The Singer ch 5

Cadenza walked along the road towards the hills that rose up into the forest. The town was quiet, the occasional dog bark or donkey bray the only sounds to drift across the fields to Cadenza. She reached the hill and paused, wondering whether to continue south along the hill or to climb it and make her way through the trees. She decided to hike through the grass up to the top of the ridge, where the dark trees lent shadow in which to hide.

She stopped once she had come to the edge of the trees to catch her breath, and looked back to Woodwind. A strange feeling of goodbye came to her, as if she should memorize the peaceful village so that she would remember. She shook herself, concentrating firmly on the image of her return.

She was about to turn and walk south along the ridge when she saw two dark shapes come down the road north of her. They were two horsemen, galloping into the town with great haste. Cadenza held her breath as they passed her farm, expecting them to continue on into the main part of Woodwind, but instead they reined their horses in and turned to the right, approaching the house at a somewhat more sedate pace.

Cadenza’s heart beat heavily, thudding against her ribs; instinctively, she crouched down behind the grass and watched as the people dismounted and waited at the door. A moment later it opened and light spread across the riders and their horses. Even from such a distance, Cadenza could tell that the horses were both dark roans; these were not the two Singers she had told her mother she was going to meet.

Cadenza was relieved and a little worried, glad that Viola and Cello had not guessed what her plan was, and anxious about what business the two strange riders had with her mother.

Then the door was closed and the riders mounted their horses with obvious haste. They heeled their horses’ flanks and galloped away back down the road they had come, and Cadenza watched with rising dread as they turned south on the road, following the same path along the hill as Cadenza had. She prayed to Music that they would keep galloping away south, but they slowed as they neared her hiding spot and one shouted to the other, holding up a hand.

They know I am here, Cadenza thought as panic jumped through her veins. Without thought, she broke her cover and ran into the trees. The sound of hoof beats behind her made her curse herself. She could have slunk away into the woods, but instead she had to dash off and let them know where she was.

Cadenza fought to keep her fear down as she sprinted between the trees, but despite her efforts, it crept up her throat like bile, filling her mouth with a nauseating metallic taste. She was going to be caught and taken away after all. The horses were coming nearer. They must be the Singers from the Ensemble. She would go away to one of the Key’s wars and never return. She would—

Cadenza stopped mid-step in the center of a wide clearing, feeling the familiar sensation of magic as it froze in her muscles. Her mind fought fiercely against the spell, ordering her legs to loosen, to move again and take her away from the quickly approaching horsemen.

From somewhere deep inside her, Cadenza heard a note. Confused but desperate, she concentrated on the note, until it grew stronger and spread warmth through her body, releasing her from the paralysis. As soon as her legs were free, Cadenza leaped back into the shadows of the trees and raced as fast as she could over the forest’s uneven ground.

She could hear the horsemen cursing not far behind her, their horses whinnying as they were reined in and turned about.

“She broke the spell,” one of them, a man, said.

“Never mind that,” a female voice answered, a hint of surprise hidden behind her anger, “She can’t be far.”

Cadenza gasped as she pressed herself to move faster. Her lungs seared with pain and her legs felt numb. How she would keep going, she didn’t know, but all that mattered was that she stay as far away from the two riders as possible.

Cadenza stumbled forward, barely catching a rough tree trunk to keep herself from falling over the large root that had tripped her. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to catch enough breath to step over the root and keep going. She opened her eyes and stared in horror as a thick root ripped out of the loam and rose up before her. Dirt fell from the root as it paused, before moving towards Cadenza. She screamed and clutch at the tree as the root wrapped around her, pressing her against the trunk. She struggled against the pressure of the huge root, but all that she accomplished was that the root tightened, forcing what little breath she had left from her lungs.

Cadenza slumped against the root, sobbing and unable to clear her eyes of their tears, as her arms were caught in the grasp of the tree. She tried to calm her breath and shook as much of her tears from her eyes as she could, and saw a blurry silver shape rush past her towards the two riders. She realized, as a dark horse followed, that Viola and Cello had come; whatever they decided to do with her afterwards, she didn’t care, as long as they helped her get away from the Ensemble’s agents.

Shouts and whinnies sounded behind her, and a loud crash echoed through the trees. Flares of light followed, flashing past Cadenza into the forest. She was crunched even more as the tree holding her bent down and spread its branches around her, protecting her from the stray spells that ricocheted between the tree trunks.

