Unwritten Books 2 - Fathom Five (16 page)

“Of course, because I’d
be
under guard. At least release me into your custody, or something!”

Merius shook his head. “Officially, I am here to question you and determine if the council’s decision to return you to your world is the correct one. I will leave, and state that I agree with the council’s decision. With the council’s suspicions off me, I can plan how to confront Fionarra.”

“That’s not a plan at all!”

“I will not jeopardize my position on council. Right now, Fionarra faces uncomfortable questions over how you came to be here. If it comes out that
I
helped to bring you here, then it will be
my
position that is threatened!”

Rosemary spluttered. “Did you save my life just to make me your political pawn?”

“You misunderstand,” said Merius. “Fionarra violated protocol. For that, I shall make sure she faces the consequences.”

“You don’t care about me or Peter at all! I was right the first time: there
is
nothing good in this world!”

“Do not test my patience, Rosemary Watson!” And with a roar, Merius transformed into a huge, smoking dragon that towered over her. His wings touched the sides of the cell; his breath singed Rosemary’s cheeks.

She stumbled back. “Stop it!”

The dragon vanished, leaving Merius, arms raised, caught in mid jump. He scrambled back, fumbling like a man in a crowd who had suddenly found himself naked. “What did you do?”

“What did
I
do? What did
you
just do?”

“I changed myself to make you appreciate my authority,” said Merius. “But I couldn’t keep up the song. How do I look to you now? Describe me!”

“You look the same as when I first saw you,” Rosemary huffed. When he prodded her, she added, “You’re tall, you’ve got green skin, and you have fins on the back of your arms and legs. You’re just like everybody in this crazy place.”

Merius leaned back, horrified. The wall stopped his fall. “You saw me thus from the beginning? I did not look like one of your kind?”

“Not even close!”

“You can see through me,” Merius breathed. “You can break my song. The mark on your hand must be the mark of a songbreaker!”

“That’s what the other two sirens said,” said Rosemary. She drew herself up, “So, what does this have to do about anything?” She stepped forward menacingly. “Tell me now or I’ll break more of your songs! You know I can!”

“Yes, you can.” Fear faded from his eyes, replaced with resignation. “Indeed, you could disassemble the very bonds that hold this civilization together.”

Rosemary stopped. “W-what?” She started to back away.

Merius picked up his trident. “You cannot stay here, and the council must never find out that I brought you here or my life would be forfeit. You are too dangerous to let live.”

He lunged. Rosemary scrambled away just before his trident cracked the wall behind her.

She ran for the cell door, screaming for help, and stopped when she found only smooth wall. No help came. Instinct made her duck and the trident sailed over her head. She rolled up and tried to wrench the weapon from his grip, but Merius held on and threw her against the wall.

She fought back, kicking and punching. One of her kicks landed solidly between his legs, but he barely flinched. She clawed at his eyes, but her arms weren’t long enough.

He thrust her back against the wall and pressed the cold shaft of the trident to her throat. She could feel the granite bruising her shoulder blades.

“Merius!” she gasped. Tears ran down her cheeks. “Please! I just want to bring Peter home!”

“I’m sorry,” he said, stone-faced. He pressed down on the shaft, and Rosemary could only gurgle. Her feet kicked uselessly. Darkness crept into the edge of her vision.

Then the wall behind her gave way like the icy crust of a snowdrift. She was a split-second in darkness, and then falling through open air, landing heavily on the ground.

Through her whirling senses, the burning of her throat, and the screaming relief of her lungs, she barely registered the sound of shocked voices. She was at the bottom of a gap between two stone pillars, near where the gully opened out onto a clearing. A dozen people stared at her, their voices rising in fear.

“She came through the wall!”

“She came through the song!”

“Glamour can’t bind her!”

“She’s a songbreaker!”

Above her, Rosemary saw only a stone wall, with no hole that she could have fallen through. Merius glared at her through the window.

She staggered up, clutching her throat, but was too disoriented to run. People were shouldering through the crowd, homing in on her, bearing tridents.

“This way,” said a little girl’s voice. “Run this way!”

Rosemary could see nobody around her, but instinct made her follow the voice deeper into the gully.

The crowd charged.

Rosemary stumbled. Her vision swam. Her throat ached to breathe, much less swallow.

“You must hurry!” said the little girl’s voice. “They’re almost upon us!”

The gap between the stones narrowed, branched, and twisted. Rosemary missed a turn and careened into a wall, but the voice urged her on. The sounds of their pursuers faded.

Then Rosemary stumbled into a dead-end. The cliff stretched up, impossible to climb. She gasped in horror.

“It’s okay,” the voice breathed. “Rest. I’ll hide you.”

A shadow cloaked the entrance to the branch.

Rosemary collapsed against the base of the cliff.

The sound of running feet came closer, and halted at the junction.

“Where is she?”

“She can’t have disappeared.”

“That way leads out of the village. She has found her way back into the wilderness!”

“We have to organize a search party. Get Fionarra!”

The voices dispersed. Alone, Rosemary slumped over and fell unconscious.

There was a moment’s silence, then Ariel stepped out of her own shadow. Looking down all the branches of the junction, she made sure that they were alone. In the distance, the mob clamoured to be organized.

She turned back to Rosemary and put a hand on her forehead. “For your safety, sleep until the village is quiet.”

Rosemary shifted, and began to breathe more easily.

After checking that Rosemary was safely hidden, Ariel crept back the way she’d come, heading towards home.

