Imri nodded. “Wynnow sent me to Woodcourt for your protection until the Coracks could rescue you. A Brillian would never be a captured servant.”
By then, Wynnow had already dismounted and said, “Imri is here now for a very different purpose. She will teach you to use your magic.”
“That isn’t necessary.” Loelle’s voice betrayed her irritation. “I can teach Kestra all she needs to know.”
Imri looked at Loelle with pure disdain. “Lady Dallisor is in Brill now. She will train with us.” Imri motioned us toward the carriage. “Let’s ride together in there. Our drivers can handle your horses.”
Wynnow strode forward first, and I noticed the men who opened the doors for her gave her the appropriate bows. Somehow, I’d never thought of her as royalty, but now that she was in her home country, she certainly played her role well.
At Imri’s gesture, I started to follow Wynnow into the carriage, then stopped, as if my feet had suddenly turned to lead. Wynnow leaned out. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t like small …” My voice trailed off as I gritted my teeth and balled my hands into fists. I knew I’d have to get in the carriage, and showing weakness in front of the Brillians over such a minor thing was the last thing I wanted. Closing my eyes, I entered before I could think better of it, followed by Loelle. The door shut behind us and I gripped the seat, only releasing it when Imri noticed. If she had disapproved of me when the biggest problem on my mind was a potential marriage, she would have far more reason to doubt me now.
We rode for about an hour in silence before I noticed Loelle had fallen asleep. As if she had been waiting for such an opportunity, Wynnow immediately gestured at her companion.
“Aside from being a brave and loyal spy for the Brillians, Imri is also the foremost expert on magic in our land. She knows some tests to help us narrow down what cluster of magic you may have.”
I arched a brow. “Cluster?”
Imri leaned forward. “There are ten, although the powers within each cluster may vary according to strength and ability. To draw upon your powers, no matter how powerful or weak, you must have full concentration. I know when we last met, your mind was altered due to Lord Endrick’s magic. I hope you can be more serious now.” Before I could answer, she began counting off her fingers. “First is the ability to influence another’s mind.”
“How Endrick took my memories,” I said.
“Or how he communicates orders to his Ironhearts,” Wynnow added.
Imri said, “Second is the ability to influence another’s actions.”
I thought of when Endrick ordered me to kneel. Despite every effort on my part not to obey him, I had fallen to my knees. One day, I would find a way to resist him. I was determined never again to kneel before him.
Imri said, “Third is an influence on objects and fourth is the influence on nature.”
I wondered if that was the way my mother, Anaya, had carved into the rock of the dungeons, leaving clues for how to find the Olden Blade the first time. If only there were any clues for how to find it again, without having to rely on Basil’s help.
Imri nodded at Loelle. “She has the fifth cluster, to influence health. The same ability allows Endrick to create Ironhearts. Sixth is the ability to become undetectable, or to mask one’s thoughts from others.”
I straightened up. “That was my mother’s gift. Endrick never took it from her. He doesn’t have this ability.”
“Unless he obtained it elsewhere,” Wynnow said. “Surely other Endreans possessed this gift.”
“Seventh is the ability to expand one’s own strength or talents,” Imri continued. “Eighth is the ability to create.”
“Endrick’s creatures, his technologies and weapons,” Wynnow clarified. The explanation wasn’t necessary. I had already understood that.
“Ninth is what we simply call recalling,” Imri said. “In the moment of need, a person with this magic will recall the information they require, even if it vanishes from their mind once it’s no longer necessary.”
Maybe Loelle had that too. She seemed to always have a solution for any problem a person had.
“And tenth is the power to take magic from others—by killing them,” Imri finished. “As far as we know, Endrick is the only Endrean ever to have this power.”
“Is there any way to guess at what cluster is mine?” I asked.
Imri steepled her fingers, as if preparing herself to work. “We must test you, one cluster at a time. Since we’re in this carriage, I think we should start at the beginning, the influence of another mind.”
