Caraval Series, Book 1

by Stephanie Garber

  “Let’s not focus on those, then. Maybe the leap of faith means something different,” said Julian. “You said before, you thought the clue involved roses. Does anything else here remind you of your dream with Legend?”

  Scarlett’s first thought was, Legend has left this place. She saw no top hats, no rose petals, no colors brighter than palest yellow. But while her eyes were letting her down, her ears picked up a gentle melody.

  Subtle. So quiet it almost sounded like a memory, but as Scarlett moved forward with Julian, the soft music grew into something more solid and soulful. It hummed from the street with the rose-covered carousel, the only spot not infected with fog. She remembered it was also one of the few things that had remained in color when her world had turned to black-and-white.

  Brighter than freshly spilled blood, the carousel appeared even more alive than when Scarlett had seen it last. It was so vibrant, she almost didn’t notice the man sitting at the pipe organ beside it. He was far older than most of the other workers she’d come across, and his face was wrinkled and weatherworn, and a little bit sad, mirroring his music. He stopped playing as Scarlett and Julian approached, but the echoes of his song still hung in the air like lingering perfume.

  “Another song for a donation.” The man held out a hand and looked up at Scarlett expectantly.

  It should have struck her as uncanny the first time she’d seen him that he would beg for coins in a place where people rarely used them.

  Scarlett turned to Julian, not wanting to repeat the mistake she’d made at the hatter and haberdashery. “Does this feel like Legend to you?”

  “If feeling like Legend means disturbing and creepy, then yes.” Julian cast a hooded gaze over the rose-drenched carousel and the ruddy man at the pipe organ. “You think this will lead to the balcony holding your sister?”

  “I’m not sure, but I think it will definitely take us somewhere.”

  Aiko had been right when she warned Scarlett and Julian they were making a mistake by going into the hatter’s. It made sense to believe she’d also been trying to help when she’d brought Scarlett to this peculiar carousel. It could have been a coincidence, but even if it was, she doubted it was also a coincidence that when not another person was in sight, they would come back here and find the organ player waiting for them.

  “All right, then. Here you go.” Julian reached into a pocket and pulled out some coins.

  Remembering Aiko’s words, Scarlett added, “Can you play us something pretty?”

  The song that followed was not pretty; it rasped out of the pipe organ like a dying man’s final words. But it did make the carousel spin around. Slowly at first, yet hypnotic in its graceful movements. Scarlett could have stood there and watched forever, but in her dream, just before he tossed her from the balcony, Legend had warned Scarlett not to observe.

  “Come on.” She let go of Julian’s hand and leaped onto the spinning wheel.

  Julian looked as if he wanted to stop her, but then he followed as well.

  The carousel began to turn faster and soon they were on opposite sides, fingers bleeding as they searched through bushes covered in thorns, for a symbol that would open a passage of stairs.

  “Crimson, I’m not seeing anything!” Julian shouted over the music. The tune grew louder and more off-key as the carousel twirled faster, shedding more and more petals that swept up into the sky like a ruby cyclone.

  “It’s here!” Scarlett yelled back. She could feel it with every prick of her finger. There would not be so many thorns if nothing was hidden beneath them. Thorns protected roses. Again, Scarlett felt as if there was a lesson to be learned from this carousel, but before she could figure it out, she saw a sun with a star inside and a teardrop inside of the star. It was hidden beneath a rosebush, the size of a small pony, shaped to look like a stallion wearing a top hat.

  Scarlett gripped the flower stems to keep from falling as she crouched close to press her finger to the symbol for Caraval. One touch and the entire emblem filled with blood.

  The carousel spun even faster. Round and round. And as it twirled in a destructive dance the center disappeared, turning into a circle of dark. A hole made of black sky robbed of stars. Unlike the other passages, there were no stairs this time. Scarlett could not see the bottom.

  “I think we need to jump.” Maybe she’d been wrong about the balcony and this was the leap of faith.

