who knows what women think these days. You know all manner of things drift across borders. A name is no different.”

  “Ah but to name a child after the Wretched Queen, more fearsome than her son, our king. Does that not strike you as odd?”

  My heart throbbed in my head. In my palms.

  Carter straightened, attempting to grow in height before the towering oaf. But his effort failed. “Not at all. One rarely knows the meaning of a foreign tongue. It’s simply a name, Gerlach. Will you take the girl or not?”

  With a flick of his hand in my direction, Gerlach answered, “I’ll take this one.”

  “She is not for sale,” said my captor through his teeth. His arm moved to shield me.

  Gerlach laughed, the menacing sound echoing across the open land. The clouds above drooped heavy with unfallen rain, and the air grew thick and warm.

  “Am I to believe a man of your experience would parade his prized beast before our coin with no intention of selling? What kind of fool do you take me for?”

  “I have my reasons.”

  Silence fell between the men. Gerlach loomed so near, the torches behind him silhouetted his frame, and I saw only shadow. His voice fell dangerously quiet.

  “Indeed, you must to risk such a thing. It would be nothing to take her.”

  Carter held firm. “You leave with Mags, or you leave empty-handed. The choice is yours.”

  My eyes flicked to my companion. She lay unconscious now, and I feared her life was slipping. I’d soothed countless fevers over the years. Healed the very people who rejected my worth. But here I’d found a friend, and I couldn’t see a way to save her. Were I to offer myself in her place, she would be left to die. My muscles twitched, aching to strike, but what would that achieve when both parties were my enemy?

  Gerlach muttered, “Is that so?” And in a swift movement, his knife blade pierced Briar’s heart. Her form shuddered, then stilled...collapsing in death.

  Whether Carter saw this coming or not, I couldn’t say. It could be that he planned it. That he knew how Gerlach would react to infected merchandise. Surely a businessman knows the needs of his customers. Whatever he was thinking...he was not ready for the consequence of allowing me to see it.