Enna Burning (4 page)

“We don’t need division right now,” said Geric. “Do others in the Forest feel as Leifer does, that they really don’t belong to Bayern?”

“I wouldn’t take it too seriously,” said Enna. “It’s very odd for him to suddenly be so resentful.”

“Is it?” Isi looked thoughtful and newly worried.

“All the same, I’d like to have the Forest behind us right now,” said Geric. “It could be war, Enna.”

“War? I wouldn’t’ve even mentioned what Leifer said if I thought it would worry you. Honestly, the few people who feel disloyal are no threat.”

“Not the Forest. It’s Tira, the kingdom to the southeast. You may have noticed more soldiers in the city. There have been rumors all spring, and Tira has begun to harass our borders. Forest dwellers are citizens now, and I’ll expect them to join and defend Bayern. Will they answer the call, do you think?”

Enna waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, yes. For every big-talking boy, there’re fifty Forest lads who are aching to belong to the whole of Bayern. I think it’d make a difference, though, if someone high in rank courted our loyalty. We’d like to believe that we really are important to you.”

Geric nodded, his eyes distant as though already making plans. Enna met Isi’s look.

“War,” Enna said. “Soon?”

“Soon,” said Isi, tilting her head as though she heard the tidings on the wind.

.

Geric sent out messengers calling all Forest javelin bearers to meet at Sprucegrove in three days. Enna left the capital ahead of Geric and Isi to find Leifer. When she came home, she saw the chickens were fed and watered, but the house was empty, the hearth cold. That night she slept fitfully, starting awake every time she thought she smelled smoke. Disappointed, in the morning she freshened her pack and set off alone.

An empty house was a lonely thing, but solitude in the Forest felt right. There was too much life bursting beneath her feet and in the canopy over her head to need human companionship. As she neared the campsite midway to Sprucegrove, other travelers began to fall in beside her. Like her, they seemed silenced by their long walk alone in the woods, and the sounds of their breathing and bootfalls were just a part of the groaning, beating, swaying, and creaking voice of the Forest. They were all Forest boys, most younger than her, nearly all carrying a javelin and painted shield.

She slept that night in a clearing, hedged in by snoring bodies. She listened to the crackle of the campfire until deep night and, half-asleep, wondered if its pops and bursts were words. There was a silent, shared breakfast, and then the informal group continued on. Several among the boys had also been animal keepers, though most had now returned to their families in the Forest or taken other occupation in the city. They walked together, engaged in the slow, halting talk that grows out of travel and plenty of time.

“Move aside,” said one, jogging up from behind. “I’ve got a word to give Enna-girl.”

“Razo.” Enna could not say his name without adding a laugh. Razo pressed his mouth shut and looked at her as they walked. He had the most expressive face of any person she knew.

“It was Isi who sent the guards, wasn’t it?” he said finally.

Enna laughed again.

“And the birds, I suppose, weren’t acting on their own. Huh. Well, all right, that was good.” He pulled himself a little straighter, walking as though he thought himself quite tall and not two hands shorter than Enna. “Orange egg of the omen. I’ll probably laugh about that soon, any moment now.”

They arrived at Sprucegrove in the golden heat of late afternoon. The prince’s yellow tent stood in the center of the small market-square and was surrounded by smaller tents, wagons loaded with supplies, and a line of horses. The assembly implied he intended to stay several days.

Dozens of boys and men milled around the square or sat together in anxious groups. The hushed conversation and trembling mood chilled Enna’s stomach. She could see three distinct shield designs and so knew there must be some, if not all, of the members of the Forest’s three separate hundred-bands. In Bayern, each village maintained a group of one hundred soldiers for defense and for times of war. Larger villages and towns were represented by several hundred-bands. The Forest’s three hundred-bands had never gathered together before. Enna thought how the word had certainly spread quickly.

Isi stood beside Geric at the mouth of their tent, her wringing hands expressing what her face did not. Enna left Razo and ran up to Isi’s side.

“A word, Your Highness,” said Enna.

Isi smirked and punched her arm. “Oh, stop it, Enna.”

