For Wreck and Remnant

by Kate Avery Ellison

  The poison trickled through me. I suppressed a shiver, but Nol noticed. He touched my elbow lightly.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  “Do you ever think of it?” I asked him. “Of them?”

  I wasn’t just distracting him. I wanted to know. Suddenly, it was vitally important to me, with poison spreading through my body, and a room full of Itlanteans with lying eyes and tongues outside, and a war being waged in the sea beyond. With the factions that divided us, the memories in my mind, the Itlanteans and the Dron and our loyalties to them, did a piece of him still throb for the life we’d once had, despite everything he’d become, despite what he had now?

  His eyes slid away from mine. He took a breath, as if accessing a part of him he rarely dared to speak of. “I think of it every day.”

  The silence that followed joined us. I felt something—grief?—rise in me, palpable and thick. I wanted to touch and be touched. I reached for Nol’s hand, and his bumped mine, one lost soul to another. My mind filled with memories of the place I’d called home for most of my life as the burning on my tongue slid down my throat, and my head buzzed.

  I leaned against Nol to steady myself. When he turned his head, his eyes were vulnerable. Honest.

  “Aemi,” he said into my ear. His voice was a whisper, a brush of a promise. I shut my eyes.

  “I think of it every day,” he said again. “Of them, of my family, my friends. I wish they were here now, safe.”

  “When we were captured, you told me you wished they’d rescued Tagatha instead.” I didn’t know why the memory filled my mind, his furious face as he saw that I had survived, but I did. I felt hollow.

  Nol exhaled. “When I think of the Village of the Rocks now, I always think of you too. You were always there, like sand in my shoe, permeating every memory, irritating me and pushing me and taunting me, but I didn’t realize how much I liked it until we were floating in a black sea with Celestrus dying beneath us. I didn’t realize until I’d found you and lost you again.”

  “And yet still, we are enemies.”

  “Are we?” he asked. “At the end of the day, we come from the same place. We are both from the surface, no matter where you happened to be born. We both know and miss the sun. We’re more than enemies, or even reluctant allies. We’re the only ones left.”

  The earnestness in his eyes gave me strength, but could I trust this? He’d said what I wanted to hear before, and then he’d turned on me. Was this some trick to help the Dron?

  “We’re not the only ones. Kit is here.” The words rushed out, but whether I was attempting to invalidate his argument or make him happy, I didn’t know.

  Nol stiffened. “What?”

  “Kit. He was forced to serve as one of Nautilus’s soldiers, and we found each other during the attack on Primus. He’s safe. He’s here in Verdus now, at my grandmother’s house.”

  Nol’s face tightened. He drew away slightly.

  I was confused. “What is it?”

  “Why are you only telling me this now?”

  “I... I thought you’d be happy. He’s one of us. We aren’t alone. If you’re telling the truth about the loyalty you feel to our people—”

  “One of us,” Nol echoed, cutting me off. His jaw clenched.

  I felt small and bewildered. “Nol.”

  He’d been lying? He’d been lying.

  Tob’s words to me echoed through my mind, mocking me. You seem to have a lot of friends among our enemies.

  Nol looked around and drew in a breath, composing himself. His eyes were blackening. “He’s been here this whole time and you said nothing.”

  “It wasn’t relevant.” Anger rose in me, outpacing my confusion. “But now I see that your whole speech was just a story like last time. I should have known.”

  “What? No. Aemi—Kit is a traitor.”

  Now I was the one to draw back, although it was more of a jerk. “What are you talking about?”

  Nol grabbed my arms. “Aemi, I saw him. On the ship, I saw him. When they came to sort us out, that day when I fought and they brought me back alone to the cell—he was there, with them. He was not in chains like the rest of us.”

  “You’re lying,” I said. “You’re lying because you’re jealous—”

  Nol’s lips whitened. “I’m not lying.”

  “Kit isn’t a traitor. Why are you saying this?”

  He shook his head. “It’s the truth.”

  “If it’s the truth, why didn’t you tell me before?”

  “He was your friend. I thought it didn’t matter. He could simply be dead, gone. You would mourn him and move on. You wouldn’t have to know—”

  “I don’t believe you,” I said. “You’ve already betrayed me once.”

  “That was different. I didn’t have a choice. It’s not like that now.”

