Bravura

by Sara Kingsley

  Tui releases Catriona’s hand and she jumps down from Hazel. I must be radiating some serious anger, because he slinks back away from the both of us.

  “The messengers managed to get word to Nile right after it happened,” she says. “And then the news reached me. I knew I had to get back here to tell you straight away. If Leif really is in Araroa’s custody—”

  “Wait a second. Back up. What was he doing with Hannah? Why would he be getting her out? He was supposed to be finding Nile.”

  Catriona shrugs. “I don’t know, Raven. I don’t even know who she is, other than this girl has been a friend of his since they were kids.”

  I’m barely listening to her. My mind is filled with the last image I have of Hannah: in the hands of Araroa’s Hunters, her face battered, her good eye glued to Leif and me.

  But I’ve got to get ahold of myself. I’m jumping to conclusions.

  Or am I?

  Leif was supposed to be finding his father, not rescuing Hannah. But his words come back to me from that night in the Bastion. We’ll get her out too. I’d dismissed it then as a hollow promise. But clearly it wasn’t. And now the fool has gone and got himself captured because of it.

  My fool.

  “Do you know where they are? Where they are being held?”

  Catriona’s eyes drift down. “I’m sorry, Raven.”

  “Where is it? Tell me!”

  “Back at the Bastion. In the Palace dungeon.”

  I put my face in my hands and will myself to hold it together. Not to cry. Leif is being held right where they put people who are about to be executed. Like my Queen mother, Seraphine. Like me, who was next.

  I take a deep breath and drop my hands. Stand tall to face Catriona once more. “All right. Then we’ve got to get him out.” I hesitate, then add reluctantly, “And Hannah too.”

  Catriona’s eyes sparkle with delight. “Fantastic! I’ll be ready to head out again in the morning.”

  I look over at Tui. He’s been studying the ground, plucking grass with a bare toe. He looks up at Catriona, opens his mouth to say something. But I don’t wait for his response. “Tui? Are you coming too? No. Wait. You should stay here. The other men need your help to defend Baldachin. If—when the Hunters arrive. Yes, they need your help more. Catriona and I can handle this. We’ll get Leif out.” I hope my voice sounds confident, but I’m pretty sure I’ve failed at that. I want nothing more than Tui’s company, but I know that’s selfish. He really is needed here more.

  Tui looks at me, then back at Catriona. “I’m not letting you out of my sight again,” he says to her. “I couldn’t bear it. I love you, Catriona. If you’re going with Raven, then so am I.”

  For an instant, Catriona’s face is pure shock. Then the shock melts into a smile, the most brilliant one I’ve ever seen on her face. She leaps the two yards between them, and jumps into Tui’s arms. He catches her easily and swings her in a full circle. When they stop, he kisses her gently on the lips.

  She’s still smiling. “Good,” is all she says.

  The confidence I felt speaking with Tui and Catriona fades quickly when it comes time to tell Mum and Papa and Miss Lilith. I spend the entire day rehearsing the conversation, pacing back and forth along the river trying out different angles in my mind.

  “Hey, Mum! Papa! Guess what. I’m heading back to the Bastion to free my lover from King Araroa’s dungeon. Yeah, he’ll probably throw me back in there too, and set a date for my execution. But at least Leif and I will be together …”

  Somehow, I don’t think that’s going to convince them.

  What could I possibly say that would?

  Still, that evening when I sit down to eat dinner with my parents, it takes me many tries to get the words to form in my mouth. And by that time, Mum’s putting dessert on the table. A berry cobbler so beautiful and delicious smelling, it nearly brings tears to my eyes.

  I bring a forkful to my mouth, then pause. I put the fork back down.

  “There’s something I’ve got to tell you.”

  Papa looks at me with curiosity. Mum’s smile fades. “Really? Go on,” she says hesitantly.

  “Leif is in trouble. He’s—he was—it started—oh, never mind. The point is I have to get back to the Bastion to help him. Araroa’s … gotten hold of him.”

  Silence.

  “Over my dead body,” says Papa.

  Mum looks at him. Incredulous. “Excuse me?”

