The Silver Siren (29 page)

I heard hissing, the sound of an
argument.

“
Oh for stars sake, here
let me,” a feminine voice called out and then a small flash of
light appeared in the darkness fairly close to my head. I jumped
slightly, and so did the person holding the sword. Luckily, it
didn’t slice my jugular. The bright flare made spots appear in my
vision and I heard the same voice call out, “See, it is
her.”

There was no mistaking Syrani’s voice.
The sword and knife in my side were quickly withdrawn. Strong hands
pulled me down and I was embraced in a gripping bear
hug.

“
Odin,” I called out and
he released me. He stepped back and others came forward out of the
forest. I saw Hemi, Gotte, Eviir, Fenri and Syrani. More lighted
orbs appeared in the air and I could see my father approaching on a
horse, with what looked like a whole army of clansmen behind
him.

“
Father, you came.” I
wasn’t surprised that he would. Just glad that he did.

Bearen stared at me in confusion. But
then it washed away to be replaced by a look of happiness. “Thalia?
You’re free? How in the world is that possible? We were about to
come and rescue you.” Bearen turned in his saddle and—as my eyes
adjusted to the darkness—I made out far more silhouettes than I’d
expected. There were hundreds of men. He must have gathered the
clans to attack Sinnendor.

“
With some help of
course,” Syrani called out. It completely surprised me to see
Syrani, dressed in my clan’s fur cloak and armor. She was dressed
for battle and looked quite comfortable. With a flick of her wrist,
the orbs of light, which actually turned out to be floating burning
coals, extinguished and dropped to the ground.

“
Yes, I’m free. It’s a
long story, but I’m fine.” I was quickly ushered into the darkened
camp. No campfires had been made, no torches, no light whatsoever
trickled out of the camp. It looked like they had just made camp
and were getting prepared to invade in the morning.

I was given a bowl of gruel and a
blanket to wrap around my shoulders. Even though there were no
fires, it was warm. I gave my father an accusing look and he just
shrugged his shoulders and pointed to Syrani. She was leaning over
a pile of flat stones and I watched in awe as they slowly glowed.
She pulled away and Odin picked up a large pot and placed it over
the stones. A few seconds later the water was boiling.

“
How many injured and dead
from the raid?” I asked as soon as we were away from the
others.

“
Thirty injured, four
dead,” he answered grimly. I could see the dangerous glint in his
eye and the anger that he barely contained. I couldn’t help but
wonder how many generations of living in Calandry it had taken to
tame the fury of the Siren blood. Now that I knew the signs, it was
easy to spot, even when diluted. But the question remained. Did my
father know about his bloodline? Did anyone in Valdyrstal know
anything about Sirens? And was that the true answer to why the
Valdyrstals hated the Denai as much as they did? It sure seemed
plausible.

My eyes kept drifting to Syrani as she
worked tirelessly around the camp. I couldn’t help but watch as
Fenri stood by protectively, watching her every move.

“
I can’t believe you
brought her.” I said skeptically. But I couldn’t help but feel
somewhat proud at the same time.

“
Not on purpose,” Bearen
growled out, trying to sound angry, but I could hear the hint of
pride in his voice as well. “She wouldn’t stay behind. We were just
getting back on our feet, day after the attack by the Elite, when a
delegation appeared from Haven to pick up the remaining Denai and
escort them home. The girl refused to go with them. She about
destroyed the main road into town when they tried to force her, so
they left her alone. We’ve been preparing to come here and demand
your release, so she came with us. I don’t know what it is about
her, but she kind of reminds me of you.”

“
Ugh, please don’t say
that.” I rolled my eyes. I knew my father didn’t know the old
vengeful and bitter Syrani like I did. “So the rest of the students
were taken home?”

“
Yes, but something didn’t
seem right,” Bearen said.

“
What do you mean,
something wasn’t right?” I could tell from his tone he was
worried.

