by Amy Bearce
The three exchanged glances, survival uniting them even in the face of their tangled relationships. Ten feet into the trees, the darkness was so thick it was hard to see beyond them. As the wind shifted the branches, shifting shadows slid in and among the tree trunks. To Sierra’s fevered imagination, the darkness took the form of giant bears, skeletal arms, ghostly screaming banshees. Every tale she’d ever heard about these mountains filled her mind. Fear crept through her with prickly fingers and set up camp right in her stomach. Her feet felt like boulders dragging through mud, but she thought of Phoebe. Picturing her face, Sierra forced her limbs to move.
When they crossed into the shadows of the crowded trees, Sierra’s keeper mark flared to life for a split second, burning like someone had touched her with a hot poker. She gasped, and Corbin reached his hand to her.
“My mark,” she choked out, looking to Corbin, fearing for him as well.
His eyes were dark with concern, but he didn’t seem to be in any pain.
Nell held her sword ready. Sierra planted her feet and took a deep breath. Whirls of colors flashed in front of her like streaming ribbons, and she squeezed her eyes tight as the world lurched around her. She wasn’t sure what was happening to her, but it was too much like her kaleidoscopic dreams, dreams of queens. Great, she had hallucinations now, along with the wild, vivid dreams and nightmares. What a terrible time to go crazy. Maybe someone really was messing with her, dosing her to make her more compliant on the journey.
Keepers had a natural immunity to the effects of raw nectar, which made sense. Flight, though―that was nectar distilled to its strongest essence and mixed with other chemicals for ingestion. No one stood against it, not even keepers.
But who? If Jack wanted Sierra to fail, no doubt he only had to say the word to his enforcer. Jack wouldn’t even have to pay her to do it, either. But Sierra didn’t see why Jack wouldn’t want a queen back. Plus, when would Nell have slipped Sierra any elixir? Sierra was the one who did the majority of the food preparation. Maybe when they were asleep?
But no, as much as she wanted to blame Nell, that didn’t make sense. Jack wanted to find a queen, so subterfuge didn’t make sense… And Corbin would never betray Sierra that way. He wanted to find the queens as much as she did. Was someone else out there with them? An enemy they hadn’t seen? Surely Nell would have heard some evidence of other humans out here.
Sierra shook her head, trying to clear her mind. Who else but Nell could it be, if no one else was out here? Who said Jack had to tell her to do it? Maybe she got tired of Sierra’s interference and decided to suppress her natural attitude problems, soften her up a bit.
It was so hard to think, the world shivering like a big wet dog, sending colors flying through the air.
Corbin held his hand under her elbow, warm and strong, and guided her to sit on a fallen tree trunk. She wished she could lean into him for comfort like she could have a week ago, but instead she held her body upright despite how dizzy she felt. Things were obviously still not quite the same with them, and she didn’t want to ruin the progress they’d made when she hit her target.
Sierra ran her hand over her mark, and again heat shot through her skin, bowing back her head.
Touching her mark usually sent a warm glow down her spine, but this was like a flash fire, an explosion of pain along her spine and down her legs. She shrieked and clapped her hands over the back of her neck, as if she could hold in the pain and keep it from spreading. Her knees shook and she knelt onto the ground, needing to find balance. The clean scent of pine surrounded her as her knees crushed the needles, and she breathed in. The smell reminded her of home. It reminded her of Queen, of Corbin, of time away from Jack. She dropped her hands and bent her head lower down to get a good whiff of the scent. Her hair fell around her face, past her shoulders, off her neck, sliding cool against her warm cheeks. The scent cleared Sierra’s head, like wiping cobwebs from a crowded corner.
Corbin gasped. Sierra whipped her head around to stare at them, both leaning over her. Nell’s face paled. They scrutinized Sierra, shock evident from their expressions.
“What?” she asked, staggering to her feet, looking around for danger. She saw evergreens shooting up so high they hid most of the sky, but no wild animals, no magical creatures. They were only staring at her.
“Your mark―Sierra, it looks… darker.” Corbin swallowed and pressed his lips together. “Turn around.”
