The Silver Siren (15 page)

The guard rushed over and immediately
began to unlock the gate.

“
Wait!” he called to him.
“Are you daft enough to open the gate because you recognize a name?
Did you even bring over a light to verify my identity, to check or
to ask who else is with me? For all you know, I’m being held at
knifepoint and the young woman here is an assassin using me to get
into the school.”

I chuckled silently at that
thought.

Even though Kael was no longer
training the Citadel’s guard he still felt it necessary to drill in
the ideas he had tried to teach them. Apparently they hadn’t sunk
in yet.

“
Uh, no, sir. I mean, yes
sir.” And the young guard brought over a lantern and inspected our
whole party thoroughly before demanding our names.

“
Thalia Valdyrstal.” I
spoke up proudly, grinning when the young guard did a double take
and eyed me again.

“
Well, I’ll be. It is
you?” He sat there, wide eyed and kept looking back and forth
between us.

He went over and spent quite a few
minutes looking over Hemi. I could tell he didn’t really trust the
size and brute strength of my clansman, but he relaxed again when
he saw Joss.

“
So are you going to let
us in now?” I asked impatiently.

The guard looked to Kael for approval
and Kael nodded, giving him permission to open the gate. I dropped
my head and had to snicker softly into Kael’s back. I was glad that
I had decided to switch and ride behind him. I was getting too many
looks affectionate looks from him throughout the day, making my
cheeks burn in embarrassment. This way I couldn’t see what he was
thinking.

“
It’s not funny!” Kael
growled. “It’s as if they’ve forgotten everything I’ve taught them
within a few months. I could have walked right in and killed them
all. The fool. I’m going to have to speak with the Commander on
this one.”

“
Aw, Kael, take it easy on
him. Obviously your reputation still has an effect on people.” I
laughed again.

Stable Master Grese greeted us warmly
and took Faraway into the stable, promising him plenty of his
favorite cookies.

Once Faraway was settled, we turned to
look at the Citadel’s towers. I scanned the various parapets
looking for the flags that signaled which members of the Adept
Council were in residence. Even though it was still dark, I could
make out five flags twisting in the breeze. All of the adepts were
here.

Where do I go? What do I
do first?
I didn’t know whether to summon
the adepts in the middle of the night or to retire to my old room.
I also needed to inquire whether Darren and Fanny had returned
yet.

My thoughts were spinning and heading
nowhere of consequence. Kael took my elbow and led me to the main
hall doors. I hadn’t even realized I had stopped walking in the
middle of the courtyard.

A few months ago, Kael—in the guise of
a student—had entered through these same doors during a training
exercise and had fake-assassinated half of the students and guard.
That same night, one of the Septori had genuinely tried to kill me.
My mind was dwelling on that horrible thought when someone stepped
out of the shadows of the darkened main hall right in front of
me.

“
EEEeeep!” I jumped. A
moment later, I recognized the dark skin and shaved head of the
fiercest of the Adept Council, the five who ran the Citadel—Pax
Baton. His black uniform and skin helped him blend into the shadows
with the ease and ability of a SwordBrother. He had one gold stud
in his ear, his only show of decoration.

“
Did Darren and Fanny
return?” I spoke up, searching the main hall for any sign of
them.

“
I’m sorry, Thalia. They
haven’t arrived yet.” Adept Pax looked at me sadly.

“
Then how did you know we
were coming? How did you know to meet us here?” I
challenged.

“
I saw the four of you.”
Adept Pax touched his forehead. “Here. And I have heavy news to
bear. A lot has happened in the last few weeks.”

“
We saw that there are
troops patrolling the city for curfew.” Kael said.

“
Haven’t you heard?” Pax
asked and gestured to Joss. “Hasn’t he told you yet?”

“
No, we’ve been traveling.
We just found each other last night,” I gave out a lame excuse to
cover for Joss.

“
More Denai have gone
missing, this time in the city. And now they’ve taken them from our
own school.”

