Witch Fall

by Amber Argyle

  Eventually, there was a flurry of dry air. A cool silk sheet was pulled over Lilette’s body.

  “How is she?” It was Chen’s voice.

  The physician answered. “I have done all I can for her.”

  “And?” Chen’s voice held an undeniable warning.

  The physician didn’t answer. Lilette knew what his silence meant, but she was too weak to fear death.

  “Lilette.” She stirred a little. Her limbs were so heavy. “Lilette. Open your eyes.”

  She blinked them open to find it was morning again. Chen stood above her. His hand was locked around the back of a woman’s neck. “Is this who poisoned you?”

  It was his wife, Sima—or whatever her real name was. Only now her robes were the finest Lilette had ever seen. Her hair was pulled back in elaborate twists, with jeweled combs and orchids sparkling across the top.

  Lilette nodded once. Chen’s eyes flashed.

  His wife couldn’t seem to catch her breath. “I didn’t even know she existed!”

  “With the amount of spies you have all over the palace, Laosh, I think not.” He threw her to the ground. As if from far away, Lilette watched as the woman scrambled to her feet. Chen advanced on her while the eunuchs remained prostrate.

  Laosh reached the wall. There was nowhere else for her to go. Chen slowly drew his sword. “And she is not the first.”

  His wife glared up at him. “You swore when you married me that you would take no other! You promised my father.”

  He lifted his sword above his head. “Part of our arrangement was that you provide me with sons. Your barrenness voids our contract.”

  Her eyes flashed a warning. “Kill me and my father will raise his armies against you. He’ll destroy your city, your people. Everything!”

  “Even your father cannot save you from the law, Laosh.”

  She screamed until the sword came down, silencing her. Lilette had just watched Chen kill his wife. She waited for the horror to come. The disgust. But it didn’t. Instead, all she felt was a numb detachment, like nothing she saw was real.

  Chen stepped back, a look of revulsion crossing his face. “Eunuchs, clean this mess up. Send her body back to her father. He can go to the trouble of burying her.”

  He strode toward Lilette, blood dripping from his sword. “She is dying?”

  Silence was the reply.

  He cuffed the physician. “Answer me!”

  The man lay blinking where he’d fallen on the floor. “Yes, Heir. She is dying.”

  Chen turned and left without a backward glance.

  Chapter 7

  Lilette saw something that night, something that haunted her the rest of her days. ~Jolin

  Lilette’s heartbeats grew farther and farther apart until she again floated in the uneasy space between life and death. As if from a distance, she sensed movement and unease. Finally, an explosion jolted her into consciousness. Even through the blankets darkening the room, she could see flashes of lightning. Wind blasted against the house.

  Chen stood in the doorway, sword in hand, water dripping from his clothing. Before him was a woman, this one very different from the last. She was gaunt and looked about Lilette’s age. Her wet, chin-length hair, the color of ashes mixed with dirt, was parted exactly down the middle and tucked behind her ears. Her strange, floor-length tunic had a fitted bodice and billowed out below the hips.

  She was one of the witches. Lilette tried to make her mouth work, to say something—anything—but she couldn’t move past the wall of pain and weakness.

  “I am told you are the best healer, so heal her,” Chen said to the woman.

  “I’ve already told you, I’m not a healer, I’m a potioner,” she replied in almost perfect Harshen. “But it’s true, I am the best—and an argument could be made that the best potioners are also the best healers.” A look of curiosity swept over her face as she took in Lilette. “What happened to her?”

  Chen clenched his teeth. “She’s been poisoned, which is why I need a potioner.”

  The woman’s eyes narrowed. “With what?”

  He handed her a familiar-looking tea towel. “We found this in her house.”

  She opened the towel, and her eyebrows came up as she surveyed it. She picked a few of the limp greens out of the spring rolls and held them up to the light.

  She nibbled the end of one before spitting it onto the floor. She wiped her tongue on her rain-dampened sleeve. “A simple yet very effective variation of morte. It’s rather rare, only available from the black-market witches, and without the antidote, always fatal.”