The fighting continued for many agonizing minutes, and when it was done, Cadenza held her breath and shrank into the tree, unsure who was approaching her prison. The root shuddered once, then slithered away from her, back into the ground. The tree shook out its branches and straightened, leaving Cadenza to wobble upright on her exhausted legs.

Viola thundered past on her silver mount, and looked back once to shout, “Hurry Cello!” Then she was gone, galloping through the trees, her horse’s hooves kicking up the loam.

Cello came next, cantering his horse up to Cadenza and reaching down to heave her up and onto the back of the saddle. Cadenza barely had time to get her leg over the side of the horse before Cello flicked the reins and the horse reared. Cadenza clutched at Cello to keep from sliding off and then lurched forward as the horse set off through the trees at a gallop.

Cadenza realized that she must be almost strangling Cello, and loosened her grip. He didn’t seem to notice, and Cadenza saw that he seemed to be concentrating all his energy keeping branches from knocking the two of them off the horse. Cadenza watched in amazement as a bough at least a foot in diameter reared out of the way. She looked behind them and saw that the trees were moving closer together, their roots sifting the loam to remove any trace of hoof prints.

Cadenza turned back around, wide-eyed. Now that she was aware of it, she could feel the immense amount of power coursing through Cello. She remembered her escape from the agent’s spell, how she had broken it. Perhaps she really was a Singer after all.

Cadenza was soon sore from riding, and her head began to ache from constant and abrupt motion. She had no stirrups to put her feet in, and therefore no way to ease the jarring movement as the horse’s rump rose and fell. She held on to Cello, though she would rather not, and endured what seemed like days of riding. All she wanted to do was stop, dismount, perhaps vomit into the bushes, and lie down to sleep.

Morning slowly dawned, the sun’s rays blocked out by the thick canopy of branches above. Cadenza dimly wondered how far away from Woodwind they were; she had never been this far into the forest, she probably hadn’t been this far from her home in her life.

They stopped sometime before noon, when Cello noticed Cadenza almost slipping out of the saddle behind him. Viola peered back into the forest, calculating how safe they would be and for how long they would be able to rest. She seemed satisfied that the agents would be far behind, and dismounted.

Cadenza was aware of Cello dismounting, and let go of him to slump forward in the saddle. Cello pulled something out of his pocket, and Cadenza saw that it was the purple flower from the day before. It was pitifully crushed and wilted, but Cello held it up to his face and blew gently, bringing new life to the petals. He held it up to Cadenza.

“You forgot this,” he said, his voice warm and deep. He grinned as Cadenza opened her eyes wider, surprised to hear him speak. She gave him one last bleary look, then closed her eyes firmly and fell out of the saddle, unconscious.

Cello caught her before she reached the ground and gently set her down. Viola took his horse and picketed it next to her own, then set about making a makeshift meal. Several minutes later, she looked up to find that Cello was still watching the sleeping Cadenza.

“Is she pretty?”

“Prettier than you,” Cello answered absently, brushing Cadenza’s curls away from her face. His fingers rested on her neck, where two strings ran across her collarbone and disappeared beneath her shirt. He frowned and carefully pulled both out until he saw what was strung on them. The three bells were common enough, but the two bands of gold and silver puzzled him.

“What is it?” Viola asked, paying more attention to her food than what Cello was doing.

“She’s got a Trio necklace, but also…” he trailed off and touched the silver band, immediately pulling his hand away as though he had been shocked. “Viola, come here.”

Viola reluctantly stood, stretching before coming to squat next to Cello and look at what he was holding. Her eyes widened as she put a finger on the gold and felt the powerful ward set in the band.

“They’re spelled,” she said quietly. “I wonder what for.”

“I wonder where she found them,” Cello said. He dropped the two necklaces as Cadenza moaned. Viola put a hand on his shoulder as she stood.

“Let her sleep. We can ask her questions later. I doubt she would be very helpful right now.”

Cello nodded and sat down near Cadenza, gratefully taking the food Viola handed him. As he ate he hummed lowly, hoping Viola wouldn’t notice the healing spells he was surreptitiously sending to Cadenza. She did, however, and gave him a menacing glare.

“You’re smitten, aren’t you,” she said, her glare turning into a smug smile.

Cello shrugged. “I guess I am. Don’t worry; I won’t let her suspect that.” He carefully tucked the purple flower behind Cadenza’s ear, setting a spell of preservation on it. He turned back to find Viola staring at him, horrified.

“Cello—you’re bleeding!”