Shaken, she did as he asked. She wanted to touch the mark, but she willed her hands to stay still. Touching it might send shocking pain through her again. Corbin lifted up her hair, and the heat of his hand hovered near her mark. Nell approached, her soft stride a light whisper along the path. She sucked in a deep breath.
Sierra gritted her teeth. She felt naked, exposed, standing there with her neck bared. “Well?”
“The mark’s as dark as if made by your father’s branding iron, Sierra,” Nell confirmed.
Fear pitched in Sierra’s stomach.
Nell leaned in closer. “Hmm. And the wings are lacy-looking inside now, pretty fancy.”
“Have you ever heard of this happening?” Sierra asked Corbin.
He shook his head.
Nell looked at his mark. “They were the same color before,” she said to Sierra. “But only yours is different now. Not Corbin’s. Why?”
She shrugged. “Why did this happen to me at all?”
Corbin looked stricken, his big brown eyes wide. “It’s probably because you’ve got keepers all over the place in your family. Maybe your blood makes you a stronger keeper.”
He spoke so softly Sierra could barely hear him. She recoiled when she pieced together his words.
“What a crazy thing to say! Don’t be a lunatic, Corbin. No one’s a better keeper than you! The fact that you’re the first in your family makes you even more special. You’ve taught me everything I know.”
He muttered something incomprehensible and then shook his head and took a deep breath. “We’d better keep going, if you’re okay to walk, Sierra.”
This would have been a good time to tell them about the dreams, the weird taste of nectar, the dizziness. Clues most likely existed there, but she looked at Nell, at those cold blue eyes, and couldn’t get the words out. Sierra couldn’t trust her father’s enforcer. Maybe there was some other explanation for why she was hallucinating. It might have nothing to do with Nell. Maybe Sierra was dreaming even right now, but she was going to have to find out. She shrugged again and hoped she was wrong about Nell.
While they hiked, Sierra devised a plan. Close to their regular time to stop for the night, she said, “Hey, Nell, can you and I go hunting? I’m more hungry than usual.”
That part was true as far as it went.
Corbin smiled. “I could use more food too. Hey! Maybe I can try to hunt!”
“No!” Both Nell and Sierra spoke at the same time. They met eyes, and Sierra had to smother a grin. Corbin had proved to be a much worse shot than anyone anticipated. The girls exchanged the same look two adults shared when a toddler did something cute.
Nell told him, “We need you to guard camp. Get the fire going, and we’ll be back soon.”
Sierra almost expected to hear, We’ll be home soon, honey, but wasn’t forced to gag when Nell simply strode off into the forest, weaving easily between trees like a wolf. Or a snake. Sierra jogged to catch up.
They walked in silence for a few minutes to get far enough from the sounds of Corbin making camp, sounds that would scare the animals away. Sierra fell in step behind the bigger girl, trying to disturb the ground as little as possible. She hoped they wouldn’t find anything hunting them. Even if the myths of dragons and manticores turned out to be unfounded, there were still the average bears and mountain lions. They’d think the girls were a tasty meal, especially in the sparse winter months. That would put a real damper on her plans.
She ran her fingers up and down her bow, tapping her nails ever so lightly on the wood as she walk
ed. If Sierra accused Nell wrongly, this would go badly. Another flicker of lights behind Sierra’s eyes made her stumble. Nell froze, then turned back. In that moment, in Sierra’s eyes, Nell looked like a ghost, a ghost on fire. Orange and yellow light streamed all around her like flames, but her skin was snow-white. Her eyes were solid black, like coal.
The vision lasted only a moment, enough to make Sierra lose her breath from fear, but short enough to make her wonder if she had imagined it. She shook her head, which sent the world reeling, and she had to grab onto something to keep from falling. Nell reached to catch her, but in a panic Sierra grabbed a tree limb that scratched red welts down her arms. She panted as the nausea vanished, and the chilly wind dried sweat from her brow.
“Are you okay?” Nell asked cautiously, her hands ready to grab Sierra if need be.
