Sono was trying to joke with her and make her laugh. She didn’t understand some of the jokes, but she laughed at the ones she did. She wasn’t sure at first if he was out here talking with her because he wanted to her to know her as she was or because of who he thought she was. She relaxed the more he chatted with her because he was talking to her like a regular person. It took longer to find food because Sono was distracting her.
They were laughing as they came out of the brush, but she stopped when she saw both Leodos and Esylle staring like they were waiting for her and they both looked grim. Esylle looked like she had been crying. She couldn’t imagine what had happened while she was looking for food. They normally only looked at her like this when she needed to be alone and ran off or if she accidentally exposed herself again. She hadn’t done anything this time. She was just looking for food like she had done the entire trip. Were they looking at her differently now because they believed what Volaris said about her?
“Did you receive your raven?” Esylle asked.
“I wasn’t expecting one.”
“Belisarus sent two. One to me and one to you. I have his message in mine and it has answers about you as well. He’s ill and worries he can’t hold on until we get there and was supposed to be sending you a raven on how we can contact him. I don’t know if yours has your answers, but mine does.”
“I haven’t received anything. We’ve just been looking for food. How does your message have anything to do with me?”
“Please sit down and calm yourself. I don’t know how you are going to take all of this and I don’t know how to tell you.”
Soryn sat down, confused. She was sure Esylle’s letter might tell her how Soryn could be related to her, but she was unsure what else was in the letter that Esylle thought would upset her. Sono sat by her as he had done when the Theran sat by her and it was very close to her again. She wasn’t sure why either of them kept wanting to sit so close to her.
“I don’t know how to tell you this without upsetting you and you running away again.”
“What could he say aside from how I am related to your family that would upset me? I already knew I am somehow.”
“I don’t know how to tell you, since you seemed to have your mind up about who you are not. There are things I didn’t know in his letter. I’m just going to let you read it because the letter has upset me too. I’m hoping your reaction is a happy one to find out who you are.”
Soryn took the letter. Now there were two people who seemed convinced of who she was. Belisarus had that answer, so she read through the letter. She could feel her hair and eyes slip as she got upset as she read through the letter. She could feel the heat rise up in her body and she threw the letter away when she was done reading it before it went up in flames.
She had been sure she wasn’t Lisana and she had no idea what Belisarus had done that she had not been able to smell his secret. She was also extremely upset that he kept from her that he was her family and never treated her like she was his granddaughter. She had craved human contact since she was a child and he stopped holding her in his lap and reading to her when she would have been maybe four or five. After that, it was only lessons from him. When he told her stories, it was always when she was in bed and he sat in a chair. He never tucked her in bed at night or did anything grandfathers or fathers did in the stories he had read to her.
She didn’t know how to act around Esylle now that she knew she was her mother. She had been so sure she wasn’t. She was raised without a female presence in her life and she wasn’t sure how that relationship was supposed to work. She looked up and saw Esylle staring at her and she knew Esylle wanted her to be happy. Esylle looked like she wanted to try to embrace her again, but Soryn needed to be alone. She turned into a sparrow and flew off as soon as Esylle made a move to come near her.
Soryn forgot that Sono was sitting right next to her and was Farkhi. As soon as she reached the sky, he was on top of her trying to bring her out of the air. She was a sparrow and he was a much larger eagle. She had never tried transforming while she was still in the air and she knew if she let flames come off her like she had done when she was the eagle, she would hurt him. She let him force her out of the sky and onto the ground.
“Why did you follow me and bring me down? I need to be alone right now!” she snapped as soon as they were back on the ground.
“When you’re part of the tribe, you’re never alone. I know you were growing up, but you’re here now. You haven’t been alone since you showed up. You need to learn to let people help you. What did the letter say that upset you?”
“I left because I didn’t want to talk about it!”
“You aren’t going to feel better until you do. You let my father help you when you just met him. Why don’t you talk to me and let me help?”
“Did you know Belisarus was Theran?” she asked.
“We all know Belisarus and what he did mating with a Tark. It’s never been done before and the only reason they were not both killed was because he used his knowledge to help the Tempris.”
“Did you know he was my grandfather?” she asked, crying now.
Sono looked at her, surprised. “No, we didn’t. We didn’t keep track of what happened to his child. We thought the humans would kill it when they found out what it was.”
“They didn’t. His child was my father. Belisarus took me when I was a baby and never raised me like he was my family. He was strict with his lessons like he was only my teacher. Maybe I am the way I am because of what my father was and who my mother is and not who you’ve been waiting for.”
She was surprised when Sono walked over and embraced her. He held her close to his chest. She didn’t immediately pull away and wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do. When he tightened his arms around her, she relaxed into him and enjoyed the embrace.
“You are who we’ve been waiting for. We wouldn’t have heard you playing the flute if you weren’t. I’m guessing since you told me that he took you when you were a baby that you also just found out that you are the princess Lisana.”
