The Last Falcon: Book 1 of the Cael Stone

by Colleen Ruttan

CHAPTER 26

  The rain was still falling when Erynn woke the next morning. She was relieved, knowing that it meant Callie would put off her trip into Chapley for another day, and for a while she just lay there on the hard floor in front of the hearth and listened to it drum down on the roof.

  Soon Voltan came padding out of one of the back rooms and tried to stick his nose in her face. Erynn pushed him away and he went to Adena, still asleep next to her, and licked her cheek. Her friend woke and groaned in disgust, shoving him back and wiping at her cheek with the back of her hand. He wandered over to the corner and lay down, but continued to watch them closely.

  Adena sat up, still wiping her face, and looking rather disgusted. Then she turned to Erynn and saw she was awake. "How's your foot?"

  Erynn carefully flexed her foot. The leaves had loosened during the night, and it seemed most of the mud had dried and flaked off and was now either scattered in small piles on the floor under her blanket or still trapped inside the leaves. "It feels better than it did last night, but I don't think I'll be walking any time soon."

  "Did you get any sleep?"

  Erynn shook her head. "Not much." She had actually spent most of the night thinking — and dreaming — about Queen Sasha's last days and Branen's wrongful execution at the hands of the former King of Brye. Except in her dreams, Branen had looked just like Gareth. And then later, just before she woke, she'd had an unsettling dream where she had slipped and fallen in the woods out behind the barn, but instead of twisting her foot she'd somehow cut herself and couldn't stop the bleeding. Adena had tried to help her, but couldn't, and Cathus had simply stood there and told her there was nothing he could do.

  "Me neither," Adena said, rubbing her eyes and glancing around the cottage.

  Erynn thought about telling Adena what she had learned in the woods, but then she felt a couple of the leaves slip and more of the dried mud spill onto the floor. She sat up and pulled back her blanket, swiveling around so her foot was over the fireplace. Then she carefully removed the leaves, dried mud raining down on cold embers, and arranged them in a neat stack nearby.

  "I hate that we're stuck here," Adena said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "If Marik finds us, Callie and Amara could be in real trouble."

  "I know," Erynn said, not really needing to be reminded. She knew if anything happened to Callie and Amara, it would be her fault. Just like the king. And that was the last thing she wanted. But she wasn't just worried about Marik. She was also worried about Nolan. Callie said their neighbor liked to check in on them every now and then and if he was in Chapley, he had likely heard about the warrant. She hoped he wouldn't decide to come by and bring the women the latest news.

  Adena was quiet, gazing out the front window through a crack in the curtains. Erynn wondered if she was thinking the same thing and returned her attention to her foot. She had finished removing all the leaves and now slipped off the thin cord woven out of tall grass, which had also loosened during the night.

  "I dreamt about Ethlon last night," her friend said a few moments later, still keeping her voice low so the two women in the back rooms wouldn't hear them. "That we went there. I couldn't find Jared."

  Erynn heard the worry in her voice. "It was just a dream, Adena. I'm sure he's fine." She wiped away the bits of mud still clinging to her foot and swiveled back around. Adena was picking at what looked like a piece of Voltan's fur caught on her blanket. Erynn started to sweep up the mess of dried mud on the floor and scoop it into the fireplace with her hands. What she couldn't scoop up she scraped into the cracks between the floorboards.

  "I saw you hesitate when we were with Soren," Adena said. "Just before we left him. You wanted to go to Blackwood, didn't you?"

  Erynn wasn't expecting the question. "Marik wants to kill you, Adena. I know this isn't just about me anymore."

  "But you wanted to, didn't you? That's what you were thinking."

  Erynn shrugged. "I guess." She thought about Cathus and Amara and their comments about the path. And that last question of his before he disappeared. "Are you listening to what it tells you?"

  Adena was quiet again, gazing briefly toward the window. Erynn had cleaned the floor as best she could and now started folding up her blanket.

  "Gareth still might come home before the banquet," Adena said. "Holden can't exactly keep it a secret that his father died."

  Erynn didn't agree. "He'll stay until after the banquet."

  "But why?"

  "Because it's important, Adena."

  "But he is the king now, isn't he? Doesn't he have to come home?"

