She put the horse in Jason’s palm and kept her hand over his. “I will do my best in the moment. I will not make a promise I cannot keep.”
That was probably the best he was going to get from her. He squeezed her hand. “Thank you, Baileya.” She was staring out at the tangle of trees again. “What is it?” he asked. “Is someone out there?”
She locked eyes with him. Those eyes—so gentle but filled with a deep understanding that always frightened him—he could never look away from those eyes, even though he nearly always blushed when she held his gaze. “Wu Song,” she said. “I have told you more than once that there is something important about you. You are honest but also kindhearted. You share your stories freely with the world.”
“I can’t fight, I’m a slob, I fall down a lot. I know, I know. Stop, you’ll make me blush.”
She leaned toward him, dropping her voice. “You turn away praise in a strange way, even when it is true. You answer with a joke, although I cannot deny the jokes are true as well. And while you share stories freely, you do not share yourself.”
His eyes widened. He had told her the entire story of what had happened when he lost his sister, Jenny—how she had gone out on a secret date, and he had refused to tell their parents even when she had been missing for a long time. How she had been waiting, crushed inside her boyfriend’s car at the bottom of a cliff. How he had come to her, and she had told him that she had been waiting all along for him to come. That it was his fault, as their father had never hesitated to make clear. Telling Baileya all that had helped him sort out his feelings about it. He had even said out loud that he knew it wasn’t his fault. And he did. But that didn’t change that he sometimes felt like he could have done something more, that he could have stopped it somehow. He had never shared all these details with anyone. Anyone but Baileya. “I told you the worst thing I’ve ever done.”
“Yes,” she said. “I am still considering your story. I have ten months yet to consider it.”
Telling her his story had brought other benefits too. It was how they had gotten engaged, of course, but it also had made Baileya his closest friend. He hadn’t stopped to think about it like that, almost as if she were in another category completely. But he knew he could tell her anything—his deepest, darkest thoughts—and she would only respond with love. “I just meant that I’ve told you things. I’ve been trying to share myself with you.”
She looked like she wanted to continue the conversation, to say something more, but she held herself back. “I do not wish to argue,” she said. “Only to say to you that I believe you are an important person. That you might change this world, Wu Song, if you embrace your role here.”
He laughed. “Change the world? I doubt it.”
She kissed him on the cheek and let go of his hand and walked away into the trees. “You have changed mine already, Wu Song.”
Then she was gone, and Delightful Glitter Lady followed her, scampering at her feet, pleased to be leaving the clearing to explore. Jason watched the trees where she had disappeared for a few minutes, debating whether she meant for him to follow.
He pocketed David’s carving and made his way back to the area just inside the border gate, where he had first seen Madeline.
Baileya and Jason had arrived within a few hours of Madeline and Shula. David had been sent to welcome Madeline and Shula, and then they had been encouraged to wait for Jason and Baileya. David said they had known Jason and friends were en route because of “sentinel plants” the Aluvoreans used. Though they were miles apart, they were connected to one another through a vast network of underground roots, none of them thicker than a piece of string. Together they formed a sort of networked brain system. They could communicate with one another about rainfall, soil conditions, and on and on. Jason didn’t understand how it worked, exactly, which he blamed 100 percent on David, who got tired of trying to explain long before Jason’s interest wore off (it still hadn’t). Jason’s current theory was that the plants could tell they were coming by the impacted soil created by their mounts, the way sunlight was blocked for a moment by their passage, or maybe even the way their conversation altered the airflow. Who knew? But however it worked, the Aluvoreans had known they were coming.
The Aluvoreans had been surprised when Break Bones and Darius went their separate way instead of coming with Jason and Baileya. Madeline was deeply disappointed she had missed Darius, and she asked David if there was someone who could try to catch him and Break Bones. But that hadn’t worked. Now their best bet of getting in contact was another wordless tracker faerie. Jason wasn’t sure how Diwdrap would give Darius the message even if she found him.
