The Healing Wars: Book III: Darkfall (20 page)

“Plenty of food over here.” Aylin set a muffin in front of a chair. “Come help yourself. Both of you.”

Tali took the muffin but not the chair. She sat under the window, the sunlight warming the back of her neck. My throat caught. I pictured her sitting on the edge of her bed not long ago, dressed in her Healer’s apprentice uniform. A sunbeam had shone over her then too.

“Where’s the enchanter’s book?” I asked, heart racing. If we’d lost it…

Aylin patted something by her feet. “I have it right here, along with the gems and pynvium strips. And that creepy cylinder.” She shuddered. “I’m not letting any of it out of my sight.”

“Thank you.” I took a seat at the table and a handful of bacon. “Any news about the attack?”

She shook her head. “Not much. No one else has tried to cross the bridges. Ipstan’s people have been dealing with the bodies since yesterday.”

“Yesterday?” I muttered around a mouthful of bacon. “How long was I asleep?”

“About twenty-two hours. Soek too, though I think he woke up around dawn.”

I glanced at the window. Midmorning light, same as it was yesterday when the attack bells had rung. I’d lost a whole day.

Wind gusted and the singing grew louder for a moment.

“Can we go ask Ipstan if he can arrange a boat to the shore?” Aylin said. “If we leave before lunch, I bet we can still make it to Veilig before Onderaan leaves. We can afford to hire a carriage now.”

I chewed slowly. The sister in me wanted to leave and keep Tali safe, just like I’d promised. But the daughter—the one whose parents had fought to defend Geveg—wanted to stay. Whatever I’d done yesterday had worked. I still had no idea how I’d done it, but it was a better defense than poisoned spears.

“Onderaan might have already left. It’s been what—five days since we left the farm? Veilig is only a few days from there. Maybe it’s better if we stay for now.”

But you promised to leave.

She shook her head. “I’m sure he hasn’t left yet. It would have taken a while to get everyone settled, and then he’d need supplies and everything.”

“Maybe, but—”

“Ipstan had someone bring us some clean clothes. Was nice of him, wasn’t it?”

She went to a basket by the door and tossed me a faded pair of pants and light shirt. She pulled out two more sets just like it.

“Pretty,” said Tali. “So many flowers.”

Aylin and I turned toward the window. Tali leaned on the windowsill, chin in her hand, staring down at the street.

“What flowers?” I hurried over, eager to see what had brought her a step further out of her shell.

Aylin nudged in next to me. “What is it?”

People lined the street again, just like when Danello was hurt. Some carried wreaths of white violets—symbols of Saint Moed, courage, and protection. Others held candles, flickering in a light sun shower. The fine mist sparkled in the sun as it fell.

“I thought you said Danello was better.”

“He is. They can’t be here for him—he’s not in this building,” Aylin said. “He’s with his da over on Mangrove. Maybe they’re worried about you. You did collapse right in front of a lot of people.”

“We should tell them I’m alive and well then.” Not that I wanted to go out there. It would be worse than the people last night. The ones who’d watched me heal Danello.
“We can’t lose if she’s with us.”

What must they think now?

And what will they think when you leave?

I couldn’t face that, not yet. “Right after we finish breakfast.”

I stepped onto the street and people … cheered? I nearly tripped over a pile of wreaths.

“The Hero of Tradesmen’s Corner!”

They cheered again, and some tossed flowers at me. More white violets.

“We’re ready to strike back.”

“May the Saints bless and keep you!”

“We’re with you, Nya!”

So many smiles, so many people reaching for me. Light touches on my arms and back as we moved through the crowd. They parted in front of me, closed in behind me. I felt like an island in a lake of reverence.

I gripped Tali’s hand tighter, but she seemed more curious than wary, probably won over by the flowers. Tali loved violets of all kinds. Just like Mama.

“What are you going to do now?” a man asked.

“Uh, go see a friend.” I wanted to check on Danello, make sure he was okay.

“Do you think we can beat the Duke?”

They were asking
me
that? “I do, if we all work together.”

“How are you going to beat him?”

It was a real question, not someone whining about how he was too strong or too powerful to beat. They wanted to know what I was going to do. Like I had the answers.

