Tree of Ages Box Set

by Sara C. Roethle

  His boots were already soaked, and next came his breeches and the edge of his tunic as the boat’s bottom lifted away from the sand. He quickly pulled himself in, than sat sodden and unhappy across from Anna as he took the oars in hand.

  “Yes,” he admitted as he began to row. “I traveled with Iseult and Àed to Migris to find Finn. When I ran into Sativola, and he claimed you were his captain, I surmised what you were up to. I had to act quickly, so I left a note to be delivered to Iseult.”

  Anna shook her head, tossing her tangled, dirty hair from side to side. “Why would you help him of all people?

  Kai sighed. Why, indeed. “It’s what she wanted,” he explained.

  Anna narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips in thought. “No, that’s not why you did it. You did it because you’re trying to be something you’re not.”

  Kai raised an eyebrow at her. “And you’re not? The Anna I know would have fought the situation till the bitter end, and Finn would be back on this rowboat with us.”

  Anna seemed suddenly sad. “I’m not trying to be something I’m not. I’m trying to not be what I am.”

  They went over a particularly choppy wave, then landed hard, spraying salt water in their faces.

  Kai spat water out of his mouth. “I don’t follow.”

  Tears suddenly rimmed Anna’s eyes, or maybe it was just the salt water. “I’m a magic user, Kai,” she said softly enough that he almost didn’t hear her over the sound of the surf. “I can see things that I shouldn’t. I can see all of the other magic users too, but I don’t want any part of it. I just want Finn to use the shroud to remove my curse, then she and Iseult, and you for all I care, can go on your ways.”

  Kai fell silent, thinking of Finn and Iseult. They had promised to meet them in Migris, but who knew if they actually would. He had no doubt that Finn would do her best to keep her promise, but of Iseult, he was not sure.

  As they crested a gentle wave, another ship came into view past Anna’s. It was small, with a black sail. He had to squint his eyes to see much else, but he was quite sure he saw several people milling about on deck.

  “It looks like she’s keeping her promise,” Kai muttered, speaking of Finn.

  Anna turned around so quickly that she almost rocked herself out of the boat. Clinging to the edge of her seat, she peered at the distant ship, then turned around, slumping in relief. “We still have to find the shroud,” she said shakily, then lifted her eyes to meet Kai’s gaze, “but this is at least a start.”

  Kai nodded, thinking much the same thing. The fact that Finn was on a ship in the distance, and not an ocean away, was a start. A start to what, he did not know. All he knew was that she had become the one thing in life he simply couldn’t let go of. If that meant becoming something he was not, then so be it.

  Maarav smiled to himself as he stood near the mast of his ship. He thought he spotted Anna and her companion rowing toward their vessel, though it was hard to tell in the distance, especially with the sunlight reflecting blindingly off the water. Things hadn’t exactly gone according to plan, but perhaps they’d gone even better. Anna had not outed him as the one who had led her to Finn, and Finn still believed that he was a simple innkeep, as well as Iseult’s brother.

  At the thought of his brother, he frowned. His appearance had been the largest deviation from his plan, though it had proven beneficial thus far. Iseult had already made contact with Finn, and had managed to gain her trust, something that he had failed at. Now it was up to him to decide whether his loyalties lay with those who raised him, or with his blood.

  He laughed at his own thoughts. His loyalties would lie where they always had. With himself.

  Slàine saddled her horse, preparing for the long ride to Migris. Her messengers had returned from the grand city to report that the tree girl had eluded them, and many guards had died in the process. If Slàine could not depend on highly skilled assassins to get the job done, then there was only one person left. Herself.

  She was not worried about slipping past the reivers Maarav had spoken of, nor was she worried about An Fiach. She had trained her entire life to embody a mere shadow in the night. Her enemies would only see her the moment she stuck a dagger through their hearts.

  The rumors in Migris of cloaked shapes roaming the city streets, leaving rivers of blood in their wake, were about to increase tenfold. She’d been hired to find a certain girl, a girl she thought Maarav and his brother might know something about, and no one would stand in her way.

