Facing the Sun

by Carol Beth Anderson

  Tullen was the first to hear anything. “Men are talking, near the front of the house,” he whispered.

  Tavi shifted the direction of her listening, and, sure enough, her glowing ears soon found two male voices.

  “I’ll talk to her,” a man said. There was a pause, and Tullen repeated what he had heard to Sall and Misty. Sall’s body was so taut, Tavi thought it would break. He clearly hated having to hear this secondhand.

  Moments later, the same man spoke again. “Narre, we’re going to do some grappling in the barn,” he said.

  Tavi’s ears filled with the beautiful sound of Narre’s voice. “I’ll stay here,” she said firmly. “I told you, I don’t want to train with you.”

  “I’m sorry, you have to come.” The man’s voice wasn’t unkind. “Aldin’s coming too, and you know we need to keep you near us.”

  “You could always tie me up again.” Narre’s voice was cold and angry.

  “We didn’t enjoy doing that, and we don’t want to do it again.” The man was losing patience. “Come on.” The conversation ended.

  They had tied her up. Tavi struggled to speak past the lump of anger and grief that filled her throat. She and Tullen looked at each other, and she shook her head, unable to speak. He repeated the brief conversation to Misty and Sall.

  Tavi had expected Sall to rage when he heard it, but instead, he placed his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking. Misty sat with him, murmuring words of comfort.

  After another minute, Tavi again heard the men speaking. They discussed the grappling they’d be doing, and within moments, most of the conversation consisted of short fighting instructions and frequent grunts.

  After several minutes of this, Tavi turned to Tullen. “Let’s take shifts,” she suggested. This was part of their plan, to avoid either of their hearing gifts waning. He agreed to take the first shift, and Tavi released her magic.

  During the next few hours, Tavi and Tullen listened but gleaned little useful information. The men encouraged Narre to learn fighting skills from them and also to practice her own gifts. She refused on both counts. After the three of them had returned to the house for a quiet lunch, they went back to the barn for more “practice,” the nature of which was unclear. Tavi heard one of the men say, “Time for some wall walking,” but she couldn’t determine what he meant by it.

  As mid-afternoon approached, Tullen, who was again on listening duty, turned to Tavi, excitement in his eyes. “One of the maids is about to carry laundry to the clothesline,” he said. “Can you use your speech gift to get information from her?”

  Fear and exhilaration filled Tavi in equal quantities. She crept through the trees until she could see the house. She waited there until the maid hanging up clothes came close to her, and then Tavi activated her speech gift, took a calming breath, and stepped out of the woods.

  The maid started when she saw Tavi. Not willing to waste time on small talk, Tavi got right to the point. “When Narre arrived, was another girl with her?”

  “Only for one night,” the woman answered. “She left the next morning with Sella.”

  “What is Sella’s last name?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Why is Narre here?”

  “They want her to join them,” the maid said. “I try not to listen too much when they’re talking. They value their privacy.”

  “Join them? In what?”

  The woman was clearly scared, but she answered, Tavi’s magic compelling her. “Gray magic,” she said.

  Tavi narrowed her eyes. “What’s that?”

  “I don’t rightly know.”

  “Where does Narre sleep?”

  “In the little room at the center of the house. It’s small; I reckon it used to be a storage closet.”

  “Does someone sleep in there with her?” Tavi asked.

  “Ash does,” the woman replied.

  At that bit of information, Tavi went off-script, asking a question she needed the answer to, though she feared it. “Does this ‘Ash’ hurt her? Or force her to—do anything?”

  The maid shook her head firmly. “Oh no, Ash is a gentleman. He just stays with her to make sure she doesn’t leave.”

  “Narre is our friend, and she was taken here against her will.” Tavi’s voice turned angry. “You may not know this, but they tied her up. Please—will you help us free her?” This was the riskiest part of their conversation; Tavi could compel the woman to answer her questions, but not to do as she asked.

  The maid’s answer was instant. “Oh no, I would lose my job. I need this job.” She looked back toward the house. “I’m sorry about your friend; but—I should go.”

