Blood Song: The First Book of Lharmell

by Rhiannon Hart

  I looked up at the sky, but yellow-grey clouds had passed over the stars. I realised I was still wearing the peacock mask and I ripped it off, flinging it away from me. What time had it been when I’d fled the ball? Not late. Not much after ten, probably. If I hurried I might be able to get back before Renata missed me. I was shivering now inside the satin. Why had the temperature plummeted so fast? It had been such a hot day, and on the terrace earlier the night air had been pleasantly warm.

  After an hour of trudging through the same dead, black forest, I started to worry. Where had that bird taken me? Had we flown east, along the coast? If so, I could be walking further from the palace, not towards it. I hadn’t felt it turn once we were in the air and it had definitely been heading north when we’d taken off.

  North. Oh, jeepers. Just how far had the bird taken me? It had felt like barely minutes in the air, but I was a little tipsy and Rodden had just put the wind up me. And the bird had been flying very fast. Fast enough to get me over the Unctium?

  Looking around at the alien landscape I felt a rising sense of dread. Barren, black trees. Frigid temperatures. I remembered the large dark shapes with flapping wings circling in the sky above the palace, and how quickly they’d disappeared back across the straits. Big, bird-like things. Like the one I had so rashly climbed aboard. I recalled Rodden’s anguished not-voice as we’d leapt into the air. As if I was in great danger. As if I was being taken to Lharmell.

  Oh, no. Not there. Not here.

  Suddenly the black forest seemed aglow with twin points of blue light, eyes that stared at me hungrily. I saw that the ground beneath me had flattened out. Bewildered, I was no longer sure of the direction I’d come from. I looked for my footprints but the ground was hard-packed. Now that I knew I was in Lharmell, not Pergamia, I did a quick rethink. Uphill, away from the sea, would be north here, not south. The way I’d been going was leading me deeper into Lharmell. To reach the straits I would have to go back the way I’d come. If I could get there I could . . . what? Find a boat? I doubted such things existed in this place. I’d seen no signs of civilisation so far.

  First things first: my shoes. They would not do. There could be hours of tramping ahead of me, plus the hour or so that I’d added by walking in the wrong direction. I found a rock and touched it to see if it was as hazardous as the ground, but there was no pain. I sat down and pulled off my shoes, carefully tucking my feet under me out of harm’s way. Examining the shoes, I thought I could use the soles, but the rest of them would have to go. They were made of a stiff blue satin, perfect for the ballroom but hellish to walk in. I was amazed I’d lasted this far. The satin tore off easily and I worked away at the little heels on the rock until I’d wormed them off. I tied the thin soles to my feet with part of an underskirt, being careful that no parts of my feet were exposed to the poisonous ground.

  I stood and tested them out. There were no shooting pains and the binding didn’t fall apart straight away. They would do for a little while. I set out in the direction I thought I had come from, gathering my make-shift cloak around me and hoping that a swift pace would soon warm me up. I went more carefully now, running my eyes over the blackness around me, and checking behind to see if I was being followed.

  I thought I’d been so clever to jump aboard that bird. But it was stupid. So stupid. There wasn’t a lot I could use to defend myself against a Lharmellin. I tried making a staff but the wood was also poisonous. I thought about finding a good-sized stone, but carrying it would weigh me down and I doubted lobbing one measly stone was going to mean the difference between life and death.

  After about an hour the ground began to slope erratically and I was no longer sure that I was headed for the ocean. If only there was an opening in the trees and I could see the horizon; that might give me a better idea of where I was headed. Climbing a tree might have helped but it wasn’t possible.

  Hours went by, possibly three. I trudged across the hard, uneven ground, shivering with cold. I was now lost. As far as I knew, I could be heading into the very heartland of Lharmell. After another hour the temperature plummeted some more but the sky began to lighten, and I looked around, hoping to see something that would set me in the right direction. All I saw were more black-trunked trees, their uppermost branches bare and needle-sharp. The sky lightened to a sickly yellowish-grey. I hoped that when the sun was high enough it would show through the clouds and I could get some sense of direction. And that it would grow a little warmer.

