Phoenix Burning

by Bryony Pearce

  “I’m going to kill her,” Ayla seethed, shaking him free and reeling to her feet. She straightened and pulled her shirt closed, but not before Mother Hesper had seen her chest.

  “Are those burns?” Mother Hesper stepped close and licked her lips.

  “What of it?” Ayla threw her head back.

  Mother Hesper exhaled. “Very holy. The heat of the Sun would burn us if we drew too close.” She took hold of Ayla’s collar with skeletal fingers and pulled it aside. She leaned in to examine the pink skin, turning her head one way and then the other, then her eyes went to the seeping wounds.

  “Those could get infected.” She dropped Ayla’s shirt over the bloody marks. Immediately the cloth began to redden. “We have an infirmary. I will take you there.”

  “I’m coming, too.” Toby folded his arms.

  “Your presence isn’t necessary,” Mother Hesper growled.

  “I want him to come.” Ayla’s voice was shaking. Toby hoped she was putting it on; otherwise she was in even more pain than he had realized.

  “Fine,” Mother Hesper said eventually. “Both of you come to the infirmary.” She turned to the others. “Fighting like this is not acceptable. You will all be on half portions at mealtime. Now leave this place. The Reliquary is out of bounds to you until the festival.”

  Mother Hesper abandoned them outside the infirmary.

  “In there. Your dinner will be waiting when you’re finished.”

  Toby nodded and pushed open the patchwork metal door. Inside, flickering lamplight illuminated four beds – two were occupied.

  “Celeste, Aldo!” Toby ran inside. The couple were unconscious in adjacent beds. Even in sleep they held hands, their linked fingers bridging the gap between them.

  They had been washed and dressed but blood had dried on both sets of lips and Celeste’s delicate features were drawn into a tight frown, as though she were dreaming badly.

  As Toby skidded to a stop, a brother with very short black hair, wearing a white coat over his robes turned and glared. “Quiet.”

  “Hideaki!” Ayla stopped just in front of the man. “We thought you were dead.”

  Toby stepped closer. Now that he was looking for it, he could see the skull and crossbones tattoo that was almost completely covered by the man’s growing hair.

  Hideaki glanced quickly at the door. “Close it,” he hissed. While Toby clicked the door shut, he checked that his patients really were asleep with a gentle nudge. Satisfied that they had privacy, he turned and embraced Ayla.

  “Second – you came for me!”

  “Not exactly.” Ayla pushed him away. “We’re here for the inverters.”

  “But you have a plan to get out?”

  Ayla looked sideways at Toby, who flushed. They had a plan to get the two of them out. Hideaki did not fit into it.

  “We’ll find a way,” Toby insisted.

  “I know how to get to the inverters.” Hideaki spread his hands. “It’ll be easier with the three of us. I’ll help you reach them, but only if I can leave with you.”

  Ayla cleared her throat. “Toby?”

  “You trust him?” Toby glanced at the Japanese doctor. “What if he’s gone native?”

  “Gone native?” Hideaki spat and lowered his voice. “Fuzakeru na! Have you any idea what it’s like in here?” He threw a bloody cloth into the sink. “I just had to stitch up six children who will never speak again.” He closed his eyes.

  “Being a silent attendant is meant to be a huge honour,” Ayla mumbled. “They get to know the greatest mysteries.”

  “It’s the sun, how damn mysterious can it be?” Hideaki snapped. “I’m no doctor but, as the most qualified here, I’m in charge of the infirmary. It’s insane. You know some of them don’t eat. They believe that they should be able to live on sunlight. Live on sunlight!” He shook his head. “I am constantly treating burns because they think it takes them closer to the Sun.”

  Ayla touched her throat, remembering Mother Hesper’s words when she saw Ayla’s own injuries: Very holy.

  “Then there’re the endless services and prayers to the Orb. I have to get out.”

  “I trust you.” Ayla put a hand on his arm. “And I’ll get us all out. As for the other – Toby?”

