In Dawn and Darkness

by Kate Avery Ellison

  “How long will we be waiting for this guide?” Garren demanded. “How long will this all take?”

  “As long as is necessary,” Tallyn said.

  A chime sounded through the ship, signaling our approach to Verdus.

  CHAPTER TWO

  WE TOOK A private rail carriage to Annah’s house after we left the ship. Valus kept to himself in a corner by the window, and Tallyn stood at ready by the door as if braced to fight off an attacker. Did he expect us to be set upon? Nervousness fizzled in my stomach. The Dron stood silently, Garren with his hand on his hip even though he didn’t have a weapon, Nol’s eyes on me as if trying to determine my thoughts. I gazed out the window at the city below, and watched the corridors that wound between the lush kelp forests filled with people carrying baskets of seaweed and barrels of fish, the tarnished green-bronze metal of the supports and walls, the quiet colors of the tunics. Verdus was restful and beautiful, but the serenity of its green halls did nothing to soothe me now.

  Seeing the seaweed reminded me of the Dron city, now destroyed, and my throat tightened. What had happened to the refugees? I stole a glance at Garren, whose mouth curved down in a resting scowl. As the carriage slowed, the sound of a little girl’s laugh carried from the street, and he twitched as if startled and peered around for the source before remembering himself.

  Did he think of his wife, his child?

  We sneaked into Annah’s estate through a lower entrance, tucked under a canopy of stones where the city sank into the bottom of the sea, lit by lanterns that glowed orange and red through colored glass. Servants ushered us to our rooms to bathe and change clothing, and one, an Indentured woman with pale skin and hair the color of ebony helped me unwrap my hands before I washed.

  The burns were healing well. The woman spread a foul-smelling green paste over the skin before binding it up, and it made my hand tingle. She clucked her tongue at the injuries, but didn’t ask how I’d acquired them. Discretion seemed to be a common trait among Annah’s household servants.

  When my hands had been tended to, I dressed simply in a black bodysuit and tunic and tried to plait my hair back in my customary four-strand braid, but the bandages made my fingers clumsy. The Indentured woman watched a moment, and then she took over for me, weaving the locks together skillfully while she hummed a tune in her throat.

  A flash of something tickled the back of my mind at the sound of her humming. It remind me of the woman who’d raised me, the one who I’d called mother for years. A splintery feeling grew in my chest. I drew in a quick, painful breath.

  I missed her sometimes, despite the fact that she’d kidnapped me.

  “Thank you,” I murmured, watching in the mirror as the woman worked.

  “My mother used to wear her hair the same way,” the Indentured said as she finished.

  “Where was she from?”

  “She lived in the oil colony of Brinewater, but her family...” The woman made a motion with one hand.

  “What about her family?”

  The woman stepped back. “Drifters, my lady. No city in Itlantis to call home.”

  “Ah,” I said, disappointed, as though I’d had something valuable between my fingers and then lost it.

  A knock came at the door, and an Indentured man in a blue tunic bowed to me.

  “Annah wishes to see you in her study,” the Indentured informed me.

  Annah’s home was less grandiose than the Graywater estate, but still austere, with soaring ceilings lined with swaths of gold-webbed glass to let in light and views from the kelp forests around us. Fish and sea creatures darted past, casting shadows over our path as we walked. The floor beneath my feet gleamed, a green marble flecked with black and silver. My feet, enclosed in house slippers, whispered over the stone.

  We reached a metal door edged in gold and covered in depictions of dolphins, otters, and whales. The Indentured knocked, and then swung the door open, revealing a vast room of two stories.

  The study?

  Bookshelves lined the walls. A spiraling staircase led down to a lower level, and a large window of stained glass let in blue light that danced over a great round object in the center of the room.

  I descended the staircase sans the Indentured servant, who closed the door behind me. The room was empty. I went first to the great sphere in the center. A map? Raised lines covered the surface.

  I traced them with my fingers, wondering what this thing was, and light trailed behind my touch, a glowing that illuminated the lines and faded when I withdrew my hand. I stepped back in surprise.