  She smacked her tongue on the roof of her mouth as if to clear out the aftertaste. “Have you questioned the poisoner? It would be helpful to know how much was consumed.”

  Chen’s eyes flicked to the corner. The eunuchs had scrubbed the floor, but the blood had stained it a dark brown.

  The woman followed his gaze and gasped. She turned to face Chen. “What happened here?”

  He refused to look back at the stain. “The poisoner admitted to the crime and was punished.”

  “So you just killed him?” the woman whispered.

  Chen didn’t bother to correct her. “I am the heir. My word is justice.”

  She clamped her mouth shut. “I want no part of this.”

  She made to move past him, but he blocked her. “You would really let her die because of something I did?”

  She glanced over her shoulder at Lilette as if she’d forgotten she was there. “I can at least provide the antidote.” She squared herself in front of the rotund physicker. “What have you given her?”

  The man laced his fingers and set them on his stomach. “We are sweating her—”

  The woman shook her head as if disgusted. “Clearly. The heat is going to kill me, and I’m perfectly healthy. What else?”

  He frowned and glanced at Chen. The heir simply waved for him to continue. “The ashes of poisonous creatures to battle the poison inside her, and ground shells to trap her soul within her body,” the physicker said.

  The woman blinked at him before turning to Chen. “Is he trying to kill her?”

  The physicker sputtered a reply, but the woman ignored him. “Fine. I’ll help her,” she said to Chen. “But I want him out.”

  The heir gestured to the physicker, who looked relieved as he left the room.

  Kneeling beside Lilette, the woman brushed her hair off her damp forehead. “I’m Jolin.” She squinted at Lilette’s skin, as if she was seeing something puzzling there. From her pocket she pulled a contraption made from round bits of colored glass connected by thin wires. She set it on her nose and stared at Lilette.

  Jolin pulled a rose-colored glass over her eyes and gasped. “It’s you.” She whirled to Chen. “This is the woman we’ve been looking for—the one our listeners sensed.”

  Lilette almost wept for joy. Finally! She wanted to ask about her sister, but the pain was a wall she could not cross.

  “She is my concubine,” Chen said steadily. “You cannot take her.”

  Jolin frowned. “All keepers must come to Haven for testing.”

  “Not this one.”

  “Creators’ mercy—”

  “Don’t invoke your gods on Harshen soil,” Chen warned.

  “They’re your gods too,” Jolin murmured so softly Lilette was sure no one else heard. Smart girl.

  Jolin’s stormy eyes turned back to Chen. “All right, I’ll save her. We’ll discuss the rest later.”

  He tipped his head, his lips pursed. “We will discuss nothing.”

  She muttered something unintelligible, and a sense of purpose seemed to settle over her. Never taking his eyes from Jolin, Chen backed out of the room.

  She pointedly ignored his retreating figure. “Open the windows and let this unbearable heat out.”

  Ko shook her head. “We must sweat out the poison.”

  Jolin started pulling seeds from a belt at her waist. “This heat is killing her faster than the poi
son. Open the windows and one of you” —she seemed to be struggling to find an appropriate word for the eunuchs— “men bathe her with water and fan her until she cools off.”

  A breeze tickled the tiny hairs on Lilette’s body as some of the oppressive heat escaped. As cool water slid across her skin, she sighed in relief.

  “I’ll be back,” Jolin said before she headed outside. When she returned a few minutes later, she held a handful of dark green leaves. “Out!” she commanded the eunuchs. “Can’t think with all these crows flapping about,” she muttered.

  As they shuffled outside, Jolin ground the leaves in a mortar. Then she added cold water, each twist of the pestle seeming to instill her with a stronger sense of purpose. Moments later, she tipped the mixture into Lilette’s mouth.

  It tasted fresh, green, and a little bitter. Lilette swallowed it reflexively, her body somehow recognizing it as something desperately needed. Suddenly, the cramps in her stomach eased. With some of the pain and unbearable heat diminished, a few of her muscles unclenched and she relaxed. She closed her eyes as her heart began to slow even more.

