31. An Encounter
An Encounter
Halla
Halla dug the toe of her shoe into the loose dirt, burrowing deeper and deeper until nearly half of her shoe was covered in soil.
Her fingers splayed out on the damp bark of the thick root she sat on.
Everything about that place felt alive. The birds called to one another from branches, some kind of furry animal had crossed Halla’s path only moments ago, and even the trees seemed to hum in anticipation.
The entire commonwealth of Smaragd was alive .
Halla breathed deeply, soaking in the serenity their relative silence offered.
“She should be back by now. We shouldn’t have let her go.” Her sister’s voice traveled through the trees, which wasn’t hard for it to do, as Larissa had forbidden Halla to walk too far.
“Since when do we let Anara do anything?” Darien asked, his voice dry with humor.
Halla snorted, in full agreement with Darien. Anara would do what Anara would do, and she would be fine. She was like Freyja in that way, strong and courageous and impulsive.
“What are you snorting at?” Kai settled down beside Halla, his feet sticking out far past her own.
Drat her own lack of height. It made her feel like a child, though of course, Larissa would only remind her that she was one.
But she didn’t want to be reminded, not when she was sitting next to Kai. Besides, she was still angry at him.
“What?” he prodded. “You’re still not talking to me?”
“Sucks, doesn’t it?” she muttered.
She glanced up as if she could see through the thick canopy of branches.
A persistent tingle ran across her skin at the sight of the Myrkvier Forest all around her.
Stories of these trees tumbled around in her brain.
But even more distracting than the mythical forest of the gods was the annoyingly aloof boy who hadn’t spoken more than a handful of sentences since they’d left Perle.
Sure, he’d listen as Halla gushed about the stories her Pappa told her, but as time wore on and Halla’s throat grew sore, she expected Kai to pick up the conversation.
They were finally free to speak, but no matter how Halla poked or prodded, he’d revealed very little of his personal life, erecting a barrier between them without even trying.
Not only that, but there was a certain gloomy element to his expression that Halla couldn’t understand.
Didn’t he realize that they were living out one of the greatest stories that would be told to future generations?
“I don’t understand why you’re mad at me.”
Halla flicked the dirt off her shoe. How annoying of a boy could he be? The only thing stopping Halla from yelling at Kai outright had been the mumbles she’d caught from his sleep. Though the sleeping bag and his own slumber had garbled most of the words. Halla had only heard a few of the phrases.
“. . .can’t go . . . not safe,” he muttered. “Don’t send me.”
Halla’s heart softened at the memory of his nightmares. She had them too, though hers often featured the burning heat of the iron and the reverberating voice of the Norn who called to her to come and find them.
Kai waved a hand in front of her face. “Hello? Skogkatt got your tongue?”
Halla considered edging around the topic but decided to adopt Anara’s technique instead. Straight to the point. “What’s wrong with you?”
He leaned away, his brow furrowed into a tight v . “Nothing. What’s wrong with you ?”
“You’ve barely said a word to me since we left Perle.”
“I listened!”
“That’s not the same thing,” Halla protested. “You won’t tell me anything about you!”
He crossed his arms, kicked a stone at his foot, and glanced at the overhanging canopy. “This forest always freaked me out.”
Curiosity lessened Halla’s irritation. “You’ve been here before?”
Alarm flickered across his face before it was replaced with detachment. “I passed through after I was sold into slavery.”
“From Diamant, right?”
Though his expression remained impassive, his eyes had grown wary. “Who told you that?”
“No one,” she answered honestly. It hadn’t been a single person, but rather a murmur that followed Kai’s presence the moment he and Halla had set foot in the Perlian palace. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Does it really matter?”
“It matters to me .” Maybe this was the heart of Halla’s anger. Hadn’t he trusted her like she trusted him?
Kai stood. “Why? So you can look at me like Juni did? Or turn on me like Saessae did to you?”