“I’m working on that; so is Ipstan. We’ll figure something out.”

“We’re behind you—just say the word.”

“Thank you, everyone, really. We have to be going now.” I waved at the crowd and they cheered again. It was strange, all those folks looking to me for help. No insults, no threats. What had changed their minds? The healing, the soldiers, or both?

The crowd followed us through the misty rain, continuing to call out their support, ask what I planned to do next. By the time we got to Danello’s, my nerves were as tight as my curls.

“Okay, listen,” I said, turning around and facing them. “I appreciate your, um, support, I really do, but the Duke is on his way, and we need to prepare for his attack. You should all be doing whatever needs to be done there, not following me around.”

They nodded but didn’t leave.

“Go ask Ipstan what he needs you to do,” I said.

“Will you be there?” someone called.

“After I see how my friend is doing.”

Smiles broke out on many faces, heads bobbed, whispers wandered through the crowd. A woman at the front turned around and clapped her hands several times. “Everyone to the square. Wait there for Nya’s instructions.”

“What? No that’s—”

Aylin put a hand on my arm. “Let them go.”

“But they misunderstood.”

“And they’ll figure that out when Ipstan tells them what to do next.” She flipped her frizzy bangs off her face. “Unless you don’t want them to leave?”

I twitched. “No, leaving’s good. Much better than staying.”

We headed inside the boardinghouse and hurried up the stairs. I tried not to notice the old bloodstains on the landing. Or the gouges in the wall no one had sanded out yet. Aylin went to a door halfway down the hall and knocked. Danello’s father answered.

“Oh good, he was just about to go find you.” He stepped aside and let us in. “I told him you both needed to rest, but he was up with the sun.”

More flowers sat on the table, but no white violets. Hibiscus, honeysuckle, a few hyacinths. Baskets of food filled the spaces between the flowers.

Danello cupped my cheeks and pulled me in for a kiss. He ended it far too soon. “Are you okay?”

“I was going to ask you that.”

“I’m fine, thanks to you.” He grinned. “That makes what? Twice you’ve saved my life?”

I blushed. “I’m not keeping track.”

“Well I am.” He thumped my nose with one finger.

Danello’s father cleared his throat, and my cheeks warmed again. “Danello tells me you’re all leaving?”

Aylin sighed. “We were until Nya became the patron saint of Geveg. Now I’m not so sure.”

“I’m not—” I took a deep breath. “There was a crowd of people outside, waiting for us.”

“For
you
,” Aylin said.

“Fine, yes, for me. It’s just a misunderstanding, and Ipstan will straighten it all out, but they seem to think I can do something about the Duke and they’re waiting for me to tell them what that is.”

Danello shrugged. “So tell them.”

“But I don’t
have
a plan.”

“You always have a plan.” He glanced at his father, who looked apprehensive. “Nya, people have been coming by since yesterday, dropping off gifts and telling me what you did—both for me and for Geveg. You can’t leave them now.”

“But
you
can,” his father told him. “Your brothers and sister need you.”

“No, we all leave together,” Aylin said. “
That
was the plan.”

“That was before Nya gave everyone hope that we could win. If she leaves now, that hope goes with her.”

“So let her stay and you go,” his father tried again. “We can’t both risk our lives.”

“Da, I can’t. You never believed in this fight. Ma did, and now so do I. You should go to Halima and the twins. Take Aylin with you, but I’m staying here.” He smiled at me. “I made a promise.”

I warmed down to my toes. But I’d made a promise too. That I’d protect Tali and keep her safe, and I couldn’t do that here. Still, I also couldn’t leave when folks were so close to standing up for themselves. They wanted to fight—they were just looking for someone to lead them. No, they had that. Like Ipstan said, they needed someone to inspire them.

We’d never be safe as long as the Duke ruled. To save Tali and all the other families, I had to help stop him. I didn’t know what I was—quirker or Saint touched—but I had a weapon that we needed most.

Hope.

Jeatar once said faith was no match for steel, but maybe
hope
was.

“Onderaan is going to meet me in Analov Park at sunset tomorrow,” I said, taking Danello’s hand. “Master del’Sebore, Aylin—you both can go with him and Tali to Veilig. Jeatar will help you.”