“
What?” Kael shouted.
“When? How?” Kael was immediately in protective mode, his mind
spinning and strategizing.

“
They disappeared in the
middle of the night. Their beds were slept in, and all of their
belongings were still in their room. But the students are just
gone,” Pax said in a forlorn voice.

“
Show me the rooms of the
missing students,” Kael demanded.

“
We’ve already searched
them for clues. We found no foul play. The windows, doors and locks
weren’t tampered with,” Pax added.

“
Then that leaves us with
one alternative,” Kael’s eyes turned dark. “It seems that our enemy
walks among us.”

“
You’re thinking an inside
job? Impossible. All our staff are loyal to both school and
crown.”

“
Oh they may be loyal, but
loyal to a heavy pocket of gold. Don’t worry, Pax, this doesn’t
have to go any farther than our group. But I do need a list of
everyone who was on duty, on staff, and present at the Citadel when
the students went missing.”

Pax nodded. “This way. I started
gathering the information already.” He motioned for Kael to follow
him, but paused to address Joss, Hemi and me. “Thalia, your room is
still available for you if you want to rest. Joss will see that
your friend gets situated, won’t you Joss?”

“
Of course, Adept Pax,”
Joss said before turning to me and giving me a small smile. “It
might take a bit of waking servants and poor Tearsa and Forrest to
try and accommodate Hemi. I fear we may have to actually push some
beds together.”

“
Why you little…” Hemi
made a fake grab for Joss’s head as if to box his ears.

I tried to smile, but it felt hollow.
Was I in danger? Would they come back for me? I looked over to Kael
and felt a little bit of relief. He wouldn’t let them take me. But
I couldn’t stop imagining the students in the same predicament that
I was in, and the thought made me sick. “I’ll meet up with you both
for breakfast,” I called out to their disappearing backs as they
turned to head down the hall. The catch in my throat was evidence
that I was coming to breaking down and crying.

So I turned and swiftly walked back
into the main hall. Not sure where I was heading, I kept walking. I
wandered wherever my feet led me and ended up heading toward Adept
Kambel’s office.

“
So the sewer rat has
returned.” A haughty feminine voice interrupted my
thoughts.

It didn’t take a genius to recognize
Syrani, the most powerful, or should I say most popular, student
within the school. She was in her sleeping robes, her hair braided
down her back. Her eyes looked wild and I could see a few dark
circles under her eyes.

“
Why are you wandering
around late at night?” I asked.

“
I live here. I have every
right to come and go as I please. What of you? Did your dirty
clansmen bring you back because they no longer wanted
you?”

At one time, Syrani may have made me
feel self-conscious or pitiful and nervous but not anymore. Now she
only grated on my nerves. I let the anger rise to the surface and
felt wind blow my hair even though there weren’t any open windows
near. I let my skin crackle with power, and I showed her what
really lay beneath the surface.

Syrani stepped back and almost toppled
over in fear when she saw the difference in my eyes.

“
Y-your eye. It’s glowing.
You’re not a rat,” Syrani stuttered. She tried to back away down
the hall and maintain her confidence, but her fear was obvious.
“You’re a freak!”

Chapter 15

“
This is highly unusual,” Adept Lorna said. She tilted my face
from side to side, studying my eye. Her blue eyes pierced mine.
Lorna’s spiky white hair always seemed to be at attention. Her
tanned skin and angular face made her look so serious, you’d never
guess she had a softer side until you heard her deep throaty laugh.
But she wasn’t laughing now. “I’ve never seen anything like this.
Have you, Kambel?”

“
No, I haven’t. I once
read about another race with eyes silver like the moon, but they
weren’t here in Calandry.”

“
Where?” Lorna
asked.

“
Not where…when.” The
elderly adept known as Kambel Silverbane spoke. Taking off his
spectacles, he cleaned them and slid them back onto his pointed
nose as if by that action alone he could clear up the puzzle of the
one discolored eye. He scratched his head with an ink-stained hand.
“I came across a scroll from Avellgarde’s archives that spoke of
another race from before the fall. Before the Denai came to
Calandry. But that scroll disappeared shortly after I found
it.”

