The bond pulled her east, encouraged her to leave their hiding place, and seek out her twin which it assured her wasn’t far away at all. They may not stand a chance on their own, but together, they’d always been strong. They could stand up to the empire. They didn’t have to hide in different places in the same city.
“I know where my twin is,” Gale said, tried the handle to the door, and pushed it open. “I’m going to find her.”
“No.” Iorvil shook her head. “It would be suicide.”
“I don’t have a problem with dying as long as I get to do it in a spectacular fashion.”
Iorvil cricked her neck, gripped her axe. “Then we’re not that different, I guess.”
“I suggest we start with the subtle approach.” Gale considered pulling the door shut again before Iorvil could start murdering people in the street. “If it fails, if we stumble upon soldiers of the empire, we kill those. But we don’t cause a commotion for no reason.”
“Rhabour would have wanted it.”
“Would he?”
Iorvil stopped next to her, put her hand on the door, and sighed. “No, of course not, but it would have been gratifying to get revenge for the friends I lost.”
“According to some of the ballads I sing, you’d be better off biding your time, amassing strength, and unleashing it when they least expect it.” Gale missed her lute. If nothing else, she’d like to return to Caelora to fetch it. “You’d deal a greater blow to Thotrix and the empire.”
“Let’s see if we survive this first.” Iorvil pushed the door open. No one appeared to be on the street right outside at the moment, but Gale could hear chatter and movement everywhere around them. “After you.”
Free
The gods toyed with them to amuse themselves. Hymn refused to look at it any other way. If the new goddess hadn’t gotten involved, Gale would not have attempted to betray Phoxene, and they would not have gotten separated. She would have had her twin by her side.
Instead, she stood in the hallway on the second floor of someone’s home surrounded by dour portraits, and bouquets in pots, where snoring emanated from closed doors. She would have believed Phoxene if she’d told her they were inside a store which sold flowers. She had to fight not to sneeze in the wake of all the various scents.
“Don’t be alarmed, but I fear we find ourselves in the capital of the empire,” Phoxene whispered from the window. “I suggest we—“
“Why should I listen to you? I could find my own way, home, somehow. You’re an escaped prisoner. I’m sure they want you back, but they’ve no reason to bother me. They might be civilized compared to you.”
Phoxene grabbed Hymn’s hand and raised it in front of her face. “You’re green, Hopeless. They’ll want to study you because of your skin and your tail. The empire finds a use for everyone, whether the individual likes what they do to them or not.”
“Don’t touch me.” Hymn pulled her hand out of Phoxene’s grasp. She didn’t like the woman. In fact, she’d disliked her since they’d first met. She’d definitely known Phoxene would try to steal her twin from her. “I don’t need your help. I can get out of this city, if I stay in the shadows. How far can it be to the nearest border?”
“Weeks?” Phoxene fiddled with the window, unlatched it with a click, and began to slide it open. “Stay here if you wish, Hopeless, but I’m leaving. Best of luck. You’ll need it without me or Iorvil. You’ve no clue what the empire is like.”
She didn’t, but she’d gotten a taste of what kind of people Phoxene and Iorvil were. If all the faithful of Rhabour were like them, maybe there would be a sensible explanation for why two different groups of worshippers had ended up in a war that hadn’t reached a resolution before one side had been wiped out.
She hadn’t believed her eyes when Iorvil had drawn her axe on them and shielded Phoxene, as if the sly woman needed protection. Her mothers had taught her better than to fall headfirst for the first remarkable person that landed in her life. Or she wouldn’t have rejected the teachings of love, and prayed the goddess would never bother her and that she would be given reprieve and a normal husband.
Iorvil posed a threat to her, her twin, and her family. She shouldn’t have reached for the sky when she could have married the first respectable man in Caelora. For so long, for years, she’d walked around thinking she would find someone one day, but she’d just rejected every nearby candidate.
