Dralin (22 page)

Pelya sat cross-legged with her knees
touching Ebudae’s. “Everyone thinks I’m weird too, only a different
kind of weird. Adults say I should have died with my mother. They
didn’t know I heard them, but my hearing is really good and we’re
trained in the guard to listen and pick things out.”

“You like the guard a lot, don’t you,”
Ebudae asked with an obvious look of distaste.

She shrugged. “It’s my life, or it
was
.” Her chest tightened and she felt like she could cry
again, but shook it off. Tears wouldn’t do any good.

“Your knife is gone. Why did they take it
away? You never go anywhere without it.” Ebudae was persistent
about the subject.

“Daddy asked if I ever killed anyone,” she
answered in a loud whisper.

Ebudae’s interest was aroused and she leaned
forward. “Have you?” she whispered back.

Pelya shook her head briskly. “No. But Daddy
told me what it would be like to kill someone and it scared me. I
don’t want to do it, ever.”

Ebudae stared at her intently. “So?”

“So? What do you mean, so?”

“So what’s it like to kill someone? What did
he say?”

Pelya stared at her, appalled that she would
ask, but the pink eyes showed genuine curiosity. She thought about
it for a moment and ended up telling Ebudae everything Frath had
said about killing someone and how it felt. She remembered the
words pretty well because they had stuck in her mind. It actually
helped to think about them again.

“That’s really neat,” Ebudae said after
Pelya finished. There was a look of exhilaration in her eyes.
“Thank you for telling me.”

“You’re welcome. I never really thought
about it before. I don’t know that it’s neat though.” Pelya was
somewhat creeped out by the odd girl’s apparent fascination.

“I want to tell you a secret, but I’m afraid
you’ll arrest me or tell the Guard on me,” Ebudae said
mysteriously.

Pelya thought about it. “I live in the
Guard, but I’m not part of it. That was made clear today.” It still
hurt a lot.

“I know. Grandmother told me you’re staying
for a week when I went down to get the food. But I know the Guard
is your life and you think that everybody has to obey the law all
the time.”

She shrugged. “Well . . . yeah.” It didn’t
seem all that complicated to her.

“Right. Then I can’t tell you. You should
eat something, at least that’s what grandmother says.” She pointed
at the tray on the nightstand on Pelya’s side. Then she sat back
against the pillows and went back to reading.

All the furniture in the room was dark
polished wood of high quality. It was very old and very sturdy. The
bed had four posts and a canopy with pearl colored curtains that
were open. Old paintings of flowery fields and mountains were on
two of the walls while a third had a large tapestry of the city as
it was a few centuries ago. The fourth wall had the bed and two
windows on either side.

The tray Pelya picked up and set on the bed
in front of her was made of etched silver. She pulled the cloth off
and put together slices of bread, cheese and cold cuts. Then she
took a bite and chewed while she thought about whether or not she
wanted to know the secret well enough to keep it even if it was
something illegal.

Pelya really
didn’t
have any friends
now that she thought about it. Everyone she knew was in the Guard
and always obeyed the law. From what she knew, everyone else in
Dralin always broke the law. At least it seemed that way when her
father talked about the city. Ebudae glanced at her a couple of
times. Pelya knew the girl stared at her sometimes as though trying
to figure out the young warrior.

Weaponmaster Coodmur and her father wanted
her to experience life outside the Guard and this was where her
father put her. Pelya concluded that this must be the life she was
supposed to experience. She turned to Ebudae, who instantly put her
book down. They sat cross-legged with knees touching again.
“Alright. I promise I’ll keep your secret.”

She frowned suspiciously, looking to see if
Pelya meant it. “Hmm . . . I did something illegal. It was
really
illegal.”

Pelya chewed on her lower lip for a moment.
That would be a hard secret to keep. Finally she decided she didn’t
care. Pelya suddenly liked Ebudae. The girl was mysterious and
moody. Right now that was exactly the kind of friend she needed. “I
promise I’ll keep your secret, even knowing that it’s really
illegal.”

“Blood swear,” Ebudae demanded, holding her
chin up. Pelya knew that blood swearing was only done in the direst
of circumstances. It must be a bigger secret than she imagined. The
thought excited her. She had never had a chance to blood swear to
anything, so she nodded eagerly.