Sierra didn’t answer, not trusting her voice. The bow had slipped through her fingers at some point, and she slowly leaned down and curled her fingers around the smooth wood. She kept her head steady, afraid of falling off the small ledge that dropped thirty feet on their right.
She knelt and splayed her palms on the ground, letting the pine needles prick her skin. The forest floor reminded her of where she really was. It was one point of reality in a world that had blurred with her recent nightmares.
“It’s Flight, isn’t it?” she snapped when she caught her breath. “Or some new elixir from nectar Jack is testing?”
Nell took a step back, eyebrows high. “What?”
“I’ve been hallucinating, seeing crazy colors, flashing images of fairies. I taste nectar, Nell. Are you going to stand there and tell me you don’t have something to do with it? Jack didn’t tell you to dose me with something?”
Nell’s eyes were wide, showing the whites around her blue irises. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but you’re sounding a little crazy.”
It had to be a lie. Something was happening. Her answer made Sierra’s anger boil over. Nausea and mistrust reared their heads, and Sierra sat up on her knees. She ignored the upheaval in her stomach and drew her bow, arrow ready. Nell reached for her own bow, but Sierra said, “Stop, or I’ll shoot.”
Nell continued to reach.
Sierra growled, “Try me.”
Her words were cold and merciless, even though she hadn’t really intended to draw a bow on the bigger girl. She allowed herself to sink into calm, into the cold place without fear, and she stared at the place under which Nell’s heart beat.
She froze, hand in midair. Smart girl.
Sierra’s head started to throb. More zig-zigs flashed across her vision. She tightened her grip on the bow, the sweat on her palms making the weapon hard to hold.
Corbin will hate me. The thought whispered through her mind. Corbin will hate me if I even threaten to shoot her. She paused, the string loosening some. Maybe there was another way to get the answers she needed.
But as Sierra began to stand, the world dipped again, and a crash ripped through the air. The trees thrashed, danced, waved their arms, and she couldn’t keep the moan from escaping.
Don’t vomit in front of Nell, she chanted to herself, as the world exploded all around.
But this time Sierra wasn’t hallucinating, because Nell shouted and tried to leap away from the edge. Tried and failed.
The forest floor split with a shriek that sent goose bumps racing across Sierra’s skin. She scrabbled through the dirt to wrap her scratched arms around the root of a giant tree. The ground rolled and tilted toward the ledge, and she cried out, swamped by her oldest fear. Dust filled the air as a giant wedge of land rose up from the earth like the dead coming to life. It shattered the soil, sending dirt spraying. The ledge crumbled in the space of a heartbeat. And then, before Sierra could move, Nell fell and disappeared.
scream ripped through the air, and Sierra wasn’t sure whose it was. Horror grabbed her by the throat and would not let her go. After what felt like years, but lasted only a few heartbeats, the ground stopped heaving, and she crawled to the edge to see what had happened. Nell lay sprawled fifteen feet down, a line of scarlet cut across her head. Her arm twisted at an unnatural angle. The ground looked like it had been cut in a circle and dropped halfway down the ledge. She was trapped unless someone helped her.
“Nell!” Sierra shouted, before thinking maybe she should feign unconsciousness and leave Nell to her fate. But she couldn’t really bring herself to ignore Nell and leave her stranded.
Nell groaned, stirring.
Sierra leaned as far over the cliff as she dared. “Nell! Can you hear me?”
Nell struggled up, and her scream cut through the silent air, startling Sierra so badly she nearly fell over the cliff. Her pulse was a rapid beat in her neck; she had never heard Nell scream. Nell had her left hand clasped tightly around her other shoulder. The right shoulder looked broken to Sierra, angled up strangely where the arm connected, but maybe it was only out of joint. Nell would know. Any good enforcer knew the difference between an out-of-place joint and a break, and they knew how to make both happen. Sierra’s knees shook so much she sank back to the ground. She couldn’t believe another quake had already struck, and all the way out here, in the middle of nowhere where no one could help them if they were hurt. Dread swirled inside her.