Love had made her fear them too, but at least now she didn’t have to pretend she wanted it. Could anyone promise her that she’d be safe with them for life? No, so it was simple. She had to abandon love altogether and stop hoping someone would make the dreaded experience better.
“Have a nice, albeit short, life.” Phoxene slipped out of the window and disappeared.
“Wait…” Hymn didn’t like having to rely on someone like Phoxene, yet she had to make a choice fast if she didn’t want to find herself alone in an unfamiliar country.
Phoxene didn’t respond, voices could be heard from one of the rooms. The snoring had ceased. Hymn cursed silently to herself, climbed into the window, and followed her deceitful guide onto the ledge outside lest she get out alive without her. She liked the idea of Phoxene surviving, while she died, even less than the woman.
“Hello, Hopeless.” Phoxene smirked, nodded toward the ground, and gave Hymn a fear of heights.
She pressed her back and arms against the wall of the excessively tall building. She’d no idea why she’d assumed they were on the second floor, but they weren’t. At least twenty meters of nothing but air existed between them and the paved street. If she fell, she’d splatter like a ripe tomato across the ground, stain the stone walls of the homes with her blood, and cease to exist.
“Careful now, you shouldn’t look down.” Phoxene laughed. “It might make you freeze up in fear, and then where will you be?”
“You could have warned me before I stepped outside.” Hymn noticed Phoxene moving away from her along the ledge, but she didn’t want to take another step. Their footing was far too treacherous. What if the ledge cracked under her foot while she walked? What if she fell?
“I thought you would take your chances with the empire.” Phoxene stretched her right foot out over the abyss for no apparent reason. She only wished to scare her. “However, if you want my help, you best hurry your clumsy feet. I can’t wait for you forever. I need to find another airship and get back in the skies.”
“Fine…” Hymn pondered if she should shut her eyes to slide faster along the ledge, once she began to move, but that would make it impossible for her to see where she put her feet. She wouldn’t have to watch her surroundings if she fell at least, but then, why miss out on the final seconds of her life?
A sharp pain shot through her like hot iron, forced a gasp out of her lungs, and made her teeter on the edge. She became aware of someone in the distance, a presence, which seemed more familiar to her than anything in the world. Gale. She could practically see her face in front of her, painted across the windows and wall on the building across the street.
“If your heart stops, don’t shriek,” Phoxene said. “It will alert the inhabitants of these homes to your presence, and they might spot me. If you’re going to die, show some concern for those of us who will live.”
“I’ll not die before you, you ass.” Hymn wished she’d brought a weapon with her, so she could have taught Phoxene a lesson, or protected herself if they were discovered, but she’d not had the foresight.
“Don’t take that tone with me, or I’ll hold you accountable for getting us into this mess. Without your twin, we would have been fine. I would never have made a bargain with a god.” Phoxene slammed one of her arms into the wall, so it emitted repetitive clicks. “Willingly.”
Hymn focused on Gale’s presence to see her out of danger. If anyone would defend her at the risk of their own life, it was her twin. Not one of these brutes she’d only met days ago.
Fall From Grace
“Where
are we…” Gale let out a whistle at the sight of the bridge in front of them.
Thotrix’s servants had constructed it out of metal and incorporated brass cogs into its design, although they seemed to serve no practical purpose. The bridge allowed the inhabitants of the city to traverse the raging river that cut the outskirts off from the center of the city.
“We might be in the empire’s capital, Broken Shield, but I’ve never visited the capital, so who knows? Phoxene could tell you, if she was here.”
Iorvil watched their backs while the shirtless twin she’d been left with stared ahead of them with dreamy eyes. The architecture of the city transformed into a terror to behold the closer they got to its center. Tall towers spewed out smoke while wall after wall seemed to house homes. She could see windows built into what she would have thought were defensive battlements in another country.
Even if she wasn’t certain whether they were in the capital of the empire or not, she could tell they were deep behind the empire’s borders. Somehow, they’d avoided capture so far by staying in the shadows, but she doubted they would get past the guards on the other side of the bridge unnoticed.
