The Girl Cloaked in Shadow

Chapter 1 The sun peered in through Maggie’s window, casting light across her bed. Dust motes swirled through the air, caught in the breeze off the Endless Sea. The rhythmic splashing of the waves tried to lull her to sleep, but she kept her eyes open, watching the specks float aimlessly through the air. A shadow flickered past the window as a bird landed on top of her stone home. The gull’s caw set Maggie’s teeth on edge. “Shut up.” At her murmur, the shutters swung closed, blocking out the sunlight and muffling the bird’s call. She rolled onto her back, staring up at the dark ceiling. The waves kept up their steady hushing, like the sea itself whispered in her ear. Get up, Maggie. Life is waiting outside these walls. There are a thousand worlds you’ve yet to explore. The words of the waves didn’t pull her from her bed. She didn’t move until the pangs of hunger grew too strong to be ignored. She kicked aside her blanket and dug through the dark for her fishing net. A chill damp clung to the ropes of the net as she shoved open the door. The afternoon sunlight bored into her eyes, sending sparks zapping through her vision. The flat rock that supported her home reached only five feet out over the sea. Maggie walked over the edge and dropped into the water, not bothering to take a breath before the plunge. The waves swayed her body, dragging her closer to the sea floor. She didn’t fight the current. Her toes touched sand as she drifted away from the shore. The burning in her lungs told her to kick up. Her legs didn’t seem to care to try. A fish the size of her head swam a loop around her, pausing for a moment to take in Maggie’s limp figure, before settling itself in her net. The Siren’s will will be done. Maggie kicked off, breaking through the surface of the water with a gasp. A whirring chirp sent the gull who had perched on her house flying with an indignant screech. “Hi, Nic.” Maggie swam toward the shore, letting the heavy net drag behind her. The silver bot rolled to the edge of the ridge above her roof, clicking at her and giving a shrill whistle. “I was just catching lunch.” She stopped at the edge of the rock that was her porch, tossed her net up, and climbed the slope that dipped into the Endless Sea. Nic gave a dull clunk. “I know it’s closer to dinner,” Maggie said, “but this is when I’m eating, so deal.” She had never been able to understand the exact words the little robot said, but there was no mistaking the judgmental tone of his hiss and beep. Nic stared at her with his singular eye as she pulled the fish from the net. The late afternoon sun glinted off his upside-down teardrop-shaped head, which balanced precariously on his teardrop-shaped body. A ruffle of metallic arms lay dormant around his neck. Maggie dropped the fish next to a mound of stones, ignoring Nic’s eye watching her. She knelt and blew a long breath into the center of the rock pile. Fire instantly crackled to life. A tingle itched Maggie’s fingers as the Siren took her payment for the flames. Nic tinked his spindly arms together. “I didn’t ask for your opinion.” Maggie stepped into her house, ignoring the mess that took up the tiny space, and grabbed her knife from the wooden table. A scratch and a thunk sounded from outside as Nic landed on the ledge. Maggie leaned out the door, glaring at Nic’s back as he rolled toward her fish. “Did I invite you down?” Maggie asked. Nic grabbed the fish, lifting the floppy mass to be level with his eye. “What do you want with a fish anyway?” Maggie said. “It’s not like you eat.” The metal arms around Nic’s neck sprang to life, slashing and clawing at the fish. “Hey! I just caught that.” Before Maggie could think of how to rescue her meal from the whirling arms, Nic tossed the fish onto the flames. “What are you…” Maggie’s anger simmered away as she looked down at her cleaned and prepared lunch. Nic whistled. “I could have done it myself.” Maggie sank to the ground, letting the dancing flames dry her clothes as they cooked her meal. Nic raised his arms in a way that nearly looked like a shrug. “And helping me with a fish doesn’t excuse you coming down here without