The women were asleep, wrapped up in a woolen blanket they were sharing between them. Sapphire’s arms were crossed and she was leaning on Sume’s shoulder. Rosha sat between them, her head on Sume’s lap.
“We can be there by midday, if the winds remain fair,” the fisherman said.
Enosh smiled. His knowledge of Jinan did not allow for much more than basic conversation. He saw that the blanket had slipped from Rosha and bent over her to tug it back in place. His weight pressed against Sume and she opened her eyes.
“Sorry,” he said. She shook her head, slowly pushing Sapphire aside. She repositioned Rosha to Sapphire’s lap, fixed the blanket around them, and got up to join Enosh. Sapphire fidgeted a little, but continued snoring.
“On a clear day, you can see Xiaro from here,” Sume said, pointing at the horizon. “They have these tall, red mountains that shoot up like trees into the sky. They’re so tall that only a few have ever been explored, and no one’s sure what you can find at the top of them. Some people think that there’s a race of people who make their homes there, like the kusyani or ka-eng. Old and ancient.”
Enosh paused for a moment and then reached out to draw a strand of her hair across her ear. “You think a lot about these things, don’t you?”
“I used to read a lot, back when my father could afford books. Outside of the confusing mess of this life…” Sume began. She drew her knees under her chin. “I shouldn’t complain. Compared to the rest of my family, I’m lucky.” She cocked her head at him. “What happens after this, Enosh?”
“Well, keeping ourselves alive and Rosha away from Yn Garr is ideal.” He scratched his chin with a finger. “We need to find a safe place for us to stay. And then I suppose I’ll have to learn what Yn Garr’s doing with Giggles and where he’s keeping it. I can’t say for sure what I’ll decide from there.”
“All right,” she said. She closed her eyes.
Enosh watched her, wondering if she meant something else. She was unbelievably difficult for him to figure out, although he sensed that half the things she told him had a second meaning. He took a deep breath. “I asked you before, about what you wanted,” he said.
“And I told you it didn’t matter.”
“And I said…we could do this all night, if you want.” He grinned.
“I wish it were that easy,” she said.
“Why wouldn’t it be? Try me.”
“All right.” She took a deep breath. “Once we’ve figured out how to keep Rosha safe from that thing, I would like to find a place where she can grow up and have a normal life. A place that isn’t plagued with war, and she doesn’t have to resort to desperate means to feed her family. Yes, that’s about…as much as I could ask for. I’m not sure if it’s possible.”
“The way you put it, probably not,” Enosh said, as gently as he could. “Her gift in the agan—well, Sapphire could tell you all sorts of wonderful things that could happen if she goes unchecked and untrained. She will need people to help her rein in that power, perhaps all her life.”
“You…can’t do that?”
“I’m flattered you think so, but I’m not half as skilled as I make myself seem.” He gave her a crooked smile. “That’s the truth, too.”
“So all the things I’ve seen you do…”
“I’m just naturally charming, my dear.”
“And clearly just as naturally incapable of holding a serious conversation. Enosh…”
“All right, I’m sorry. It’s ah…the glamour, it requires some skill, but not the way you think. You’ve heard Sapphire bitch about me before. I can help Rosha when it comes to Giggles—I’ve spent years training myself how to handle its tricks—but beyond that, I don’t know. Sapphire thinks she can be so much more.”
Sume’s eyes flickered towards their daughter and then back at him. “Please don’t tell me you’re saying what I think you’re saying.”
“Sending her to Dageis would not be the worst thing in the world.”
“You forget, I’ve been there. The things they do to the lower castes…”
“It’s not like in Jin-Sayeng. In Dageis, such a problem can be remedied if you had the resources,” Enosh said. “I’m sure I can figure out a way for both of you to stay there as ordinary Dageian citizens, which will allow her access to Eheldeth and all the training they can offer. I was tempted to do the same thing myself, many years ago, although Yn Garr wouldn’t hear of it.”