Halla’s mouth dropped, speechless at the wounds his words inflicted.
He looked down into his hands. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
Halla breathed deeply; something about the forest cushioned the blow of his words. “I don’t care that you’re from Diamant. Is that why you’ve been so weird?”
“Part of it,” he admitted.
“But?”
“But what?”
“I’m not an idiot, Kai,” she snapped. An unfortunate thought rooted in her mind. “What is it? Is it me? Do you wish you hadn’t come?” Will you leave me like Juni and Saessae?
“It might have been better if I hadn’t come,” he said.
Halla bit her cheek, hating the way tears burned the back of her eyes, but she held her breath, refusing to let the tears fall.
“I just mean—” Kai’s tired voice sharpened. “Are you crying?”
“No.” Halla sniffed.
“Halla, I didn’t mean because of you . There’s a whole war about to implode. What if this plan goes wrong? What if we’re making a mistake?” Kai huffed. “What if bringing me was the mistake?”
“Because you’re Diamantian? No one is going to see you. Besides, I like having you around.”
He shrugged, but the tips of his ears burned red. “I like being around too.”
With Kai talking again, Halla summoned the courage to ask, “What is Diamant like?”
“Very cold,” he said slowly, his fingers picking at the root beneath them. “But the mountains are beautiful. In the winter, when the lights dance across the sky, you forget the cold. In the summer, the sun never sleeps.”
“Never?”
“Never. We have to put shades on all the windows, and even then, it’s hard to sleep.”
“Do you miss it?”
Kai quieted. “I miss parts of it. I miss the Ice Lantern festival and sticky rice cakes. I miss my brother.”
“You have a brother? Is that why your parents sold you? To protect him?” Halla’s stomach turned at the thought. “Why didn’t he stop them?”
“He didn’t know,” Kai whispered defensively. “My mother did it when he was away. He wouldn’t have let her go through with it.”
Halla fidgeted, pulling her jacket hood closer around her ears. “Why didn’t he come for you?”
He grinned again, but there was no mirth in his expression. “Not every sibling can be a lost Princess, Halla.”
Heat rose in her cheeks. “He must miss you. We’ll find him, Kai. Just like we found Larissa. I’ll help you find your brother.”
His smile vanished. “It would probably be better if we didn’t. What else do you want to know?”
Halla paused, resisting the urge to ask more about his family, but she sensed that topic had closed. Her cheeks blushed at her next question. “How old are you?”
“Fourteen, almost fifteen, I think. I didn’t keep track in the barracks.”
Only a year older than herself, maybe two at most.
“You seem . . .” Halla struggled for the words. “Older.”
“My brother said I was born a grumpy old man.”
The faint rumbling of an engine in the distance cut off Halla’s laughter. The sound grew louder at incredible speed. Halla recognized it immediately. A sentry’s armored truck was approaching. She leapt to her feet and, followed by Kai, raced toward Helga.
Larissa intercepted them at the forest’s edge.
With one glance, she silenced Halla’s questions and drew even Kai into obedience as she ushered them back into the woods.
Soon they were all crouching low behind the giant roots that snaked in and out of the ground.
They were far enough to not be seen from the road, but close enough to see Darien where he fiddled with one of Helga’s back tires.
“Lara, what about Dar—”
“Shh,” Larissa hushed her, pulling Halla down closer to the ground.
Halla clamped her mouth shut as the armored vehicle drew into sight. The doors flew open on both sides of the truck as two men jumped out and approached Darien. Though their weapons were not drawn, their hands hovered above them. A third silhouette waited in the truck.
“Kings and Queens,” Lara cursed, shifting her body beneath her. “We thought there would only be two.”
Halla understood then as Darien gestured toward the tire, his explanations of getting stuck in the mud floating to where they hid. Though one of the sentries stooped to look at the tire, the other gazed into the trees, his feet pulling him in Halla’s direction. Darien noticed it too.
