The Silver Siren (26 page)

Portia rushed in, “He’s really much
more himself in the morning compared to evening when his mind
starts to tire. You arrived here late at night and he couldn’t
remember you, so you were placed in the dungeon until we could
change his mind.”

“
I’m sure I should
understand, but I don’t. More reasons to leave. What about Sevril
and Tomac?” I asked. “Neither of them seem like they want to harm
me…yet.”

“
Sevril understands why
you’re here. He knows that our future depends on you. Even though
it depresses him, he works tirelessly for our cause. He has been
showing great progress. Tomac is another story. Keep your distance
from your youngest cousin. He is quite mad, more so than Tieren.
And he is not safe.”

“
Not the most reassuring
news.” I moved around Gideon and Portia and walked to the
door.

“
It would be wise to
wait,” Gideon answered.

I paused in thought, my hand on the
doorknob.

There were still so many
answered questions, and I
was
the first in my clan to get back into Sinnendor.
Did my father know about the madness that would have plagued him if
he had come back? I thought back to the dinner table and imagined
me in Tomac’s place. Talking incoherently, throwing food. How long
could I stay before I started to show signs of madness?

Was that my destiny? Had I already
started down this dark path? In some ways it felt that
way.

“
One more thing, Thalia,”
Gideon suddenly spoke up. “You may have loyalties to the Denai now,
but you are first and foremost a Siren. You belong here. With
us.”

I grimaced in pain when I pulled the
door handle open, and I heard Portia’s intake of breath as she
waited to see if I would leave. I didn’t turn around, for fear of
changing my mind. Instead, I walked out.

Immediately, I heard soft sobbing
sounds behind me, as the stoic Portia broke down in tears. Gideon’s
comforting voice followed me down as I made my escape from the
tower.

Surprisingly, the Elite outside the
room didn’t try to stop me. Nor the ones at the bottom of the
tower. I did make a few wrong turns before I made it to the main
hall and looked around me in wonder. If my mother had lived, I
might have roamed these halls and played with my
cousins.

Or I might have never stepped foot in
the palace. There were too many what-ifs. I could be lost in my own
thoughts forever.

One side of the double doors opened as
a page walked in and turned down a hallway. Sunlight streamed into
the entryway, creating a path of light that beckoned me to freedom.
The view to the courtyard called to me, mere feet away. Seconds
more and I’d be out the door.

I could feel my feet slowing in
hesitation. I tried to remind myself that this was a prison and
right now the door was open. I could walk out the double doors and
never look back. I could go home, see if my father was okay, find
Faraway…and then do what? Wait impatiently for Kael to return? Wait
and see if he had found Joss and the others yet? Wait for the Raven
to eventually find me? The thought of waiting for the unknown
terrified me as much as being in a castle surrounded by insane
relatives.

Or, I told myself, I could stay, try
to find out what really was going on, find out why Xiven was here,
and maybe find the Raven first. I crossed the threshold and stood
on the large stone steps outside.

People were working—servants were busy
carrying wood inside, and a man was leading a very magnificent
horse through his paces. I watched as two of the Elite elbowed each
other in excitement. I heard girls laughing as they carried a large
bucket of water to some workers repairing the outer wall. A dog
chased a cat under the horse’s feet, and the horse reared, making
the Elite jump into action. Two of them calmed the horse and moved
it away. A third man caught the dog and held it back from the
scared cat who scurried up a tree. I expected the Elite to whip the
dog or get angry. Instead they laughed and trying to coax the cat
out of the tree.

Why did the people of Sinnendor have
to remind me so much of my own clan and family? Why couldn’t I view
them as the enemy?

A shadow flitted across the courtyard.
A very large black bird flew across and perched on the outer wall—a
raven. Something about it chilled me to the bone. A bad feeling
overtook me, and I stepped backward into the main hall and shut the
door. At the sound of the latch, I realized I’d just chosen prison
over freedom.

“
So you’ve decided to
enjoy our hospitality a little longer. I commend you. Although
remember that while the food here is very fine, the company has
much to be desired,” a male voice spoke from behind me.

I whirled around and saw the tall form
of Prince Sevril leaning against a column. His clothes looked
tidier than yesterday. He still had the dark circles under his
eyes, but today at least he tried to be friendly toward
me.

I licked my lips and tried to act
pleasant. “I might be able to stomach a few more days as long as
dinner doesn’t always end up in my lap. I generally like to eat my
food, not wear it.”

Sevril’s laugh started deep in his
throat and then it got louder. He held onto the column and wheezed,
having to cover his mouth. When he was able to breathe again he
smiled widely. “You, Thalia, are a breath of fresh air. So how do
you like your family so far?” He moved away from the pillar and
clasped his hands behind his back as he circled, studying me. “Are
we as crazy as you expected?”

“
I think you’ve all been
given a raw deal,” I answered truthfully. “If what Gideon says is
correct, and our family will eventually go insane then I feel pity
toward you and your actions, since they can’t always be helped. But
I notice you use it to your advantage, as well. To get away with
foolish behavior, just because everyone expects you to.”

Sevril stopped his pacing and turned
his dark brown eyes on me. I didn’t feel afraid, but I didn’t feel
entirely safe either. “Every single day, I fight the feelings, the
shadows, the dark thoughts, the anger. And every day I find another
reason to prove my sanity. That is what I find my solace in, my
striving to be human.”

I started to laugh. It wasn’t meant to
be mean or condescending, but I felt hopelessness bubble up out of
me and I couldn’t help but wonder where it came from. “But we’ve
never been human. We truly are just freaks who would be better
locked up.” The laughter turned into a pitiful sob, and I could
feel the sting of disappointed tears in my eyes.