“Hymn is coming closer, but she’s in trouble,” Gale said, pressed the palm of her hand against the spot above her heart, and stroked her skin. “What if she doesn’t survive? She might die before we meet again, and then what’ll I do? Waste my life on you? I don’t want to feel my twin’s feelings when she’s scared and alone. This is awful…”
“Calm yourself. Hymn will...” Iorvil laid her hand on Gale’s shoulder, but she shrugged it off.
“Hymn is my twin, and you pulled an axe on her after you said you’d protect anyone who worshipped your god.”
Gale shot her a nasty glare, and because of their similarities, she couldn’t miss Hymn in her features. She would have loved to have an excuse, or even an explanation, for her behaviour, but she might have made a mistake. Rhabour would hold her accountable, for what she’d done when she’d threatened one of his faithful.
The sudden appearance of another deity had rattled her, but she hadn’t needed to pick sides. She should have stood still like a mountain in the middle until everyone had gotten their time to make their arguments. Yet she hadn’t. She’d skipped several steps of a trial and arrived at verdict.
“I—”
“Save it for my twin, if she plans to listen.” Gale looked her over from top to toe. “I should have gone to bed with you to protect her. You’re no better than Phoxene. You’re self-righteous and judgmental because some god gave you a pretty necklace. I spit on you.”
Gale didn’t actually spit on her. She spun around on her heel, hummed an upbeat tune, and approached the bridge without fear. The guards on the other side would notice her soon, if they hadn’t already, and when they saw how strange she looked, they would sound the alarm. They would not welcome spirit-like mortals into their city. While they might mistake Gale for a goddess at first glance, they wouldn’t have the desire to follow anyone else than Thotrix.
“Come back,” Iorvil hissed. “There has to be a better place to cross the river than right here.”
“I’m not even fully dressed, and still, braver than you.” Gale waved nonchalantly before she put her foot on the bridge. “I’ll tell Hymn you weren’t her true love after all, so she doesn’t have to be terrified of falling for you.”
She’d known Hymn didn’t think much of love, but she didn’t know how to react to the revelation that she may have been terrified of falling in love with her. Hymn had joined her faith to support Rhabour, even though they’d been on their last leg from the moment they’d first met and nothing had changed.
Keeper Jerfell would have called her a worthy recruit, especially since she’d accepted Iorvil without hesitation. She’d not viewed her as a barbarian, nor had she jumped into bed with her at the first opportunity. She’d left it up to time.
Iorvil had made several mistakes when she’d pulled her axe on Hymn. She’d betrayed Rhabour, his faithful, and a woman who might grow to love her given more time. If she didn’t stand alongside her twin, she would never be able to meet Hymn in another lifetime and look her in the eye. She would be damned and shamed throughout every circle.
She hefted her axe in her hands, savoured its weight, and hurried to catch up with Gale on the bridge. “I trust you have a plan.”
“Leave it to me.”
Gale winked, unsheathed her rapier, and burst into song. Iorvil had listened to her sing on the Gustfin, but the depth of her voice hadn’t struck her as hard as it did when one of the guards left his post to sound the alarm.
Gale sung a grand ballad about love and loss of kings and queens of distant ages. About heroes who fell in battle to be mourned by those left behind, and orphaned children who grew up to become knights. About the rise and fall of death and despair. She wished she’d had Gale around when she’d stormed and taken the Gustfin with her brethren. The singer could have recorded them as more than bloodstains on an airship’s deck.
Maiden
“If you want my advice, not that it’s in my interest to get involved, but you appear incapable of making intelligent choices.”
“Thanks…” Hymn would have shoved Phoxene off the ledge if they’d been closer to each other, but the woman moved too fast toward the end of the building. The distance between them only grew. “I’ll be fine. I don’t need—“
“Iorvil defended you and your twin, even though we should have tossed you overboard. She grew up in the wild with a people that have been at war for decades. It’s understandable if she’s a bit jumpy when you betray her.”