Jason found Madeline and the others in a small clearing near the door in the hedge. Madeline had a chair made from a stump. Shula sat on the ground to one side of Madeline, drawing in a small notebook. David stood nearby, and a woman in a brown robe stood in front of them. She had skin that was varied colors of green, like the light filtering through maple leaves in summer. Her hair was short and almost woolly and a darker green, like healthy moss. She was speaking to Madeline, who listened intently but did not seem to be saying much.
“Hello, friends and also green lady,” Jason said, flopping onto the ground beside Madeline and leaning against her stump.
“Greetings, Wu Song,” the green lady said. “The story of your adventures in the Kakri territories and Far Seeing are popular ones here in Aluvorea.”
“No kidding. I would like to hear one of those. I wonder if it’s much like the actual story.” He waited for her to introduce herself, but she only watched him, as if expecting something more, so he asked, “What’s your name?”
“I am called Lamisap, which in your language would mean ‘the flower which blooms from the midst of the moss.’” She smiled, as if waiting for something.
“That’s a beautiful name.”
She smiled more broadly, and he noticed her teeth were as white as the bark of a birch tree. David cleared his throat. “She’s welcoming you into the conversation, Jason. You sort of interrupted when you walked up. In Aluvorea there’s an assumption that you must have something more important to say, so she’s waiting for you to share your thing before she goes on with hers.”
“Oh.” Jason rearranged himself against the stump. “Madeline needs a more comfortable chair.”
Madeline slapped him on the back of the head, but when he looked back at her, she was grinning, and so was Shula. David said, “We’ll move into the forest proper soon. Things are a bit more luxurious there.”
“The stump . . . is lovely,” Madeline said, smiling at Lamisap.
Lamisap bowed her head, seeming pleased that Madeline was pleased. “With your permission, friend Wu Song, I will continue?”
“Um. Of course. Please, uh, carry on.”
Lamisap turned her attention back to Madeline. “I did not think you would come, that day in Far Seeing.”
“I made . . . a promise,” Madeline said.
“Yes. But my sister and I both knew you were not well. We did not know what would happen in Far Seeing or even if you would survive. Aluvorea was not pleased with us, that we gave you the emes esutol.”
Madeline raised her arm, showing Lamisap the small black seed in her forearm. “I assume that’s this.”
“Of course,” Lamisap said. “Aluvorea said it would be dangerous to give it to you and that you had already sacrificed a great deal because of the Sunlit Lands, and it would be cruel to ask for more. My sister and I . . . we stole it. We took it without permission. It was not ours to give. And Aluvorea is right—it is much to ask of you.”
“What exactly are you asking for?” Shula asked.
“No, I know this one,” Jason said. “It’s always the same. I’ve seen enough movies and cartoons to know how magic woods work. The magic of the woods is all twisted, and now there are terrible monsters, and things are getting all decayed and disgusting. There’s, like, mushrooms growing into human-sized things and attacking people, and, like,
carnivorous plants and stuff. Right?”
Lamisap blinked, confused. “There are plants which eat people, of course, but those are not new. They have always been a part of Aluvorea.” She seemed distressed and went on to say, “Some plants have thorns, but that does not make them bad. A rosebush is not evil.”
“But eating people, that’s bad. We can agree on that.”
“They are plants, Wu Song. What do they know about such things?”
There was a shaking sound from the forest behind Lamisap. An old wall covered in ivy was moving—or at least, the ivy was. A second woman stepped out of it. She had skin the color of a summer sky, long trailing vines of hair, and piercing green eyes. She carried some large leaves in one hand, blade shaped and as long as a machete. They looked almost tropical.
“Greetings, sister Lin. You are welcome here.”
The new woman smiled and bowed to each of them in turn. “My sister Lamisap tells stories that are curled in on themselves.” She looked at Jason. “Some plants grow well in the wild but become weeds in cultivated places.”
Jason’s mouth fell open. Was that a dig at him? He sort of thought it was, but he wasn’t sure. He was trying to formulate a response, but Lin had already begun to talk again. “I will speak to you in the way of your people, who are more blunt and straightforward than our own. Aluvorea is not corrupted or dying. She is losing her magic. The trees which are magic are becoming only trees, like those on your Earth. The firethorns are spreading, threatening to burn the rest, but in a way that would bring destruction, not renewal, for there is no heir to the Heartwood Crown. The borders of the carnivorous forest have expanded, and the trees which bring magic to the Sunlit Lands are in danger.”
