Witch Fall

  His gaze darkened and he turned away. Something whistled through the air and landed with a thud near his feet.

  Lilette nearly cried out with joy to see a fishing spear quivering in the ground. She knew the spear had been a warning—the men of her village could easily impale a fish from twenty breadths.

  “Phalanx formation!” Chen ordered.

  Soldiers who had been climbing inside the boat leapt back out and loped forward, their spears held before them. Men from her village stepped slowly out of the jungle. Bian was among them, as was Quo, his eye now swollen completely shut. The men held fishing spears, long knives strapped to their waists.

  The two groups appraised each other. Lilette’s villagers outnumbered these men, but even she knew that fisherman against trained soldiers didn’t make for good odds.

  Bian took a step forward. His hair was shot through with gray, his skin weathered by the sea, but he still carried himself like a younger man. “Who are you, and why have you taken my wife?”

  Chen reached into his armor and pulled out a drawstring purse, which he tossed at Bian’s feet. “To compensate you for her bride price.”

  Slowly, Bian bent and lifted the bulging purse. He opened it and his eyes widened. One of the elders said something and Bian passed the purse over.

  Another villager called out, “You cannot buy another man’s wife.”

  Chen tipped his head to the side. “She’s not a wife until the marriage is consummated. Until then, the contract may be bought out by another.”

  How could Chen possibly know so much about her betrothal?

  Bian studied the soldiers surrounding Lilette. “By law, you cannot take her if I do not agree to the exchange.”

  Chen lifted his swords. “If you wish to die, come and try to take her then.”

  The scarred soldier stepped closer to Chen and said softly, “You slaughter an entire village and there will be consequences, Chen.”

  “Remember your place, little brother,” Chen said. “These peasants are no threat to us.”

  Brother? Lilette’s gaze shot back to the scarred man, searching for the boy she’d once known. To her utter shock, she found him there, in the eyes that had once been gentle and full of life. Now they were just empty.

  “Han?” she said softly.

  He flinched, as if his name on her lips was utterly repulsive. What could have happened to him to turn him into this? He’d sat beside her for hours, patiently teaching her how to speak Harshen so she wouldn’t be so lonely.

  Lilette closed her eyes. She knew who these men were. “Let them take me, Bian. If you don’t, you’ll all be killed.”

  Chen took a deep breath and called loudly, “Listen to her, fisherman, for the path you tread is narrow as a blade.”

  Bian watched her, regret plain on his face. “You underestimate us, Lilette. I have waited too long to let you go now.”

  Chen made a sound low in his throat. “Believe me when I say I have waited longer. I am not here to barter, fisherman. Take the gold and your lives and be gone.”

  When Bian hesitated, Han’s voice pierced the quiet. “A widow has no husband.”

  Bian stared at Lilette, and she saw he would not give her up. He threw the purse at Chen’s feet. She gaped at the glittering gold pieces lying in the sand. “No, Bian!” she cried. “They are elite!”

  Her words evoked a deadly stillness, for even in her isolated village, the elite were renowned as the highest trained soldiers of the empire. It was they who guarded the royal family.

  One by one, the villagers dropped to their knees, their foreheads pressing into the sand three times as they kowtowed.

  “You had only to name yourself heir, and she would have been yours.” Bian voice shook. Finally, he understood the danger.

  Chen cut a glance at his brother. “Now we have no choice. She told them who we are.”

  All the fear and tension drained out of Lilette, replaced by a bone-numbing horror. Had her revelation sentenced her villagers to death? “No!” she screamed. She lunged for Chen, determined to stop him somehow.

  Han caught her about the middle, his arms locked tightly around her no matter how much she strained. “Chen, it’s murder,” he said.

  “If you cannot stomach it, get her onto the ship,” Chen growled as he drew his swords. He turned his back on Han to address the elite. “Make sure none of them escape. If we fail, we risk a war.”

  With that, he stalked toward the villagers, most of whom grabbed their discarded weapons and stood their ground, but a few kept themselves prostrate.

