The Silver Siren (17 page)

“
What can we
do?”

“
How can we protect
ourselves, when the Jesai family couldn’t protect their own
blood?”

“
I wanna go home,” someone
wailed.

“
You should leave and
don’t come back,” another voice hollered.

More and more shouting began, and I
felt overwhelmed. Syrani sat silently in her chair and looked at me
thoughtfully. Her calm demeanor bothered me.

Joss ran between the tables and jumped
up onto the table with me. If anyone could speak reason to them,
Joss could.

“
We weren’t prepared
before. You’re prepared now. It is obvious that they are now
actively pursuing Denai. But you are not defenseless. Your whole
body is a weapon. You were raised to be peaceful, but you know that
peace is only an illusion of the mind. Last semester you began
training in combat.” He turned and pointed a finger at an older
student. “How many ways can you take down an armed
attacker?”

The student was taken aback at the
direct question. He stood up, pushed his glasses back onto the
bridge of his nose, and thought about it. “Um, four?” he
answered.

“
Wrong!” A strong, angry
voice interjected. A thrill raced through my body just hearing
it.

I turned to see Kael’s
tall form stride into the room. Eyes followed him as he moved
forward, and he turned a furious gaze on each of them. “I taught
you twenty four ways to disarm an attacker without using your
power. Thirty-two if you had a weapon in your hand. You are Denai
and are strong. You shouldn’t cower from these men who hide their
faces behind masks and robes. You could destroy them before they
ever touched you. The only thing stopping you is
fear
.”

“
That’s right. We will
find these monsters and they will be brought to justice. Now all of
you, get back to your studies,” Joss demanded.

I could hear the groups grumbling
about how we didn’t answer more of their questions. If Lorna or Pax
had heard what we had just done, we would have been in serious
trouble. But since they were gone…

When the room emptied out, Kael turned
on me, his voice deep with frustration. “You shouldn’t have told
them.”

Joss stepped nimbly between Kael and
me. “I think she should have. If someone is targeting them, they
should know about it. Thalia’s right. They have a right to defend
themselves.”

“
What do you think I’ve
been teaching them? How to knit? I’ve been preparing them for this.
But now you’ve made them terrified.” He looked at me, his dark eyes
filled with emotion. “You should have known better.”

I pushed Kael hard in the chest in
anger. “I only did what I thought was right. If there are monsters
out there, then they should know about them.”

Kael sighed and looked up at the
ceiling. “There are always monsters out there. Thieves, murderers,
slave traders. And you can’t protect everyone.” He stared at me and
I noticed the light stubble on his chin and the dark circles under
his eyes exhibiting his lack of sleep. Something was bothering him,
but he hadn’t come to talk to me about it.

“
Kael, I’m
sorry.”