“
It was just too soon. The
timing was off. The messengers we sent to Haven hadn’t even
returned yet, and there was an army at our village.” Bearen’s
eyebrows furrowed and he leaned over and his voice lowered. “How
could a large delegation arrive from Haven and make it through the
pass before my men returned? There were two of them on our swiftest
horses. They should have been back before the delegation
arrived.”

“
Maybe they passed one of
Queen Lilyana’s parties on their way to Haven and happened to pass
on the message. Or maybe they were delayed in their return trip. Or
maybe—”

“
They’re dead,” Bearen
interrupted.

“
Don’t say that,” I
gasped, feeling my stomach sour.

“
The delegation was too
large. There were too many horses. Too many warriors.”

“
Well, our caravan was
attacked. Maybe they are bringing extra protection from the
Septori. They may be unstoppable if they continue these experiments
to enhance their gifts,” I mumbled unable to even convince
myself.

“
Ask the girl!” Bearen
shook his head and pointed back to Syrani. He crossed his arms and
refused to say anything else. It was odd that I found myself in
this position, arguing with my father. “She said it was odd too,
refused to go.”

“
Then why didn’t you make
everyone stay? Refuse to let any of the Denai go?” my voice rose in
frustration.

“
Because they weren’t my
priority. Finding you was.”

“
But obviously you felt
something was off, because you are bringing it up now.” I
said.

“
Well, you’re safe so we
can now focus on the important thing at hand,” Bearen
scoffed.

“
Which is?”

“
We have to decide whether
we will continue our assault on Sinnendor, which could lead into an
all out war we would very likely lose. Or…”

“
Or what?”

“
We go after the
delegation and get the children back,” Bearen answered, a mad
twinkle in his eye.

“
Excuse me? Did I hear you
right?” He couldn’t possibly have just said that.

“
You said the queen is at
an impasse and they don’t know what to do. It’s time that someone
did something. Our clan is prepared for war, prepared to fight to
the death for the cause. Let it for once be a cause that will bring
peace instead of more war.”

“
You really think that it
was someone else that showed up and took the Denai students? You
think it might have been the Septori—say it.” My knuckles cracked
as my fists closed tight in rage. I couldn’t believe he just let
them go. If he had any hesitation about their motive at all, he
should have stopped it.

“
Thalia, we had just been
attacked. We were not ready to face another battle; we were still
burying our dead. We’re prepared now.”

I sighed loudly and shook my head.
There was a lot to think about. And I was about to give him more. I
took a deep breath and looked him right in the eye.

“
I found something out
about the King of Sinnendor. King Tieren is mad, you know.” He
looked unfazed. “But you already knew that, didn’t you? It’s why
you really
don’t
want to go back to Sinnendor, unless you have to. For fear
that the madness will start to affect you too,” I
accused.

“
I only know what your
mother told me,” he rushed out. “We haven’t had any of the side
effects that they had. It could be because we settled on Calandry
land. It could be because that trait died out. We don’t know,
except that you weren’t affected. It’s even more proof as to why
King Branncynal wanted to rule Calandry, and why they hate the
Denai.”

Bearen’s hand rose in warning, and he
cocked his head and listened. I strained to hear what he was
listening to and heard it as well. A commotion on the far side of
camp. Bearen picked up his sword and ran. I followed closely at his
heels, my heart pumping with anxiety. I jumped over a fallen log,
pushing past the swinging branches that my father inadvertently
sent crashing into me as his large form broke through
them.

He stopped, and I almost ran into his
large back. I nimbly jumped aside and saw what caught his
attention. A large group of clan members had surrounded a wild and
mute girl. Odin held a lit torch. Apparently, one too many visitors
on the same night warranted a breech in protocol.

Bearen pushed forward but kept his
distance from the one causing the ruckus.