  “Good. The antidote is already working.” Jolin leaned down so close that Lilette could feel her. “You will have to fight if you want to live.”

  With some of her pain abated, Lilette found she could speak again. “I’ve never stopped fighting.”

  Someone pressed an ear against her chest and said, “We came to look for you, you know. We felt your song, though we figured you were farther southeast. You’re one of us—one of the keepers. You sing and the world obeys.”

  Exhaustion wore at Lilette, and the woman’s words became muddled in her head. Lilette wished she’d leave her be. She was so tired.

  “I need you to stay awake, witchling,” Jolin said. “We didn’t come this far only for you to die now.”

  “You’re too late,” Lilette managed. She could hear Jolin working over her mortar.

  The woman gave a short laugh. “If you were in anyone else’s hands, you would be lost. Luckily, you’re in mine, and I’m the best.”

  Despite her words, Jolin sounded truly worried. She began singing in the Creators’ language—the language of power. Lilette had long ago forgotten the words, but the sound and rhythm were as familiar as her own heartbeat.

  Lilette felt someone pushing her up from behind. It was Ko. The pool of sweat in the hollow of Lilette’s throat now ran between her breasts. Someone poured something into her mouth.

  “These herbs will speed up your heart,” Jolin explained. “Don’t die before they begin to work.”

  She and Ko laid Lilette on her back again, and she felt herself shutting down. It was getting harder to breathe. Moments later, Lilette’s heart beat once and paused.

  “No,” Jolin exclaimed. “Just give the herbs a moment to work. Just give them a moment.”

  Lilette came back from the edge of something darker than sleep to answer. “I’m sorry.” Everything started to blur. She willed her heart to beat again, and it did—once. Then the room grew brighter, light suffusing everything around her until it flashed a blinding white.

  The last sound she heard was Ko’s sobs. And then the strangest thing happened. Through the brilliance, a long, thin shape appeared. After a moment, the shape took the form of a woman and suddenly Lilette knew her. “Mother?”

  Lellan reached out and cupped her cheeks. “Daughter, I haven’t much time. You must listen.”

  Beyond Lellan was the most achingly beautiful music. It filled Lilette’s body with a longing, a pain deeper than anything she’d ever imagined. “I’m dying.”

  Her mother’s smile fell. “Not like this. The work needs a martyr.”

  Lilette tipped her head to the side. “What do you mean?”

  “We aren’t supposed to watch, and we certainly aren’t to interfere, but I cannot abide this. Terrible things have been set in motion. It will destroy the whole world.”

  Lilette pried her attention away from the bewitching music to focus on her mother. “I don’t understand.”

  Lellan pressed the pads of her fingers to Lilette’s forehead. Immediately, Lilette was inundated with scenes of chaos and destruction—whole cities burning, armies colliding with the force of a breaking wave, tornadoes and monsoons ripping life off the face of the earth. Last, Harshen sank into the ocean—the palace itself the final thing to disappear beneath the churning waters.

  Reeling, Lilette let out a cry of horror. She told herself those terrible things hadn’t happened—that they could never happen.

  Lellan closed her eyes. “Save those you can.”

  Lilette took a shuddering breath.

  “I have laid the groundwork for you,” her mother went on. “Everything you need has been prepared. Find Grove City.”

  “But Chen . . . I’m trapped in his harem.”

  Lellan’s eyes flashed. “Chen is right about one thing—you are a weapon, but not one he can wield. Prove that his weapon can turn on him.”

  Lilette’s breath came short. She was slipping away, something pulling her toward the light and music. And she suddenly didn’t care about saving the world. She yearned for the music—only the music.

  “There isn’t time. If I don’t stop this now, you will die.” Lellan gripped both her arms. “You are my daughter—a warrior of the world, not a plaything for princes. Will you do what is necessary?”

  It took everything Lilette had to turn away from the music and light. “Yes.”