His shoulders stiffened and he spoke
to Joss, ignoring me. “I bet that tomorrow morning, we will lose
more students. And it won’t be because they were taken in the
night.”

~~~

Kael was right. The next morning,
there were fewer students at breakfast. News had traveled fast and
concerned parents arrived that morning with carriages to take their
sons and daughters home. Letters arrived by messenger, pigeon, and
even an eagle, demanding that the Denai students who lived farther
away be escorted home.

Kambel was at his wit’s end. Without
Lorna and Pax, he had no choice but to release the students. Queen
Lilyana had organized a guarded caravan to leave in three days to
escort the others home. She had seemed truly disheartened, and I
couldn’t help but feel responsible. Over half of the Citadel’s
students were leaving with the caravan.

I was going with them.

Queen Lilyana was angry at the change
in attitude and the loss of students. Her presence at the school
was becoming routine, so she stepped in and helped handle the
dismissal. Physically, she was tensed and a bit high
strung.

I approached her quietly. “Is there
anything I can do to help?”

“
Haven’t you done
enough
helping?”
she snapped. “Go with the caravan for protection and go home.
Please.”

I was heartbroken. I was going home a
failure. I hadn’t found Joss’s sister. I hadn’t found the Raven,
and Mona had escaped.

On our day of departure, I found
myself at the back of the caravan on Faraway with my packs. Garit
had been commissioned to lead the caravan, and Kael was hired on as
an extra guard. Joss chose to come with me, to see me home back to
my clan. I had a feeling he wanted to talk to my father and try and
get him to reconsider the agreement concerning Kael and me. Hemi
was excited about returning home, but saddened that he wouldn’t get
to say goodbye to Fanny. I knew how much he liked the copper-haired
Fanny, but I also knew how much my family despised
outsiders.

The rear of the caravan was the
dustiest and dirtiest place to ride. I was literally eating the
dust kicked up by the horses. But I chose to ride rear because I
could ride in silence. Behind me, four guards rode. If I slowed my
pace at all, they would kick their horses and force me to speed
up.

Travelling was simple for me because I
didn’t have anything that I needed brought home.

Syrani, on the other hand, had two
wagons filled with cargo. Even all the way at the back, I could
hear her shrill voice yelling at the wagon driver to be careful and
go around the pothole. I grimaced, feeling bad for the man. When I
realized it was Donn, I was both surprised and excited he’d been
assigned to come as well.

For four days we traveled, and for
four days I barely saw or spoke with Kael. We made it to the home
of Pan and dropped him off with his welcoming but anxious family.
It was bittersweet to watch his mother and father worry over him.
We got back on the road headed west, toward young Brecken’s
home.

Later that evening, the wagons were
pulled into a circle, just like every other night. Donn went to
work with a few of his kitchen staff to prepare the evening meal
around the central fire. Other smaller fires were started closer to
each of the wagons. There were a total of ten wagons, fifteen
students, not including Joss and me, six servants and twenty
guards. We were quite a large group to feed on the road, but Donn
and his team put out a wonderful spread.

It was a warm meal of soup and fresh
pheasant shot down by a guard earlier that morning. Donn even
brought a barrel of cider and warmed it up for us on the chilly
night. At first it was quiet as everyone was eating, but soon it
became louder as trepidation dropped and a sense of security set
in. To most of the Denai students, this felt like an adventure.
Someone started to sing, and then others joined in. Soon even Donn
was bellowing a song about lost love in his deep
baritone.

I didn’t join in the festivities. I
couldn’t. I was too busy thinking of what I was going to tell my
father. A shadow fell over my shoulder and Hemi lumbered down to
sit by me, placing his large axe by his right knee. I turned and
studied him, realizing I hadn’t given him much thought lately. I’d
been buried in my own problems. He had come bearing two cups of
cider and handed one to me. He took a long drink and licked his
lips and sighed.

“
You miss home?” I
asked.

He stroked his long red beard before
answering. “Yes, I will be happy to be back to my own home, but I
fear that it will feel very empty.”

“
Do you love
her?”

Hemi started to gasp and sputter like
he was choking. His face turned a deep red and he started to
mumble.

“
So bring her home with
you. Marry Fanny. Who cares that she is a Denai?”

Hemi didn’t even argue with me about
him wanting to marry her. “I don’t think she would be happy there.
Even if she could pretend not to be a Denai, she would always be
inventing things, creating things, people would call her names
because they wouldn’t understand her. Our clan would ostracize her
for being different. It happened before with your mother. I
wouldn’t want to repeat it with Fanny.” I watched the great bear of
a man groan and stretch out his arms. He downed the last drops of
his drink, so I handed my untouched cider to him. His smile widened
and he soon polished off mine.

“
Does she love you?” The
sputtering occurred again from Hemi. I took it for a possible yes.
“Then leave the clan and marry her. Live in Skyfell.”

“
And betray your father? I
can’t. I won’t. Don’t ever speak of it again.” He stood up and
grabbed his large axe and walked away.

I had upset him. I knew that this was
going to be a very long trip, even longer because we were only
going to our second drop off tomorrow.

High-pitched laughter came from over
by the nearest fire. It was Syrani, laughing at something Joss had
said. I couldn’t help but feel a surge of disgust at
her.

I pulled out my bedroll, laid it out
under the wagon, and tuckered down for the night. Someone came by
and whispered my name. It sounded like Donn but I ignored him. I
just wished to be done with everyone. I had failed, and I wanted, I
wanted…I didn’t know what I wanted.

So you don’t feel like
talking?

No, I don’t feel like
talking, even to you.

My…aren’t we
moody?

Of course, I’m moody.
Queen Lilyana sent me home! She didn’t ask if I wanted to leave,
but she commanded that I go home. I feel unimportant.

Nonsense, I don’t think
that was really the reason she sent you.

I couldn’t possibly think
of any other reason.

I’m sure you could think
of one, if you tried.

Gah!
I mentally screamed at Faraway.
I’m
done. Goodnight.

I pulled my blanket over my head and
watched Joss and Kael talking across the camp. I could see Joss
shaking his head angrily and Kael, arms crossed, standing firm.
Finally, Joss threw his arms up in the air and stormed away. Kael
watched Joss’s retreating back and then he turned and stared at my
makeshift bedding arrangement. I wasn’t sure, but I thought I saw
his shoulders shake with laughter. I pulled the blanket even
tighter over my head and completely blocked the sound of the
camp.

I lay awake for hours under the wagon.
I listened to servants gently admonish their wards to get ready for
sleep. The wagon above me shifted and groaned as two students moved
their luggage around and made beds in the back. I could hear them
giggling as they hefted what sounded like a large waxed tarp above
them. I could feel the pull of power as another Denai used his
gifts.

Opening my senses, I let myself see
the glows and threads of power being manipulated by the Denai. I
marveled at how much I was able to do now, but couldn’t months ago.
I recognized the one using his gifts. It was Tydus, the Denai who
had sat next to me to record the council session last season. The
session during which the Valderstal clan came to find
me.

Tydus pushed back his spectacles and
frowned in concentration over a particular spot in the dirt. He
waved his hands in a coaxing manner and a small seed began to
sprout. He manipulated the sprout, and within seconds it grew into
a large tree. Most impressive were the vines that wrapped
themselves around the tree to create a large swinging bed that hung
suspended from the largest branch.

When his great accomplishment was
completed, Tydus smiled and crawled into his bed with his wrap and
immediately went to sleep. Someone started to hum and a bright
light flashed. I turned over in my bed and watched as another young
Denai, Brecken, made the dying campfire spring back to life. He
took his bedroll and lay down unnaturally close to the wall of
heat.

I watched a young girl named Karni run
over to the next wagon, braids bouncing against her shoulders. She
got comfortable next to her older brother Marcel. The two whispered
back and forth. I was able to catch bits and pieces as Marcel told
her a bedtime story. By the time the story was over, the princess
was saved by the powerful Denai and the young Karni was fast
asleep. Marcel opened his hand and created a soft ball of glowing
light and placed it near his sister, in case she became
scared.

My soul was conflicted. I was jealous
of their gifts that were so natural and the way their inner light
glowed brightly. Whenever I looked inside myself, all I saw were
shadows. My eyes burned and a small tear slid out of the corner of
my eye. Here I was feeling sorry for myself again. I wanted to be
like them, a Denai from birth who always knew who she was and what
she came from. A Denai who wasn’t scared to use her gifts. I would
never have thought to spend the energy and create a bed out of a
tree or build a wall of fire to keep me warm.