"Nothing different than I've been doing. I mean, what can I do? I've got the fate of the world hanging out with us as a moody teenager with powers that easily outclass us. Sounds simple to me." He buried his face in his hands. "I still don't understand. Why me? How did I wake her from being in the Veil too long? Surely that's happened before."
"There's more to it than that. Think of Petri as an aspect of change, which most people interpret as death. She changes with the world, and the world changes with her. Each new age brings a different version of her. It's why she returns to slumber from time to time, then awakes anew. A simple process really," said Amber.
"Says the immortal woman who keeps watch over a demigod," said Zayn a little too forcefully, receiving a raised eyebrow from Amber.
"I have not always watched her, and I'm not the first to have this role. And being in the Veil alone did not wake her. She had to be nearing her time, which made her more vulnerable to outside influences. And you, Zayn, you are a powerful lodestone of fate. Many things revolve around you, things that will determine the direction of this world and others. As an agent of death and change, a member of the assassin's guild, you were a powerful draw to her. When you lingered too long in the Veil, you woke her from her slumber."
"But the only person I ever killed was Levi. How can I be an agent of death?" he asked.
"Remember your fortune," she said.
The details of that day came back to him as if he were hearing it again for the first time. Amber had recoiled from his fortune at first, and knowing what she was made that reaction worse.
I tasted death in your blood. So much death. I don't understand.
But now he understood.
If he agreed to the Lady's deal, then he would become an assassin for Priyanka, dealing untold death in the realms for however long he lived.
Or if he killed the Lady without solving the problem of her poison, then the town of Varna, and the thousands of residents within it, would die. Not only them, but every assassin from Varna that did not become a Watcher. It would impact Priyanka's organization, unleashing even more death.
Now he finally understood why so many events hung in the balance because of him. When he vowed to kill the Lady, he'd put many things on the scales of fate.
"I understand," said Zayn, looking into Amber's eyes, and she stared back with what could only be pity.
"Be careful," said Amber.
Zayn walked out her store with the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Third Ward, April 2016
Fretting their hour upon the stage
For the second showing of The Liebereisen of Kanedari, Zayn had booked the Wayward Theater, which was in the third ward, but right on the edge of the second to still be considered a part of the theater district. This time the play had been advertised with fliers and in the back pages of the Orpheum Review. While the theater was small and off the normal circuit, it sold enough tickets and had a regular patronage to give them a good idea of how their play would be received by a larger audience.
Zayn had targeted the place because he thought he would be able to get away with using some influence magic to get a Thursday night slot, which wasn't prime, but worth more than a community theater viewing. If they did well, the owner said he'd book them again the following week. There was only a month until The Diamond Eternal Ball at the Diamond Court Embassy, so time was running short.
As they prepared in the back, Zayn noticed that everyone was less nervous than last time. Everyone but Petri, that was. She was sitting by herself with her hands jammed between her knees, rocking back and forth and mumbling to herself.
After the all-night rave event, she'd thrown herself completely into the play. Zayn worried that if things didn't go well, it could knock her back into her previous habits.
"Don't worry, the jitters go away once you get on stage," said Zayn, sitting on the makeup table next to her.
Her face was painted to look like a stained glass window and she wore a head covering that hid her hair. Her part had originally been Skylar's except Vin rewrote it away from a porcupine.
"It's not that," said Petri, a little maudlin. "I was realizing that the year is almost over. Preparing for the play has been wonderful, but I missed so much already."
Knowing that she was as close to a demigod as it got always made it hard for Zayn to calibrate his words when talking to her, but in this instance, he saw her for the teenaged girl that she was.
"That's my fault," said Zayn. "I wish we would have included you earlier. It's been a lot of fun working with you on the play."
He wasn't lying when he said this. She'd been an attentive student, picking up the nuances of acting much quicker than any of them.
"Thanks, Zayn," she said, looking away. "I know I can be difficult."
"You know, I'm not sure why you can't hang out with us after this year," said Zayn.
"Really?" she asked, her face lighting up like a stage, before catching a streak of darkness. "I'm not sure if that's possible." She put her hand flat on her chest. "I'm changing. I might not be able to stay."
The lights dimmed for a moment, announcing the start of the play soon. Zayn glanced through the doorway to see the others gathering behind the curtain, adjusting the marionette ropes that floated above their shoulders.
"Do you...do you know?" he asked.
"What I am?" she said right away. "No, but I'm remembering more and more every day."
"Do you remember a girl when you first woke up?" he asked.
Petri wrinkled her face, but didn't have time to answer before Vin came in.
"Come on, you two. Time to go on!"
With the marionette ropes solved, and Petri's immediate taking to the material, Vin had been a ball of energy. He gathered them together. They put their hands in the middle.
"I was going to give a big pep talk, but you don't need it. Our last rehearsal was completely wands up. So I'm just gonna say, let's go out there and kick some ass! Break a leg, everyone!"
A full load of nervousness dumped into his system the moment before he went through the curtain, and he had to hop up and down and shake his hands out to shed some of it. He looked back to see Petri near to tears, so he ran over and gave her a quick hug, being careful not to smudge her stage makeup.
