Page 100 of Skysong

But Andala shook her head. ‘These woods will be crawling with Terault’s men by then. There isn’t time. If we’re going to go, we have to go now.’ She looked up, fixing Oriane with her sharpest stare. ‘Youhave to go now.’

‘No,’ Oriane said at once. ‘We’ve talked about this. I will not go without you.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous about this, Oriane. You cannot make yourself a martyr. There’s no sense in sacrificing yourself—’

‘And what about you? You almost sacrificed yourself to Terault to stop him hurting me.’

That brought Andala up short. ‘I – that was different. You know that. I had no choice. Youdohave a choice. You can transform right now and fly away, and you’ll be safe.’

Oriane shook her head, frustrated tears building in her eyes, burning. ‘It isn’t that easy.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I’d ratherdiethan be alone again!’

She hissed the words, louder than she’d meant to. The truth in them rang like an echo, and Andala flinched as though she’d been struck. A terrible sadness settled in her face.

‘If I go there,’ Oriane said, calmer now, ‘I can’t come back. I’ll be stuck there on my own for who knows how long. And if Terault finds you and does what he plans to do, I’ve no doubt he’ll come after me anyway.’ She shook her head, sank to the ground as her legs refused to hold her up any longer. ‘We’ll both be lost.’

Kitt sat beside her immediately, not saying anything, just a quiet, comforting presence. Andala sank to her knees at Oriane’s other side.353Tomas stood aside, clearly feeling awkward, separate – or perhaps, Oriane thought, catching a glimpse of his face, guilty for his role in all of this.

For several long moments there was no sound but the woods’ night-music, the gentle shifting of the animals beside them. Then—

‘Kitt,’ Andala said, ‘would you mind scouting a place for us to shelter out of sight? Oriane is going to teach me how to transform.’

They worked through the night.

Oriane tried everything she could think of to help Andala master her power. She talked her through the feeling of her own transformation; changed herself, in the hope that Andala could follow suit. And Andala tried, harder than anything. Oriane could see the effort she was expending, the desperation she tried to fuel into the magic she needed.

But soon they were an hour from dawn, and Andala still could not do it.

It felt impossible. There was no other way to say it. No matter what they tried, or how hard Andala worked, there seemed no way to recreate the phenomenon that had occurred in the palace dungeon. Oriane couldn’t bear to see the look on Andala’s face – the despair, the fury at herself.

‘It’s all right,’ she said, for the hundredth time. ‘Let’s take a moment and try again.’

But there was no time to do either.

Kitt burst back through the trees to their secluded clearing. ‘Terault’s people. More of them. They’re coming this way.’

Tomas emerged after Kitt, his face set and pale.354

Ice spread through Oriane’s body. She was frozen solid. She couldn’t move.

Andala brought her back, a gentle hand gripping her arm. ‘Oriane, you have to go.’

‘No,’ Oriane said automatically, stubbornly.

‘It’s not a question anymore. It’s not up for debate. They’re coming. They can’t find you.You have to go.’

‘I’m afraid,’ Oriane blurted. Words were bubbling up within her in a rush, spilling over with her fear. ‘I’m afraid to leave here without you. To leave here at all. My home, my father …’ She hadn’t even buried him. Hadn’t gone back to say a proper goodbye.

Andala’s face softened. ‘He’ll be with you. It doesn’t matter where you go. He’ll always be with you.’

Now it was tears that spilled over. They tumbled down Oriane’s face as she turned in a half-daze to Kitt.

‘Kitt – if anything happens to you, I—’

‘I’ll be fine,’ he said, and she wanted to believe him. He took her hand, kissed it, ever the gentleman; gave her one of his familiar bright smiles. ‘I’m so glad to have met you. I’d say it’s been an honour to know the Lady Lark, but really, it’s just been an honour to know you, Oriane.’

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