He turned on the sentry closest to him, and even from their distance, Halla could hear the silky tone that coated Darien’s words, convincing the other sentry that he was too tired to continue, that he needed sleep. The only problem was, the other sentry heard his command as well.
Watching his fellow sentry fall to the ground, the man backed away from Darien, reaching for his gun. “What—?”
Darien lunged forward, catching the man’s wrist in his hands. Both men slammed against Helga’s side in the struggle for his weapon then fell to wrestle over it on the ground. The third silhouette threw open his door, pulling the handgun from his waist.
Larissa launched to her feet, followed by Halla and Kai.
A gunshot rang out as Larissa’s hands slammed against Halla’s back, shoving her to the ground so fast that dirt went up her nose.
The bullet splintered the tree trunk behind her.
Halla snorted out dirt, catching Kai’s wide eyes as he took in the damaged tree.
Larissa’s hands were still on his and Halla’s backs, pressing them down and out of range.
Larissa glared at the third sentry, who half-hid behind the hood of their armored truck.
Larissa flung herself forward, lifting her hands to deflect the other bullets the man sent her way.
Darien stood over the second sentry, who lay limp on the ground, holding the man’s own weapon in his hands.
Awe filled Halla at the sight of her sister approaching the third sentry, deflecting bullet after bullet into the ground with a solid shield of pure energy.
Not even the sharp caw of a raven could distract Halla.
The man was nearly within Larissa’s reach when his fingers slid from the gun. A dazed expression froze his face before he slumped over the hood of the truck, then slid to the ground.
Anara stood behind him, the butt of a pistol still held aloft in her hands. She raised her eyebrows in Larissa’s direction. “Throwing a party without me, huh?”
Larissa huffed. “Oh yeah, can’t you see all the fun we’re having?”
Anara stepped around the truck, ignoring the three unconscious sentries that lay on the ground. “This is exactly why I can’t leave you two alone; you always get into trouble.”
“Hey,” Darien protested, brushing the dirt from his clothing. “We had it completely under control.”
“Sure.” Anara peered at Halla and Kai, still lying on the ground hidden by the trees. “Totally under control.”
Halla rose to her feet, brushing off the leaves from her clothes, then flinched at the soft touch in her hair.
Kai pulled back his hand. “Sorry, there was a bug.”
Halla shivered at the squirming insect between his fingers. “Ugh, thanks.”
“Did Kiah tell you how to find the Norn?” Darien asked as Halla and Kai approached the group.
Anara brushed back a stray strand of ink-black hair. “Well, not exactly—”
Another motor sounded, rapidly drawing closer.
Larissa swore under her breath. “ Another one?”
Darien gripped the gun in his hand more firmly. Kai stepped in front of Halla, his body shielding her from the view of the street. But Anara laid a hand on Larissa’s shoulder. “It’s okay; I know this one.”
A motorcycle roared its greeting as its rider pulled up alongside them.
“A friend of yours?” Larissa asked.
“I wouldn’t call him that.” Anara crossed her arms. “Let’s call him a lead instead.”
“A lead?” Darien asked. He lowered the gun but kept it unholstered. “To what?”
“The Norn, supposedly.”
The rider skidded to a stop and hopped off in one graceful movement.
He was tall, taller than any of them, with dark skin and thick black hair cropped short against his head.
Though he wore travel clothes like the rest of them, both of his ears were studded with emeralds.
Halla thought he looked like one of the old forest gods draped in green and gold.
“You couldn’t wait for me?” he asked.
Anara snickered. “I thought you said your bike could keep up.”
“Not when you take off as a wolf through the trees.” Anger flitted across his face as he leaned down next to the sentries. “What did you do to them?”
“What did we do?” Larissa asked, incredulity in her voice. “ They attacked us . Who are you? Anara, who is this?”
Anara sighed. “Princess Lovisa, Prince Darien, meet Masai, the rightful Prince of the Smaragdian kingdom.”