Glissanda

by Sara Kingsley

  Glissanda

  The Woman King Book 3

  Sara Kingsley

  Blue Fern Books

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  ~Sara

  Copyright © 2018 by Sara Kingsley

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Blue Fern Books

  PO Box 54198

  Mana 5247

  New Zealand

  ISBN: 978-0-473-44162-3 (paperback)

  ISBN: 978-0-473-44163-0 (epub)

  ISBN: 978-0-473-44164-7 (kindle)

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the

  National Library of New Zealand

  Cover design by Najla Qamber Designs

  For my mom … I miss you.

  Chapter 1

  I place my hand flat against the wide, blackened trunk of my favorite tree, Mama Bodhi, and look up at the open sky where her branches once towered. The sunlight is so bright that it blinds me for a moment. All the better, so I can’t see what else is around me: a few other charred trunks still standing, piles of burnt branches and personal things, drifts of ash.

  I look down and kick a mound of soot with the toe of my boot, sending a gray cloud of dust into the still-smoky air. I cover my nose with my sleeve, but I know the stench of burnt homes, displaced families, and lost dreams will never leave my nostrils.

  It’s all that remains of my beloved treevillage, Baldachin.

  “I’m so sorry, Raven,” Leif says. He’s standing right behind me, but his voice sounds like it’s coming from miles away.

  I clench my teeth and spin around, my long black hair whipping loose across my face. When Leif sees my look, he takes a step back. “He’s going to pay for this,” I spit, my fists balled up. “I’ve said it before, but this time I mean it. And I’m not waiting around, either. King Araroa did this and he’s going to pay. Dearly.”

  A corner of Leif’s mouth twitches as he tries to suppress a smile. “And I’ll help you.” He holds a hand out toward me. I relax my fists and grasp onto it.

  Together we walk over to join Tui and Catriona. They too are standing, stunned, taking in the nightmare around us. The treevillage where the three of us had grown up has been burned to the ground. All the swingways and platforms and little round treehomes are completely gone.

  But what’s worse is there’s no sign of any of our families. Every last person is gone too.

  I let go of Leif’s hand and grab onto Tui, holding him in a tight hug. He grips onto me, burying his face in my hair.

  “We’ll find them, Raven,” he says, leaning back and looking into my face. My friend’s big brown eyes are moist. None of us has cried; it’s as if the pain is beyond mere tears. Everything. Everyone. Gone.

  But at least I still have my friends. And especially Leif—who I’m promised to be married to.

  If I can find my family, that is. I can’t imagine a wedding without Mum, Papa, and my godmother, Miss Lilith. But I’m only seventeen anyway and won’t be eighteen for a few more months—Leif and I had talked about holding the wedding after my eighteenth birthday. But I can’t think about that … there’s far too much going on to plan our wedding now.

  Catriona places her hand on Tui’s shoulder and I take that as a message, releasing my hold on him. I step back to stand next to Leif; he puts his arm around my shoulder and I lean into him. Suddenly my legs feel like they are going to give out. The smoldering ashes are nauseating and I’m fighting the urge to vomit.

  “Mama and Papa might have led everyone away,” Catriona says with a hopeful tone. “I know the men were keeping watch, surely they would have seen the King’s Hunters coming. I bet everyone is hiding out in the mountains, maybe not very far off. I don’t see any … evidence that people were in the fire.”

  I swallow down another mouthful of bile as I realize what she’s referring to. I look down at the ashes on the ground, again. There are bits of burnt clothing, pots and pans, crushed wood stoves, charred wooden toys. But nothing human, which is a relief.

  “They could have been taken,” I say, looking back up. “I hold nothing past Araroa now. That man is pure evil and could have done anything to our families.”

  Catriona sighs. “I know. We’ll find them. I’m sure of it.”

  “We will indeed.” Leif pulls me even tighter against him.

  The four of us look around in silence at the charred remains of Baldachin for a few minutes more. Nobody speaks it, but we know there’s no need to linger. Besides, we have no idea who might be close by, or watching us.

  Something catches my eye a few yards away. A small object half-buried in ash glitters in the sunlight. I shake Leif’s arm off and walk over to it, my heart speeding up rapidly.

  I kneel down for a closer look and it’s exactly what I thought it was, though I can hardly believe it. I pluck it from the ash, wiping the smooth surface of the carved obsidian clean so it sparkles. I grasp it tightly in my hands, sink down onto my knees, close my eyes, and finally allow my tears to fall.

  It’s the obsidian pendant Papa made. He’d given it to me over a year ago, the first time I’d traveled from Baldachin on my own, when Tui and I went to Greenhollow together. The pendant I mistakenly left behind in my room, in my old treehome, when I departed a few months ago to find Leif, who was being held by King Araroa.

  I wipe my face, leaving what I’m sure is a smear of ash and tears. Get ahold of yourself, Raven. You’re not the only one in the kingdom who’s lost nearly everything.

  I rise to stand and study the pendant in my hands. The cord has been burned away, but the pendant is completely unharmed. I still can’t believe I found it in all this rubbish. Or that it found me.

