“Like that night it wouldn't let me through. I hit it because it wouldn't open. I was angry and willing to fight if necessary.”
“Very likely,” he mused.
The cry of a lonely wolf, seeking his mate, filled the air. The hairs on the back of my neck would have risen if I were still human. “Home sweet home,” I murmured.
27
All Grown Up
Five very short years passed without a sign or word of Jiren. For months, Marren and I were antsy, jumping at the sound of a slightest creak. Slowly but surely we relaxed into a steady rhythm. Enid and Raden took turns traveling across the country to find other immortal races and to see what they’d heard of Jiren and if they knew how to kill him.
The last few times had taken longer and longer for them to come home with word that more and more of our kind were disappearing. With no trace or word to follow, they would come home. This last time they left together, finding it safer to travel as a pair than alone.
If our kind were disappearing, it meant that Jiren was either killing us or they crossed back over. Believing the first to be the more realistic of the two, we knew our time was rapidly running out. We had to find a way to bind Jiren to something or kill him. Needless to say the disappearance of the immortal races was something that put us all back on edge.
Naloud had grown up stronger than Marren and with more attitude than me. Strong, stubborn, and beautiful. She was trained by the best fighter I know. The human age of five, she was actually the size and intelligence of a young adult. With no word from the rest of the therianthropes, her ceremony for changing never happened. Instead, she had the company of me and her father. A private affair in the woods, near the cave where she was conceived.
She begged for us to let her travel with Raden and Enid. But I wouldn't have it. She sulked for weeks. I was almost willing to give in until she turned around. She would leave every morning to pick fruit, berries, and nuts. She seemed so excited to leave that she couldn't be bothered to take her basket the last two times. Every evening, she'd come home, dragging her feet with the biggest smile on her face.
“Marren, our child is up to something,” I said over dinner.
“She's just enjoying the taste of freedom. She's ready to be on her own... find a mate, have some kids.”
I smacked him on his arm. He pulled me into him, squeezing me with his strong arms. “Don't you dare say that. She may be ready, but I'm not.”
“I don't think we have a choice.”
“You say that as if she's already found someone.”
He stiffened and became very silent. It was the slightest of movements, almost escaping my notice. I looked up into his eyes. He avoided my gaze. He usually did that when he gave into our daughter’s wishes after my explicit demands otherwise. He couldn't hide anything from me, no matter how hard he tried.
I sighed. “Who is he? Have we met him before?”
“I promised I wouldn't say anything about him. But I did say that I would talk to you about meeting him tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
He nodded.
“When?” I felt my heart beats quicken and my palms started to feel moist. I wanted to find Naloud and wrap her in my arms and prevent anyone from taking her from me forever.
“Over lunch.” He smiled.
“You know who he is, don't you?”
“No.” he said it so assuredly, I believed him.
“Okay.” I let my head rest on his chest. But something doesn't feel right about this. The timing of it all. It could be Jiren.
Jiren wouldn't do something like that. He doesn't have the patience.
I hope you're right. I lifted up on my toes and pressed my lips to his.
I am, uwoduhi. His arms tightened around my waist as he lifted me up and carried me upstairs and to the bed.
***
Morning came with the break of dawn along the horizon. I knew it meant I had very little time to get up and try to stop Naloud from making a big mistake. Marren was sleeping still, which meant my time to go had arrived.
“Now or never,” I told myself.
I slipped my clothes from the previous night back on and went to the room that used to be Marren's study, now remodeled and made into Naloud's room. I knocked on the door. It pushed opened at the force of my subtle hits. Her room was still dark. The sunlight usually hits her room around the mid-day point. Even in the lack of light I knew she wasn't there. Panic struck me. I was too late.
I turned to Enid's door, wishing he were there to help with some fatherly wisdom. But he was out trying to find what he could. Even Marren spent most of his days with the few books he had salvaged from our return. He would pour over them, searching for clues that would hint to him the way to end the one and only threat in the way of rejoining the two realms. Whereas I spent my days practicing with my sword, tending to the garden, or working with Raden's tools in his forge. He had taught me a few tricks of the trade over the years.
I gave up, deciding bed with Marren was better than standing around and waiting for time to slowly trickle into afternoon so that I could meet this boy that dared to take my daughter from me.
I entered the room as my eyes caught Marren in the same position I had left him in. I smiled to myself and walked gingerly to the bed and climbed in even more so. I scooted up close to him, then propped myself up on my elbow. It had been so long since I just looked at him. His golden bronze skin, his long, dark, and slightly wavy hair. The arch of his eyebrows, the shape of his lips and how they tilted slightly to the left. I remember once thinking he wasn't perfect. What he lacked in symmetry, he made up for in passion and desire—tenfold. So, for all intents and purposes, he really was perfect. Especially lying in front of me so calm and so peaceful. I decided to let him sleep and find something to eat for our “guest of honor”.
***
For the umpteenth time, I found myself pacing the length of the dining hall. Marren left to meet Naloud and her beau. I waited patiently for them to come, but I swore it was taking them longer than it should have. Then I heard the sound of familiar steps padding against the floor. Only one set. But that was okay.
