by A. G. Henley
All that water, he’d said.
“The Shivering Sea,” Amarina says. “We have heard of it from wanderers who passed through Koolkuna. They said vast numbers of people used to live alongside it, they scattered to avoid the runa.”
The Shivering Sea. A thrill runs through me. I’ve heard of these great expanses of water, but of course, I’ve never been near one. I listen for it; it must be too far away. I only hear the sizzle and pop of the Eternal Flames.
“How big is it?” I ask.
Peree stands behind me and picks up my hands. He spreads my arms wide, like wings. “This is as far as I can see in the moonlight. But it’s probably bigger.”
“And the Cloister?”
He brings my hands closer together.
“It looks about twice the size of Koolkuna. Big enough to house a substantial group,” he says. “The flames are blinding; they make the inside of the Cloister hard to see. There are some buildings, I think—”
“And guards on the walls,” Conda says.
Moray scoffs. “How can you tell from this far?”
“The torches along the walls blink out every few seconds. See? People are moving in front of them.”
“See that cluster of torches?" Bears asks. "On the ground below that… some people came out of the forest. They’re walking toward the wall.”
“I think they have children with them,” Peree says. Amarina gasps.
Our children? They’re probably too far away and it’s too dark to be sure, but I grip the railing with both hands, ready to run to them.
“How do we get down from here?” I ask.
Peree lays a hand on my arm. “There’s no way we’d reach them in time.”
Everyone seems to hold their breath. Derain breaks the silence, moaning softly.
“They disappeared,” Peree murmurs. “There must be a gate.”
“Damn it!” Moray says. The handhold bounces slightly as if he slammed his fist on top of it.
“We almost caught up to them,” Conda says. His words sound final, as if this is the end of our journey.
I close my eyes, allowing tears of frustration to mingle with those brought on by the caustic smoke. Could we have reached them before they disappeared into the Cloister if we’d moved into the trees this morning, like Kai suggested?
Amarina cries—the first time I’ve heard her do it—and Derain comforts her. He sounds as if his heart is breaking, too. If I’m devastated to know we were so close to the children; how must they feel? Peree tucks me under his arm. It’s hard to tell if I’m supporting him or he’s supporting me. Defeat hovers around us, as unmistakable as the sharp stink of the fire protecting the Sisters and their terrible ways.
What now? How will we get into the Cloister and back out with the children? It seems impossible from the way they described the place. So… what’s our choice? Leave Kora, Darel, Thrush, and the other children to the Fire Sisters? Do Frost and her child deserve to live out their days here in the Cloister?
I stand up straight and shake my hair out of my face. “Okay. So we need to find a way in. Any ideas?”
Silence.
“There has to be a way,” I say.
“Getting in anywhere along the Eternal Flames is out,” Peree says.
“Maybe we could find some way to climb into the Cloister from the mountain on the far side," Bear says.
“Sure—and be easy pickings for the Sisters,” Cuda says.
“Scale the walls?” I ask.
“Not if there are as many guards along ‘em as I think there are,” Conda says.
“Face it, boys, we’re up a Lofty tree with our pants down,” Moray says.
I’ve always hated that old Groundling saying. “We didn’t come this far to give up now.”
Peree massages my neck. “We just can’t see an obvious way to sneak in. Maybe in the morning, when it’s lighter, we can find a way.”
No one seems to have a better plan. So as full night falls, we settle down on the platform. I don’t hear anyone take out their bedrolls or make themselves more comfortable. A few people eat—I give Peree some knuckles and a little dried meat I’ve been saving—but I’m not hungry. I sit beside him, my crossed legs bouncing restlessly on the hard wood of the platform, pondering how we can get in and out without alerting the Sisters. Nothing comes to mind.
Thanks to the Eternal Flames, the sky doesn’t completely blacken. How is it that the flames don’t die, ever? How do the Sisters stand living so close to a massive wall of fire that spews plumes of stinking smoke all the time? Apart from all that, it must be hot. What drives them to live in what sounds like a self-imposed prison, excluding men and stealing other peoples’ children to raise as their own? At least I hope they plan to raise them. The alternative is too awful to consider.
I wake, lying on my side, shivering. It’s still dark, maybe early morning. Peree and I share a blanket, but he's pulled it off me in his sleep. I hear his rhythmic breathing, and the long, slow breaths of the others, too. Someone coughs a little.
My thoughts nettle me, keeping me awake. How will we get into the Cloister? Where will the children be kept? How do we get them back out? Without any answers, or even any clues, the questions tumble through my head, leaves in a windstorm. Falling asleep again is futile.
I stand, seeking fresh air, and inch across the platform. Using my feet to find the sleepers, I clear the group and move away, down the platform. The light from the wall of fire illuminates the darkness.
“Mirii."
I jump—Amarina's voice is close. She touches my forearm with a chilled hand.
“I did not mean to startle you.” Her voice is bleak. So different from the calm warmth she usually exudes.
I catch her hand and wrap it in both of mine. “I'm so sorry we didn’t get to them sooner.”
“To… to know my little Ellin is in there with those women, so close but I cannot reach her—” She sucks in a ragged breath.