  Her mother nodded. “Live.” The word came out as a song, and Lilette’s flesh responded to the command. She sank back into her body. Lellan knelt beside her and pressed her lips against her daughter’s forehead. “Light guide thee.”

  Her mother stepped into the brilliance, which faded before disappearing altogether. The music grew farther and farther away. Tears welled in Lilette’s eyes, and an ache filled her body that had nothing to do with her illness.

  Ko was slumped over weeping, her head in her hands. Lilette took a gasping breath. Her heart pounded, filling her with a burst of blood. She sucked air into her starving lungs.

  Jolin jerked upright and pressed her ear against Lilette’s chest to listen to her heart.

  “A drink,” Lilette mumbled.

  A smile spread across Ko’s face.

  Jolin slapped her thigh. “I knew I could do it!”

  “Please,” Lilette begged, her throat so dry the words came out like two stones rubbing together.

  Ko called to the eunuchs just outside the room. They scrambled to work, practically tripping over themselves to serve her. She sat back on her heels. “How is this possible? She was dead. You said so yourself.”

  Jolin tucked her hair behind her ears. “It was the potion I gave her. It speeds up the heart.”

  As Lilette stared into the space where her mother had disappeared, a longing filled her chest. Already, she desperately missed the music.

  Chapter 8

  I brought a woman back from the dead. Sometimes my prowess astounds even me. ~Jolin

  “You knew our company came here looking for her,” said a feminine voice.

  After several seconds of silence, a man replied, “Yes.”

  “Yet you lead us to believe you didn’t know where she was,” the woman said.

  Lilette roused herself from sleep to listen to the conversation. She didn’t know if she’d slept for hours or days, only that it was light out.

  Chen’s arms were folded across his chest. “If I’d told you where she was, you would have tried to take her.”

  Jolin stood before the heir, fists on hips. “All witches must come to Haven for learning. It’s the law.”

  Chen glared at her, his thumb tapping the hilt of his sword. “Not Harshen law.”

  “I know what you’re trying to do,” Jolin growled. “I promise you, it will not end well.”

  “You know nothing.”

  Lilette didn’t miss the bitterness in his tone. She worked her some moisture into her mouth and whisper
ed, “Take me with you.”

  Jolin glanced at her, triumph flaring in her eyes. “I knew it! I knew she couldn’t want to stay here.”

  Lilette allowed herself a moment of satisfaction, but it quickly ended when Chen motioned to two eunuchs behind him. “Bring me her seed belt.”

  “What? What are you doing?” Jolin backed up, kicking at one of the eunuchs as he lunged for her. The eunuchs stripped the belt from her and backed away.

  Lilette started to sit up, determined to help Jolin, but Ko held her down. “Stay still,” the older woman whispered. “Anything you say or do will only make it worse.”

  Chen took the belt, running his fingers over some of the compartments. “Make sure neither of them leaves the house.”

  Jolin’s chest rose and fell as she breathed hard. “You can’t keep me here!”

  Chen shot her a withering look. “I’m afraid I no longer have a choice. If the witches know Lilette is here they will retaliate, and my entire empire will be in danger. I cannot allow that.”

  Lilette wanted to strangle him.

  Jolin tried to march after him, but the eunuchs blocked her way. “Then why bring me here in the first place?”

  Chen turned back, considering her. “She was too weak to speak. It never occurred to me that you could tell what she was merely by looking at her. And she was dying.” His voice caught on the last, as if he really cared.

  “She’s white! You had to know I’d figure it out.”

  Chen chuckled. “It’s not like she’s the only white concubine in the harem. My father has diverse taste in women.”

  “Without knowledge,” Jolin ground out, “she’s as useless to you as a falcon with clipped wings.”

  After a moment, Chen said, “I see the truth in this. That is why you will teach her.”

  “I will do no such thing!” Jolin barked. “I’ll not teach your concubine how to fight us.”

  He took a step toward her. “You will teach her. I’ll make sure of that.”

  “You’re afraid—that’s where all this anger is coming from. Is it because I’m a keeper? Or are you just afraid of anything more powerful than you?”