Nell looked around and saw Sierra standing above her. Surprise flashed over her face, followed by hope, before mistrust chased them both away. She cursed under her breath for a long moment, then squinted up at Sierra.
“Are you okay?” Nell called up, trying to sound calm, but the pain was too thick in her voice to carry it off.
“Fine,” Sierra replied. “Maybe I can climb down and lift you up, unless your arm’s broken.”
Nell closed her eyes and touched along her hurt shoulder. She blanched the color of a corpse, but this time her voice remained strong when she spoke, “I think it’s just dislocated. You can push it back into place and then I can manage the climb if you help.”
The enormity of the situation struck Sierra. She had to put Nell’s arm back into place? Then push her tall frame, and herself, up a crumbly cliff? “Uh… Nell…”
“You may be small, but you’re pretty strong for your size,” Nell said, as if she could read minds. Her lips curled like she’d admitted something distasteful.
She couldn’t stand to be weaker than Sierra, could she? Sierra fainting from strange dizzy spells was okay, but Nell dislocated her arm and had to be tough.
Sierra realized she had the best leverage she’d ever have. She smiled; she couldn’t help herself.
She said, “Yeah, I can do that. But first you have to answer my question. You remember, before we were interrupted.”
Nell froze, eyes trained on Sierra. “Don’t be stupid.”
“Come on, Nell. You dosing me? I’m not pointing an arrow at you now. You can tell me the truth.”
“I told you the truth,” she said, scowling, chin lifted defiantly.
Sierra’s small amount of patience went up in smoke. She whipped out the bow again, and Nell’s eyes widened. “You’ve got nowhere to go. I can shoot all day… arrow after arrow… No matter how bad a marksman I am, eventually I won’t miss.”
“You’re not that cold-blooded.”
Sierra thought about Phoebe. Sierra thought about how Nell might be messing with her… maybe Nell wanted Jack to punish Sierra when she got home. Wouldn’t be Nell’s fault if Sierra failed. She’d get the job promotion as long as Sierra came back to Jack alive in a month. But if Sierra got punished for not bringing back a queen, Phoebe would be sent to a murdering dark alchemist two ports away for years. Cold-blooded didn’t even begin to describe Sierra right now.
She let Nell see the ruthlessness in her eyes while carefully taking aim and drawing back the bowstring. Sierra aimed for Nell’s right thigh. Not to kill her, merely wound her a little. Sierra didn’t even want to do that, surprisingly. Corbin would be so upset if he ever found out.
A whisper ran through her m
ind again. But if she were to disappear in this earthquake, he’d never know, right? The cold edge in her thoughts made her catch her breath. Flight didn’t make people violent, which meant the thought to hurt or abandon Nell belonged only to Sierra. Her hands began to shake, but she couldn’t quite drop the bow. Images of Corbin and Nell in the twilight flickered through her mind. He was so happy with Nell.
Sierra cursed softly. She looked down at the girl below and couldn’t shoot, not even to wound. For Corbin’s sake, because Sierra loved him and believed he had fallen in love with Nell for some strange reason.
But if Nell was secretly dosing her with one of Jack’s concoctions? She thought on that. Yeah, maybe then. Phoebe would hate it if Sierra hurt anyone. Corbin might never forgive her. But she would still do it if she had to. If Nell had been slipping Sierra an elixir like Flight, it could ruin her chance to rescue Phoebe, and that couldn’t be permitted.
The answer surprised Sierra, but not as much as the emptiness that followed. No guilt, no grief. If Nell had been sabotaging the mission, she’d get left behind on that fallen cliff or shot in the leg. Sierra had to know. She tightened her grip on the bowstring again.
“Last chance,” she called. Sierra knew her voice contained the dead quality of Jack’s when he was about to hurt someone. For once, she didn’t care.
Nell licked her lips and answered. “I sold all the Flight Jack sent with me. I’ve been out since the second day. Why would I dose you?”
She must have recognized the tone. She had one like it, too.
“You’ve always had a problem with me, Nell, and we both know it.”
A small snort escaped through Nell’s grimace. “I might want to shoot you, but I want a job more. Come on, this is my life we’re talking about.”