  I look up to see Leif standing in front of me; he’s unwrapping a piece of brown leather cord from his wrist. “May I?” he asks, holding the cord out. I nod and hand the pendant to him. As he threads the cord through the hole at the top, I turn and lift my hair. He drapes the necklace around my throat, then ties the cord at the base of my neck. I let my hair fall back down and turn to face him.

  With a smile, he reaches over to smooth the hair around my face; with his other hand he straightens the pendant on my chest. “I’ve wondered what happened to this,” he says quietly.

  “I accidentally left it here. Papa told me the last time I was here that I deserved something far more beautiful, now that I’m a Woman King.”

  Leif shakes his head. “No—this suits you perfectly.”

  I glance down at it again, resting on my bare skin, cool and smooth. “I only want Papa now. And Mum.”

  Leif takes my hand and together we start toward the river, where we’ve left the horses to drink. “Catriona’s right—we’ll find everyone. Do you remember what you told Tui? When we’d heard this may have happened, that Baldachin was destroyed?”

  I nod, silently. I remember every word. I meant it then, and I mean it even more now: I’ll help the treevillagers rebuild Baldachin.

  When we find them.

  Leif and I find Tui and Catriona back at the river. It’s nearly autumn, the water is low, but there’s plenty for us and the horses to drink. Leif goes to check on his horse, a bay-colored stallion the Treasoners—those in support of my right to ascend to the throne of Nadir—gave him so we could reach Baldachin faster. Al
though we were obviously too late anyway.

  Tui and Catriona’s boots are lying on the grass; their owners are wading in the river, pants rolled up. Tui kicks water at Catriona and she laughs, the sound echoing down the river valley. I roll my eyes and sigh—how can they possibly be having fun, with all that’s happening?

  I decide to leave them to it, and walk upstream a ways on my own. When I’ve found quiet, I reach down to wash my sooty hands in the cool water. They turn black for a moment, as the ash mixes with water. I rub them together until they are clean, the last bits of my home washed away. I cup my hands, wiping my face clean too. As if I could wash this horror away.

  I lie back on the grassy bank. Closing my eyes to the sun above, I let the rays dry my face and hands. At least this part of Baldachin is the same, where Tui and I’d run and play as kids, where we’d fish together when we got older.

  I hear someone settle next to me, and the refreshing scents of leather and peppermint reach my nose. I don’t even have to open my eyes to know that it’s Leif. He gently touches my forehead, wiping the droplets of water away.

  “What would you like to do? Should we head back to the Treasoner camp? Where Papa is? Surely he could help …”

  I shake my head, still nestled in the grass. When we’d left the Treasoner camp in the Zenith mountains, I’d carried a tiny glimmer of hope we wouldn’t be too late to save Baldachin, despite King Araroa’s statement that he’d already ordered it to be burned.

  And obviously, we didn’t make it.

  Now, I have no idea what I should do. I just feel lost, homeless, meandering aimlessly.

  “You still have me, you know.” Leif’s voice is quiet.

  I sit up, wrapping my arms around my legs. I look over at Leif’s face; his head is tilted, studying mine. Warmth spreads in my chest and I can’t hold back a small smile. “And I’m glad for it.” I lean over and kiss his warm mouth, softly.

  He grabs the back of my head, not letting me draw away from him again. He kisses me in return, harder this time. Leaning his forehead against mine, he still doesn’t let go of me. “I love you, Raven Araroa. You are my family now. But I swear I’ll help you find the rest of yours.”

  I can’t help grinning back at him. “I love you too, Leif Phineas.”

  Suddenly we are sprayed with water. Laughter surrounds us.

  “C’mon, you two lovebirds! The day’s getting long. Unless you want to camp here, we’d better get going.”

  “Tui!” I stand up, wiping water from my face once again. He’s holding the water bladder that he’s just emptied out over Leif and me, and is wearing one of his ridiculous grins. “What’d you do that for?”

  “Just thought you two could use a cooling down.”

  “Ha ha.” It doesn’t pass my notice that there’s a twinge of truth to his words. Besides, I don’t think Tui will ever stop being protective of me.

  He dips the bladder back in the river to refill it, then the three of us return to where our horses have been busy eating their fill of rich late summer grass.

  “Here—for you.” Tui tosses me a small, round object, and I deftly catch it. I study it for a second, before I register that it’s an apple from Baldachin’s orchard. “I picked a bunch for us to take with us. No point letting them go to waste.” Tui grabs another from his pocket, and takes a big bite. He wipes the juice that dribbles down his chin with his sleeve.

  “They didn’t destroy the orchard.”

  “Nope. There’s plenty of trees a little ways down the river too. We’ll rebuild, Raven. Just like you said.”

  I take a bite of the apple in my hand, my eyes nearly rolling back into my head at its perfect sweet-tartness. One more small bright spot in the day. As I’m chewing, I realize what we need to do.

  “Let’s go to Greenhollow and ask around. Surely someone’s heard something about what’s happened here and where everyone has gone … or been taken to. It’s late—we can camp on the way. Plenty to eat, at least.” I take another bite of the apple.