Ebudae scrambled over to draw a long,
slender silver knife out of a drawer in her nightstand, eliciting a
gasp from Pelya. It was beautiful with scrollwork along the blade
and crossbar. There were small precious gems on the tip of the hilt
and ends of the crossbars. She took Pelya’s arm and pulled up the
sleeve. “It’ll only hurt a little bit.”

Pelya nodded and watched as the blade
touched her skin. “Promise that you’ll keep my secret,” Ebudae
demanded.

She cut as Pelya spoke. “I promise to keep
your secret.” Ebudae lifted the tip of the knife and they both
stared at the small line of blood on the arm.

When Ebudae wiped the blood and sucked it
off her finger, it unnerved Pelya. Her heart skipped a beat when
Ebudae said, “I killed a man.” Pelya stared at her, not knowing
what to say.

A little more blood seeped through the cut
and Ebudae wiped it and brought it to her lips again. “Grandmother
took me for tea to some crusty old lady’s house in the Noble
District. They made me play with a snobby girl that didn’t like me.
The girl took me to sit with her grandfather so she could sneak
away and get food to stuff in her fat face.”

Pelya thought that Ebudae had a little bit
of her grandmother’s rudeness on top of being weird, but she kind
of liked it. It was different from anything she had ever heard
before.

“The grandfather started talking about some
war that happened an eternity ago and it bored me right away.” She
leaned forward until her nose was almost next to Pelya’s. “I like
magic,” she whispered ominously. “I found magic books and they have
lots of spells that are really dangerous. One of those is a spell
that stops the lungs from working.” She sat back. “Do you know what
lungs are?”

Pelya nodded, her eyes wide. “They take in
air, which is needed for the blood or something. If you stab
someone there, they gurgle blood and die if not healed soon. I read
about it in one of the books in the Guard’s library. I don’t think
I was supposed to though.” The secret was turning out to be a lot
bigger than she had ever imagined.

“Yes. If you stop them, a person dies. One
book had a spell to stop the lungs from moving. I keep a pouch with
me . . .” She reached into the drawer on the nightstand again and
pulled out the pouch. Ebudae opened it and showed Pelya. There were
tiny pouches and vials inside. “These are ingredients for spells.
The spell I used needed two that I had with me. It also required
some gestures and an incantation.”

“Did you really? . . .” Pelya asked, afraid
of the answer.

“He wouldn’t stop talking,” she said,
desperately wanting Pelya to understand. “He didn’t even know what
he was saying, he was so old and feeble. He hadn’t walked in
forever and he smelled really bad. I swear he would have died soon
anyway.” Pelya just stared at her with wide eyes. “You promised.
You blood swore . . .” Ebudae pointed at the cut.

“I’m not going to tell,” Pelya reassured her
weakly.

“It only took a minute to cast the spell. I
had already practiced the gestures and incantations. You have to do
that with magic, you know. Everything has to be perfect, so you
have to practice everything over and over.”

“I’ve heard that. I’m hoping to learn a
little bit, but I’m not allowed yet.” Pelya frowned. “Kids aren’t
supposed to do magic. Our bodies aren’t strong enough to handle the
energies.”

Ebudae grinned. “I know, but there are
potions and . . . other things that can help. I found a lot of
stuff that I don’t think I’m supposed to have. I have as much fun
doing magic as you do with your sword drills,” she explained,
wanting Pelya to understand.

It was something Pelya could relate to,
especially now that she wasn’t allowed to do it anymore.
Technically, little girls weren’t supposed to play with swords
either. Looking at it that way, Pelya decided not to judge Ebudae
for it anymore. She nodded for her to go on.

“I have a perfect memory, not just with my
mind, but with my hands and tongue, so I’m really good with
memorizing everything for spells,” Ebudae said matter-of-factly. “I
cast the spell exactly right and the old grandpa’s lungs stopped.
He stared at me with bug-eyes while he died. It was
mesmerizing.”

“Wow,” was all Pelya could say. A horrified
fascination washed over her.

