Chapter
38

Lirra

I CAN SEE AODREN WANTS TO TALK, BUT I GIVE his hand one quick squeeze and rush off the field to prepare for the jubilee finale. We have so many things to say to each other, but they will have to wait a little longer. The announcer takes back the amplifying cone and calls out the performances of the grand finale. It is the perfect ending for the crowds that have flocked here tonight.

Seeva rushes around, assuring each woman from the five kingdoms that water Channelers will combine their efforts to hold back the rain from destroying any presentation that would be ruined otherwise. Aodren is escorted to the stand where Malam’s nobility sit, and I cannot help but notice with glee the many back pats he receives and hands he shakes. For a man who once thought no one truly saw him, now he holds the eyes of all five kingdoms.

I stand beside my aunt Katallia and Da. My hands twist through my gown.

I worry that my presentation will not be as grand or glorious as the four other kingdoms’, but I decided to make this choice only moments ago. Da encouraged me to seek out what I want. And what that is combines gliders and Aodren.

When Seeva is done giving directions, the women separate with a final few minutes remaining before the jubilee begins.

I go to where my wings have been kept dry in Astoria’s carriage. A bittersweet feeling spreads through me as I check the knots a dozen times and test the flexibility and strength of each joint. The bottom straps have been adjusted many times to fit my arms and torso, so when I lie beneath the wings, I will resemble a bird.

“You were meant to fly.” Orli shoves the hood off her cloak and approaches the carriage.

“You came.” I stand and smile, happy to see her emerge from the press of people.

Her eyes roll upward. “If I can rouse enough courage to track down a blood charm, break into the summer castle, and sneak you out, I think I can manage attending the jubilee to support my best friend.”

“But you didn’t know I was going to perform,” I say.

“I know. I was prepared to sit in the crowd beside you.” Orli’s hand squeezes mine.

She would make the effort to battle back her fears for our friendship and the simple act of sitting beside me—the fact nearly chases away all the ache left by Astoria’s betrayal.

She points to my wings. “When you fly over the field, I will cheer the loudest. But I want you to remember that the truth can be your wings as well. Don’t let your flight stop tonight. It’s time to follow your heart, follow your truth to new adventures and new lands.”

The call of the trumpets announces the show’s start. Orli hugs me goodbye and rushes to the spectators’ section.

The first woman steps onto the field. I’m too nervous to watch the performances, but if the thunderous applause that follows each Channeler is any indication, they are all spectacular.

“And now for the final presentation of the night, Lirra Barrett, Channeler of Malam.”

I step forward, my heart beating like a hammer against my ribs. Katallia and Seeva are standing at the side of the field. They check my wings and send me off on my own. The organizers roll out a tall platform to the center of the field that was here as part of the showcase events.

The weight of the audience’s rapt attention follows my climb to the top. Looking down on everyone, I hold my hands out, calling on my influencing power over the wind. But my nerves scatter my energy. I think of what happened to my smaller glider in the preliminary meeting, and my knees knock like two woodpeckers fighting to the death.

I cannot seem to gather more than a light breeze. If I were to jump off the platform, the weight of the wings wouldn’t catch the air. They’d send me straight to the ground.

People squirm with impatience. Whispers wind around below me. What’s she wearing? What is she waiting for? A fire of embarrassment licks over my skin, and my eyes burn. Somewhere below, Aodren is watching me choke.

I press my eyes shut, willing myself to focus like Astoria once taught me, but then her image thwarts my effort. The weight of the wings presses against my back.

A voice rises from the crowd. “Fly, Lirra.”

Leaning from Malam’s nobility platform is Aodren, cleaned up from the fight, in all his kingly garb. He wants me to fly. My blood sings in my veins. I rally my energy and extend my palms, reaching for the wind overhead. A surge answers, a warm plume of air shifting over the field.

I leap off the platform. A collective gasp sucks through the crowd as the wings take me down before finding the rising pressure of air needed to sustain flight. Applause echoes around me like thunder. Pulling the ropes fastened to the wings, I glide around the field, weightless, happy, and free.

He shakes hands with people for what seems like hours. I watch from the opposite end of the field, where Da talks to Aunt Katallia. Eugenia stands beside me with the littleuns scampering around us, their arms outstretched like wings.