  Erynn finished folding her blanket and set it on the couch, not sure why her friend was bringing this up now. "He's planning to use the banquet to get Sarda's support for the war. If he gets it, they could win."

  Adena sighed. "I really don't get why what's going on in Ridan is so much more important than what's going on here." She shoved her blanket away and went to grab a couple of logs from a pile in the corner. Then she set about building a fire.

  Erynn didn't understand why her friend was getting so upset. She grabbed the other blanket and started folding it, too. "It isn't about Ridan. He's trying to stop Naedra. She's after something and he's worried what might happen to the rest of Valentia if she gets it. It might not seem like it, but he is trying to help Alyria."

  Adena reached for another log. "Well, why did it have to be him? Why not someone else? The King of Brye has a son, doesn't he?"

  Erynn was about to tell her that it actually had something to do with the King of Parigon's eldest son — that she had heard he was a friend of Gareth's and had asked him to come — but then she saw the look on Adena's face and remembered what she had said about her dream. And in a flash it hit her — the whole reason her friend was so angry. "You blame him. That's what this is about. And why you've been so against me doing anything to try and save him. Ever since the Galians arrived."

  Adena opened her mouth to say something, but then she closed it and turned back to the fireplace, leaning the log she was still holding in her hand up against the others. "I don't know what you're talking about."

  "Yes, you do. You blame Gareth for your parents leaving. For taking your father with him to Ridan and then your mother going to find him. For Jared going off to Ethlon to find both of them. You don't care if he dies or not."

  Adena said nothing, just continued building her fire, but Erynn knew she was right. She could tell by the tension in her friend's shoulders and jaw and the fact that she now seemed reluctant to turn around and face her. Then she did turn around, but before she could say a word, Callie walked out of one of the back rooms.

  "Good morning ladies," she said. "How was your sleep?"

  They hadn't been talking very loud, but Erynn still searched the other woman's face for any sign she'd heard their argument. She saw none and tried her best to smile. "Great. Certainly better than sleeping in the woods." She finished folding Adena's blanket, set it on the couch with hers, and carefully pulled herself up. Callie pushed the couch back into its usual place and then she sat back down.

  "Great," Adena said, turning back to the fireplace.

  Callie went to the window and glanced outside, looking disappointed at the sight of the grey clouds and rain. She announced that she would put her trip off for another day, then slipped on her cloak and headed out to the barn with Voltan to feed and water the animals. Amara appeared not long after, and while Adena finished building a fire, she filled a bucket with water so Erynn could rinse the rest of the mud from her foot and set about preparing breakfast.

  The rain continued throughout the day, but eventually tapered off and stopped by late afternoon. Erynn spent most of her time on the couch, listening with one ear to Amara as she told stories about her life in Tallon, and with the other to the rain and trying to remain alert for any other sounds outside. She learned more about Queen Sasha, but nothing of any real significance to her own situation, and although she had many questions — esp
ecially given what she had learned from Cathus — she kept them to a minimum as she was still cautious about appearing too interested in another Daughter of Maegan's life.

  Adena was quieter than usual, barely even making eye contact with Erynn and frequently going to the window to gaze out at the road. She helped Amara around the cottage most of the morning, cleaning up after breakfast and then picking fruits and vegetables in the garden out back and carrying them down to the small root cellar beneath the kitchen. And when Amara finally ran out of things she could help her with, she appeared reluctant to stay inside and headed out to the barn to help Callie.

  After dinner, Amara told them more about her walk across Brye. Erynn had grown to quite like the old woman, and to enjoy listening to her stories, and she was still amazed that she had traveled all the way to Berridge on her own — especially with a war going on. She even wished she could introduce her to Briggs. It also made her think about her own situation and that maybe getting to Highcastle wasn't as impossible a task as she had originally thought.

  "What was Naedra like?" Adena asked at one point, sometime later in the evening. "Back when you lived in Tallon?"

  "I never met her," Amara said. "She actually left Tallon a couple of years before Sasha married Maslin and came to live at the castle. But from what I heard, she certainly seemed like a very determined girl. If she set her mind to something, she wouldn't let anything stand in her way. A trait that's carried her far it seems. But then I only heard about her from Sasha and the two of them never did get along — or that's what Sasha told me anyway. And I never saw much of the other two to hear anything different."

