The Silver Siren (6 page)

Kael sighed and leaned his head back.
“What do you want to know?”

“
Only what you are
comfortable sharing. You once mentioned being in love.” Of course I
was referring to the story he’d shared in Skyfell.

He looked at me, a knowing twinkle
dancing in his eyes. “Yes I did. Her name was Gwen. We were
betrothed. We trained under the same Master. She was the best
female fighter, and I was the second best male fighter.”

“
You weren’t the best? I
find that hard to believe,” I teased, nudging Kael in the rib with
my elbow.

He didn’t acknowledge the poke, but
his face and voice became serious. “No, there was always one who
was better than me—stronger, faster. No matter what I did, I
couldn’t beat him.”

“
Who was he?”

Kael’s eyes held a hint of irritation,
“My brother.”

“
Oh,” I intoned and
thought a moment. “So…there are female SwordBrothers?”

“
Well, not everyone in our
clan is meant to grow up and be trained as an elite warrior. We are
a clan like any other—we need blacksmiths, tanners, and more—but
our heritage calls for the firstborn to be dedicated to our call.
The others can choose. Most of the women don’t choose that
lifestyle. They choose to marry and have children with the intent
to keep our SwordBrother clan filled with strapping young boys,
ripe for the initiation.”

I was about to ask about the
initiation but he interrupted me. “It’s a test that all of our
prospects that are not firstborn go through. And no, I will not
discuss it further.”

My mouth pressed into a firm line of
impatience, and I elbowed him in the stomach, a sign of my
displeasure. He didn’t even grunt or make any movement to signify
he felt it.

His dark eyes stared into mine and I
could see how desperately he wanted to pour out his heart, his
feelings. But I knew that he would recover and close up
again.

I was right.

Seconds later, his back stiffened and
he broke eye contact. “Tomorrow, I have to blindfold
you.”

“
What? No!” I argued. “You
said we were days away still. You don’t mean to—I can’t possibly—”
My heart pounded loudly and I could feel myself start to panic.
Without realizing it, I’d grabbed on to his tunic.

“
Thalia.” His warm hands
wrapped around mine as he gently pried them off, although he didn’t
let go of my hands right away. “I have to protect what is precious
to me. No one can know where they are.”

What is precious to him? They? Was he
referring to his family? I silently groaned. Of course he was
probably referring to Gwen. A sour feeling hit my stomach and I
began to doubt everything. The kiss was an accident. It had to
be.

I nodded in understanding and pulled
away. Anger replaced the sour feeling. Anger that after all we had
been through Kael couldn’t trust me. That he was going to blindfold
me for days—was asking me to go without one of my most important
senses. I hated the idea. It would leave me vulnerable. I had to
remind myself that thought wasn’t true. I was Thalia Valderstal.
I’d killed a small army of Septori just the other night.
I—

Was the reason that the kind farmer
and his wife were murdered in their home.

Guilt was a heavy burden to bear, and
at that moment, I decided being blindfolded was nothing compared to
living with innocent blood on my hands. I scooted farther from Kael
so we were no longer touching, but I could still feel his body
heat.

He watched me, saying nothing. He
wouldn’t.

Just then, a large shadow fell across
our feet. I didn’t move, but Kael pulled out a knife, at the
ready.

I heard the shuffling of hooves, as
Faraway positioned himself and kneeled down in front of the
outcropping. If I stretched out my arm I could touch his white
mane. I had been so occupied by my guilt that I hadn’t sensed his
approach. He didn’t have to sleep on the ground—it would be much
colder for him—but I was grateful for his sacrifice as we could
immediately feel the cold night air cut off and replaced by warm
equine body heat.

Kael put away his knife, and I
gratefully turned my body so that I could lay my head on
Faraway.

“
He came back,” Kael said
with a surprised chuckle.

“
Of course. I never
doubted it.” I said.

Kael reached out and patted Faraway’s
backside. “Thank you.”

