Raven Thrall

by J Elizabeth Vincent

  “Xae! Xae!” she yelled over him. “I didn’t say I would stop you from going. I said I wouldn’t let you go alone. I intend to go with you.” He sputtered to a stop and stared at her. “You, and maybe your sisters, will die if you go alone. I want to help. I don’t promise we’ll survive, but if we die, we’ll do it together.”

  He gaped at her. After a moment, he slowly closed his mouth and turned away. She barely heard his response. “Thank you.”

  Xae’s head dropped, and his breath caught in a quick, irregular fashion. He was trying not to cry.

  Mariah waited quietly for him to gain control, trying not to get emotional herself. When she was sure that her voice would come out even and steady, she spoke. “It turns out that Zachariah has a map we can use. Come in the house when you’re ready, and we’ll start plotting our course.”

  At that, she stood and made her way into the farmhouse, where Bria and Zach were preparing supplies for them.

  * * *

  “This is ridiculous,” Mariah said.

  “Listen, just humor me,” Bria said.

  “Shouldn’t we just ask Gwyn … or Xae even?”

  Zachariah piped in. “What are you doing, love?”

  Bria ignored him and spoke to Mariah instead. “Kalen told me that Gwyn needs to sleep. And Xae is occupied at the moment. We can figure this out. Just be patient. Not to mention, you need the practice.” She held out a sack of flour. “Take it!”

  “Oh, fine.” Mariah took the heavy bag from her friend and hefted it into her arms. It was a little smaller than Larissa, who was settled happily in her father’s arms, grabbing at his beard and laughing, her whole belly in the sound.

  Mariah smiled at her.

  “Now, change!”

  “What?” she looked back at Bria, confused.

  “Change into a hawk.”

  “Right here? In the house?”

  “Just do it already!”

  “Argh! Fine.” She did, if only to get Bria off her back.

  She shrieked as she was suddenly pulled to the floor, the sack of flour landing squarely on top of her. Her talons scraped at the wood floor, and she flapped her wings, but she didn’t find purchase until Bria rushed over and lifted the bag off her back.

  “Oh! Are you all right?”

  Mariah managed to hop onto her feet and gave Bria a hard stare from the floor before transforming back into a woman. “What was that all about?” Bria had a hand over her mouth. “Do you think that was funny?”

  “I didn’t know that was going to ….” She giggled. “Here, hold it by the strings instead and try again.”

  “What?!” Her mouth fell open.

  “Maybe sit on the table this time. That might keep you from falling.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Of course.” Bria pushed Mariah by the shoulders until her backside hit the edge of the table.

  “Hold it by the strings?”

  “Yes. Sit down, hold the sack by the drawstrings, and then change.”

  Mariah sighed loudly and did as she was told. She always had trouble saying no to people, especially Bria. The woman had a way of making people think they wanted to do things for her, even things that were obviously absurd.

  This time, the surprise weight of the sack, which was now gripped in her talons, pulled her over the edge of the table and sent her careening downward. A puff of flour rose upward, and an involuntary squawk escaped Mariah’s mouth when she nicked her beak on the floor. Finally untangling her talons from the sack’s strings, she managed to flap backward and stand up, human again.

  Larissa’s laugh had turned into squeals of joy, and Mariah turned to see the baby waving her arms in her direction, obviously delighted.

  Her chest heaved, and she lifted a hand to her lip to make sure it wasn’t bleeding. Her fingers came away clean. “Bria.” Her voice was dangerously low.

  “I’m sorry,” she squeaked. “Just one more time?”

  Mariah rolled her eyes. “Are you trying to kill me?”

  “I have an idea.” She came forward and gathered up the sack, ignoring the spilled flour. “Turn around. Put your arm through here.”

  Much against her better judgment, Mariah let Bria thread each of her arms through one side of the flour sack’s drawstrings and adjust them until it was snug against her back. She turned back to face the others.

  “Please tell me what this is about.”

