The Stillness of the Sky (28 page)

“Your Majesty, I’ve come to petition you to cease all hostilities with the giants. On behalf of the Litanian people, the mighty race of giants, and every creature that walks this earth, I beg you to stand down. This war will gain you nothing, and may cost you everything.”

He stared at me in dumbstruck silence, probably trying to determine if I was serious. After all, I was still a sixteen-year-old girl, Bard or no, and what cause would he have to give my words any weight at all?

When he remained silent, I continued. “Your son is not dead, nor is he a prisoner. He’s hidden himself away from everyone and everything in an effort to avoid all responsibility, including his refusal to step forward and stop the violence you’ve championed in his name. He and his conspirator are hidden away in a place no army can reach him, and no one, not even me for my abilities, can convince him to abandon his path of cowardice and selfishness. I beg you, under direction from both the people of light and the Alabaster Heart itself, to stop the suffering. Call off your war.”

When he blinked, his expression shifted, and laughter poured from his mouth. “The people of light? Fairies? Fairies sent a young girl to petition me in their stead? Forgive me if I find that a bit unbelievable. As for the rest of it, well, you’d be wise to keep your fantasies to yourself. I won’t entertain treason.”

“Your Majesty, please,” I said, stepping forward. I couldn’t let my frustration get the better of me. “Please reconsider. Sometimes the kindest path is the most difficult to walk. If you’d only stop a moment and think—”

“Enough of this,” he said, dismissing me with a wave of his hand. “I’ve spent more than two years with the burden of this conflict on me. Who are you to question the king when you’re barely grown enough to bed? Unless you’ve come for more of that, or to dance for me, away with you.”

My mother’s fork dropped to her plate with a clatter.

Enough was enough.

“I think His Majesty will find his memory of me isn’t as clear as he’d like. I believe he spent the night in question asleep in his chair before the fire, and not as he’d planned it with me. Lullabies are far more powerful than anyone gives them credit for.”

At this, the king’s face flushed crimson, but I’d not be cowed by his anger. Even as he called for his guards, and as Gustave and my mother watched on in disgusted horror when they dragged me away, I would not bow my head. The only moment I faltered is when the iron cage at the edge of camp came into view, its door a beastly maw waiting to devour me. I began to protest, but a firm hand over my mouth kept me from uttering so much as a single word. My wrists and ankles were clamped in shackles, my neck wrapped with cord so tightly I could barely breathe, let alone sing. But only when the cage door closed did true panic set into my bones. I thrashed at my bonds, cringing as metal bit into my flesh and ropes pulled taut against my throat. My gaze flew in every direction, searching for someone, anyone to beg for help.

As I sank to my knees, stunned horror washed over me. Not even my mother was there to save me. I was careless. I was foolish.

And I was trapped.

“Jack.”

I cracked an eye open at the prompting of my whispered name. Night had fallen on the camp, and only a few scattered fires in the distance disturbed the blackness.

“Jack, can you hear me? Wake up.”

I propped myself to sitting, swallowing past the swollen scratchiness of my throat. Looking around, not a soul was in sight.

“Jack, we’re going to get you out, so don’t worry, all right? I won’t let them hurt you.”

My eyes welled with tears when I recognized my mother’s voice. Somewhere behind me, a bush rustled, and she crept up to my back as I leaned on the bars.

“I can’t free you just yet,” she explained as the rope tugged against my throat, “but I will loosen this.”

As the rough cord went slack against my skin, I sucked in a deep breath, relishing the feel of my lungs filling freely once more.

“I’ve spoken with Prince Gustave in private,” she whispered. “He knows what we’re going to do, and knows who sent us. I didn’t tell him everything, but enough that he’s agreed to help.”

“I need to get free,” I said, resulting in painful coughing that burned my throat.

“Shh, we’re working on that, but we need a distraction, something to draw everyone in camp away.”

“The giants,” I said. “Go to them and explain what’s happened. Tell Commander Brantoric you’re the Bard that gave me the Stone. He’ll help you.”

“You went to the giants?” she hissed at me. “Jack, why would you—”

“They were more kind and welcoming than this end of it. I hardly regret those actions.”

