Breaking the Suun

by J. A. Culican

  “And what was with her asking about your mark?” Estrid reached over and pushed the hair off my face so she could study the star there.

  “She is very curious indeed.” I turned away from my sister’s probing gaze. She didn’t mean anything by it, but I was tired of having everyone look at me differently, even my own siblings. I was still the same Frida as I was before they all thought I was a descendant of Onen Suun.

  “Do you trust me now?” Estrid asked. “Will you tell me where we’re going?”

  I considered her. “Only if you help me get everyone onto the ship without Savarah knowing.”

  She stuck out her hand. “Fine. Deal.”

  We shook on it.

  “We’re going to the Valley of the Horses to seek the Sisters of Light.”

  Estrid scrunched up her nose in disbelief. “There are no horses on Bruhier.”

  “That’s what I said. But Lunla was certain, and I trust her. After what Arun did for her, I don’t think she would lead us wrong.”

  “Not intentionally, maybe,” Estrid added. Then she sat up and clapped her hands together. “So, any ideas how to get everyone out of here and keep Savarah in the dark?”

  The red string tied to the fountain twitched, drawing my eye. Xalph and Grissall were on their way back, and I really didn’t have time to admire more of Xalph’s map or help discover the other paths.

  I stood. “I think I know someone who can help.”

  We exited the maze the way we’d come in. I found myself smiling as we wound through the hedgerows, feeling for the first time in a long time like I finally had someone on my side.

  Chapter 9

  Arun was alone in the infirmary, sleeping soundly. Estrid and I returned to the kitchen and Cook directed us to an outbuilding where she said they kept the medicinal stores. It was a small, wooden building in the back of the gardens near the tree line. Light shone between the slats. We opened the door and found Jyne hunched over a shelf, shifting around glass jars and muttering to herself.

  She straightened and turned to us, blinking in surprise. “Oh,” she said. “Hello.”

  Estrid and I slipped inside and shut the door behind us. Jyne raised the yooperlite stone she held in her hand.

  I squinted in the light. I noticed then she was standing in front of a small table. On it was the small leather pouch she usually wore around her waist, and several small jars of green and brown leaves. She was in here restocking. “I hate to ask you for anything, but we need your help,” I told her.

  “Is this to do with Arun?” she asked.

  “Not really.”

  Estrid was studying a wall of jars to our left, hardly paying attention.

  I moved closer to Jyne and lowered my voice. “We need something that will make someone sleep.”

  She glanced over my shoulder at Estrid. “Is someone not sleeping well?” There was genuine concern on her face.

  “No, it’s not that.” I debated lying to her, but knew it was too risky. We needed someone who knew about these things and would be able to tell us exactly how to do what we needed to do. “It’s just that … well, have you met Savarah?”

  Jyne visibly shivered at the mention of the name, so I knew she had even before she answered. “Yes, the girl who came in with the corpses.”

  “Well, we’re leaving tomorrow, and she can’t come with us.”

  Understanding dawned on Jyne’s face. “Can’t you just tell her she can’t go? We’ll have someone take her to town, so she can find her own way off the plateau.”

  Estrid had moved to another shelf and was running her finger along faded labels. “It’s not that easy,” she answered for me. “We can’t seem to think straight when she’s around. Erik is likely to punch one of us if we try to keep her from getting on the airship.”

  The yooperlite was fading, so Jyne rubbed it between her hands. It flared back to life as she said, “So, you want her to sleep through your departure, then?”

  “Yes, exactly.”

  She turned her attention to one of the top shelves. The jars there were dusty, the labels barely visible. “I think what you’ll want …” She trailed off, standing on tiptoe and moving jars around.

  Estrid, who could reach the top shelf with no issue, came up beside her. “Just point.”

  “Is there one that says vila powder?”

  Estrid shifted a few jars aside and then plucked one from the bunch, handing it to Jyne.

  After dusting it off, Jyne unscrewed the metal lid and lifted it off. Inside was a light brown powder like sand. “Vila powder is a very potent sleep aid. Just a pinch will knock her out for about an hour.”

