CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

The Warning

Ode and Briar watched the ceremony that evening through the cracks in the ceiling of the Room of the Gods. They saw the Kins, Kinesses, and workers from the valley pile into the building followed by the officials, and they murmured along with the service, their heads bent.

Ode could barely concentrate since his whole body quaked from the touch of Briar’s soft lips against his cheek. He knew he should be worrying about escaping the temple unseen by the officials or planning where they would run to when they made it out of the valley, but he could not help himself. He wondered if Briar secretly loved him, too. He knew such a thing was forbidden, but life at the temple was not what it had been before. Throughout the service, he stole glances at her, studying the perfect curve of her jaw and the overwhelming radiance of her hair. It suddenly occurred to him that once they were in the mountains, he would see her every day. He would have her complete, undivided attention. The thought made him smile dreamily.

As the High-Kiness had promised, after the service a meeting in the eating hall was announced. The members of the temple poured out of the Room of the Gods followed by the officials and headed toward the main building. Ode and Briar watched them go, nervous excitement beginning to make them tremble.

“What now?” asked Briar.

“I suppose we leave….”

The whole thing seemed so surreal to Ode that he could barely believe what was happening. To be sent to spend his days alone with Briar in the mountains was something from his wildest fantasies.

“Surely we should not just walk out,” said Briar.

“No, of course not,” muttered Ode. He was so thrilled, he was finding it difficult to think.

“I need to get Jet,” said Briar, beginning to gather up her blankets. “She used to wait for me behind the temple. I cannot leave without her.”

Ode also needed to retrieve his companion and they planned to go their separate ways before meeting at the mountain pass. There was something romantic about returning to the spot where they had first met and both crept down the stairs and into the Room of the Gods with happy, flushed cheeks.

When Ode pulled aside the tapestry, he almost tripped over a sack that had been dumped on the floor. Peering inside, he saw that it was filled with clothing and provisions. He suspected that the High-Kiness had left it for them and he silently thanked her. Hoisting it onto his back, he was about to leave when he saw Briar pause.

“I have lived in The Castle Temple almost all my life,” she whispered, glancing around the room. “It will be strange to leave.”

Ode remembered how he had felt parting from the Wild Lands.

“You will come back,” he said. “We will come back once it’s safe.”

Briar gently took hold of one of the colorful streamers that hung from the ceiling and let it slide through her fingers.

“I do not think I could leave … if it were not for you,” she said, treating him to one of her blinding blue gazes.

Ode wanted to reply, but he found he could barely speak.

“I will see you on the mountain pass,” she added, turning to go.

“Be careful!” Ode managed to call out softly.

“I will,” she said over her shoulder with a smile.

Ode watched her hurry to the entrance, pulling her cloak over her hair. He almost could not bear for her to leave, though he knew they would be reunited soon. Once she had gone, he waited, counting under his breath until he judged it had been long enough. Then he followed. The courtyard outside was empty and the sky above lay flat and black. The moon was a skinny curve that shed little light on the mountainside, and Ode was grateful.

He hastened down hallways and snuck around corners with the sack banging against his back and his head filled with happy daydreams of his future life. He did not come across anyone as he went. It seemed that the High-Kiness had managed to summon everybody, including all the officials, to the eating hall. As he stepped out of the temple and onto the first stone step that led down the mountainside, Ode felt his shoulders begin to relax. He hoped that Briar was climbing over the wall at the back of the temple at that moment.

For once, Ode did not turn the prayer wheels as he descended into the valley. The soft patter of his feet was the only sound, mixed with the intermittent bleating of sheep and goats nearby. When he reached the valley, he hurried across the fields to the huts, which climbed up the slope on the other side. He was so busy thinking of life with Briar that he did not notice the door of Arrow’s hut was slightly ajar. It stood in a row of rugged, abandoned storage shacks and in the darkness, Ode did not see the footprints that led up to it.

He whistled, waiting to hear his wolf’s excited scrabbling or eager whine, but there was no sound. With a frown, Ode opened the door of the hut and gasped. A pair of dark eyes stared at him in a horrifyingly familiar face.

“Greetings, little man.”

Ode stumbled back, almost tripping over himself.

“It has been a long time,” said Cala. “Though I have been far away, I have been watching you.”

She did not look a day older than when they had last met. She wore her hair parted into two long plaits like the Taone tribeswomen, and her leather tunic was just as Ode remembered it. He tried to swallow the panic rising in his throat. He did not know what she wanted.

“Where’s my wolf?” he asked.

“I have set your companion free for the time being. You will not be able to take him with you where you are headed.”