He cleared his throat and continued. “I don’t know if I’ve told you this before, Sume, but Rosha is a princess of Gorenten. This Jaeth that we’re descended from used to be a prince, back when our people occupied Lon Basden in the Orasmus Peninsula.”
Sume didn’t look at him. “Mahe was a princess, too, and look what they’ve had to do to survive in Dageian society. I don’t think it makes much of a difference to the Dageians.”
“Just give me time to figure it all out. Mahe and Izo were children when they arrived in the mainland; they certainly didn’t have the advantage of thousands of ril in various Kag accounts. Money can grease even the squeakiest of wheels.”
“These…are the same accounts you’ve been locked out of the past few years, yes?”
He rubbed the back of his head. “I did say I need time.”
“She would love it there, I think,” Sume said.
Enosh looked at her. “You would, too. Once you’ve settled.”
“And you?”
“Me? Oh, don’t worry about little old me. I’ll get by.”
“I’m sure you’re already planning how you’ll bring Hertra Ferral back into the world.”
“Hertra Ferral? No, no. A dead man’s name, and one I’m not too fond of. I’m glad to be rid of that moniker. We need a new name for me, Sume. Something dashing, so you could see the women fall all over themselves when they announce it. Count Sender arak-Heriel, how about that?”
“Is that even a legitimate title?”
“In Dageis, it is. And it can be bought. I can also go back to being Ylir. Ylir yn Rannor. A nice, proper Caelian name, if I’ve ever heard one. You know I went as Ylir because I couldn’t stand anyone calling me Hertra? You could smell the mothballs on that name.”
“What’s wrong with Enosh?”
“What’s wrong with Enosh? Oh, my lady, you are…” He turned to face her. Because she didn’t flinch, he tugged at her chin with his thumb, drawing her towards him until she was close enough for his lips to touch hers. It was the most confusing kiss he had ever experienced in his life, one that was over way too soon.
Sume turned away. “We should rest,” she said with a hollow voice. “We don’t know what’s waiting for us in Gaspar.”
“You’re right,” he whispered. He grazed her cheek with the back of his hand. She pulled away to look out at the sea.
“The last time I was here…” she began. She swallowed.
He knew what she meant. “I am sorry for that.”
“Yes,” she said. Another layered answer. He wondered if she would bother to explain if he asked, if she would take pity if he admitted that her world was not the world he lived in. Instead, he turned the other way and pretended he was looking for the red cliffs of the Empire of Ziri-nar-Orxiaro.
The fisherman dropped them off about an hour away from Aret-ni, where they completed the rest of the journey on foot. Sapphire showed them a wooden staircase that had been cut into the cliffs and led to a creaky boardwalk overlooking the town. They passed by the docks this way, looking down on the rooftops below them. “Moon and I used to come up here when we were little,” Sapphire said.
Enosh glanced at Sume before replying. “I didn’t know you grew up here.”
“Here, everywhere,” Sapphire said aimlessly. “My mother’s family was from a small village north of Shirrokaru. They moved here before Dragonlord Reshiro’s reign. A Jinsein face wasn’t an uncommon sight in those days.”
“Let me guess—that was before Barun and Al-ir decided they’ve had enough?”
Sapphire paused, looking at him as she adjusted her spectacles. “Are you honestly this clueless?”
“Uhh…would any answer except yes please you?”
“Barun and Al-ir both—as the only Gasparian provinces to share lands so closely to Jin-Sayeng—have traditionally been tolerant of Jinseins. Wasn’t that the reason you were able to sell Sume to the Al-ir k’an in the first place?”
He grimaced. Behind him, Sume said, “You know about that?”
“What doesn’t she know?” Enosh snorted.
“Unlike you, I do my research. Enosh, you didn’t know it was Boarshind mercenaries behind the attacks on Jin-Sayeng all those years ago? Boarshind mercenaries pretending to be Gasparian. Yn Garr was using the chaos to mask your activities in this region.”
Enosh tried to keep a straight face. “Yn Garr has a way of doing things behind my back. But I thought we were talking about you, Sapphire.”