“I just want to point out that the mushroom thing was maybe a step too far, but ‘borders of carnivorous forest expanding’ is very much in line with what I said.”
David jumped in. “It takes a while to get the whole story, because the Aluvoreans see it all as connected. They haven’t gotten to the main bit yet.”
“By all means take us to the main bit,” Jason said.
Lin and her sister exchanged looks. Lin said, “We—my sister and I and some other Aluvoreans like us—think Madeline may be the one we must grow alongside.” They waited, as if this explained everything.
“I’m sorry, but we have no idea what that means.” Jason looked at Madeline, to make sure he wasn’t stupid. She shook her head. “No, we have no idea.”
“David,” Madeline said. “Can you . . . explain?”
David squeezed his eyes shut, as if he were following some internal map to a faraway destination. “Okay. I’ll try. It’s like this. There’s a place called the Queen’s Island, in the northern part of Aluvorea. No one has been there in years.”
“Centuries,” Lin said.
“That’s a lot of years,” Jason said.
“Right. There’s a—a pond that used to be a river—”
“It’s a lake,” Lamisap said, “called Anukop.”
David took a breath, trying not to get annoyed. “On the island, or so the legends say, is a throne carved into a tree. And on the seat of the throne there’s a crown made of wood called the Heartwood Crown. Whoever wears the crown has a sort of—they can control the woods. They can alter the magic, edit it, change it.”
“Grow alongside,” Madeline said. “This is . . . what you mean?”
“Yes,” Lin said. “We want you to help us grow into the next thing we will be.”
Jason laughed. “Is that all? Why didn’t you just say so?”
Lin and Lamisap exchanged looks. But before they could answer, a tall Elenil woman walked into the clearing, wearing a long silver dress that went from just below her chin all the way to the grassy floor.
“Gilenyia,” Madeline said.
“They did not say so because the Heartwood Crown does not exist.” Gilenyia gave each of the humans a hard stare. “If it did, the Elenil would destroy it.”
“We are sorry,” Lamisap said.
“Sorry for what?” Jason jumped to his feet.
Gilenyia gave Jason a pitying look. “For agreeing to turn you over to the Elenil, of course, Wu Song.”
“We are sorry,” Lin said. “But they promised that if we turned you over to them, Wu Song, they would leave the rest of the humans here in peace. We can continue with what needs to be done for Aluvorea. They will not harm the forest, and we are promised you will get a fair trial.”
Elenil guards stepped out of the woods from all around them. They were surrounded.
“Um,” Jason said. “Is this how fair trials usually start, in your experience?”
Gilenyia looked at him coldly. “You know us better than that by now, Wu Song. We are taking all of the humans back to Far Seeing. We’ll return them when all have stood trial.”
“You promised us the other humans would stay here!” Lamisap shouted.
“You did not tell me that my dear friend Madeline was one of them. What are you doing back here, I wonder?” Gilenyia stepped toward her.
David, Shula, and Jason put their backs to Madeline, keeping her protected behind them.
“I do not like plant people,” Jason said, glaring at the two Aluvorean women.
“Put them in chains,” Gilenyia said to her guards.
“Aw, man, I just got my chains off,” Jason said, but by then the Elenil were on them.
17
A PROPHECY
Sometimes we think we have found truth, but we have only found the beach in winter.
EXPOSITION ON A TRADITIONAL ZHANIN SAYING
“I want to make this clear,” Darius said, advancing on Hanali. “I am here to see Archon Thenody. He sent his people into the Wasted Lands seeking my friends, and while there they killed a Scim boy. A harmless Scim boy.”
Hanali tried to speak, but Darius snarled at him to be silent. Hanali lifted himself up straight, making himself taller.
