The Silver Siren (21 page)

“
Gah!” I pounded my fist
on the table and then swiped all of the coins onto the floor. I
wasn’t skilled in the art of war, but I knew someone who
was.

I left my house and headed down the
road to the main building. It was dark and I passed an open window.
I could see that the clan council had gathered with my father. Even
though he was the rightful leader, each seat of the council was
held by the head of one of the founding families. Bearen and Odin
were leaning over the table pointing at areas and speaking in low
tones. They too were studying a map. I noticed that our setups
mirrored each other, but their map was more detailed. And quite a
few red wooden markers stood on theirs.

“
Markis, tell me about
your recent survey into Sinnendor.” Bearen leaned back and directed
his attention to a man sitting by a wall.

I stood on tiptoe and tried to lean
closer to the window. This is what I had been waiting for—what Odin
had alluded to.

Markis, a short clansmen with blond
locks, stood up and walked over to the table, pointing at the map.
It looked like he had been on the road for a while, because both
his short beard and the bobcat furs he wore were covered in
dirt.

“
We know that, since
Tieren became king, trade has been non-existent. Over the years,
little traffic has entered Sinnendor because of fear of the Elite,
guarding against Denai. But I was able to cross over quite easily.
There are less patrols.

“
Why would they abandon
their borders? What reasons do they have for slacking in this
area?” Odin asked.

Markis shook his head. “I
don’t know. Maybe it’s a trap to draw us in? But I made it to
Merchantstown and have heard from a few servants in the palace that
it’s
gotten worse. King Tieren’s left his
borders wide open, and people are coming and going. The Elite have
drawn their troops in, closer to the king, staying within the
castle walls, and protecting the crown princes. They’re weaker than
we’ve ever seen them. They are scattered and disorganized, and they
know it.

“
But they still continue
sending messengers.” Odin said exasperated. “Why continue with
their demands?”

Gotte walked over to the map and
pointed out a trail along the map. “I’ve been wondering that
myself. They’ve been sending someone almost weekly now down Sumner
Pass. But Bearen, how long can we keep killing the messenger
without consequence? It won’t be long before Tieren tires and sends
a small army.”

Markis spoke up before Bearen could
answer, “You can be sure we aren’t the only ones to have noticed
Sinnendor’s lack of patrols. I’ve seen others’ scouts. We never
came face to face, but I believe they are from Calandry. Do you
know anything about this Bearen?”

Bearen crossed his arms and stared at
the map. After a moment, he stood up and made eye contact with
every man in the room. Many became uncomfortable, shifting their
eyes elsewhere. “Yes, it’s apparent from the last message from the
Citadel that the queen firmly believes Sinnendor is behind the
recent abductions of Calandrians, including my daughter.

“
For generations, we’ve
purposefully kept our distance from Calandry and their politics.
We’ve always been vassals of Sinnendor, and lately those lines have
been muddied with the current events, but we mustn’t let it cloud
our judgment. I’ve known it would one day come to this, and now I
must ask you. If this leads to a war between Calandry and
Sinnendor, we cannot sit idly by. We must choose—a side we are
willing to die for. I will not be the one to start the war, but by
the stars I will be the one to finish it.”

The room erupted. Clansmen
slammed their mugs on the table, yelling and pushing each other. A
few even came to blows, but I wasn’t surprised. It was normal for
my people to discuss matters with fists first and heads later.
I
was
, however,
surprised to see my father open up the discussion of switching
allegiance to Queen Lilyana.

“
Eavesdropping?” a quiet
voice drifted over my shoulder.

I turned to see Syrani standing behind
me. Her blonde hair was pulled to the side and tied with a leather
strap. She wore a simple blue wool dress trimmed in rabbit fur. It
was obviously not one of her more expensive dresses, but one more
suited to my own clan’s style. Over the dress, she wore a large
brown apron, covered in dirt and clay. Even her fingernails were
covered in dirt. She didn’t look intimidating or haughty. She
looked happy.

