Earth Bound

by Avril Sabine

  Brianne sat in a tree on a branch near Talon, having climbed there on her own rather than risk his attempt at flying. She’d been surprised he’d managed to reach the branch near her on his first attempt. Not too far from them, on a well-worn path, Marshall sat on his horse, constantly looking around.

  “What did you look like before you started taking vieteh berries?”

  Brianne glanced at Talon, but his gaze remained on Marshall. “The same, just different colouring. It’s starting to fade already.”

  “I noticed. Your eyes look odd. Patchy. What colour should they be?”

  “Light blue.”

  “You do know vieteh berries are poisonous.”

  She shrugged. “I was under a death sentence anyway.”

  Talon looked over at her. “Because you had no wings?”

  “Yes, but my family arranged other options for me.”

  “Being a spy?”

  Brianne shook her head. “Teaching fledglings or joining the House.”

  “Becoming a slave.”

  Her gaze was drawn to Marshall. “They didn’t know.” She thought of Talon’s family and how his father had known about the Prilonians. No, her family would never sell her into slavery, but her grandfather and uncle had never planned to let her join the House. Marshall drew himself upright and she turned to see where he looked. Ten soldiers rode towards him on horseback, weapons at the ready.

  Brianne’s hand rested over the throwing darts in their leather case on her belt. She didn’t trust Marshall and she certainly didn’t trust the soldiers.

  “Warner,” Marshall called out. “I have a message for you to take to the Political Leader.”

  The soldiers halted and one moved slightly ahead of the others, still leaving plenty of distance between him and Marshall. “Why can’t you take it to her?”

  “I found Talon. I need you to let his mother know.”

  Warner shook his head. “He’s a traitor. It’s death for anyone who helps him.”

  “He has information proving the General and Bellamy are traitors. I’ve talked him into giving the information to his mother, even though he doesn’t think she’ll believe him. I think she will. Talon will meet with her if you can get this message to her in time.” Marshall held up the letter.

  “What makes you think she’ll listen?” one of the other soldiers asked.

  “Because of the proof. She’ll have to do something about it or the General will destroy our people. He’s negotiating with people beyond the Feronian Mountains, but he’s ignoring the fact they’re going to turn on us in the long run.” Marshall used the excuse they’d decided on.

  “And this proof shows Bellamy to be a traitor too?” Warner asked.

  Marshall nodded. “He’s been the General’s errand boy, delivering messages.”

  Warner rode forward. “I can’t promise anything other than to give the letter to the Political Leader.”

  “Don’t do it, Warner. What if you’re charged with helping Talon? It’s death,” one of the other soldiers said.

  “I’m not helping him. I’m letting the Political Leader know some important information. It’s up to her to decide what’s to be done with it.” Warner took the letter and tucked it into his belt pouch.

  Marshall’s next words were too quiet for Brianne to hear and she tried to read his lips, unable to figure out the words. Was he betraying them? Then Marshall rode away, the soldiers rode on and Talon started to climb out of the tree.

  Brianne waited a moment longer, watching to make sure the soldiers didn’t double back. She clambered out of the tree and strode after Talon, who walked towards the horses.

  When Marshall joined them, Brianne asked, “What did you say to Warner when he took the letter?”

  “To tell his friend not to join the House. Wait a while before he makes the decision.”

  Brianne nodded. “Do you think he’ll listen?”

  Marshall shrugged. “I don’t know. I can only hope.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Talon

  Talon tried to remain still. He wanted to pace and every sound had him fighting the urge to draw his sword. His mother would be joining him any minute and he didn’t think it’d be a good idea to greet her with a drawn sword. Maybe if they’d made the meeting time earlier he wouldn’t be feeling so impatient, but he had needed to give her enough time to get the message.

  He glanced around the clearing, making sure he didn’t stare too long in the direction Brianne and Marshall were hidden. His back tightened and he ignored the urge to set his wings free. Having his wings out would probably be as good an idea as greeting his mother with a sword. A sound drew his attention and he turned to see his mother ride into the clearing, dismounting near him.

  “Do you realise the trouble you’ve caused?” Larena asked.

  Instead of answering, he held out the letter they’d gone back to the cave to fetch.

  She didn’t take it. “What is this?”

  “A letter from my father to the Supreme One, who he addresses as Elden, begging for extra time to pay the tribute when we had that late harvest a couple of years ago.”

  “The Supreme One has no other name than Holy Father.”

  Talon shook the letter at her. “Read it. Just read it. Tell me this isn’t my father’s handwriting.”

  Larena took the letter from him and opened it.

  Talon waited as she read, wanting to tell her to hurry up. He remained quiet, trying to stay calm. The meeting wasn’t going exactly how he’d expected.

  Larena finally raised her head. “Who else knows of this? Marshall? The Caelian girl?”

  Something didn’t feel right to him. “Only I’ve read it. I wanted to show you before anyone else saw it.”

  “Where are they? Marshall and the girl?”

  What did it matter where they were? Especially Marshall. “Once I agreed to meet with you Marshall said he was going back to his unit. And the Caelian girl,” Talon shrugged, “I don’t know where she is.”

