The Fire Sisters (Brilliant Darkness 3) (27 page)

The wind rushes past my ears, making it hard to hear. Smudges of torchlight blow sideways somewhere in front of us. Oddly, I can’t perceive the glow of the Eternal Flames or catch its sulfurous scent. The air smells fresh. Solid rock is under my feet. The sense I get is that I’m somewhere very open and exposed. But where?

“Peree?” I whisper.

“The Sisters have bound and gagged the men,” Amarina says from nearby, sounding defeated. “Kaiya and I are here, but we are surrounded.”

Alarm whips through me. “Peree!”

The wind rests for a moment, allowing me to hear muffled voices and the sounds of struggling. With us popping out of the hole one by one, it must have been exactly that easy for the Sisters to take control of the situation.

“Thank Mother Asis for delivering you to us with no real threat to our daughters,” Adar says. Her voice comes from only a few paces away, near the torchlight; it’s whipped quickly away.

“What have you done with the
guru
—the children?” Amarina asks.

I wilt. All this effort, and the children aren’t even here?

“They are safe.” Alev’s voice comes from near Adar’s. “The Teachers brought them here through the tunnel at the first indication of trouble inside the Cloister, and then to a safe spot in the forest. They will return to their compound and secure the trapdoor. The fire at the gate will be extinguished soon.”

I mentally scramble to orient myself and make sense of the situation. There’s a mossy patch of light in the sky over my head—the moon? To my left, more light shimmers and shifts in the distance. The only thing I can compare it to is being by the water hole at home on a bright night.

It finally hits me: the tunnel led
outside
the Cloister, not to the great hall or somewhere else familiar. We must be by the eastern wall, and the shimmering is the moonlight kissing the Shivering Sea in the distance. What Adar said makes sense now—this is the Sister’s escape route.

I step toward the light, and someone grabs my arm.

“Careful,” Kai mutters. “We’re on the side of a cliff. The edge is only a few steps away, and it’s a steep drop. A narrow path in front of us skirts the eastern wall and leads around the Eternal Flames, back toward the forest, but the Sisters block the way.”

I freeze as my perception adjusts. Amarina, Kai, and I are trapped between the side of a cliff and the eastern wall. The children are gone, the Sisters surround us, and they have control of Peree and the men. I can barely think of a less hopeful position.

“Enough of this pretense,” Amarina says. “We want our
guru
back.”

“The girls will have the honor of one day becoming Fire Sisters,” Golnar says. “You cannot prevent it.”

“They are
our
children, not yours!” Amarina says. “You took them from us. What did you expect? That we would do nothing? You value them as your future, but we
love
them. They are a part of us, our families and histories and heritage. Give them back to us! Let us go free!” My friend’s high voice trills with emotion.

“We will not,” Adar says. “And I warned you, when we took you in, that the Fire Sisters do not forgive betrayals.”

Kai speaks up. “Is that so? Then I have a good story for you. I was here as girl, Gathered by Alev. After a few weeks, I escaped. Do you remember? How do you think I did it?” She pauses. “
She
helped me. If we betrayed you, then Alev did, first. If we are traitors, so is your sister.”

A few of the Sisters gasp. Alev says nothing.

Adar laughs. “Kaiya, do you have sisters? I think you must not. We have few secrets. I knew Alev had helped that girl escape as soon as I saw her face all those years ago. Although, I did not know until now that
you
were the girl. But it doesn’t matter. Alev is one of our own. She has proven her worth. You and your friends have failed us.”

There’s audible whispering, grumbling as Adar speaks.
She
might have known that Alev helped Kai escape, but I feel sure the other Sisters didn’t. I hear Grimma’s gruff voice mixing with the others.

“You know we came because of our children, Adar.” It’s a challenge to keep my voice steady and loud enough to be heard. Gusts of wind still beat against me every few seconds. “We couldn’t think of another way to free them, short of violence, which we don’t want. But you’re right; we weren’t entirely honest with you. Do what you will with us, only be merciful and bring the children back to our people.”

Golnar scoffs. “Mercy? To send innocent girls back to the homes of lustful men who will beat them and treat them as their property? That is no life for them.”

I hear Derain—I think—shout. The words are smothered, but his tone is one of outrage.

