Two thoughts before this excerpt. First, its inspiration.
I was playing…a game (I am a bit of a gamer), and in the game, through what I had been dealing with, I thought I was going to raise the legendary hero to come and save everyone and that was going to be the end of the game. And I thought, “That is so stupid. Why would you do that?”
Turns out that’s not what happened. But then…what if? And I started this story. There was also a post about a heroes that choose themselves, and I took those ideas and ran with them.
Second thought is about the prophecy. I am not good at poetry. I’m a music teacher, I deal with rhymes all day, and I’m telling you, my poetry is sad. I build worlds, not rhyming schemes. Yet when I had this REALLY COOL idea (Spoiler) to build a prophecy that could be understood if you added a single word to the end, and still had to rhyme, it was suddenly less cool, yet it is a rather substantial plot point that I had built this story around. Luckily for me, my brother is much better at poetry and turned my questionable poetry (because I, for some reason, decided prophecies should rhyme) into something much better. That’s why he gets a special thanks in the acknowledgements. And again here. THANK YOU FOR SAVING MY PROPHECIES!!!
The prophecy as spoken by Crown Princess Zarlina
With a light-thieving stain, there shall be a rift in the sky, turning the waters dark. The kingdom of Caladenia shall be shrouded in shadow, an evil one with powers that cast hope aside. When the need is great, the warriors fallen or faded, a hero with a pure heart shall rise. Boasting great courage, wisdom, and strength, a hero of legend shall bring promise back to the land.
Follow the stars’ paths as they angle
Stop only when you reach the tip of the triangle
When green turns the sky and sees the rising moon
There shall be a path near the water’s boon
For the key to the door, find the symbol of love
In the mouth of the boar, aim just above
Hidden away from time, the place now to find
Through the teeth of the monster for the talent of mankind
Chapter 1
Whispering meant secrets. And I was always interested in a good secret, especially if it came from adults. So I’d kept myself awake, watching out the window, and seen the figures come to the door. Visitors this late at night, since no one was sick, meant the secret had to be huge.
My twin sister, Hera, had fallen asleep before any of the adults came over, sleepily chanting the prophecy over and over until she’d drifted off midword. I’d almost woken her up when I recognized Keeva and Thomas coming down the path, but decided I’d just tell her when she woke up. When the voices rose and fell in conversation, I crept down the hallway, moving just far enough I could hear, the hem of my nightgown brushing my toes.
“…you’re going to tell her,” said Tamar.
“We aren’t,” my father said firmly. “She doesn’t need to know.”
“She doesn’t need to know? What do you plan on telling her now that her magic has started developing?” Tamar demanded. Next to him, his wife, Marline nodded in support.
I perked up. Magic?
“She’ll be told that having magic is a burden and must remain a secret. Keeva and her husband have both agreed to teach her about using her powers, and teaching her to hide them.”
“We aren’t asking you to outright challenge Maresk,” Marline jumped in, “but you have to prepare the girl for what’s coming.”
“Our daughter is eight,” my mother said furiously. “You want to saddle an eight-year-old with that burden?”
“She isn’t your daughter,” Marline said.
I drew in a sharp breath.
“We have raised Hera as our own. She’s our daughter as much as Lina. I will not subject either of my girls to the trials you want to throw at them. Announcing one as royalty and a savior is madness. Hera will need all the support she can get.”
“She needs to be prepared. She’ll have the support of her people when it’s time.”
“There are ways to train for leadership,” came Keeva’s quiet voice. “Ways we can all guide her without telling her what she’s being led to. You cannot inform her she is to rule a nation and then criticize her.”
Tamar, whom I didn’t like, huffed out an excuse. “She cowers too much. Her sister is the one who makes decisions. Lina should be put in her place, and Hera must do it.”
“You cause dissention among my family,” my mother snapped. “We have trained our daughters to protect each other, and Lina was right to stand up to you in defense of her sister. Hera will find her own voice in time.”