  “Chen, leave them alone!” Lilette cried.

  Han tossed her into the boat. She tried to bolt back out, but he blocked her way. “You can’t stop it. You’ll only make it worse for them.”

  Listening to her villagers’ death cries, she felt the fight drain out of her. “Please,” she wailed as the elite cut through the villagers.

  Muscles straining, Han pushed the boat into the water and pulled himself in. Lilette automatically leaned to the other side to keep the craft from capsizing. Belatedly, she realized she should have overturned it.

  Chen had reached Bian. He easily sidestepped Bian’s spear thrust and pivoted, his sword biting into flesh. Bian’s eyes widened in surprise. He wavered on his feet. Chen pulled back and struck tip-first into Bian’s heart. He fell to the beach, lifeless.

  Lilette thought of her would-be husband’s wives. All those children—Pan foremost among them—and her heart cried out in anguish.

  Quo screamed in outrage and threw his spear. Chen twisted and the spear glanced harmlessly off his reinforced armor. Then he lunged forward, and even from this distance, Lilette could see the fear in Quo’s face, fear as he turned to flee. Chen ran him down and shoved the sword in his back.

  Han took Lilette’s face firmly between the thumb and fingers of his massive hand. She looked into his empty, dark eyes. “Lie in the bottom of the boat and cover your ears,” he told her.

  Perhaps it was cowardly. Perhaps it was weak. But Lilette did as she was told, pressing her fists into her ears to block out the sound of her villagers dying.

  Chapter 2

  Lilette hated orchids. I never thought to ask her why. ~Jolin

  Below decks, the ship had been quartered off with silk curtains. The hull was peaked in the center and curved toward the floating deck. Lilette had curled into the farthest corner of the stern, the orchids dangling limply beside her head. Her arms were wound tightly around her legs as she tried to forget the images of Bian’s murder. The blood. The horrific sounds of the massacre. All because she’d called out that the men were elite.

  She could hear the soldiers coming aboard, their boots clomping on the deck above her. She was alone except for Han, but she knew it would only be a matter of time before Chen came to check on his prize.

  In Harshen, there were dozens of island fiefdoms of differing sizes, each with its own name and lord. But all of the fiefdoms paid obeisance to the emperor. Chen would take Lilette to the capital island, Harshen, to the imperial city of Rinnish. And once she was there, Chen would never let her return to her fellow witches, her sister. Never let Lilette become what she was always meant to be. The future she had dreamed about and fought for her entire life shattered like stones scattered across the mirrored surface of a pool.

  The ship creaked as the sails caught wind. The intervals between the waves grew shorter, indicating the craft was picking up speed. Lilette had finally left Calden Island, but she hadn’t escaped.

  Chen would be coming down soon. The thought of what he would do to her sent her rocking back and forth to keep from falling apart.

  Han crouched before her, watching her, studying her. Finally, she took a deep breath and forced herself to meet his gaze. His eyes flicked to the dampness on her cheeks. “Sometimes a fall is required to change our path.” He took hold of both her arms and pulled her to her feet. “You have been set on this path, Lilette. There is no going back, so you might as well sta
nd and be strong. Do what must be done.”

  Until tonight it had been so long since anyone had called her Lilette. Most Harshens couldn’t pronounce the name. It belonged to another life, another person. “Everything has been taken from me . . . again,” she said softly.

  “You rebuilt a life once. You are strong enough to do it again.”

  A life built around finding a way home. That hadn’t changed. She would escape this. She would find her way to her sister. And she would make Chen pay. She glared at Han. “You don’t know anything about me, not anymore.”

  The corners of his mouth twitched as if he was fighting a smile. “Fight the battles you can win. Retreat from the ones you cannot.”

  “And if I cannot retreat?”

  He tugged the flowers from her hair and tossed them aside. “Then you surrender with dignity.” His gaze held hers, and for the briefest moment the emptiness receded, and his eyes were filled with such depth and clarity that her trembling began to still from the inside out.