  "The other two?" Erynn asked. "Naedra and Sasha had other siblings?"

  "Yes, there were four Keightley girls. Carys was the second oldest, after Sasha, and I would say probably the wisest of the four. She was always very involved with the Order of the Cael, even from a young age. And close to Paddon, too. Even more so than Sasha. Tara was the youngest. A sweet girl."

  Erynn felt her breath catch. Tara? Was that the name she just said? She stared at the old woman, her mouth going dry as she realized with some horror what this meant. And then she glanced over at Adena and could tell her friend had heard it, too.

  "Something wrong, Loren?" Callie asked. "You look shocked."

  Erynn cleared her throat. "No, I – I'm fine. Just surprised is all. I didn't realize Naedra had any other siblings besides Sasha."

  "Neither of them attended many functions at the castle," Amara said. "And with all the attention on Sasha's death and, of course, Naedra's actions in Galia over the last twenty-five years or so, I suppose they were rather forgotten."

  Erynn wiped a hand over her face, trying hard to look like what she had just learned didn't bother her at all. But it did. Although she had never really given it much thought, she had sort of expected some possible close relation to Naedra — given that they were both Daughters of Maegan and it didn't seem like there were many of them left. But she had no idea it would be this close. That the woman who was hunting her mother, had ordered Lord Caden to arrest her and take her back to Galia, and who supposedly wanted to kill her was her aunt! She wanted to ask Amara about Tara, to find out everything the old woman knew about her — especially if she knew how her own sister came to be hunting her — but she was still so stunned that she couldn't find the words.

  "Do you know how Naedra ended up in Galia?" Adena asked, seeming to sense her trouble.

  "I'm not sure exactly," Amara said. "All I know is that she was still only fourteen when she left Tallon and it was about a year later that she met Krone. Sasha never really understood why she left, although she did say that Naedra had visited the temple in Brye not long before. She told me once that the temples were special places, and that she often went to the one in Brye when she felt troubled. Perhaps something happened when Naedra was there." She paused. "I was at the temple when I had that horrible dream about the castle. I had hoped maybe I would find Sasha there."

  "I heard there's a temple here," Erynn said. "In Alyria. But I've never seen it."

  "I've been to it a couple times, before I lost my sight. It's a beautiful place, but unfortunately neither site has been very well maintained."

  "Did Naedra get along well with her other two sisters?" Adena asked. "Or was it just Sasha she had the problems with?"

  Amara chuckled. "No, she didn't get along with Carys, either. In fact, probably less so. I heard she had some conflict with the Order — they're a group dedicated to protecting the Daughters — and I think she might have blamed Carys for that. But Tara adored her and I know Sasha was devastated when she left to go live with her in Galia. That was just a few months before Galia invaded."

  Erynn's mouth dropped open. Her mother had adored Naedra? So much so that she had even left Tallon to go live with her in Galia? Now she really didn't understand. How could two sisters, who were once so close, possibly end up so far apart?

  Amara entertained them with a few more stories, but Erynn barely heard a word. Too distracted now. And then it was time for bed and Adena was pulling back the couch to make room for them to lie down and Callie was fetching the blankets from one of the back rooms.

  Adena said little as they curled up next to each other on the floor again and Callie and Amara headed off to their rooms. Erynn had been waiting all day for the chance to talk to her about Gareth and their earlier conversation — and to tell her what she had learned from Cathus — but she again found herself too tired, and now even more confused and depressed by what she had learned about her mother and Naedra to bring it up. And she had the sense Adena wasn't really wanting to talk about it, either. So she simply wished her friend a good night and rolled over onto her side, deciding she would definitely try and talk to her in the morning.

  But the next morning she didn't get the chance.

  Erynn woke to find the sky clear and the air warm and before she was even up, Callie had appeared and announced she was going to town. She asked Adena to help her load some pigs into the wagon and then she set off after breakfast, leaving a rather disappointed-looking Voltan behind and saying she'd be back by sunset.

  Adena helped Amara with the dishes after she left, but was clearly tense and kept casting glances over at Erynn — who was still stuck on the couch, resting her foot. It wasn't until after the cottage was clean and Amara had gone out to the garden behind the cottage that they finally had a chance to talk. But now they had far more important things to discuss than Gareth and dragon's blood.