“When he left his body the light disappeared
from his eyes, just like your daddy said. The eyes didn’t close
either. They just stared at me even though they were empty.” Ebudae
had a macabre grin on her face, clearly enjoying the tale. “I
stared back until the horrid little girl came in and screamed.”

“What happened then?” The story was
tremendously disturbing, but Pelya had to know everything by that
point.

Ebudae sighed. “Adults came running. The
little girl accused me of killing grandpa and her mother agreed.
She even called me a freak. Can you believe that?” she asked
incredulously.

“No!” Pelya exclaimed even though she was
nodding internally.

“Grandmother took me home and never asked
about it, even though I think she believes I did it too. They can’t
prove anything though because it’s an untraceable spell. I do know
that we’re never invited back there again.”

“That’s a bit drastic,” Pelya stated in
defense of her friend. “Especially since they can’t prove that you
killed their grandpa. They have to be able to prove it.”

“I know, right? Besides, he was better off
dead, otherwise I wouldn’t have done it,” Ebudae stated
logically.

“Very good point,” Pelya agreed. She didn’t
know what else to say, so she sat there quietly.

Ebudae suddenly reached forward and gave her
a big hug. “Thank you for listening to me. I haven’t told
anyone.”

Pelya hugged back fiercely. “You’re welcome.
It’s the best secret ever and I’ll never tell anyone.” She wouldn’t
either. It was important that she be trustworthy. She also had no
idea who she would tell or how she would even relay such an odd
saga.

“I have nightgowns. One of them is big
enough for you,” Ebudae said, getting up and going over to a chest
of drawers. Even though she was a few months younger, Pelya was
four inches taller. Ebudae pulled out a dark blue nightgown and
brought it over. “You look good in blue, it goes with your
eyes.”

Pelya changed and folded her clothes onto a
chair. It felt strange to wear a silky nightgown instead of the
cotton nightshirt and leggings of the guard. She didn’t know how
she felt about it.

“Do you want to sleep here tonight?” Ebudae
asked hopefully. Pelya quickly nodded. It would be much better than
sleeping alone in one of the other cavernous rooms. The girls
climbed in bed and held onto each other in order to be safe from
the dangerous world outside the covers.

Chapter
14

Pelya woke with the sunrise, disoriented. It
took her a minute to remember where she was and the events of the
previous day. At one point during the night, she had woken from a
nightmare of dead eyes surrounding her. She’d been so tired that
she fell right back asleep though.

Ebudae was lying next to her, fast asleep.
Pelya normally got up to do exercises and drills, but she wasn’t at
the barracks, she was at Lady Pallon’s manor with no practice
weapons. Ebudae shifted in her sleep and mumbled wordlessly. Pelya
reached over and ran fingers through the girl’s messy brown hair
for a minute to return the favor of the day before. Then she closed
her eyes and went back to sleep.

They didn’t wake up until noon. As they were
getting dressed, Ebudae said, “This is early for me. I usually stay
up all night and get up in the afternoon. Grandmother likes it
because she goes to bed and wakes up early. It means she doesn’t
have to deal with me very often.”

“Do we get to eat?” Pelya asked
hopefully.

“You like to eat, I’ve noticed. It’s
probably why you’re so tall and strong. Maybe taking a break from
all that drilling will be good for you,” Ebudae observed. Pelya
stuck her tongue out eliciting the first giggle she had ever heard
from the little wizardess. “Come on. Tina will take care of us.”
She took Pelya’s hand and led her downstairs.

Ebudae had chosen a cream-colored dress a
few shades lighter than her brown hair. It was edged with black
lace that matched black stockings and shoes. “Why do you hate pink
so much when your eyes are pink?” Pelya asked.

“Oh, I love my eyes,” Ebudae said as they
went down the stairs. “But I like them to stand out. Plus all
little girls wear pink and I hate doing what everyone else does. Do
you know what my favorite color is?”

“Black,” Pelya guessed.

“Yes, exactly. I love black. It’s the color
of dark and spooky things and it looks really good on me. I like
silver, white and purple too, but black is my favorite.”

“Mine’s blue, but I like black and brown
too,” Pelya said.

“Blue is the color of your eyes. Black and
brown are the colors of the City Guard, so that’s understandable.”
Ebudae nodded, leading Pelya into the kitchen.