I want to assure her we’ll rescue them, but I don't. I wouldn't promise Bear anything, and I won't promise Amarina, either.
Bear… Something about my conversation with him niggles in the back of my head. A tingling feeling sets in, and I squeeze my new friend's hand too hard as the seed of an idea forms and grows into an actual plan. A ridiculous plan. A crazy, dangerous plan.
“Mirii? What is it?”
I release the pressure. “Nothing. Thinking about the children.”
I’m not ready to tell her my thoughts yet. Maybe it won’t be necessary. Maybe we can find another way in the morning.
Amarina and I stand together, sharing our warmth, as dawn washes slowly over the sky from the far side of the Cloister, the side of the Shivering Sea. The Eternal Flames turn molten.
My idea preoccupies me as I eat a handful of the greasy knuckles and a few bites of mostly stale bread, washing the unappealing meal down with water from my sack. It consumes me as we continue on along the walkways, until we locate a rope ladder to the ground. The others decide the Fire Sisters must use it. I hope we’re still far enough from the Cloister that we can’t be seen as we descend. Maybe the trees cover us, because Peree doesn’t seem worried when I ask him. The forest, he tells me, wraps around the Cloister on one side, running beside one of the walls.
We stay well within the trees as we creep alongside the wall of the Cloister. The others are looking for some chink in the Sister’s armor. Peree whispers that there is a high, wide gate in the wall, as we suspected, made of several tremendous greenheart tree trunks. As Conda said, armed guards stroll along the top of the wall that stretches from the Eternal Flames to the mountain at the other end of the Cloister. I hear them speak to each other from time to time, their voices clear in the quiet morning air. They all sound female.
The only other activity the others see is a section of the wall being repaired where it meets the sheer mountainside. A huge tree fell on it, they say.
“Could we get through there?” Conda asks.
“Yeah, if we want to die,” Cuda says. “There are double the guards at this end than by the Eternal Flames.”
After a short debate, they decide it would be suicide. We retrace our steps back to the gate, and then deeper into the forest so we can confer.
Peree whispers in my ear. “Fenn… where are you?”
He’s noticed my distraction. I kiss his hand and press the back of it against my cheek. His beloved hand—the hard ridges of the tendons, the long fingers, the tips callused from strumming the string of his bow. I love every inch of him.
“I’m here,” I say.
I feel his unease right through my lips. He’s not going to be happy with my plan. I’m not happy with my plan. But the silence from the others is grim; they aren’t seeing a way in.
“That’s it, then,” Cuda says when we come to a stop among the quiet trees. “We’ve got a flaming wall of death, a solid mountain, two massive stone walls, and lots of armed women who look like they’d much rather spear you than sleep with you. What’s our plan?”
“I say we pick the spot with the fewest guards, wait until dark, and climb over,” Moray says. “If we’re lucky, we kill the guards, nice and quiet, and we all get through. If not, we lose some of our own, but enough of us get in to grab the children and fight our way out.” He sounds as blasé as ever. Does he even feel fear?
Bear snorts. “Which of us are we okay with losing, Moray? Not you or your brothers, I’ll bet. Maybe we can create a diversion out here. If we get them to come out and investigate, we could grab a Sister and use her as a bargaining chip.”
“What if they send out more than we can handle?” Peree asks. “We still haven't checked out the far wall.”
“They'll see us,” Cuda says. “There’s no forest on that side to hide in.”
“Kaiya, do you remember anything about the Cloister that might help?” Derain’s voice is urgent.
“I wouldn’t trust my memory. It was too long ago.”
“And the Sisters might have made changes,” Amarina says.
I listen to the others argue, suggesting ideas and throwing them out. They seem to revolve around either pulling off an all-out assault on the compound or sneaking in and finding the children. Both sound hopeless considering the size of our group and that we know next to nothing about the layout of the Cloister’s interior.
But there is another way. One that won’t risk all our lives. In fact, if I have my way, it’ll only risk mine. I can finally make a decision that I know won’t get anyone else hurt. Despite the danger, my breathing slows and the frantic pace of my heart settles.
“I have a plan,” I say.
“I knew it,” Peree mutters. “What?”
“I’m going to ask the Fire Sisters to release the children.”
Moray snorts. “Why would they agree to that?”
I close my eyes. “Because I’ll offer myself in exchange.”
Chapter Fifteen
“What?” Peree grabs my shoulders as if I was planning to make a run for the wall that second. “No, you won’t.”
“Only for as long as I have to, Peree, until I find a way to get the children out. Kai said they took the girls because they need and want women for their community. Well, I’m a woman.” Sort of. “Maybe they’ll take me for them.”
“Or maybe they’ll kill you on sight,” Bear says.
“I’ll take that chance to try to free the children without anyone else getting hurt.”
If the Sisters have been able to survive for generations, managing a large compound like this, I’m betting they have enough self-control to hear me out when I approach the wall. Of course, I could be wrong. But at least it will only be my neck I’m risking.
“They have my baby, Frost, and a bunch of other children,” Moray says. “There’s only one of you. Not exactly a stellar trade.”
“There will be two of us,” Amarina says. “I will go with Mirii. The chances of the Sisters trading the guru are better if there are more of us.”