  I kept my ears peeled for the flap of wings, hoping that one of those big birds would land and I could get on its back again and somehow steer it back to Pergamia. But there were no sounds. No birds heralding the dawn. They had either been killed by the toxic forest, or else were never here to begin with.

  As morning wore on I began to get terribly thirsty. I had seen no water so far and the landscape didn’t allow much reason to hope for it. Even if I did find a pond or stream, there was a good chance that it would be poisonous, too.

  After another hour, the bindings on my shoes fell apart. I found another rock and hopped over to it, the ground searing my feet where the fabric had disinteg- rated. Looking at the remains of my foot coverings, it seemed that whatever made the surroundings toxic had eaten through the bindings. What a terrible place this was. I tore fresh strips from my petticoat and rebound my feet. I hoped that I would reach the ocean before I ran out of clothing entirely.

  It must have been nearing midday by then, but it had grown no warmer and I searched the sky in vain for the sun. The ominous clouds blotted it out too well for me to see its glow, and I had no shadow. There was nothing to do but press on and hope for the best. I travelled slowly now, dehydration and fatigue making me unsteady. My stomach was growling despite my anxiety. I would have to rest soon, but lying down on the ground was an impossibility.

  Sometime in the afternoon when my eyes had grown gritty and blurred and my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth, I saw a rocky outcrop. Blindly, I made my way towards it, found a flattish sort of boulder and lay down.

  For an instant, it felt a lot better than struggling over the dusty ground. Then it just became hard and uncomfortable. I shifted around until I was only prodded in half a dozen places, and then all I could do was lay there.

  And think of water.

  Water. I’d taken it for granted my whole life. Whenever I’d needed it all I had to do was reach for it. I chastised myself for all the missed opportunities: all those times when I could have been drinking water but hadn’t. I’d never known that I should have been cherishing it, worshipping it as the elixir of life that it was. Because now that I didn’t have it, I was being driven mad. In my mind’s eye I saw myself at the high table in Pergamia, picking at all the strange food. On the table sat a goblet, filled to the brim with cold water.

  Drink it! I urged my imagined self. What are you doing, Zeraphina? Drink!

  But that Zeraphina didn’t hear me. She went on ignoring the goblet and for some reason I felt more desolate than ever.

  For something to do with my tongue, I pulled a clip from my hair, broke off the jewel and put it in my mouth. I sucked on the small stone, trying to get my saliva flowing. It started to work and my mouth was moist for the first time in hours, and I faded into an exhausted sleep.

  When I woke it was dark again. How late it was I didn’t know, but the sky had cleared up somewhat and through fog I could see a handful of stars. I realised that I would have to trek through the night again and wished that I hadn’t slept the day away. I could miss things in the dark, and besides, it was far more terrifying.

  I put fresh bindings on my feet and eased myself down from the rock. My body ached all over from the tension and unexpected exercise. Black spots danced before my eyes and my heart thumped painfully in my chest, straining to push my thickened blood around my body. The temperature was almost at freezing and I huddled into the blue satin. There was even less underskirt to protect my legs now. It occurred to me that before I could b
e captured by Lharmellins I might die of exposure.

  As I walked I rubbed my arms with the dress, trying to clean off the gold powder, which was starting to itch.

  Half an hour later I felt a faint breeze, one that carried the low rumble of chanting voices. I stood stock-still, listening, my heart thumping more painfully than ever. There came to my ears a sound like a mewling kitten, frightened and alone. In the moonlight I could see a clearing up ahead and something moving around in it, but my fear made me crouch low to the ground instead of approach. I clutched my hands around my knees, trying not to shake or even breathe too loudly.

  The mewling reached my ears again, and this time the call sounded like a word, a human word, like hello or help. I opened my mouth to call back but saw a streak of white-blue light in the distance and clapped a hand over my mouth. There were several more flashes of light, all moving rapidly towards the clearing, as fast as arrows.

  Lharmellins.

  There must have been at least six of them darting among the trees. They were making an odd clicking noise as they closed in on the clearing. It was an almost gleeful sound, as if they were chuckling to one another.

