The Farsai Desert mourned anew
Churning rivers, swirling seas
No mercy from the bruising breeze
O-o the tidewind came from sky afar
The penance for the blood power.
Anyme sings, Anyme brings
Smoke and fire, they do bow
For the tidewind is here and now
Here and now ’til atonement’s paid
The debt for power is the trade
O-o the tidewind came from sky afar
The penance for the blood power.
Anyme sings, Anyme brings
Its cleansing wind that leaves us bare
Succumb to nightfall and be judged fair
The tidewind takes, the tidewind gives
Here and now, and so we live.
Sylah knew that lullaby, knew the lilt of the words, the dip of the chorus. It brought her out of the dark gap where her heart should be.
“My mother used to sing that song to me.” The words were raw in her ravaged throat. “Your mother, I should say.”
Anoor frowned down at her, and Sylah knew it was time.
“When I was two years old, I was stolen from my crib.” Sylah took a quivering breath and sat up. “I was taken from my home. From the Keep. They left a baby in my place. You.”
Anoor crawled backward away from Sylah. Her nails scraped on the stone floor as she scuttled, her eyes going wide.
But Sylah didn’t stop.
“I was trained in a place called the Sanctuary until I was fourteen. Trained for the Aktibar, for the sole purpose of competing in the trials and winning the title of disciple. There were twelve of us. They called us the Stolen. We were part of the Sandstorm.” Sylah swallowed, ignored the fear in Anoor’s face and continued on. She listed their names, each one of the Stolen and their surrogate parents. She spoke about Fareen, Jond, all of them. Her voice grew hoarse as she recounted the brutal beatings used by Azim to train them. The tidewind still pounded the walls of the tower as she reached the zenith of her tale.
“And then I killed them all.”
Air hissed out between Anoor’s teeth, and she looked at the door.
“I didn’t mean to,” Sylah added softly. “I slipped away…to the village.” A tear fell to her lip, but Sylah didn’t notice. “I was going to buy Fareen and Jond sweets for Ardae. I wanted to get there before the market closed, so I was running, and I fell.” Sylah cradled her left knee, the echo of the pain as she fell on the dirt road thrumming through her.
“I split my knee, and an officer helped me up. He saw the red, and he knew, he knew that the only Embers in Ood-Zaynib that day were the overseer’s family. Uka, she had never given up looking for the Sandstorm, and her platoon were there.” Sylah swallowed, her throat dry, her gaze far, far away.
“I ran all the way back to the Sanctuary, leading them right to the Sandstorm. I didn’t think, didn’t consider leading them anywhere else. It was their downfall. I mean, I was their downfall. We tried to fight them; I killed many. But they had runeguns.”
Sylah choked on a laugh.