  Papa slams a fist down on the table. Both Mum and I jump. I’m still shocked into silence. Papa is normally so reserved—this is very unlike him.

  He continues. “It’s what I said. There’s no way Raven is leaving to go anywhere. Not now. Not when the Hunters are everywhere looking for her. It would be completely foolish.” He looks from Mum directly to me. “Raven, I am sorry to hear about your friend. But please, listen to what I say. You may as well consider it a trap. Araroa knows you’d try to help Leif. And then he’d have the both of you, and it would be … over.”

  Papa’s concern is touching. But I’m gritting my teeth in fury. It’s then that it hits me: I don’t need their permission. I don’t even need their blessing. I am the Woman King of Nuimana. I can rescue whomever I want. And right now, that’s Leif. And—ugh—Hannah.

  “How dare you!” I spit out.

  He sinks down a little into the stool he’s sitting upon but doesn’t reply.

  “How dare you tell me, the Woman King of Nuimana, where I can and can’t go? My help is needed and I must go. Full stop.”

  Papa remains silent, looking sheepish.

  “When are you leaving?” Mum’s voice is resigned. Not a bit of anger in it.

  “Aren’t you upset?”

  Mum pats my hand, which I now notice is gripping the edge of the table. “Why would I be upset? You don’t belong to us, Raven. Our job is done. You belong out there—” She looks out the window, but I can tell her mind is far beyond our tiny treevillage. “Whether it’s back on Nuimana, or in the Bastion. You belong to all of those you love you. It’s not our right to keep you from them. Your papa is simply worried, that’s all.”

  Papa looks toward the window, staring out into the trees. The sun is setting, and the trees are lit like they are on fire. He sighs and looks back to me. “Your mum’s right. I overstepped my place. Please accept my apologies, m’lady.”

  I reach over and grab his hands, roughened from years of carving. I look into Papa’s eyes, which are creased with worry. “I’m going to be okay,” I say to him. “I appreciate all that you’ve done for me over the years. I really do. But now my friend needs help. He needs me. I wish you would listen to me, though. I wish you would do as I ask and leave Baldachin. Move to somewhere safe, where the Hunters won’t find you and Mum and Miss Lilith.”

  But Papa’s already shaking his head. “No, Raven. Just as your friend needs your help at the Bastion, my village needs mine. This is my home, and I will defend it.” He squeezes my hands.

  “Mum?” I look over at the woman who has been my true mother all my life. Even if she didn’t give birth to me, what she did—protecting me out here in Baldachin, keeping my secret all these years—she’s the bravest woman I’ve ever known.

  She smiles. “We’ll be fine, Raven. Now you’d better run along and tell Miss Lilith. I’ll start getting some provisions put together for you.”

  “Thank you, Mum.” I jump up, turning to head out the door, but after a pause I run back to hug both of my parents. I hold on to them tighter than I ever have before. I know this could very well be my last day with them.

  When I pop through Miss Lilith’s flower-curtained doorway, I find her sitting at her table, tea already set for two.

  “Leaving so soon?” she asks.

  “What—why—how did you know?”

  She smiles, motioning for me to sit on the stool across from her. “A little bird told me.”

  “A little bird?”

  “Well, he’s not so little anymore. It’s not his fault; I p
ried it out of him when I saw him packing earlier today. Your friend is in trouble?”

  “Yes. I know I just came all this way. But then Catriona heard he’d been captured trying to free our … our friend from the Northern Desert prison camp. He’s in Araroa’s dungeon. I’ve been there. It’s horrible.”

  “It truly is. You should go. The men here are preparing for the Hunters. Everyone believes the warning you brought. They are taking it seriously. I think you’re doing what’s best. Get out while you can. I’m glad you came”—she smiles warmly—“even though I told Tui to drag you back aboard that ship if he had to.”

  That makes me smile. Too bad Miss Lilith doesn’t know that Tui is putty in my hands. And now Catriona’s too.

  “We’re leaving in the morning, the three of us. We’ll head directly there—Hunters and Loyalists be damned.” Miss Lilith smiles at that. But I can tell she doesn’t believe the words any more than I do.

  “You’ll find help when you most need it,” she says comfortingly.