“That is not the way in Koolkuna.” Amarina sounds calmer. “I raise my daughter, Ellin, in a safe and loving home. Until the Sisters came, no harm had ever befallen her. There are many good men and fathers in our village, like Derain there, whose children you have.” She pauses. “You have sequestered yourselves from the world for so long that you no longer know what you’re hiding from.”

“Alev, I think you understand this,” I say. “You talk to the Sisters about the future of the Cloister. And you’ve tried to persuade them to stop Gathering. You
know
it’s not right.”

“Adar, they know too much about us.” Golnar speaks quickly, as if she doesn’t want to give Alev a chance to respond. “They criticize and threaten the very fabric of the Cloister. It is time we finish with them.”

I’m disoriented by the wind, but when Amarina and Kai pull in tight against me, I realize the Sisters must be closing in. Fear chokes me with clawed hands, but I have to try one more time to prevent bloodshed. If I possess any power at all, like Kai said, it’s time to embrace it.

I step around my friends, toward Adar, Alev, and Golnar’s voices, and drop my makeshift staff at my feet.

“Stop!” I shout. “Fighting isn’t the only way. We can negotiate. Even work together, help each other. We have solutions to problems you have. And there are things you can offer our people, too. Your community is safe, efficient, and you are all so dedicated to each other; there’s much to admire about the Cloister.”

“You speak nonsense,” Golnar says from in front of me. “We will not help, or accept help, from men.”

“It’s
not
nonsense,” I say. “It’s cooperation. You see the advantages of this, don’t you, Alev?”

The wind dies down for a moment, as if waiting to hear what she says. I grit my teeth.
C’mon, Alev, I know you agree with me. Stand up.

“I do,” Alev says.

I cheer inside. The Sisters murmur and mumble, sounding surprised, confused.

“You said you have solutions to problems we have,” Grimma tentatively says. “What did you mean?”

“You all saw that I was able to go among the sick ones—the wailers—and not be affected, even after I was bitten? It’s not a special power. I can do it because I know their secret.”

“What? What is it?” Grimma asks from somewhere to my right.

“I’ll tell you… if you free us and our children. It can be part of the negotiation. We
can
help each other. Let me show you how.”

The Sisters mutter together, talking that over.

“Sisters, Adar,” Alev says, “listen to me now. I think we should consider what Fennel proposes. You all know I’ve been curious about the world outside the Cloister and the people in it. From my own travels, I have seen and experienced acts of kindness by men and cruelty by women. I believe… I believe we are equal. Capable of both goodness and evil.”

“Alev!” Adar sounds shocked, and I swear, I hear Golnar actually growl. I jump in to support Alev. Together, maybe we can pull this off.

“In my own life, both men and women have hurt me, but many, many more have helped me, cared for me, and loved me. Peree, one of the men who is here with us, is a Lofty—the bitter enemies of my own group—and he’s one of the best people I know, male or female. Bear—another man here—will help anyone in need. He’s strong, loyal, and trustworthy, and he always does what he thinks is right. Derain is an incredibly loving father.”

I lift my hand, sweeping it toward the Sisters, wishing I knew exactly where the men were. “At first, I thought these other men with us—Moray and his brothers, Cuda and Conda—were those kind you fear, the kind who prey on people weaker than them. And… sometimes, they are. But not always. They’ve saved my life more than once, and they want peace now. My fellow Initiates—Amarina, Frost, and Kai—we come from different places, and we’ve led very different lives. I didn’t know them before, but they are now my friends. I’ve come to appreciate each of them for the gifts they bring. I’ve learned that no matter where we come from, we’re more similar than different.”

“I agree,” Alev says. “I believe we can learn from these people, and from other communities. I have spoken about this kind of cooperation with some of you before, Sisters. I ask you now to consider if our current path is the one we truly want to walk.”

“Enough of this.” Golnar sounds repulsed. “Adar, do not let the Initiate drip her poison in your ears. That you have not already given the word to silence these intruders tells me that Alev’s dangerous ideas sway you. We have been protected within the Cloister for many years, kept safe by our walls, our dedication to each other, and our commitment never to allow the outside world in. Sisters, now is not the time to back down or give in!”

Some thump their spears on the ground. Others shout.

