The Spirus Read online

  Leodos was not sure how much they knew and how much he should tell them. They would have been teenagers or even children when Lisana was taken, but would have been told the story.

  “Some of you may know that a girl arrived here yesterday. It’s possible she may be the Princess Lisana. She has a message from Esylle’s old tutor. Esylle’s tutor is too old to travel and wants her to come to Idric Island so that he may give her a message in person. We don’t know if this has to do with Lisana and where she has been for so long. The girl doesn’t think she’s Lisana, but she’s related to the royal family somehow. You’ll see when you meet her. The girl has a strange traveling companion she’s very protective of. Please don’t approach or talk to him. Your job is to protect the both of them until we get to Idric. The girl says she doesn’t want to make the journey back with us, but may change her mind if she finds out she is Lisana. Since we don’t know very much about this girl, protect her, but please don’t approach or talk to her. She’s never left Idric Island and this place makes her uncomfortable. Please don’t add to her discomfort. Please do not discuss this mission to anyone, nor who this girl may be.”

  He left them and went back up to Esylle’s chambers and knocked on the door. When she let him in, he could tell Soryn was not wanting to do something again. He looked at Esylle for answers.

  “I just asked her to put one of my dresses on and pack a few for the trip. We’re the same size and she can’t be seen in those robes.”

  “You’ve seen me make my own clothes. Why can’t I make something I’m comfortable in? Your clothes look like I wouldn’t be able to breathe in them.”

  “Do you still not understand?” Leodos said, taking her shoulders and looking down at her. He was trying not to shake sense into her. She should know better. “You need to look like a family member to Esylle, which means dressing like her. You can’t go making clothes out of nowhere in front of these soldiers.”

  “Why can’t I make clothes like I’ve seen on Idric and just say I want to change without an audience?” she asked, shaking his hands off her

  “You think Esylle changes with an audience? You can’t make clothes while we are leaving. You need to pick out dresses and pack. Stop arguing and stop being a child. Surely you knew things would be different when you left Idric. You’re an isolated island and you grew up never able to leave the house.”

  Leodos could see she was angry with him, but she never lost control and let her hair or eyes slip. Her jaw tightened and she followed Esylle to look at dresses. She had only lost control and let herself slip when he threated to hurt Frog and he had a feeling it wasn’t a slip at all and she revealed herself deliberately. He knew most of the guard would follow his instructions not to talk to the girl, nor Frog, but he still didn’t trust Tollam.

  Esylle and Soryn came back out with a sack packed with the dresses she had chosen and Soryn had changed into one of Esylle’s gowns. Seeing her now in Esylle’s clothes, the girl reminded him even more of Esylle and for a minute, he doubted his conviction that there was no way she was Lisana. Soryn wasn’t talking and he could see the anger in her eyes, but they were still blue and she never slipped and let them go back to violet, even among those who knew her.

  He led Esylle, Soryn, and Frog down to the stables, where the guard were waiting with horses. He saw the guard staring at Soryn and sizing her up. They glanced at Frog and then avoided looking at him. Only Tollam continued to stare at Frog and Leodos could tell he wanted to say something and it most likely would not be kind, but then he changed his gaze to Soryn. Leodos could tell from the way he was staring at her that he was attracted to her and would most likely try to talk to her no matter what warning Leodos had previously given. He wished Joron had chosen someone else. All of the horses had been saddled and the guards were just waiting on them.

  “You can’t take horses to Idric,” Soryn said. “They won’t fit in any of the boats that go back and forth.”

  “Are you suggesting we make the princess walk, little girl?” Tollam asked her.

  Leodos was fully expecting her to get angry, with her fiery Tempris temper, for both calling her a little girl and because he was leering at her like he was undressing her with his eyes. “I walked here from Idric,” she said, calmly. “It’s not logical to bring horses because you have nowhere to leave them when we take the boats and you’re just going to lose them. You’re wasting perfectly good horses.”