His eyes turned dark with
anger.“Careful, Thalia. Not all of us have such control of our
other inner demons.” He whirled around and left the room, leaving
me in solitude.

His footsteps echoed outside the
chamber and I was left with one thought. Now what?

Chapter 25

Portia and Gideon were right about King Tieren. He seemed
more himself in the earlier hours of the day and more lost toward
evening. Part of me thought it had to do with all of the drinking
he was doing, but then I began to believe it had as much to do with
the darkness that came with the night. Sometimes I found him
avoiding darkened hallways and stepping around shadows that were
cast on the floor.

Tomac on the other hand, I didn’t
believe was ever sane. I had stumbled across him in a side parlor
practicing sword fighting with a dummy. He was swift, agile, and
explosive—expending all of his energy across the room. He would run
and jump up on a stool, knocking it over, use his sword to slice
through the roses, cut up the long curtains, and flip over a
chaise, all before he even attacked the dummy.

I could actually picture him as a true
Siren, his red hair blowing in the wind, eyes glowing with power.
In that mental image, he wielded a flaming sword as he threw
himself into battle. At one point as I watched, he leapt from the
top of a table and I could imagine him with wings flying. His
energy was so intense I could feel it almost bubble over him in
waves. But here, where there wasn’t any magic, what I felt from him
was enough to roll my stomach. It was hatred, despair, and
self-loathing, and I had to ask myself whose feelings I was truly
experiencing.

His or mine?

Tomac’s sword arced and he turned his
body into the movement, decapitating the mannequin in one fluid
movement. The straw-filled head flew across the room to come and
rest by my foot, face down. Tomac turned and apparently noticed my
intrusion for the first time. His head cocked to the left, the
movement very much like a bird of prey as he studied me with
interest.

“
Tha-l-i-a,” he dragged
out my name in a trill of notes that made my skin crawl. “I broke
it.” He gestured to the stuffed head that had rolled to my feet.
“Could you fix it, please?”

I looked down at the faceless
structure and picked it up. Part of me wanted to run from him, but
another wanted to prove to myself that I wasn’t afraid of Tomac.
That even without my powers he couldn’t scare me. Somehow, knowing
that we were both the same, both susceptible to the same anger and
fury, made me want to pity him. Help him—because in some way, I
would be helping myself.

The head felt heavy in my hands and I
looked underneath into the neck and saw that there was a wood
handle that had been severed in two. I walked with confidence
across the room, my shoes echoing across the stone floor. The
mannequin was finely made. Someone had taken good care in making it
as lifelike as possible. It was even dressed in a long green robe.
I pulled the handle farther out of the head and jammed the stake
into the body of the practice dummy, twisting and turning it as it
slowly slid down. I had to stand on tiptoe as I spun the head
around to face the front.

What I saw stopped me cold.

This dummy was not faceless. I had
expected this one to be like those we’d used at the Citadel. But
someone had taken the time to sew on a mouth and two silver coins
for eyes. My hands started to shake as I stared at the face of the
dummy. There was no mistaking his choice of coins for eyes. The
silver was intentional. I swallowed nervously.

The hysterical laugh was the only
warning I got as Tomac’s sword cut through the air.

I ducked and rolled. The sword missed
my head by mere inches, re-decapitating the practice dummy. Only my
roll didn’t go as well as I hoped, since my very long dress wrapped
around my legs, hampering my escape. My heart was in my throat as I
tried to scamper backwards on the floor and untangle my feet from
the yards of material considered proper for a young woman. This
dress would soon be the death of me.

Tomac danced around me on the floor,
whooping and hollering to his own manic song. I kicked free of my
dress and jumped up, running for the door. He flung a broken piece
of chair across the floor at me and it rattled along and tripped
me. My chin slammed into the floor first and pain raced up my jaw.
Lights flickered painfully in my skull. I felt dizzy as I rolled
over to my back, just as Tomac kneeled over me pinning me with his
knees and body. One hand grasped me around the throat and his other
arm rose high behind him, the sword tip at my throat. My hands
wrapped around his hand and I worked on twisting it to release, but
I couldn’t fight both the hand and the sword tip. I felt a prickle
of pain and something wet pooled down my neck.

“
Nighty-night, birdy. You
will no longer plague my dreams.” His body weight lifted, and I
knew he was about to plunge the sword into me.

I closed my eyes and relaxed,
preparing myself for the pain that would inevitably come, followed
by my death. Until I reminded myself that I was surrendering, and I
don’t surrender.

Besides, Kael wouldn’t want me to. He
would tell me to be strong. And I had to for him as well as myself.
My death would leave him vulnerable.

I reached deep down in myself for the
anger and rage at my situation. Right now I hated Tomac. Not as
much him as what was done to him. This wasn’t his fault.

My body silently screamed with rage,
focused not on Tomac but on the sword. Pain ripped through my body
and I felt like I had been pierced, though the sword had not
touched me. I let the pain flow through me and outward, focusing on
the sharp blade only inches from me. Tomac hesitated for a second,
and in that one pause I was able to push through the nothingness,
the void, the shadows that were Sinnendor.

The sword cracked, just a single crack
splintered up the side, but Tomac pulled back to look at the sword
in puzzlement. It wouldn’t be enough to stop him. He just smiled
and raised it again.

Now, I was beat, tired, and
exhausted.

A roar ripped through the air as
Sevril’s body flew into Tomac, knocking him to the ground. The
sword still nicked me, but I was free. Hands gripped me under the
arms and started to drag me backwards out of the room. I watched as
Sevril had Tomac pinned to the ground, punching him again and
again. The sword lay abandoned feet across the floor.

I lost sight of Sevril and his brother
as someone pulled me out of the hall. Whoever had me stopped and
then came to my side to pick me up.