“Perhaps Hera should be given to another family without a child. A family who would raise her as a queen.”
Keeva’s tone was hard, and I almost felt the power in it. “You have no say in where my children live or how they are raised. Hera stays where she is. And if you continue to meddle in her raising, there will be repercussions that you won’t like.”
There was a thick silence. I carefully moved closer.
“All we’re saying is that Maresk cannot stay on the throne forever, which is what will happen if something isn’t done,” said the hunter named Trigger. He had more crossbows than anyone on the island and was constantly modifying them. “The hero of prophecy may come tomorrow, or he may never come. We can’t wait and hope that he’ll save us. We need someone else who can take the throne from Maresk, and Hera and Hope are the only two we have, and one isn’t even born yet.” He gestured to Keeva and her hand splayed across her stomach. “They need to be ready, and we all want them to be strong enough to take the throne from Maresk and be leaders good enough to deserve to keep it.”
“The hero will come,” Keeva said with calm assurance. “He will rise and he will defeat Maresk. Sending another in his place is foolish. Only the hero of prophecy has the power to counter Maresk’s.”
“You’re a fool to wait for a hero when you could do something now,” Trigger said with faint disgust. “Either you take him down, or you get slaughtered by him.”
Keeva wasn’t rattled. “My husband and I don’t have the power to defeat Maresk. Only the hero of prophecy will. The hero will rise, and through great trials he will show wisdom, cunning, courage, strength, and a pure heart.”
Trigger leaned forward. “And if he doesn’t? It’s been over a hundred years that Maresk has been king. In all that time, the hero hasn’t risen. What makes you think he will now?”
Thomas laid his hand over his wife’s. “Prophecies are never wrong. The hero will rise when it is time. And when that time comes, our children will be ready.” He sent a look to Tamar and Marline. “Without outside influence.”
Neither looked pleased. “Very well,” Tamar said snippily. “If you want to handicap your daughters, we can only hope it doesn’t spell our doom.” He rose, his wife following, the door closing sharply behind them. I stuck my tongue out at the door, glad they were gone.
“Much as I hate to agree with him, keeping secrets from someone you expect to be queen is a bad idea,” Trigger warned. “At some point, you’re going to have to tell her the whole truth, and it isn’t going to be easier the longer you wait.”
“This is for her own safety,” my father argued. “How do you think your daughter would handle knowing Maresk wanted to kill her?”
“The chances of that happening are already great and greater still with two mages on the island and two child mages as well,” Trigger returned. “Which is why I’ve made sure Taryn can protect herself. Hiding the truth leads to the chance of all of them getting blindsided. I’m not saying that you should sit her down tomorrow and reveal everything. I’m saying that hiding where her magic comes from is risky. She needs to understand that magic follows the royal bloodline, and that she may have to be the one to take the throne away from Maresk. If that’s going to happen, she’s going to have to be willing to fight for it.”
“Hera will have enough responsibility understanding her magic, and how to hide it, without worrying about a throne she may not ever take,” Thomas said. “She’ll know the truth one day, when she’s old enough to understand why we hid the truth for so long.”
“I don’t agree with lying to the girl, but I’ll keep my silence. You figure out what half-truths you’re going to tell Hera,” Trigger responded. “But first, you’ll have to figure out what you’re going to tell that one.”
I suddenly realized he was looking straight at me. And so was everyone else. Trigger walked to the door and left.
My mother sighed. “Lina, come here,” she said quietly.
I thought about sneaking back to bed, but I obediently came. She looked sad. “Why weren’t you in bed?”
“I wanted to hear what you were saying.” I peeked over at Keeva. “Hera’s not my real sister?”
“No, sweetie. Hera’s not your twin.”
“But it’s a secret,” Keeva broke in. “She can’t know she isn’t your sister.”
“Why?” I looked at all the adults that were left. “Why can’t she know?”