  “Someone will keep them for us when we tell them who we are.”

  “They don’t care who you are that far out. They don’t recognize your laws and you speak strangely. They don’t have horses that far near the ocean and they don’t have the means to take care of these. You are going to come back to horses that haven’t been fed properly and they won’t be able to make the journey back here. You’re just going to end up walking anyway.”

  “You think we speak strangely?” Tollam said, stepping closer to her. Leodos didn’t want him to push her, so he stepped in.

  “I think we can all agree they speak differently so far out on the coast and on Idric than we do here. She knows Idric and she just came from the coast. If she says we can’t take the horses, we shouldn’t take them. Some of these horses are trained for war and we would be losing so much risking them. She’s a small girl and if she managed to walk here, I’m sure you, as grown men, can also walk.”

  The men brought the horses back to the stables and he could see that Tollam was angry that he was challenged. They started out by foot, the guards making a circle around Esylle, Soryn, and Frog. Leodos thought they might walk in peace until they stopped for lunch.

  “So, you show up out of nowhere with this strange traveling companion and we are all supposed to follow you?” Tollam called over his shoulder. Leodos wished he would stop talking and told himself he was going to pull him aside when they stopped for lunch and talk to him.

  “He may be strange, but I like him more than I like you, which isn’t very much right now. You like to talk a lot, but you don’t say much.”

  Leodos was to her left and turned to look at her. Tollam was trying to antagonize her, but it didn’t seem to be working. She didn’t seem as irritated as she was yesterday. She seemed to have calmed down now that she was outside. Her face was neutral and he couldn’t read what she was feeling.

  “What I want to know is what you said to get everyone to agree to this journey. Or did you just use your face and the fact that you happen to look like the princess to get your way? How do we know we can trust you?” Tollam continued.

  Leodos wasn’t sure where he was going with this. Especially since he had already told him that they believed she may be Lisana. He was trying to get under her skin. Tollam kept sneaking looks back at her and Leodos could tell she intrigued him and he was attracted to her.

  “Just know she proved herself to us and we know we can trust her. Leave it at that and I already told you before we left to leave her alone,” Leodos warned him. He looked back over at Soryn and her gaze stayed forward. He watched her eyes closed as the breeze picked up and lifted her hair. She preferred to be outside.

  When they finally stopped for lunch, all of the guards except Kibal set off to hunt and Soryn left to gather things to eat. Kibal stayed with Esylle. Leodos warned her to be careful while they were out there with their bows. She told him she was wearing a deep purple dress; it’s not like they couldn’t see her. She disappeared and he lost track of her. The guards were all tracking a rabbit into the brush. All of their arrows seemed to miss the rabbit. Tollam went charging after it and ran straight into a bear and fell down. The bear towered over him and Leodos didn’t think he would have time to notch an arrow to save his life.

  While he was fumbling with his bow, a giant orange and black striped cat tore by him and tackled the bear. “Flaming hell,” he swore to himself. He knew it was Soryn and she thought she was doing good saving them. He watched the bear and the cat tumble into the brush and he could hear howling and animalistic screams
of pain. When they stopped, he thought Soryn would know better to go back into the woods and hide, but wanted to make sure she was okay. He told everyone to stay back as he went into the brush. The bear lay dead and Soryn laid passed out, intertwined with the bear. He went to pick her up, intending to carry her further into the woods until she could wake up and heal herself, but he noticed the brush stir and all five men were behind him, staring shocked at the small girl wrapped up with the bear and covered in blood.

  “What is this?” Alirak asked.

  “Did she save him?” Bastan asked. “What is she?”

  He sighed as he picked her up and carried her into the clearing since they knew about her now. He laid her down and her dress was torn and she had deep claw marks on her arms and chest. He wasn’t sure how he was going to explain this. All five men looked down at her and only Tollam seemed suspicious and afraid. The rest just seemed curious. Bastan thought they should keep her warm and said he was going to collect wood and get Kibal and Esylle.

