“I think it’s fate we’re fighting if we stay…”
“I’d rather fight fate than a king and all his soldiers,” Aysha said. “You’re always the one sensing things, but I have a bad feeling about going to Eldering. I’m not certain why. Maybe I don’t want to hear what happened in Tiersten. And what if they want me to come back?”
Darin brought Aysha’s hand up to her lips. “I like Maylek. But I’d go with you anywhere.” She let go of Aysha’s hand and went over to fork more hay into the mare’s stall. “The Widow Baylor said something last night. ‘The winds will rage in the king when the tides rise.’ I didn’t know what to make of it so I asked Baylor. He said to ignore her. What do you think?”
“Why do you think I’d know?”
Darin shrugged.
“The widow heard me call something out in my dream. She asked me about it this morning…”
“What happened in your dream?”
“I don’t remember all of it. The king was sick.” Aysha remembered more than she wanted to admit. She’d dreamed of Heffen and a man lying on his deathbed with soldiers all around him. She was hiding in the shadows, hoping the soldiers wouldn’t see her and watching for the man on the bed to take his last breath. Everyone in the dream had called her a witch and each time she denied it something awful happened. But she didn’t want to say all of this to Darin. Even remembering the scene in the castle made her skin go clammy and cold. “I don’t know how the widow heard me in the middle of the night when she can’t seem to hear me ask for the salt when I’m sitting right next to her.”
“Who’s to say what she hears and what she senses?” Darin asked.
“Do you think she can sense things the way you can?”
“I’m not sure. She says she hears things in the wind, but I don’t know that she isn’t losing her mind. She wanders around at night…” Darin met Aysha’s gaze. “Your dream meant something. We’d make it to Eldering in a day if we started early. I know you don’t like boats, but Baylor’s a good sailor.” She went to push open the barn door and a cool breeze swept through, stirring up loose bits of hay and dust. “The scent on the wind is new. There’s a change coming.”
Aysha wanted to deny Darin’s words. But she felt the truth rush through her. Even if she tried to stay the same, to hold on to what she knew, everything around her changed. Maybe Darin was right—maybe she couldn’t fight fate.
* * *
Heavy rains pounded the widow’s home that night. Aysha woke several times worrying that the howling wind had torn apart the thatch roof. Darin calmed her back to sleep each time, wrapping her arms around her and pulling her close.
By morning, the main road through town had turned into a river and several of the homes on the lower slopes close to the ocean were flooded. The Widow Baylor’s home, set high on the slope, survived the storm. Two families whose homes had been flooded moved in. One family set up in the barn and the other in the storage room behind the cottage. Baylor came not long after this. Aysha was in the kitchen cooking oatmeal for the children that now filled the widow’s home.
“The boat’s ready. We’ll pull out with the break in the storm at midday,” Baylor said.
“I’ll let Darin know to be down at the dock then.” Aysha stirred milk into the oatmeal.
He raised his eyebrows. “You aren’t coming?”
The widow muttered, “Of course she’s going. There’s no room for a witch in my house.”
“There’s no witch here.” She felt Baylor’s eyes on her and knew her voice had been too loud.
“Don’t mind her, Aysha,” he said kindly. “She doesn’t know what she’s saying most of the time anymore.”
“I know what I hear,” the widow interrupted. Her gaze was unfocused, as if she were scanning the shadows of the room. “I hear her in the night…she says she’s a witch.” The widow’s voice had a strange cadence to it, as if she were humming a song in her head as she spoke. “The wind said it over and over. And then she said it herself too.” She sang, “The witch must go—or the flooding will get worse.”
Aysha felt her words catch in her throat. She wanted to scream at the old woman. How were the rains possibly her fault?
“Mother,” Baylor said, coming over to take the widow’s hand. “Aysha’s got nothing to do with the storm, you know that.”
“I know what she is,” the widow said, pulling her hand free. “Witch!”
Aysha turned quickly so Baylor wouldn’t see the tears start in her eyes. She brushed them away as she stirred the pot of oatmeal on the stove. The bottom had started to scorch and she pulled it from the flame. The widow was humming again, lost now in her own world, the conversation of only a moment ago forgotten.