Faraway turned his large head and
stared at Kael, blinking once. That was probably the only
communication he would give to him.

~~~

Being blindfolded wasn’t as bad as I
thought it would be. Kael had taken off the headband he wore to
keep the sweat off his brow and unfurled it. He positioned the dark
blue material around my eyes. The cloth was slightly rough and it
smelled like a sweaty Kael.

He insisted I ride in front of him so
he could make sure I didn’t try to take the blindfold off. It was
terribly hot and uncomfortable, and my hands kept wiping away the
sweat from under my eyes. And that was what I was grateful for, the
freedom of my hands. I was being careful to not lift the blindfold
but use the edge of my sleeve to wipe at the drips of
sweat.

His hands came up and would press down
over my eyes whenever I did this.

It was awfully hard not to smile and
give away my secret the whole day. After two hours, I had found
myself having problems breathing. I kept feeling like every step we
were taking we were going to fall off a cliff or slip down an
invisible embankment. Impossible, I know, but the imagination can
wreak havoc on your senses. An hour later I had given in to the
temptation and was now cheating. I stretched out to Faraway and
connected with him mind-to-mind, sight-to-sight.

The feeling of falling stopped as soon
as the horizon and the solid earth came into view. I sighed
contentedly and relaxed. I could now see everything Faraway
did.

About midday, Kael had turned and
started heading southeast. It was slowly getting warmer and the
ground became rockier. When we stopped, Kael would forage, hunt,
and cook dinner. I disconnected from Faraway during these times, so
I spilled frequently and my shirt was a mess. The second night we
made camp out in the open, and Kael was nice enough to remove the
blindfold so I could sleep.

As long as I didn’t spend too much
time studying the surroundings.

I stretched out along the ground,
surprised at how warm the earth was. Heat slowly radiated from the
it, and I didn’t need Faraway’s body heat or anyone else’s. I was
amazingly warm, which told me that we were indeed heading farther
south. As warm as the ground was, I could only surmise that we were
somewhere south of the mountains, near the hot springs.

The next day by noon, I was no longer
warm, but hot. Sitting in front of Kael became almost unbearable. I
was now sweating not only through the bandana but through my shirt
and back. And I was starting to go crazy from having my eyes
covered.

Loudly, I called a halt and scrambled
down from in front of Kael. Kael was worried I was going to take
off the blindfold, but I just grabbed at the shoulder seam of my
dress and yanked until I heard a satisfying rip.

I heard Kael’s masculine laugh as I
attacked the seams on my other shoulder, until the dress resembled
what my own clan wore. We were used to harsh winters and cold
climate from living in the mountains. Sleeveless jerkins, dresses,
and tunics were common. Now in the opposite, the extreme heat, I
couldn’t handle it. Stifling.

The slight breeze danced across my now
bare skin and I felt slightly cooler. I plopped down on the ground
and reached for the hem of my skirt. Hands touched mine, and I
jumped as Kael placed a small blade in my hand. I used the knife to
take a hand’s length off of the bottom. Enough I would feel a
breeze when riding, but not enough to be indecent.

“
You continue to surprise
me.” Kael spoke softly and helped get me situated on my horse
again.

“
I continue to surprise
myself,” I said. I’d probably regret this later. After all, I
hadn’t gotten many dresses from Skyfell, but for now it felt
good.

Later that day we rode toward a large
red rock formation that looked like a fist being shaken angrily at
the sky. I was careful to keep my head down as I studied the unique
landmark. We continued to head toward the fist as our paths started
to ascend. I could smell...something odd. Sulfur? We must be closer
to the hot springs. Kael must know that I would be able to figure
out where he was going based on the temperature and smells. So why
did he still continue to blindfold me? What wasn’t he telling
me?

“
Talk to me.” I
said.

“
What do you want to
know?”

“
Anything, everything. How
did you become captured by the Septori all those months
ago?

Kael stilled, and I felt embarrassed
by my insistence. I had let him hide behind walls to long. It was
time to start breaking them down.

“
Or not. But I thought
after all we’ve been through, I at least deserved the
story.”

“
It’s not a pleasant
story, and it doesn’t have a happy ending,” he whispered under his
breath.

“
What story does? But I’m
sure it has a great hero in it, and daring escapes and a damsel in
distress,” I teased referring to myself.

“
Aye, that’s true. You
always did cause me lots of distress,” he spoke slowly. “I had
chosen Gwen to be my bondmate, and she agreed. We were happy—at
least I thought were. We had set a date, and the closer it came to
our union date, the more distant she became. I had no clue that her
feelings were changing. Until I found them one evening, hiding in
the shadows wrapped in a heated embrace. I was furious. I wanted to
kill the man she was with. In anger and without thinking, I
challenged him to a battle of honor, to the death. He stepped out
of the shadows and I was confronted with my older brother
Alek.”

“
No!” I gasped out. “What
did you do?”

“
Gwen came to me and
begged me to leave. She was sorry, but she didn’t want either one
of us to die. If I didn’t leave our clan, I would be bound to fight
to the death, and I told you, I always lost to my brother. So
instead of staying and facing my death with honor, I left in the
night. I shamed my clan, I shamed my family, and the choices I made
stripped me of my title. When you first asked me all those months
ago if I was someone important, I told you the truth. I was no one.
It’s why I took the job training the Denai at the
school.”

“
Where did you go when you
left?”

“
I wandered for weeks,
trying to find my honor again.”

“
Kael, you can’t be
serious.” I said in disbelief.

“
Because the Valley of
Swords was no longer my home. I couldn’t go back, because I was
disgraced. I became a sword for hire—only the first job I took, I
ended up drugged and in an underground facility. And you know the
rest.”

“
So why are we going back
now?”

“
Because I need to explain
what has happened between you and me—the bond—to my clan. The clan
members must be warned against others being blood-bonded against
their will.

“
What do you think is
coming, Kael? What do you know that I don’t?”

“
That the time is coming
for the SwordBrothers to come out of hiding.”

Chapter 8

We
were in a canyon or what felt like one. Steep cliffs rose high on
either side of us and different veins would break off. He took the
first fork right, the third left fork, a second right. There was no
way to tell where we were going, and I doubt I could get out again
without his help. The walls were so close that I could reach out
and touch them on either side, but I was proud of my
restraint.

“
Thalia,” Kael spoke
softly into my ear, “I know that you are smart enough to know where
we are, and you’ve probably now know enough to make it back, but
please, for once in your life, play dumb.”

“
I have no idea what you
are talking about. And why should I play dumb Kael, what is the big
idea—” Something shot into the ground in front of Faraway,
startling him and making him rear up in fright. There was too much
weight with both of us riding double. I felt Kael slide off
Faraway’s back. Kael hit the ground hard, and I landed on him. In
Faraway’s panic, I lost the connection with his mind. Now I was
blind and terrified. I heard my horse’s scream and
froze.

I blinked and tried to make out what
was happening, but I was still dazed from our severed sight
connection. I crawled forward off of Kael. Another large shadow
covered the small canyon and Kael shouted, “Watch out!”

I lifted the blindfold off of my eyes
in time to see Faraway’s large body on his rear quarters start to
fall over backward toward me.

Strong hands gripped me under my arms
and yanked. The back of my legs scraped against the gravel and I
cried out as Faraway fell onto the ground where I’d been lying only
seconds ago. He twisted, turned, and tried to get his feet under
him. I could see the terror in his eyes, but the canyon was
impossibly narrow and perfect for an ambush. Someone came up behind
us and pressed a knife to Kael’s throat. A similar brush of cold
steel touched my neck.