She caught me staring at her
dirt-caked hands and began to pick at the dried clay and flick it
to the ground. Her cheeks reddened and she shrugged her shoulders.
“I’ve discovered that Fenri’s mother has a potter’s wheel, and I’m
a natural—obviously.” She said the last word in a lighthearted
manner. A piece of stray hair fell down into her face and she
tucked it behind her ear with her hand. Still wet clay smeared
across her cheek.

“
Syrani, you seem
different.” I tried not to sound callous. “I mean, at ease. I
didn’t think you liked my clan. You called us
barbarians.”

Her mouth opened and her
hands flew out in front of her. “Oh, I know. I’m terrible. I
was
terrible. I mean,
I’m trying to change. I’m trying to figure myself out. Oh, how do I
say this?” She wrung her hands together and began pacing back and
forth. “Your clan is…yes…backwards and a little barbaric, but
Thalia! No one knows who I am.”

“
They know you are a
Denai, Syrani,” I cocked my head to the side and crossed my
arms.

“
Of course they know that.
It’s obvious by my looks, but they don’t know anything about my
family, my parents, and my heritage. They don’t treat me any
different than…um, you.”

“
Why would they? My clan
doesn’t care about the Denai or their culture at all.”

“
Exactly! They don’t know
that my father is a powerful leader, or that we’re rich. I’ve never
been allowed to do anything, because I had to have a servant do it
all. I’ve always been expected to do whatever my family wanted.
I’ve never cooked, cleaned, sewn. All of those things you did at
the Citadel, I would never even be allowed to touch, or it would
get back to my father. Here, Gentri is making me learn to bake and
sew. But once I burned the bread, she had me clean out a storage
shed and I found the potter’s wheel. Fenri pulled it out and I’ve
been at it for days. With my gift, I’m able to do some really
amazing things even without the wheel. But I’d never be able to
sell it or trade it or let anyone know I made it. Here, the women
are already lining up and placing orders. They want something from
me! They want something I’ve made.” She reached out and grabbed my
hands and did a little dance in excitement.

I was too shocked to do anything more
than a few jumps of excitement with her. “Really? That’s
great!”

“
I know. I think so too!”
Syrani flung her arms around my neck and—after a brief
moment—pulled back awkwardly. “I’ve got to get going. I just needed
a breath of fresh air before I went back to work. The air up here
in the mountains feels different than back home and it smells
wonderful.” She waved at me and headed back to the main
road.

I suspected that the real difference
was freedom. I was completely humbled by what I’d just
witnessed—and a little unsettled. Was that all it took to change
Syrani? A chance to be something other than what she was raised to
be?

Isn’t that what I wanted? Suddenly I
was jealous of her happiness and wanted a chance to start over
too.

Reluctantly, I waited over the next
hour. It had grown dark. A slight chill filled the air, but I
refused to move from my position. Even my growling stomach didn’t
deter me from my mission. I did find a barrel and move it close to
the window just under the sill. It was a perfect solution for my
sore legs. It seemed the clan couldn’t reach a decision over whose
side to fight with if it came to war. The families that were
housing the Denai had been won over and voted to pledge allegiance
to Calandry along with quite a few others. But there were still a
good portion that refused to side with Queen Lilyana, while others
wanted to remain neutral.

Twice more, I heard mention of the
convoy King Tieren continued sending to Valdyrstal.

I had never seen anyone ever come into
our lands, so there had to be a meeting place in the mountains. I
remembered months ago when my father had watched the pass, and he
rode into the mountains with Odin and Fenri. They’d refused to let
me follow. Had it been for some sort of private meeting? Had my
father been secretly meeting with messengers from
Sinnendor?

