CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER
14
High above the prisoners’ tents, balancing on the uppermost branches of one of the tallest trees, a tiny bluebird, the only splash of color in an otherwise barren landscape, trilled for its mate. Louisa opened her eyes at the sound, looking around for the bird and surprised to find that she was not in her bed at home.
She opened her mouth to cry out, but all at once Julia’s hand was over her mouth. “Quiet,” her stepsister hissed. “We have to find Alyce, and we have to do it without that guard.”
But the guard had already poked his head into the shelter. Satisfied that his prisoners were awake, he motioned for them to rise. “Come on,” he said. “Captain Ceres wants to hear the rest of that song.”
Julia and Louisa followed him back along the ridge to the Captain’s tent. Julia kept her hand tight around Louisa’s shoulders, even though Louisa seemed steadier after her long rest. The dark was falling once more, and the girls and their guard had to walk against a steady stream of prisoners returning from the mine. Julia scanned the faces of the slaves as they passed, hunting for the one woman who might know what to do. Every face looked much the same: beaten and dirty, and desperate for the help that they did not expect to come. It was impossible to distinguish one wretched face from another, so Julia could not quite believe it when a pair of gentle gray eyes leapt out at her.
“Alyce,” she gasped. “Alyce!” She sprang forward, clutching the older woman’s arm. The guard leapt after her. She had only a moment.
“They’ve taken Peter,” Julia said quickly. “I don’t know where he’s being held. But I have what you’re digging for …” The guard’s meaty hand clamped tight around Julia’s arm, and he dragged her away from Alyce.
“Thought you’d have a bit of a chat, did you?” he snarled, and struck her across the cheek with the back of his hand. The force of it knocked Julia to the ground, and she put up a hand to cover her face. “Get up,” the guard growled again. “The Captain doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
Julia struggled to her feet, casting a quick glance at Louisa. Her stepsister was standing frozen, looking blankly at the red welt that was already springing to Julia’s cheek. Louisa put out a hand and touched her fingertips lightly to Julia’s face, and then took her hand and squeezed it tight. “Come on,” she said, and on they walked.
It was a matter of moments before they reached Ceres’ tent and were ushered inside. The Captain and his guards were waiting there, standing over a figure that had collapsed on the ground.
It took Julia and Louisa a moment to recognize Peter. His face was beaten and bruised almost beyond recognition, and his bright hair was matted with something sticky and dark. Blood, Julia realized. His swollen hands had been scraped raw, and the shirt on his back lay ripped open, revealing an intricate network of bloody stripes.
He was conscious, but only barely. He looked up at his sisters and let out a groan, unable even to speak. Julia wanted to vomit, she wanted to put her hands around the captain’s throat and make him suffer as Peter had suffered, she wanted to take her brother home and forget about Aedyn and Khemia and the prisoners. She trembled with the agony of it.
Louisa dropped to her knees and reached out a hand, touching the welts on Peter’s shoulder. He flinched as she touched him, but then let out a breath and seemed to relax under the heat of her fingers.
“Now, perhaps the little prophetess will sing us a song,” said the captain.
Louisa looked up, glancing from the Captain to Julia. She was silent.
“Sing,” said the Captain after a long moment. “Sing, or I’ll have my man teach you the same lesson he taught this boy here.” The guard standing at Ceres’ side tightened his hand around the whip at his side, and Julia gulped. But still Louisa was silent.
The guard unfurled his whip, curling his fingers around its leather handle, and then Julia stepped forward. In a high, clear voice she sang:
The two come together, the two become one,
With union comes power, control over all.
Flooded by light, the shadow outdone,
The Host shall return; the darkness shall fall.
It was a long moment before anyone spoke.
Julia’s eyes were shut tight against the pain she knew must come—the sting of a whip, the crack of a hand—but none came. She opened her eyes, focusing on her brother. Peter had still not stirred, but he was casting Julia a look that she could not quite read.
“Please,” she said. “My brother. Let me help my brother.”
“Tell me what it means,” said the Captain. His fingers were holding tight to the pendant around his neck. “Your song. ‘The Host shall return.’ Tell me about this host.”
“It’s the Lord of Hosts,” said Julia. “We’re his people, and this is his land—all of it. And he’s going to come back. He’s going to come back and then all his people will be free, and they’ll never be slaves again.”
She would have gone on, but the guard raised his whip and she fell silent. “Careful, girl,” snarled the guard. “Careful what you say here.”
The Captain cleared his throat. “This lord, girl,” he said. “He’ll stop a shadow?”
“I don’t know what it means,” said Julia, a touch of desperation coming into her voice. “All I know is that you won’t be able to control whatever it is that’s coming out of the earth. There’s something underneath us that wants to get out—you’ve all felt it as well as I have. You think that if you find the second half of the pendant you’ll be able to control it. You think you’ll be able to take over the world. But that shadow will destroy you and anything that stands in its path. Only the Lord of Hosts can stop it.”
And suddenly the Captain was on his feet, swaying a little as he stared at the girl in front of him. “How do you know about the pendant?” he demanded. “You’re a slave—nothing but a slave. Tell me how you know!”
Julia remembered the weight of the six-pointed star hanging from her neck. She stood straight and still, thinking that perhaps it had been a mistake — and a bad one—to mention the pendant.
“Tell me!”
The Captain was in front of her now, his face just inches from hers, his hot, rotten breath crawling over her skin. Julia shook her head, hoping he wouldn’t notice how she trembled.
“I … I overheard a guard,” she whispered. But Julia had never been a good liar and the Captain seemed to know it, for all of a sudden she realized that she was lying on the ground next to Peter. She tasted the blood in her mouth and she heard Louisa screaming, and then everything was black.
It was still dark when she awoke. Something soft pressed against her cheek, and Julia touched it gently with her fingers.
“Shh, no,” said a voice that Julia hardly recognized. “The guard struck you with his whip. Leave it be for now. Try not to touch it.”
“Louisa?”
“Yes. Quiet now.”
“Where’s Peter?”
“I think he’s close. I don’t know where. We’re going to find him, Julia. Understand? We’ll find him.” Julia nodded, although it was too dark for Louisa to see her. Louisa put a cool hand to Julia’s forehead, and Julia breathed a little easier at her touch. “Where are we?” she asked.
“We’re in a cave close by the mine. There are guards at the entrance—I don’t know how many—and …” She fell suddenly silent. “Do you hear that?”
Julia strained her ears to listen, and indeed she could make out voices, far back in the darkness. Louisa clutched her hand a little tighter as the voices fell silent, and footsteps took their place.
The two girls listened to the footsteps, coming closer and closer, step by awful step. Neither girl spoke a word, knowing that there was no place to run, no way to escape. And then…
“Julia?” said a voice that both of them knew.