The girl’s dark hair was tangled, her
skin smudged with dirt. Even her dress was frayed and tattered. Her
mouth opened and closed like a fish, but no sound came forth. Her
hands were splayed out in front of her like she was balancing above
an invisible crevice, and she looked like she was about to fall
over.

“
Siobhan?” Fenri stepped
out from the back of the ever-growing crowd of warriors. He moved
to stand in front of her and tried to reach for her hand. It was my
cousin, but something was off about her. There was something about
her eyes. When she turned, I saw an odd color reflected in
moonlight.

She turned her eerie silver eyes on
me, and I was startled at our resemblance. Same hair coloring, same
silver-tinted eyes. I was looking at myself. I took a step closer
and a slow, evil grin slid up her face. But it looked
forced.

“
They come,” she called
out. Her voice sounded hollow, empty. I felt my heart break in
sorrow as I saw the marks upon her arms. She never made it to her
aunt’s. She’d been taken by the Septori, like I was.

But this time, they knew who they’d
caught. They’d found another Siren.

My heart thudded loudly in
my chest as fear ripped through my body. I swallowed and tried to
focus my gifts and to see her. To
truly
see her.

It took a few tries, but I blinked and
I saw the shadow that surrounded her. Also, a dark purple thread of
light wrapped around her heart and led into the woods. The shadow
that I saw within Siobhan wasn’t as dark or large as the one I
could see within myself.

But the thread of power troubled me.
It meant that she was being controlled. Just as the Raven
controlled animals, just as Mona controlled humans. Siobhan wasn’t
acting of her own accord. A puppet. But who was pulling the
strings, and why was she here?

Siobhan’s body started to shake and I
could see the thread of power connected to her start to wane, thin
out, and disappear. She fell to the ground and looked up at me, her
arms reaching out to me, pleading.

“
Help me! It hurts. It
hurts so much!” She wrapped her arms around her stomach and began
to rock back and forth, crying. Big tears slid down her face and
dropped into the soft, darkened earth. I knew the pain she was in,
the gut wrenching fire that consumed one during the change. Fenri
gave a little cry of anguish and ran forward to help Siobhan up off
the ground.

“
Don’t touch her!” Syrani
cried out and entered the circle. Fenri pulled back and gave her a
frustrated look. She rushed forward and stared off into the woods
where the thread dissipated. Her hands clenched into fists and she
looked between the crying girl and the disappearing thread. Syrani
turned to frown at me and then stared back into the woods, worried.
She had evidently come to the same conclusion I had.

Siobhan’s cries continued, and I could
see Fenri on the verge of ignoring Syrani’s warning. I teetered
between feeling somewhat responsible and helpless. A few seconds
more and Syrani stood up and turned to look not at me but at my
father.

Her expression was grim. “Leave her.
We need to go!”

Siobhan must have heard the
golden-haired beauty because she began to cry even louder. “No,
please, don’t leave me. Help me!”

I could feel tears sliding down my own
cheeks in response to my cousin’s cries. I stepped in front of
Syrani and tried to defend Siobhan. “You don’t know what they’ve
done to her. We need to help her.”

“
That’s exactly why we
can’t take her with us.” Syrani turned and pointed toward the woods
and the flickering, waning thread of power that only we saw. “I
don’t think she’s the same person you knew.”

Fenri gave her an ugly look of
accusation. “I know her better than I know you. She’s one of us.”
The emphasis that he put on the word us, made Syrani suck in her
breath and blink in surprise.

Siobhan cried even louder and started
to reach out to Fenri. He stood there between the two, clearly
torn.

“
Fenri, don’t,” Syrani
spoke cautiously. A heated look shot between Fenri and
Syrani.

He hesitated, and it suddenly dawned
on me. Syrani had fallen for Fenri. Of course she couldn’t have
known that Fenri already felt attached to Siobhan. Still, the fact
that she’d left for her aunt’s might have cut off their budding
romance, leaving him hurt and vulnerable, open to the beautiful
Denai.