  “Wait—” Julian edged around the hole, grabbing one of her bloody hands before she could hurtle herself forward.

  “What are you doing?” Scarlett shouted.

  “I want you to take this.” Julian pulled out a pocket watch on a long, circular chain and pressed it into her palm. “Inside the cover I etched the coordinates of a boat, just off the coast of the isle.”

  Fresh panic filled Scarlett as Julian’s face grew more serious. This felt too much like good-bye. “Why are you giving this to me now?”

  “In case we get separated, or something else unexpected happens. The boat’s already crewed; it will take you anywhere you want to go and—” Julian broke off, and for a moment it appeared as if the words were trapped in his throat. His face grew pained as the carousel jolted and slowed, and the hole in the center started shrinking. “Crimson, you need to jump now!” He released her hand.

  “Julian, what are you not telling me?”

  His lips fell into a rough line, making him look sad and regretful all at once. “There’s not time for all the things I wish I could say.”

  Scarlett wanted to ask more questions. She wanted to know why Julian, who moments before held her hand as if he never planned to let it go, was suddenly looking at her as if he feared he would never see her again. But the black hole was already closing.

  “Please, don’t make me use this without you!” She took the chain and placed it around her neck.

  Then she leaped.

  She thought she heard Julian shout something about not trusting Legend as she fell. But his words were muffled by the rushing water, roaring as it welcomed her into a river of cold.

  Scarlett gasped for air, arms flailing wildly to keep from sinking. She was glad she was in water as opposed to landing on a slab of rock or a bed of knives, but the current was too strong to fight. It sucked her in, dragging her down a path that felt eternally long.

  Her entire body was steeped in cold but she forced herself not to panic. She could do this. The water wasn’t trying to punish her. She relaxed until the current eased up. Then, with steady, even strokes and pulls she worked her way back to the surface, kicking hard until she reached a wide set of steps.

  Slowly, her eyes adjusted as tiny green lights, as infinitesimal as bits of dust, flickered to life. They swarmed the air like fireflies, casting jade illumination over two gray-blue soapstone statues guarding the entrance to the steps.

  Twice as tall as Scarlett, and cloaked in robes that disappeared beneath the water, the figures’ hands were clasped in silent prayer. But though their eyes were closed, their faces appeared far from peaceful. Their mouths stretched wide, calling out in silent agony as Scarlett pulled herself onto the black soapstone staircase.

  “I was starting to lose faith in you.” The click of a walking stick pressed against the stairs, as one by one each polished step brightened. Though it was not the stairs nor the murky places they led, but the young man in the velvet top hat who captured Scarlett’s full attention.

  She blinked and he was suddenly there in front of her, reaching out a hand to help her to her feet. “I’m so glad you finally made it, Scarlett.”

  33

  Scarlett told herself not to be dazzled.

  She knew Legend was a viper. A serpent in a top hat and tails was still a snake. It did not matter that this snake was almost exactly how Scarlett had always pictured him. He might not have been quite as handsome as she’d imagined, but still, he was made of dashing elegance, laced with intrigue and illusion, set off by a twinkle in his dark eyes that made her feel as if she were
the charmed one, covered in magic only he could see.

  He appeared younger than she would have thought, a few years older than she was, without a wrinkle or scar on his face. The rumors that he never aged must have been true. He wore a royal-blue half cape, which he quickly tore off and draped around Scarlett’s shaking shoulders. “I’d suggest you take off your wet clothes, but I’ve heard you’re on the modest side.”

  “I won’t say what I’ve heard about you,” Scarlett spit out.

  “Oh no!” Legend clapped his hands to his chest in a show of mock offense. “People have been saying nasty things about me?”

  He laughed—a rich, spicy sound. It bounced off the cavern’s walls as if there were a dozen different Legends hidden behind the stones. The noise continued, even after he stopped laughing. It wasn’t until he snapped his fingers that the horrid echoes stopped. But Legend’s manic smile remained, twitching and restless, as if he were thinking of a joke he had yet to share.

