The Spirus Read online

  Soryn was confused. If she didn’t feel anything when she touched Esylle because she was fighting her, were they related somehow? Was that how she got her Tempris abilities? Was she somehow related to the royal family? “Why did you fight me when I called to you?” she asked Esylle.

  “Because I had just watched you turn from a swan and then you were calling my blood like a Tempris. When I felt you call me, I knew you were a part of my family. I didn’t want you to feel me until you told me who you were!”

  “I don’t know who I am. I don’t know what I am. I don’t know how we are connected, but your daughter wouldn’t be able to do what I can do. I’m sorry, but I’m not her.”

  “Then what is your message for me? I don’t know why he would send you to me knowing you can call to me and ask you to touch me. He would know what I would think.”

  “He doesn’t tell me anything. I’ve been asking since as long as I remember. I’ve always been told to never go as far as the stone wall in our yard and then I’m being told the only way I’ll get the answers to the questions I’ve been asking is if I come here and touch you. He has a message for you that he wouldn’t tell me. He wants to give it to you in person. He says things will start happening here and it’s not safe for you. He wants me to bring you back to Idric and then he will tell you the other message.”

  “What could he possibly have to tell me? Is there another Tempris girl where you live?”

  “There’s no one else where I live except me, Belisarus, and Frog, who followed me here even though I told him to stay home.”

  “Why is he so strange looking?” Esylle finally asked.

  Frog straightened up proudly. “I’m a perfectly normal man.”

  “I don’t want to tell you about Frog because the tall man who just interrogated me is finally starting to smell like he’s less afraid of me.”

  “You can smell fear?” Esylle asked.

  “I can do anything the Therans can do. I smelled him when he was disgusted to touch me, I smelled him the entire time he was afraid of me. He smells concerned now, but I think it’s for you. I think he still doesn’t like me.”

  “He just doesn’t know you,” Esylle said.

  “He doesn’t think I should exist.”

  Soryn didn’t know how she could have forgotten Leodos was in the room since he was so tall, but he finally made to move towards them and she remembered he was there.

  “I can’t make you not exist and you are already here,” Leodos said. “I think you should go back with her to Idric, but I want to go and you need to bring several guards that you can trust with you. Belisarus said things were going to happen here and I think I started them when I revealed her to the tribes. If I had known how they were going to react, I wouldn’t have done it. She needs protecting as much as you do. She’s just a young girl who doesn’t know who she is, despite what she can do. She could have hurt me and she didn’t.”

  “I told you from the start I wasn’t here to hurt anyone. I only would have hurt you if you hurt Frog and I only would have knocked you out long enough for me to get him out of there.”

  “You’re very protective of him.”

  “He was the only friend I was allowed to have growing up,” she told both of them. She didn’t tell them the other reasons she had to protect him and she thought Frog knew well enough not to, but then he just blurted it out and exposed both of them.

  “She made me,” he said, sounding proud of himself again. Soryn swatted at him and told him to hush before he said something that had the tall man scared of her again. He was finally starting to relax around her and he just said something about wanting to protect her.

  Leodos started looking suspicious of her again. “He’s too old to be your son. How could you have possibly made him?”

  “Frog, you know we don’t talk about this with strangers,” she shot at him.

  “But they aren’t strangers anymore!” he said happily.

  “If we had been allowed to leave the house and talk to other people, you would know why you can’t say these things to people! You said you followed me to protect me. Quit shooting your mouth off and behave!”

  “If you won’t answer, he seems willing to talk to us,” Leodos said, towering over her again. He was the tallest man Soryn had ever seen before, but she had not met many people. She only knew two people back home: Belisarus and then Frog when she was younger. Belisarus also refused to tell her how she made Frog, just that she shouldn’t try to do it again. She didn’t know how she did it in the first place, much less how she was supposed to prevent doing it in the future. She thought Belisarus would send him away, but he was too strange looking to send out of the house and he allowed her to have this one friend. Frog was the only person she could talk to and confide in that she worried she was different, but Frog adored her and thought she was perfect as she was. He didn’t see the things she could do as strange or different. Before that day in the garden when she made him, he knew nothing about anything. When she led him to Belisarus and tried to explain what had happened, he wouldn’t answer any of her endless questions about how this had managed to happen, he just got angry with her and told her to fix it.

  Leodos must be used to intimidating people with his height because when he was trying to frighten her, he would stand closer to her so that he was looming over her. He was not repulsed by her now, but she could smell curiosity coming off of him now. She revealed to him what she could do and now that he knew she had somehow created Frog, he wanted to know why. She didn’t know how to explain without making him cautious or afraid of her again. She didn’t like smelling fear on people and knowing it was because of her. She looked like a normal, harmless girl if one didn’t know what she was capable of.

  “Will you please stop trying to threaten me with your height?” she finally asked him. “We both know what would happen if we fought. Why is Frog so important to you?”