“Because Maresk would want to take her away and kill her,” my father said. “And that would scare Hera. She must hide her magic, and that is burden enough. Do you think Hera can carry two secrets that she can never tell?”
I knew I could. I couldn’t see why Hera couldn’t. “Of course.”
My father shook his head. “We have pirates that visit our island, and travelers who pass along gossip and look for new gossip. If Hera’s secret is told by anyone, that puts Hera in danger. She will always be in danger, being a mage, but the longer she can hide, the safer she will be, and safer still if even she doesn’t know where her powers came from. We have chosen to keep Hera’s history a secret, and so must you.”
“But I don’t want to. Even Trigger says you shouldn’t lie.”
“We will tell the truth someday,” my mother promised. “But you have to wait until Hera is ready. She may not be ready to know you aren’t twins. We want her to always know that she can depend on you. This is best for Hera. I want your word, Lina, that you won’t say anything about tonight to Hera. That you wait until we believe she’s ready.”
I pouted. “Do I have to?”
“Yes,” my father said. “You have to.”
I wanted to argue, but I didn’t want Keeva to be mad at me like she had been at Tamar and Marline. “I promise.”
My father picked me up. “Let’s go back to bed.”
I didn’t say anything as my father tucked me in, then turned to do the same to Hera.
“Papa? Are we in danger?” I whispered.
He paused, then came back to sit beside me. “Yes, Lina. Everyone is.”
“Because Hera has magic?”
“Because Maresk doesn’t like those who have magic. He wants to be sure no one who has magic is alive. That’s why Keeva and Thomas keep their magic a secret, and why Hera must also.”
I stared at him worriedly. “What happens if Maresk comes after Hera?”
“If we keep it a secret, he won’t. But,” he said, forestalling my argument, “if he does, we will protect her.”
“When can we tell her the secret?” I asked.
“When she’s older. Your mother and I will know when. All you need to do is just be her sister. Can you do that?”
I nodded.
He leaned down and kissed my forehead. “Good night.”
“Good night, Papa,” I said.
He repeated the process with Hera, but Hera was asleep and didn’t say anything. I snuggled into the covers, staring at my not-sister, and worried.
The next morning, my mother took Hera to Keeva’s and Thomas’s hut, after telling her that she had to keep magic hidden from everyone. Hera solemnly promised. “Except you,” she whispered to me after I finished braiding her hair. “Because twins don’t have to hide things.”
That made me feel bad, and I sat outside on my spot, staring moodily at the hut Hera was in. Momma had braided my hair too, but I didn’t like it braided and yanked it out.
“Can’t catch me!” Landon yelled, running by.
“I don’t want to play today,” I said.
Instead of running off to find someone else, Landon came over to sit with me. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I have to keep a secret,” I told him. “And I don’t want to.”
“What kind of secret?”
I rested my chin despondently on my knees. “A big one where someone is in danger but I can’t tell them.” I scowled. “It’s not fair!”
Landon frowned. “Can you help them?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know how.”
“Well, if someone is in danger, you protect them,” Landon said wisely. “Why can’t you protect them this time?”
I thought about it. I wasn’t strong enough. If I had to protect her from pirates, and maybe Maresk, I had to learn how to fight. “I need to know how to fight.” I turned to look at Landon. “Can you teach me?”
He shook his head. “I haven’t learned how to fight yet. Mama says next year she’ll let me go train with the Nuat brothers.”
“Papa says next year for me too.” I looked around. “Maybe someone else could teach me until then.” I spotted Maxwell sitting under a tree. “Maybe he can help!” I scrambled to my feet and ran over to where Maxwell was. Three years older than me, Maxwell had already been training with the Nuat brothers. I figured he had to be good enough to fight off pirates, but probably not Maresk. It was a start. “I need to learn how to fight,” I blurted out.
Maxwell looked up from his book and contemplated me for a moment. “Why?” he asked finally.