  He’s mad.

  Scarlett edged back as her gaze quickly cut to the water, where Julian should have been emerging behind her. But now the water wasn’t even moving.

  “If you’re waiting for your friend, I don’t think he’s going to be joining us. At least not yet.” Legend’s lips turned cruel around the corners, leaving her drenched in a cold blue-violet feeling that went deeper than the wetness soaking her clothes.

  “What have you done to Julian and my sister?”

  “It’s really too bad,” Legend said. “You’re so dramatic, you would have made a fantastic performer.”

  “That’s not an answer to my question,” Scarlett said.

  “Because you’re asking the wrong questions!” Legend shouted. Instantly he was right in front of her again, taller than she realized and even madder than he’d been moments before. His eyes were all black, as if the pupils had devoured the whites.

  Scarlett reminded herself that the tunnels beneath the game did strange things to people’s heads. She stood her ground without flinching, and repeated, “Where are my sister and Julian?”

  “I already told you that’s not the right question.” Legend shook his head, as if she’d disappointed him. “But now that you’ve brought them up a second time, I’m curious. If you could see only one of them again, Julian or your sister, who would you choose?”

  “I’m finished playing games,” Scarlett said. “I took your leap of faith, I don’t have to answer any more questions.”

  “Ah, but the rules say you need to find the girl before you can officially win.” Green lights danced around Legend’s head, adding a glittering emerald cast to his fair skin. He was magical to be sure, but in all the wrong ways. “Have you wondered at all why the game is played during the night?”

  “If I answer you, will you tell me where to find my sister?”

  “If you manage to do it correctly.”

  “What if I’m wrong?”

  “I’ll kill you, of course.” Legend laughed, but this time it was hollow, like a bell without a clapper inside. “I’m just kidding. No need to look at me as if I’ll sneak into your house at night and strangle all your kittens. If you answer incorrectly, I’ll reunite you with your male companion, and together you can continue searching for your sister.”

  Scarlett highly doubted Legend would keep his word, but he was blocking the stairs in front of her, and behind her was a river that she doubted led anywhere good.

  She tried to remember what Julian had told her about Caraval their first night there. They say they don’t want us to get too carried away, but that is the point.

  “I imagine the game wouldn’t be the same in the light,” Scarlett answered. “People think no one sees all the nasty things they do in the dark. The foul acts they commit, or the lies they tell as part of the game. Caraval takes place at night because you like to watch, and see what people do when they think there are no consequences.”

  “Not bad,” said Legend. “Although, I’d think you’d have realized by now that what happens here isn’t really just a game.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “Once people leave this isle, the things they’ve done here don’t just unhappen, no matter how much they might wish them undone.”

  “Maybe that should be your warning when people enter,” Scarlett said.

  Legend chuckled again, and this time it sounded almost real. “It’s terribly unfortunate this is going to end so badly. I might have liked you.” He brushed her chin with one cool knuckle.

  Scarlett slipped a little as she took a nervous step back, shooting another futile glance behind her toward the unmoving waters. “I answered your question. Now where is my friend?”

  “It amazes me,” Legend said. “I’ve only told you the truth and you won’t even allow me to touch you. Yet you think yourself in love with someone who has done nothing but lie to you this entire game. Your friend has told you not to trust me, but you cannot trust him, either.”

  “Coming from you, I’ll take that as an endorsement.”

  Legend sighed dramatically, tipping his head back. “Oh, to be so hopeful and stupid. Let’s see how long that lasts.”

  Just then, heavy footfalls sounded on the sandstone steps behind him. A moment later, Julian appeared, perfectly dry, and aside from the wound Scarlett’s father had inflicted, entirely unharmed.

  “We were just talking about you,” Legend said. “Would you like to tell her, or should I?” Legend’s eyes glittered, and this time there was no madness in them at all. He was the perfect picture of a gentleman in a top hat and tails, fully sane and dreadfully victorious.