“Okay. I didn’t—“
Phoxene lifted a finger to her mouth, shushed Hymn, and stopped when she reached the corner. For a second or two, she only listened. She didn’t speak. The city became very peaceful without Phoxene’s voice to ruin the scenery. The empire might have done everyone a favour if they’d cut her tongue.
Then, a horn bellowed throughout the capital, followed by another further away, and another. Hymn could sense Gale’s presence around the building. So close, yet so far. She’d no idea how they would get down to the ground.
If she listened, she thought she could hear her twin singing about angry men while she clashed with soldiers in plated armours. She could see Iorvil at her side, whenever she blinked. The giant defended Gale with her axe by cutting men’s limbs off.
Phoxene struggled to turn around on the narrow ledge, but eventually managed, pressed her stomach against the wall, and looked up towards the roof with an inquisitive gaze. She may be tall enough to reach the next ledge and the roof, but Hymn wasn’t.
“I hope my advice was useful,” Phoxene said but didn’t even look at her before she began to scale the wall like a monkey. “I won’t be enslaved by Thotrix again. Not in this life.”
Hymn hadn’t expected such a graceful, acrobatic display from a woman who was almost as tall as Iorvil, but Phoxene must have spent her entire life on an airship and developed her talent over years. She lost her grip once, reclaimed it, and in no time disappeared up onto the roof.
Hymn waited for her to return to help her but soon understood that Phoxene had abandoned her where she stood. She’d guided her out onto a narrow ledge, scared her by pointing out the ground, and in the end, she’d chosen to save herself. She didn’t care about anyone else. Not her, not Gale, and certainly not Iorvil.
She didn’t like the idea that she might become like Phoxene if she shielded her heart for too long against too much suffering, but in another timeline, she might have made the same choice. Why waste effort on people? Why help someone who was too weak to help themselves?
No, on second thought, she would never become Phoxene.
She approached the end of the building, glanced around the corner, and discovered the finale of the battle her twin and Iorvil had engaged in. Iorvil wiped her bloodied axe on the mantle on one of the four soldiers at her feet.
Gale said something to Iorvil, po
inted up at her, and waved while bouncing on her feet. Hymn just nodded, since she refused to remove her hands from the wall. She still had no idea how to get down to the ground. Not a single ladder stood anywhere near her.
If she’d been as confident in her body’s natural agility as Phoxene, she might have jumped for the closest tower of the bridge and slid down along it, but she knew she would miss if she tried anything of the sort. Venviel should have trained them in this kind of activity too.
Iorvil hung her axe on her belt, walked over to the foot of the building below Hymn, and extended her arms. Hymn could not hear her, but if she thought she would jump from this height into her embrace, she had to have taken a serious blow to the head. Iorvil may be tall, but she wasn’t that tall.
Another horn bellowed, but this one belonged to the soldier at the front of the patrol that arrived on the far side of the bridge. Gale and Iorvil were surrounded. They couldn’t push deeper into the capital, since it was a question of time before new soldiers showed up to block off the streets. They had to cross the bridge again, or they wouldn’t get out. And she doubted they could defeat the growing number of soldiers which were starting to gather.
Gale stepped up next to Iorvil, extended her arms like the giant, and waved for Hymn to jump. She could see her twin’s grin, even in this dark scenario. Nothing could put a dent in her attitude, could it? They would die. If she’d known how to climb, she might have abandoned them to their fates like Phoxene had abandoned her.
No, she grimaced, disgusted. She couldn’t think like that. If either of them died, she would mourn them till her own end. She would never forgive herself if she fled when they needed her to put her faith in them.
They only asked her to step off the ledge and fall. She trusted Gale, but Gale wasn’t strong enough to catch her. She would crush her twin, without a doubt, and then she would be a stain next to another grinning stain on the street.
Gale & Hymn Page 10