  I took the jar from her and sniffed. There was no obvious smell, which I thought was a good thing. “What would be the dosage for longer than that?”

  She was already measuring out small spoonsful into a paper pouch. “I’ll give you the proper dosage.”

  “The proper dosage of what?” came a voice from behind us.

  We all whirled toward the door. Lunla stood there, still half in shadow. She stepped inside and coolly surveyed the room. For a moment, none of us spoke.

  To my surprise, it was Jyne who stepped forward, sealing the paper bag. “Vila powder. For the elf, in case he needs it on their journey to the valley.”

  My mouth had been open, ready to defend myself, but I snapped it closed. The priest was lying for us, but it was a flimsy lie. We would, of course, need Arun awake to captain the ship. I glanced at Estrid and then quickly away. I didn’t want to give Lunla any reason to be suspicious.

  “Hmm.” Lunla stepped forward and held her hand out. Jyne dropped the bag of vila powder into the older woman’s hand. Lunla pulled it open, glanced inside, and then weighed it in her hand. “For someone Arun’s size, you’ll need at least another gram.” She topped off the bag, sealed it, and handed it to me.

  As I tucked it away inside my vest, a warning glance from Jyne told me not to give the full dosage to Savarah. I nodded and turned to Lunla. “May I have a word?” It was true I wanted to talk to her, but this served the second purpose of also distracting her from what we were doing in the shed.

  She motioned for me to follow her, and we stepped outside into the night, leaving the others behind. A yooperlite stone in her hand illuminated us in a dull yellow circle. Beyond the gardens, the temple was dark except for candles burning in the windows of the residential hall. We walked slowly down the path.

  “What is it, Frida?”

  I cleared my throat. “We’ll be leaving tomorrow to continue our quest, but I have one more favor to ask you.”

  She dipped her head at me, her face blank and giving nothing away.

  “Could Xalph and Grissall stay here, at the temple?”

  “Do you fear they are ill-equipped to deal with the journey?” she asked.

  “Actually, no. It’s more that I am ill-equipped to keep them safe, and I promised both of their fathers that I would. To do that, I think this is the best place for them, at least for now.”

  We walked slowly, Lunla’s eyes straight ahead. As we neared the temple, she stopped, putting a hand on my arm. “We will allow them to stay on one condition. You must not come back for them.”

  “What? Why?”

  “They have their own destinies, their own parts to play in this conflict, just as you do. Neither of them belongs in Barepost. If they return there, it will be of their own will, and because they are meant to do so.”

  I didn’t know if I could agree to that, to more of Lunla’s vague prophesying. But what choice did I have? Drag them along with me and risk their lives, when that was the very thing their fathers had wanted to get them away from? I tried to think of my own father and what he would have wanted for me, but it was not the same. The D’ahvol culture encouraged us to become warriors, to throw ourselves into battle at a young age, to die with honor at the end of an enemy’s blade. It wasn’t the same for children of miners and innkeepers from Bruhier.

  I smiled wryly at
Lunla, not even sure if she could see it in the dark. “Fine. Who am I to argue with the word of the light?”

  Dinner was served in the dining hall, and all of us, except for Arun, gathered around the large table to eat. For the first time ever, I made sure to sit beside Savarah. The envelope of vila powder was burning a hole in my vest. I felt like everyone could see it, though of course that was silly. It was just my nerves trying to get the better of me.

  Estrid sat on Savarah’s other side, beating Erik to the seat by only a few steps. Our brother begrudgingly took the seat on Estrid’s left. Between the two of them, surely, they could keep Savarah’s attention long enough for me to slip the contents of the envelope into her drink.

  We were served fresh brown bread still steaming from the oven, and plates of cabbage and beans. When a man came around and tipped ale into our wooden cups, Estrid put a hand on Savarah’s arm. Erik watched her with barely concealed fury as Savarah turned her big, blue eyes on Estrid. Estrid said something I couldn’t hear, and Savarah tipped her head back and laughed.