  “Good.” Larena nodded. She placed the letter in her belt pouch and raised her right hand. “I once had great hopes for you.” Disappointment filled her voice.

  Talon looked behind her to where a unit of soldiers rode towards him led by Bellamy, his father bringing up the rear. “Why?” Pain hit him. This time an ache in his heart rather than his wings.

  “You have no idea what you nearly did. You could have destroyed Terst.” She stepped away from him. “Take him.”

  Bellamy dismounted, coming towards Talon with a grin. “It’ll be my pleasure, ma’am.”

  His first urge was to fight, but then he thought of Marshall and Brianne watching him. Marshall would never let him fight alone. He wasn’t certain about Brianne, not after she’d warned him against this. “I’ll come quietly. I have no wish to hurt my own people.” The last words were said with a pointed look towards his father. He managed to refrain from saying, unlike some.

  As soon as Talon was mounted behind a soldier, his hands tied behind him, they headed to the city. He was put in a cell beneath the fortress and his father stood at the barred doorway, a look of disappointment on his face.

  “Why?” Talon grabbed hold of a bar, his hands now untied.

  “Sometimes it’s better to bow your head than to lose it.”

  Talon stared at his father, hardly able to believe the words he’d spoken. “No. Never.”

  “Then you wouldn’t have made a good general. I have to make the decisions that are for the greater good. Sometimes you need to sacrifice a few so the majority survive.”

  Bitterness twisted through Talon. “I never would have made a good general, not with my wings.”

  “You should have come to me. The Prilonians can remove them without killing the patient now.”

  Disbelief arrowed through Talon. Letting go of the bars, he took a step backwards. “Who are you?”

  “I could say the same.” Footsteps echoed down the corridor and Barrett turned towards them
. “Elden.”

  Elden came into Talon’s view, his black robed figure stopping to face him, his features still hidden by the hood of his robe. A million questions came to mind, but he didn’t have a clue which one he should ask first.

  After a moment, Elden turned to Barrett. “You can’t be seen down here. It doesn’t look good. You need to disassociate yourself from this mess.” He made a waving motion towards Talon.

  “I’m not a mess, I’m his son.” Talon stepped forward to grab a hold of the bars again.

  Barrett nodded. “You’re right. I’ll leave it in your hands.”

  Talon stared after his father. He couldn’t believe he was walking off without a single word to his only son. “Father!” No reply. His father kept walking until he was out of sight, the sound of his footsteps fading into the distance his only answer. It was a nightmare. He’d always known his father was a hard man, but to desert his own family? He would have sworn it was an impossibility.

  Elden laughed. “You didn’t really think he’d go against me to save you, did you?”

  “Why would he help you? What did you promise him?”

  “His enemy dead and a powerful ally.”

  “How long ago did he make this bargain?”

  “Years ago. When he first became general. I showed him what he faced if he went against us.”

  Talon stared at Elden, wishing he could tear the hood from his face to see the man who would destroy them all. He finally knew which question he needed answered, the one that would answer all his other questions. “Are you ever going to help my people defeat the Caelians?”

  “You are warriors. What would you be without the Caelians to fight?” His words hung in the air a moment before he added. “What would you do if you didn’t have them to fight?” He turned and strode away.

  “No!” Talon’s hands tightened around the bars. Brianne had been right. Elden had no plan to help his people win. He wanted to keep them in a futile war forever. Pushing away from the bars he started to pace. What had he done? He hoped Brianne managed to get the books and letters to her people. Hoped the Caelians hadn’t gone crawling to their enemy in a desperate attempt to save their people.

  Pain tore across his back and he ripped his shirt off, setting his wings free. He was dead anyway, why should he care who saw his wings?

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Brianne

  Brianne struggled to hold Marshall back. “You can’t help him.” She slammed him against the tree he’d jumped out of when they’d seen Talon captured.

  “I have to try.” Marshall tried to break away from her.

  They landed on the ground, sticks and small rocks digging into her body. “Not like this. You’ll throw your life away.” If there was anything she could have used, she would have hit him over the head and knocked him out.

  “They’ll kill him.”

  “Not right away. We’ll have time to save him.” Relief filled her when Marshall stilled. He’d broken her hold so many times it was only that she was quicker than him that he hadn’t escaped.

  “When?”

  “We need to find out where he’s been taken and how to get in. Do you know anyone else who’ll be able to help?”

  “No one. They’d be worried about being executed too.”

  “If I let you go, will you promise not to go after Talon until we have a plan?” She continued to watch him for a moment after he nodded. She guessed she couldn’t hold him down all day. He’d break her hold eventually. Letting him go, she rose to her feet, dusting herself off.

  “There’s no way to get him out of the fortress. No one can get in or out of it.”

  Brianne grinned. “I got in.”

  Marshall stared at her a moment before he finally smiled. “Maybe, but even you won’t be able to do it twice.”

  She thought of Garnet who’d believed in her. Garnet who adored her older brother. “I need to get a message to someone.”