Wynnow leaned in toward me. “Do you know what I’m thinking?”
I grinned back at her. “With my confused mind, I can’t even tell you what I’m thinking at any given moment.”
“Be serious, Kestra. Do you know what I’m thinking about?”
I looked deeply into her eyes, hoping for a window into her thoughts to open, or for any sort of clue to decipher an answer. But I wasn’t supposed to figure it out. If that was my power, then shouldn’t I just know?
And I didn’t.
I leaned back and rolled my eyes. “Next.”
Wynnow pointed at Loelle. “Give her a silent command, from your mind to hers, to wake up and ask what we’re having for supper tonight.”
“What are we having?” I asked.
“Kestra!”
“All right.” I focused on Loelle, my immediate goal simply being to cause her to stir. But again, nothing happened.
“We can eliminate the first cluster,” I said. “And the second, for that matter. I can’t make Loelle yawn, much less influence her to wake up.”
A vein popped out in Imri’s neck, I swore it did. “Let’s try the third cluster, then, to influence objects.” She widened her palm, revealing a single pearl earring on it. “Can you move this to your hand, without touching it?”
I tried it. And no, I couldn’t. Nor could I move it on her hand, crush it, or cause it to do anything.
I slumped back in my seat. “Enough. I’m done being tested for now.”
“My lady—” Wynnow began, but Imri touched her arm, and whispered something to her. I distinctly heard the word defect. Meaning those who are capable of magic but fail to develop it.
When she caught me looking, Imri tried to cover it up by saying, “Don’t worry. You’re probably tired, or the magic is still too fresh.”
“Of course.” I tried to sound hopeful, though I didn’t believe either of those reasons was to blame. The problem was that a part of me hoped I was a defect. Yes, I needed magic to have a chance against Lord Endrick.
But if I never developed magic, then I might still have a chance with Simon.
I doubted there was any future where I could have both.
Harlyn had certainly sparked our curiosity about how Nessel might be prepared for a Dominion attack, but then, I was equally curious about what might be inside the satchel dangling from Trina’s saddle. The two girls stared at each other a moment, silently negotiating who might announce their news first.
It would be Trina. Arching her neck, she dismounted and withdrew from her satchel a wood box, then carefully laid it on the ground while we gathered around it. She slid open the lid to reveal a roll of burlap packed in straw, then glanced up at us with excitement dancing in her eyes. “You remember the Dominion fire pellets?”
Of course we did. They were shot from shoulder cannons and exploded almost instantly upon hitting metal. We could avoid the worst of their impact if only a few came our way, but in numbers, they were lethal.
Trina added, “Packed in here is a single fire pellet, one large enough to explode a hillside. You only have to squeeze on it, then throw.”
Or have it thrown at us, should we lose control of such a device. I shook my head. “It’s a dangerous thing for the Brillians to want Lord Endrick’s technologies, his mutations. And it’s more dangerous for us to fight him with his own tools of war.”
“I disagree.” Ha
rlyn crouched beside Trina, hoping to examine the contents of the box more closely, but Trina shut the lid again and added, “This is Brillian technology, not Endrick’s magic.”
I exchanged a cautious look with Basil. “What good will that do us here?” he asked.
Trina shrugged. “Maybe none, unless it’s our last chance to stop the Dominion.”
“We’re not there yet,” Harlyn said, rising again. “Come with me and see what we’ve been doing.”
We returned to our horses, dividing into pairs to fit on the narrow road toward Nessel. Harlyn rode near me, lowering her voice to keep our conversation from the others. “If something is wrong, you can talk to me.”
I looked over at her, ready to explain that we barely knew each other, ready to lie and say that I was fine. I couldn’t say the truth, not to anyone, maybe not even to myself. It’d only worsen the damage to my heart, or what was left of it. Harlyn only nodded at me as if she knew that and understood.
I was relieved when the city came into better view, anything for a distraction from my thoughts. Since my last visit here only weeks ago, walls of tall wood slats had been built up around Nessel with what appeared to be a single gated entrance. With the advent of a new Infidante, obviously the Halderians had known war would eventually come to the Hiplands.