asking. This is my home. You live with Alden and”―she couldn’t bring herself to say Bertrand’s name―“and there’s no need for you to come and check on me.” Nic stared at her. “Alden sent you, didn’t he?” Nic purred. “Alden!” Maggie shouted. A bird somewhere out of sight squawked its displeasure. “Alden, are you hiding up there?” Maggie lay back on the rock, staring at the overhang that was the roof of her home. “I’m not hiding.” Alden stepped into view, twisting the cuff of his pale blue shirt. “I was simply enjoying the view while you and Nic had a little visit.” “You sent a robot―” Nic hummed in indignation. “―to make sure it was safe for you to come down?” Maggie shut her eyes tight, the undeniable sense that she shouldn’t have gotten out of bed stealing her will to argue with Alden. “It’s not that at all.” Alden spoke over the clacking of stones as he climbed down to Maggie’s rock. “I didn’t want to be rude by overwhelming you with visitors.” His shadow fell across Maggie. “I’ve brought food,” Alden said, his voice swinging up hopefully. “I have a fish.” Maggie pointed to the flames. The scent of the charring meat cut through the tang of the sea air. “You need to eat more than fish, Maggie.” Alden took Maggie’s wrists, pulling her to sit up. “It’s not healthy. I know these things―” “You’re a healer.” Maggie opened her eyes wide enough to glower at Alden. “Exactly.” Alden let go of Maggie’s wrists. Nic rolled up behind Maggie, blocking her from lying back down. “Look at the wonderful things I’ve brought.” Alden reached into his bag and pulled out a spiked purple fruit, holding it out to Maggie as though it were a prized treasure. “No?” He said after a long moment. “That’s all right, I have more.” He reached back into the bag, presenting a basket of bright red berries, a sweet roll, and a box of chocolates. “I thought you were trying to take care of my health?” Maggie bit the insides of her cheeks, stamping down the instinct to smile as Alden presented a glass smooth truffle. “There is more to health than diet.” Alden took Maggie’s hand, placing the truffle in her palm. Nic rolled toward the house. A bump and a clatter sounded as soon as he disappeared through the door. “Don’t break anything,” Maggie called after him. “Eat, Maggie.” Alden sank to the ground, taking a moment to arrange his gangly limbs. His dark hair puffed up with the wind, flying in a dozen different directions. “You’ll like it.” Maggie nibbled on a corner of the truffle. Deep sweetness flooded her mouth. A tiny thread of the knotted anger that had settled in her chest weeks ago unraveled. She placed the chocolate back in the box. “You don’t have to bring me food, Alden. I can take care of myself.” Nic rolled back out of her home, carrying the two plates and forks she owned. She had gotten a second plate in case Bertrand ever… Rage flared in her lungs. She snatched the truffle back up, tossing the whole thing into her mouth. “I would never think you incapable of anything,” Alden said. “But you’re my friend. One of the very few I have in the Siren’s Realm. There is no illness here for me to cure. There is no battle for me to fight. The Siren provides for everyone’s needs. I am useless here. Let me at least do a tiny thing to take care of you.” Maggie watched as Nic reached into the fire and pulled the fish free, placing a portion onto each of the plates before handing them to Maggie and Alden. “Thanks, Nic,” Maggie said. Nic purred. “Fine, you can worry about me.” Maggie kept her eyes on her plate. “But only because it gives you something to do, and no wasting magic on me.” “You could never be a waste, Maggie.” “The magic you brought into the Siren’s Realm is all the magic you’ve got.” Maggie dug into her fish with her fork, watching the meat flake into pieces, like the fish was meant to be nothing more or less than tiny bites for a person to eat. “I have plenty of magic,” Alden said. “I spent a whole lifetime in Alondra not being able to use any of it, I have enough stored inside to be able to pay the Siren’s price for a very long time.” “What about Nic?” Maggie set her plate down, unable to look at the ill-fated fish any longer. “He’s not