I gave an aggravated sigh and plopped down on the sand. “I have to keep a secret, but I don’t want to. Someone’s in danger, and if I can’t tell them, then I can protect them, but I need to know how to fight.”
Maxwell let his book rest on his lap. I caught glimpses of different pictures of leaves. “All right,” Maxwell agreed. “What kind of fighting do you need to learn?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“There are lots of different ways to fight. There’s fighting with fists and feet, where you punch and kick.”
“Like the Nuat brothers teach?” I interrupted.
He nodded. “Then there’s fighting with weapons like swords, or knives, or arrows. There’s fighting with intelligence.”
I squinted at him. “How do you fight with intelligence?”
He turned his book around to show me. “See this? This is a berry from a holly bush. It says it’s bright yellow or bright red, and if you eat it, it poisons you.” He turned the page. “But this is whiteroot.”
“We have that!” I blurted out. “Papa used it when I cut my leg!”
He nodded, seemingly unbothered by my interrupting him. “Whiteroot salve is used for many things, and it can even counter some poisons, like the poison from the holly’s berry. But if you didn’t know that, you could die from either eating the berry, or not knowing how to counter the berry. Fighting with intelligence means being able to outthink your enemies, and knowing what you have around you that you can use to your advantage.”
I grew quiet, thinking. Maxwell let me, waiting patiently. Finally, I said, “I think I need to learn all of it. How do I do that?”
“What you want to learn determines where you need to go. If you want to learn how to fight with your hands, you go to the Nuat brothers. If you want to learn how to fight with intelligence, you read and you listen to what the elders have to say. If you want to learn to fight with weapons, you need to find someone who’s mastered the weapon you want to learn. First, you have to figure out what you want to start with.”
“Can you teach me anything?” I asked.
He held out the book. “I can read with you. Books hold lots of intelligence, intelligence of people we can never meet.”
I figured I’d have to know all of that too. But I knew Maxwell knew a lot about plants because he had the biggest garden of anyone on the island. “If I help in your garden, can you teach me about plants too?”
He gave a slight smile. “Of course. Do you want to learn now?”
I shook my head and got to my feet. “I need to think. Maybe I’ll ask tomorrow.”
Maxwell lifted his book and resumed reading. I wandered away, contemplating.
I was wandering down a well-worn path when I heard my name. “Lina!”
I came to a stop at the call. Yuma, one of the elders, was standing in her doorway. She motioned to me. “Come in.”
I obediently went in and sat cross-legged in front of Yuma’s chair. It was decorated with carvings of flowers and was Yuma’s favorite spot. The other children and I had spent many hours sitting in front of this chair, listening to her tell stories, or teach some skill. Anyone who didn’t pay attention was whacked on the head. Having been the recipient a number of times, I knew better than to let my eyes get drawn to the carvings on her chair. Layla was already sitting quietly.
Yuma settled herself in the chair. “Start picking the seeds,” she said, laying half of a melon fruit in front of each of us.
I felt my face fall. Melon fruit had hundreds of seeds. That meant a long lecture. A sudden whack across my head had me hunching. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Better.” Yuma sat back, starting to slice some pinkroot.
As Yuma began her lecture over the importance of rain, I tried very hard to pay attention, figuring this was learning how to fight with intelligence, though I couldn’t figure out how. I continued to dutifully pick out the seeds and place them in the bowl along with Layla.
Finally, Yuma wound down, and we all continued our work in silence. The longer we worked, the more lines I saw on Layla’s face. She appeared to be thinking hard about something. I wondered if she had heavy secrets too.
Obviously Yuma saw the expression. “Layla, is there something on your mind?”
Layla paused, then said with conviction. “Pink is my favorite color.”
My sticky hand covered my eyes in embarrassment for her.
Yuma was silent for a moment. “Pink is an excellent color,” she finally said.
I returned to picking out my seeds.
“Lina, what are you thinking?” Yuma asked me.
