Two Hearts One Beat – Chapter 258

PreviousNext

Side A – Yasgrid

Picking vines off her clothes gave Yasgrid a chance to examine the state of her body. What should have been a mass of aches and overworked muscle felt inexplicably fine. Better than fine. Renewed?

“They are looking for you,” King said, and continued grooming himself. “Would you have me tell them where they can find you?”

Yasgrid’s thoughts were still orbiting her observations of Elshira and Kyra’s words from her dream, and she froze trying to decide whether alerting the one to her location was worth the comfort it might provide the other.

Then she remembered where she’d seen King last.

“Naosha and Kayelle?” she asked, keenly aware of the value of clarity before she jumped to any conclusions.

“Marianne as well,” King said. “She is most agreeable and has almost enough claws to be trustworthy.”

An instant reply of ‘yes’ leapt to Yasgrid’s lips but she locked them shut before it could escape.

Did she want to let them know where she was?

No.

Elshira was searching for her. Was fixated on her. Elshira had dispatched Troubles to monitor Marianne and Kayelle, but that had gone about as well as Yasgrid would have guessed given the fickle and uncontrollable natures of Troubles. It was possible that if the others started taking direct and effective action against Elshira that she’d turn her attention to dealing with them, but for the moment they were dangerously free to act and the longer Yasgrid could remain a mysterious thorn in Elshira’s side the deeper Naosha’s plans would be able to run.

“Not yet,” she said. “If I should fall or be captured, then yes, I ask that you inform them, but for now we are more effective like this.”

“And what effect do you wish to have?” King asked.

“Elshira’s too great a danger to everyone. I want to find how to stop her,” Yasgrid said.

King sniffed and glared at her.

“Biting your own tail is not a successful hunt,” he said, and it was Yasgrid’s turn to stare at him.

“What do you mean?” she asked, reaching again for clarity despite her guess that this was King attempting to speak plainly.

“If you hunt a sparrow and a mouse but are only look for the mouse you may find a meal but it won’t be one which satisfies,” he said, meeting her gaze as though daring her not to understand him.

Strangely, that worked.

“Ah, you mean if I’m going to pursue a course of action I should be honest about what my reasons truly are,” Yasgrid said.

“As I said.”

“I do want to stop Elshira, and she is dangerous and malevolent, but more than that I want to find Kyra,” Yasgrid said. “Can you sense where she is?”

King sniffed the air a few times.

“Not here,” he said at last.

“Not where?” Yasgrid asked since it was obvious that Kyra wasn’t with them in the patch of forest Yasgrid had slumbered in.

“Not in the Darkwood,” King said.

Side B – Nia

Nia was pretty certain she’d heard things wrong.

“My music?” she asked, sitting up to get a better look at Margrada’s expression. “How did you hear my music? I wasn’t holding a Shatter Drum.”

“No, you weren’t,” Margrada said, brushing a few strands of Nia’s hair from her face. “But you found a way to play anyways didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but I don’t understand, I thought that was a dream?” Nia said.

“I can’t imagine what else it could have been,” Margrada said.

“So how to did you heard it? Were you asleep too? Oh no, did I pull you in too?” Nia knew that panicking was not a useful response, but the thought that she might have endangered Margrada twisted her stomach to the point where it was very good she hadn’t eaten in a few days.”

“No,” Margrada said, her voice gentle despite the wry grin that sprang up onto her lips. “Though that face your making means that I won a very nice little bet.”

“Won a…wait, back up. What did I miss?” Nia asked.

“I feel like that should be my question to you,” Margrada said. “You made music in your dreams. No. You made magic in your dreams. Shatter magic. It was very distinct.”

“How could you tell?” Nia asked.

Margrada cupped Nia’s chin in one hand, stared directly into Nia’s eyes and said, “Do you have any idea how many hours I’ve spent with a Shatter Drum?”

Margrada wasn’t old. She was one year younger than Nia, but the eyes Nia was staring back into were those of a prodigy. The title of Master wasn’t one Margrada had been given yet and likely never would be, though that was only because she already was one and would simply take it for herself before any was able to give it to her.

“Yeah, I get that part,” Nia said. “I don’t understand how you heard it in the first place though.”

“Like this,” Margrada said, and pushed Nia back down in her bedroll before lowering her heard to rest it on Nia’s chest.

“You listened to me?” Nia asked.

“To your heart,” Margrada said. “It’s what you were playing your music on.”

A chill shot through Nia.

“How dangerous was what I was doing?” she asked.

“I have no idea,” Margrada said. “Pelegar doesn’t either. We’ve never heard of anyone doing what you did.”

“You seem kind of calm about all this?” Nia said, trying to gauge how much, if anything, Margrada was holding back.

“That’s because you slept through the first two days of me freaking out,” Margrada said, her smile turning more amused than anything else.

“I’m so sorry for worrying you,” Nia said.

“I know,” Margrada said. “I could hear that in your music too. That’s what helped. I went to sleep like this – or maybe I just passed out – I was pretty tired by then – and I was able to hear your music even more clearly. I could feel the concern and the love that drove your song. You weren’t playing for yourself, were you? It was to protect someone precious.”

Nia couldn’t find her words for a moment but eventually stammered out a simple “yeah, is that okay?”

“It was beautiful,” Margrada said. “I didn’t know drumming could be like that. I don’t think I can drum in my dreams, but you’ve given me a whole new world within the drums to explore.”

PreviousNext