“You said you have ways of defending this city?” Trina asked Harlyn.
“Yes, though we’ve never had to test them.” Harlyn motioned for us to follow her through the gates. The evacuation must be ahead of us, since I saw no other people, though it was still dark enough I might have missed them in the shadows of the side roads.
Other than the high walls, Nessel was exactly how I remembered it, with cobblestone walkways and smooth dirt roads for the horses and wagons. When we’d come before, it had felt as abandoned as it was now, except then, it was because the people had gathered at the edge of town for a meeting. That was where Kestra had been named the Infidante.
It was also where Tenger had tried to kill her. And she was with Tenger now. Every time my thoughts drifted there, I became nearly paralyzed with worry. But for now, I had to put it aside. I had to, or else I’d be no use here.
“Stay on the stone paths,” Harlyn warned.
“Why?” Basil asked, scurrying back off the road.
She smiled back at him. “We don’t normally advertise this to outsiders, but our city is founded on an underground river. Believing that the Dominion would come for us one day, we built in quick escape routes everywhere we could. Holes have been dug into the roads, then covered with fabric and wood and disguised to look like dirt roads. If we are attacked, the plan is to pull out the wood and lower ourselves by rope into boats to go downriver. There are hundreds of holes throughout the city.”
“That was why your father wanted everyone to stay and defend this place,” I said.
She groaned. “No, my father wanted us to stay because his only instinct is to fight. An evacuation is better.” She dismounted, motioning for us to do the same, then crouched beside an unremarkable spot in the road, aiming the clearstone torch downward. Only then did I see the outlines of a light brown fabric with dirt scattered over the top of it. She lifted up one corner and we peeked in to see a long drop-off into darkness below. “Before everyone left, we had them remove the wood, but this fabric disguise remains. When the Dominion rides over the holes, they’ll fall into the underground river. My idea, by the way.”
“It’s brilliant,” I said. She blushed, but it had been a sincere compliment. I was genuinely impressed.
“And is that for the condors?” Trina asked, pointing to a tower in the center of the city, clearly visible in the moonlight.
I squinted, seeing what appeared to be a cannon there, but I hoped that wasn’t the plan. These birds were large enough to carry a grown man and had talons capable of killing him. They’d easily outfly a heavy cannonball.
“Nets.” Harlyn kept her eyes on me as she answered Trina’s question. “Big nets.”
“I’ll go into the tower,” Basil offered. “I’ll watch for the enemy’s approach.”
While he ran off in one direction, Trina’s attention turned to the path along which we’d come. “I’ll go shut the gates, slow them down when they do come.” When Harlyn didn’t respond, still keeping her eyes on me instead, Trina added, “Then I’ll single-handedly defeat the entire horde with my sword, a toothpick, and a sewing needle, shall I?”
I rolled my eyes at Trina’s sarcasm, still aware of Harlyn’s focus on me. And more than a little bothered to realize that I had been staring back.
To Trina, I said, “If you’re at the entrance, I’ll go to the far end of town for any soldiers who get past the traps.”
“I’m coming with you,” Harlyn offered. “You’ll want my help.”
“Help?” Trina echoed with a smile. “That’s what you two are calling it?”
If Harlyn heard, she pretended not to and only led me along the cobblestones on a winding maze through the city. “Nessel is a fine city and worth protecting,” she explained. “I didn’t think you would come here, not after the confrontation at the Corack camp.”
“How did you know to come to the Corack camp?” I asked. “Who told you that Kestra would be there? Was it Trina?”
Harlyn laughed. “Trina? No, they’d have told me if it was Risha Halderian’s daughter. My father only said it was someone the Coracks trust with their lives.” Which wasn’t helpful at all. We trusted every Corack with our lives.