  “It’s a globe,” a voice said, startling me. I turned and saw a figure standing in one of the recesses of the room with his arms behind his back, swathed in shadows. “A map of the entire republic of Itlantis and beyond. The entire world.”

  The figure stepped closer.

  I let my hand fall to my side as recognition shot through me.

  Tall. Brown skin, curly hair. Dark, perceptive eyes. An unsmiling mouth.

  Myo.

  The man who had once rescued me from Nautilus and delivered me to the Graywater family as the long-lost Aemiana gazed at me a moment without speaking.

  The man from the Mist.

  The man who had held so many of the answers to my questions, but had chosen instead to play my life like a game of Hooks.

  The air crackled with the words we weren’t saying. I felt them on my tongue, heavy and sharp. I inhaled, trying to find the right things to say amid the angry ones that would serve no purpose.

  “I expected to meet my grandmother,” I said finally.

  “She will join us later.” He stepped to the globe and ran a hand down the side. Light erupted beneath his palm. He paused with his fingers hovering over Primus, and the dot that marked the city throbbed a deep red, like a pinprick of blood.

  “You knew all along,” I said, choosing to state the obvious and see if he’d try to squirm out of confirming it. “That’s why you saved my life. That’s why you hid me, protected me. Manipulated me. Lied to me. Left me in ignorance when you disappeared.”

  Myo inclined his head but did not answer. He moved his hand from Primus, and the red faded to soft brown like the rest of the points.

  His silence infuriated me.

  “I was in danger,” I gritted.

  “Yes,” he said. He traced a smattering of islands with his forefinger, making them sparkle with light.

  “You could have told me!”

  “So you could do what? Run away? You were far too skittish and untethered to be burdened with such a revelation, Aemiana. You needed time to adjust, time to grow into the role. You needed to be cultivated into the young woman you are becoming.”

  “And what is that?” I demanded.

  He smiled. “Someone who can help lead our republic away from this carnage of war.”

  I was not his prop in some political epic. “I deserved to know what was before me. My life was in danger.”

  “I made sure that you had a protector,” he replied.

  Tallyn.

  I winced at the mention of him, as if Myo had slapped my burned palms. “But he didn’t know either. He didn’t know what I was.”

  “No,” Myo agreed. “He didn’t even know that I was behind his hire, behind the suggestion that you needed a bodyguard, that your grandmother and I had spoken.”

  “Do you always manipulate people this way?”

  He raised a brow. “When it suits my purpose.”

  “I deserved a choice, Myo.”

  “Nobody gets a choice,” he responded, his eyes flashing with emotion as he turned away from the globe. “We are all born to our places. I to mine, you to yours. Accept that this is yours. It will be easier if you embrace it.”

  “What will be easier?”

  The door above opened, interrupting our conversation. Garren, Olis, and Nol stepped inside, dressed in Itlantean clothing.

  Myo studied them without speaking as they descended the staircase.

&nb
sp; Nol’s eyes widened slightly. He must have recognized Myo from when he saved our lives on Nautilus’s ship and taken us to Celestrus. He looked from Myo to me, and Myo saw him do so.

  “Hello again,” he said to Nol. “I see you’ve joined a side in this war.”

  “Haven’t you?” Nol asked, his eyebrows drawing together.

  Myo sighed. “I’m on the side of sensibility.”

  “What does that mean?” Garren demanded. “Who are you?”

  The other man bowed his head. “I’m the one who’s going to help you find your city, Dron.”

  At the word Dron, the three of them stiffened.

  “How do you—?” Garren began sharply.

  “How do I know you are Dron?” Myo’s mouth curved faintly. “It is quite plain when you know where to look. For one thing,” he said, “you Dron pronounce your A’s quite differently from Itlanteans. It’s very noticeable. You walk and stand more closely together, as though you’re used to tighter spaces. The Dron cut their hair shorter than many Itlanteans around the ears, and you are markedly more aggressive as a lot.”

  “Call me aggressive one more time and I’ll punch your throat,” Garren muttered.

  “Are we so obvious?” Olis asked in dismay.

