On the Meldon Plain (The Fourline Trilogy Book 2)

by Brondos, Pam

  “The children disappeared when the sleeping ones woke?” Nat asked. She hated to ask, but she needed to understand what the Nala were doing to the duozi.

  Tally nodded and clutched the cloak to her chest. “It happened to my brother,” she said. “After his sleeping Nala woke, I didn’t see him again.”

  “What do you mean by his Nala?” she asked gently.

  “The one he washed, the one he took care of.” Her voice trembled. “My brother was my only family after the guards killed our parents. Now they’re all gone.”

  Nat wrapped her arms around the girl’s reedlike body and pressed her close until she could feel the child’s heart thudding against hers. “We’re taking you someplace safe now.” It was all she could think to say, all she had to offer the child who’d been through so much. She settled Tally on the meadow next to Neas and a flaxen-haired girl with a malformed arm. She arranged her cloak over them and choked back her fury as she took in their blue skin and misshapen eyes. “Sleep.” She leaned down and brushed a lock of black hair from Tally’s face. The memory of the other child, motionless in the Nala’s cavern, flooded her mind. She closed her eyes, feeling only the warmth of Tally’s face under her fingertips, a reminder of all the beating hearts sleeping safely in the field.

  Clouds passed across the moon. Nat looked over the slumbering children. Normal children would never have survived that run through the forest, she thought. But these were not normal children. Someone, something, had taken everything normal in their lives away.

  “How are you holding up?” The moon reappeared and its light reflected off Annin’s pale skin and faceted eye.

  Nat laughed, unable to help herself. “That’s the first time you’ve ever asked me that,” she said, thinking of all their encounters. “Maybe I need to raid a Nala den more often.”

  Annin’s stony expression vanished and she smiled.

  “Annin.” Nat’s eyes settled again on the children. “Do you have any idea how all these children ended up in the cavern?”

  She nodded and looked out over the field, too. “I spoke with a few of them. Some the Nala took after their transformation, and some were taken to the Nala by Mudug’s guards even before they were bitten. Just like Neas said.”

  The deep, burning sense of outrage flared within Nat. “Why would Mudug do that?”

  “I have ideas, and none of them are pleasant.”

  “What do you think happened to the dead girl we found in the tomb?” Nat asked, wanting to hear Annin’s thoughts before she expressed her own.

  Annin’s eyes narrowed. “Based on what we saw, the Nala are using them somehow to regenerate, I think.”

  Nat nodded in agreement, shuddering at the thought. The two women continued to look out over the sleeping children with somber expressions. Nat’s orb swooped into her hands as Annin touched Nat’s shoulder.

  “You’re different, Natalie Barns. I never met anyone from your world who would’ve, or could’ve, done what you did today, even if your motivation was to save your own skin.” She stooped to pick a meldon flower. The petals twirled as she rolled the stem between her fingers. “You risked your life to save duozi, not to mention Soris. I guess you really are a Warrior Sister.”

  Nat fiddled with her orb, uncertain how to respond to the compliment. The sphere circled her hand and then shot into the middle of the field. Nat followed its path and saw Soris pacing back and forth on the other side of the circle of children. She watched with interest when he knelt down to speak to a sleepy child.

  “What happened to him in the cavern?” she asked. Soris moved from child to child reassuringly, touching and talking to each one.

  Annin frowned. She fixed her eyes on Soris. “There was a presence in that cavern. It’s hard to describe, but it felt like hundreds of Nala bundled into one source, pushing into my brain. I had difficulty focusing, and I don’t even have remnant. Soris didn’t stand a chance.”

  “But I had remnant, and I didn’t lose control like he did.” A thought tickled the back of her mind.

  “Your senses are different when you’re a duozi, Natalie.”

  “It’s good he has you to understand him.” Nat picked at her fingernail. “I’ll take watch. I’m not tired,” she said abruptly. Her orb returned, skimmed up her leg, and hovered near her old wound. She rolled her shoulder, feeling only the memory of an ache now.

