The trouble is, I can’t see very well at all. The forest grows darker and denser by the minute, not to mention that I only have the use of one eye. I hear Spinner stumbling along behind, murmuring her thanks as Sheen holds her steady. The Bandits possess none of his easy grace, yet rather seem to be entirely in tune with the forest itself, predicting every wayward root, branch and boulder.
I’m suddenly distracted by the sight of flickering lights up ahead. Posy pulls me through a thick copse of trees and my mouth falls open as I take in what lies beyond.
Treehouses. Nine – no, ten – of them, crooked but sturdy, curved round the trunks of several towering maples and connected by a series of rope bridges. Firefly lanterns hang from the lower boughs, illuminating the reddish-gold leaves.
It’s like something out of a storybook.
‘Thisis where you live?’
Briar nods.
‘But what about the …’ I screw up my face as I try to remember what Iris had said. ‘The … tree people?’
‘The dryads?’
‘That was it. I thought this place was supposed to be overrun with them.’
‘Oh, it is,’ she replies, grinning fondly at Posy as the little girl scampers off. ‘But we don’t interfere with the spirits, and in return they leave us be.’
I raise an eyebrow. ‘And why’s that?’
Briar shrugs. ‘Because we don’t fall for their tricks.’
It’s not long before the Bandits are assembled, sitting cross-legged on the earth like schoolchildren as I proceed to fill them in on recent events, doing my best to make it sound as though I’d merelyheardabout them rather than experienced many first-hand. Darrow leans against a tree, twirling his hatchet while pretending not to listen. There are several gasps as I speak of the Choosing Rite, even more as I reveal what happened at the Binding Ceremony. At the mention of Blaze and Fox, several of the congregation cry out in rage. Some even spit on the ground, their faces twisted with fury.
I tell them of King Balen’s betrayal and Hal’s elevation to emperor, Aunt Yvainne’s funeral and the attack on Fire Mountain. Afterwards, Sheen, Spinner and I are handed bowls of stew, which we readily accept. My stomach has barely stopped growling for weeks.
As I eat, I realize I’m not entirely sure whether this is supposed to be supper or breakfast. The canopy above is so thick it blocks out any dregs of moonlight or glimmers ofdawn. Come to think of it, how long has it been since we left Iris’s workshop? Hours? A day? More? I can’t seem to tell. I can’t shake this strange, warped feeling of detachment. It’s as if the deeper one travels into the Greenwood, the more time bends.
‘That’s a fine bow you have there,’ Briar tells me, her eyes appraising.
‘I got it in Heathcross,’ I say. ‘You know, that village you plunder from time to time.’
Several conversations peter out, their participants turning to stare at me defensively.
Briar’s face darkens. ‘We do that out of necessity, not malice. We only take what we need to survive.’
‘What happened to your families?’ Spinner asks.
‘Some died in the storm,’ says Briar flatly. ‘Most died in the Cleaving.’
I feel my stomach drop. These children are not just orphans – they’re Storm and Rift Orphans. It’s little wonder their hatred for Blaze and Fox is so visceral.
‘How old were you when …’
‘Four,’ answers Briar. ‘My mother had me scale a tree to escape the flooding. She tied me to a branch, then climbed down to fetch my little brother. She never came back.’
My throat tightens. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘For the next few years I was all alone. I lived off scraps. Nobody helped me. People were too busy rebuilding their own lives to care. Until one day, I met Darrow.’
Darrow’s hard gaze softens momentarily.
‘Together we discovered other Storm Orphans. We became a family.’ Briar smiles at the oldest Bandits. ‘Wetravelled from province to province, looking for work where we could find it. Then, six years ago …’
‘The Cleaving,’ I finish.
She nods grimly. ‘As if we needed another reason to hate the Etheri. Needless to say, our numbers grew. Posy was only a few weeks old when it happened.’ Briar pulls the little girl into her lap. ‘I found her in the wreckage of a City of Buried Souls, under a shelf of rock surrounded by rubble and bodies, right on the edge of the Rift. After that, we decided we had to protect ourselves. So we came here, to the Greenwood, where nobody can hurt us.’
