CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
Do you think we ll miss the festival? Io asked after we d been walking for about two hours.
We ll be back in time, Ahyana said.
I pushed back a sound of pain. I couldn t carry my knapsack on my left shoulder, and my right was aching from the weight of it.
Suri came up behind me and lifted it from my shoulder.
I can carry that, I told her. She ignored me and put it on her front so that she had a knapsack on each side of her body.
You can ask us for help, Zalira said, her eyes trained on the ground. She seemed to be following a path that only she could see.
I m not used to doing that.
We noticed, Ahyana said with a teasing laugh.
They didn t understand. I told you I was trained in fighting before I came to Ilion.
Another thing we noticed, she responded.
The man who taught me used to say one for many. That it was my responsibility to defend myself and protect others and my country. I pressed my lips together, nearly admitting too much. That I should do what I can on my own and not rely on others. That it was noble to sacrifice myself to save those I care about.
That explains a lot, Zalira said as Io walked over to me. She put her hand on my right shoulder.
You re here with us now, she said. You don t have to do things alone anymore. My whole life I wanted a sister more than anything, and now I have four. You have us. We will always be here for you.
I nodded, biting my inner cheek so that I wouldn t cry. I knew she was right. I d been learning that-instead of relying solely on myself, I d needed my sisters to help me succeed.
That didn t make me weak or incapable. It just meant that we were stronger together.
Io let her hand drop. How are you doing otherwise?
It made sense that she would be the one to notice how I d been feeling. I m a failure. Part of me feels numb. Disconnected. Hopeless.
Whatever it is that you re looking for, will it hurt people? Ahyana asked me.
No! I immediately replied. It will save thousands of lives.
Are you certain that it exists?
I think it does.
Then it must be somewhere, Ahyana responded. If not at the temple, then somewhere else. And if it s going to save so many, we will help you find it.
Again I was struck with the urge to tell them about the eye, but something prevented me. I wanted them to have plausible deniability if Theano questioned them. This was one burden I could carry alone to keep them safe.
Just keep going, Io said. One foot in front of another. We re all on this path together.
Now I couldn t help the single tear that escaped from each eye. I wiped them away with the back of my hand. I wanted to cry to let out my frustration and disappointment. I knew my sisters would let me and not judge, but now was not the time.
You re right, I said, my voice catching. I do have to keep going. There was no other option. I just didn t know what my next move would be because I had no idea where else to look.
The palace?
A return to the library to search for books that might have clues?
Theano s personal rooms?
I have faith in you, Io said. You ll regroup. You ll figure out your next steps.
Again, she was right. I would do that. I couldn t give up.
I was grateful I had a group of best friends who wouldn t let me.
We stopped to eat and Io took the chance to put the salve on my still-healing wound.
She moved my tunic aside and said with wonderment, Look at that. There s a leaf imprint on your shoulder.
Because you used Theano s seal, I reminded her.
Yes, but I thought it would go away. It s still there.
A constant reminder, I said. It was too bad she hadn t used a flat blade instead, as that would have made the skin stay smooth. But beggars couldn t be choosers.
The irony that I was permanently scarred from retrieving a key that hadn t led me to the eye was not lost on me. I opened my pouch and took out the key, staring at it for a moment before I tossed it onto the ground. I wasn t going to need that again.
We continued on after finishing our meal and reached the groundwater of the spring just before night fell, with Zalira leading us directly to it.
It had been deliberately plugged up. We stood in a half circle around it. Rocks and mud had been packed into the spring.
And not just any mud.
Red-colored mud.
There was also red dirt on the ground all around us.
The hair on the back of my neck rose. I drew my sword and quickly observed the area.
My sisters immediately unsheathed their weapons as well.
What is it? Zalira asked.
That red dirt. I ve seen it before. I turned slowly, taking in everything around me, looking for any sign that we weren t alone.
Where?
My ship was attacked by pirates. They told me that they had come specifically for me and my sister, the Locrians. And before they attacked, they threw this red dirt down on the floorboards. I wasn t sensing anything, but that wouldn t mean anything if the enemy had concealed themselves well enough.
Why? Io asked.