  Àed groaned as he forced the oars upward, only to circle back down into the water, propelling his small boat forward. The salty air stung his sunburned skin, and sweat soaked through his ragged, gray robes. His burlap hat had saved his scalp from the burn he felt on his face, but his long silvery hair was still matted with salt. He scowled at his mule sitting across from him, wishing the heavy creature could contribute to the rowing. His mule looked back at him, thoroughly abashed.

  An island had come into sight early that morning, right where it should have been according to Iseult’s maps, yet he could only distantly sense Finn. It worried him. More worrisome still, was the small ship in the distance, moored as close to the island as it could be without running into any sandbars. He took a deep breath, tasting mildly of smoke. He’d been catching whiffs of it since that morning. Now that he was near, he could see smoke trickling up from the treeline of the island. It was a small amount, just enough to be a campfire, or something larger that had long since burned through.

  Determination coursing through his tired arms, he lifted the oars and plunged them back downward. Just a few more minutes and he would reach the sandy beach. Perhaps he’d arrived early, and was sensing Finn on a distant boat, or perhaps she was somehow being shielded. Either way, he needed to investigate.

  The oars lifted. The oars came down. Sweat stung his eyes. Just a bit more.

  His entire body jolted as the bottom of the boat hit sand. His mule creature let out a startled whinny, then clambered to its hooves to leap out of the boat. It splashed down into the shallow water and trotted onto the shore, followed by Àed, who wearily dragged the boat behind him onto the sand. He tried to drag it out of the water entirely, but found he did not have the strength. In fact, he hardly had the strength to stand. Wait. When did he fall down to his knees?

  He sighed, knowing he’d pushed himself too far. He was no longer a young man, it seemed. His mule looked down at him, waiting patiently.

  “Ye could help me stand!” Àed huffed.

  The mule seemed to sigh, then turned its body sideways. Àed was suddenly overwhelmed with gratitude that he’d left his mount’s saddle on, as one of the stirrups dangled near his face. He grabbed hold of it, and slowly pulled himself to standing. With a final sigh of exertion, he hoisted himself into the saddle, then hunched forward, the last bit of his energy gone.

  His mule stumbled a few times as it began to walk, but seemed no worse for wear after the long journey. There was a distant smell of smoke in the air, though now that Àed was on the island, he could no longer see the smoke to pinpoint the fire’s location.

  Resigned to the fact that he’d have to wander a bit, he rode inland, letting his senses guide him. There was a hint of magic on the island, perhaps the Archtree, though he’d expected it to shine much brighter than it was. Unfortunately, he now sensed nothing else, not even Finn. Had his senses lied to him? Was she nowhere near the island? If Kai had failed in his mission, and if Iseult hadn’t escaped from the ruined city, that might mean that no one was coming to meet him at the Archtree. He might have rowed all of that way for nothing.

  He shook his head as he rode, unwilling to give up so easily. If anything, he could find the Archtree, and it could tell him anything he needed to know about Finn, and how to find her.

  He rode on for several hours, following the distant shine of magic, that was soon accompanied once more by the faint scent of smoke. Eventually he happened upon the source, which was little more than a cha
rred chunk of ground. In the middle of the black scar, were the smoldering remains of a tree trunk.

  He dismounted, still feeling horribly weak, to examine the ashes.

  “Hello, old friend,” a voice said from behind him.

  Àed straightened abruptly, then hunched over from a sharp pain in his old, weary back. He turned slowly to find the owner of the voice.

  The man stood tall and strong, though he was in his later years. His silver hair glistened in the sunlight, matching several days worth of silver stubble. His pale eyes looked white in the midday brightness.

  “Travelin’ once together dinnae make us friends,” Àed growled, attempting to hide his surprise. Óengus was perhaps the last person he expected to see in that moment. He’d thought they were done with the man after recovering Finn in Port Ainfean.

  Óengus shrugged. “You’re right, and it’s a good thing, because that means I don’t have to feel guilty over what’s about to happen.”