  “You’re exhausted—and a lousy liar.” Annin’s empathy vanished, and her familiar caustic tone emerged. “But I do need to reach Estos again to let him know what’s happened and what we found. He planned to send someone to meet us at the Healing House. Probably wouldn’t hurt to let them know there may be some angry Nala in the vicinity. We can rouse the children once I’ve gotten through to him and whatever lackey he’s sent for us.” Her voice softened as she glanced down at the children near them. “They need the Sisters.”

  “They do,” Nat agreed. The flowers bent under her soft boots as she stepped back.

  “Natalie,” Annin called softly, “Soris needs something, too. And it’s not me.” She turned away, leaving Nat to wonder what she meant.

  Nat knelt with one knee up and the other pressed into the ground. Her legs trembled with exhaustion, but the discomfort kept her awake.

  Telling Annin she wasn’t tired had been a lie. She was completely drained. The dark field blurred in front of her eyes. “Stay awake,” she mumbled to herself. Her head drooped again. Images of Soris’ hands flashed through her mind. His hands cupped over the Nala, his hand reaching for hers when they fled into the forest, his hand pulling her through the crowd on execution day in Rustbrook.

  She stood abruptly, needing to move to stay awake. She could sleep when she returned home. Home. The idea that she could return home didn’t provide the comfort she expected. Her mind flipped through images of the cavern and the children shuffling around like drones. She stifled a yawn and adjusted a sleeping girl’s torn sleeve so it covered her bare blue arm. When she looked at her profile, she saw the face of the dead girl.

  Pull yourself together, she thought. She took a deep breath. The cool night air flooded her lungs. But the dead girl’s face and her deathly wound stuck in her mind. She thought of Tally’s description of how her brother had vanished after his sleeping Nala woke and Annin’s belief the Nala were using the duozi to regenerate. Could the Nala be transferring their wounds, their deaths, to the children? Nat wondered. Her skin crawled at the thought. And Mudug’s men are bringing duozi and unbitten children to the Nala.

  “I owe you an apology.”

  Nat swung her crossbow around. The tip of the arrow was inches from Soris’ face. His hands shot into the air and he jumped back.

  “Don’t sneak up on me like that. I could have . . .” She dropped her bow abruptly and it smacked against her thigh.

  “I wasn’t sneaking,” he said defensively. Her orb arced over his head, casting a ray of light onto his blond hair. He dropped his chin.

  “I . . . ,” they both said at the same time.

  “You first.” Soris lifted his head and his eyes met hers. She couldn’t read his expression but sensed his weariness.

  “You, um . . . You kind of lost it in the tomb. Are you okay?” she asked.

  “I don’t know what happened. My mind went all foggy. I don’t remember what I did, what you did.” He met her gaze. “But I know you finished the Nala. My head’s clearer now than it’s been since . . .”

  “Since it bit you.” She completed his thought. “I feel different, too. My shoulder doesn’t hurt. What about your bite?”

  “It never ached much, but I always had a feeling, like something pulling on me. That’s gone.” He tilted his head to the side, and the light of her orb fell over his face. “I guess Sister Ethet was right about me being a liability. I couldn’t have done what you did. Thank you.” Soris awkwardly extended his hand. The fused pointed fingers trembled slightly. She grasped his hand immediately.

  “You were not a liability. You got N
eas to trust us. He wasn’t about to listen to me until you told him to.” She gestured to the field of children. “Do you think any of them would’ve followed us without Neas urging them on?”

  “And what about you?” Soris squeezed her hand. “I wasn’t the one rounding up the ones too frightened to leave. You risked your life to get them out of there.”

  “Bastle herders and invaders of Nala dens. We make a decent team,” she said. He laughed, and her heart warmed at the sound. “That’s the first time I’ve heard you laugh since I’ve been back.”

  “Not much to laugh about these days, Natalie.” He let go of her hand and held up his fused fingers, reminding her of her earlier gaffe.

  “Soris, when I saw you for the first time at the Healing House, the way I acted wasn’t because of the way you looked. Well, I guess it was.” She sighed and averted her eyes. “Seeing you for the first time again made me realize how much you were paying for my mistakes and dishonesty. You had no idea I wasn’t a Sister on our quest together, and I should have trusted you enough to tell you. I didn’t, and you got bitten. I can’t make any of that go away for you.” She focused on the flowers clustered near her feet, afraid to look at him but relieved she finally had a chance to say what she’d needed to say to him for months. “I am so sorry.”