  “Do you think I’m a fool?”

  He glared at me. “I think you’re like your mother and the rest of them, more than you know, and it colors everything you see.”

  He might as well have slapped me. This conversation was over. I turned to leave.

  “Aemi, wait.” Nol caught my arm, but I shook him off. My heart pounded against the numbness spreading through me. I moved through the crowd.

  Nol didn’t follow.

  I spotted Tob weaving among the bodies dressed in silks and sparkling jewels. He drew alongside me.

  “How is the food?”

  “You know it’s impeccable,” I said, feeling snappish.

  Tob looked from me to over my shoulder. “Fighting?” he asked.

  I didn’t want to discuss Nol with him, or how I should feel about so-called enemies. I shook my head and started to move away when a movement caught my eye. Something furtive at the edge of my vision, a figure clad in dark, neutral clothing slipping through the room with purpose toward me.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  SOMETHING ABOUT THE way the figure moved, the deliberateness, the slow and measured steps, sent my spine tingling.

  An assassin?

  Tallyn was right to be cautious. They’d shown up after all.

  My heart galloped. I didn’t look, because I didn’t want the person to know I’d spotted him or her. I grabbed Tob’s hand and dragged him with me past the tables. Where was my mother? Where was Tallyn?

  I threaded through the celebrants, heading for the hall. As I reached the doorway, my mother slipped to my side.

  “Be alert,” she murmured. “You seem to have acquired a follower.”

  “I noticed,” I said.

  “Withdraw into the hall and see if he follows,” she advised. “You won’t be alone; Tallyn is already there with a guard. The attacker will be intercepted if he tries to hurt you.”

  She melted away, leaving me standing alone with Tob. We looked at each other and then stepped into the corridor, which glowed with the blue and green light of the lanterns. We were the only ones in the hall, and our footsteps echoed. I scanned the columns, looking for Tallyn as I reached into my sleeve to touch the knife hidden there.

  Tob was shaking. He babbled at me about the food as we moved away from the party. The music grew fainter, and my heartbeat pounded loud in my ears, overtaking the other sounds. I tried to swallow, but my mouth was as dry as hot sand.

  The scrape of a shoe came from behind us. I walked a little faster, still gripping Tob’s hand. Should I turn, acknowledge the killer? Wait for Tallyn to step from hiding first? Shout for help?

  Another footstep. Anxiety was a waterfall of icy prickles on my skin. I itched to turn.

  Tob’s fingers dug into my palm. “The tarts were a little on the spicy side,” he practically yelped.

  I shook the knife out of my sleeve as I turned in time to see a black-clad man or woman rush me. My mind numbed, and I snapped into position to defend myself as Tob leaped back with a shriek. The attacker swung at me, and I dodged the blow.

  Run, or engage? Tallyn would say to run.

  I decided not to be a hero. I
whirled, only to see a second figure closing in from the opposite direction.

  Engage, then.

  Arms grabbed me, and I ducked down and broke the hold. I slashed with the knife in my hand while I moved away, toward the party, opening my mouth to shout for Tallyn. Where was Tallyn?

  The attacker tripped me. I hit the ground hard, my knife spinning away. Behind me, Tob grunted in pain. I rolled, catching a flash of a pale forehead and dark eyes—female eyes—beneath the flowing scarf that covered the face of the assassin.

  The attacker raised her hand, and something glittered in it. I scrambled onto all fours, trying to get away.

  Someone rushed past me and hit the figure, bringing them down in a tangle of clothing.

  Garren.

  He struggled on the ground with my attacker while I leaped to my feet. The second one had fled, and Tob was on his knees, his hand clamped to his stomach.

  “Tob!” I called.

  He was gagging.

  Garren had his arm pressed into the female attacker’s throat. She thrashed, making a gargled sound, and then she brought her legs up and clamped them around Garren’s neck. He didn’t let go, and neither did she. She rocked her body, throwing him off-balance.

  “Aemi?” Tallyn’s voice. He appeared at the end of the corridor and then rushed toward us.

  The female assassin threw Garren off and jumped to her feet. She melted into the shadows. The guards with Tallyn ran after her while Tallyn grabbed my arms.

  “Where were you?”

  “We heard a noise. We were checking the other corridor.” He trailed his fingers down my arms, checking for broken bones. “Are you uninjured?”