“He wrote in his letter that he couldn’t look me in the eyes and tell me the truth and he sent me here to find out about myself. Why didn’t he prepare me for any of this?”
“He loved you in his own way. He took you to protect you. A secret like yours would have been hard to hide in the palace. The humans may have found out and killed you before you could defend yourself. I think if my father or any of the other tribe-kings had found out who you were if you hadn’t been taken, we would have tried to be there trying to teach you and that would have just risked your safety. That’s the only reason I can think that he took you and hid you.”
“Why did he lie to me about who he was? Why couldn’t he be a grandfather to me when I kept asking who my family was?”
“I imagine he didn’t know how to tell you. We weren’t expecting you to come to us this way. I would think he thought it was too much for a child to process.”
“And when I got older? Why did he let me find out like this? He put in his letter he couldn’t look me in the eyes and tell me.”
“Then that is his reason why. He loved you growing up and it was probably hard for him to pretend he was just your tutor and not your grandfather. We weren’t expecting you to appear this way and I know it was hard for my father to explain to you because you look like a young, beautiful girl.”
“I think you’re the first person to tell me I’m beautiful.”
Sono looked down at her and lifted her chin. He moved down like he was going to kiss her and she wanted him to, but then Esylle and Leodos stormed through the brush and interrupted. Esylle took one look at them and what they were about to do and asked Sono what he thought he was doing.
“Why do you have to follow me when I just want to be alone?” Soryn snapped. Sono made her feel better, but she still didn’t know how to act around Esylle.
“Why should you be alone when you know who you are now? I want to b
e there for you and be your mother again. Please don’t push me away. I’ve been hoping to meet you again for nineteen years,” Esylle told her. Esylle looked just as upset as Soryn was.
“I don’t know how I’m supposed to act around you. Back home, it was just me, Belisarus, and Frog. I was the only female there. I don’t know what it’s like to have a mother,” she admitted.
She saw Esylle move towards her, but then a raven flew down. It must be the one Belisarus sent for her. She untied the note to read it.
“Soryn,
“I’m hoping Esylle got her raven first and told you who you are, both to her and to me. I hope you can forgive me for keeping everything from you, but I did it to keep you safe. There are things I need to tell you that are not safe to send by raven.
“You need to send me a fire message the way I taught you. You need your mother’s help. You must call to each other and let the fire run through both of you. You need to focus on home and the hearth there. I’ve had a fire lit since I sent the ravens and am waiting for you. I’m trying to hold on as long as I can.
“Belisarus”
She still wasn’t sure what to say to Esylle, but she told her what they needed to do and let Leodos and Sono know they needed to keep their distance while they attempted the fire message.
Leodos
Leodos was still trying to process the raven Esylle had received. He had never suspected, in the years he spent sitting in on lessons with Esylle and Belisarus, that he was Theran and hiding a son. He didn’t say anything to Esylle, but he wondered if Rivannus was out there on purpose the day he met her by the pond. He considered for a moment Soryn was not who Volaris told her she was and was only the way she was because Belisarus had somehow orchestrated for Rivannus and Esylle to meet, marry, and have a child like Soryn. But then he couldn’t imagine how she came to her Farkhi abilities, nor how Volaris told her she summoned them with her flute.
Soryn told both Leodos and Sono to keep their distance while they tried to send Belisarus a fire message. He didn’t know how, but Sono had managed to calm her enough that she came back with them and was able to tell Esylle she didn’t know how to act around her. He saw Sono about to kiss her before they found them and he knew he would need to pull him aside and speak to him if his father didn’t. He shouldn’t be kissing her or trying to distract her now. Leodos saw the looks that were exchanged between Oris and Sono. He knew they confused Soryn, but he knew what those looks meant.
The four guards and Volaris joined them and Leodos tried to fill them in. Volaris was shocked that the humans didn’t find out about Belisarus’ son and kill him. He had no idea either that Belisarus had been her grandfather this entire time. Leodos explained to them that they needed to keep their distance.
He watched Soryn and Esylle sitting on the ground from a distance. He wasn’t sure what they were doing other than sitting on the ground and talking. He watched Soryn hold out her hands and Esylle take them. Neither of them were hiding their hair or eyes now that they were among people who knew them. He watched as a breeze surrounded them and lifted both of their hair.
He watched as Esylle struggled to hold on to Soryn, whose entire body began to shake. Esylle began to shake as well and he wanted to go to them and pull them apart because this looked like it might be painful for both of them. He knew he couldn’t get close and they needed to find out what Belisarus had to say. He watched and swore, hoping the humans had not made it close enough yet, as both of them flung their heads back and a column of flames erupted from both of their chests. It seemed to go straight into the sky with no end.