Darin came into the house, taking in the tense scene in one glance. “Everything all right?”
“I’m taking the boat to Eldering.”
“When?”
“The rain will stop by midday. I’ll leave then.” Baylor left with a nod to Darin, pulling his hat down low on his head as he stepped out into the wind.
Aysha spooned the oatmeal into bowls, feeling Darin’s eyes on her back. She was careful not to scrape the bottom. When she called for them, three children gathered for the breakfast. Each one took a bowl and a spoon. She handed a bowl of oats to the widow and one to Darin as well, not meeting their eyes, and then carried the scorched pot outside to let the rain soak it.
She didn’t stop the tears that fell down her cheeks as Darin’s arms wrapped around her.
“What is it?” Darin asked.
“There’s too much rain. And it’s somehow my fault. The widow says the rains won’t stop until I go. But I don’t want to leave.”
“Even if it isn’t true, she’ll put the idea in others’ heads. She’ll spread the rumor that you’re a witch. And if others think we’re the cause of this flooding…” Darin pushed Aysha’s hair to the side and kissed her cheek. “Anyway, we’ve got to go to Eldering to find out what’s happened.”
“The king wants me dead. Why go back?”
“I’ll keep you safe,” Darin promised.
When Aysha didn’t respond, Darin kissed her cheek again and headed down the hill to the docks. Aysha went inside the cottage, ignoring the widow at the kitchen table. The children had finished their oatmeal and were playing in the hallway. She closed the door to her room and lay down on her bed mat. Her mother’s face came to her immediately. Her simple smile didn’t ask any questions or give any advice. Aysha had wondered what had happened in Tiersten that pushed her mother’s family to leave. Now she knew.
The bedroom door pushed open and one of the littlest children came into the room. He was a quiet boy who went by the nickname Ket. He sat down on her mat and then cuddled against her.
“Tell me a story.”
She sighed and pulled him close. “Once there was an orchard with trees as big as this house and a boy as big as you lived in the orchard. He climbed the trees to eat apples and spy on robins…”
As she spun the tale, the boy’s eyes fluttered closed. After a while, his mother called his name. She peeked into the room when Aysha whistled softly and then smiled when she saw that he’d fallen asleep. Aysha cradled him, keeping as still as she could. His steady breathing was the first bit of calm that she’d felt in days.
Chapter Thirty-Two
As Baylor predicted, the rains ceased by midday. The sun shone out from between the clouds and townspeople had set to work digging ditches and unclogging drain ways to divert the water from the road. Aysha picked her way through the flooded parts. She’d grown used to muddy boots and soiled pant cuffs over the past month, but she was soon soaked up past her knees.
Baylor was already in the boat. He didn’t raise an eyebrow when Aysha stepped in, only catching her arm to steady her. The boat rocked from side to side in the choppy water. Darin came up from below deck and without a word to Aysha went to untie the rope binding the boat to the pier. With a shove of her boot, the boat slipped away fro
m the dock. Aysha closed her eyes.
By some strange will of the clouds, the rains held off throughout their journey to Eldering. The sun shone and a light breeze kept the sail taut. This didn’t stop Aysha from being sick twice. They reached Eldering by dusk but decided to drop anchor and spend the night aboard the boat. Darin and Aysha went below deck to share the narrow bed mat and Baylor kept watch. He and Darin had arranged to split the night shift and he promised to wake her after midnight. Aysha slept fitfully. The sloshing of the waves against the wood sides reminded her of the sound of a slop bucket, which only made the nausea worse, and though there was nothing in her stomach, she rose several times to retch. The rocking motion eased her into dreams, only to startle her awake a short time later.
Darin rustled her awake at first light and they ate a cold breakfast of bread and smoked fish. Smoke from breakfast stoves curled upwards from the homes in Eldering. Most of the homes were centered behind the harbor, but several dotted the roadway in either direction leading out of Eldering.
They pulled up anchor and let the waves bring them in. Once they were tied at the dock, Darin hopped out of the boat and reached out for Aysha to take her hand. Baylor had decided to stay on board the boat.