“
Are you sure you didn’t
just lose the scroll in your office?” Adept Cirrus
asked.

Kambel shook his head. “No, I’m
positive. I’ve continued to search, but any other mention of Denai
life before Calandry has been destroyed. The few books I’ve been
able to recover over the years are unsalvageable.”

They had found a stool for me to perch
upon, and one by one, the five adepts studied my deformed eye and
asked me pointed questions. I squirmed uncomfortably in the stool
and tried to answer as honestly as I could, but the truth was I
didn’t know what was happening to me any more than they
did.

But I was most uncomfortable with the
silent figure that sat quietly in a chair, observing me with
piercing blue eyes. Her red hair was held off of her shoulders with
delicate bejeweled pins and her delicate hands never twitched or
moved. Her posture and composure bespoke years of training that I
knew I would never be able to learn or mimic. How could I possibly?
She was the queen.

“
So you say you have been
regaining more memories concerning the experiments done to you,”
Adept Cirrus asked thoughtfully. His long blond-white ponytail made
him look the most normal of the bunch. I just appreciated his
level-headedness.

“
Vivid dreams have been
bringing it back in bits and pieces in.” I shivered just recounting
my last few.

“
How do you know what
you’re dreaming is truth?” Adept Cirrus asked, no hint of
accusation in his tone.

“
Also the pain of the
experiments could have hidden the memories deeper as well,” Kambel
spoke up again, his gray head bobbing. “If she kept encountering
similar pains or experiences, they could have triggered the
subconscious.”

My mind immediately jumped to the
sound of thunder and how it pulled me back into the pit, back to
the prison. “I think Adept Kambel is right. High stress situations
seem to bring it back faster. It’s been a slow process, like a
disease. Over time, it’s spread and gotten worse. Especially in the
last few weeks. I’ve been in more pain, but I’m getting stronger.
Talbot himself said I was exhibiting at least four Denai gifts, and
it is fairly obvious I’m not a Denai. The Septori must’ve
succeeded, and I’m positive in what my powers are doing. They drain
all of a Denai’s powers and give them to another.”

“
I don’t think we should
trust her. Or whatever you are calling that Denai imposter” Breah
challenged. She was never afraid of speaking her mind in front of
Queen Lilyana. Breah, the youngest of the Adept Council seemed to
have disliked me from the moment I arrived in Haven. Her auburn
hair was in a coif today—probably an attempt to make her look
older.

“
Look at her,” she fumed
angrily. “Look into the true face of evil!” Silence filled the
room, except for the angry panted breathing of Adept Breah. “I’ve
said it once, and I’ll say it again—she shouldn’t be
here.”

It was Pax who stood up and came to my
defense, gently taking the young woman and directing her toward a
chair. No one argued against the giant of a man.

“
She should be chained up,
imprisoned,” Breah sniffed over her shoulder and sat down, glaring
daggers at me.

The hatred that poured from Breah
toward me came off of her in waves and, for once, I actually feared
the adept. In that moment, I saw clearly how delicate the balance
of power was among the Adept Council members. I glanced around and
saw the uncertain expressions on Kambel and Cirrus. Adept Pax and
Lorna were unreadable, and they were the two that usually were on
my side about everything.

The scale could have tipped at any
moment, deciding the rest of my future. Maybe the Adept Council
weren’t my allies but could potentially be my enemy. Ultimately, I
could only trust myself. And right now the less I told them the
better.

Queen Lilyana had raised an eyebrow at
Breah. “Come now. I doubt she is in any way to blame for what was
done to her against her will. You need to let that go, Adept Breah.
She’s the victim here. She wasn’t a danger to us before, and even
though she is growing stronger, I doubt that her intent is to kill
us all in our sleep. Thalia would rather have this whole process
reversed if possible, am I correct, Thalia? If you had the chance
to undo what was done to you, would you take it? Give it all up for
normalcy?”