  “You weren’t immune to my arrow. The only reason it hit your wing and not your heart was because Esylle startled me when she yelled not to hurt you.”

  “And I’m guessing you saw what happened when you took the arrow out of my arm. I still have the upper hand, no matter how much bigger than me you are.”

  “Are you telling me you can’t die?” Leodos asked, looking very concerned.

  “No one has tried before. I’m guessing I can since I’ve always been told to hide.”

  “What if you can’t? What if you were told to hide because you were always intended to be used as a weapon?”

  She sighed. “I can be hurt. The arrow in my arm hurt enough to make me pass out. That’s the only reason you were able to get me to that room and remove my clothes. Just because it heals itself doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.”

  “You can heal yourself?” Esylle asked, giving her a strange look.

  “Why does what I can do matter to either of you? If you come back with me, I can protect you. Why do you need to know every little thing I can do? I don’t know what any of it means.”

  “Rivannus always seemed to heal quickly. He would keep the bandage on, but stopped moving around like he was in pain after serious injuries almost instantly.”

  “You aren’t still going on that he was hiding something and she’s Lisana, are you?” Leodos asked.

  “Belisarus never tells me anything, but surely he would have told me I was being sent here to meet my mother if I was her. Especially when I was flat out refusing to go early on. You think I don’t want to know who my parents are? Maybe they could tell me why I am the way I am.”

  “Then why else would he tell you to touch me and call to me? You look like me.”

  Soryn looked away. She wanted to know who her parents were very badly, but she knew Esylle was not her mother. She could see Leodos staring at them like he wanted to say something. He finally spoke.

  “I don’t know who or what you are, but you remind me of Esylle at your age when you are upset. I don’t think you’re Lisana, but you are related so
mehow. The mannerisms are too similar and you look too much like her.”

  “How can I be related to this family when they can only do one thing?”

  “I think Belisarus has those answers. I think you need to escort the princess back there because I’ve most likely started something with the tribes exposing you to them. I need to go for protection for both of you. I think we need to find a few trusted guards to take with us for extra protection.

  “Humans can’t know about me. I wasn’t intending on telling you anything. What kind of questions do you think they will ask when they see Frog?”

  “How did you make him? Why do you call him Frog?” Esylle asked her.

  Soryn looked at her sadly, but she was having a hard time resisting and telling her she was refusing to give her any information about Frog. There was something about Esylle that she trusted and they were somehow related. She didn’t want Leodos to hear, but she had a feeling he wouldn’t leave the two of them alone together.

  “I wasn’t allowed to have any friends growing up. Belisarus wouldn’t let me leave and no one could come over. If someone did knock on the door for any reason, I was supposed to hide. For some reason, no one was supposed to know I was there, even if I hid my hair and eyes and didn’t do anything odd in front of them. He knew I was lonely and wanted a friend. He wouldn’t answer any of my questions, but he tried to keep me entertained by reading me stories. One of my favorites was about how a princess kissed a frog and it turned into a prince. I don’t know how old I was other than fairly young when I got into an argument with him after he told me that story because I wanted to go into the village and he wouldn’t let me. I went out into the garden and played my flute. He gave me a bone flute when I was very young and taught me to play it. As I played, several frogs surrounded me. I was still angry and I was young enough to think there might be some truth to the stories he told me. I picked up a frog and kissed it and it turned into a strange man, not a prince. I took him inside and showed him to Belisarus and he demanded I change him back, but wouldn’t tell me how I changed him in the first place. I couldn’t change him back into a frog because I didn’t know how I turned him into a man. I tried kissing him again, but it didn’t work.

  “He was angry with me and only told me if I couldn’t fix what I did, I needed to teach him. Frog has always been very protective of me because I changed him, but he doesn’t fully understand some human concepts. He wasn’t supposed to follow me here and Belisarus was supposed to keep him at Idric.”

  “Have you managed to do this again?” Esylle asked her. She didn’t look afraid of her at all. She looked curious, but not in a bad way.

  “I don’t know how I did it in the first place to do it again. When I play my flute in the garden, generally animals flock around me. I don’t know what it means, but I was told I wasn’t allowed to play it on the mainland until you had agreed to come back with me and we were on our way back to Idric.”

  “Can I see this flute?” Leodos asked.

  “It’s in a bag hidden in a tree I slept by last night. I can get it when I go outside to sleep tonight and show it to you.”

  “What makes you think I would allow you to sleep outside?” Esylle told her. “You’re family, you’re sleeping in the castle with the rest of us.”

  “That’s too dangerous for you,” Soryn said, surprised she cared enough to want her to sleep inside.

  “If I’m leaving with you to go back to Idric, you need to be seen sleeping in the castle. It will look suspicious if I leave with you after no one has seen you around here.”

  “This place makes me uncomfortable. I’d rather sleep outside.”