  “I understand,” Tavi said. “Please, can you help us at all? Maybe—make sure the back door is unlocked tonight?”

  The woman took a moment to think about that before nodding sharply. “I’ll try.” She picked up her empty basket and rushed toward the house.

  Nothing else happened until later when Tavi and her companions were eating a cold, quiet dinner. Tavi, who was on listening duty, spoke up. “Konner just arrived.” She listened more and added, “He said hello, and then he must have gone to a room by himself.”

  Aldin and Ash talked little after dinner, and Narre barely said two words. Two hours after dark, they all went to bed, and it was another hour before the maids finished their cleaning and turned in.

  At a time they estimated as midnight, Tavi and her friends agreed they should implement their rescue plan. Only Tullen and Tavi would go inside the house. Sall had been vehement in his opposition to this decision, but the others had insisted that Tavi’s and Tullen’s gifts were best suited to a rescue. Misty and Sall would travel to a meeting spot they’d all scouted earlier in the day, two miles away and off the beaten path.

  All four of them grasped hands in a circle. “Sava bless you,” Misty whispered. They all repeated the blessing. Misty and Sall then gathered the group’s supplies, stood, and began making their way slowly through the forest.

  As they’d agreed to do, Tavi and Tullen waited in place, giving their friends time to get away. Tullen sat against a tree, and she curled up next to him. His arm came around her shoulders, pulling her even closer. With her head resting on Tullen’s chest and his hand lazily drawing shapes on her upper arm, Tavi tried to relax. But all she could think about was Narre’s closeness, and the minutes dragged on, made slower by her anxiety.

  At last, Tullen murmured that it was time to go. They both stood and activated their hearing gifts. Tavi grasped Tullen’s hand, and they made their way through the trees.

  Walking through the dark was difficult. They navigated by touch, traversing first the woods, then the yard, and finally, the home’s back porch.

  The porch planks squeaked, and Tavi held her breath, as if that would help. But they reached the back door without apparent detection. They paused for a moment; Tavi knew Tullen was activating his stride gift, just in case they needed to escape quickly. He tried the latch, and Tavi allowed herself a smile when the door opened.

  The room they entered was warm. “There’s a stove,” Tullen said. Tavi knew he had spoken so quietly that no one but she could hear. They both wore knit caps, covering their glowing ears.

  Navigating by touch, they made their way along the left wall of the kitchen, soon exiting into a narrow hallway. After several steps, they turned right into another hallway.

  An archway was on the right and a door on the left. Narre wouldn’t be through the archway; she would be in a closed room. They turned to try the door.

  They had agreed that Tavi would activate her sight, scent, and speech gifts any time they needed light. She did so, and with her face aglow, Tavi stood close to the door, acting as a lantern. Tullen’s hands were steadier than hers, and he pressed the latch and swung the door open. Inside, they could make out a sink, toilet, and tub. They sighed, and Tavi released all but her hearing gift.

  Continuing down the hall, they soon found themselves at a door that
felt solid and had a fancy, metal handle. It had to be the front door. They turned and reached the original hall they’d encountered, turning right. Almost immediately, they found another door. It too was closed.

  Tavi activated her facial gifts again and took a sharp breath when she saw the glint of a brass bell, tied tightly to a nail protruding from the door. There was a second bell above it, another on the left, and a fourth tied to the door handle. Tavi’s heart galloped; this had to be Narre’s room. Surely the bells were there to notify the house’s other occupants if the door was opened. Furthermore, the room seemed to be near the center of the house, just as the maid had described.

  “How do we get those off?” Tullen’s murmur reached Tavi’s ears.

  Tavi held up a hand, asking him to wait. In two breaths, she had moved some of her active magic to her mind. She examined one knot and smiled. In a bare whisper, she said, “Hold the clapper. I’ll untie it.” Tullen’s skeptical expression was clear even in the dim, magical glow, but Tavi pointed to her head, and he nodded in understanding. He pinched the bell’s small clapper, holding it tightly.