  “What happened to you?” Lilette managed around what felt like a rock lodged in her throat. She and Han had played in the gardens for hours, feeding the exotic animals in the enclosure and hiding from their mothers in the incense-filled walls of the shrine.

  Just like that, the emptiness returned to his eyes. “Remember what I said.” Han stepped back from her moments before the curtain was swept aside.

  Chen moved to a cabinet and withdrew a bottle and an ornate ivory cup. He filled the cup to the brim and drained it in one swallow.

  Han took a step toward his brother and gestured toward Calden. “This was badly done.”

  Chen poured another, downed it, and poured another. “Couldn’t be helped,” he replied, then wiped his lips with the back of his arm. His skin and hair shone with drops of water, as if he’d washed himself. Cup in hand, he stepped closer and examined Lilette.

  She channeled all her fury into her gaze, hoping he could read her unspoken promise to kill him.

  He chuckled dryly. “I see you remember me.”

  As if she could forget the son of the man who had killed her parents! Even as a child of twelve, he’d been ruthless. And now he’d finally come for her, leaving a host of death in his wake. “You’re a murderer.”

  His jaw tightened. “I am Heir Chen, chosen son of Emperor Nis, speaker for the Sun Dragon.” His gaze held a warning. “And if I’m a murderer, it’s the Sun Dragon’s will that I be so.”

  She uncurled herself from the floor and drew herself to her full height, which was nearly the same as his. “And I am Lilette, daughter of Lellan. A keeper of the realms and the gods.”

  He didn’t respond, instead crossing his arms and swirling the liquid in his cup. “There were no survivors found in the wreckage of the ship you burned, and yet here you are. Alive when all else are dead.” He took another drink. “And then you revealed who we are to your villagers, forcing me to kill them. So you tell me, Lilette, who has more blood on their hands?”

  She lunged for him, but Han held her back. She brought her knee up and almost caught Han between his legs, but he twisted, narrowly avoiding the blow. His arms were like iron bands.

  She stopped struggling. “How did you find me?”

  The picture of ease, Chen watched her. “How did you survive when no one else did?”

  Guilt coursed through her. She’d only remained hidden this long because everyone else had burned or drowned. But if Chen could refuse to answer her questions, she could refuse to answer his. “The emperor only has to ask, and he could take any woman he wants,” Lilette said. “You didn’t need to kill them.”

  “I’m afraid the situation called for more secrecy than that.”

  “Why?” she asked angrily.

  Chen’s dark gaze met her blue one. “What do you think the witches would do if they knew I’d taken one of their own?”

  Despite his washing, there was still blood in the crease beside his nose. “What do you want of me?” Lilette finally asked.

  Stepping closer, he lifted her jaw with a crooked finger, examining her. “Many things. But in this case, exactly what I paid for. You will be one of my concubines.”

  Bile rose in her throat. “Never!”

  Anger flashed across his face and he leaned forward, so close she could smell the alcohol on his breath. “Some resistance is to be expected—after all, I took you by force. But my patience only extends so far. ”

  If being Bian’s captive had taught her anything, it was that escape would only be possible if she lulled her captors into complacency. She backed away, and Han let her go.

  “So you really don’t mean to kill me?”

  The harsh expression on Chen’s face eased. “You needn’t be afraid. I take good care of the things that are mine.” She backed into the hull as he stalked toward her. She knew he would kiss her. It took all of her determination to hold as still as possible as his lips lightly brushed hers.

  He broke away and the backs of his fingers caressed her hair. “Pale as starlight, with eyes the color of the brightest sea.”

  “Brother, this may not be the time to woo her,” Han said dryly. “She has just lost everything of her old self.”

  Chen frowned. “Ah, yes. My coward of a brother calls for caution.”

  Han’s expression was unreadable. Chen glanced around the small space, no doubt noting the bamboo hammock and a few silk pillows. He turned back to study Lilette, indecision playing across his face. Finally, he nodded. “With your song to propel us, we shall reach the bay by morning.”