  “In a minute. Change again and think about taking the flour with you. It’s a part of you. Didn’t Gwyn say that the magic—”

  “You keep telling me to do things. Did you suddenly adopt me? If you want another child, perhaps you should talk to Zach here.” Mariah waved in his general direction, and he chuckled.

  “Mariah!” It was Bria’s turn to be stern. “Change!”

  And so she did, fully expecting to be pulled onto the floor by the weight of the flour and onto her back.

  Instead, she found herself standing lightly on the floor, free of any burden. She turned around, hopping, flapping her wings, and looking for the sack. It was gone. She looked up at Bria, whose smile was about to take over her face, and chirped in question.

  “What happened to the bag?” Zach asked, voicing her question in a language Bria could understand.

  She ignored them both.

  “This is the big moment. Let’s see if it works. Change back, Mari. Change back.”

  I don’t have time for these games. She made involuntary protest sounds as she changed again for the final time, fully prepared to give Bria a lecture on playing childish games while the lives of children were hanging in the balance.

  However, the shock of feeling the weight of the flour sack between her shoulder blades and the pull of the strings on her shoulders left her stunned.

  “How in the world …”

  Bria was jumping up and down. “It worked!” Larissa joined in with accompanying shrieks and squeals, and Bria grabbed the baby from her husband, dancing around in a circle. “It worked! It worked!”

  Mariah, her own curiosity piqued, waited for Bria and Larissa to finish their little celebration. When Bria finally came to a stop, still laughing between laboring breaths, Mariah spoke. “Explain.”

  The other woman took another minute to catch her breath. Zach, still standing nearby, took Larissa from her but didn’t go far. He wanted to know what was going on as well.

  “Other Ceo San have probably all figured this out. You never needed to. Heck, I’m sure Gwyn knows, but I figured it was easier to try this experiment than go all the way back to the cottage, especially when she’s probably asleep. She doesn’t need to be worrying about—”

  Mariah was tired of all the rambling, first Xae, now Bria. “Bria! What are you talking about?”

  Her friend was unperturbed. “Well, I was wondering how you always manage to keep your clothes. I mean, you’re not wearing them as a hawk, but when you change back—poof! There they are, as if you’ve always been wearing them. So, it got me to thinking. It’s got to be some kind of magic, but it must have rules. I wanted to see what the rules are. It seems like you have to be wearing something to have it transform with you. Well, it doesn’t really transform, but somehow, somehow, it’s—”

  “Put aside. Kept safe. But why couldn’t you explain it before I went through all that?”

  “That wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun,” she said. “You should have seen the look on your face.”

  Mariah stared at her, her mouth hanging open.

  “Oh, come on.” Bria put an arm around her. “We can use all the levity we can get around here. Now that Gwyn is on the mend, it’s time to start smiling a bit. Plus, Rissa thought it was hilarious.”

  Mariah’s return smile was only half-hearted. If only someone else had been the target of the joke. But it was an extremely useful thing to know.

  Her mind had been scrambling to figure out how they would get by on what two birds coul
d carry. Now, they had a little more wiggle room, as long as they were careful to wear all of their supplies. A thought suddenly occurred to her.

  “When Xae and I rushed back to Wellspring and I changed for the first time, I was wearing my father’s knife.” Her hand went to her waist.

  “And you still are.” Relief flooded her as the back door opened and Xae walked in, his eyes going to the wide circle of flour she was standing in.

  “Don’t worry about that,” Bria said. “I’ll take care of it. You three, get to planning.”

  “I’ll get the map,” Zach said, bouncing Larissa as he walked over to the bookshelves.

  * * *

  Within minutes, Zach, Xae, and Mariah were all standing over the table, studying the map. After sweeping up the flour, Bria had taken the blinking baby to their bedroom to nurse her and put her down for a nap.

  “Will your sisters still be in Glenley?” Mariah asked, looking at Xae.