  Leodos didn’t know what was said to Kibal and Esylle, but they came quickly and Esylle fell to her knees and pulled Soryn’s head into her lap. Esylle was crying, looking down at the gashes on the girl’s chest.

  “You were supposed to be protecting her! How did this happen?” she asked, looking to Leodos for answers.

  “Princess, we don’t know what she is yet, but she saved Tollam’s life. He ran right into that bear and we couldn’t get to our arrows in time. The bear would have killed him. We don’t know how she is still alive right now or what she is, but she’s a hero.”

  “How could you let her do that?” Esylle hissed at him. “You know what’s at risk!”

  “I couldn’t stop her. She must have been near us and seen what was happening. She nearly knocked me over and it was already too late.”

  “What is she?” Alirak asked. “She looks like the Princess, but we just watched her transform. She saved Tollam and risked her life doing so, so she doesn’t want to hurt us.”

  “I made sure she wasn’t here to hurt anyone when she first showed up. Just know, she is a very special girl. She is probably stronger than the five of you combined, but I asked you here to protect her because she needs it. She knew she wasn’t supposed to reveal herself like this, but she did it anyway and got herself hurt because she saw one of you was in danger.”

  “Is she going to be okay?” Alirak asked, kneeling by her and feeling Soryn’s forehead. “We should do something before this gets infected and really does kill her.”

  “We should just let her die,” Tollam finally said. “Nothing about her is natural and she shouldn’t exist.”

  Mafir, who rarely spoke, drew his sword, shoved Tollam into a tree, and held his sword at his neck. “You would be dead if it weren’t for her! Your life was saved by a small girl. She could have easily let you die instead of exposing herself, especially the way you’ve been speaking to her.”

  “I could have handled it myself. I didn’t need some freak to involve herself.”

  “How were you going to handle it?” Mafir yelled, jabbing his sword into Tollam’s chin. “You were laying on your sword. I don’t know what she is, but we are not going to kill her if she makes it through this!”

  “She’s dead anyway. Just look at her. We should just find lunch and leave her. I’m hungry.”

  Leodos wound up pulling Mafir away from Tollam because he was sure he was about to drive his sword through his throat. Before any of them could say anything, Bastan came back with wood and knelt by Soryn and Esylle, who still had her head in her lap. He started building a fire and Esylle kept crying and telling Leodos that she felt cold. Leodos was starting to worry. She was able to survive the arrow and heal herself, but it had only pierced her arm. It was nothing like the deep claw marks across her chest and on her arms now. He didn’t know what would happen to Esylle if she died and Belisarus’ message was that she was, indeed, Lisana. He knew Esylle would react badly the entire way there because she was already convinced she was. He had done nothing so far because he thought she would wake up and heal herself, as she had done before.

  He knelt by Soryn and he couldn’t feel her heartbeat through her chest because of the deep gashes. He lifted her up from Esylle’s lap and let her head fall on his shoulder. He instructed Esylle to loosen the corset on the back of her dress. She wasn’t breathing very heavily and he didn’t know how much of that was because of her injuries and how much was because she had never worn a corset before. When he went to lay her back down, Esylle took her from him and put her head back in her lap. Esylle stroked her hair and would not stop crying. Once she was lying down, Leodos put his head on her stomach and could feel her breathing. Her breathing was heavy, as if she was asleep, not that she would slip away from them at any moment.

  Tollam stalked off and told everyone if they weren’t going to find food, he would find it himself. Leodos knew bringing him was a mistake and his rashness while they were hunting had caused this. It was too late to send him back because he already knew about Soryn and Leodos knew he wouldn’t keep his mouth shut. Mafir and Kibal came and sat by the fire Bastan had started next to Soryn. Bastan told them he knew of herbs that may prevent infection if she pulled through and disappeared. Leodos still didn’t know if they would need them and if this was something she could heal from. There was still so much they didn’t know about her.