  That’s when I realised what was happening. They were hunting, calling to one another as they closed in on their prey.

  I pressed my hands even harder over my mouth, willing myself not to make a noise. Whoever it was in the clearing was crying now, calling out in fright. I could do nothing but stare helplessly as a Lharmellin shot into the clearing. In the light from its eyes I saw a boy crouched in the dirt. He shielded himself from the glow with his arm and sobbed. The Lharmellin threw back its head and clicked again, and, so fast that they were a blur, eight more materialised and surrounded the boy. They didn’t appear to walk, but slid over the ground, their dark hooded cloaks trailing over the dirt.

  I saw them reach for the cowering figure with long, thin fingers, and I buried my face in my knees, shaking with silent tears. The boy screamed once more, frantic and high pitched, and then was silent.

  The only noise was a faint, appreciative clicking as the Lharmellins fed.

  I still had my face buried in my skirt when I heard a loud, questioning click at my elbow. I looked up and saw a Lharmellin a few feet away, staring at me, its head cocked to one side. This close I could see its needle-like teeth stained red, the skeleton grin on its features. Its eyes were glowing white-blue and I felt myself bathed in their unnatural light. The thing was very tall and thin, only its twisted grey hands and face visible beneath its cloak. Up close I could see it didn’t possess feet, but a thick tail, like a worm.

  I scrambled to my feet and backed away.

  The Lharmellin raised its chin and clicked again, louder this time. Its companions, who were dozens of feet away, seemed to materialise by its side instantly. They were all looking right at me, their eyes glowing eerily. They began their crooning song.

  My stomach balled into a fist of dread. Run! But I found that I couldn’t move. My feet were glued to the spot.

  Ever so slowly they began to drift towards me, slithering over the ground, fingers outstretched. With their tails, and their heads cocked to one side, they looked vaguely reptilian, like curious snakes wondering whether to strike.

  I opened my mouth to scream but the sound was frozen in my throat.

  TWELVE

  I wished fervently that I had died of exposure, because facing the Lharmellins now I saw it would be a far, far better way to go.

  There was a flash of gold overhead. Then, in quick succession, three Lharmellins were struck by arrows. They threw back their heads and let out shrieks like an accordion being stepped on, before their bodies collapsed inside their cloaks and they fell into smoking piles.

  The other six stopped singing and I found I could move again. I turned and ran. My foot caught on a tree root and I went flying, landing on my forearms in the dirt. Stinging pain shot through my arms.

  ‘Get up! You’ll be burned,’ a voice snapped.

  ‘I know,’ I said through gritted teeth. I struggled up. I hated being told what to do when I was already doing it. It made me furious. Especially when it was him. Because, of course, it was Rodden. He notched up an arrow and fired again, and an answering shriek told me he had hit his mark. The remaining Lharmellins fled, disappearing into the trees. Rodden lowered his bow and looked at me.

  What a sight I must have looked, huddled and shivering inside the torn dress, rags on my feet. ‘You took your time,’ I said, though I hadn’t really been expecting to be rescued.

  Rodden reached into his pack and pulled out a black cloak, similar to the one he was wearing. In fact it was very similar to the ones the Lharmellins had been wearing. As he wrapped it around me I heard a trill and felt something brush against my legs.

  ‘Leap!’ I bent down to scoop him up. ‘He’s not in pain?’ I asked, checking his paws.

  ‘No, this place is only poisonous to humans. Come on, we have to get moving. They’ll be back ten-fold.’

  I remembered the flash of gold I’d seen just before the arrows had been fired, and looked around for Griffin.

  ‘She’ll follow us. There’s a cave not far off.’

  Among a copse of smaller trees was an entrance to a cave. It didn’t look like much from the outside, and wasn’t large enough to stand up in, but as we moved further in I saw that it was quite deep. We made a turn, and then another. Rodden stopped and pulled something out of his pack, and an orange glow filled the cave. It was the same coloured glow that I had seen coming from his turret room.