  Tavi had never learned to tie more than a square knot, but this complex knot made sense to her. She knew, with the perfect instinct of her mind magic, how to thread the end back through the loops, under, then over, then under again, at every step loosening rather than tightening, until the bell was held by a simple string. With steady hands, Tullen removed the bell, kneeling to set it silently on the floor next to the door.

  They repeated this process three times, the last being the most difficult, as it required Tavi to be on Tullen’s back to be tall enough. By the end, they were both sweating, but Tullen put Tavi down, and they smiled at the four silent bells in a row on the floor.

  Tullen pointed at the latch and looked at Tavi inquiringly. She let go of her mind magic then nodded. He reached out his hand and slowly opened the door.

  Tavi’s face illuminated the room. Her heart leapt into her throat when she saw a man sleeping in a bed directly in front of the open door. It must be Ash. She tiptoed past him and stifled a sob when she saw Narre, sleeping in a small bed at the back of the room.

  Tavi shook her cousin’s shoulder. Narre pulled away, not quite waking. When Tavi shook her again, she woke. A gasp escaped Narre’s mouth when she saw who was in front of her, glowing golden. Tavi put a finger over her own mouth.

  “Tavi,” Narre whispered.

  Tavi shook her head harder, tapping her own lips insistently with her index finger, and Narre closed her mouth, her eyes wide. Her head swiveled to look at Ash. Tavi followed her friend’s gaze. The man was still unmoving on his bed.

  Tavi beckoned to her friend. Narre showed admirable self-control as she sat up gradually, not making a sound. Just as cautiously, she pulled two quilts off her legs, gathering them on the foot of the bed.

  Next, Narre turned so her legs hung off the mattress. She slid to the edge of the bed. Both her feet met the wood floor, and she took Tavi’s outstretched hands and stood. She and her friend shared a smile before navigating around Ash’s bed. Tavi gestured to the door, stepping aside, letting Narre go first.

  Tullen waited outside the room. Narre walked through the door toward him. Tavi was just two steps behind—and then everything went wrong.

  A hand grabbed Tavi’s fingers, clamping down like a vise. She cried out and could see her horror mirrored on Narre’s face, even as Tullen grasped Narre and pulled her down the hallway.

  Then Ash wrenched Tavi away from the door so violently that she felt something snap in her middle finger. Immediate agony engulfed her hand, a pain so overwhelming that the rest of her body went numb. Ash let go of her and took a few steps down the hall, but he immediately returned. Through her pain, a single thought entered Tavi’s mind: They got away. Tullen’s stride gift had been active; he must have picked up Narre and run.

  Ash grasped Tavi’s shoulders and pushed her into a seated position on his bed, but his eyes were so full of panic, she doubted he truly saw her. “Don’t move,” he said. “I’m only going into the hallway.” He exited and closed the door. “Aldin! Konner!” he bellowed. He continued to call their names, over and over.

  If Tavi could have breathed, she would have screamed, but her throat seemed to have frozen with the shock of the pain in her finger. All she could do was hold her breath, her mouth open wide. She had to heal her finger.

  The desire for relief was so strong that as soon as Tavi beckoned to her magic, it rushed in, a violent wave of hot, healing magic. With her left hand, she grasped the middle finger of her right, but that light touch felt like the pressure of a burning brick. Now her breaths came all at once, fast and deep, and she barely avoided a scream. Tavi forced herself to apply enough pressure to determine what was wrong.

  Knowledge of the injury rushed into Tavi through her touch gift. One of the bones in her finger had broken all the way through. She couldn’t hold back the sobs as she sent magic into the area, far more than it needed. She had never healed a bone, but it was even easier than a cut, the two pieces drawing back together without any pesky blood. The relief was immediate, though her crying continued. Tavi flexed and released her hands, letting go of her magic before Ash could return. He mustn’t know she was gifted.

  The healing had taken less than a minute. Footsteps approached, and Tavi heard the three men discussing what had happened. One set of feet ran off, and then two men entered the room, their faces all pale light and dark shadows in the glow of the lantern the younger man held.

  They gazed down at her, and Tavi wanted to be strong, but all she could do was meet their gazes as she wept in discouragement and fear.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Believe someone is entirely good,

  And you will be disappointed.