Sapphire made a dismissive gesture. “It was just…a flare of memory. My life is not interesting.”
“So you say,” Sume broke in. “But you were trained in Eheldeth, weren’t you?”
Sapphire made a sound of assent. “For a while. We showed signs of connection to the agan and our mother had us sent away. I never saw her again.”
“Enosh says that Rosha would benefit from an education there.” Rosha glanced up at the mention of her name, but didn’t say anything.
Sapphire looked pleased at the suggestion. “She would. I’ve been going through what she knows so far and while her techniques are sound, her knowledge on even the most basic theories is solely lacking. Not that I’m surprised,” she added, turning to Enosh.
He coughed. “I had nothing to do with that.”
“I didn’t say. The point I’d like to make is that you probably got by with such rustic methods because your connection to the agan is nowhere near as strong as hers.”
“Your concern is always so heart-warming.”
Sapphire shrugged. “I’ll do this much for you. I can write to Keeper Ceres to see what options she may have. I’m sure we can leverage her confounding fondness for you into opportunities for Rosha.”
“Now, Sapphire, I wouldn’t put it that way,” Enosh said. He turned to Sume, whose face seemed to have gone red. Or was it just the angle of the sunlight hitting her cheeks? “It’s been a long time since Keeper Ceres and I had any correspondence of any sort. Believe me…”
The women continued to walk past him. “They’ll pair Rosha up with a giver, someone tasked with passing down knowledge to the less fortunate, for a year or so,” Sapphire continued. “How she proceeds with her education from there will depend on her. She may join other young mages in a circle, led by a bearer, where she can learn under guidance or progress with her studies at her own pace. The system in Eheldeth is complex, but the end goal is the development of a young mage’s talents to reach their potential. When she is done with her education, she may choose to continue to reside there, guiding other young talents, or she may return to Dageian society, where she can contribute in a meaningful way.”
Enosh glanced at Rosha. “What do you think about all of this?” he asked.
Her little face tightened for a moment. “It sounds nice,” Rosha murmured. Her voice sounded wooden.
“It’s not as bad as she makes it sound. I’ve been there. Eheldeth is nothing like you’ve ever seen before.”
“If you say so.”
Enosh scratched his head. Not knowing what else to say, he strode ahead to catch up to Sapphire and Sume. The boardwalk had turned into steps that spiralled down the cliff. It was so narrow that they could only walk in single file, one hand holding on to aging ropes hanging from the sandstone wall.
They reached the town, arriving at the edge of a bustling marketplace that smelled strongly of smoke and spices. A woman walked up to them, offering a bright red length of cloth for sale. Sapphire made a harsh comment in Gasparian that sent her scurrying away.
“Mandraagar presence is not strong in these parts,” Sapphire told Rosha as they entered the crowd. “But I would advise you to keep yourself in check. There are at least two in the temples at all times, and the Aret-ni temple is but a few minutes’ walk away.”
“I’m curious,” Enosh said. “What do Gasparians do to children who display signs of connection? Purely for educational purposes, you understand.”
Sapphire gave him a look. “The mandraagars come and take them away.”
“There was a time when they said the same thing in Jin-Sayeng,” Sume said. “Whatever god or deity ruled in that region, they would offer them to the priests and priestesses. And then they found out they were just sacrificing them to their patrons—in Fuyyu, they were throwing them into the sea—and people just stopped talking about it.”
Sapphire made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat. “Well, that’s not how it works here. Gaspar may lack the refinement of Dageis’ techniques in the agan, but it remains leaps and bounds away from the pedestrian manner Jin-Sayeng deals with the issue. It’s why Gaspar is the only nation that ever really stood a chance against Dageis’ advances. The children are taken into the temples and given new names—stripped off their old lives, their only purpose from henceforth is servitude to the King.”
“That doesn’t sound that much better.”
“From an individual’s point of view, no. But let me tell you now—I would rather face ten Eheldeth-trained mages than a single mandraagar warrior. Ah, here we are.” She stopped in front of a gate, set against a stone fence. She paused for a moment, staring at something on the gate—a detail only she could see—before she rang the bell.