  Áed looked around, feeling fear for the first time in a very long time. Óengus was a well-trained killer, and Áed had weakened himself to the point of utter exhaustion.

  “Hello father,” a voice slithered from the tree line.

  Áed’s heart stopped. He had never expected to hear that voice again.

  Keiren stepped into view. The green leaves surrounding her contrasted with her fiery red hair, flowing freely to her waist. Black clothing encased her tall, slender form. Eyes the same color as Áed’s gazed coldly at him.

  “Keiren,” he breathed, reaching a hand toward her helplessly, though she was far out of reach.

  “This is no heart-warming reunion,” she said icily. “I simply need you out of my way.”

  Tears formed in Áed’s eyes. He knew he should run, or try to hide, or something, but his daughter had always been his weakness. That day, so many years before, he’d felt the same. She’d attacked him viciously, and he was powerless against her.

  Óengus stood aside as Keiren strode forward. She came to stand directly in front of Áed, towering over him. She reached a long fingered hand forward to caress his face, then he was suddenly overcome with dizziness. Startled, his mule began to prance and whinny from where it stood near the tree line. Agonizing pain shot upward from Àed’s feet to his head, searing through his brain. His body seemed to stretch and contort. He tried to scream, but he no longer had lungs or a mouth.

  The tree that was once Áed stretched upward, forming itself from the Archtree’s roots. Its perfect, green leaves unfurled as it reached its full height. Áed was still somehow able to look outward, though he could not move, nor could he speak. His heart stilled as his entire being transitioned into wood pulp and bark.

  Keiren looked up at the tree and grinned wickedly. “Sorry father,” she whispered, “but you always were my weakness.”

  The story continues in The Blood Forest.

  The Blood Forest

  Book Three

  Chapter One

  Finn peered at the distant coast from the ship’s railing, though it was difficult to see through the fog, or was that smoke? The acrid scent in the air seemed too strong to be put off by cook fires alone. She brushed a lock of her long, dirty blonde hair away from her sunburned face, cringing at the feeling of grit beneath her fingers. Her entire body felt covered in a thin layer of salt from the sea.

  Iseult stood next to her, gripping the railing tight enough to make the wood creak. She turned to ask him if he thought a bath was in their near future, but kept her mouth shut at his expression.

  He was all tension, standing by her side while she leaned against the railing more casually. His black hair, flecked with gray at the temples, was partially held back in its customary clasp, leaving loose tendrils around his face for the sea air to play with. His gray-green eyes were serious, his mouth set in a grim line. He’d been almost relaxed during their time out at sea, but it seemed that had ended now.

  Finn turned her gaze back to the distant city. Once they reached land, they’d begin their long journey back to her beginning, where she once stood as a tree. Part of her hoped they’d find Àed there, back in his small hovel, tired from traveling, but she knew it was only wishful thinking. Her aged conjurer friend would not give up on finding them so easily.

  She glanced away from the distant city to the other passengers on the ship. At one time, the fast movement while out at sea would have made her lose her last meal, but she’d eventually gotten used to the ship’s gentle sway, and now almost found it comforting . . . almost. She could never quite put out of her mind the fact that Sirens dwelled in the sea, waiting to sing sailors to their watery graves.

  Finn watched as Iseult’s long lost brother, Maarav, and his men manned the sails, guiding the ship steadily toward Migris, where they would dock to meet Kai and Anna. Finn couldn’t help but wonder how everyone would get along. She held no warm feelings toward Maarav, and knew he’d likely anger some of the others before long. It was simply in his nature.

  She was more worried, however, about how Kai and Anna would behave. Neither of them were particularly good at making friends. Hopefully they’d at least taken good care of little Naoki, Finn’s adolescent dragon, though the small creature did present another problem. The people of Migris were terrified of the Faie, and would not take kindly to a dragon in the city. Finn comforted herself with the idea that Kai would think of a way to smuggle Naoki out unseen. He was good at that sort of thing.