  I dug in my vest, my fingers fumbling for the vila powder. Grissall and Xalph were in front of me, but neither of them even glanced in my direction as I drew out the envelope and pulled apart the seal.

  “You grew up in Barepost?” I heard Estrid say.

  Reaching over, I nudged Savarah’s glass closer to me. At the head of the table, Lunla was talking to Grissall, who, Onen bless her, was asking the priest questions about life at the temple. I dumped some of the powder into the cup and then looked into the envelope. There was a little bit left. Jyne had said not to use it all, but what could it hurt to have that extra security? Shrugging to myself, I emptied the packet into the drink just as Savarah reached for it, turning away from my sister.

  “And you, Frida?” she asked, lifting the cup to her lips.

  “What’s that?”

  She took a long swig of the drink before answering. “Where will you go when all this is over?”

  I watched her for any sign there was something off about the drink, but there was none. “Home. Bor’sur, in the Western March.”

  “To stay?”

  “To see my father. And then, who knows?” I looked across her at Estrid and Erik. “Maybe the three of us will find some other adventure.”

  Savarah downed her drink and called for another. Not long after, her eyes were drifting shut as they brought out the pastries. She excused herself, looking confused as she explained that she very suddenly wasn’t feeling like herself.

  Lunla put down her own cup and studied Savarah, who was pushing herself to stand on unsteady feet. “Do you need to go to the infirmary?”

  Savarah shook her head. “I just need sleep, I think. I haven’t been…” She trailed off and put a hand to her forehead, closing her eyes. “I haven’t been sleeping very well.” One of the priests took her by her elbow and guided her out of the room.

  I made a face at Estrid, who widened her eyes at me, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. Over her shoulder, I caught Erik watching me with narrowed eyes. There would be some explaining to do later, but not until I got him away from Savarah.

  After dinner, I went outside to search for Stiarna. She’d made herself scarce since the fight, but I found her perched on the bowsprit of the Iron Duchess, grooming herself in the blue light of Gleet.

  I climbed the hull nets as I’d done the day before, pulling myself up to sit beside her. “Hey there.” I stroked her feathered head and all the way down to the thick fur on her back. She blinked at me lazily and accepted the strip of bacon I offered to her. As she ate it, I unwrapped her bound wing and examined it. The tear the ur’gel had ripped in it had mostly healed, the skin pink and new beneath the overlapping feathers.

  “I don’t think you’ll need this anymore.” I tucked the strip of cloth into my pocket and patted her wing.

  She stood and stretched her wings out to their full expanse, looking like a real-life figurehead. Her wings spanned at least six feet on each side. She took several steps backward, nudging me to the side.

  “Wait, Stiarna. No. I don’t think—”

  But she wasn’t listening to me. She took two large steps and leapt, her wings catching an updraft just before she hit the ground, pulling her up into the air. Her wings flapped, the injured one seeming to lag a bit behind the other one. But she quickly found her stride and ascended into the night sky, disappearing over the trees.

  I slept soundly that night for the first time in a long time, knowing that Savarah was knocked out somewhere in another room. When I woke, it was to a face looming over me, someone’s hands on my shoulders. I jerked upright, our foreheads colliding.

  Arun sat back, rubbing his head. “Ow.”

  “What are you doing here?” I shoved his chest, but he was as immovable as a boulder.

  “It’s time to go. Cook is preparing our food stores. Estrid is fetching your brother. You and I need to load the supplies. Who knows when we’ll be able to stock up again?”

  He stood. He looked good—healthy, I meant. His shoulder was still bandaged, but the color had returned to his face. Around his neck, he wore an amulet of some sort of black stone that seemed to pulse. I caught myself staring and looked away hastily.

  After he left, I dressed quickly, packing the spare set of clothes Jyne had given to me. The front courtyard was bustling with activity as the priests and kitchen staff carried supplies onto the ship. Arun was chasing some of them down, turning them away, shouting about weight limits and over-packing. I took bags from two priests and walked up the gangplank, handing them off to Arun who took them with a sigh.

  Last on were Estrid and Erik, Estrid dragging him behind her, ignoring his protests. Once they were on board, Arun raised the gangplank. I stepped up to help him.