  We sip our tea, saying nothing more. Just relishing what might be my very last evening with my beloved godmother. I don’t rush it. When our cups are long since empty, she shoos me out, off to bed, telling me I need the rest before my long trip back to the Bastion starts tomorrow.

  Back at my treehome, I think about the last time I left Baldachin—also for forever, also with Tui and Catriona—and I try to remember what I was thinking about when I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep, like I’m doing now. I was scared then. Terrified, really. Sixteen years old and I’d never gone farther than Greenhollow on my own. I feel a hundred years older now.

  This time, I can’t wait to leave. Sure, my stomach clenches with the thought of saying goodbye to Mum and Papa and Miss Lilith yet again. But I know with certainty that this time, it’s right. They’ll be fine without me here. But Leif won’t—that I am positive of.

  Last year, I would have lay here, worried about failure. Worried there was no way I could get Leif out of Araroa’s dungeon. Worried that I would never make it that far to begin with.

  But tonight I don’t entertain any of those ideas. I will not fail.

  I won’t fail Leif.

  And then I’m going to thrash him for messing with Hannah.

  The morning can’t arrive soon enough. I wolf down the breakfast Mum has prepared, grab my pack and Fortissima, and start for the ladder to find Catriona and Tui.

  Tui’s already got the horses ready to go. I hate big goodbyes, but I’m not terribly disappointed when the crowd gathers around. I’m glad to see Mum and Papa and Miss Lilith there, as well as Tui’s parents and younger brother and sister. Catriona’s too, and most of the other treevillagers. Lots of hugs, lots of goodbyes, and then we’re off to a raucous cheer.

  We point the horses toward Alderwood. Since the town’s only a couple hours away, we don’t plan to stop until we reach the old bearcat lands. My heart leaps with each and every step of Pearl’s: each one is closer to Leif. Catriona said she had come through Alderwood only a few weeks ago and there was no sign Hunters had ever been there, one thing I don’t have to worry about.

  We reach Alderwood well before noon. It’s only a tiny village, and people come out of their shops and homes to watch as we pass. I had hoped we weren’t going to be recognized, but their eyes tell me they must know something. A little girl waves right at me. I hesitate to acknowledge her, but I give in and wave back. She squeals and hides behind her mother’s skirt. The mother, too, raises a hand in greeting.

  We continue on, reaching the forest in late evening. There’s no danger of trying to keep unnoticed; besides the fact that this time we know the bearcats are our allies, Tui tells us that Cecil and his clan have left the forest for good, back to their original mountain homes. Indeed, the forest seems brighter than it did before. The despair of exile that once filled the stale air here is gone.

  We make a roaring fire and roast some of the sausages Tui’s mum packed for us. She’s also sent corncakes, fruit salad, and berry biscuits. It’s a real treat compared to what we normally have to eat on the trail. We wash it down with peppermint tea.

  Tui and Catriona sit close together. They’re not touching but can’t keep their eyes off each other. I take another sip of my tea and savor the taste on my tongue. I close my eyes and imagine it’s Leif I’ve just kissed.

  Catriona’s shriek makes me jump, and my eyes fly open. Tui is laughing, brushing off a spider that has started crawling up her leg. Since when is Catriona squeamish of spiders? Since she had Tui there to brush them off, that’s when.

  I force a laugh, but surely it sounds as fake to them as it does to me. I throw back the rest of my tea, then grab my bedroll and make it up yards away from my two friends mooning at each other. I pull the wool completely over my head so I can’t hear anything either.

  I’m happy for Tui—really, I am. Catriona too. But I can tell the weeks ahead are going to be very long until I find Leif again.

  On our third day of traveling through the bearcat lands, I hear the screams echo among the treetops. The sound is coming a long way from us, and is only gradually getting louder. We stop our horses and pat them gently, trying to keep them soothed for when the wildegaard passes overhead. We wait.

  I catch a glimpse of the dark shape through distant treetops, the sun glittering off the creature’s black skin. But it doesn’t come any closer, and just as quickly as the sound reached us, it’s gone. The forest is silent once more.