"Thanks," she muttered as she stared at her feet.
When he burst through the curtains, the size of the audience surprised him.
It'd been a little while since he'd peeked out, so he wasn't expecting a half-full room. The place was about twice the size as the community theater and had auditorium seating.
"Greetings!"
He felt his voice reach the far edges of the room, and the audience sit up a little straighter as if they'd been called on by their teacher. This was a good sign.
"It is I, Percieus the Sage, who has come to tell you a tale that may serve as a parable to some, or a warning to others. While in this lark, you will hear great deeds and thrilling escapades. You will also know the pain of conflict and the ache of loss..."
When his part was done, Zayn stood back and watched the reactions when Keelan came forth. The audience's lips twitched with mirth during the opening soliloquy. Vin had tweaked it for a bit more humor to soften the brash arrogance.
The enchanted marionette ropes worked better than Zayn thought they could, completing the illusion for the audience.
When Portia came onto the stage as the Silver Queen, a few whistles of admiration came from the audience. Their banter was well received, though a few lines fell flat, and Zayn mentally noted them to give Vin feedback for next time.
This performance was going much better than their previous one. Either they'd fixed some of the narration problems, or the audience had come prepared, reading up on the form of the liebereisen. Zayn had made sure the posters had included "A Maetrie Liebereisen Play" in case the name itself didn't give it away.
As the first act neared Petri's part, Zayn f
ound himself growing more nervous. It seemed strange until he realized it was coming from Petri, especially as he noticed Keelan growing less sure about delivering his lines.
The audience, who had been laughing and clapping along with the action, had left their hands in their laps. The mood in the theater had dimmed. A stab of worry went through Zayn as he realized what was about to happen. If Petri's role in the play went south, then it could set her back on her previous path.
When Petri ambled onto the stage as the sludge caterpillar, her form hidden by a brown bulbous robe, and only her stained glass painted face to hint to her later form, the audience grew deathly silent.
Transfixed by the audience's indifference, Petri stopped midstage, jawing at the empty air, her lines forgotten. Standing at stage left, Zayn felt the fear accelerate in a feedback loop.
Hoping to prod her into action, Zayn whispered her first line sotto voce: "On oil, on grease..."
Petri glanced towards him, her eyes pleading to be rescued, so he said it again: "On oil, on grease..."
But Petri did nothing. She was a statue on the stage. It'd gone on long enough that the audience knew something was wrong. He heard a forced cough.
"Bring back the queen," said someone in the audience, receiving a spat of laughter.
Petri looked like she was going to break in two. A wave of fear slammed into Zayn that had he been anywhere else, would have left him curled in a ball. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a few members of the audience leave.
He looked to Keelan, who raised his eyebrows as if to say he didn't know what to do either. Zayn eyed the room, looking for a way out, to save Petri from the embarrassment. He had a ball of flame in his fist, ready to ignite the sprinkler system, when a meek voice emanated from center stage.
"On oil, on grease, these are my treats, a life in the sludge, my viscous streets."
A collective breath broke through the theater, as everyone had been psychically linked to Petri. A wave of relief crashed through Zayn, leaving him dizzy as she continued with her next line, growing stronger as she spoke. By the time it was Keelan's turn to respond, the earlier silence had been forgotten.
The rest of the play continued as it had begun, with much laughter and excitement and tears. Petri grew more confident in her role, especially in the third act when her true form was revealed, a giant stained glass butterfly that rescued Kanedari from the Black Butcher.
It went so well that Zayn had pangs of worry that they'd tailored it too much for a human audience and the maetrie wouldn't connect with it. But they could tweak it later if necessary.
Before the end of the play, Zayn noticed a tall dark figure in back. He saw the figure with enough warning that he was able to use his sensing imbuement to examine them from a distance, catching the hint of smoky gray skin beneath the hood.
When the play ended, they received a thorough applause that lasted for a full minute. Standing with his teammates under the can lights of the theater as the audience cheered them, a rush of adrenaline filled him that was better than anything he'd ever experienced before.
As they stumbled off the stage, giddy laughter slipped out of his lips. The rest of the team looked equally gobsmacked.
"That was amazing," said Skylar breathlessly.
"Better than sex," said Portia, and when everyone gave her a look, she added, "I mean it."
Petri looked on the verge of tears, so Zayn pulled her against him for a long hug in which she let go of some of the emotion built up while she was on the stage. As she shuddered, he felt the projection from her lessen, and while everything had gone well, there'd been a moment of difficulty. Before next time, they needed to find a way to insulate themselves from her powers so they could better help her.
The owner of the theater, a slight man with a lazy eye, rushed into the back, clapping his hands and patting them on the back.
"That was wonderful! I've never seen anything like it. The merging of maetrie and human play forms was nothing short of brilliant," he said.
Upon hearing that, Vin looked like he was about to float against the ceiling.
"You will come back next week. On Saturday. I'm not giving you an option," said the owner. "Now I need to go break the news to the other theater company."