Before they had crossed the length of the dock, Darin pulled up short. Two soldiers were coming towards them. One stared directly at Darin with a strange expression on his face while the other was distracted with a large crate that he pushed on an unsteady wheelbarrow. Every rut in the worn wood threatened to overturn the wheelbarrow so this soldier kept pausing to adjust the load. When the first soldier pointed to one of the boats, the one with the crate cut in front of Darin and Aysha without so much as a glance in their direction.
The other soldier turned back toward town, and Darin followed him without a word. He had a bow in his hand and quiver full of arrows on his back. Every so often he glanced over his shoulder as if to make certain they were following him. Aysha knew they were too close for her to ask any questions, but she did wonder what Darin might be planning. They passed two taverns and then the soldier turned into a narrow alley between the second tavern and an inn. Darin paused. She glanced up the main road and then back to the harbor. “I need to speak with this man. Go to Marian’s cousin’s home. I’ll find you there.”
Aysha wasn’t concerned about finding Marian’s cousin’s home, but she didn’t like the thought of leaving Darin alone with the soldier. There was something unsettling about him. Instead of meeting her gaze, the soldier’s pale blue eyes seemed to stare through her and his bow hand twitched.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to separate,” Aysha started.
Darin discreetly passed the knife from her belt to Aysha’s. “Go to Marian’s cousin’s and I’ll find you there.”
“I don’t trust that soldier,” Aysha whispered.
“I know Illyan well.” She glanced down the alley. “This will only take a few minutes. I’ll be right behind you.”
Aysha reluctantly turned back to the main road. Darin’s knife was useless in her hands but feeling something of Darin’s close to her was steadying. And she knew Darin wouldn’t miss the knife—another was strapped at her calf and the sword she’d taken from Heffen swung at her hip.
Few people passed on the road who weren’t soldiers. She stopped the first man who wasn’t in uniform to ask directions. When she said Marian’s cousin’s name, the man wrinkled his nose. “I know Cyrus. But I wish I didn’t.” He pointed up the hill and went off before Aysha was certain which house he’d pointed to. She got a similar reaction from the next person she asked, a woman carrying buckets of eggs. Despite the fact that Cyrus clearly wasn’t liked, his house was easy to find. Everyone she asked knew of him.
Cyrus offered her a mug of hot tea and a chair near the kitchen stove. He said that Marian had asked him to look out for her so he wasn’t surprised when she’d knocked at his door. His own breakfast of a fat sausage link was frying on the skillet.
“I haven’t been to Tiersten in over a month,” he said. “With all of the rains no one has much reason to travel except the traders, and we’re as reluctant as any to be caught in a downpour far from home with the roads flooded and nowhere dry to camp. Two new groups of the king’s soldiers arrived in Eldering only a few days ago, but they came from Caratia and seem to only be here to transport supplies. We’ve had nothing but rumors as far as news from Tiersten. How has Maylek held up? I heard the riverbanks flooded.”
She nodded in answer, but the fact that Cyrus knew she was staying in Maylek unnerved her. He avoided looking at her directly and his shifty movements put her on edge. She tasted the tea and nearly spit it out. Setting the cup aside, she studied him as he cooked. His skin was as oily as the sausage and the sizzling meat had an off-smell that she knew Darin wouldn’t have liked. Either it was nearly spoiled or it’d been made of some animal that wasn’t meant to be sausage. Unfortunately, she had no other contact to Tiersten.
“Every bit of trade through the city is controlled by the king. He’s got a tax on everything. And with these rains…Marian gave me something for you.” He pulled the skillet from the flames and rolled the sausage onto his platter, then went to a back room to retrieve a dark red wool scarf. The scarf was carefully folded into a triangle.
Aysha unfolded the scarf and found the bronze locket she’d left with Tobias’s neighbor. She tucked the locket into her satchel under her cloak and then wrapped the scarf around her neck. Fortunately the locket wasn’t worth anything to Cyrus. He hardly glanced at it. If it had been gold or even silver, Aysha guessed that he would have kept the trinket for himself.
“Did Marian say anything when she gave you this?”
