Read Online The Silver Siren by Chanda Hahn - Free Book Online Page B

saying.
    “ I can’t believe he came
back.”
    “ He shouldn’t have come
back,” the larger one said.
    “ This changes
everything.”
    “ This changes nothing.
Gwen has made her choice.”
    “ Have you spoken with
Alek?”
    “ No. Not until we are sure
she’s going to fail.”
    Both men stopped talking but continued
walking. They headed toward a tall guard tower on the south end of
town. I ducked into a bush and listened as they rapped three times,
then once, then twice. A slot in the door opened and a large
furrowed brow peaked out.
    “ What do you
want?”
    “ We want to speak to our
brother,” the tall man said.
    “ No, he’s…” a deep chuckle
spilled forth, “detained.”
    “ This is
important.”
    “ You will have to wait to
have your questions answered like everyone else.”
    I watched as the tall man shook his
head and motioned for the other to follow him. Both walked down the
path and away from the tall tower.
    That must be where Kael
is . He had to be the one they were talking
about. I looked up and saw that the tower was at least fifty feet
high, with one small window and ledge on every floor. There was no
entrance other than the door guarded by Mr. Gargantuan.
    I slowly crept backwards and retraced
my steps to the open pavilion I had seen as we came into the
village—the one filled with racks of weapons. It was mostly dark. A
warm light spilled out of one side of the closest home, and I could
see shadows moving behind the screens. Bypassing the occupied side,
I ended up in an empty training arena. I closed my eyes and felt a
moment of helplessness.
    No, I would just have to keep
searching.
    Silently, I went to the dark side of
the courtyard and slid open the door. Thankful for how quiet the
rice paper doors were, I kept low to the ground and closed the door
behind me. I waited. I needed to start checking rooms, looking for
weapons that had been put away. On my third door, I hit the
jackpot. I took only what I thought I would need to escape: knives,
blow tubes, grappling hooks, shooting stars, and a bow and
arrow—everything an assassin needed.
    Everything I needed.
    Armed, I made my way to the towering
pagoda that was Kael’s prison. Thankfully, the multiple ledges
would give me plenty of help scaling the tower. It had been a few
seasons since I used a grappling hook, and it took two tries before
I was able to secure it and start my ascent. I left my bow and
arrow on the ground. The bow would do little good in such a small
room. At each floor, I paused and listened outside of the window
before I moved on and up.
    On the fifth floor I spotted Kael,
chain-bound in the corner of a small stone room. Each floor had
guards posted, and Kael’s floor was no exception. There were
two.
    My hand felt into my pocket searching
for the blow dart and removing the protective cork. I had chosen
the ones dipped in blue, knowing those were the sleep darts, from a
previous lesson from Kael. My fingers fumbled with the dart and it
slipped through my fingers, falling fifty feet to the
ground.
    I froze and tried to calm my nerves
down. I had to be less careless.
    A blindfold covered Kael’s eyes. He
was gagged, looking like he was asleep, but I could tell he was
feigning. His legs were a little too stiff. He probably knew I was
outside of the tower and was ready to act, to help if
needed.
    Taking aim, I blew. The guard closest
to me slapped his neck.
    “ What the…?” He pulled the
dart out of his neck. “Sound the alarm…esca—” He fell over. The
other guard turned to attack me.
    I was already over the window ledge
and had another dart loaded. The blowpipe was knocked from my hand
by the second guard, and I launched myself at him. We rolled across
the floor. I was hoping to knock him to the ground and wind him,
but now I was on the bottom fighting for my life.
    Kael’s training kicked in, though. I
wrapped my arms around his hands, ducked rolled, and wrapped my
legs around his head and squeezed.