Page 22 of Requiem of Silence

The men ambled down the stairs, eyeing her suspiciously where she stood next to the town car. Kyara clenched her jaw until they passed. They piled into a boxy, wagon-like vehicle parked on the corner and drove away.

When she turned back to the house, the woman in the doorway was looking at her sadly. She raised a hand in greeting and Kyara, surprised at such a simple kindness from a stranger in obvious distress, did the same. Then a small Lagrimari girl appeared at the woman’s side. She, too, was crying and a pang hit Kyara’s heart.

The child’s gaze caught on Kyara, and her expression shifted. Her jaw dropped and she detached herself from the woman to dart out the door.

“It’s you!” the girl cried. Kyara took a step back, her legs hitting the car door. This child obviously knew the Poison Flame.

“Are you here to help us find my sister?” the girl asked, racing down the steps to her side. Confusion made Kyara’s skin tighten.

“Ulani!” the woman called, coming down after the girl. She was not Elsiran and she certainly wasn’t Lagrimari, yet she appeared to be caring for this child. She spoke in rapid Elsiran, in firm but even tones, before giving Kyara an apologetic look.

Ulani shook her head and grabbed Kyara’s hand with small fingers. The exchange was lost to Kyara, but the hand in hers shocked her so much she wasn’t sure how to react.

“What’s happened to your sister?” she finally asked.

“She got nabbed. By a lady.”

Kyara’s heart nearly stopped as a sense of dread overtook her. She did not believe in coincidences. “A lady? What did the lady look like?” She spoke around the sudden dryness in her mouth.

“Little and bald-headed. She wasn’t mean or angry. She felt like a thistle plant.” The girl tilted her head, thinking. “The kind with the pretty, purple flowers.”

“How so?”

“Prickly.”

A lump formed in Kyara’s throat. The description was somehow apt. “Was she wearing an ugly, black dress?”

The little girl stared up at her and nodded. Her eyes were slightly different colors, one lighter than the other, though it could have been a trick of the light. It was full dark now, gas lamps forming pools of illumination on the street.

“I know you,” Kyara said, suddenly remembering this girl and her odd eyes. “You hid under the table, while I…” Her mouth snapped shut. She had killed this girl’s father right in front of her.

She looked down at their clasped hands, then back up, incredulous. Ulani’s expression was solemn. “You saved us from the nabbers and were helping the Keepers. You’ll help find Tana.” The last wasn’t a question.

A ripple of shame moved through Kyara, throwing her off balance. The children in the warehouse—this girl and her sister had been among them. So strange to have encountered her twice before and now again. She swayed before righting herself again, something like fate settling across her shoulders.

Ulani spoke to the woman, whose expression changed from puzzlement to hope. She motioned for Kyara to follow her back into the house. With a tug on their joined hands, Ulani led the way.

Once inside, they entered a well-appointed sitting room just off the entry. Kyara perched on a couch next to the little girl, who had yet to release her, while the woman disappeared momentarily before returning with a loop of black wire that she put around her neck. When she next spoke, a tinny sound rang in her voice, but her words were in Lagrimari.

“This is an amalgam translator. They aren’t being made anymore, and aren’t even legal here, but I have a friend with connections whowas able to get me a few. They don’t last particularly long, so I’ve only been using them in emergencies, but I think this counts as one.”

Kyara agreed.

“My name is Ella Farmafield. My daughter has told me who you are and that you saved her life. You have my gratitude.”

Daughter.That was good. There were many Lagrimari orphans needing families. Kyara tried to pull her hand from Ulani’s grip, but the child wouldn’t budge.

“Did she also tell you about the first time she met me?” Kyara asked.

Ella looked at Ulani, who turned her head away, unchastened.

Kyara sighed. “In Lagrimar, I was known as the Poison Flame. I was an assassin for the True Father.” The woman’s eyes widened; her posture stiffened.

“I was controlled by a blood spell that forced me to follow directions or face… extreme pain.” She did not like to dwell on the spell or its consequences.

“You were nearly executed, but you saved the queen’s life, isn’t that right?” Ella’s voice came slowly as if she was remembering.

“That’s true.”

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