The Sartious Mage (The Rhythm of Rivalry) (17 page)

“Can’t you sing something?” she called from behind the tree. “I can’t go when I know you’re right there listening.”

A punch of excitement hit me. I used to sing with Kalli and Sannil. They both said I had a good voice, but I learned from Sannil, who I felt was a stronger singer. Kalli was the real gifted musician of the family, teaching herself how to play the lute from books and everyday practice that used to drive me crazy before she got better.

But as much as I wanted to sing, I was cautious. Lisanda had taken advantage of her privacy before. I figured she might have something else planned.

“You may have royal blood,” I said, “but your piss is just like any other, nothing I haven’t heard before.”

She sighed loudly, staying behind the tree. “Just sing anything! I can’t go in this wretched silence.”

She sounded genuine enough. I decided to trust her, so I sang as I bent down to retrieve my wand from my sock.

The song I chose was
Caught a Key
, a tale about a fisherman who reeled in a strange key instead of a fish. It caused him to chase a mystical treasure, eventually leading to his death. I always liked songs that told a story, even the sad ones.

While I sang, my hands fiddled around my socks, but I forgot what they were supposed to be looking for. I lost my train of thought in order to concentrate on the words and melody. I’d already retrieved my wand. What else was I doing with my socks again? I sang only a few verses before I remembered it was the pouch of crackers.

It wasn’t in my other sock…it must’ve fallen out when I was changing!

Fear gripped my throat, stopping my song. If the crackers spilled and the horse ate them, there was no way we could ride him another five miles to the farm. I’d never been on a hallucinating horse, and I had no intention to, either. I looked around my feet but couldn’t find the bag.

I heard something from behind the tree, and it didn’t sound like liquid. It was a crackling sound, almost like Lisanda chewing on something crunchy. Were the crackers on the ground when the bandana fell? Was that what her hands were doing behind her back, separating the crackers from the bandana?

“Lisanda?” I shouted. She didn’t respond. “Lisanda! I’m coming over there unless you say something.”

“Don’t!” she shouted back with a full mouth.

“You do have them! Don’t eat those crackers!” I yelled, rushing over.

She went around the other side of the tree, running away from me.

“Because you were saving them for yourself?” She was stuffing crackers into her mouth as she fled.

“You don’t want to eat those!” I yelled, grabbing her tunic.

She stopped and twisted, going back the other way and slipping from my fingers. “You gave me more bread like you were being nice, but that’s only because you had all these crackers, keeping them from me selfishly!”

I caught up to her again, grabbing her arm. “They’re hallucinogens! Stop!”

She snatched her arm out of my grip, changing directions again. Bastial hell, she was quick.

“Hallucinogens? That’s clever, but why would you have them? I don’t believe you. Get away!”

This time I wrapped my arms around her waist and brought her to the ground as carefully as I could. “I’m serious!” I yelled, trying to grab the pouch from her hand.

“They’re delicious. No wonder you didn’t want to share.”

She held the pouch on the other side of her body, so I climbed on top of her to reach it.

Holding her wrist with one hand, I used my other to grab the pouch and crush it between our hands. Then I maneuvered our hands so the open end of the pouch was upside down, shaking out the crumbs into the dirt.

“Why’d you do that?” she screamed.

She was still chewing a mouthful of the crackers, so I put my hands on her cheeks and tried to push it out. “Don’t swallow it!”

She turned her head back and forth, grabbing my wrists and pulling them away. I grew worried she was going to choke, so I eased back, keeping my hands off her face.

“Lisanda, listen to me. I’m not lying. Those are really hallucinogens.”

She stopped mid-chew, her eyes turning from angry to worried. “You’re serious?”

I nodded enthusiastically. “Yes!”

She reached into her mouth, retrieved a ball of masticated cracker, and tossed it to her side, wiping her hand on the grass.

I leaned down to look at her closely, looking for any sort of similarities I’d seen in Goreng’s eyes. “How many did you eat?”

“About half,” she answered.

We both were breathing heavily. Her thick, raven-hued hair was all over her face. I was still on top of her and just realized it then. The horse came over to investigate the crumbs. I quickly jumped up and led him away.

“Some bird is going to be out of its poor little mind when it finds those crumbs,” I muttered.

Lisanda sat up. “Why do you have hallucinogens?”

“They were given to me. I had room in my pocket, so I kept them.” I came over to pull her up. She let me, brushing herself off after she was on her feet.

“Are you sure these are hallucinogens?” she asked. “I don’t see anything.”

“Let’s hope they’re not,” I said. “I haven’t tried them, so I can’t be sure.”

“What’s going to happen to me if they are?”

“I think you’ll feel something first before you see anything.” I remembered the way Giant and Goreng had behaved, with silly grins and accentuated excitement. “Just stay with me. I’ll make sure nothing happens to you.”

She nodded, her eyes holding me in their gaze. “Is half of that pouch a lot of crackers?”

“I’m not sure.”

We got back on the horse. I was hungry but also a bit nervous for Lisanda. I had no idea how long the crackers would take to affect her. I had even less of a clue what she would see or do. Goreng was mostly coherent, but he seemed well experienced with them. Lisanda obviously wasn’t.

“I think I feel funny,” she told me. Her arms were around my stomach again, her fragrance storming into my senses. Finding myself a bit overwhelmed by the fluttery feeling it gave me, I tried to ignore it as best I could.

“No matter what, remember you’ll be fine,” I said.

“I feel good, actually. Those crackers were really good…really, really, good.” She spoke slowly, as if savoring each word.