  Tui tosses an apple to Leif. “Good plan,” he says, and Leif nods in agreement.

  I don’t finish the apple, but save the rest for my horse, Pearl. I walk over to where she’s waiting for me, Catriona having gotten her ready to go.

  Pearl eagerly but gently takes the apple from my hand, and I pat her silvery-gray neck, stroke her shimmering mane. It hits me that, despite all that’s happened over the past year, this family member is still with me too. She was well-cared-for even while I was in King Araroa’s dungeon, during all my months on Nuimana, until Leif found her in Araroa’s stables when I’d returned to my Kingdom of Nadir. Even when I’d left again, had given her to Leif’s aunt Imogen, she was waiting for me when I returned.

  I look into her huge, brown eyes and make a silent promise to her: I will not leave you again. No matter what. She nickers softly, as if she can read my mind. I stroke her velvety nose once more, then swing myself upon her back.

  My three friends are atop their horses, ready to depart. We follow the river down, in the direction of Greenhollow, not wanting to pass through the ruins of Baldachin again. But the burnt smell is still in my nose, where it will probably always remain.

  “You don’t have to keep that name, you know.” I say this to Leif, who’s riding alongside me on his newly acquired horse.

  “What do you mean, m’lady? I like the name George just fine.” The corner of his mouth turns up in a half-grin. “Although, I suppose something a bit more, er, stallion-like might suit him better. What about ‘Warrior’ or ‘Knight’?”

  I smile over at him, sitting tall atop his horse, both of them carrying their heads high. Very handsome. Although I have to admit, I do miss having Leif riding with me on Pearl, his hands wrapped about my waist, his peppermint-scented breath in my ear.

  “I think George might be a fine name,” I tell him.

  Leif rubs the horse’s chocolatey neck and smooths down his black mane. “He is rather old—probably don’t want to confuse him at this point.”

  “True.” I look up ahead, where Catriona and Tui are riding alongside each other. They seem to be arguing about something, but I can’t hear what they are saying. “What’s up with those two?”

  Leif shrugs. “Not sure.”

  We both listen, trying to catch a word, but they are too far ahead. All I can see is Tui rapidly shaking his head no, over and over.

  “I’ll ask them at camp tonight,” I say.

  “Sounds good, m’lady.”

  A few hours later we reach the camp at the top of the hill. It’s the same one Tui and I stayed at on our first night out together, on that fateful trip to Greenhollow; it was there I found out King Araroa had been told of my existence, and had sent his Hunters out to find and capture me. He knew the truth that I—the true heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Nadir—had been born in secret to Queen Seraphine. She’d sent me away so that I would not be executed, as all other firstborn daughters have been for the past thousand years—since the Quelline regime declared there would be no more Woman Kings.

  But he’d failed. I’d not only escaped King Araroa and his Hunters, and sailed to Nuimana, but I’d discovered that Fortissima, the sword of Woman Kings, had been kept safe there all of these years. I declared her to be mine, and accepted the request to rule as Nuimana’s Woman King. And now I’ve returned to Nadir.

  Obviously, he’s not very happy about this.

  While Leif and Tui unsaddle the horses and set them to grazing in the meadow, Catriona and I build a small fire. When I’m sure Tui’s out of earshot, I ask Catriona the question I’ve wanted to all afternoon. “Everything all right with Tui?”

  “Yeah, we’re good,” she says casually, continuing to stack the bits of kindling we’d gathered. But she stops, and adds, “Well, I guess that’s not entirely true. I actually told him that I thought we should split up—” Her amber eyes go wide when she notices my shocked face. “No, not break up! I mean, I can travel a lot faster, cover more gro
und on my own, and track better without distraction. I told him I thought he should go with you and Leif back to the Treasoner camp and let me track down my family, and yours. Then I can meet you all there with those who’ll come with me.”

  “Let me guess—he didn’t like that idea.”

  “Definitely not.”

  She strikes the flint, blows on the spark. The dried moss begins to smolder, then a tiny flame appears; soon it’s licking at the small tower of kindling.

  “I don’t like it either, to be honest.”

  She stops and looks up at me. Her mouth is a hard line and there’s a spark of fury in her eyes. “Are you telling me how to do my work?”

  “Excuse me?”

  She sits back, leans against a log. Stretching her long legs out in front of her, she clasps her hands behind her head. “You heard me. I’m a tracker, Raven, you know that. But our company has grown … too large. Four of us, four horses—we’re like a band of gypsies parading around. There’s no way I’ll be able to sneak up on anyone, to get information.” She tilts her head, giving me a look that dares me to argue with her.

  Her look doesn’t work; I’ll tell her the truth even if she doesn’t want to hear it.

  “Listen, Tui’s just worried about you. He swore he’d never let you out of his sight again. And when Tui says something like that, he means it.” Her eyes flick back down to the growing flames. “I’m pretty sure he loves you.” She looks back up at me hearing that, her eyes wide, filled with what I’m certain is terror.

  She shakes her head, curls flying rapidly around. “Oh no. Please don’t say that. I’m really fond of Tui, but … but I’m not ready for—” Her eyes suddenly focus beyond me.