“Adar, please! Don’t waste this opportunity!” I yell, but the wind flings my voice away.

I step forward again, now-empty hands raised. Someone howls, Scourge-like, in front of me. I cringe, waiting for the Sister’s blow. Instead, I’m yanked back.

“Do you have a death wish? Stay behind us!” Kai shouts.

The Sisters’ feral battle cries tear through the air as they run at us. Spears and staffs clash just in front of me—Kai and Amarina. The men seem to be fighting back now, too. I hear them struggling and shouting through their gags; a Sister cries out. Derain, or maybe Moray, bellows.

My friends can’t last long against a group of seasoned Sisters. This will be a bloodbath.

All I had were words. I used them, and they weren’t enough.

“Stop!” Kai’s voice cuts through the violent noise. “Adar—call them off or Alev is dead!”

From the direction of her voice, she sounds like she must be standing by the cliff’s edge. The Sisters shout at Kai, stamping their spears again.

“Back off, or Alev will end up broken and bloody on those rocks down there!” Kai yells.

“Do as she says,” Adar barks.

The cries and clashing of weapons fades. The Sisters’ must be slowly backing away from us. Amarina moves close to me again, breathing hard.

“Fennel tried to reason with you, but you wouldn’t listen,” Kai says. “Now I’ll tell you how it’s going to be. You’ll allow us safe passage to the gate, then fetch Frost and our children. We’ll take Alev with us on our journey home. If you don’t follow, we’ll release her at the end of the first day. Those are my terms.” She pauses. “Adar, you asked if I have sisters. I don’t, but I know this much—you love yours. Let us and our children go, and you will have her back alive.”

No one speaks, but at least they aren’t fighting. Kai’s given me one more chance. I push my wind-whipped hair out of my face and, swallowing hard, step forward again.

“Please, hear me out, Adar. I propose an alliance between the
anuna
—the people of Koolkuna—and the Fire Sisters. We don’t have to be enemies. We can work together, learn from each other, stand together when adversity strikes, as it will.”

Would Nerang, Wirrim, Kadee, and the rest of the
anuna
support the idea? I think so. They took
us
in, after all, and they were willing to welcome even more Groundlings and Lofties, if they’d come. Surely, they’d see the benefits of befriending the Sisters. They would be powerful allies, and our children would be safe from any future Gatherings. Maybe we can even persuade them to stop the practice all together.

Adar doesn’t respond. Did she hear me? Am I missing something? As the silence grows, my body tenses.

“Sisters,” Grimma says, “we have fought to keep ourselves and our home safe for many years by cleaving to our traditions. But the
world
is changing. The wailers do not come to the Cloister as often as they did, which I think means other groups will begin to appear, as these people have. We can’t fight them all. At some point, we must learn to live with them.”

One or two Sisters shout in agreement. Only a few, but it’s a start.
Thank you, Grimma.
I could kiss her.

“We cannot seriously consider an alliance!” Golnar says. “Who are these people? What can they offer us that we don’t already have? Once we open the gates of the Cloister, we will never be able to stem the tide. We will no longer be safe.”

“Or we could become better versions of ourselves, Golnar,” Alev says. “Sisters, I did this girl, Kaiya, a terrible wrong by Gathering her from her father and people. She has every reason to hate me. By freeing her, I did not intend to betray you—merely to do what I thought was right. I love the Cloister and you, my Sisters, with all my being, and I tell you now, I think we should listen to Fennel’s proposal. We do not
have
to change; we can live as we always have, if that is our decision. But an alliance does no harm, and we might gain great benefit from it. We lose a few daughters and Initiates, but we gain friends and partners. Adar, it does not make you any less of a leader to show restraint and compassion.”

“Some would say it makes you more of one,” I say. Isn’t that what Kai was telling me?

“Restraint? Compassion?” Golnar’s voice rises as she speaks. “Adar, this is madness. The Cloister is in grave danger. We must fight—cut their treacherous tongues from their mouths!”

“No!” I say. “There’s no excuse for more violence! Do you want to care for the dead or wounded tonight? Because I don’t. Not my friends, and not any of you. I’ve told you many stories since I came. We have the chance to create a new story—together. One that ends with friendship and cooperation, not destruction or death. No one has to die tonight.”