Wingborn (30 page)

Raising his eyebrows, Derrain automatically
caught her and cuddled her close, looking at Wisp over
Corin
’
s curls. The
miryhl emerged from beneath her wing to roll an eye, ruffling her
feathers back into place with a sigh. Clearly no harm had been
done.

“
I’
ll never be good enough for her. Why did I think I
could do this? I only wanted to help with the preening. Mhysra
makes it look so easy,
”
Corin mumbled against his chest, and finally he understood.

Holding her away from him, Derrain slipped a
hand beneath Corin
’
s
chin until she met his eye.
“
You do know she
’
s had a lifetime of practise at it,
right?
”

Corin sniffled, though her eyes were dry and
it was clear she was more frustrated than upset.
“
Preening shouldn
’
t be difficult.
”

Chuckling, Derrain cuddled her again before
turning her around and pointing her in Wisp
’
s direction.
“
Why don
’
t you try talking about it next time? Between the
two of you, I
’
m sure
you
’
ll sort something
out.
”

Girl and miryhl eyed each other cautiously,
then thoughtfully, before Wisp raised her wings the tiniest
fraction.

“
I’
m sorry!
”
Corin wailed again, throwing her arms around her
eagle
’
s neck.

Shaking his head at the dramatics, Derrain
ducked back under the rope to rejoin Zephyr. She was chuckling.

“What?” he had
to ask.

“
Every
pair i
s different,
”
she said, shaking her own head in clear
amusement.

“
Thank
the Gods for that,” he replied, thinking of his Rider friends and
the many differences between them. If their miryhls weren’
t
blessed with personalities to match, the Overworld would be a far
duller place.

“Derry? Derry,
are you there?” the unexpected call came from the entrance to the
eyries. It was a voice he knew well – and the last he expected to
hear this morning.

Frowning, Derrain stroked a hand across
Zephyr
’
s wing and strode
for the door.
“
Milli?
”
he said in disbelief.

“Oh, Derry!”
She darted forward and seized his arm, shocking him with her
appearance. Lady Milluqua Kilpapan was known throughout Nimbys as a
true lady, one who always dressed to perfection and was never seen
in the slightest disarray.

Except this morning. Her dress was made of
pale green floaty material, but her heavy shawl was dark blue, her
hair was only half up and she was wearing a pair of chunky boots,
the sort Mhysra wore all the time and Milluqua politely disdained.
To top it all off, her face was flushed and she was clearly out of
breath.

Dread gripped Derrain.
“What’
s the matter, Milli? Has something
happened to Mhysra?
”

Holding him tightly with one hand, as if
worried he would run away, she pressed her other palm against her
chest. It was clear she was struggling to breathe, but she nodded.
“
Yes. Mhysra.
Kidnapped.
”

By now they
’
d attracted a small crowd of students and Derrain
wasn
’
t the only one to
say,
“
What?
”

“Mother,”
Milluqua wheezed.

“The
countess?” Corin squeaked. “But why?”

“
I’
m more interested in where,
”
Derrain growled, and carefully peeled
Milluqua
’
s hand off his
arm. Clasping it between his own, he squeezed gently.
“
Stay here, Milli. Get your breath
back, then Corin will take you to our lieutenants, all
right?
”

“And you?”
Milluqua asked, dark eyes wide.

“
I’
m off to the docks, to see what the gossips have
to say. Did they take the
Illuminai
?
”

Milluqua nodded, more of her hair tumbling
down.
“
I think so. It
was my mother, Derry. Our own mother took her.
”

Having worked beneath the
countess
’
command for
many years, Derrain wasn
’
t surprised in the slightest. Lady Kilpapan might
be small and dainty looking, but she also had a will of steel and
never took no for an answer.

He patted Milluqua
’
s hand as reassuringly as he could.
“
I
’
ll find out where they went.
You,
”
he looked around
at his friends,
“
stay
here and form a plan.
”

With a chorus of agreement at his back,
Derrain set off for the city at a run. He
’
d barely reached the palace when he heard
a scream behind him.

“Mhysra!”

Cumulo knew his Wingborn was gone. Derrain
only hoped he could find out where before the big miryhl decided to
track her down alone.

MHYSRA WOKE TO
the
sound of voices. They were muffled, but the words were clear, if
only her brain wasn
’
t
too fogged to understand them. Frowning, she opened her eyes and
groaned as bright light stabbed at the ache in her head. She shut
her eyes again, trying not to think about the foul taste in her
mouth.

“
Kirdensk, mir ladai
?
”

The words meant nothing to her, but the tone
was kind, so she cracked open an eye. A beaker loomed in front of
her nose.
“
Oh, thank
you.
”
She pushed herself
upright, gritting her teeth against a wash of pain and dizziness,
and took the drink.

“
Nith nagath, mir ladai.
” It was the Mistrune sailor, the smiling
one. What had her mother called him? Tolgoth? Talgath?
Talon?

She sipped the water and sighed with relief
at the clear, cool taste. She remembered now about the strange
butter and sharp apple juice. Something about her breakfast had
been drugged, but if this water was more of the same she
didn
’
t care. Draining
the beaker to wash away the foul taste in her mouth, she handed it
back to her jailor with a small smile.

“Thank you,
umm, Tal…?”

“
Talro,
mir ladai. Lar kirdensk?
” He waggled the beaker
invitingly.

Mhysra
nodded.
“Please.”