  “That was odd,” Catriona says. “I thought the bearcats were gone. Why would they leave a wildegaard behind?”

  “They wouldn’t,” I reply. “There must still be some bearcats here. We’re being watched.”

  Tui returns Catriona’s startled look with a grin. “You haven’t met them yet, have you?” She returns his question with a shake of her head, her eyes going wide. Tui puffs his chest up and starts up the stories of our times with the bearcats, beginning with when Cecil and Sedgewick saved Tui, Leif, and me in the snowstorm on Mount Zenith.

  Tui and Catriona ride side by side; I trail along behind, listening. Even if bearcats are still here, the path seems wider than before, the air lighter, with sunshine streaming down through the trees. The bearcats’ dreary forest of before is no longer.

  I smile at Tui’s rendition of the events, which are mostly accurate. He exaggerates how terrified Leif was being carried to the cave by a bearcat; I don’t remember Leif screaming quite so loudly as Tui recalls. I can hear Leif in my head, correcting Tui, telling him to get the story straight.

  Catriona is impressed, which is filling Tui with immense satisfaction. He sits up straighter when Catriona tells him how incredibly brave he was to let Cecil take him all the way to the Bastion like he did. She punches him on the arm when he finishes telling her the last part of the story.

  “Ow! What’d you do that for?”

  “Just wanted to see if you really were made of iron.”

  Tui laughs and gives her a light punch back.

  I’m glad they can’t see me roll my eyes.

  To quell my irritation, I turn my thoughts to the wildegaard in the distance. I wonder if it’s Cecil that’s nearby, watching over us like he did on the trip from the Bastion. Remembering the dismembered men in the woods, it’s a relief. I think.

  “Have you been through Blackpool recently, Catriona? Do you think it’s safe to go straight through?” I interrupt Catriona and Tui’s cooing as we sit around the fire, our last night in the bearcat lands. We’ll reach dreary Blackpool tomorrow; the last time we were there, we barely escaped from being caught by Hunters in the dead of night.

  She tears her eyes away from Tui, and her face grows serious. “Yes, a few weeks ago. I didn’t see any Hunters there. But the place has definitely not improved from the last time we were there.”

  “What should we do? Not ride through in the daytime, I would think.”

  She nods her head. I glance down at her and Tui’s hands, caressing each other’s. Sh
e drops his hand, placing both of hers back into her lap.

  “I don’t mind,” I say. But even in the dark, I can make out the blush spreading across her freckled cheeks.

  She decides to ignore my comment. “Anyway, you’re right. We should ride though in the dark. Very late.”

  “How far from here?”

  “Only a couple of hours. If we sleep for only a short while, we can be off and through Blackpool long before dawn.”

  I consider her idea. “I like it. But can you two possibly get enough sleep?” I wink at Tui.

  “Ha ha, Raven.” His teeth flash in the dark, his face one big grin.

  I decide this is a good time to leave my two friends alone, and I spread out my bedroll as far as I can from them. I climb inside and pull the wool over my face; though the day was warm, the night air is cool and damp. I lie there, trying to fall asleep, but knowing we’ll be up in a few hours to pass through Blackpool doesn’t help. I reach inside my shirt to caress Papa’s obsidian pendant, as I always do to comfort myself.

  It’s not there.

  I throw the blanket off and sit up. I pat the ground around me in a panic, searching for it. But then I remember: I had taken it off my last afternoon in Baldachin before bathing in the river. It’s probably still sitting on the bedside table in my old room. My heart clenches and tears spring to my eyes. I can’t believe I left my precious necklace behind. Another thing, gone. There’s no way I can go back for it, of course.

  I sigh and lie back down. I touch Fortissima’s cool hilt, lying next to me. She’s all I’ve got now.

  It seems I’ve just fallen asleep when Catriona is gently nudging me awake. A thick fog has formed while we’ve slept, blocking out the stars above us. My face and hair are damp with the moisture, and I have to use all my will to peel myself out from my warm blankets. The idea of traveling through Blackpool fills me with dread, but I know it’s only the first town we must pass through on our return to the Bastion.

  We pack up as quickly as we can, and then we are off, knowing that we must get through before dawn, before the town is awake.