  Water dripped from Scarlett’s hair down the back of her neck, turning hot where it touched her skin. She couldn’t believe Legend had kept his word, but more than that, she didn’t like the sound of what he’d just said, or the possessive way he was looking at Julian.

  “It seems to me your fiancé is meant for decorative purposes only, but he was right about one thing,” Legend said. “I don’t do anyone favors. It would make no sense to go to all that trouble to put an end to your engagement only to let you leave the isle with someone else. Which is why I’ve had Julian working with me for the entire game.”

  No. Scarlett heard Legend’s words, but she refused to process them. She didn’t want to believe it. She watched Julian, waiting for some sort of signal that this was another part of a greater deception.

  Meanwhile the master of Caraval regarded Julian as if he were one of his prized possessions, and to Scarlett’s horror Julian smiled back, the straight edges of his teeth flashing in torchlight. It was the same wicked grin she’d first noticed on Del Ojos Beach; the smirk of someone who’d just succeeded in playing a very cruel trick.

  “Originally, I’d planned for you to favor Dante,” Legend said. “I thought he would be more your type, but I suppose it’s good I’m wrong on occasion.”

  “Dante and his sister were part of the game too?” Scarlett blurted.

  “Don’t tell me it wasn’t a brilliant deception,” said Legend. “And try not to look so upset. I had people warn you. Twice, in fact, you were told not to believe anything.”

  “But—” Openmouthed, Scarlett turned to Julian. “So your sister, Rosa? That was all a lie?”

  For a moment it almost looked as if Julian flinched at the name Rosa, but when he spoke again, there was no emotion in his voice. Even his accent was altered. “There was someone named Rosa, and she died the way I told you, but she was not my sister. She was just an unfortunate girl who got too swept away in the game.”

  Scarlett’s hands trembled, but still, she refused to believe it. It could not have all been false, merely a game to Julian. There had been moments she knew were real. She continued to watch him, hoping for some flicker of something, a glimmer of emotion, a glance that told her this act with Legend was really the game.

  “I guess I’m better than I thought.” Julian’s smile turned vicious, the kind made for breaking hearts.

  But Scarlett had already been broken. For ye
ars her father tore her down. Over and over, she had let him. She’d allowed him to make her feel worthless and powerless. But she was neither of those things. She was done allowing her fear to make her weaker, to eat away at the meat on her bones until she could do nothing but whimper and watch.

  “I still say you did me a favor,” she said, turning back to Legend. “You said it yourself. My ex-fiancé is more of a decoration than a man, and I’m better off without him. Now give me my sister and let us go home.”

  “Home? You still have somewhere to go after tomorrow, now that you’ve thrown your entire future away? Or”—Legend cut another look toward Julian—“are you saying this because you’re still under the illusion that he cares for you?”

  Scarlett wanted to say it wasn’t an illusion. The Julian she knew had let himself be tortured for her. How could that not be real? She refused to believe it, even as Julian looked at her as if she were the most foolish girl in the world. And he was probably right.

  She’d not realized something that had been true until that moment. Since Julian had brought her to the island, the look had been there, that extra spark; whether frustrated or angry or laughing, there was always something there that said some facet of her touched something inside of him.

  Now there was nothing there. Not even pity. For a dangerous moment Scarlett doubted everything she believed to be true.

  Then she remembered. In case something unexpected happens.

  The pocket watch. Scarlett’s hand went to the cool piece of jewelry around her neck, her heart beating a little faster as she clutched it and recalled Julian’s words on the carousel.

  “What do you have there?” Legend asked.

  “Nothing,” Scarlett said. But her words came out too fast, and Legend’s hands moved quicker, spreading the velvety fabric of the royal-blue cape she still wore, his icy fingers pulling out the watch.

  “I don’t remember seeing this on you before.” Legend cocked his head toward Julian. “A recent gift?”