  Toby put his hands in his pockets, but he didn’t withdraw them. Had Ayla known where Hideaki was all along? Was that why she came up with a plan to get the inverters that meant she was sent to the infirmary? He was now facing two Banshee crew members. If they wanted to take both inverters and escape using the Tuinal, he couldn’t stop them. Was the Banshee, at this moment, waiting offshore for its crew members, while the Phoenix anchored in Malta until the festival? Was this the double-cross Dee had warned him of? It made sense. Ayla had needed him to get the inverters, but she didn’t need him any more.

  “Toby?” Ayla frowned.

  Toby retreated towards the door.

  “Where’re you going?” She looked at Hideaki and the doctor moved to block his exit.

  “You trust him.” Toby nodded towards Hideaki. “But how do I know you won’t both betray me?”

  Ayla whitened. “I thought we’d worked this out. I promised—”

  Toby gave a bitter laugh. “What does a promise mean to a pirate from the Banshee?”

  “You’re being ridiculous.” Ayla advanced, but she winced when her shirt brushed against her shoulder.

  “All I have to do is yell.” Toby clutched the inverters tightly.

  “You wouldn’t.” Ayla shook her head. “Whatever happens to us, will happen to you. If they cut the tongues out of devotees, what’ll they be willing to do to us?” She glanced at the door, then back at Toby. “We’re in each other’s hands. You can betray me to the Order, but I can do the same to you. You’re as much in this as we are … and you have…” She pointed to his pockets.

  Toby swallowed. “I keep one, you keep the other.”

  Ayla nodded. “Fine.”

  Toby took a deep breath and withdrew one of the inverters.

  Hideaki gaped. “You… How?”

  Ayla touched his shoulder. “You couldn’t have done it alone.”

  “Aho!” Hideaki slapped his head, his face contorting as if he was holding back tears. “I’ve been here weeks and you…”

  “Hideaki, don’t beat yourself up – this wasn’t a one-man job.”

  “It took both of us,” Toby agreed. He was about to slip the inverter back in his pocket when Ayla held out her hand.

  “I’ll take that, thank you.”

  Toby hesitated.

  “Toby!” Ayla’s voice held a warning. “We had an agreement. Are you planning to betray me?”

  “No!”

  “Then hand it over.”

  Toby rubbed the Solaris logo with his thumb. Then he thrust the inverter at her in one quick movement. “Take it.”

  As Ayla closed her fingers around the inverter her shirt pulled at her shoulder again and she sucked air through her teeth.

  Hideaki’s eyes immediately lifted from her hand to the blood on her shirt. “Why did you come to the infirmary, Second?”

  Ayla swallowed. “It’s nothing.” She dropped her hand to her side, clutching the inverter tightly.

  Hideaki looked from Toby to Ayla, taking in his blond hair and her dark braids. He looked from Ayla to Celeste. “Chikushō, you are here for the festival, aren’t you? I’ll be stitching your tongue up next.”

  “No, you won’t,” Ayla snapped. “Don’t you think I can win this? I’m the second in command—”

  “She’s injured,” Toby interrupted angrily. “The cuts need washing out properly and she’ll need antibiotics.”

  “I have none. Do you mind, Second?” Deferentially, Hideaki led Ayla to a bed and helped her to sit. It was a measure of the pain she was in that she allowed him to aid her.

  Then he carefully peeled the shirt from her shoulder and Ayla inhaled sharply. His face tightened when he saw the injury. “Nail marks – this was done by s
ome busu,” he growled. “You were fighting?”

  Ayla rolled her eyes. “It was part of the plan.”

  “You should have been friendlier with them from the start.” Toby sighed. “Then they might not have hurt you so badly.”

  Ayla glowered at him. “This is a competition. We’re not here to make friends. I’ve watched you sucking up to the others, it’s—”

  “It makes sense to have allies.” Toby leaned in. “Why can’t you get on with people?”

  “I get on with my crew.” Her sea-green stare darkened.

  “But the other girls… If you just—”

  “If I just what? How am I supposed to behave? I haven’t met another girl since my sisters were killed.” She clenched her fists. “Maybe if your mother hadn’t…” She stopped and took a deep breath. “Now isn’t the time for this.”

  Toby backed away until his legs bumped Celeste’s cot. He held his breath as the girl stirred; then she tightened her hold on Aldo’s hand and settled back into sleep. “You’re right to remind me. I should go.”