He watched, feeling on edge and hoping no one was watching that shouldn’t see this. He hoped the message was short and the flame columns would go out. He watched as steam drifted off both of Soryn’s eyes and didn’t know if she was crying at whatever was being said to her. The column of flame coming out of both of them got bigger until it eventually erupted and managed to knock all of the men over, even though they were sitting far away.
When Leodos was finally able to sit up, he looked over to check on them and they were both lying twisted on their backs. Not knowing if it was safe yet, he rushed over. As he approached, the heat was gone and he checked on Esylle. He noticed both Volaris and Sono checking on Soryn. He knew her name wasn’t really Soryn now, but had no idea how she would react if they tried to call her by her real name.
There were no marks on Esylle, she just appeared to have fainted. He saw Volaris pick Soryn up so he scooped Esylle up and they carried them back to the other men. He had no idea what they were going to do with them and when they would wake up. In all of his lessons with Esylle, Leodos never saw or heard Belisarus teach her how to do what they just did or what was supposed to happen after. If it somehow harmed them, Esylle didn’t heal like Soryn did.
He stopped worrying when Esylle stirred and sat up. Soryn did not. “What did he say to you?”
“He didn’t speak to me,” Esylle said. “His message was for her and only she could hear it. She’s powerful, but she needed my fire to help her communicate with him. I don’t know what was said and I was having trouble holding on to her and keeping the flames controlled.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No, it was just very intense. We’ve been not using our gifts for so long, I’ve never taken in or had to control that much fire before. I don’t know if she let go or I did when everything went white and I didn’t see anything anymore. I didn’t know what else happened until I woke up,” she said, finally sitting up and holding her head. She looked over and noticed Soryn lying between Sono and Volaris. She got up to check on her, got dizzy, and nearly fell. Leodos caught her and made her sit down.
“You just had to hold more magic than you’ve ever had before. You’re going to need to rest a minute. She’ll wake up when she’s ready, like she always does,” Leodos said gently as he set her back on the ground.
“I could see her crying while I was trying to hold on to her. Whatever he told her upset her. I hope she’ll talk to us instead of disappearing when she wakes up.”
“She talked to me when she flew off. I was able to calm her down. I can do it again if she leaves,” Sono said.
“I saw what you were doing with her and it wasn’t calming her,” Leodos said, sharply. “What were you thinking trying to kiss her? You know she has no experience with men!”
Volaris looked at his son and touched his arm. “I know what you are trying to do. If she lives out her life in this form after she does what she is meant to, the rest of the princes will also be fighting for what you want. I saw the way you and Oris were looking at her.”
“What about what she wants? She wanted to kiss me back!”
“And aside from when she was experiencing her first Senso, you’re the first man who has tried to kiss her. You’re just going to confuse her. Leave her alone and don’t try to kiss her again,” Volaris fussed at Sono
Leodos watched Sono pout. He had a feeling even if all three tribe-princes were fighting over her, she was not going to like the idea of having one chosen for her and them falling over her was going to confuse her.
Leodos heard Soryn groan and watched her try to sit up. Both Sono and Volaris rushed to help her up. She sat up slowly, pulled her knees in, and rested her head in her hand. Both Sono and Volaris started asking if she was okay all at once. When she didn’t answer, he saw Sono go to put his arm around her, then stop when his father shot him a look.
“I don’t know how you expect me to do what I’m supposed to do when holding that much fire takes this much out of me,” Soryn said, not looking up.
He didn’t notice Frog had left and had started making food while they had been watching the columns of flames. Frog brought her over a bowl of food and she shot him a grateful look. She ate slowly, not like before when she was injured and eating fast to heal herself. He watched as Frog placed himself between Soryn and Sono and sat down, wedging himself in between the small space Sono had left.
“
I made a big pot,” he told her, putting his small arm on her shoulder.
“I don’t think this is like a cut or scrape, Frog. I’m tired and my head hurts. Food won’t make it go away.”
“What did he say to you?” Leodos asked her.
Soryn looked like she might speak, but Frog got angry with him. “Why do you have to treat her like that? You’re always yelling about something. She never yelled at me the way you yell at her when she was teaching me and I knew nothing and made mistakes too!”
Leodos just stared at the strange man for a minute, not sure what to say. It seemed like all he did was yell at Soryn because he didn’t want her hurt and she was always risking herself. “I only asked her a question,” he said, defensively.
“Does she look like she feels up to answering your questions right now? Why can’t you leave her alone for a little while?”
Both Soryn and Esylle looked exhausted, but they had been traveling six days for this message. Esylle got her answers in a raven and they needed to know what Soryn’s message was. They also needed to move from the location they were in soon in case anyone saw the flames.
Soryn suggested it first. She stood up and nearly fell over. Sono caught her and held her up. “We need to move somewhere safe. When we do, I need to play the flute and bring the other tribes. I don’t know if they have moved from their camps, but they aren’t safe there anymore.
They were able to begin traveling again, but Sono was helping Soryn walk and Leodos was helping Esylle.
The Spirus Page 13