drawing magic from me.” Alden rubbed the flecks of gold embedded in his wrists. “I can feel it when I pay people for things in the Textile Town, or even when I pay for something I’ve asked the Siren for. A tingle as the magic is pulled away from me, and a microscopic void forming where the magic used to live. Nic never pulls magic from me.” “Then how are you still running, buddy?” Maggie looked to Nic. Nic turned his eye up to the sky. “It seems to me the most likely answer is he’s feeding off the ambient magic in the air.” Maggie looked away as Alden took a bite of fish. “The Siren’s Realm is created by magic, consistently altered by magic, powered by magic. It’s as though the air itself is breathing power into him.” “At least the Siren is helping someone,” Maggie said. Alden gave a tiny gasp and looked up to the sky. “Maggie, you shouldn’t say such things.” “Because the Siren will hear me?” Maggie leapt to her feet, energy like she hadn’t felt in days coursing through her body. “Because then the almighty Siren will know I think she’s nothing more than a thieving, murdering, little―ow!” Nic jabbed her in the shin with one of his many arms. “I will kick you into the ocean.” Maggie rubbed her shin. Nic rolled to the far side of the flat rock. “Maggie,” Alden said, unfolding his limbs as he stood, “I know how upset you are.” “Upset?” Maggie growled. “Upset! The Siren decided to let a plague sweep through her perfect realm, and now my friend is dead.” “Losing someone you care for is a great―” “And you.” She pressed a finger to Alden’s chest. “You’re living with the traitor, which makes you no better than he is.” “You think I’m a traitor?” Alden tipped his head to the side, something between hurt and confusion filling his eyes. “No.” Maggie’s chest deflated as the anger rushed out of her, leaving her even more exhausted than before. She sank down onto the rock. “But I don’t know why you put up with him.” “I know you blame him,” Alden said slowly. “For convincing you to leave the Siren’s Realm when the blackness was taking people, for helping to free my people―” “Don’t.” Maggie waved a hand at the fire, extinguishing the flames. “Just don’t.” Alden picked at his fish, tearing it into tiny pieces. “Bertrand Wayland aside, you can’t hide out here.” “I’m not hiding.” “When was the last time you left this rock?” Nic c****d his head to the side. “When I left the Siren’s Realm.” Maggie grabbed a chocolate from the box. “When we went to Alondra and found you.” “You haven’t left at all since you’ve been back?” Alden’s eyes widened. She popped another truffle into her mouth and looked out over the sea. There was nothing new or interesting in the waves, but staring at their shimmering surface was better than seeing the worry in Alden’s eyes. “People die, Maggie,” Alden whispered. “That doesn’t mean you get to stop living.” “People die, but you still have to eat breakfast.” A coarse laugh rattled the knot in Maggie’s throat. “My mother taught me that a long time ago.” “Then let’s go find breakfast.” Alden grabbed Maggie under the arms and hoisted her to her feet. “Her shoes please, Nic.” “But it’s dinnertime, and my clothes are wet.” Nic rolled into her home. “Nic, don’t. I’ve already eaten,” Maggie said. Nic tossed her boots through the door. They landed limply at her feet. “You haven’t eaten enough.” Alden crossed his arms in a way he seemed to believe was intimidating. “I’m the healer here. A long walk and some good food, that’s what you need.” Maggie glared between Nic and Alden, the urge to throw both of them into the Endless Sea ebbing the longer her friends stared at her. “Fine.” Maggie pulled on her gray leather boots. “I’ll agree to go into town. But If I see Bertrand and decide to kill him, you agree to stay out of my way.” “Perfect.” Alden beamed at her. “I’ve got an excellent adventure in mind, and there’s no worry of running into Bertrand at all.” “Has he decided to lock himself in the dark as penance for all the damage he’s done?” Maggie climbed up to the overhang, not needing to look to know where to place her hands. “He’s gone on one of his adventures,” Alden said. “I haven’t seen Bertrand in more than a week.”