  Believe someone is entirely evil,

  And you will be surprised.

  -From Proverbs of Savala

  “Who are you?” Ash asked.

  Tavi took several deep breaths, stalling her cries.

  Ash again asked, “Who are you?”

  Tavi lifted her chin and spit out an answer. “Narre’s friend.”

  “Well, I could have guessed that much,” he said. He stared at Tavi, and she forced herself not to look away. “I’d like to sit down; can you please move to Narre’s bed?” he asked. Tavi complied, and both men sat on Ash’s bed, facing her.

  “Listen, I’m Ash; this is Aldin. You can talk to us. We’re not going to hurt you.” Without thinking, Tavi rubbed the finger he had broken, and the movement caught his attention. “Wait—did I hurt you?” he asked. She let go of the finger and shook her head. “Please,” he said, “what’s your name?”

  “I’d rather not say,” Tavi replied.

  Aldin asked, “Are you sun-blessed?” Tavi shook her head, and he sighed in consternation, turning to Ash. “We exchanged someone with an amazing touch gift for her?”

  Ash’s eyes narrowed. “When I caught you, your face was glowing.” She didn’t respond, and he turned to Aldin. “It was so fast; I’m not sure what I saw. But I think she has sight and speech gifts.”

  Tavi felt the corner of her mouth turn barely upward. If they only knew. She forced her face back to stoicism.

  Ash leaned forward, his expression serious. “Listen, I’m not ready to go back to sleep. And you can’t be in here alone without bells on the door. Do you want to come have some coffee or tea with us, or do you want me to put the bells back up, and you can sleep?” He gave her a small smile.

  Tavi gawked at him, stunned at his friendliness. “You kidnapped my friend, and now me.”

  Ash looked down at his hands. “There’s a lot you don’t know,” he said. “We’ll talk about that later. For now—a drink, or sleep?”

  Tavi considered it. Every instinct told her to stay far away from this man who had hurt both her and Narre. Yet what could she do to escape if she were here, at the center of the house, behind a door guarded by those bells? If she displayed trust—count
erfeit though it would be—they might be inspired to give her more freedom. And that could help her escape.

  “I’ll have tea,” Tavi said.

  “Good,” Ash replied. “Let’s go to the sitting room. Aldin will get us our drinks.” Aldin raised his eyebrows at this but didn’t argue. Ash pointed at Tavi’s feet, still covered in dirty boots. “And would you mind taking those off? These floors are new. Plus, it’s warm in here.”

  Ash was right; it was warm. Tavi unlaced her boots and pulled them off, followed by her socks, coat, and hat. She padded along the wooden floor, following Ash to the sitting room.

  Once seated, Tavi refused to answer questions about who she was. In turn, Ash withheld information about Reba and about why they’d been holding Narre. The two of them came to a conversational stalemate, and when Aldin returned with the drinks, he and Ash talked quietly with each other.

  Tavi watched them. She kept her expression smooth, but her heartbeat wouldn’t slow down. These were the two men who had taken Narre, then tied her up. They appeared normal, yet minutes before Ash had been so violent as to break Tavi’s finger.

  Tavi gritted her teeth against her fear. She picked up her teacup and used Nydine’s breathing exercises until she could hold the cup without her hand shaking. If she was going to get out of this place—and she must get out—she would need a clear mind.

  First, she had to try to contact Tullen. He might be listening with his hearing gift. Tavi brought her teacup to her mouth and took a sip of the hot liquid. With the cup still held near her mouth, she tilted her head down. She hoped the cup was providing enough cover, but she wasn’t confident of it. Oh, well—no risk, no reward. The men didn’t seem to be paying her any attention, anyway.

  “Tullen,” Tavi breathed, the minimal sound swallowed by Aldin’s voice and the crackling of the fire. “I’m fine,” she continued. “I’m looking for a way to escape.” She paused, risking a short glance toward the men, who were still wrapped up in conversation. One more sentence, that’s all she would risk. “I wish I was with you,” she sighed.