by Krista Rose
Kryssa sank wearily back in her chair. “And what if you find them?”
“What if I don’t?” Her voice was quiet. “These things are evil, Kryssa. They aren’t even human anymore, no matter what Felice looks like. They’re just hunger and death. I can’t let them hurt you.”
“No.”
“Yes.” Her chin jerked up in defiance, though I could feel her nerves. “I’m going to find the nest. You can’t stop me.”
Kryssa’s eyes flashed. “The hell I can’t.”
“What are you going to do? Erase my mind? Trap me in dreams? Put dead voices in my head?” She sneered. “I’m old enough to make my own decisions.”
“You’re fourteen! That’s not old enough to go looking for monsters!”
“And how old were you when Father became one?”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“Because he was still human!” She threw her hands up, exasperated. “And I didn’t have a choice. You do. Kylee, these things- this is what the Crone was trying to become. She would have made you like Felice.”
Her lips quivered. “I know.”
“You know. You know, and yet you still want to chase them?” She shook her head. “No. It’s done. No more hunting. And no more lightning.”
“What?” Kylee’s face flushed with rage. “You can’t do that! You can’t tell me what to do!”
“Oh, yes, I can!”
“You’re not my mother!”
Instant silence descended. My eyes widened, and we held our breath, waiting for the explosion.
“No, I’m not you mother,” Kryssa said quietly. “I’m just the one who’s spent my whole life protecting you.”
Kylee’s lip trembled, but she shook her head. “I’m going to hunt them. I’m not going to let Felice or those things hurt anyone else. Not if I can help it.”
“Kylee-”
“No.” She stood. “I’ll go stay with Vanderys. At least he has the sense not to treat me like a child.” She started toward the back door.
Kryssa hesitated, then held up a hand. “Wait.”
Kylee stopped, looking back.
“Are you really determined to do this?”
“Yes.”
She took a deep breath. “Then I’m going with you.”
“What?!”
“I’m not arguing. If you’re hunting Vampyres, I’m going with you. And don’t even try going without me, because I’ll just follow you.”
She stared at Kryssa helplessly. “You can’t, Kryssa. How are you going to fight them? They don’t have minds. They’re just blood and death.”
“I’ll buy a sword.” She waved a hand impatiently. “We have a whole chest of gold we’re not using. But I am not going to let you fight Vampyres alone.”
“I’m not-”
“And I want to meet this Vanderys.”
“What? Kryssa, no, I don’t-”
“I want to meet him.” Her tone was final. “Today.”
Kylee made a frustrated sound. “You can’t meet him today.”
“Kylee-”
“He’s hunting out in the hills up north. I don’t even know where he is, and he won’t be back for two weeks.”
“So I’ll meet him then.”
“Fine.” She glared. “Anything else?”
“Yes.” Kryssa walked to her, and wrapped her in a hug. Kylee struggled for a moment, then embraced her, clutching the back of our sister’s tunic.
“No more secrets,” Kryssa murmured. “Alright?”
“That’ll be a first,” Brannyn muttered.
No more secrets. I sighed, running my hands over my face as the tension drained out of the room. “So. Who wants breakfast?
LANYA
3 Davael 578A.F.
“This is marshlight,” Hamar announced, grinning as he held out a bottle filled with brown, dried flowers. I admired it dutifully. “It’s also called Queensweed, or Lushe Rialta. When it’s alive, it glows as if it holds fire in its veins.”
“That’s nice,” I murmured, returning to balancing his ledger. He had relinquished most of the responsibilities of running the shop to me gratefully after my second month, leaving the day-to-day operation to my discretion as he indulged in his true passion: traveling the countryside in search of rare ingredients. He delighted in the plants and powders he found, showing them to me when he returned with the glee of a child.
He sighed happily, ignoring my lack of interest. “Marshlight cures brain-fever, and when it’s made into a paste it can cure even the most serious of burns.”