“But what could the giants possibly do here? Any move they make will provoke a battle from this side.”

I nodded as much as I could. “Precisely. We need both armies closer together for this to work. Tell them to use as much restraint as they can to avoid more bloodshed, but not at the cost of self-preservation.”

“There’s not enough time for that,” she said. “I can’t get to them and back to free you before the king departs in the morning.”

I thought for a moment, considering the problem. “You can if Ro takes you.”

“Ro? Your bird? Jack, I don’t think—”

“He’ll take you where you need to go, there’s no need to be afraid of him. Can you get my pack?”

“Yes, but—”

“Then do it. There’s a feather inside that will call him. Tell him who you are and what you need from him, and he’ll get you there and back quicker than any horse could.”

She touched my shoulder through the bars. “I don’t speak his language, Jack.”

“You don’t need to,” I explained. “The necklace allows me to understand him, but he’s always understood me clearly. Speak to him. Don’t be afraid. Kindness given is kindness returned.”

“Jack…” Her voice caught. “I’m so proud of you. After everything I’ve done, how do I deserve such a wonderful child?”

I smiled and sighed. “If I’ve learned anything lately, it’s that life has greater plans than we can ever guess at. There will always be opportunities to be better people, but it’s up to us to take those chances. You took that chance for me, Mama. You kept me as safe as you could and put me on this better path. Don’t think so little of what you sacrificed to do so.”

Her hand lifted up to smooth my hair, and I heard her sniffle a little behind me. “I love you more than life, my brave, sweet girl.”

“I love you, too, Mama. Now, please, you need to hurry. When you get the feather, stroke the spine once you’re clear of prying eyes. Ro will find you.”

Leaving a kiss on the back of my head, she whispered a promise to return as soon as she could. After a quick rustling of underbrush, the world fell silent again, leaving me alone with my thoughts and worries.

“Please hurry, Mama,” I whispered into the night.

Dozing in my cage, I was snapped awake by the alarmed shouts of men. Dawn colored the eastern sky as soldiers rushed past me, gathering weapons and armor as quickly as they could. It appeared my mother had reached the giants and an attack had been launched, but there was no sign of her anywhere.

When the majority of the activity cleared from my end of camp, all that remained was a single guard standing watch ten feet from the door. The keys to my bonds hung at his waist, but even if I succeeded at putting him to sleep, he’d be too far for me to reach when he fell.

“Cover your ears, Jack,” her voice whispered behind me.

Relieved and elated, I did as she asked as best I could with shackled wrists. Though I couldn’t hear it, I felt the vibrations of her song tremble through my body, and in less than a minute, my guard collapsed on the ground in a heap. With no one else about, my mother was free to set me loose.

The cage door opened with a squeak, and she made quick work of my chains. As I pulled the rope from my neck, wincing as the cord brushed the raw patches on my skin, my mother shrugged out of my pack, ready to hand it to me once I was free.

“Ro is due west, near the trees,” she said, bustling me out of the cage. “He can help you find a central vantage point to use the Stone.”

I started to leave, but hesitated. “Mama…”

“Yes, Jack?”

Indecision clawed at me. “What if this doesn’t work?”

She gently turned me around, her smile soft, but confident. “I have every faith in you. I know that no matter what happens, you’ll choose the best path for everyone. If I didn’t, I would never have given you the Resonant Stone, and both Quistis and the Alabaster Heart would have found another for this mission. I know with every last piece of my soul that if anyone can do this, it’s you.”

My eyes welled with tears. “What if I have to kill him, mother? I don’t think I can do that. If that’s what it takes, this war may never end.”

She pulled me into a tight embrace, her arms steady and sure. “Who was it that said the kindest path is the most difficult to walk?”

“Someone not old enough to know better,” I mumbled into her shoulder.

“No, someone wiser than the rest of us put together.” She eased away to look at me. “Jack, if anyone in this world can find a way to make this happen, I know that person is you.”

A tear escaped me, rolling down my cheek. “I love you, Mama.”