  Footsteps across the deck preceded Ealasaid’s appearance at Finn’s other side. Her curly blonde hair had seemed to grow in size the longer they were out to sea, foaming into a snarled mass around her delicate freckled face and pale gray eyes. She wore the same burgundy dress with black accents Finn had first seen her in, causing her to assume it was the girl’s only one.

  Not that Finn could say much different. She still wore the tight breeches, loose white blouse, and corset she’d been given aboard Anna’s ship. Her deep green cloak, beginning to fray heavily at the edges, was secured around her shoulders, shifting gently in the breeze. The people of Migris would likely stare as much at her state of attire as they would a baby dragon, but she was loath to change back into a dress, especially if they’d be riding. Sitting on the saddle wasn’t the issue. Her previous skirts had consisted of enough fabric to still cover her ankles, but lifting her leg over the horse always caused a blush. Of course, they’d have to find horses to purchase first, which likely wouldn’t prove easy.

  Ealasaid stepped forward and leaned her arms against the railing beside Finn. “I’ve never actually been to Migris. I’ve never been to any of the great cities, for that matter.”

  Finn tilted her head, confused, squinting her eyes against a harsh blast of sea air. “I thought you traveled with Iseult to find me.”

  Iseult had told her everything that happened while they were apart, including how they’d come to travel with Ealasaid. She knew he’d narrowly missed her in Migris as she sailed away, locked in a cabin on Anna’s ship, and had just assumed Ealasaid and Àed were with him.

  Ealasaid nodded. “We reached the gates together, but no one was allowed inside the city. Iseult found his own way in, while Àed and I waited with the refugees.”

  Finn’s heart gave another nervous patter at the thought of Àed. Though it was doubtful he’d be waiting for them at the end of their journey in Greenswallow, he might very well be waiting in Migris. He’d parted ways with Iseult somewhere north of the large city, supposedly to search for her on his own. Her only hope was that he had not traveled all the way to the Archtree, only to find it burned to a stump with her nowhere to be found.

  “Ah, yes,” Finn replied, stuffing her nerves back down, “my travel companion at the time had been able to gain us special entrance to the city. I’d almost forgotten.”

  The thought of Bedelia brought her nerves right back up. Was she even still alive? Maarav had claimed he’d delivered the potion that would cure Bedelia’s illness, brought on by the bite of a Faie wolf, but Fi
nn did not fully trust a single thing he said. He’d stood idly by while Anna kidnapped her, after all. She took a deep breath to settle her anxiety, then nearly gagged on a sudden whiff of smoke in the air, not the pleasant smell of wood burning, or even food, but a sickly sweet stench that made her gut clench.

  “Something is wrong,” Iseult muttered, drawing her attention.

  She followed his gaze to the distant port. It was smoke surrounding the city, not fog, though she saw no flames over the city walls. They were still too far out to see anything else.

  “Is the city on fire?” Ealasaid questioned.

  Iseult nodded. “So it would seem.” He smoothed his hands over his clothing, all in shades of his customary black, as if preparing himself for a confrontation.

  Finn squinted her eyes in the direction of the city, but could not tell if men still guarded the walls or the dock. She turned her gaze out toward the open ocean, then pointed, “There’s Anna’s ship. It seems they will arrive shortly after us.”

  She turned to see Iseult nod. “Yes, if we decide to dock at all. The smoke might mean Migris has been attacked. It may now be inhabited by enemy forces.” He frowned at the thought.

  Finn knew he was likely thinking of Conall. He’d regaled her of his visit back to the place of his birth, now just a ruined city. It had been taken over and fortified by Conall, a Reiver commanding magic-using refugees. Reivers were the wild people of the borders, bandits by most accounts. Finn had encountered such a group while she was on Anna’s ship. The altercation resulted in disturbing repercussions. She could still clearly picture the man’s skin melting from his bones at her touch.

  She shook away the memory, focusing on the current situation. She had no desire to encounter Reivers ever again. If they inhabited the city, they would simply have to dock elsewhere.