“Can Maresk control the rain?” I asked, looking up at her.
Beside me, Layla shivered at my question.
“I don’t believe so. No one has said that’s something he can do. Why?”
If Maresk ever came here, I wouldn’t have to worry about him controlling the weather. That was at least a weakness. “It’s important to know about our enemies.”
“Maresk is our king, not an enemy,” Layla piped up nervously.
“Even a king can be an enemy,” I reasoned darkly.
Layla shivered again and focused intently on her melon fruit.
Yuma leaned forward to inspect our melon fruits. “I think that’s enough. Take the rest with you as payment for your labor.”
“Thank you, Yuma,” we both said. Layla snatched up her fruit and nearly ran. I moved more slowly, still contemplating who could teach me to fight, and what kind of fighting I needed to learn first. Fighting with intelligence wasn’t very exciting. Maybe I needed to learn a different way first. But first, I needed to wash the melon fruit juice off my hands.
As I neared the beach, I spotted Sam and his father working on a boat. They worked to repair just about all the boats on our island as well as others that visited. I hurried over to them, hoping maybe we could all go out and test the boat. “Good day, Sam!” I called.
“Now, Lina, what did I tell you about that?” Sam’s father lectured as he worked on something I couldn’t see.
“Sailors say ahoy,” I said dutifully as I rinsed my hands in the water.
“Ahoy, Lina,” Sam said cheerfully back. “Is that melon fruit?”
“Yuma made me pick out all the seeds,” I said. “Can we go sailing?”
“Not today, my little sailors,” Sam’s dad said. “That hole is going to take some time to fix up. But come by tomorrow morning, and I’ll take you both out.”
Sam and I yelped with glee.
“Now, Lina, what would you take in trade for that melon fruit?” he asked, a grin on his face, displaying a chipped tooth.
My stomach rumbled, telling me it was time to eat. I knew Sam and his father brought food with them, since Sam’s father was crippled and couldn’t walk more than a couple steps, if he could walk at all. I also knew Sam and his dad liked boiled eggs. “Two boiled eggs,” I said promptly.
He raised an eyebrow. “Two eggs, Miss Lina? Are you pretending to be a pirate today?”
I giggled. “No!”
“Then I shall say one egg for half a melon fruit.”
“But I picked all the seeds out,” I countered. “That’s labor.”
He nodded, a smile on his face. “That’s correct. So what will you counter with?”
“Two eggs,” I said again. I paused. “But Sam and I split one,” I conceded.
He pondered it for a long moment. “Aye, that’s a fair bargain,” he said at last. He held out a hand for me to shake. “You’ll make a fine bargainer someday.”
I beamed as I handed over the melon fruit. Sam handed me an egg, then half of another one before promptly shoving his half in his mouth. I giggled and did the same.
“Manners, both of you,” his father chastised gently as he sliced up the seedless melon fruit. He set a small chunk in front of me. “Go eat somewhere, and leave a father in peace for a few moments,” he said.
Sam grabbed my hand. “Let’s go to your spot!”
“Don’t be too long,” Sam’s dad called as we rushed off. “I need your help with this.”
“Aye, Papa!” Sam called.
We dashed up the pathways, dodging people, racing up the hill to my spot. I had more things to carry, so Sam beat me, but only just. We were both breathing hard as we sat down on the flat rock, looking down at our village.
“Does your papa know how to fight?” I asked Sam after we’d been there a while.
“I don’t think so. I think he only knows how to fix boats and ships,” Sam said. “He could sabotage a ship,” he said proudly.
My eyebrows rose. “What’s sabotage?” I questioned.
“Where you break a ship on purpose.”
I considered it. “That sounds like fighting with intelligence,” I said.
Sam looked puzzled. “Fighting with intelligence?”
“Maxwell said it’s where you can outsmart your enemies because you know more. I need to learn it, but I don’t think I want to learn that first. But Mama and Papa won’t let me learn from the Nuat brothers until next year.”