  “Apology accepted, Natalie, but I never needed an apology. What’s done is done, and you’ve risked yourself more than you should have for me and others. Now it’s time for you to go home and be safe.”

  “I guess,” she said, feeling unsettled that he’d forgiven her and told her to go home in the same breath.

  Something poked her in the back. She looked over her shoulder to find Neas with her cloak draped over his arm. “Annin says it’s time to go,” he said. He yawned and scratched his head. Around them, small bodies rose, stretched, and stood in the field. Annin ran through the circle, tapping children on the shoulder and rousing them into motion.

  Nat accepted her cloak from Neas. When she turned, Soris was walking around the circle, too, gently shaking the remaining sleeping children. He lifted a little boy no older than four onto his back and held the hand of another child. He murmured comforting words. She fastened the clasp on her cloak, wondering why, after finally apologizing to Soris, she felt so empty.

  The last of the children clambered down the stairs of the inner stone ring surrounding the Healing House. Sister Ethes briefly examined each child before shrilly triaging them and sending them off with a Sister or older duozi into one of the many infirmary rooms. Nat steered Neas toward Ethes, her hand firmly on his shoulder.

  “Open your mouth,” Ethes ordered. Her white hair was drawn tightly back from her face, giving her little black eyes a menacing appearance.

  “It’s okay,” Nat whispered to Neas when she felt him flinch away from Ethes.

  “Don’t be ridiculous, of course it’s okay. Strapping boy like you afraid of a little mouse like me, ha!” As she said those words, Ethes checked his pulse and reflexes and removed a ball of wax from his ear.

  “Sister Tamara!” Ethes called out. A stout woman with bluish-black hair limped toward them. The limp reminded Nat of Benedict, and she placed a protective hand on Neas’ shoulder. But Sister Tamara beamed at him. He gave her a goofy smile in return.

  “Aren’t you a dear?” Tamara placed a gentle hand on his other shoulder, and Nat relaxed.

  “Focus on facilitating healing, not friendliness.” Ethes directed her sharp stare at Sister Tamara.

  “But Head Sister, he is—what’s your name, dear?” She leaned toward him as if expecting the answer to be a great secret.

  “Neas.” His smile grew wider, exposing an upper row of crooked teeth.

  “Neas,” she said with a lightness in her voice. “You remind me of my younger brother when he was your age.” She clasped her hand over his.

  “Your brother is not a duozi, if I recall correctly, Sister Tamara. Neas is. Dispense the meldon tincture, suture the leg wound, and examine him for any bites or injuries.” Ethes’ clipped voice rose above Sister Tamara’s cooing. Nat watched her hobble away with a protective arm over Neas. She wondered if anything was in the meldon tincture besides the plant extract. Did Ethes and Ethet have a way to treat any of these children beyond providing them with the flower tincture and healing their superficial wounds?

  “Well, Sister?” Ethes asked.

  Nat yawned and looked around to see who Ethes was addressing. Ethet, robed in a long gray overcoat, was speaking with Annin and Soris near the stairs to the outer wall.

  “Sister, is there something else? I have places to be.” Ethes’ sharp eyes narrowed at Nat.

  “Me?” She stifled another yawn.

  “Do you see another Sister?” Ethes gestured to the open air around them. “Ethet said you were bright, but I have my doubts.” She crossed her thin arms in front of her petite body.

  “Sorry, Head Sister, I’m not used to being called a Sister,” Nat said, feeling flustered and exhausted.

  “When you go to the trouble of getting that”—she pointed to the markings on Nat’s arm—“and imbuing an orb, I’d think you’d be a bit boiled if someone didn’t call you Sister.” Ethes pivoted swiftly on her heel.

  “I do have something else to ask you!” Nat called out after her. “Do you know exactly how Nala use remnant after they’ve bitten someone?”