Lying in bed, I stared at
the large beam that crossed my ceiling and I placed my hand over my
heart. As I felt its strong beat, I thought of Kael.
Please, stay strong Kael. I’m coming for you. I
promise. Somehow, I’ll find you.
I’d
become grateful for our bond. Because no matter what the Septori
did to him, he would survive as long as I did.

Slow tears fell upon my pillow as they
had every night since I lost him. I knew that the same tears of
guilt and worry would fall every night until I found him. More
questions without answers swirled through my head, and I couldn’t
help but feel overwhelmed.

I hoped sleep would bring me answers.
Because if I didn’t hear from Kael by tomorrow, I was determined to
go to find Kael myself.

Chapter 19

The
trail was a small one, hidden along a cliff and barely
discernible.

During the winter months it would be
completely blocked by snow. Even now, snow started to fall gently,
covering the pines and leaving a white blanket across the higher
peaks. It wasn’t cold enough to stick, but in another few months it
would be impassable. My breath left a white trail in the air as
Faraway and I continued up a cliff opposite of Sumner Pass. Gotte
said they had been watching this pass, and I wanted to confirm with
my own eyes who was coming and going.

This wasn’t a stealth operation. I
knew that Gotte or one of his men would have seen me already riding
up on my horse. Faraway’s white coat was a beacon in the valley.
Still, now that we were heading north, he had a better chance of
blending in among the light flurries and gray rocks.

Once we found a comfortable perch on a
ledge to wait and watch, I donned a thick wool cloak and sat. The
chances were slim of catching anyone using the pass. I imagined I
could sit here for weeks and not see a hint of life. Well, that
wasn’t true. I’d already seen movement on the other side of the
pass. I’d recognized the stance and red fox fur wrap of Fenri,
before he moved and hid behind a tree, taking up watch across the
pass from me. But he was trying to be seen. He had noticed me
across the way and had waved his arms and gestured angrily toward
the village.

I pretended I never saw
him.

A few hours later, after I had
accidentally eaten most of my day’s rations out of boredom, things
changed. I heard something before I saw anything—the echo of horse
hooves on rock. Instantly alert, I crouched low and watched with
anticipation. Six horses with riders walked single file down the
pass below, still a great distance off. Five of them were dressed
in metal armor ready for battle. The man in front, the one with a
trimmed mustache, wore a brown wool cloak and leather gloves. Very
official looking.

Movement across the way
distracted me as Fenri raced from his position and down the
mountain. He pointed up at me angrily and mouthed the words,
Stay there!
With his
hands, he pointed to me and signaled me to stay put. He slid down a
path to his horse tethered at the bottom of the mountain and raced
off toward the village.

I watched in interest as the riders
passed beneath me. The finely dressed noble rode ahead of the
others, while the fighters scanned both sides of the pass. I ducked
behind a large rock and waited until I couldn’t hear the sound of
their horses’ hooves clapping against the rocky path.

“
Hoowah,” someone called
just enough to echo across the pass. I peeked over the top of my
boulder and saw Gotte standing there. He looked grim and had a bow
and arrow nocked, ready to release. I ducked back down as he shot
the arrow into the tree closest to my hiding place. It only took a
moment to spot the arrow and see the slim parchment tied to the
shaft.

I pulled it down and opened up the
message.

King Tieren’s
men.

Stay hidden.

Of course I couldn’t obey. If someone
got hurt, they might need me. I could see Gotte mutter something
when he saw me run for Faraway. Like the arrow that had flown
toward me, we made it quickly to our destination. At the bottom of
the mountain, Faraway took off, sprinting across the field. We were
still miles from the village, but I could see that the convoy of
Tieren’s men would never make it that far.

My father, Odin, and Fenri were locked
in battle with the five armored soldiers. Tieren’s messenger
already lay dead on the ground, an arrow through his heart, his
quiver of arrows scattered on the ground. The bow just missed being
trampled under the horses’ feet. Odin screamed a war cry, ducking
under a sword. He used his axe to swing into his opponent’s back
and knock him to the ground.