After he left, they crowded together in a circle, laughing and crying.
"Great job, everyone," said Vin. "That went better than I thought it could. I hope everyone doesn't mind, but I've made some notes on improving for next time."
"Let's work on that later," said Zayn with a wink. "Can we celebrate for a few hours first?"
Laughing, Vin responded, "Oh yes, sorry!"
As they gathered their gear, Zayn peeked from behind the curtain to see if their maetrie guest was still there, only to find his seat empty. It was clear that their human audience thought the play was a hit, but he had no idea if their maetrie audience was just as intrigued. As good as the performance went, none of it mattered if they didn't get invited to The Diamond Eternal Ball.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Third Ward, April 2016
The minotaur in the maze
With the trials of integrating Petri into the play over, Zayn focused the team on preparations for Instructor Minoan's maze. He would have liked for them to have more time to prepare, but with The Diamond Eternal Ball coming up in a few weeks, and finals after that, he wanted to take this problem off their plate so they could focus.
Zayn gathered them in the living room, where Portia was already sitting on the couch opposite Keelan, scratching Marley's back as he lounged in her lap. Skylar was last to arrive, but Vin was still sketching new lines for the play at the dining room table, so Zayn had to wait to get his attention.
"What if Keelan said instead, fate is not a cruel mistress but a disinterested lover whose time was at an end...? No, that's not right either," said Vin, lips bunched to one side as he scratched out new lines.
"The play can wait, Vin. We've got an annoying instructor to deal with first," said Zayn.
Vin looked up as if he were going to argue, but noticed the others had arrived and closed his mouth.
"Before we go back into the tunnels beneath the house, do we have everything?" asked Zayn.
Keelan opened up a velvet bag, revealing bronze bracelets with jade runes, and started throwing them to everyone.
As Skylar caught hers, she said, "Isn't this the same one you gave us for countering the maetrie charm?"
"It is, but I've improved it since then," said Keelan. "It's a catch-all against passive charms and influence spells, which includes the maetrie, the confusion charm in the maze, and some other things."
At other things, Keelan nodded towards Zayn, letting him know they should work against Petri as well.
"What about our scouts?" asked Zayn.
"We're ready," said Portia. "We made some practice runs, tracking down all the gelato shops in the area. Not only are we a good team, but mango gelato es delicioso."
Marley stood on his hind legs, made a fist before his mouth as if he was holding an ice cream cone, and mimed licking motions while making the "yes" sign with his other hand.
Turning to Skylar, Zayn asked, "Deceptions?"
"I see everyone got my memo about attire, nothing you're not willing to burn afterwards due to Instructor Minoan's confection fetish. Otherwise, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve."
With a magician's flourish, Skylar pulled a shadowy card from her sleeve, and when she tossed it into the air, it broke into tiny shadowy sparrows before flying up the stairs.
"Nice," said Keelan.
"Alright, now we can—"
"What about me?" asked Vin.
"You've been busy with the play, which is way more important. If we don't get into The Diamond Eternal Ball, none of this matters," said Zayn.
"Oh, right," said Vin with a self-satisfied grin.
When they opened the cabinet to the tunnel beneath their kitchen, Zayn had a moment of worry that Instructor Minoan had blocke
d it, but the way was open, and they made their way into the tunnel without incident.
Behind him, Skylar muttered, "I always wanted to go through a wardrobe to another world, but definitely not a cabinet to a confusing sugar maze."
Once they were all below, Portia and Marley took point, marching ahead through the sticky liquid at the center of the tunnel, and though the callolo had a major sweet tooth, he made no indication he wanted to drink, which said a lot about the power of Instructor Minoan's illusions.
The pair stopped frequently as they encountered traps, which Portia quickly disarmed. At regular points, they placed tracking beacons, which they'd developed with Keelan's help. They navigated the sugary maze with ease, finding an opaque door that looked similar to a glazed window at the end of a hidden passage.
"Get ready," said Portia, about to open the door.
When she flung it open, Zayn expected to see another room in the maze, but instead, they were confronted with a ladder going down. On the back wall, peeking through the bars, was a graffiti version of the instructor's face with a stupid smile on it.
After Portia climbed down it a ways and then back up to them, she pronounced, "It kept going, maybe all the way down to the Undercity. But that's not the biggest problem. There's a stronger confusion charm down there, heavy enough to overcome my bracelet. I came back up before I couldn't figure out which way was up. Sorry, Keelan."
Vin groaned. "Not more mazes. I thought we were through this!"
The team looked generally demoralized, except for Marley, who somehow had a bite-sized chocolate bar in his hand, nibbling at the edges.
"If I'm being honest, I'd say that I don't want to go down there. Screw this Instructor Minoan," said Keelan, receiving nods from the others. "It just feels like an endless con, designed to drive us mad. I bet there's no grand prize either."
Zayn had both hands on top of his head. Something about what his cousin said sparked a thought.
"What was it that he said to us in the maze last time?" asked Zayn, who already knew it, but wanted to hear someone say it out loud.
The Reluctant Assassin Boxset Page 66