  "What should we do?" Adena whispered. "Callie's bound to hear about us when she gets to town."

  Erynn had been thinking about that all morning. She wasn't sure what Callie would do when she realized the two girls she'd left at home with her aunt were the same girls wanted for the king's murder, but she did know one thing: if they fled the cottage now, she was going to reinjure her foot. And she had finally decided that just wasn't something she could risk. She was going to listen to what her dragon's blood was telling her. She shook her head. "I can't leave, Adena. It hasn't been three days yet."

  Her friend looked surprised. "We might not have a choice, Erynn. What if she brings Marik back with her?"

  "It's a chance I'll have to take," Erynn said, even though she was aware that was a very real possibility and it scared her.

  Adena opened her mouth to protest, but she seemed to read something in Erynn's eyes — or else heard it in her voice — because she stopped. She stared at her friend for a few seconds, and when she finally did speak, her voice was quiet. "You've changed your mind, haven't you?"

  "If I leave now, I'll hurt my foot again. I'll never get there in time."

  Adena closed her eyes, briefly raising her hands to her head before staring at her friend again. "Going to Blackwood is crazy, you know that, right?"

  Erynn knew Adena wouldn't be happy with her decision, but she also knew it was the choice she had to make. "I don't want to end up like Amara, Adena. Regretting I didn't at lea
st try. Lord Caden needs to pay for what he did. And so does Holden. And Marik. Warning Gareth about that banquet and getting him back here is the only way I can do that."

  "But you don't even know if you can find Sheldon. Or that he has that falcon. And Amara didn't have someone chasing after her. Someone who wants to kill her." She moved closer, glancing over her shoulder at the back door as if she was worried Amara might return any second. "They have a couple more horses in the barn. Why don't we just take them? That way you can ride and we don't have to worry about your foot? We could get to South Crossing faster. And Brye."

  "We can't do that. Even if we still had the king's gold to repay them. Besides, I know Sheldon has that falcon. And that we can find him. Don't ask me how, I just do."

  "But it's dangerous, Erynn. The longer we stay in Alyria—"

  "Lord Caden's going to follow me no matter where I go. Whether I'm here or in Brye. And I doubt he or Marik would expect me to go west right now."

  "So we're just supposed to stay here? And hope Callie doesn't bring Marik back with her?"

  Erynn knew that was exactly what she was suggesting. She gave a slight shrug. "She has been harboring fugitives. Feeding us hot meals and letting us sleep on her floor. Maybe she'll be too scared of what Marik might do to say a word."

  Adena crossed her arms over her chest and sighed, still not looking persuaded.

  "I can meet you in Brye," Erynn said. "Or down in South Crossing."

  "You want to go alone?" Now Adena almost looked offended.

  "I don't want you to get hurt because of me, Adena."

  Adena was quiet again. Then finally she shook her head. "I said I wasn't leaving you to do this alone, and I meant it. If you really feel you have to go to Blackwood, then I'm coming with you."

  Erynn couldn't believe she'd changed her mind. "You're serious?"

  "Of course I'm serious. But I still think it's a bad idea. And you can't make me like it. Or Gareth, for that matter. We just better hope you're right, and that Callie is too scared to tell anyone."

  Just then, the back door opened and Amara stepped inside. She had a small basket full of tomatoes in one hand and was humming something to herself as she slowly made her way across the room.

  Adena took one final look at Erynn and went to slip on her shoes. She told Amara she was going out to the barn to take care of Callie's chores, and when she was gone, Erynn sat back down on the couch.

  She hoped with all of her heart that she wasn't making a mistake.

  It was shortly after lunch, when Adena was helping Amara with the dishes, and Erynn had again returned to the couch, that Voltan suddenly leapt to his feet and ran to the door — barking loudly. A few seconds later, Erynn heard the horses.

  She sat up, her heart pounding.

  "That can't be Callie already," Amara said, turning toward the door with a slight frown on her face.

  Erynn felt a sinking sensation in her gut. "That doesn't sound like a wagon."

  Adena dropped what she was doing and ran to the window. A split second later she pulled the curtains shut and whirled around. "It's Marik. They're coming across the field."