“Mmm.” I frowned, trying to make the columns add up in my head. “Hamar, why are we missing a gold sey and a half?”
“Oh, that. I spent that in Ullyn.”
I looked up, exasperated. “And you didn’t tell me? What in Gods’ name did you need that much money for?”
“I was following a lead.” He shrugged at my incredulous look. “Someone told me they found a hidden grove of Atargatis.”
“You paid three months’ salary to someone who said they found a plant?”
“Atargatis is one of the rarest flowers in the world,” he replied defensively. “It’s a universal curative. It counteracts all poisons known to man. A drop of it can even cure addiction to cattakasha, and that’s the most addictive drug I’ve ever heard of. Just one flower is worth ten gold seys.”
I narrowed my eyes. “But you didn’t find any, did you?”
“Ah, no. No, I didn’t.” He hung his head. “The man was a fraud.”
I rubbed my temples, trying to massage away my growing headache. “Hamar, we talked about this after the last time. Never give them coin unless you have the product in hand.”
“It wasn’t a complete loss, you know. I found these little beauties.” He shook the jar of dried flowers at me.
I closed my eyes, praying for patience. It’s his store, I reminded myself. If he wants to bankrupt it chasing rumors of rare herbs no one’s ever heard of, I can’t stop him.
Though it would be nice if he told me about the money he spent before I wasted two hours and half a bottle of ink trying to make the columns in his ledger match up.
“I got something else while I was in Ullyn.”
I opened my eyes as a thick stack of parchment slapped onto the desk. An official-looking seal had been stamped onto it in deep red wax. I stared at it, confused. “What is this?”
“It’s a deed.” He tapped the top of the parchment, where my name and his had been written in a heavy, flowing hand. “I’m naming you my heir.”
“Heir? Heir of what?”
“My shop.”
“What?”
He shrugged. “You’re already doing all the work, and I’ve been thinking about retirement. I don’t have any children to take over for me, and I’ll cut off my own thumbs before I’ll let that Kinner buy the place.”
“Ah-” I blinked. “Who’s Kinner?”
“A greedy charlatan.” He scowled out the window. “He sells an elixir he claims grants eternal youth, but it’s just garlic and faecap mixed with water. He’s been after my store for years. Thinks it’ll make him look like a legitimate businessman.” He shook his fist at the window. “Well, the joke’s on you now, Kinner! I have a successor. You’ll never get my store.”
I cleared my throat. “Hamar?”
He looked back at me, and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. I just really detest that little toad.”
“I can see that.” I shook my head. “Are you really sure you want to name me your successor? I mean, I’ve only worked here four months.”
“You’re good for the business, Lanya. You’re honest, and a fast learner. You’re polite to the customers, and you keep better track of my books than I ever have.” He leaned a hip onto the table beside me, making it creak ominously. “And you’re Adelie’s daughter. Why wouldn’t I want to give it to you?”
“But what if I don’t want it?”
“Do you not want it?”
I thought about it. I enjoyed haggling with vendors and customers, and I loved the thrill of the sale. I even liked balancing his books, though it would have been easier if he wasn’t always taking money from it without telling me. I had grown attached to the little cramped storage room, had lists of ideas for how to make improvements.
I want the shop, I finally admitted to myself. I want something permanent. Something I’ve done by myself.
Unable to speak past the lump in my throat, I hugged him. He ruffled my hair affectionately, and then picked up my pen. “Come on, let’s get this signed.”
I scrawled my signature on the lines he pointed to, my thoughts whirling. “Does this mean I get to make decisions now?”
“Like what?”
“I want to hire an assistant.”
“Did you have someone in mind?”
“His name is Terral. He came into the shop a few weeks ago to buy syrup to soothe his mother’s cough.”
“I know Terral. Solid young man. Works out at your cousin Brycen’s farm, doesn’t he?”
“Yes. He’s got a gift for memorizing. He just looks at a page, and can remember everything on it days later. I want to hire him.”