Her guard beamed and stumped across the
cabin to poured more water from the pitcher. It gave Mhysra a
chance to look around. She was in her mother
’
s private cabin on the
Illuminai,
sparse but elegantly decorated, making the most of the limited
space available aboard ship
.
Loud voices drifted down
through the wood: shouts of the sailors on deck relaying the
commands of the captain; a conversation between the captain and the
pilot in the wheelhouse over her head; sounds of men below,
reorganising the cargo; the heated exchange between her mother and
aunt in the stateroom on the other side of the door.

She ignored it all for the moment, more
interested in the quiet words being spoken between her two guards.
It was the same two men who
’
d come to her room, the Mistrunan brothers. Talro
didn
’
t look so happy now
as he clutched Mhysra
’
s
drink to his chest, while his smaller, older brother grumbled at
him. She wondered what they were saying, but since they stuck to
Mistrunan, she didn
’
t
have a hope of understanding.

It hardly mattered, as Talro gave a small
shrug and shot Mhysra a bashful look before bringing her the
refilled beaker. She thanked him again and turned her attention to
the angry voices beyond the door, while Talro rejoined his brother
on guard duty.

Things were getting loud out there, Mhysra
realised and shut her eyes again, the better to concentrate on what
was being said.

“
I’
m telling you, Lunrai, I won
’
t be party to this!
”
Aunt Mhylla rarely raised her voice, but
when she did there were few who could shout her down.

“
And may
I remind you, Mhylla, that I never asked you to be.” Countess
Kilpapan was a woman who prided herself on her control, but even
her voice sounded strained in the face of her older sister’
s
anger.
“
She
’
s my daughter, my responsibility.
You
’
re only here because
we
’
re taking you
home.
”

“You may have
birthed her, Lunrai, but I raised her.” Mhylla had lowered her tone
to a growl. “That makes her as much mine as yours.”

“
Ha!”
Lady Kilpapan scoffed in a most unladylike manner. “I wondered how
long it would take before you threw
that
in my face again.”

“
Again?”
Mhylla sounded incredulous. “I’ve spent the last twenty-four years
raising your children and haven’
t raised the subject
once!
”

“
Except
for the time just before Milluqua’
s coming out ball, when
her father was arranging a very advantageous match for her
–
”

“To a man
three times her age!” Mhylla interrupted, sounding almost
shrill.

“Then there
was Kilai. I’ve lost count of the times you’ve interfered with him.
First in keeping him two years longer than his father wished, then
by encouraging him to join the Riders –”

Mhylla
made an angry noise, but Lunrai overrode her by raising her voice.
“
Much
against our wishes, might I
add. You even gave him his own miryhl before the Choice! And now,
well, now we come to Mhysra.”

The was a long, angry silence and Mhysra
could imagine them both trying to compose themselves for the next
round of the argument.

“You cannot
have forgotten the circumstances of her birth, Lunrai,” Mhylla
said, almost too softly for the words to carry through the
wood.

The countess gave a bitter laugh.
“
Well, you cannot say
that I wasn
’
t there for
it, much though you
’
d
like to deny me the honour.
”

Mhylla sighed.
“
I do not deny that you are her mother, Lunrai.
I
’
ve never wanted to
take your children from you.
”

“
And yet
you interfere with our parenting at every turn. You constantly
undermine our authority. You think you know what’
s best for
them. You think you know them better than we, their parents, ever
could.
”
Her voice was
rising again.

“
Because
I do!” Mhylla shouted. “I do know what’
s best for them, I do
know them better than you ever could. I raised them! I watched them
grow. I comforted their nightmares, soothed their hurts, guided
their education and listened to their dreams. Parenting does not
begin in adulthood, Lunrai. By the time you and your husband
summoned your children they were already grown. It is too late to
mould them into the creatures you wish them to be. They are their
own people, they have their own lives to live. You cannot rule them
as if they were servants or, worse, slaves. You lay down rules and
make orders, expecting respect and duty to be yours by right. You
have to
earn
them, Lunrai. They can never be taken by
force.
”

“So speaks my
sister, the perfect mother.”

The bitterness in the countess
’
voice shocked Mhysra. It almost
sounded like jealousy, but surely no one had made her give up her
children, no one had forced her to leave them to her
sister
’
s care. No one
had demanded she choose between her precious skyships and her three
babies. This was Lunrai, Countess Kilpapan: no one would dare. If
she had wanted to make it all work, she could have done. She was
more than capable of ordering the world to suit herself. After all,
Aunt Mhylla had succeeded, despite running both Wrentherin manor
and the breeding farm, while also raising her own family. The
countess had made her own choices.

“
I’
m not perfect, Lunrai. No mother is, it
’
s impossible to be, as you would
have known had you dared to try.
”

The countess gave a scornful laugh.
“
Gods, you
haven
’
t changed a bit,
have you? Still the same sanctimonious, self-righteous harridan
you
’
ve always
been.
”

“
And
you’
re just as stubborn, selfish and ruthless as you always
were. Duty,
”
Mhylla
squeaked in an exaggerated mimic of her sister.
“
That
’
s what you always prate on about, isn
’
t it? Duty to the Kilpapan name.
What about your duty to your children? Milli is happy to go along
with your plans, so long as she can have a say in her marriage –
good for her. Kilai was less happy, but you accepted his choice to
become a Rift Rider because it reflects well on that damned
Kilpapan name. What of Mhysra? Your youngest and the one whose
destiny was set the day she was born.

“
You
were there, Lunrai, you must remember. How your labour pains
started early and we rushed to get you back to the manor, but we
didn’
t make it in time. There, in the hatching pens, your
beautiful new daughter cried out at the same time a miryhl hatched,
a late season egg we never expected to make it. You stayed long
enough to see how neither would settle unless the other was there.
You knew what they were. You knew what it meant.
”