He nodded slowly. “So does that mean you’re going to learn to fight with weapons?”
“I guess. I don’t know what kind of weapon, though.”
“Papa says that pirates fight with swords. Maybe you should learn that first.”
“Does anyone here know how to fight with a sword?” I wondered.
“Trigger does.”
I looked in surprise. “He does?”
“I saw him waving a sword around,” Sam said seriously. “It was a big one. He must be the one who protects us from pirates.”
“I thought he just used bows.”
“He must use swords too, like warriors from the old stories.”
I knew those stories. If there was anyone like a warrior on our island, I figured that it had to be Trigger or the Nuat brothers. Trigger scared me a little, but I knew Taryn, his daughter. Maybe she could help me until I was brave enough to ask Trigger myself. “I’m going to ask,” I announced to Sam, getting up.
“I’m going back with my papa. Will you tell me if he teaches you?”
“Of course. I’ll even fight off pirates when we go sailing,” I boasted. “That way, no one can hurt us when we want to go exploring other islands.”
He grinned. “May the gulls bring you luck,” he called as he dashed down the hill. I followed, moving a little slower as I tried to work up the courage.
It turned out, I didn’t have to. Taryn was practicing outside, her face serious as she fired at a target with her bow. Her dark, curly hair was tied back to keep it out of her face, and without that impeding her, she hit every shot. I couldn’t help but feel impressed. “You’re really good,” I told her when she saw me and stopped.
“I’m the best shot on the isle,” Taryn bragged.
“Your dad is Trigger,” I pointed out. “Of course you’re the best shot on the isle.”
She grinned, pleased I didn’t argue her claim. “Do you want to shoot with me anyway?”
I shook my head. “I need to know how to use a sword,” I said seriously.
Taryn tilted her head. “How come?”
“I can’t tell you. It’s a secret.”
“Secrets are important,” Taryn said. She grabbed my hand. “Come on! I’ll show you what Daddy taught me.”
We ran around to the back of the house where there was a little building. Inside, weapons hung on every one of the walls, most of them bows or crossbows. I stared in awe. “Wow,” I whispered.
“He keeps his sword up there.” Taryn pointed to the top of a series of shelves. “Help me up so I can climb and reach it.”
I dragged in some pots from the garden for each of us, then let her climb on me to reach the first shelf. Once she’d grabbed the shelf, she hauled herself up with little problem, nimbly climbing up to the top before grabbing the sword and pulling it off. The heavy, metal weapon clattered to the ground. Taryn climbed back down. “Come bring it outside,” she said. “And be careful. It’s really sharp.”
I grabbed the handle, and almost dropped it. “It’s really big,” I said, trying to drag it, leaving a line in the dirt from the point of the sword. Taryn grabbed the handle with me and helped.
I made it out the door and jumped, because Trigger was standing there with a frown on his face. His voice was hard. “Girls, put that down.”
I immediately dropped the sword. Taryn wasn’t the least bit bothered by that tone. “She said she had to learn how to fight with a sword.”
“Is that so?” He looked at me. “Why?”
I screwed up my courage. “I have to protect Hera.”
“Do you now?” He suddenly knelt down, surprising a squeak out of me, but I stood my ground. His intense eyes stared at me. “How much do you plan on learning?”
“Everything.” I’d already decided this. “When Hera goes and learns things with Keeva and Thomas, I want to learn how to fight.”
“Why the sword?”
“Pirates use swords, so I have to be able to use a sword.” Pirates were the biggest threat to any island and weren’t uncommonly seen here. State-sponsored pirates were even more dangerous because they had Maresk’s blessing to do pretty much whatever they wanted. “Can you teach me?”
He studied me a moment longer. “Aye, little warrior, I can,” he said finally. He picked up the heavy, metal sword, but put it on the high shelf again. He then handed me a small, wooden replica. “We’ll start here.”