Marren stepped into the room and found me wringing my hands. His eyes fell onto them as I dropped them to my side and gripped the ends of my shirt. “You're not going to believe who it is. You won't even recognize him. He's grown so much!”
I raised an eyebrow at him.
He cleared his throat. “Sorry, have you been waiting long?”
I eyed the food that had been growing cold and drying out. “You could say that.”
“I haven't been gone that long.” He approached me with his arms around me and pressed his lips to my forehead. “You will be happy about this. I promise.”
I nodded and let out a deep breath I didn't know I was holding. “Alright, let's get this over with.”
Marren walked through the foyer. I listened as his steps went out towards the garden. I stepped closer to the doors. Inching closer at a pace slower than my human self ever moved. By the time I heard footsteps again, they were accompanied by giggles and whispers.
Marren entered the room first, taking my hand and standing beside me. Then Naloud came in, with a strangely familiar boy. His eyes, black as onyx, his hair looked as though he kept it short but only recently decided to let it grow. His smile reminded me of a familiar face. I scrunched my eyebrows together and cocked my head to the side as I tried to figure it out.
“Guess who?” he said with a tone of arrogance that grated on my nerves.
I shook my head squeezing Marren's hand. He cleared his throat. “Better make this a little easier on your mother.”
“Mom,” Naloud said, then smiled while looking up at him. She held onto his hand and practically bounced in her spot.
Oh great, she has it bad.
Just listen.
“I'd like for you to meet Serid,” she finished.
It hit me with the force a wave hits the side of a cliff. “It can't be!” I laughed an
d walked towards him. I wrapped him in my arms and then held him at their length. “You've grown up!”
“I have, indeed.” He flashed a smile that was full of danger and warning.
“Well, how did you find us?” I asked, trying hard to force back the growl that was rising to my throat.
“I was walking through the woods in search of berries, and a rabbit or two, when I found Naloud,” he looked down at her with a smile much like the kind Marren gives me.
Oh my.
“And we’ve seen each other every day since,” Naloud finished excitedly. Her long brown curls bounced with her enthusiasm. Even her onyx eyes shone with more light than I’d ever seen her hold in them. Her smile, how bright it was. I felt all my anger ebb away. I couldn't be mad at her or Serid. You can't always choose what the heart desires.
“Come,” Marren interrupted, “let's discuss all the details over lunch.”
I watched as Serid walked, holding himself high and tall, like a Prince. I couldn't help an eyebrow from lifting. I felt Marren's hand on my back as he escorted me to the table. I knew if I said anything to him, in our private way or otherwise, he wouldn't believe me. He'd disregard my feelings as those belonging to a worried mother.
After we were all seated, Marren started with a toast. “To Serid, a man back from the dead.” He smiled as he lifted his goblet in the air towards Serid, who was seated across from me, next to Naloud. Marren, as always, was at the head.
I thought I heard Serid mutter something under his breath as Naloud and Marren started talking happily. It sounded like “You have no idea...” My eyes met his. The cold dark depths of the Netherworld stared back.
28
Gone
Much of the food had been eaten and it wasn't nearly as dried out as I had thought. The ale warmed my blood and had put me in a better mood than before. Not enough to have clouded my judgment by leaving Naloud and Serid alone, as per Marren's suggestion.
“No,” I said firmly walking out of the dining hall, into the ball room, and to my sword. It had taken nearly the entire time we'd been back just to recreate a portion of the swords that were taken. Luckily, the Cyrs didn't get all of them, and I still had my sword. The one Marren gave to me the first time we sparred.
“Relena, don’t be so insistent upon not going. Serid is like a nephew to me. I promise he won't do anything to Naloud while we are gone.”
“Don't care.” I pulled my hilt from its sheath and started to swing it in the air. On my third downward thrust, my hand was caught at the wrist. Marren's deep onyx eyes peered so deeply into mine, he saw my soul, and what burned within me.
He sighed. “Please.” It came out soft as a whisper with more implied than just a walk. It meant there was something he needed to say to me but couldn't do it there.
I yanked my hand free, then turned sharply to place my sword back in its sheath and strap it to my waist. I pulled the bottom of my shirt over the belt and tugged on the end of my vest. “Fine, but I'm practicing while were out,” I finally said then left him standing in the middle of the floor.
***
It took several moments for Marren to catch up with me. My thoughts had propelled me much further than I had anticipated. Fueled by the words Serid had told over lunch. They didn't add up, and worse, they bothered me to no end. So caught up in them, so fueled by them, Marren's thoughts wouldn't penetrate.
Serid had told us that he crossed over with Okelo when everyone else did. He couldn't say when exactly because he was too young. I knew it was impossible. I scoured each and every face for the hours it took to move the debris and had never seen his. That was the only time that Okelo could've escaped. The only time that Serid could've been seen.
Then, he told us that it was only a matter of days after crossing over that his mother died. They had traveled all the way to Ghadel, moving around outside the borders of the city, looking for a place he could only guess at. She had become ill from the extreme travels and collapsed from exhaustion at the base of a tree. He said that he was near starving and almost died himself. He cried for days with no relief. Only then, did a woman hear his cries from within the walls of the city.