I apologize for not telling Orli what I overheard at the Elementiary, but she brushes away the apology. “It’s understandable,” she says. Astoria made her choices, and I will have to accept that her absence will hurt for a long time.

When Orli leaves, Da moves into her spot. He stands beside me and follows the line of my attention. “If we are to have no secrets, Lirra, you should tell me more about your king.”

I watch Aodren. Tomorrow is the final day of the summit, when the meetings wrap up and the retinues pack to return to their kingdoms. I have stood for Malam tonight, but I don’t know exactly what that means. Seeva said that declaring my allegiance to Malam tonight only recognizes it as my homeland. There are no other obligations concerning the neighboring kingdom.

It breaks me to think that tonight or tomorrow may be the last time I see Aodren. So much so that I utter, “He is their king. I have no claim to him.” The admission makes me unbearably sad, and at the same time, I couldn’t be prouder of his actions.

“Is he the man who came to our home?” Eugenia asks, stepping up to Da and dipping her shoulder beneath his, so she is safely tucked into his side. Sweet Julisa sleeps in Eugenia’s arms.

No more secrets. “Aye.”

Eugenia’s eyes flare, and I can tell she wants to say more, but she doesn’t want to risk waking Julisa. “On Monday, the littleuns and I will add your name to our prayers when we go to the cathedral. It seems you will need prayers for the safekeeping of your heart as much as your father needs them to keep his nose out of trouble and to continue bringing him safely home.”

My head cocks to the side. Is that what Eugenia does at the cathedral on the cliff each Monday? She prays for safety? I always thought she was making penance. This night is one of endless surprises.

“You know, I knew his father,” Da says.

My nose wrinkles as it always does when he brings up the horrors of his past.

“No, no. Before the dark times. Leon and I were friends.”

I listen to Da tell of a boy who looked similar to Aodren but was anxious and fearful. As the years passed, his fears bled into his leadership and eventually took over his kingdom. “That man may look like his father, but I can tell you now, he’s nothing like Leon. I think his people are starting to see that as well.”

His admission is something Aodren would appreciate hearing. Though I watch the king of Malam, a smile wide across his face, and I think he already knows.

I walk over to the carriage and grab my wings. “Ready?”

“Time to go already, Lir?” Loren complains.

“It’s late.”

He crosses his arms and pouts. “But what of Aodren, the bloody king o’ Malam?”

Eugenia gasps. “Loren, what did you just say?”

My laugh echoes over Loren’s excuse. “I think he’ll be all right,” I say about Aodren. Though I cannot say the same about myself.

The next day I wake to the twins poking my back.

“Whaaa?” I roll to face them.

“Why do you always grumble in the morning?” Loren’s face is a knuckle’s distance from mine, his eyes wide and scrutinizing.

“Why do you always have to wake me?” I ask.

“You said you would let us play with the gliders.”

That is true. After the nonstop business of the last two weeks, it’s hardly believable that there is nothing left to be done today. It takes time to load up the carriage with the gliders, but once I’m done, we wave goodbye to Da and Eugenia. The boys sit beside me as I roll the carriage out of our family’s secret patch of forest and up to the highest hill.

From there, our view stretches from the Skyward Forest to the south to the All Kingdoms’ tents to the northwest. The bangs and shouts of people packing up camp come from the city of canvas. Already, many tents have been taken down.

Aodren may still be at the summer castle. The traveling parties headed east haven’t been swathed in Malam’s royal colors, and none have toted the mark of royalty. He is probably busy preparing to leave.

My interruption would be just that, an interruption.

I work on strapping the twins to the glider. I give them a quick lesson on how to steer, one they’ve already had from me a dozen times over. But I can never be too cautious with my brothers. If needed, I’ll guide them on the wind back to me, though I don’t tell them that. Instead, I wish them luck and send them off the steep edge of the hill.

Their squeals peal out, their happiness and glee masking the sounds of the summit’s end.

I watch them fly and see what Orli saw when she said my gliders could change Channeler society. My imagination takes in a sky of gliders, or other inventions that could be used by both giftless and Channelers. It’s a beautiful dream, one that I hope to have a part in. Even if I don’t know when, I know change is on the horizon for my kingdom and for Malam. Maybe the future is closer than I think.