“And I you.” Holding my face between her palms, she wiped away the wetness and kissed my forehead. “The battle is nearly upon them, you’d better hurry. I’ll do what I can to draw out the king and get him close, all right?”

I nodded, hugged her one last time, and sprinted west.

A mile away, just beyond a dense copse of trees, I pulled up short. Ro was there, but he was not the bird I remembered him to be. Even more than before, his plumage shone in the sunlight, every feather a brilliant shade of cerulean. I approached in awe, stunned by his transformation.

“Ro…” I said, breathless. “You’re beautiful. What’s happened to you?”

“I’ve been worried for you, Lady,” he said. “That other said you were in trouble.”

I lifted a hand to stroke his feathers. “She’s my mother, Ro. Thank you for helping her. You two are the reason I’m free now. I’m more in your debt than ever.”

“My wings are your wings. Where you go, so do I.”

Overcome by his unquestioning loyalty, I threw my arms around his neck, burying my face in his softness. “When this is over, ask anything of me, dearest friend, and I will do it for you if I can.”

“Are we headed for danger again?”

I sighed and clambered up into the saddle. “Unfortunately, yes. I need to find a central point in the battle, so I can reach the greatest amount of hearts that need healing. The moment I begin, all fighting should cease, but it’s getting myself into the middle of it all that worries me.”

“The Lady could dance her way in, yes? Is that not your talent as well?”

“That’s a brilliant idea, Ro,” I said. “Get me as close as you can and I’ll take it from there.”

We lifted into the air, flying as fast as his wings could carry us. Within moments the camp was beneath us and the battle in sight. Two armies lined separate sides of a valley, the giants casting long shadows that reached out to the Litanian forces. Massive catapults stood at the ready, their holds filled with barrels of black powder and metal shards. Archers held their bows in anticipation of the attack, and the smell of burning oil reached me even at that height.

“They’ve not yet begun,” I shouted to Ro. “Set down between them and leave as fast as you can.”

“But Lady—”

“I’ll not have you caught in the crossfire. Don’t even consider it.”

He circled twice, thinking, but didn’t argue further. We dove then, the wind streaming through my hair as the ground drew ever closer. A few feet up, I released the saddle grips and jumped, propelling Ro straight back into the sky.

Movement on either side pushed me into action. Not willing to chance an archer’s keen eye, my hand plunged into my pocket, encircling the smooth, cool surface of the Resonant Stone.

It started as a hum in my throat, a few notes to set the tone of everything I wanted to give them that day. When I sang, I poured my hope, my deepest wish, into every last word.

When the drums do pound

When the piper plays

When the banners whip in the wind…

The ground beneath me came to life, the movement of it synced with my very breath and the steps I took as I began to dance.

When the men all rise

For the battle cry

Do you know what you’re fighting for?

Light flooded the land, but I didn’t stop. For me, my true sight flashed through every face I’d seen in my travels and the lives that touched mine. I remembered the tiny moments of laughter, the simple joys of watching a child bounce in time with music, the shadows of sadness on strangers’ faces that I longed to erase. I saw the boy, whose name I might never know, who he might’ve been in life, free from the horrors that haunted his eyes before he died.

Do not go so easy

Into the fray

Your heart speaks far greater truths

War and blood, when the battle’s done

What will be left to save?

I twirled and spun, letting the song guide me, feeling my way into every spirit for miles and miles. I begged and pleaded with all of my being that they listen, that they hear the truth in my words before it was too late. Visions of what would become of the world, a wasteland torn apart by endless violence, magic working against life rather than in tandem, wove itself between my thoughts and theirs, but even the appalling destruction I saw at the end of that path would not deter my hope.

Lay down thy weapons

Reach for the light

Cast out the hate from your souls

On one path lies darkness

Death and decay

The other takes strength to find

Lay down thy weapons

Soldiers turn away

All lives have their part to play

Forgiveness is nigh

If you simply try

In love we will all find our way

My words spent, I hummed as I danced, leaping through the light as I searched every spirit for remaining traces of bloodlust or anger. All had gentled, stilled by the song, and I thought, for a moment, I’d won.