“Well, what should I call you? You look so . . . I don’t know, official.”

Isi closed her eyes, and Enna thought she might be trying to shut out the many voices of the wind. “We’ve had news.”

“What is it?”

Isi glanced up at Geric, who was mounting his horse. Two mounted guards hit swords against shields above their heads. The conversations hushed immediately, and nearly three hundred faces turned to their prince. Geric drew himself up and looked out at the crowd. It had always seemed to Enna that Geric’s face was made for smiling—the corners of his lips curled slightly even at rest. But just then, Geric’s severe expression made her wonder how she had ever thought so before.

“My brothers and sisters of the Forest,” he began, “I think you’ve waited long enough to hear what I’ve come to say. Let those who continue to arrive learn from your mouths the news of this day.

“Until recently I was unaware that many of you still questioned your place in the kingdom of Bayern. I had planned to come here and assure you of Bayern’s need and desire to count the Forest dwellers among our own. There have been unsettling rumors of war coming from the south all summer, and I knew that before long the crown would be calling to all her citizens to raise the javelin in defense of her borders.

“Time has already overtaken us. Not three hours ago a messenger from the capital overtook my party here in the Forest. His news was grim. Tira has struck.”

“Oh,” Enna said softly. She heard similar gasps of disbelief and anger simmering throughout the camp.

Isi took Enna’s hand. “It’s bad, Enna. This is bad.”

“Our borders are already broken,” Geric said. His voice commanded attention, and the murmuring stopped. “We know they’ve taken Folcmar and Adelmund, and perhaps other towns closer to their border. They were moving north toward Eylbold and Ostekin, and by now those towns may have fallen victim to their invasion.

“The king set out with his army today to defend our land from further conquest on the fields of Ostekin. I’m called to meet him there and to bring my own army, gathered as I may. I’ll not command you, Forest kin, as this will be your first service in the name of Bayern. But I will ask you in all boldness to offer your javelins, your swords, and, if necessary, your lives to stop the assault of the Tiran armies.

“Will you join us? Will those javelins given to you by your king rise to fight beside him? Will you be Bayern?”

The Forest boys banged javelins on shields, raised their fists in the air, hollered their affirmation, and swore to fight to the death. The quickness of the response tightened Enna’s throat.

“So ready to die,” she said. “I hadn’t a doubt that Forest boys’d be quick to be loyal, but I never imagined they’d also be quick to offer death.”

“They don’t know death yet,” said Isi. “They don’t know what it is they offer.” Her eyes were wet, and she rubbed her face as though to reach a deep headache. “I need to get out of the wind.” She gestured around her randomly. “It’s all so much.”

Enna nodded and led her to the tent, then stopped when she caught a glimpse of Leifer. He was standing at the edge of the camp, his eyes on the prince.

“Go on in, Isi. I’ll be right back.”

Geric called the captains of the hundred-bands to him for counsel, and Leifer headed that way as well. Enna caught his arm and pulled him to her.

“Leifer, you’re here.”

“Enna.” He smiled at her, so honest and open that she was tempted to throw her arms around his neck and get a big-brother hug. “I was with Gebi when we heard. I almost didn’t come, but now . . . ”

“I’m glad you came. This isn’t what I expected, either. I thought he’d just give some rousing speech to win your allegiance, you know, make you feel all cozy and Bayern.”

“So did I.” His gaze hopped to the southeast horizon, and she could feel his arm tighten. “This’s better.”

“Are you going, then?”

“Of course. You think I’d leave my friends to follow our king without me?”

Enna laughed. “
Our
king. You’d think the boy from a few days ago wasn’t ranting about gathering a Forest army for rebellion.”

“I want to be Bayern. I want to be loyal to the king. Before, I was just angry, and now, I don’t know, that’s all gone, and instead there’s Tira. They’re the enemy. It’s like the fire’s just been waiting for them, and now it’s time to burn. I should tell the prince.”