An old man came hobbling out a few minutes later. His eyes were grey and clouded over, and he had whiskers instead of brows, but he looked straight at Sapphire’s face and made a sign, his toothless mouth breaking into a grin. “Safira,” he said. “You’ve come home.”
“I have, Uncle. I have brought friends. Will you let us stay for a few days until we have our affairs in order?”
“This is your home, Safira. You are always welcome here.” The old man pulled the gate open, his hands shaking. “Where is Moon?” he asked.
Sapphire placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’ve spoken about this before, Uncle. She has been dead for almost nine years now.”
“Oh.” The old man blinked. He smiled again, but there was a tear in the corner of his eyes. “My apologies. But come in, come in. You’ve brought a family. Oh, look at this child,” he added, pressing his hands on Rosha’s face. “She has your look when you were little.”
“That’s not the most comforting thing to hear,” Enosh grumbled as they were ushered past the small courtyard and through a battered door. The old man left them in the main room with an assortment of moth-eaten cushions while he hobbled towards the kitchen.
For dinner, they had boiled pork and lentil stew, flavoured with chilies and black pepper, served over a bed of nutty red rice. Sapphire busied herself over helping the old man clean up, scolding him for taking the effort to make fresh food when they had more than enough bread and garlic paste for everyone.
It was a side of her that Enosh had never seen in all the years he had known Sapphire. Was this uncle even related to her, and if so, why hadn’t she spoken of him before? If he wasn’t, why would she care so much? He found it disconcerting that he could have spent so much time with someone—someone he would trust with his life, if he was pressed to admit it—and not know the most basic things about them.
Was that what Sume meant when she said it was always about him? It wasn’t like Enosh never tried, but the mundane details of other peoples’ lives often escaped him. Most of the time, he didn’t see the point. Perhaps if there weren’t more important things to do, then he could afford such pleasantries. But the life he led required precision and control. Pursuit of trivial matters would only further complicate it.
Sume excused herself to join Sapphire in the kitchen. He saw Rosha slink to the far corner, near t
he door, and wondered if he should start trying to get to know his own daughter. The last few days had revealed difficulties, not the least of which involved some of her mannerisms—like the way she would look at him if she clearly disagreed with him but didn’t want to say it out loud. It was Kefier’s look, through and through. Even if he didn’t know that his brother had raised the child, he would’ve found the likeness just as unsettling.
“Rosha…” he began.
“May I go outside?” Rosha asked. “I want to see the garden.”
Enosh glanced through the windows at the courtyard. It was empty. A few stray stones and potted plants, but nothing that stood out as remotely interesting. “There’s not much to it.”
“I want fresh air,” Rosha said.
He was about to get started on what passed for fresh air in Gaspar when he realized that maybe what she really wanted was to get away from him. He nodded. She pushed against the door and stepped outside. “Be careful,” he added as an afterthought, but she didn’t seem to hear.
Enosh thought about Sume’s questions back in the boat. He had been turning them over his head the past few hours, and it occurred to him that perhaps she was asking if—after all these years—they could still be a family, the three of them?
It was not an idea he had ever entertained before, but the past few days had shown that such an arrangement wasn’t as awful as he might have once thought. He certainly saw the merit in it—it was easier to gain respect if a merchant is seen as a family man. It gave a man credence, showed that he was capable of responsibility and handling his own affairs.
As he sat there, digesting these thoughts, he realized that Rosha had been a little too silent.
He got up and followed her. “Rosha, what are you up to?” he asked, expecting to see her engrossed in some silly thing—the way children always did. Instead, he saw the empty courtyard, with only an upturned bucket and half a candle set to the side. A pool of water was spreading on the ground.
Enosh’s first instinct was to glance up.
The sky was blessedly blue, with not a cloud in sight. The presence of the mandraagars in the An-albaht temple nearby would mean that Arn wouldn’t dare come so close. He noticed that the gate was half-open.
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