  He shook his head. “If the stories I heard around the city are true, Ayla and Nya were probably taken to Draydon Keep, which is in Glenley, but only for a little while. By now, they might have been sent to one of the farms outside the city. People say those farms are really special training grounds for the king’s soldiers. They are heavily guarded, and there are several. They could be at any one of them.”

  They hadn’t even started their journey, and already, it sounded impossible. Xae’s family could be anywhere.

  Zach spoke into the silence. “Perhaps you should concentrate on getting to Glenley. You can figure out the rest once you make it there.”

  There were so many things to think about. She tried to distill them and examine them one at a time. Xae was known, at least in his part of the city, and Mariah stood out wherever she went with her short, silver hair. Its color was not natural on a woman her age.

  Zach’s thoughts must have been running along the same lines. “There is one thing, though. You two stand out, even here. Blending in might be an issue.”

  “I have some ideas about that,” Bria said in a soft voice as she came out of the bedroom. “Let me gather some things. You all just figure out where you’re going and what you’re going to need.” She started rummaging around in clay pots and on shelves.

  “All right,” Mariah said, turning back to the map, tracing her finger from Wellspring and toward the Granite Sea. “The straightest route is to go up to Eiocliff before making the crossing. We should stay close to villages in case we need supplies. We can work if we run out of coin.”

  “We don’t have time for that! If we wait, the girls won’t even want to be rescued. They’ll be brainwashed.”

  “Xae, be realistic—”

  Zachariah interrupted her. “Please don’t worry about working. Bria and I have some coin set aside. We were planning on giving it to you.”

  “Zach, I can’t—”

  His voice was firm. “You can. Xae has earned more than enough working here the last few weeks. Consider the rest a thank you, for all of the times you have helped us. You’re family, Mari. Let us help. If we can do something to make sure you make it back here alive, we want to.”

  His brown eyes, caring and soft, with the beginnings of wrinkles around them, reminded her once again of her father.

  Mariah nodded her acceptance of his offer and took a deep breath. “As I said, the quickest route will be to go north, through Werth and over to Eiocliff. We can cross from there and aim for Grof on the Varidian side.”

  Xae stared down at the map. “We’d have a shorter route over the water if we started the crossing at Tennedore. We could aim for Kilgereen. From there, the road goes straight through Eaglespire and then to Glenley.”

  Mariah followed the route he had suggested. “That’s odd.”

  “What?” Zach asked.

  She looked at him. “Are you sure this map is right? I thought Glenley was here.” She pointed at a dot on the map labeled Direstrand. On Zach’s map, Glenley was labeled with a crown and large letters and was far to the north and east of Direstrand.

  “It must be,” Zach said. “I got this from my father, who got it from one of the best mapmakers in Tennedore. Of course, I’ve been told the borders of Varidian have moved pretty far west since this map was drawn.”

  Before she could let the implications of that statement settle over her, Xae spoke up. “He’s right. The map is right. Direstrand is just a tiny village. Half of it was destroyed a few years back, burned by Trappers when the king found they were Ceo San sympathizers.” He grimaced. “It’s south of Westholde, which is a day’s ride or more west of Glenley.”

  The map Mariah had been given by her mother showed Glenley precisely where that village was. But if her mother had been sending her to Direstrand … She pushed the thought to the back of her mind and tried to focus on the task at hand, but her head buzzed with its implications.

  “Okay. I still say that we should aim for Grof. It’s closer to Glenley. And we don’t need roads if we fly.” And it was far from Kilgereen. Far from Eaglespire.

  “But Ayla and Nya might need roads, at least as a backup. They can’t change back and forth on a whim like we can. And my mother …”

  I wouldn’t have even been able to contemplate this a few days ago. The gap of sea on the map between Eiocliff and Grof looked daunting to Mariah as well, but she would have to make it. The tiny dot on the map that represented Eaglespire consumed her vision. She couldn’t bear to return.

  “Do you think you can make it to Grof, Xae?” It was Zach who spoke. He was looking at Mariah, his face solemn.