Panic flared in Ode’s chest. “What do you mean? Where is he?”

“Hush, hush, little man. He is safe.”

Cala looked him up and down, and then nodded. She saw his tall, broad frame and his shoulder-length dark hair.

“I always knew that you would grow to be strong,” she said. “If Gray Morning was here now, he would see a warrior.”

The mention of his father took Ode by surprise. It was as if she had slapped him and he struggled for breath, his chest tight with emotion. He did not let himself think about his father if he could help it. He tried not to think about the Wild Lands at all. It was too painful. And it was easy to let it sink into the past in these mountains, surrounded by a new life and new people. But Cala was before him now, with her familiar earthy scent that made him think of feathers dancing on a clawing breeze and the heavy beat of drums.

“Why are you here?” he asked, his voice trembling.

“I have come to tell you that you must leave.”

“I am leaving.”

“No, you must return to the Wild Lands.”

The panic in Ode’s chest began to burn through his body. Only moments ago he had been so sure of everything. Only moments ago he had felt so happy.

“I can’t…. I won’t,” he stuttered.

“You must!” Cala hissed, stepping toward him. “The Western Realm is readying itself for a war, and you need to join your side.”

“No, I need to be here. There is someone I must look after—”

“You will only bring danger to Briar.”

Ode clenched his fingers into fists, his knuckles turning white.

“How do you—how do you know about Briar?”

“I told you, I have been watching you. I know you care for her and that is why you must stay away.”

“What makes you think I believe you?” he spat.

Cala’s face became taut and hard. “Do you remember that I once told you about Abioy?”

“The sorcerer?” asked Ode, vaguely recalling the name.

“Yes. He is powerful, and you have attracted his attention. You must not lead him to Briar or you will put her in danger.”

Ode did not know whether to believe her. He could not tell if this was a trick. He just wanted to find Arrow and go to the mountain pass.

“I will keep Briar safe,” he said.

“You will not be able to, little man. Briar was … cursed as a child. Have you not thought that she is different? That is why she is here! In these mountains she was supposed to be safe. Abioy is looking for her.”

Ode thrust his fingers through his hair.

“Stop it!” he cried. “You are wrong. You are trying to trick me.”

“I am not, I promise. I have made you strong. I have—”

“Wait! You made me … ?”

Cala looked away and Ode’s mouth dropped open.

“You did this to me?” he hissed. “You made me this way?”

“I was doing what was best for everyone.”

“You made me a freak! My dar hated me, and I was cast out of my tribe!”

“I had to,” Cala tried to argue, but Ode was hardly listening. “Abioy cannot succeed, and I had to do something—”

“You made me, and then you left me!” Ode cried, his voice echoing against the rocks. “You left me!”

“I have been trying to stop him. I have been trying to work out his plans.”

Ode shook his head.

“I don’t care about this,” he said. “I don’t care about your sorcerer, and I don’t care about you!”

He turned and began running across the mountainside, sliding on the uneven rocks.

“Ode!” Cala called after him. “You must leave now! I have seen it!”

But Ode did not care, and he went on running. He did not want to return to the Wild Lands, and he did not want to take the fate of the realm on his shoulders. He just wanted to be in the mountains with Briar. If he could reach her, then together they would find Arrow and retreat to their cave. He did not want to let go of his dreams.

Ode could barely see in the faint moonlight and he almost slipped off a ledge as he ran. Finally, panting and damp with sweat, he reached his and Briar’s old meeting place and with a surge of relief, he came to a halt. Dumping the heavy sack of provisions on the ground, he looked around, expecting to see a silver shadow lurking between the rocks.

“Briar?” he called softly. “Briar?”

He hoped she had not been waiting long. Perhaps she was on the other side of the mountain pass. Ode clambered across the rocks, but still he could not see her. He went back and doubt began to creep over him. He did not know what he would do if she had been caught leaving the temple.

“Arrow?” he called instead. “Arrow?”

Cala had said that his companion was safe, and Ode hoped that meant the wolf was nearby on the mountainside. When he found Briar, they would both go looking for Arrow.

Ode paced back and forth, trying to push all thoughts of Cala from his mind. Then he saw something that made him pause. A print in the mud. Spring rain had fallen the night before, turning the dusty ground soft, and stamped into the earth between the rocks was the indent of a snow leopard’s paw.

Ode looked around again, but he could still see nothing.

“Briar?” he called louder this time. “Briar!”

He heard a click behind him and turned to see the barrel of a rifle pointed between his eyes.

“Stay where you are,” growled a state official.