  Ethes took a few steps toward her and stuck her hands in the loose sleeves of her overcoat. She pursed her lips, and the wrinkles around her pale mouth grew deeper. “Yes. It creates a dangerous mental connection between the Nala and its victim.” Her eyes narrowed. “You are certainly aware of that link.”

  “Yes.” Nat struggled to formulate her next question, and the sharp edges in Ethes’ face grew sharper with impatience. “Beyond the connection, how else can the Nala use remnant? Is it possible that they can take something from a person who carries their remnant . . . to heal themselves?” she asked, her voice faltering as she thought of the dead girl and her wound.

  “Spit out the specifics, Sister.”

  “In the cavern, we came across a Nala who was not quite right. It was disoriented and didn’t even notice us. We were only a few feet away. It had an odd wound in its chest that appeared to be healed, but it wasn’t the kind of wound that should heal. We found a girl with a similar wound on her chest, except hers was fresh and deep. Both Annin and I think the Nala are using the children to regenerate.” There. She’d said it, crazy as it sounded.

  “That is a most disquieting thought, Sister. I will interview the children and see if your theory has any weight. I hope for all the duozi it does not, but it would explain certain happenings.” Ethes pressed her fingers to her lips. “Any other morbid theories you wish to add?”

  “No.” Nat felt a little dizzy from fatigue and took a deep breath. “What can you do for the duozi? I mean, is this all there is for them?” She gestured to the Healing House grounds. When she saw Ethes rapidly blink her dark eyes, she dropped her hand.

  “Is this all there is!” Ethes drew back her shoulders and glared at Nat. “We provide them with a diet and medicines rich in meldon flowers, and we teach them a life beyond the forest, beyond the prejudice of the villages, beyond the losses they’ve endured. Who else will do that? Hmm?” Her tone was high and clipped. “Because of Mudug, we are one of the few safe places for the duozi. Maybe you should concern yourself with your own duties. Because as it stands, it’s this House or the forest for most of them,” she huffed. Nat’s cheeks reddened as Ethes’ tongue-lashing continued. “If the remaining Warrior Sisters think they have no obligations because they’ve been pushed out of their little castles, all of us, not just the duozi, are in for a sorry future.”

  “I’m not from a castle, and I want the Nala and Mudug gone just as much as you do,” Nat replied with a vehemence that surprised her.

  “Then do something other than asking me if this is all there is.” She pinched her lips together. “Anything else?”

/>   Nat cringed and nodded, knowing she needed to ask one more question.

  “Something more!” Ethes threw her hands in the air, and Nat instinctively jerked back from the little woman, who seemed to have grown in size in her agitation.

  “Have you ever seen a white Nala?” she asked before the enraged Sister could take her head off. Nat noticed a small twitch near her left eye.

  “Why do you ask?”

  “I saw a monstrous white Nala emerging from a pool in the cavern.”

  “What did you see?” Annin asked. She, Soris, and Ethet stepped next to Nat.

  “A white Nala bigger than any I’ve ever seen, bursting out of the pool.”

  Ethes glanced at Sister Ethet and tapped her finger against her lips.

  “Is it possible she saw the Nalaide?” Ethet asked her predecessor.

  “Unless she was hallucinating, I would say yes,” Ethes responded and turned to Nat. “Congratulations, Sister. You are one of very few who have seen the Nalaide, queen of the Nala, and lived.” Ethes cocked her head to the side.

  “Queen of the Nala?” Nat asked, feeling uneasy.

  “Yes. She hasn’t been seen in ages. Many believe she is more lore than flesh. I will certainly ask our new guests what they observed of her activities. Sister Ethet, join me.” The invitation was given as a command, and Ethet followed the Head Sister and her clacking boots as they echoed down the stone walkway.

  “You’d think she’d thank you for freeing the duozi,” Annin said to Nat as she tilted her head like Sister Ethes. “Instead she congratulates you that your intestines aren’t decorating the inside of the Nala den.”

  “Annin, stop,” Soris said.

  “I’m only joking. The Sister here is a hero. She cut your remnant tie, saved the duozi, and faced the Nalaide.”