We rounded a corner, then Harlyn continued, “The Halderians don’t hate the Infidante. But half of us believe she cannot succeed. The other half worry that her success will make her the next tyrant to assume the Scarlet Throne.”
“She will succeed, Harlyn. And she is no tyrant. She fights with us.”
“Where is she now?” I turned forward again, and after a loud and lengthy silence, she added, “At least you are here, and your two friends.”
Friends. One whom I’d accused of every sort of betrayal, and one who’d behaved far better toward me than I ever had to him.
At the far end of Nessel, Harlyn warmed a clearstone, then led me into a shop with shelves loaded with bags marked as saltpeter. “Is that really what’s in there?” I asked, brushing my knuckles along the bags as I walked down the row. My mind was already racing with possibilities.
“Trina may have a single fire pellet the size of a small boulder, but we can make the saltpeter into hundreds of explosives. And since I know you’re about to ask, yes, we have an excellent wagon for hauling it all to Reddengrad.” She touched my shoulder and I turned back to her, though she was standing so close, I had to step away. “You should rest now, Simon. I can see that you’re exhausted.”
“I’m fine.” Which was a lie and she knew it.
“Your eyes are bloodshot, your shoulders look as if you’re carrying a mountain on your back, your movements are wooden. It’s as if something inside you died.” She drew in a sharp breath, and when our eyes connected again, I knew she was seeing deeper into my heart than I dared to admit. In the gentlest of tones, she asked, “Who was it?”
My heart raced, hurting again, breaking again. Since the night my mother … since that night, I’d tried my best not to feel anything, not pain or despair or grief … or love, which hurt most of all. My emotions were so knotted that if I pulled a single thread to explain myself, I feared I would unravel entirely. But Harlyn wasn’t about to let this go.
She said, “A year ago, my family set out northward, hoping to trade with some Antorans along the coast. On our way, we saw Dominion soldiers approaching us on the road. My mother had some silver bars in the back and she went to hide them. As expected, the Dominion stopped our wagon to collect for the king. When they realized we were the Banished, as they call us, they set the wagon on fire and we ran for our lives.” Harlyn’s right foot had been jittering while she spoke, but now it went perfectly still as she added, “My mother didn’t make it.”
A
tear rolled down my cheek, pairing the image of her mother with the cries of my mother. I knew exactly how awful that must have been, because I knew how awful it was for me too.
She sniffed, getting my attention. “I don’t know who you lost, but whoever it was—”
“My mother too,” I said, barely above a whisper.
Without another word, Harlyn drew me into her arms. After an awkward few seconds, I folded my arms around her too, accepting the healing she was attempting to offer. She let me grieve there, let me feel selfish and weak and foolish while silently communicating an understanding that if I was any of those things, what happened to my mother still wasn’t my fault.
I wasn’t sure how long we remained that way, only that at some point, it wasn’t a hug of comfort or compassion. Her fingers combed through the back of my hair, stirring me up inside, her touch filling holes that had been punched through me over the last couple of days. I tightened my arms and pressed my hands into her back, aware of how very close she was, her dark hair against my cheek, her breath on my neck. And I still hadn’t let her go.
She pulled away first, but only enough to stand face-to-face with me. With her thumb, she brushed a stray tear from my cheek and left her hand there.
I’d needed someone to understand my loss. But at some point, the hug that I’d needed had become an embrace that a part of me wanted. And not just an embrace.
What if Harlyn and I—
“You need to rest, Simon.” Harlyn led me to a chair in the corner, sitting close beside me with her arms around my shoulders for comfort. No sooner had I settled in than I was asleep, awakening what felt like minutes later to the sound of a screech overhead. It was lighter outside, so a few hours must have passed, but Harlyn was at the window now and I leapt to my feet to join her. There we saw a giant condor flying overhead, a black shadow against the early morning sky. Its rider would seek out any signs of life, and if found, would use a shoulder cannon to rain the Dominion’s fire pellets over the city. Though small, if they dropped enough of them, the shop where Harlyn and I were hiding would be flattened within seconds.
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