C
HAPTER
E
LEVEN
NOTHING THAT FADES

P
eter slipped through the village, following the shadows to Fiona’s home. He walked so carefully, wary of being seen, it took him a while to realize that the village was quiet. He stopped, listening, and then stepped out to the middle of an intersection of two alleyways. In every direction he looked, there was no one around to see him.

“What the ...”

He finally heard voices as he approached the central park. He ducked behind cover as nine villagers trooped past, hoisting tridents.

He waited until they turned a corner, and then slipped out. The village was silent again. He walked boldly through the back alleyways, keeping an ear open, but not keeping to the shadows, until he found his bedroom window. He hauled himself through.

The bedroom was as he’d left it. He nodded to himself, satisfied: no one knew he had snuck out.

Why should I have had to sneak out like that? he thought. Aren’t I welcome here? And why should I be so afraid for Rosemary if these people are as welcoming as I think them to be?

The fog curled in his mind, as though at the beginning of a clear, crisp wind.

So much didn’t make sense. I belong here, don’t I? What could still be eating at my heart?

He needed answers. And in a flash, he knew who could give them to him.

Peter stepped out into the hall, past the quiet rooms. He stopped short when he heard a knock on the front door. He ducked into the bathroom and held the door open a crack, listening.

Fiona breezed past, her beauty as bright as blood. The door swung open. “What is it?”

“The songbreaker has escaped,” said Loria. “She slipped through the wall of her cell. Merius was with her. We are organizing a search party.”

“Merius was with her?” Grim satisfaction edged her voice. “Good. Gather the search party at the edge of the village. And wait for us. Before we go, I’m summoning Merius. I’m sure Eleanna will be interested in what he has to say.”

She swept to the kitchen. Peering out, Peter saw her emerge and step out the front door. The door slammed behind her.

Peter was about to leave the bathroom when movement sent him skittering back. Eleanna shuffled out of the kitchen and slipped into the front room. He waited for silence, and then crept down the hallway, focusing on the playroom behind the front room. He stepped inside. To his surprise, it was empty.

The front door opened and closed softly. Ariel stood in the entranceway, her young face in a pensive frown. She stepped to her playroom, stopping short in astonishment. “Peter —”

He put his fingers to his lips.

“What is it?” she whispered.

“Can we speak outside?”

Ariel followed, staring but not questioning as Peter snuck past the living room and out the front door. They stood a moment in the front yard. The central park was empty. The other houses were silent. Finally, Peter spoke.

“Ariel,” said Peter. “Is Rosemary all right?”

Ariel hesitated. Then she nodded.

“Why is Fiona searching for her?”

Ariel swallowed, but she looked Peter in the eye. “The council believes that she has escaped into the wilderness.”

“What will they do if they find her?”

Ariel gave Peter a firm, earnest look. “They will not harm her.” Then she bit her lip and looked away. Her hands clenched and unclenched. Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around him and began to sob. “Peter, I want you to stay and be my brother. I’m so lonely here!”

“Hey, it’s okay.” He crouched down and hugged her. “I’m not going anywhere. Don’t cry.”

She sobbed into his shoulder a moment longer. Then she pushed herself away. “I’m sorry,” she sniffed.

He sat on the ground and laughed sadly. “Look at us. We’re going to be lonely wherever we live.”

Ariel looked at him. “But now we’re together.”

“We’re just two people, Ariel. Two people can be as lonely as one. But at least we can be lonely together, wherever we are.”

“But we belong here,” said Ariel.

“You do.” He sighed. “I’m not sure about me. I spent over half my life with parents I didn’t realize were adopted, and the rest of my life as an orphan.” He drew himself up. “Ariel, I need to know where my parents — our birth parents — are buried.”

Ariel’s brow furrowed. “Buried?”

“Yes. Where’s your graveyard?”

“Graveyard?”

Peter frowned. “Where do you put your dead?”

She gasped. “You wish to visit the burning grounds? Nobody goes there!”

Peter spluttered. “How do you remember your dead?”

Ariel stopped. Finally, she said, “What do you need, Peter?”

He took a deep breath. “I need to know that I’m a part of this place. I need to find some place where our parents are, where I can remember them.”

The light came on behind Ariel’s eyes. She took his hand. “Follow me.”

She led him across the central park, past a wooden stage being raised on the stone amphitheatre that reminded him of a dry wading pool. Peter hadn’t noticed anybody working on this before, but Ariel tugged him forward before he could think about what it meant. She took him on the path to the bay.

As they stumbled down the steep and rocky slope, he could hear the breakers below. They rounded a corner of the escarpment, and the lake stretched before them. The warm, moist wind touched his cheeks and ruffled his hair. And still Ariel walked, tugging his hand whenever he hesitated. They were on the beach, heading for the large boulder where he’d first seen Ariel. It stood, shorn from the cliffs, just short of the water’s edge. A scraggly tree grew on top.

Ariel stopped before the great rock. She pointed at the tree, then out towards the lake. Peter looked at her, befuddled.

“There,” she said, pointing at the top of the rock again. “Sit there. That is where I go to remember the dead.”

***

In her hideaway, Rosemary eased awake. She tried to swallow and wondered why it hurt, so. Then she remembered and she sat up with a start, clutching her throat.

She took a deep, calming breath, swallowed, grimaced, and pieced together the chase and her surroundings. She was not dead. She was not in a cell. The gaps between the stone pillars were quiet. The wind whistled through the gullies. She was safe, for now.

She stood up and crept back to the junction. It was silent there too, even in the surrounding houses.