  “Don’t worry, my dear.” Myo waved a hand. “Only those who’ve spent much time among both peoples would see it.”

  “This is Myo,” I said in the pause that followed. “He’s a member of the Mist.”

  That revelation had their attention.

  “Do you know where the lost city of Trulliman is, then?” Garren asked.

  “Not yet,” Myo said.

  Nol turned to me and asked, “Do you trust him?”

  “He found me in the Village of the Rocks and he’s been lying to me ever since.” I glared at Myo as I spoke the words.

  “Ah,” Myo said. “You’ve neglected to mention how I saved both you and your Dron friend here’s lives, as well as helped you find your family, Aemiana.”

  “Who’s life?” Garren looked at Myo and then at Nol as if trying to divine a secret. “Did you rescue one of our own, Mist man?”

  “All for your own purposes,” I said.

  “Don’t we all do things for our own purposes?”

  “What a cynical view of the world,” I snapped.

  Nol stepped to my side. His arm brushed mine. “He did rescue Aemi and me from Nautilus’s ship. He took us to the Itlantean city of Celestrus and turned us over to Merelus the scholar.”

  Garren made a noise in his throat that might have been approval, but it was hard to tell. “He looks soft,” he said to no one in particular. “Is he really with the Mist?”

  Valus entered, a scowl on his thin face as he gazed down at the rest of us from the balcony level above.

  “I can render a man unconscious with a single blow,” Myo said to Garren.

  Garren perked up. “Can you demonstrate with that one?” He nodded at Valus.

  Tallyn entered the room, and the air seemed to change temperature. I ground my teeth together as my throat tightened the way it always seemed to now when Tallyn was around. My stomach twisted when his gaze passed over me.

  “My lady,” he said.

  I didn’t miss the way Myo and Tallyn looked at each other, like two territorial animals sizing each other up before a fight. Tallyn said nothing as he descended the staircase to join us. He was dressed simply in black, his arms bare, as if ready to run through a set of exercises. The mark on his arm drew my eye. It was the same mark that I’d seen on Myo in the Village of the Rocks, the mark that claimed them both as members of the mysterious Mist.

  “Are we all assembled?” Nol asked impatiently.

  “Not quite,” Myo said. “Ah, there he is.”

  A final person entered the study, tall and handsome, dressed in a silky green tunic over a black bodysuit and wearing a necklace of heavy green stones. An earring dangled from one of his lobes, and rings flashed against his knuckles as he swept a bow.

  Dahn.

  His hair was shorter than last time, cut almost like a Dron, and oiled back from his face. He shot me a grin that could almost be described as flirtatious before he went to stand beside his brother, Myo.

  Once we’d all reached the globe, everyone looked at each other with expressions of reservation, even suspicion. Olis fiddled with the ends of her hair as Dahn bowed to her. She flicked her gaze over him. Garren cracked his knuckles one at a time. He grinned at Valus, who yawned. Myo and Tallyn were still eyeing each other.

  I exchanged a glance with Nol. This was our team to find Perilous, and half of us didn’t trust the other half, let alone like them.

  Finally, Annah swept into the room. She paused at the stairs, and Dahn bounded up to meet her, taking her hand to lead her down.

  “Thank you,” Annah said, “but I know my way around my own house.”

  She turned toward me as if she could sense my presence. “Aemiana, who all is here?”

  I named everyone quietly, and she nodded. “Thank you.”

  “Now that we are all assembled,” Myo said to us all, “it’s time to discuss what must be done. We have been selected to secure peace for the Remnant of Itlantis and the Dron by finding the city of Trulliman. Time is of the essence, and we have only bits and pieces of an old puzzle to aid us. I want your ideas.”

  “It seems simple to me,” Garren muttered, nodding at me. “The Itlantean has her visions and we follow them to the city. Easy as scooping fish eggs from a puddle.”

  “Hardly,” Tallyn said. “Aemiana’s ‘visions,’ as you call them, are fragmented memories. We have only a thin framework of ideas to glean from. It won’t be enough.”

