Page 38 of To Touch A Silent Fury (The Bride of Eavenfold #1)

Every act was as silent as I could make it. Seated, I was perfectly inaudible. As Yvon had taught, I wrapped the laces of my boots around my trouser leg, to stop the fabric from rustling.

When I stood, I held my breath to keep the hiss from escaping.

The pain was bad, but by no means the excruciating force it should have been.

It was stiff, and it did not want to be leant on, but I would have guessed the wound was two weeks old from the level of discomfort.

I adjusted my movements for a limp, which made my footsteps heavier than Yvon had taught me.

Still, I made it to the door, and the mumble increased to something I could almost hear.

I dared not lean against the stone, instead holding my injured leg bent in front of me, its toe just touching the boggy ground.

I poked my head around and did not see them.

But I didn’t need to use my eyes, for their sound gave their location as plain as their feet would.

I squinted up to the grey sky above. The dawn was flat behind overcast white.

No shadows should betray my presence as long as my steps were not detected.

I edged across to the stone tower a few feet from this one .

Ergreen was famous for its rains, and it had clearly poured whilst I had been out. It could only be a week or so from Tanmer now, and I wondered where I would be when it hit.

A male voice grumbled in low notes. “She lives.”

Yvon’s voice returned, breathier, blending into the wind itself. “She is bonded to Vellintris’ child.”

“Already?” The man’s surprise elevated his voice. “That is uncommon.”

“I tell you, she is one of you. I have seen her.”

“Her hair is dark, her eyes blue. And she is a woman.” His voice held the same dismissal I had heard all my life. “What proof do you have for your claim?”

“Let her stay here, you will see the truth of her hair. You’ll see the moon in the dragon’s eyes.”

The man was not convinced. “There are natural ways to strip the colour of her hair. And the dragon won’t open his eyes for weeks.”

“She is Amune’s daughter,” Yvon said. “I swear it on the cycle, on my place in the tribe. I saw her on Eavenfold.”

“Do not speak of that unnatural place. They bind Sons to illogical Fates, they know nothing of patience or discovery.”

“She was there.”

“That was three spans ago. How can you be sure?”

Yvon was silent, and I imagined I could hear her anger.

“The girl is unusual,” the man conceded, some doubt seeping through. “I do not understand why the wolf follows her, nor why the dragon bonded. But there is nothing of the moon in her.”

“Her eyes were white,” Yvon said.

“As you say. We do not see that now.”

“Will you not shelter her?”

“We did,” he said, once again dismissive. “We kept the cacof alive. ”

“And that is all you will provide her? She is prophesied. The Moon Mother stands before you, and you will cast her away.”

Moon Mother. In everything Yvon had let slip over the last span, I was certain these were two words I had never heard before together. I had no guesses as to the meaning, beyond something in their tribal religion. Seth would have known. He loved myths.

Did this account for Yvon’s strangeness the other day? She had decided that because I wasn’t yet Broken, that I was a Moon Mother? Maybe that was their female variant of a Son?

“What is more likely,” he retorted, “that this warm-skinned girl is the true daughter of Amune, or that she has tricked you? You must have told her of the Moon Mother who would know our ways and be one with his creatures.” I heard a step, barely a shuffle on reed. “There is no moon in her eye.”

My leg burned as I held myself completely still. I could not hold this position forever, and all my baby had to do was wake and they would all hear his squawks.

Yvon’s voice raised, still quiet as anything, but I knew enough to know she was livid. “The moon was there only yesterday.”

“It is convenient that her eyes have changed now that you bring her before us.”

Yvon clucked her tongue. Such wordless noise, meaningless to the Euphons, could only signal an incandescent fury. “You call me a liar?”

“She took advantage of your wayward daughter and your kindness,” he said. It was soft, his response, filled with regret. “And now she has used your generosity to steal Vellintris’ child.”

I struggled to hold back my own scoff. All I knew of their customs was what they told the world. To be Moontouched in this forest was to be left for dead. Why would I ever have claimed it? He implied I was no better than the Dragon Prince. A poacher .

“She saved that dragon from the cacofs.”

“She is a cacof.”

And that was it. That was all I needed to hear. They would never believe my word. I could live five more spans in their forest, learn the name of every bird, and I would only ever be an outsider.

“This ends now, Yvon. This is not the first time you thought you found the Moon Mother. We will forgive your teaching.” He paused. “But the girl is not welcome.”

I did not move into their view nor clear my throat. I only spoke at a normal volume, knowing they would hear me. “It is fine, Yvon. I will leave as they desire.”

Yvon and the Son appeared out of the stone tower. He stared at me, surprised. Yes, I thought, narrowing my eyes at him. I could be quiet, too. Even if I was only quiet for a cacof .

Yvon approached me, nodding. “I am sorry. They will not let you stay.”

I shifted my weight a little and winced. “You have protected me long enough.”

The Son stared at me; his white hair pulled into a tail. “We will not kill you, cacof girl. To end you now will surely kill the child, too. But mark this, you are not a friend to Gossamir.”

“I understand,” I replied coolly. “Thank you for your healing.”

His mouth tensed. “You have gained much which does not belong to you. Leave Gossamir now.”

Yvon grimaced, and I shook my head. I didn’t want her to risk herself anymore than she already had in my defence.

I hobbled one quiet step forwards, shifting my sleeping bundle until he was up by my shoulder. He stretched and breathed warm air against my neck.

Then I turned back to the Son, his lip curled in distaste as he looked at my leg .

“I do not believe myself to be what Yvon has claimed,” I said.

This time, I signed alongside my words. “But I love these lands.

Its rocks, waters, ' beauty ' , and ' stillness '.

I will miss the ' fog at dawn '.” I curved my hands round to indicate the heaviness of the mist and the breaking sun.

“I will miss the ' snow hares ', and their first steps across the first fall of ' Domin ', and the ' dancing lights ' in the indigo sky.

Yours is a harsh world, but there is ' peace ' in it.

And if I can find the ' power ' to help your forests live, and stop Braxthorn from his plunder of your silence, I will do so.”

The Son said nothing, but I knew he had heard me, and it was enough.

Yvon and I gazed at each other silently, and I knew it was our goodbye. I did not know then, if I would ever see her again, or how many days or years might pass until I did. There was no sign for gratitude, so instead I nodded to her, and hoped my thanks were written on my face.

I turned into the forest, my leg burning with each slow move. My words, or my motion, had woken the dragon at my shoulder. He buried his face in the hair at the nape of my neck, eyes still yet to open as he nipped me with his gummy smile.

That same small voice crept in. Go?

Yes , I thought back, rubbing a finger across his tail, clinging around my neck. We have to go now.