“But… what if something does happen and we’re hurt?" I say. "Ellin needs you.”
“I must try to free her,” Amarina says. “You may risk your life for the guru, but I may not risk mine for my daughter? This is not your decision, Mirii.”
I’ve heard that before. When I planned to leave home and take only Eland to Koolkuna, Bear argued to go with us. I tried to protest, and he said almost the same thing Amarina did. The wonderful thing about being human is that we’re able to make our own choices, Kadee told me later, when she saw me struggling with the decision to include others in my dangerous plans. Even if they’re the wrong ones.
Please don’t let this be a wrong one.
“There are still only two of you and a slew of children,” Moray says.
“I’ll go,” Kai says.
I blink with shock. “What? Why?”
The question pops out before I can stop it. She doesn’t answer.
I understand that Amarina would do anything for her daughter, but Kai? Why would she willingly volunteer to go back inside the Cloister with the Sisters? Maybe I’m underestimating her the way she underestimates me, but she doesn’t seem like the selfless sort. What am I missing?
“Three of you is better,” Moray concedes. “Still might not be enough.”
“Can I talk to you, Fennel?” Peree says through gritted teeth. “Alone?”
I sigh and let him lead me away from the others. His hand cages mine; his gait is stiff. Branches snatch at my hair as we walk. As soon as we’re alone, he explodes.
“You can’t do this!”
Drawing him to me, I wrap my arms around his back. I try to memorize the feel of his body against mine, the warmth of his touch, the particular smell of his skin. The assurance and love I feel when we're together. I lost my family. I might have lost Kora. Our future in Koolkuna is less than secure. Peree is what I have left. In fact, if I didn’t have him, joining the Fire Sisters wouldn’t be much of a sacrifice.
“Peree—we knew the search might come down to something like this when we joined it. Any plan to sneak into the Cloister or take the children by force could get us all killed. If you let me try this, we might survive. Even escape. Especially the children.”
“Might,” he snaps, “is what I’m worried about. What if they keep all of you—including the children? Have you thought of that?”
“Then at least Amarina, Kai, and I will be inside. We can make some sort of plan.”
I kiss him, trying to dispel his anger. I need him to be calm, prepared. He has a part to play in this, too. If the Sisters won’t release the children, then we might need the men’s help to get them out. Somehow. Panic nips at my ankles as the unknowns yawn before me. I take a settling breath.
“Please, Peree. Please support me. I believe this is the right thing to do, but I need you with me, at least in spirit.”
He holds me, not answering. I rest my head against his chest and listen to the frantic pace of his heart, not quite in synch with my own. I sense the struggle within him in the rapid tension and release of his muscles. He draws breath as if he’ll argue, but then he doesn’t speak. Before he releases me, he straightens, standing up to his full height, and I know he’s accepted my plan.
“When we were first in Koolkuna,” he says, “I said your commitment to your people was something I admired. I told you I didn’t expect you to change. How can I go back on that now? But… please do everything you can to keep yourself safe. I need you as much as you need me. More. Please… promise me you won’t do anything reckless.”
I tell him I won't, and I mean every word. I don’t have a death wish; I only want to free the children.
He kisses me then, his lips hard against mine. His hands roam over my back and shoulders and run through my hair. He lifts me up, pulling me against him, pulling me into him. My body throbs with the same desire I feel in him; I want to stay, lose myself. When can we stop fighting and just be together? Will that time ever come?
I feel w
eak and a little shaky as we walk back to the others. I don’t want to enter the Cloister, face the Fire Sisters, but I’m certain this path is the right one—for me. I have to remind myself that Amarina and Kai are choosing their own paths. At least it will be their decision; I’m not forced to make it for them.
We decide that the men will stay near the Cloister, but under no circumstances can the Sisters see them. They'll only intervene if necessary. For this to work, we have to convince the Sisters that we three are acting alone, and that we aren’t a threat.
I have a feeling the Sisters’ safety is most important to them. Why else would they live in a walled compound protected by fire, mountains, and armed guards? Despite years of mistrust and hostility between the Groundlings and Lofties, fearing each other’s aggression and whims, we never took such steps.
“We will monitor the Cloister from the platform in the trees.” Derain's voice is shot through with pain and care.
“Give us time. We may need to figure out a plan if they don’t release the children,” I warn them.
“How long should we wait?” Peree sounds aggravated, which I’ve learned is how he covers his fear. “How will we know the plan? How will we even know you’re alive?”
“You won’t,” Kai says.
“We’ll find a way to talk to you.” I don’t have a clue how, but I want to reassure him.
“One of us will stay close to the wall all the time, watching and listening for you,” Peree promises.
We say our goodbyes. Bear grabs me in one of his great, smothering hugs. Cuda and Moray wish us luck.
“You’re gonna need it,” Moray adds.
Then Conda asks to speak with me alone. Curious, I move to the side with him.
“If you see Frost,” he says in a low voice, “tell her… tell her I’m here.”
“I will,” I say.
“No, I mean, that I’m here for her. That I care about her, and I’ll care for her even if my boar’s-ass brother won’t. Her and her baby.”