  Ayla grabbed the sheet beneath her and twisted it awkwardly in her fingers. “Yes. You should leave while Hideaki treats me, anyway. I’ll meet up with you in the dining room.”

  Toby’s jaw tightened. “If that’s what you want.”

  “It would be best.” Hideaki narrowed his eyes. “I’ll need to remove her shirt and clean the wound properly. I’ve disinfectant for the cuts. It will hurt.” He addressed the last comment to Ayla.

  Ayls nodded. “Go, Toby. I’ll see you later.”

  As he walked out, Toby slid his right hand into his pocket and curled his fingers around the inverter there; his left felt dangerously empty.

  SEVENTEEN

  Toby was sitting next to Arthur at the dining table, but this time they weren’t talking. Toby’s gaze was fixed on the door as he waited for Ayla.

  With every unappetizing mouthful he felt the pressure of eyes lingering on him from across the room. He refused to acknowledge them: Uzuri, Lenka, Moira, Bianca, Summer.

  “Is she all right?”

  “Leave it, Cezar.” Toby jabbed at a piece of chicken – it tasted like ash in his mouth.

  Mother Hesper sat at the head of the girls’ table. Once more she pushed the food around her plate without eating, her thin arms protruding from her robes like sticks. Father Dahon sat at the head of the boys’ table. Each piece of meat reached his lips unerringly, yet he chewed messily, making loud slurping noises.

  His thick black brows came together when the door slammed open.

  Toby’s attention snapped across the room to Ayla striding forwards, not a hint of discomfort on her face.

  She sat in the chair that had been left empty for her between Uzuri and Lenka. Then she deliberately used her left arm to pull her plate towards her.

  Arthur raised his head. “She’s all right then.” He seemed relieved. “I couldn’t help … you understand?”

  Toby nodded. “I get it.”

  “I couldn’t leave Summer.”

  “Summer’s not a baby.” Zahir spoke up, his red-rimmed eyes blinking in the lamplight. “She’s as determined to win as the rest of us.”

  “And she will – I’ll make sure of it.” Arthur speared his meat so viciously that his plate jumped on the table.

  Father Dahon pushed his empty plate to one side, rose to his feet, nodded to the group and walked out of the dining hall.

  There was a brief silence then, gradually, conversation restarted.

  Toby looked at Arthur. “If you lose, you forfeit your tongue; if you win, you lose your sight. You’re OK with that?”

  “Of course.” Arthur frowned. “That’s what we’re here for.”

  The others nodded.

  “Isn’t it…?” Arthur stared at Toby, his gaze sharpening.

  Toby tensed. “Yes, of course. It’s just that now it’s happening … it’s scarier than I expected.”

  “As long as Summer keeps her tongue.” Arthur looked across the room. “She can’t play the flute without it.”

  “We all want to keep our tongues,” Matus snapped.

  “You think it’ll hurt – going blind?” Cezar whispered, and his Adam’s apple bobbed.

  “It doesn’t take long.” Arthur smiled at him. “Less than a minute if the Sun’s out.”

  “And if it isn’t?”

  “Then it can take all afternoon,” Matus sneered. “But we’re in Gozo – the Sun’s always out. Praise the Sun.”

  “Praise the Sun,” Toby echoed. He stared at Cezar again. The boy was rubbing his eyes.

  “Your family needs the money badly, huh?”

  “We all do, don’t we?” Brody had already cleaned his bowl and was peering hungrily at Toby’s.

  “To the elders, the money will be welcome,” Zahir said.

  “Sure,” Matus muttered.

  Toby sighed and, remembering his own words about getting on with people, pushed his bowl to Brody. “Here.”

  Brody looked stunned. “Th-thanks.” He grabbed the food as if he was worried Toby would change his mind.

  Toby turned back to Ayla, tuning the other boys out. She was eating slowly, taking her time, still using her left hand, determined to show that there was no issue. None of the girls were speaking.

  “I’m not sure I can manage another trial,” Cezar whispered. “I wish this was over.”

