“No!”
If the hedge had been capable of fear, surely my mother’s bellow of rage would have forced it to shudder and retreat. Instead, it resolutely stayed shut, blocking off Halvor’s exit.
I stared at Mother’s back, at her white-knuckled grip on Halvor’s arm, and then the impenetrable wall of green beyond them. Had she gone too close to the gate—or was it because of the gentleman on the other side, refusing him entry?
“What have you done? What sorcery is this?” The older man—Master Barloc’s—shout reverberated through our stunned silence; the hedge could block his body, but not his voice. “I demand the release of my pupil at once!”
“We did nothing. Your pupil is the one who trespassed.”
Master Barloc, perhaps encouraged by the barrier, ignored Mother’s unmistakable wrath and blustered, “He did no such thing. Halvor merely came to investigate what has long been told to be an abandoned property—”
“This is our home—”
“—and has unwittingly been taken hostage!”
“Hostage?” The word burbled out of my mother’s throat as if she were choking on her own incredulity.
“I didn’t see her do anything to control it,” Halvor called out, though he sounded more than a little alarmed at the wall of green that had cut off his exit. “She seems as upset by it as you are!”
“What is going on?”
I spun to see Inara hesitantly moving toward us, her eyes wide and bright—too bright. We were going to lose her again at any moment.
“If this is truly your home, I demand you remove this—this abomination and let me in at once!”
“That is beyond my power, or I can assure you I would have sent your ‘pupil’ out to you first!” My mother spat back.
“Zuhra?” Inara’s voice was small, my name a plea. I stretched my hand out to her and she hurried forward to take it. Her fear was a palpable thing; her fingers clenched over mine as her gaze darted toward Mother, Halvor, and the hedge that trapped him here—with us. With her.
“Then you leave me no choice.” Master Barloc’s ominous threat was followed by the sound of steel scraping against hardened leather. Was he carrying a sword? What kind of a scholar was he?
“Sir, I wouldn’t—”
Mother was cut off by the sound of his sword hacking into the hedge, followed immediately by his yowl of pain. For, as I assumed she had been attempting to warn him, this was no ordinary hedge, and when attacked, it attacked back. Viciously.
“Witch!” Master Barloc screeched, the low thud of his sword falling to the earth a punctuation to his accusation. “Paladin witch!”
“I am no such thing,” Mother hissed. If she’d been a snake, she would have been coiled as tightly as possible, ready to strike. I’d seen one once as a girl; curled up, tail quivering, making that unnerving rattling noise. Mother had been with me, luckily, and yanked me back before it could bite either of us. Louie the cat had appeared in the courtyard the very next day, as if the hedge had been aware of the danger I’d encountered, and I’d been given a very long lecture on the agonizing death that came from a snake bite. A death that it would seem my mother wished to inflict on Master Barloc now, if only she had the capability.
“She did nothing, Master,” Halvor added again. I didn’t miss the brief glance over his shoulder, toward where Inara and I stood. Did he think Inara was responsible?
“Some scholar you are, if you weren’t even aware of the capabilities of this hedge,” my mother scoffed. “Surely the stories of others’ failed attempts to break through had to have reached you at some point on your pointless quest?”
Rather than responding, the older man merely howled, “What did you do to me?” from the other side of the hedge.
“You did this to yourself. Go to the village, they will help you.” Mother finally released Halvor.
He rubbed at the spot on his arm where her fingers had dug into his flesh. “We heard rumors about a hedge as big as a wall. But we didn’t know it was dangerous. Or capable of … ah, movement.” Another furtive glance at Inara.
“It burns,” Master Barloc moaned.
“Ask for Gina at the inn, she can help you. But you must hurry if you wish to stop the poison in time.”
“It’s poisonous?” Halvor had inched forward, as though he wished to assist his master somehow, but abruptly stopped, staring at the hedge with newfound fear, and instead took a step backward toward the citadel.
Inara’s grip on my hand grew tighter and tighter throughout their exchange and she’d begun to shake her head and murmur. “It’s … it’s coming … no, no. Five. Four. Three … Three, two … no, please…”
I squeezed back, only half-aware of Master Barloc’s continued threats, as my focus was pulled to my sister. “Fight it, Nara. Stay with me.”
The whites of her eyes were visible all around her blue-fire irises.
“Stay with me,” I whispered, even as she pulled her hand from mine and backed up.
“No … no, no, no…” Inara grabbed at her hair, her fists clenched against her temples.
“What’s happening? Is she all right?” Halvor turned from the hedge to us, his gaze immediately drawn to Inara.
“Ssh,” I murmured, ignoring his baffled questions as I gently touched her forearms, trying to keep her from hurting herself. “It’s okay, Nara. It’s all right.”
But it wasn’t all right.
Because when she finally let me pull her arms down, removing her hands from her hair and face, she was gone again.
And Halvor wasn’t.