“No. She only wanted to be certain you got that…If I had known how long the rains were to last, I would have stayed longer on that trip.”
Aysha guessed that Cyrus was withholding something. He ate the sausage in big bites, chewing loudly, then wiped his lips with his shirtsleeve. “If there’s nothing more then, I’ve got work in town.”
Aysha thanked Cyrus and was relieved to step outside. She had no desire to wait at his house now, but she didn’t relish the thought of wandering the streets of Eldering looking for Darin. There were too many soldiers.
A woman came out of the neighboring cottage with an overfilled basket of wet laundry balanced on one hip and a baby balanced on the other. Aysha went over to open the gate for her and the woman smiled. The baby was wiggling precariously and stretched out for Aysha as they passed. Aysha laughed and tickled the babe’s upturned palm.
“Can I help?” Aysha asked, watching the woman struggle to hang the clothesline. “I’m waiting for someone and wouldn’t mind staying busy.”
“Thanks. She’s mischief and cries whenever I put her down. But I’ve got to get these hung before the rains start again.”
“The rains have been my excuse for not doing the laundry!”
“Well, then, but you don’t have a little one making a mess on everything.” The mother promptly deposited the bundled baby in Aysha’s arms. The baby giggled as Aysha held the scarf up to cover her face, then peeked over the edge and grinned. “You’re a friend of Cyrus?”
Aysha could hear the distrust in the woman’s voice and said, “He’s a cousin of a friend of mine in Tiersten. With the invasion, I haven’t been able to visit her. I’ve worried about her since the king took over. I don’t know Cyrus well, though.”
Aysha took a seat on a fairly dry bench beside the clothesline and bounced the baby on her knee.
The baby clapped her hands as if Aysha had said something brilliant. The mother smiled and began hanging the clothes. After a few minutes, Cyrus emerged from the cottage. When he spotted Aysha at the neighbor’s house, he stiffened. Aysha raised her hand, wishing Darin would hurry. Cyrus turned down the hill toward town without another glance. “He’s a strange man. If he wasn’t my friend’s cousin…”
“You’d do well to keep far from him.”
Aysha agreed. If Marian hadn’t named him as her contact, she would have crossed a road to avoid him.
Once the laundry was hung, the mother excused herself to go dump out the wash water. She looked concerned about leaving Aysha with the baby, but the child’s contented laughter made her hurry off, promising to be quick. When she returned, she sat beside Aysha on the bench and reached her hands out. The baby squealed with excitement and lunged for her. Aysha laughed, handing the baby over, and said, “She is a beautiful child. So full of smiles!”
“Until you try and set her down.” The woman cuddled the baby against her chest and sighed. She glanced at Cyrus’s cottage and said in a low voice, “You should know that Cyrus is close with the king’s soldiers. Anything he tells you about your friend may or may not be true. He hasn’t many friends left in Eldering and I doubt they like him much better in Tiersten. He steals from everyone he meets.”
Aysha felt her stomach drop at this. But if Marian and the Elders trusted him… “I wonder if my friend knows the company Cyrus keeps.”
The baby squealed and clapped her hands on Aysha’s cheeks, then pulled at the scarf, trying to tug it free from Aysha’s neck. She took the scarf off and dangled it out for the baby. The baby pulled at the material and then held it up to her own face laughing.
“He does favors for the king—talks about it all the time. You’d think he was one of the king’s generals the way he talks.”
Aysha spotted Darin walking up the road. She stood up, passing the baby back to the mother. The baby held onto the scarf and Aysha smiled. “She can keep the scarf. A thank you gift for warning me.”
“Oh, there’s no need,” the mother said, but seeing the baby happily playing with the scarf, she laughed and nodded. Aysha thanked the mother again and headed out of the courtyard to meet Darin. She glanced back as the baby squealed. The mother had hung the scarf on the clothesline and a gust of wind billowed the fabric and set its tassels swinging.
Aysha and Darin didn’t waste time on greetings. She quickly relayed the young woman’s warning about Cyrus. She wanted to be gone from Eldering as soon as possible. Darin’s edginess made her guess that she sensed something as well.
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