  Despite his memory of the darkness challenge, Toby welcomed the lightlessness of his cell.

  He lay with his eyes on the ceiling, waiting for the familiar click of his door locking. As soon as the sister had completed her rounds, Toby reached under his thin mattress for the fork tine he had hidden there. He closed his fingers around the comforting sharpness of it. The fact that the tine was still there suggested to Toby that this might be a good enough hiding place for the inverter. Of course if the relic was discovered missing, the guards might well search the cells and, if they did, the first place they would look would be under the mattress.

  Toby rolled to his knees and crawled under his bed. The dirt floor was hard, but he used the tine to scrape away at the floor nearest Ayla’s wall.

  The whole time he worked he listened for a telltale sound of the hatch in his wall being opened. His shoulders tensed at every noise and sweat beaded his forehead.

  After maybe an hour, Toby had managed to dig a small hole, but it wasn’t nearly deep enough. With a sigh he got back to his feet. The ground was too hard. There was only one thing for it – he had to wet the hard-packed earth.

  Pulling his bed as quietly as he could, Toby created a space between the wall and the bedframe. He quickly checked the hatch, worried that the noise might have called someone to check up on him, but it remained closed. Wishing he had drunk more at dinnertime, he wet the ground as swiftly as he could, then shoved the bed back into place. He paced for a few moments, waiting for the moisture to soak in, hoping he had hit the right place, then he crawled back underneath to dig once more.

  Eventually Toby was able to plant the inverter in the ground and pat mud back over it. It wouldn’t hold up to a thorough search, but it was better than the alternatives.

  He hopped back on to his bed, feeling jumpy, as if he felt the presence of someone behind his wall, but there was no movement. Toby closed his eyes, wiped his hands on his trousers and tried to sleep, but he couldn’t settle.

  Unless there was something that needed doing with the boiler, Toby usually slept in a room with almost fifty other pirates: those who weren’t on watch or working night crew. He was used to sleeping in a crowd, but not to being watched while he did so. Now his shoulder blades itched and his whole body was tense. He couldn’t fall asleep knowing that at any time someone could be peering in at him through the hatch in his wall, watching, listening.

  He turned the fork tine over and over in his fingers, worrying at the metal like a comforter.

  “Ayla, are you awake?” he called eventually.

  There was a pause before she repli
ed, but there was no hint of sleep in her voice. “Yes – but we can’t talk here.”

  “I know.” Toby fell silent.

  Making up his mind, he rose and felt for the hatch. He found it despite the gloom and his fingers patted the splintered wood, feeling for the edge. He jammed the tine, so no one would be able to slide it open from the other side. Finally he would be able to fall asleep.

  It still took what felt like hours.

  “Is it morning already?” Matus staggered out of his cell, rubbing his eyes.

  Toby slipped the fork tine into a hole he had created in the hem of his sleeve and joined the others gathering in the corridor. If anyone went to check his hatch they’d find nothing wrong.

  Ayla smoothed her lopsided hair with her right hand. Toby noticed that she winced when she had to move her left.

  “Did Hideaki give you anything for the pain?” he whispered.

  Ayla shook her head. “Nothing to take away. It gives me an excuse to go and see him again later.”

  “Do you have your…?”

  “Shut up!” Ayla glanced at Mother Hesper, who had stopped trying to rouse Cezar and was watching them with narrowed eyes. She lowered her voice to almost nothing. “Hideaki has it.”

  Toby nodded as Cezar joined them. He looked tearful and his eyes were redder than Zahir’s, as though he had been crying all night. Toby’s heart clenched at the sight: Cezar was totally unprepared for the day ahead. Would he be next to go to the altar?

  Bianca saw the same thing Toby had and grabbed Cezar’s arm. “Didn’t you get any rest?”

  “I’ll be fine.” Cezar shook her off, but when Mother Hesper herded them towards the courtyard once more, Cezar’s limp was more pronounced than ever.

  As Ayla was in the cell nearest the door, she was first on to the sanctuary steps. Toby could not see past her, but as soon as the light hit her, Ayla froze and then back-pedalled.

  “What is it?” Alarmed, Toby caught her elbows before anyone else could see her retreat.