  He finally remembered Frog and thought he could ask. Frog had not said anything since he appeared with Esylle. He was sitting next to Esylle with his small arm on Soryn looking despondent.

  “Can she heal this?” Leodos asked. He didn’t know why he didn’t think to ask Frog earlier.

  At first, he thought Frog wasn’t going to answer. He looked down at her, depressed. “I’ve never seen her injured this badly before.”

  “Did Belisarus say anything about her healing ability?”

  “We’ve already answered that question.”

  Bastan showed up and began to make a poultice. Leodos didn’t know if it would harm or hurt her and initially stopped him from applying it to her wounds.

  “I don’t know if she’s going to wake up. You don’t know anything about her. If she does wake up, she’s going to need this if she can’t heal. We may have to stay here and take care of her,” Bastan said, applying the poultice. Leodos looked down at Soryn, even more worried that she never stirred as it was being applied.

  Just then, Tollam appeared with several rabbits and set to skinning them without speaking to any of them. He refused to look at Soryn at all. He started cooking and they all ate in silence.

  Esylle

  It was getting late and Soryn had not stirred or shown any sign of life since Bastan ran towards them and only yelled she was hurt and they needed to come immediately. She could not forget the panic she had felt seeing her lying so small on the ground covered in blood. She didn’t know what the girl had been thinking trying to fight a bear. She couldn’t understand why she had risked everything for Tollam, who had been so awful to her.

  They had already eaten dinner and would have to go to sleep soon. Esylle didn’t want to sleep knowing Soryn could possibly slip away while she was asleep. Leodos kept trying to make her feel better by telling her to get some sleep and she may be awake in the morning, but she could see the concern behind his eyes. He didn’t know what would happen either and he saw her heal in front of him. She heard him ask Frog and his answer did not make her feel any better.

  She had not moved from her spot on the ground with Soryn’s head in her lap. Bastan had cleaned most of the blood off of her when he was applying the poultice. There was a thick paste all over her chest and arms and she couldn’t tell if her wounds were healing. She still felt cool to the touch and not as warm as she should be. Esylle was petrified and she didn’t want to lose this girl as soon as she found her again because of who she was sure she was. Even if she wasn’t Lisana, she was a member of her family and there were so few left. When the humans won the war and passed the
decree that the Tempris had to marry humans, the ruling Tempris were also only allowed to have one child. Esylle and her father were all that were left of her family.

  She didn’t think she would be able to sleep, but she gently laid Soryn’s head on the ground and stretched out behind her. She couldn’t lie against her back like she wanted because of her injuries, but she tried to have at least her hand touch her. She knew Soryn wouldn’t allow this if she was awake. She had wanted to hold her as soon as she called to her and the entire time she had come into her chambers with Leodos. She didn’t because she knew she made the girl uncomfortable and she didn’t know what she would do if she tried and the girl pushed her away.

  It seemed like hours had passed and she hadn’t been able to fall asleep. She didn’t think she would be able to, but she must have slipped into sleep during the night. When her eyes opened, she could smell breakfast being cooked. She immediately checked on Soryn.

  “She still hasn’t woken up, but she’s a lot warmer than yesterday,” Leodos told her. “Bastan is getting more herbs to treat her wounds in case she pulls through.”

  “Please don’t say ‘in case’. You watched her heal in front of you.”

  “From an arrow that only hit her arm and not very deeply. She woke up from that as soon as I got her hair wet. Wounds like this would be fatal to a normal human.”

  “You know she’s not a normal human and it would have killed one of us by now.”

  “You need to prepare yourself that she might not make it through this.”

  Esylle didn’t respond and wouldn’t look at him. She sat up and pulled Soryn’s head in her lap again. There were no injuries to her face or head. She stroked her hair that was the same texture as hers. When Bastan came back. He set to making another poultice. He told Esylle to lay her flat and he poured water from his flask on her injuries to clean them. Tears sprung to Esylle’s eyes when she saw Soryn’s eyes flutter, then open as he poured water on the wounds across her chest.