  “Who?”

  “Garnet.”

  Marshall shook his head. “Talon would kill us if we involved her in any way.”

  “If we don’t get help, Talon won’t have a chance to kill us, he’ll be dead.”

  “I don’t know how we’re going to get a message to her. She spends a lot of time in the fortress. She only goes into the city a couple of times a week.”

  Brianne frowned. “Where in the fortress?”

  “Huh?”

  “Where does she spend most of her time?”

  Marshall shrugged. “At her home, in her room or visiting friends who also live in the fortress.”

  She tried to think of Garnet’s room. There had been a window looking out over the wall to the mountains. “Can you get me a bow?”

  “No.” Marshall shook his head. “But you can borrow my crossbow. Why?”

  “That will do.”

  It took some convincing, but Marshall finally agreed to help her. At nightfall they found themselves at the foot of the wall, Marshall’s crossbow at Brianne’s back and a length of rope tied around her waist, as they waited for a patrol to pass by on the top of the wall.

  Marshall ran his hand over the stone wall. “This isn’t going to work.”

  “I’ve climbed worse. Not to mention taller.” Brianne tucked her fingers into the gaps between the large stones.

  “You’re going to get yourself killed,” Marshall said.

  Brianne laughed softly as she wondered if Talon had found it as annoying when she’d told him the same. “Don’t get yourself caught and let me know if you see any patrols on top of the wall above me.” She reached for a higher handhold, the action familiar.

  Marshall moved away from the wall, muttering about idiotic plans.

  When she eventually reached the top, she pulled herself onto the wall, dropping lightly to a crouch as she scanned the area. It was all clear. She crossed to the other side of the wall and searched for the correct window as she readied the crossbow, a note through the head of the bolt. A deep breath to steady herself and then she let it out as she shot the bolt into the room, aiming for the ceiling so she didn’t accidentally hurt Garnet if she was in there. She was relieved the shot was perfect. Spending a couple of hours practising that afternoon with the crossbow had obviously been a good idea.

  It seemed forever before a figure appeared at the window, holding a lantern. Brianne stood up and waved, grinning when Garnet bounced around at the window. She waved Garnet out of the way and when the window was clear, shot another bolt over, one end of the rope tied to it. She returned the crossbow to her back while she waited for Garnet to tie the rope securely. Several minutes later, she was at the window again, waving Brianne over.

  With one end of the rope still tied to her, Brianne climbed onto the edge of the wall. She eyed the distance, wincing. This was going to hurt. Jumping, she aimed for the wall of the fortress with her legs, running across the wall to take some of the momentum and impact out of the jump. Pushing away from the wall, she let herself swing back under the window, her shoulder banging against the wall. For one moment she thought the rope was going to let go, then she was dangling at the end of the rope listening. Everything was quiet. No one had seen her. Grabbing hold of the rope, she started to pull herself upwards. It was quicker than looking for handholds in the wall and she was soon dragging herself into the bedroom.

  Garnet threw her arms around Brianne. “I can’t believe you jumped across like that. For a minute I thought you were dead. You even dragged my bed across to the window. I didn’t think it would move when I tied the rope to it.”

  Untying herself, Brianne glanced around, taking note of the heavy timber bed. “Is anyone else home?”

  Garnet shook her head. “Things are crazy here. There’s constant arguments and some people want to know what Talon found that made him think our father is a traitor.”

  “Where are they keeping him?”

  “In the cells beneath the fortress. There’s no way we can get him out of there.”

  Bria
nne grinned. “People keep telling me that, but here I am after being told getting in here a second time was impossible.”

  Garnet grabbed hold of Brianne’s hands. “Do you think you can get him out?”

  “I hope so, but I’m going to need some help.”

  “I knew you were our friend, even when everyone kept telling me you’re a spy.”

  “I am a spy, Garnet.”

  “But you’re helping Talon.”

  She nodded, still not quite sure why she was, but the thought of leaving him behind hadn’t been acceptable. “Tell me everything about the cells and how to get there.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Talon

  Talon rose to his feet when he heard footsteps coming towards his cell. He was at the bars immediately. “Garnet. What are you doing here?”

  Garnet glanced towards the guard at her side. “He let me come and say goodbye.” She reached through the bars for his hand. “I don’t want you to die. They’re talking about hanging you tomorrow.”

  He tried to keep his expression neutral, determined to keep Garnet safe. “Everything will be fine. You stay out of this mess and look after yourself.” Talon gripped her hand.

  Garnet wrapped her other hand around their clasped hands. “I went to our father’s office looking for him, but I couldn’t find him.”

  Talon frowned as he felt her press something small and metallic into his hand. “You know you’re not meant to go in his office when he’s not in there, Garnet.”

  “And he wasn’t in his room.”

  “Don’t go wandering around. Stay in your room until all this is over.” Why was she telling him this?

  “Come on, Miss. You only wanted a few minutes to say goodbye. Time’s up.”

  Still holding onto Talon’s hand, Garnet turned her face to the guard. “Can you open the cell so I can hug him goodbye? Please?”