I wasn’t sure how to respond. “Well, that’s good, I guess.”

“I was supposed to be married by now.” Lisanda started laughing. With her soft tone, it sounded like she was speaking to the wind but didn’t mind if I overheard. “To Varth Farro. He thinks he’s a good singer.” Her laughter grew louder. “And he’s terrible. But no one has the nerve to tell him. So he sings at every social gathering.”

It was the first time I’d heard her laugh. It was actually closer to a series of giggles coming out in bursts. Although none of the bursts lasted longer than a heartbeat, they were strong and rhythmic, twisting my lips into a smile.

She gasped, pulling a hand off my stomach to cover her mouth. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“I won’t tell anyone,” I replied.

“That’s because you don’t have anyone to tell who matters.”

“Exactly,” I muttered.

She slid her hand back around to meet the other that remained on my stomach. “I didn’t mean it like that,” she said apologetically.

“It’s fine,” I answered.

“He tried to serenade me the first time we met.” Lisanda laughed. Her voice had changed, louder and more confident, clearly meant for my ears now. “It was so funny! Jessend says I turned completely red. I told her it was because I was holding in laughter.” Two bursts of giggles came out.

“Jessend’s my sister…oh, you already know that! I forgot you almost married her! That’s…that’s…” Her low voice was deeper than usual, like she was on the verge of an epic discovery. “That’s so strange to think about. My father was wrong to set that up, although he
is
a king first, a father second, and a man above all. He regards Jessend and me so differently than
his son
simply because we’re female.”

She sighed and leaned forward to rest her cheek against my back. “One day, Varth Farro will be just like him.”

We rode like that for a few minutes, utter silence except for the horse and the wind.

I thought she’d fallen asleep until we reached a turn in the path and she scared me by leaning back quickly, nearly pulling me off the horse.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I thought…” She paused to catch her breath. “I thought I was steering the horse for the longest time, and then I realized my eyes were closed.”

I gave a faint laugh. “Well, try not to do that again. You almost threw me from the saddle.”

“Did I ever have the reins?”

“No. And you definitely won’t, so don’t worry about that.”

She rested her head on my back again, tightening her grip around my stomach by locking her arms together. It was a little bit tight, but night was coming and the air was growing cooler. I didn’t complain.

“You have a lovely voice when you sing, Jek.”

I waited for the insult, but it didn’t come. I thought she may have forgotten to say it. “For a farm boy?” I asked.

“No. For anyone. There are some things in this world that make no difference depending on where you grew up.”

“That’s everything,” I couldn’t help but say.

She gasped but kept her head on my back. “That’s…that’s…profound.”

She was either lost in thought or didn’t have anything else to say. Either way, she was silent for another minute.

“Can I rest my head on you?” she asked, still resting her head on my back.

“You have been already,” I told her.

“Bastial stars, you’re right! I can feel it when you speak.” She lifted her head, only to nestle her cheek closer to the middle of my back. “Will you tell me more about this promise my father made? I like the rumble against my ear when you speak as I watch the trees dance.”

“What do you want to know besides that he didn’t follow through?”

“Everything. Talk, and leave nothing out.”

I wasn’t sure she’d remember, but everything was what she got. I started with the guards coming to get me at the blacksmith’s, explaining how her father had offered me a cure if I kidnapped Harwin, the little Prince of Zav. I was sure to make it absolutely clear her father also promised not to harm Harwin. I wanted Lisanda to know that, figuring she would have more power over making her father keep that promise than I would.

I told her how her father had gathered me and four other men who had no association with the Takary family, just in case we were caught, so he could deny responsibility. I didn’t disagree with his methods. He just wanted to avoid a war, perfectly understandable. My problem was what happened when I returned.

I told her nearly every detail: Micah Vail’s warning about the promises of the King, the conversation in the throne room, the ripping of the contract, how I ended up in that dressing room, and even listening to her and Jessend talk about running.

One thing I didn’t mention was that Micah Vail had helped me decide to take her. I still wasn’t sure if she was supposed to know that or not. I found no benefit from telling her at that moment.

She was mostly quiet throughout the story, grunting here and there. But when I’d described my heart ripping in half when I’d watched her father tear up the contract, she’d whimpered painfully like she’d felt it.

No words followed the story, not until we were about a mile from the farm.

That’s when she finally took her head off my back. Her hands began losing their grip, sliding across my stomach and grabbing my arm awkwardly, then shooting back to my stomach again.

“I’m going to be sick,” she told me in a rushed voice.

I stopped the horse, jumped off, slid one arm under her legs and the other around the small of her back, lifting her to the grass a few steps from the horse. I put her on her feet, but she collapsed to her hands and knees. Her hair fell in front of her face, and she tried desperately with one hand to push it out of the way, but it kept falling back in front of her.

I knelt next to her and used both hands to grab all the hair I could, holding it behind her. She vomited. I tried my best not to pay attention to it, looking at the stars beginning to take shape instead. I thought about how happy I was that Micah Vail had told me not to drink the tea. This surely would’ve been over by now if I had, with me in a prison cell or beheaded. I shuddered at the thought.

Lisanda spat and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. She rose to her feet gingerly, reaching out a hand for me to grab on her way there. She slowly let go of me once stable, holding her arms out to balance herself.

She took a deep breath. “I feel a little better.”

“Good.” I gave her the flask. “Finish the water. There isn’t much left anyway.”

I started toward the horse. Lisanda drank and then slowly followed me. She walked carefully but with a sway.

“Here.” I put my arm around her shoulders and guided her to the horse.