“Then do it.” He blotted the last piece of paper. “From now on, all minor decisions, such as hiring and inventory, are yours. Anything truly major bring to me first, but I think you’ll do fine.”
I hugged him again.
“Now, get out of here. Go home and celebrate. I’ll close up.”
I knew better than to argue. I kissed his cheek, making him blush to the roots of his hair, and flew out the door into the gathering dusk, my heart light as I ran home. In my rush, I scarcely noticed that the lanterns had been lit in the market, or that the moon was barely a sliver, shedding no light into the world below.
BRANNYN
I returned home from watch a few hours after midnight. Lanya was curled in a ball by the fireplace with a blanket draped across her, an empty wine bottle in her hand. I frowned at her, then at Kryssa, who sat calmly at the table as if our sister sleeping in the kitchen was a normal occurrence. “What happened?”
“Hamar named Lanya his successor. We were celebrating.”
“Did she drink that whole bottle by herself?”
“No. Only about half.”
I winced. “That’s going to hurt in the morning.”
“Probably.” She shrugged. “Where’s Tanner?”
“Talking to Chanach about guard rotations.” I pulled out a chair and sat beside her. “Why are you still awake?”
“Can’t sleep.”
“Nightmares?”
She jerked a shoulder. “Something like that.”
“Didn’t you say something to Kylee a few days ago about ‘no more secrets’?”
“No more important secrets.”
“Ah. My mistake.”
She glared at me. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Of course. Sorry I pried.”
“I’m allowed to keep some things to myself.”
“Sure.”
“It’s not like I sit here and prod at all the things you aren’t comfortable with.”
“No, you would never do that.”
She growled, frustrated, and rubbed her face. “It’s just- it’s too much, you know? The Vampyres, Felice, the attacks. And before that. Father, the Crone, the Camp. Is it always going to be like this?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Not a Firemage, remember? Can’t see the future.”
Her lips twitched, and then she sighed. “It would just be nice for once not to worry that every time someone knocked on the door it was bad news.”
Someone pounded on the back door.
Kryssa laughed helplessly and laid her head on the table. I looked at her for a moment, then got up to answer the door. The person on the other side started pounding again as I reached it, and I yanked it open with a scowl.
Elias was standing on the stairs, swaying, his hand raised to knock again. Tears streaked his face, and Eloise stood beside him, her face nearly as pale as his in the weak light that reached us from the kitchen.
“What’s happened?” I asked, immediately pulling them both inside. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Felice.” Eloise’s eyes were huge and frightened. “She attacked again.”
“She killed everyone,” Elias murmured as we escorted him into the kitchen. Kryssa had already brought the whiskey to the table, and he clutched it as he sank into a chair. “Everyone, even the animals.”
“Who?” I knelt in front of him. “Talk to me, Elias.”
“Felice went back home. You were right, she wasn’t dead.” He took a deep, shuddering breath. “She killed everyone- the farmhands, her younger brothers, her mother. Killed the horses, the goats, even the cat. The only one left alive was Uncle Tamsen, though I don’t know for how much longer.” His face twisted. “Her bite is poison.”
I thought of my friends, and worried. “Digger and Breaker? The mutes?”
He shook his head. “They’ve been on Rylen’s farm. I remember him asking for them.”
“You said this happened tonight?” Kryssa asked. “Who found them?”
“Uncle Rumer. He lives the next farm over. He heard the screams.” He swallowed. “He said it was a bloodbath. There’s at least a dozen of those things, all following Felice.”
“A dozen?” I choked. “I thought maybe three or four, but-”
Elias grabbed my wrist, his eyes burning into me. “She gave him a message. Uncle Tamsen. She says she’s going to wipe every Rose from the earth, one by one. She’s going to destroy us.”
I took a deep breath to steady myself. “Does Chanach know?”