The sword begged to be in Darius’s hand, but he ignored it. It was not time. Not yet. He did not have his robe or his mask here, but that did not mean he was someone to be dismissed. He would be heard, and if that meant he needed to speak their language, then so be it. He didn’t need a sword—he needed only the strength of his own presence. They weren’t dealing with Darius Walker, teenage runaway, now. He was the Black Skull, champion of the Scim people. “I am not here to entreat the archon for his help. Nor to inconvenience him. Nor to dethrone him. I am here to put him to death for his crimes against the Scim people. I do not care about the Pastisians or their wars, and I do not care about your political squabbles or preferences.”
Hanali tugged at the lace on his sleeves, doing his best to seem disinterested. “He’s a fiery one,” he said to Mrs. Raymond.
“I told you,” she said. “He’s not one to manipulate and influence, he’s one to bring in on your plan.”
Hanali threw his arms wide, as if for an embrace. “What more would I expect from the man who found his own path into the Sunlit Lands in search of his beloved? What more would I expect from the man who founded the Black Skulls and fought his way through the walls of Far Seeing, striking fear into the hearts of all Elenil?”
Darius clenched his fists. Rainwater was still dripping from his face, but he didn’t pause to wipe it away. He didn’t know this Elenil well, and he wasn’t sure if he was being mocked or if Hanali was attempting to build a connection.
Mud sat on the floor. “Bah. He’s fine for a human, but what use is he to me? Too recognizable.”
Hanali laughed. “Oh, poor Mud. You are but a foot soldier, and I the leader of the resistance. Do not attempt to understand the complicated plans of your betters.”
The Scim boy rolled his eyes. “You are not leader of the resistance, you’re just another pretender to the throne. I’m the leader of the resistance.” He crossed his arms and thrust his lower lip out. “I am! You just want to take over. I want all of the Elenil gone and the Scim put in control.”
Hanali motio
ned for Darius to sit. “Come, brave sir. Let us discuss this. Why are you so determined to murder the archon? I daresay Madeline wouldn’t be fond of the plan. Nor Jason, but he has always been a bit soft. What makes you so full of steel and determination? Why so quick to kill? I remind you that I am a friend to the Scim. I have been working here, quietly, behind the scenes, to make things better for them.”
Darius watched Hanali motion to a delicate cup of tea as if Darius were a wild animal and Hanali were trying to gain his trust with a treat. Hanali’s smile froze on his face, as if he were concentrating hard on looking harmless. The woman, Mrs. Raymond, watched with wry amusement. Darius was still unsure what the Elenil’s game was. He had seen this type of person before. He stood in a place of authority and power, he promised help—maybe even gave help—but you could never be sure if he did this for you or for himself. You couldn’t be sure if he was part of your community or not.
Hanali frowned. “Is it the tea?” He lifted the cup he had invited Darius to take. “You’re right, of course. It’s barely warm.”
Mrs. Raymond took another sip of hers. “Don’t play the clown, Hanali, the tea is perfectly hot. Nothing is wrong with it.”
“Not good enough for a guest,” he said dismissively, and waved at a human servant, who came over to take away the cup and the teapot. “Bring a new tea, if you please. Something specifically for our guest.”
“Perhaps I did not make myself clear,” Darius said. “I am not here for pleasantries.”
“Yes, yes, you’re here for murder. Perfectly clear, sir, perfectly. But is there any reason we can’t have a hot cup of tea before the stabbing and beheading and so on? We can sit and be civilized, and you can tell me your plan to murder the archon, and I can tell you my plan to start a war, and we can compare notes.”
Mrs. Raymond sighed. “Darius, I assure you he is quite serious. You may as well sit, he won’t stop prattling on regardless.”
The servant returned with the teapot and a fresh teacup. Hanali gestured to the chair. Darius sat reluctantly, and Hanali poured the tea. Darius picked up the tea, took a sip. It was warm, with a slight floral and berry taste. He felt rough after the days of travel, the journey through the tunnel, the battle with the Elenil. The tea was actually nice. Darius relented and sipped the hot beverage, feeling his muscles unwind a bit.
The Heartwood Crown Page 17