  I was about to slump to the ground until I remembered the poisonous dirt. But the floor was rock, and I gratefully slid down, my back against the hard wall.

  ‘Water,’ I muttered.

  Rodden handed me a flask. ‘Just tiny sips,’ he said.

  As I drank, doing my best not to gulp the water down, I watched Rodden unpacking. He pulled out trousers, a shirt and a pair of boots and stacked them next to me. I looked at the boots with relief. I wouldn’t have to trudge all the way back to Pergamia in the remains of my ball shoes.

  Finally I could manage to speak. ‘They were Lharmellins?’ I asked.

  Rodden nodded. ‘That was them. Endearing creatures, aren’t they?’

  ‘They were hunting. They’re so fast. They killed a boy in the clearing. I think they were about to kill me.’

  He shook his head. ‘They killed the boy, but they were greeting you. Must have figured you got lost on your way to the tors.’

  I was about to ask him about the tors when he pulled something out of his pack that gladdened my heart even more than the boots: my bow. He proceeded to string it and laid it down next to me. I caressed the smooth, shiny wood. Then Rodden pulled out a quiver of arrows but didn’t give them to me until he’d also found a pair of gloves that matched the pair he was wearing. He gave me a stern look. ‘Never, ever, touch these arrows without these gloves on your hands. They’re poisonous to those with Lharmellin blood.’

  I frowned. A minute ago he’d said Lharmell was only poisonous to humans. So what was I, human or harming? I put on the gloves. They were very long, reaching all the way up past my elbows.

  ‘Get changed.’ He nodded to the stack of clothing next to me and ducked out of sight around the corner.

  After a minute of struggling I had to call him back.

  ‘What?’

  ‘I can’t get it off.’

  ‘The dress?’

  ‘Yes, and the corset.’ I turned my back to him, though I hated to ask him for help.

  As he picked at the fastenings he muttered, ‘That’s right, I forgot you have servants to do this.’

  ‘So would you if you had to go around in this ridiculous get-up all the time.’

  Rodden pulled out a knife and cut everything off me. I let out a sigh of relief as the corset loosened. He went away again and I slipped out of the remains of the dress and foot-bindings and put on the shirt and trousers. I marvelled at the clothes. What an odd sensation! I sp
un around. To have such freedom of movement was invigorating. It also felt illicit to wear such things. What would my mother think?

  ‘I’m done,’ I called as I was buckling up the boots.

  Rodden sat down opposite me and held out a package. ‘Can you eat?’

  I grimaced and shook my head. I’d begun to feel trembly and sick. I wrapped the cloak about myself again. It helped a little, but as I tried to relax I felt a tightness in my chest. It radiated outwards, making it difficult to breathe. Not now! I didn’t want Rodden to see me collapse in a fit. To distract myself I patted my lap and Leap came over and curled himself against my stomach, a rumbling emanating from deep in his chest. I forced my fingers not to clench in his fur.

  ‘They’ve got a fix on you,’ Rodden said, nodding to Leap and Griffin as he repacked everything into two bags. ‘It was the only way I could find you.’

  I nodded, my jaw clenched too tightly to speak. I would fight this down. I was a human, not a harming.

  ‘If you’d left me with that ring I could have found you just as easily, but that bird of yours comes in handy. She’s a good tracker and scout.’

  By now my legs were trembling with the effort not to give in to the pain. Rodden saw the shaking. ‘Are you okay?’

  I nodded, though I knew it couldn’t be very convincing as my eyes were wide and darting around like caged birds.

  ‘No, you’re not, you’re –’

  And then it hit me. I moaned and doubled over. Leap scrambled off my lap. I curled into a ball, pressing my forehead against my knees. This was the worst yet. It felt like someone was dragging white-hot hooks across my insides. From far off I heard Rodden urging me to be quiet and I realised I was screaming in pain. He pulled me up and held a flask to my lips. What was he doing? I didn’t want water at a time like this. The fluid filled my mouth and I swallowed involuntarily. Instantly the pain subsided. Laudanum. He’d given me laudanum. I slumped back with relief.