She pulled his sleeve to stop him. “He knows. I told him about you.” She studied his face. “I don’t understand, Leifer. A fortnight past I’d’ve said you were as constant as a walnut tree, but first you get all riled up about Bayern, and then just as quickly you’re ready to fight Tira. Is it the fire doing this to you?”

“I don’t know.” He frowned, then shook it off. “I don’t want to think about it. Right now, everything is so clear, Enna, it all feels right. I’m going to pledge myself to the prince so I can help fight Tira.”

“But, Leifer . . . ”

He held her shoulders and looked at her with a small, hopeful smile. “You’ll be proud of me, little sister. And that makes me happy.”

Enna watched him approach the prince and explain something with his hands, his brow wrinkled in earnestness. The movement of his lips made Enna think he was probably stuttering. She smiled sadly. He could rage against the kingdom on a Forest night, but when it came to addressing the prince, he became a little boy.

Enna hurried back to Isi’s tent. Geric entered just before her, speaking low with one of his counselors. Isi was sitting on a floor cushion, her face in her hands. Enna sat beside her and began to plait one of Isi’s locks, as she used to do in the palace on cold evenings. The attention seemed to soothe her.

“Well, my lady, what’s my part in all this?” said Enna.

“I hope you’ll go.”

“But as what? I need something to do, Isi. My arms are itching as though I’ve been idling an afternoon lying on wool. I’d like to help, but not like”—she hesitated—“not like before, when I lived at the palace with you. I can’t just be the princess’s friend, the girl who sits around while the princess does important things.”

“I’m sorry, Enna,” said Isi, “I didn’t realize.”

“Of course not. And I was happy just to be there, before. But now I need a place, Isi, a mission. I’m chewing at my bit just to go somewhere and run.”

“Come as my maiden,” Isi said brightly. “A maiden usually serves a queen, but I’d rather call you that than my lady-in-waiting. I want you by me, Enna. I need your clear sight.”

“Princess’s maiden. Fine. That’s me.”

“So, you’ll go?”

“Yes,” said Enna. “Of course, yes. You have to ask? You’re going, I’m going.”

“You’re not going, Isi,” said Geric. His counselor left, eyes averted as though he did not want to witness to an unpleasant argument.

“I’d like to go,” said Isi.

“No.” Geric rolled up the maps. She stood beside him, but he would not look at her.

“Bayern women go with their men to war, to inspire courage and, and to remind them of what they would lose.”

Geric winced. “You’re not Bayern.”

“Geric, I could help. I could read the wind and give you numbers and locations, and I could push them back, confuse them.”

“I said no!” He slammed his fist on the table.

Enna held her breath so she would not say a word. She was tempted to step in, but this was Geric. She had never seen him lose his temper.

“I don’t need to be reminded what I would lose.” He looked at Isi. “I’m a terrible prince. I should put my kingdom first and everything else second, but you’re first. I want you by my side every second, but I know I would crumble if I lost you.”

She stepped closer and he gripped her in his arms, burying his face in her neck.

“But I will go.” Isi stroked his hair, and his shoulders began to shake.

Enna slipped out, quietly lowering the tent flap behind her. She looked up to see Finn standing in the shadows, his arms flat against his sides as though he were already practicing at being a soldier.

“Finn,” she said, surprised. She tried to keep her face relaxed, pretending not to remember their last uncomfortable confrontation in the market-square. “I didn’t realize that you were here.”

“Seems that’s happening a lot lately,” he said.

From anyone else, Enna thought, that statement would have been biting, but from Finn’s mouth it was just the truth.

“I’m going to fight.” His face was smooth, almost without emotion. She had never seen him look so old. “I just wanted you to know, so if I go missing, someone would know I was here and could tell my ma.”

Enna nodded. Finn returned the nod, smiled briefly, and walked back to his hundred-band. She stayed behind, leaning against a pine for comfort. Before her, the market-square and surrounding woods were dotted with cookfires, points of light mirroring the randomness of the stars. There was no singing. The general hush of many low voices drawn together swept to her on a Forest breeze, as though the Forest sighed disquiet and warning. Enna pressed her cheek against the bark and breathed in the grounding smell of pine. Everything had suddenly become quite serious.