Page 99 of A Fractured Song

Zev turned, moving swiftly to meet his brother in the center of the yard.

“Azai! Are you all right? Where are Mother and Father?”

“I’m fine,” said Azai. “But something’s going on. Mother isn’t here, the neighbors just slaughtered a pig, and she went to trade for some pork. But some woman just arrived to speak with Father, and I didn’t like the look of her.”

Fear clutched at Zev’s heart, and he grabbed Azai’s arm. “Tall, dark-haired, in her thirties?”

“That’s right.” Azai stared at him. “Who is she?”

“A rogue singer, a murderer,” Zev said. “Where is she?”

“Speaking with Father in the smaller barn,” said Azai, alarmed. “Father was the one who met her at the gate, and after whatever she said to him, he sent me away and wouldn’t let me join the conversation.”

“She probably threatened you,” Zev said, already running toward the smaller barn, which was set further from the house. “And threatened exposure. I think she knows who we are, Azai. I don’t know how, but—”

“Maybe your singer told her,” Azai panted darkly as he kept pace.

Zev ignored the surge of irritation at this injustice to Marieke. It wasn’t important right now. But it did remind him that Marieke didn’t know what was going on.

His stride faltered for one step, then he surged forward. He didn’t want to waste a moment redirecting to get Marieke. Besides which, now he knew Jade was here, the idea of Marieke facing her was terrifying. He could still hear the older singer’s icy voice.

The next time I see her, I will kill her, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.

He and Azai were only a few paces from the smaller barnwhen the stillness of the afternoon was slashed by a cry of agony.

Zev’s breath caught in his throat as the brothers burst into the smaller barn together. His worst fears were realized at the sight of Jade standing over his father, who knelt at her feet with his hand clutched to his heart. The posture was just what Zev would imagine for a man who’d had a blade plunged into his chest, but no weapon was visible.

Zev let out a cry of pure rage, surging forward with Azai close behind.

Jade’s head came whipping up, her voice raised in a swift song that crashed into the brothers like a solid wall. Knocked off his feet, Zev struggled back up, throwing himself forward again only to meet an invisible barrier. He pounded his fists against it in impotent fury, terrified by the agony twisting his father’s silent features.

“You deserve this,” Jade told the man at her feet, her voice sad in a detached way. “You had the chance to work with me to make it right, but you’ve chosen the coward’s way.”

Azai roared in outrage at the woman daring to call their father a coward, but he was as unable to break through the barrier as Zev was. Zev turned, intending to run out of the barn and find another way around, only to realize that the invisible wall hemmed him in on all sides.

“Turning on…my land…could never make…anything right,” their father gasped.

“If you let the land prosper in spite of the crimes of its leaders, they will never be brought to justice,” Jade said. She shook her head, continuing to ignore the trapped brothers. “You are a traitor. I betrayed my own to right the wrongs done to your kind. Your choice betrays your ancestors and cheapens my sacrifice.”

She turned at last to her audience, hereyes lingering on Zev. “I don’t know how you followed so swiftly. I’m impressed.” Her eyes passed between them, her tone almost weary. “I know this is a hard necessity. I hope it motivates you to make a better choice than your father. The future rests with you now. We will meet again, and when we do, I will ask for your decision. I’m not afraid to obliterate your line if it’s become tainted by the lies of the councils and paralyzed into inaction.”

“Father!” Azai screamed beside Zev, ignoring Jade’s words, which must have made even less sense to him than they did to Zev.

Their father didn’t respond, showing no sign that he could hear his sons’ desperate cries. Perhaps their voices were held in by the barrier just as their bodies were. Their father keeled over as Jade stepped past him, climbing out a window on the far side of the barn. Not until she was fully out of sight did the barrier drop.

“MARIEKE!” Zev screamed, as he threw himself toward his father’s form. “MARIEKE, HELP!”

“Father!” Azai cried, carefully turning their father over and searching for signs of injury. None were visible, but the older man’s broken moans were becoming fainter.

Marieke appeared at Zev’s side, her hand gripping his arm. “I was already coming,” she said. “I felt the surge of magic, and I saw Jade.”

“Where is she?” Azai’s voice trembled with anger.

“She’s gone,” said Marieke. “She summoned a wind, and it carried her like a bird. What did she do?” Her face was pale as her gaze found Zev’s father.

“She attacked him,” Zev said desperately. “I don’t know how, but I think he’s dying. Help him, please!”

“I…I’m not trained in healing song.” Marieke’s voice shook. “I can do a simple diagnostic song, but…”

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