He nodded, releasing me to grab at the whiskey bottle again. He lifted it to his lips with a shaking hand. “He’s calling in the legions.”
I gaped. “Truly? Does he think the Empire will see a dozen Vampyres as that much of a threat?”
“They better.” His face hardened. “Brannyn, they killed twenty people tonight in under an hour. Fallor doesn’t have enough guards to protect the farms and the town at the same time.”
“How long will it take them to get here?”
“Once they get the order to march? A few days. Getting the order, though? That’s the tricky part. With any luck, it’ll be before the next dark moon.”
I swore. “Where’s Tamsen?”
“At Garyl Moon’s.”
“That’s good, at least.” Kryssa took the bottle from him. “Grandfather will take good care of him.”
“I don’t think he’s going to make it.” He looked up at me, his face lost and hopeless. “How could I let this happen?”
“You can’t blame yourself, love,” Eloise murmured. “Felice made her choice.”
“But if I’d just paid more attention- if I’d questioned Farius-”
“Stop it, Elias.” I put my hands on his shoulders. “You can’t change the past, and you can’t fix mistakes that someone else has made. We can only move forward.” I thought of Marla, and pushed her away. “What matters is what we do now.”
“What can we do? Fallor has, what, thirty guards? How are we supposed to protect everyone?”
“We make them protect themselves.” I sat back on my heels. “Arm them with anything we can get our hands on. Implement a mandatory curfew. Pull everyone off the farms into the towns.”
“Brannyn, the harvest is next month! Missing it could bankrupt our family!”
“Can’t harvest anyway if everyone is dead.”
He shook his head. “We can’t make any decisions without Chanach. And the town council. And Great-Aunt Amandine.”
“So we’ll take it to them.”
“You know Great-Aunt Amandine will never leave the Manor.”
“Elias-”
“We’ll figure it all out in the morning,” Kryssa interrupted before I could argue further. She looked at Elias and Eloise, then glanced over her shoulder at our sleeping sister. “You�
�ll both stay here tonight. You can have Lanya’s bed. Brannyn, will you..?”
I sighed. “Of course.” I walked to Lanya, lifting her gently in my arms, and carried her into her room. She murmured once as I laid her in Kryssa’s bed, then curled into a ball, fast asleep with a smile on her face.
Elias and Eloise curled up on the cot, fully dressed as they held each other, and were asleep within moments.
I walked back into the kitchen to find Kryssa casually drinking from the whiskey bottle. She was smiling, but her eyes when she looked at me were full of ghosts.
“One day,” she murmured. “One day, something good will knock.”
BRANNYN
5 Davael 578A.F.
“Come on, Amandine, be reasonable.”
“I am being reasonable.” Draped in the black lace of deep mourning, my great-aunt appeared even more frail than usual, but her green eyes were hard as stone as she glared at Chanach. “I will not abandon the farms a month before harvest. Doing so would bankrupt us.”
“I’m not asking you to abandon them, just to move inside the town limits at night. At least until the legions get here.”
“We’re farmers.” She managed to look down her nose at him, though she was sitting and he standing. “We rise before the sun. How do you expect us to tend to our crops and our animals if we are trapped in Fallor until dawn? We wouldn’t even get back to our fields until midmorning.” She shook her head. “No. We will stay here.”
My captain growled in frustration, and I eyed him warily. I had been surprised when he had agreed to my suggestions- notice of the new curfew was already being circulated- but he had insisted that I accompany him to Rose Manor to inform Amandine of our decision.
Now I understood why.
I cleared my throat. “Uh, may I make a suggestion?”
They both glowered at me.
I fought the urge to cower. “What if everyone stayed here? In the Manor, I mean? Fallor could afford a couple of guards to protect you.”
“This place is immense,” Chanach argued, “and it has far too many entrances. And I can guarantee that Felice knows them all.”
“But so do I,” Amandine murmured, pursing her lips thoughtfully. “It would not take as much work as you think to turn my home into a fortress.”