They both disagreed at once, talking over each other.

“I can’t leave you here.”

“We’re supposed to stay together.”

“This is our last chance,” I said. “If we beat the Duke, we win back the entire Three Territories, not just Geveg. Even Baseer will be free again.”

Danello’s father shook his head. “What if we lose?”

“Then the Duke will destroy Geveg and claim our pynvium mines for himself. He’ll have so much, he’ll be able to build an army of Undying and make sure there’s no one left in the Territories who will ever oppose him again.”

Aylin looked away. Danello’s father didn’t.

“Is stopping him worth our lives?” he asked.

“It’s worth mine. You’ll have to decide if it’s worth yours on your own.”

He hesitated. “Then I’d better make up my mind by sundown tomorrow.”

I
guess they found Ipstan.” The crowd was outside the blacksmith’s shop, circled around him, passing his words back to those too far away to hear.

“That’s a lot of people,” Danello said.

Maybe a thousand, filling every street leading to the plaza and the fountain Ipstan was standing on. The rain still misted, but the sun had dipped behind the clouds.

“We struck a blow to the blue-boys,” a girl called back, and others repeated it through the crowd. “Now is our chance to stop them,” she said next.

“Stop them?” Aylin said. “Does he even know how many there are?”

“I don’t know what he knows.”

“Armor and weapons for those willing to fight,” the girl said. Then she gasped, her gaze stopping on me. “It’s Nya!”

The word runners started to send that back until folks around me cheered. Rapt faces turned from Ipstan to me.

“Are you leading the attack?”

“Do you need us or can you take them all on your own?” Folks laughed, but not at me. They laughed as if I actually
could
take on the blue-boys by myself.

“Are you going to cause another Great Flash?”

Oh no, not another sainter. They probably thought what I’d done yesterday was a Great Flash too. Like I could just command the sky to open up and rain down pain.

“Ipstan’s the one in charge, not me,” I said, but they were asking so many questions, my voice didn’t carry far. “I need to get to Ipstan!”

“Get her to the general!” bounced through the crowd. Hands reached out and I was moving, half dragged, half carried from person to person. Tali’s hand slipped from mine. My chest tightened.
If she thinks I’m in danger…

Aylin caught her, slipping an arm around her and hurrying along behind me while the crowd swept me forward. Tali watched, her face flickering between delight and concern. I smiled, praying it looked like I was having fun and was in no danger at all.

I reached the fountain and was thumped onto the stone next to Ipstan with a shove. Ipstan steadied me before I toppled over the edge and into the fountain itself.

The cheers started again, probably loud enough to be heard all the way at the League. It worried me for a moment, but after losing the attack yesterday and then hearing us cheer today, the cheers might actually make the
blue-boys
worry.

“What do we do, Nya?” a man cried.

“When do we take them on?”

“We’re with you, Shifter!”

Ipstan looked at me in almost the same worry-or-joy way Tali had. He scanned the crowd, larger than I’d realized now that I was higher and could see. There had to be well over a thousand people, and all looking to me to do something.

Well, I’d done what Ipstan had hoped. I’d gotten them looking. It was up to him now to tell them what to do. “So? What do we do next?” I asked.

“Collect your gear,” he shouted, another uncertain glance my way. “Your squad assignments will be decided within the hour.”

“Is Nya leading the attack?”

His smile twitched. “She’ll work with me and my officers on strategy. Don’t worry, she’ll be instrumental in our attack and our victory!” He grabbed my hand and raised it in the air. “Together we will stop those blue-boys and make Geveg safe again!”

The crowd went wild, stamping their feet, waving their arms, cheering. Ipstan kept hold of my hand and pulled me off the fountain and toward the blacksmith’s. Men and women in chain-mail armor lined the walk to the door. His officers? Surely they weren’t his guards.

“I’m glad you decided to help us,” Ipstan said once we were inside.

“My friends and sister were behind me. I can’t—”

“They’ll be brought in, don’t worry.” He gestured at one of the folks in chain mail. “People really respond to you.”

“They were there when I woke up. I had nothing to do with it.”

“You inspired them.” He pushed open another door and we headed upstairs. “I tried, but I couldn’t bring them together like you have. We stand a chance now, a good one.”