  “This is possibly your home. You belong here. It won’t hurt you to sleep here a few nights while we get ready to leave and it will make the guard we bring more trusting of you.”

  “Are you going to tell them about me?” Soryn asked, hoping the answer was no. Leodos had finally seemed to accept her and wanted to protect her, but she had overheard all of their conversations that he was not like the other humans. He kept their secret. She had been taught to fear humans and didn’t think the others would be like him. She considered maybe she might be wrong. She was also taught to fear the tribes and they didn’t want to hurt her at all. Then she remembered how all the Tempris had been wiped out except the royal family after the wars and her showing up and saying she was related, but no one knew how would get a bad reaction.

  “No, we’re not,” Leodos told her. “And you need to be careful not to reveal yourself.”

  “How do you suggest I do that if something bad happens?”

  “If something happens to us, you do nothing,” Leodos warned. “You let me and the guards we bring take care of it.”

  “You’re only human. Some of you could die while I do nothing.”

  “We may be human, but we managed to win the war so long ago. As far as they should know, you’re a small, harmless girl.”

  Soryn was annoyed, but didn’t argue. She didn’t see why they had to bring guards and why it couldn’t just be the four of them since Frog followed her and Leodos was insisting on coming. She had never had to defend herself before, but she was taught how. She knew now, even though the princess hid herself, that she could defend herself as well. She didn’t know why Leodos would risk exposing both of them to bring other people. She couldn’t see who would hurt them on the journey back to Idric. The tribes didn’t seem to want to hurt her like she was told and as far as she knew, no one had any reason to hurt the princess. Her thoughts were interrupted when King Joron burst through the door. She remembered Esylle had been supposed to meet with Lords this afternoon and it was getting late. She could tell he was angry and about to say something to her about being late, but he took one look at Soryn and Frog and stopped.

  “Who are these people?” Joron asked. “Are they why you are not where you are supposed to be right now? Why does this girl look like you?”

  Soryn could see Joron was very angry and may lose control soon, so she let the black slip out of her hair and stopped concentrating so that her eyes changed back to their normal color. Joron looked at her, shocked, and he also asked her if she was Lisana, where she had been, and how she made it back home. She was tired of trying to explain she wasn’t Lisana and she knew Esylle still thought she might be, so rather than explain, she drew herself in and changed into a simple house cat. She looked up at him from the rug, fully expecting to smell fear from him, but she didn’t. She just smelled confusion.

  Esylle tried to explain while she stayed sitting in her cat form. She was tired of talking and trying to explain who she was not. Not knowing who she was had always been a sensitive topic for her and she was tired of talking about that too. She knew she was acting like a child sitting on the rug as a cat and refusing to talk.

  “She doesn’t know who she is, but I think she is Lisana. Belisarus sent her to me with a message and told her she could only give it after calling to me. She can call to me, so she’s something to us.”

  Soryn sighed from the floor. She didn’t think Esylle was going to give up thinking she was Lisana until they got back to Idric and Belisarus gave her whatever message he wanted to give her in person. She knew they were related somehow, but Soryn thought it was very distantly and something must have happened over the years giving her the abilities she had. When Esylle looked at her, it made her uncomfortable because she knew who Esylle thought she was seeing when she looked at her.

  “How is she Lisana if I’m looking at a cat? How do you know she’s not here to hurt us? Why did you allow her into your chambers? Can’t you see how dangerous that is?”

  Soryn didn’t change back into a girl and she knew she should just so she could explain, yet again, that she didn’t want to hurt anyone and just wanted to go back home. Leodos spoke for her and explained to Joron everything that had happened underneath the castle. Leodos explained her message and that whatever bad things Belisarus had mentioned, could quite well happen because he exposed her
to the tribes. Leodos explained that he wanted to bring Esylle back to Idric for the message Belisarus wanted to give in person and he explained that he also thought Soryn needed protecting.

  Joron did not comment. He looked down on her at the rug and finally spoke to her. “Are you going to speak for yourself or are you just going to sit there as a cat and let everyone else speak for you?”

  She sighed and turned back into a girl. “I don’t know what else you want me to say,” she said, finally addressing Joron.

  “Did he send you knowing what was happening today? That I was asking her to pick a husband? Esylle leaving now instead of remarrying is going to cause problems.”

  “I don’t know if he knew or not. He never tells me anything, but I don’t think he intended for today to be the day I showed up. He had been trying to get me to deliver this message for weeks and I kept refusing because I’ve always been told how dangerous it is for me here. I didn’t see why he couldn’t get someone else to come and he kept insisted it must be me. The only reason I agreed to come was that he told me he would finally answer all my questions about who I am and why I am the way I am. I didn’t know what was supposed to happen today until I got here.”

  “If you aren’t Lisana, why did he insist it be you that come and call to her?”

  “If I was really Lisana, how could I do what I can do? Do I need to turn into some sort of bird and fish in front of you to convince you I’m not her?”