I don t know. And- I had almost said Jason s name, but now was not the time to bring him up. No one on the Nikos knew what it meant. And when I went out that night in Troas to send the message to my parents, I took the chance to ask a sailor about the dirt, but still no answer. Have you heard of anything like that?
All my sisters shook their heads. No, Zalira added.
The man who- Io couldn t finish the sentence. The one who was looking for you at the temple. He said he wanted the Locrian. Do you think it s the same people?
The men in the temple didn t throw down any red dirt. I didn t know if that was some kind of requirement for them, but considering the dirt here at the spring, it seemed important enough that if the men in the temple had been from the same group, I imagined they would have put down the dirt there, too.
So there s more than one group of warriors trying to kill you? Ahyana asked, her voice high-pitched.
Apparently.
I m so glad we came out into the woods alone with you then, Zalira said with a slight smile and a shake of her head.
While I was glad she could joke, I couldn t turn off my fear that we were about to be attacked. Especially not after bringing up past fights that I d been involved in.
After a few minutes passed, she said, I think we re alone.
It seemed that way. The others had already put their weapons away and I finally put my xiphos back into its sheath.
We should clear the rocks, Io said and Suri nodded.
The stones looked so big that I didn t know how we d manage it. I guess we could try lifting them together.
We gathered around the top one. Everybody got their hands underneath it, and I counted. One, two, three.
It was so easy to lift the stone that it practically flew out of our hands. Like the rocks were as light as leaves.
Have you ever noticed how strong we are? I asked after we placed it off to the side.
Zalira and Ahyana exchanged glances and then Ahyana responded, Other than just now? No.
We fight men so easily, I said. That s never been my experience before.
Until the other night, none of us had ever fought men, Zalira said while Io s face fell. I saw the tears beginning to form in her eyes, but Suri was there, putting her arm around her.
I have fought many men while training. And I was beaten every time. I could hold my own for a while, but eventually I would be defeated. They were always stronger than me. But now? Something is making us just as strong.
At first it was as if no one knew what to say in response. We easily moved the rest of the heavy rocks in silence, clearing away the mud as well.
Before long the spring had bubbled back up and was flowing again. We all washed our hands off and sat down at the edge of the spring to take a break.
Not that it was necessary. None of us were winded or tired.
We should head back tonight, I said. I couldn t shake the sense that something was wrong, and the red dirt had only intensified that feeling.
Agreed, Zalira said. We should get as far away from here as we can.
Don t you think we should make camp? Io asked. It s been a long journey. I would like to sleep.
It was true-we hadn t been sleeping very much over the last few days. But it seemed more important to put as much distance as we could between ourselves and the spring.
Let s take a vote, Ahyana suggested. It was three to two-both Suri and Io wanted to make camp, though I suspected Suri only voted the way that she did so Io wouldn t feel alone.
Zalira took my knapsack this time and we began walking back in the direction that we d come. It hadn t taken us very long to unplug the spring, and it was currently twilight.
Io walked alongside me. I haven t been able to stop thinking about what you said before.
About us being freakishly strong?
No, when we were speaking about how long Theano s been the high priestess of the temple. For some reason it stuck in my mind, and today when I was speaking to Daphne about your medicine, I asked her about it.
And?
She said that Theano has been high priestess ever since Daphne arrived from her race, when she was eighteen. She s sixty-nine now.
My mind refused to accept this information. Are you telling me that Theano has been high priestess of the temple for half a century?
Io nodded, looking worried. It takes years to achieve the lowest rank of priestess. I don t even know how long it would take someone to become a high priestess.
That s not possible. Do you know how old that would make Theano? While I d heard of some people living to be in their eighties or nineties, it was extremely rare. And shouldn t she, I don t know, sound older?
To me she had the voice of a younger woman. She always seemed to move with ease, and nothing in her gait indicated that she might be older. The whole situation was unsettling.
It s all confusing, Io said. And today you gave us even more things to be confused about.
I m sorry about that, I said.
Don t be. I would much rather know the truth than be living my life under a kindly meant lie.
Speaking of lies of omission, Ahyana said, are we going to tell the priestesses about the red dirt? Maybe they d know what it means.
My heart rate slightly increased. We can t. Because then I would have to tell them about the pirates and how people are trying to kill me and they d kick me out of the temple for putting everyone in danger.
They wouldn t do that, Io said, dismissively.