  “Yes, but the girls—”

  “You and Mariah will figure that out once your sisters are safe in your hands. I’ve made the trip downriver from here to Kathe Teigh many, many times, and if I’ve learned one thing, it’s that you must be flexible when traveling, even when you have the perfect plan.”

  Xae pursed his lips and looked back and forth between them, his eyes questioning. When no one volunteered any more information, he said, “Fine. We will cross from Eiocliff. This time.”

  “Mariah,” Zach said. “When you return, if you find Xae’s mother and must travel by boat to get everyone home, there are several trading vessels that go back and forth between Kilgereen and Tennedore. I know of none coming from Grof.”

  “It’s a fishing village, nothing more,” Xae interjected. “Of course there are no trading ships.”

  Mariah met his eyes with a hard stare. He had enough to worry about already. How could she tell him that she was a fugitive? That they could not go anywhere near Eaglespire? Not now. Even if she could disguise herself, how would she face her parents? If they were even still alive. “Thank you, Zach. We will take the map and figure out the rest as we go, like you said.” She kept her eyes on Xae until he turned away in a huff.

  Bria was waiting behind him, a long, straight razor in her hand. Xae backed up, bumping the table with his backside, his eyes wide. “What are you—”

  Bria laughed, waving the blade. “Your disguise, Xae.” Moving forward, she ruffled his hair with her free hand. “We’ll start by giving you a shave.”

  Mariah raised her eyebrows. “I hope you’re not thinking of getting near me with that thing!”

  “I’ve got other ideas for you, don’t worry,” Bria replied without taking her attention off Xae.

  Zach chuckled as Bria led Xae outside. Mariah could hear Lia and Levin asking their mother what they were doing. “Ooh, can you cut my hair too?” they chimed in unison, and then, the door closed behind Xae.

  “You better be careful with that woman,” Mariah said. “Or soon your whole family will be bald.”

  Zach smiled. “Did you bring your bag?”

  She pointed beside the door where it lay on the floor. “Good. Let me see if I can find one for Xae, and we’ll get you all packed.”

  “We still have to tell Xae that he can actually carry a full pack. I’m not sure he knows.”

  �
�I’m sure he does. Remember, he’s been able to transform his whole life. It’s still pretty new to you, and besides, I think he needs a few minutes to calm down. You know, you’ll have to tell him eventually why you’re avoiding Eaglespire.”

  “I know.” She sighed. “I will. When and if I have to.”

  * * *

  The sun was setting by the time they had finished gathering their supplies. With one of Bria’s cloaks over her arm and her pack bulging on her back, Mariah returned to Gwyn’s cottage. Xae would meet her there a little before dawn. They needed to make it to the coast before the light failed the following day.

  Mariah had given her thanks and said her goodbyes to Bria and her family. Now, she had do the same with Gwyn. Her hand paused on the doorknob. The journey she faced held little chance of success. Wresting control of two young girls and perhaps their mother from the clutches of the king and his soldiers? If they returned at all, it would be because of pure luck.

  At least this time, I get to say a proper farewell. Pushing memories of her father out of her mind once again, she opened the door and walked inside.

  She left her belongings in her room and went straight to Gwyn’s bedside. Wakely was gathering up dishes and linens as she entered the room. Her mentor was lying on her side, awake once again. They both smiled and greeted her before the old man took his supplies into the kitchen.

  Gwyn reached out a hand and squeezed Mariah’s before settling back down. Her strength was returning quickly.

  Mariah sat on the stool and tried to smile.

  “What’s troubling you, Mari?”

  She jumped back up and began to pace. “I need to tell you something. I’ve decided to do as you asked. I’m going with Xae to try to rescue his sisters in Varidian. We’re leaving before first light.”

  Her mentor sighed. “It is the right thing,” she said, the sadness in her voice palpable.

  Mariah looked up. “I thought this was what you wanted.”