That woman was Ardren, the Princess of Ghadel. I recognized her name the moment I heard it. She had apparently been betrothed to a Lord in a neighboring city I’d never heard of. The Lord moved into her castle, married her, and she was unable to bear a child—until she heard Serid's cries. They took him in, raised him as their own, and made him Prince.
“Are you going to tell me soon what has gotten your mind so consumed that you won't respond to me?”
Hearing Marren's voice finally penetrated the fog in my mind, I looked at him. He walked beside me with his sword strapped to his waist and a cloak over his shoulders. “What's the cloak for?”
“You didn't answer my question.”
“You wouldn't believe me if I told you.”
He stopped walking, mid-step, and grabbed my arm. I stopped turning my head to glare from over my shoulder. “Try me.” His tone was pleading.
I rolled my eyes and stomped my foot like a disobedient child, but said. “Oh, alright.” I opened my mouth to voice my thoughts but Marren's eyes caught something behind me. He squinted and stiffened his posture. I followed his gaze.
A hunched over figure, fully cloaked, walked with a disjointed gait. He was alone on the road. Immediately, I felt as though we’d walked into a trap. I gripped my sword, prepared for anyone else to jump out at us from within the sheltering woods that lined both sides of the road and for this man to straighten himself and try to fight us.
Marren caught my arm. I met his gaze as he slowly shook his head. Not a good move. We need to know what he's doing here and why he's alone.
Fine. Be my guest, brave and noble one.
Marren's eyes shot a cold stare at me. Clearly he didn't find that funny. He approached slowly. The man startled at Marren's approach. He cowered away slightly as he looked into Marren's face. Then fell to his knees grasping onto Marren's cloak and hands.
I stepped closer. The man was aged, worn, and badly beaten. I noticed that his cloak was opened, he suffered from a horrible wound. His clothes were tattered. The only thing on him that looked decent was his cloak.
Marren fell to his knees with the man and tried to comfort him. The man's voice shook as he tried to say something to Marren I couldn't understand. Marren would respond with short and gentle phrases in his native tongue. The man didn't strike me as a werewolf. His eyes were the shade of storm clouds, his skin the shade of the wood of a tree. His hair was dark with strings of silver and white. It stuck out in spots from under his hood.
The man said one last final word through gurgled gasps as blood rose to his mouth, he uttered in common. “Lernn. Find Lernn.”
I didn't notice until the man's body went limp that his eyes were fixed on me. Sending a straight shot of cold chill through my body and clutching my spine that would last much longer than any winter's chill. He spoke to me. He told me I had to find Lernn.
“Who is Lernn?” I asked Marren. My voice cracked and felt as though all the moisture had left my throat.
“I don't know. But there's something else.”
“What?”
“I don't know yet, it doesn't make sense. We need to get back and find Naloud.”
Fear clutched at my heart. It was a fear that wasn't my own and it was only a faded moment. Marren was afraid and he was trying desperately to keep it from me. Instead of fighting with him about it, I turned on my heels and ran for home.
***
When I approached the door, I knew immediately something was wrong. It was open into the foyer, an eerie silence coming from within. Tacked to the front door with a dagger was a note. I ignored it, desperately running through every room and every hiding spot Naloud used to use until I exhausted all means of finding her inside. Then I ran through the garden and the nearby woods behind the house. Nowhere. I couldn't smell her. I couldn't sense her. My heart pounde
d frantically, its beats echoing loudly in my mind. I ran back to the front door just as Marren stepped slowly into the foyer. He grasped the note on the door and pulled it free from the dagger.
He read the letter to me in his mind.
I warned that you would pay for your folly! You have paid with the life of your child!
His hands shook and his knees gave out from under him. I was wrong. It can't be. I was wrong!
I ran to him, wrapping my arms around him and trying to console him the best I could. It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself. Please. We have to hurry. I think we can still find her.
But you don't understand. Serid...he's... He shook his head and started to sway back and forth.
“What Marren? What about Serid?”
He sighed. It shuddered on the way out. “Serid,” he paused to clear his throat, “is Naloud's heart song.”
The world could have come down upon my shoulders and it would have made more sense than what Marren had just said. “What? But how?”
“Naloud is an Ancient descendant. It runs in her blood.”
“Yes but I thought it only happened to very few, and very far in between,” I said.
“My mother was the only one that didn't have a heart song. She's the only one it skipped. And even then, none of us could be sure.”
“I don't understand.”
“Serid couldn't possibly hurt Naloud if they share a heart song. It's not possible. When it happens—when people who share a heart song find each other—there's no separating them. Each one depends on the other for survival.”
“Marren, I already know this. What does this have to do with Serid?”
With defeat clear in his words, he said, “Because it was Serid who has taken Naloud to Jiren.”
***
I managed to talk Marren out of blaming himself for not seeing what I saw or at least listening to my worries. We packed what we could carry on our backs. A few daggers, a couple sets of clothes, and some food—all stuffed into large leather bags. We changed into our black hooded robes.
Heart Song Page 26