The ghosts form a line, blocking our progress. Uh oh.
“How about we make a run for it? They don’t look too solid.” Even as I speak the words, I know this is a terrible idea.
She shakes her head. “They’ll only let us pass if we answer their riddle correctly.”
“And you know this because of your dream?” I don’t filter the skepticism from my voice.
“Trust me,” she says.
“What happens if we don’t answer the riddle correctly?” I ask then realize why the town is referred to as Nine Days.
A ghost parts his lips to reveal emptiness and I hear, “One for sorrow.”
Then another says, “Two for joy.”
A series of tired voices continue, “Three for girls.”
Then, “Four for boys.”
Another says, “Five for silver.”
Followed by, “Six for gold.”
Then, “Seven for secrets never told.”
“Eight for schemes,” one says slowly.
“Nine for dreams.”
A long silence follows as wind whistles through the ravine. It sounds like mage magic.
“Ten to keep us. Ten to turn us back to dust,” one of the ghosts says.
Conveniently, or inconveniently as the case may be, I count ten ghosts.
“Ten to turn us back to dust...” she repeats. “The answer to the riddle is who attacked them.”
“If you saw it in your dream then you know who did it.”
“It was a man. That’s all I know.” Kiki looks up at me with concern and at the same a rock tumbles down the ravine, startling her.
The king’s patrol marches down the Royal Road and toward us.
The ghosts seem to look through us and at them.
“We should really get going,” I urge.
Kiki remains steady, watching, waiting. “What’s the answer to the riddle?” she says as though thinking out loud.
“Sounded more like a rhyme.”
The silver king’s banners wave in the air. They appear like a miniature brigade in the distance but are steadily getting closer.
I grip her close to me as if my size alone can protect her from the ghosts in front of us and the guards behind us.
She holds a stone with green, almost glowing, veins in her hand. “I didn’t want to use this. It’s my last one.”
“What is it?”
“A talisman from my realm. To ward off demons, but apparently, it worked on the night howls. Maybe it’ll—” She clears her throat and addresses the ghosts. “Please, let us pass.”
The stone emits an almost invisible ripple of magic, like water shifting the air around us. The barricade of ghosts turn mist-like and part, allowing us passage.
We hurry through the ravine, I but can’t help feel as if both the ghosts and the guard are closing in at our backs.
Chapter 15
Ineke
I belatedly realize that I’ve dreamed of the Northlands, but didn’t realize it at the time. Most of the dreams were from when it was thriving, the innerlands, and then Nine Days, including a vision of the man my mother loved, my father, and them traveling to a snowy, icy place. I’ve dreamed of babies, birds, evil mages, and more. How could I dream of towns and places and people that I’ve never been to or met?
I experiment with these thoughts before they meet my tongue. Will Soren think I’ve gone mad? My mind iced over and delusional? Like I took a few too many swigs of cider?
I clear my throat as we cross a narrow land bridge spanning a deep chasm. The fading light emphasizes a scar on his cheek and shadow of stubble along his jaw.
“Soren, what do you dream about?”
He pauses in the middle of the bridge and looks at me carefully. I suddenly feel vulnerable and not because the king’s patrol is somewhere behind us—if the ghosts even let them pass. Lucky for me, I had one remaining talisman from Heather, but I don’t have any left.
I glance down; the drop is fathomless. I wonder what it would be like to fly. I’m still awaiting an answer from Soren. His eyes flutter from me to the sky, perhaps also wondering what life would be like with wings.
“If we were birds we’d be there by now,” I say in his silence.
“Or fae. But I dream I can fly,” he says, placing his hand on the middle of my back, moving me away from the edge and impossibility.
However, my mind lingers, dipping curious fingers into this pool of thought.
“I dream of ravens. Black and golden. I dream of freedom,” he adds.
“You said your mother was fae.”
“But not my father. I didn’t get the fae magic or the bear shifter power. Some people are born without abilities or they’re delayed. It’s rare but does happen.”
“You told me that back then magic and supernatural abilities were frowned upon, but your parents were together and they weren’t the same kind of magical being.”
“I suppose love doesn’t see those differences as a problem.” He bites his lip.
I wonder about my father and mother—what it would’ve been like to grow up here and with them.
Once on the other side of the land bridge, the bluff opens to a green and grassy carpet, popping with purple and yellow flowers.
“It’s beautiful,” I say, stepping onto the slim path winding away from us. I spin in a circle and for the first time since I was home, I feel like I can breathe. I step toward Soren. The depth of my feeling wants to flap free from my lips. I’m ready to tell him all of the things I’ve seen when I sleep.
But he points to the distance. “See that?”
Not far off, in a stony field, a tiny glow winks like an eye with a secret.
“If we can make it a little farther, we might be able to take shelter. Word is the residents of Briar Knoll