  “But I . . . I told you,” she stammered, “I’ve forgotten all the songs.”

  Chen held up a finger. “But you’ve remembered one—the very one I need.”

  She gaped at him. “How could you know that?” On the day Fa lay dying, she’d remembered the song to call the wind. She’d used that song to propel their boat to shore to find the physicker. It hadn’t been enough to save Fa.

  Lilette didn’t resist as they took her to the upper deck. Her gaze was drawn to her island in the distance, but she quickly looked away.

  Chen handed her a copy of the song—he’d obviously come prepared. But she knew this one. It was the only one she remembered.

  It was almost a relief to sing herself away, to separate herself from the pain and horror of the last hour. When the ship cut through the waves as fast as the sails could bear, they took her back below decks.

  Chen watched her—he’d been watching her for hours. Lilette wasn’t sure how much longer she could resist the urge to try to kill him, regardless of the outcome.

  Finally, he backed away from her, his eyes never leaving her. “Truly, you are the most blessed of women.”

  And then he was finally gone. Han lingered a moment, staring at the ground, before following his brother out.

  Blessed? She’d just been forced from her home, her villagers killed for trying to keep her. Her parents had been murdered, and her sister was gone. How could Chen call her blessed when she’d never see any of them ever again?

  Her parents had died trying to escape this fate. Lilette leaned back against the stern, then slid down to rest her head on her drawn knees.

  ***

  The next morning, she woke knowing she wasn’t alone, that someone was watching her. With a gasp, she jerked upright in the hammock to find Chen leaning over her. An amber pendant dangled from his throat. It was set in gold, an emerald-eyed sun dragon curving around it.

  Lilette was certain he hadn’t been wearing it yesterday. Slowly, she forced herself to relax, to appear compliant.

  “You are very beautiful. Your skin—it’s as golden as white wine and as soft as silk.” He seemed to be waiting for some kind of response. But all she could think of was that he’d finally washed the last of the blood off the side of his nose. How many men had he killed in addition to Bian?

  “The proper response to a compliment is ‘Thank you, Heir, or Heir Chen.’ Either honorific is fine.” Chen straightened, and the p
endant settled in the hollow of his throat. “You must adjust faster. It won’t be so hard when you come to the compound and have servants to attend you and beautiful things to wear.”

  Lilette blinked at him.

  He took a step back. “Stand up.”

  The only battle worth winning is the one for my freedom, she reminded herself. On a ship full of elite and surrounded by ocean, she could not win. Moving stiffly, she did as she was told. Chen reached out and helped her down. She had to force herself not to recoil from his touch.

  He gestured to a package resting on the cabinet. “We’ve sighted Harshen. By midday, we’ll have docked in the harbor. I have brought you something suitable for your station. A maid will attend you shortly.” He waited again. When she still said nothing, he took a deep breath as if calling upon his patience. “Again, a thank you would be appropriate.”

  She bit down on the words she wanted to say, crushing them between her teeth. “Thank you, Heir.” Her voice came out raspy and low.

  Chen shook his head. “You must learn manners before I can ever take you to the palace. Learn them fast.” He waited again, an eyebrow raised.

  Lilette reined in her temper by imagining her boning knife sticking out of his chest. “I will, Heir.”

  He nodded, seeming somewhat mollified. He pulled back the curtain just enough to reveal a kneeling middle-aged woman who wore a blank expression. “Prepare her to enter the palatial compound,” Chen ordered. “She’s not ready for the niceties, so keep it simple.”

  “Yes, Heir Chen.” The woman kowtowed, touching her forehead to the floor three times.

  Chen swept away, not bothering to wait for the woman to finish.

  Chapter 3

  Somewhere along the way, Lilette learned only to fight the battles she could win. ~Jolin

  The servant rose to her feet, her eyes downcast. Without a word, she began helping Lilette out of her bloodstained robes.