  “What about Savarah?” Erik asked.

  I dragged the gangplank back with Arun. With any luck, Savarah was still sound asleep and would be for the rest of the day, but I wouldn’t tell Erik any of that until we were up in the air.

  “Yes,” called a voice from below, “what about Savarah?”

  I dropped the gangplank as I whirled around, nearly crushing my toes. There, at the temple door, Savarah stood, her hands on her hips, her eyes bright. I shot a look at Estrid, who was staring at Savarah with barely concealed astonishment.

  Savarah took a few steps toward the ship. “So, where are we going?”

  Chapter 10

  Unbelievable.

  Impossible.

  There was no way she was awake. Not after the dose I gave her.

  “You’re not going anywhere,” I said, my temper spiking. “Not with us.”

  Savarah shielded her eyes with one hand and looked up at me.

  “You can stay here, or feel free to head into town to find a ship bound for Lamruil.”

  “Lamruil?” Savarah chuckled. “Why would I want to go to Lamruil?”

  Estrid came to stand beside me at the railing. She looked casual at first, but her hand gripped the railing tight enough that her knuckles turned white. “To find Tsarra Trisfina.”

  “You know, the woman you said you were serving?” I reminded Savarah. Now Erik had to see—see she was a liar, that she couldn’t be trusted. That she had no place among us.

  “What are you talking about?” Erik had broken free from Estrid and was struggling to replace the heavy gangplank on his own. “Bring her on board.” He turned to Arun. “Can’t we take her to Lamruil before we search for the Valley of the Horses?”

  Arun was just watching from his place behind the wheel, an amused smirk on his lips. He seemed in no rush to come to anyone’s aid—ours or Savarah’s. Hopefully, he would be equally disinclined to help Erik after I punched him in the face. Beside me, Estrid was balling her hands into fists, and I thought she would actually help me if it came down to beating some sense into my brother.

  But instead, I took a deep breath and put a hand on her wrist. I felt her pause, too. I reminded myself this was
the effect Savarah had on us, and just one more reason to keep Savarah off the ship and as far away from us as possible. Until we were gone, we had to keep our wits about us.

  Which was easier said than done with Erik about to launch himself off the side of the Duchess. Estrid grabbed him by the back of his shirt and hauled him backward. He sprawled on the deck, blinking up at her. I skirted around them and ran for the helm. Arun watched me come with wide eyes, holding onto the wheel as if I were going to rip it from his hands. But I didn’t want the wheel. I didn’t care where we went, as long as we went somewhere far from here. And to do that, we first had to go up.

  I didn’t know much about airships, or anything really, but I knew how to at least make it do that. Skidding to a stop, I jerked on the lever beside Arun, pulling it as far as it would go.

  “Frida, what—” His objection was lost in the wind as we rose quickly, and he had to grab the wheel to hold the ship steady.

  Leaving the helm, I returned to the port side and leaned over the railing. Savarah was still watching us, a hand shielding her eyes. Xalph and Grissall emerged from the front door, waving and shouting their farewells, Lunla close behind them, her hands on their shoulders.

  “We’re going too fast!” Arun shouted, drawing my attention from the ground to the ship, which was listing to the port side as we continued to rise so fast the wind made my eyes water.

  “What can I do?” I asked, grabbing a mast as I made my way toward him. I could just imagine Savarah watching us smugly from the ground, enjoying our struggle.

  He yelled something and pointed to the rope wrapped around the wooden knot next to my knee. I looked down at it, bit my lip, and jerked on the knot. It came undone and the sail overhead unfurled with a crack, drawing itself taut in a matter of seconds.

  “Do the others,” Arun instructed.

  I slipped and slid to the next mast, passing Estrid and Erik who were wrestling on the deck. The ship rocked wildly as if it were trying to buck us off, and Erik certainly wasn’t helping matters with the way he was fighting Estrid. Wind caught in our lone sail and jerked us upright. I grabbed the rear mast and undid the knot, feeling relief when the sail unfurled and filled with wind.