They already tried. The night I arrived Theano wanted to put me out onto the street. I didn t tell them that the only reason she d allowed me to stay was that I d claimed the rights of the Aianteioi.
Io gasped angrily. They what?
It s in the past, I told her. It doesn t matter now.
You told me about the locked door and I knew about the shaved head and the black tunic, but you never told me they tried to throw you out! She stayed indignant on my behalf and talked about it for a long time. While the moon was bright overhead, the forest canopy blocked out the light. It had become so dark that it was difficult to see even our hands in front of our faces.
I can still find the path, Zalira said, but I m afraid that we ll trip and hurt ourselves. We should make camp.
Yes, Io agreed, her exhaustion evident. I felt bad because she was so much shorter than the rest of us that it made sense she would have a more difficult time keeping up with Zalira s long strides.
It still felt like a mistake, though. I wanted to keep marching all the way back to the temple. Something didn t feel quite right.
We gathered some branches and twigs while Ahyana took kindling out of her knapsack. Suri used a flint and stone to create a fire that Zalira breathed to life. It caught quickly and we all ate some fruit and honeyed nuts.
It made me think of the pasteli that Jason had deliberately packed for my benefit and I couldn t help but smile at the memory.
After we finished eating I volunteered to take the first watch. I sat on a fallen tree so that I could better survey the area. My sisters settled into their bedrolls and quickly fell asleep.
Except for Zalira. She came over to sit next to me on the log. Not tired? I asked.
I am, she said. Even more so than normally. Like tracking is somehow sapping my energy.
There was something I d been wanting to ask her all day. How is it that you know exactly the right way to go?
The fire snapped when she fed it another log. It s difficult to explain. In the ground, I can sense where the water used to be. There was an emptiness there earlier that was easy to follow. Now that it s flowing again, it s like I can hear and feel where it is.
That s like magic, I said.
Women don t have magic, she immediately responded.
What if we do? What if we have magic that s different? Maybe we can t make a flower bloom on command but we can track underground water and talk to birds and make healing potions and find hidden things.
Zalira smiled slightly, as if she didn t accept my proposition. What would your power be?
So far? Staying alive.
She laughed softly and then said, I don t think it s magic. I think it s just what happens when you serve the goddess.
Well, I think you all take it for granted but it s special. Although to be fair, someone told me recently that I see ordinary things and mistake them for magic.
Jason s right.
I didn t say . . . How did you know that? I demanded.
Another smile. I didn t for sure until you just confirmed it. Before Ahyana and I joined the temple, I had a boy that I was in love with. Stephanos. Her eyes took on a faraway expression, remembering. We wanted to be married, but his parents wouldn t allow it, as I didn t have a dowry.
And now she had taken vows that would prevent her from ever being with him.
Did you tell him? That you loved him? It would have been a commitment she couldn t have been able to turn her back on.
No. I didn t. And he never said it to me.
My heart ached for her.
She cleared her throat and then patted me on the knee. All of that is to say I know what a well-kissed woman looks like when I see one. Good night.
Zalira got up and went over to her bedroll and curled up in her blanket, quickly falling asleep.
Leaving me to stare out into the darkness and think about everything that had happened recently-finding out how long Theano had been high priestess, the spring being plugged shut, the red dirt, that the eye was someplace else.
And my thoughts kept turning to Jason, especially after the story Zalira had shared with me.
It didn t help when I saw a pair of fireflies not far from where I was sitting, reminding me of when I d first seen one with Jason. They seemed to be sitting on a low branch, unmoving, their golden lights slowly blinking.
They were mesmerizing.
A sudden high-pitched howl pierced the night air. It was eerie, chilling, sending a shiver down my back.
What was that?
All my adelphia immediately woke up at the sound. There was an answering howl even farther away, and Io gasped.
What is going on? I asked.
Have you seen anything unusual? she asked, sounding panicked.
Just a couple of fireflies. I gestured in their direction. Her gaze followed where I pointed.
Those aren t fireflies. They are eyes. Terawolves.
She started muttering the word no to herself over and over again and then said, We have to go. Everyone pack up but don t make any sudden moves.
What are terawolves? I demanded.
Zalira grimaced as she said, Lia, we re about to test whether or not you actually have a magical power of staying alive.