  “So you’re telling me you have the key to this mission, and you still have no idea where this city is?” Garren’s expression darkened. “This isn’t exactly what we were told.”

  “Nobody said it would be simple,” Tallyn said. “Why do you think we’ve assembled such a large team?”

  “To keep everyone from feeling left out,” Garren muttered. “And anyway, why is the fancy one here?” He pointed at Dahn. “Don’t we already have one of those? How many preening bluebloods do we need on this team?”

  Valus looked offended at being compared to Dahn. Dahn beamed at being called a blueblood.

  “He’s just a treasure hunter,” Nol said. “Not a noble.”

  “My brother,” Myo said, “is a bit of an expert at finding lost and hidden things. I thought he might be useful to us. That’s why he’s here. We need direction. Expertise.”

  “The sea is a large place,” Dahn said with the air of a sage. “Lots of nooks and crannies for things to hide in.”

  “It’s a city,” Olis said. “Not a lobster.”

  “Lots of really big nooks and crannies too,” he replied with a wink.

  “I can’t even tell if he’s flirting,” Olis said with irritation. “You Itlanteans are so promiscuous.”

  Annah lifted an eyebrow.

  “He’s flirting,” I confirmed.

  “I’ll say it again. Do we need the fancy ones?” Garren rubbed his shoulder, as if he’d meant to reach for a trusket in its holster and remembered at the last moment that he was not armed. “Just give us some weapons and some time. We’ll find it.”

  “Time we don’t have,” Myo reminded him. “Nautilus—”

  Annah spoke. “Nautilus is also searching for Perilous, but he lacks the thing he needs most. Aemiana. That is why we need to keep her safe.” She directed her words at Garren. “That is why you’re here, soldier. Not to find cities.”

  “She’ll be safe with Dron bodyguards anyway.” Garren sniffed. “We’ll do a better job than you Itlanteans have done.”

  “I also escaped with her twice while she was in Dron custody,” Tallyn said.

  “And you’ve betrayed her,” Garren shot back. “Used her. Something we would never have done if we’d been her people.”

  “You don’t understand,” Tallyn said, his tone mild
but his eyes signaling a warning.

  I was sick of being spoken about like a pawn. I raised my voice to be heard over their bickering. “Everyone thinks I’m dead,” I said. “Aren’t I safe from attempts at kidnapping or assassination now?”

  There was a brief silence.

  “Unfortunately, not everyone,” Annah said. “Already, too many people know.”

  “Always assume your enemy knows more than you think he does,” Myo added. “Lest you be caught naked when he attacks.”

  “Nautilus wouldn’t know she’s dead,” Tallyn said. “And it’s possible that information has leaked to other sources.”

  My stomach tumbled with dread. Had the scheme to fake my death been for nothing?

  “Is that why you believe we were attacked by those monsters?” I asked. “Does Azure know I’m alive? Why do they want us dead?”

  Myo and Tallyn exchanged a glance. “We don’t know what Azure wants,” Myo said. “We must be careful regarding them.”

  They knew something else, something they weren’t saying. I was sure of it.

  “This is insane.” Nol paced to the window that overlooked a bright green and gold forest of kelp. “We have multiple enemies and we don’t know what any of them know or want. How are we supposed to guard and protect under these conditions? If you’re hiding something...”

  “That’s why we have you,” Myo said. “Do you think you’re up to the task?”

  Garren crossed his arms and spoke proudly. “Don’t worry about that. The Battalia Dron are warriors. Nol and I are trained well.”

  “What happens now?” I asked. “How do we find Perilous?”

  Myo looked at Dahn to speak.

  “It was rumored for decades among Mist members that Azure kept a facility filled with secret records, and they may have information that Aemiana could interpret,” Dahn said. He indicated an area on the globe, and the lines of the topography glowed faintly. “On my last journey to this area, I stumbled across signals from the station itself and scouted the location. It’s real.”

  My stomach tightened. “How am I supposed to interpret this information? Dreams? Memories? Will I look at it and know?”

  “You will understand it,” Myo promised. “I am certain.”