  “She had a weapon, but she didn’t get to use it on me. My mother told me you were in this hall. It’s why we came.”

  Tallyn’s expression darkened, and his jaw tightened. He didn’t say anything.

  I looked past him at Garren, who had risen to his feet. “Thank you. You saved my life.”

  Garren shrugged and stalked back toward the party without a word. I gazed after him, an uncomfortable feeling filling me. It might have been gratitude.

  I crossed to Tob’s side and helped him up. I was shaking, and my hands were unsteady against his. “Are you hurt?”

  “He just punched me in the stomach,” Tob said, still gasping like a fish. “Nothing life-threatening.” He yanked up his shirt to reveal a belly of unbroken skin and grinned shakily. “See? No stab wounds.”

  I sighed. “I can’t believe this has happened twice. How is this home being infiltrated?”

  “It’s a big house,” Tallyn said. “Bound to have weaknesses we haven’t yet discovered. And we can’t trust everyone in it. The sooner we can make things more secure for you, the better.”

  He spoke cryptically, and Tob didn’t appear to notice his meaning, but I understood, and I nodded.

  In my belly, the poison soured.

  There wasn’t much time left.

  “Better put in another appearance,” Tallyn said softly into my ear. “For everyone to see that you’re still alive.”

  By everyone, did he mean my mother? Did he think she’d engineered what had happened in the hall?

  We returned to the party. The music was too loud in my ears, grating, and every person who brushed against me made me flinch. I rubbed my arms, unable to rid myself of the prickly feeling of being watched.

  Across the room, Nol stood with his back to the wall, glowering. I tried to meet his eyes, but he shifted his gaze to above my head.

  I felt cold and alone.

  A hand touched my arm. I turned and saw my mother, standing next to Grimulus, speaker for the senate. Surprise rippled through me.

  “I trust you took care of that earlier problem?” my mother said, flicking her gaze over me.

  “It’s being handled,” I said, staring at Grimulus. He bowed to me.

  “I’m so pleased to see you alive and well, Lady Aemiana.”

  “And I you,” I murmured.

  He smiled. “I’m not exactly the average invitee to this kind of thing, but I wanted to drop by and give you my regards. We are all so relieved you are safe. Annah was so worried.”

  Or had he wanted to see that I was still in one piece, as the precious carrier of memories? But I smiled a Graywater smile at him, reserved and secretive.

  “Thank you for your regards.”

  He bowed.

  When Grimulus excused himself, my mother drew me aside. “Well?”

  “There was a struggle. We weren’t successful in apprehending them,” I said, and she made a small noise of irritation in her throat, a rare sign of frustration from a Graywater.

  “Guards are pursuing them now,” I added.

  She gazed at the crowd. “And you’re unharmed?”

  “I am.”

  “Better mingle,” she said. “And smile. Everyone is watching you.”

  Everyone is watching you.

  Across the room, Nol gazed at me. Grimulus stood by the food table, a cup in one hand, his expression thoughtful as he frowned in my direction. Tallyn and his guards were at the door, and the Dron in one of the corners speaking quietly.

  The statement was truer than she realized.

  ~ ~ ~

  The estate seemed to deflate when the party finished. The lanterns still flickered, casting their colors across a floor strewn with fallen decorations and bits of food. Servants were taking down banners. I sat with Tallyn before one of the vast windows that looked out over the sea, watching as ships came and went in the darkness, their lights casting beams that cut through the night. A fish swam close to the glass and darted away, casting a shadow on the floor.

  My head spun. I put out a hand and found Tallyn’s arm. “I think... my head...”

  He rose and retrieved a cup of water. “Drink. It will help later.”

  I took a swallow. My stomach churned.

  “I think I’m going to go to my room.”

  Tallyn accompanied me to the door. He checked inside for any hints of a threat, and then he embraced me.

  “You’ll be fine,” he said firmly. “Just a little bit longer now.”

  After he left, I sat on the bed and looked at the glass city by the window, dark and silent without the sun to illuminate it. My stomach was beginning to cramp. I pressed a hand to my forehead.

  A knock sounded.

  I rose and went to the door. Tallyn? Had he forgotten something?

  It was Nol.

  “I just heard about what happened earlier,” he said. He spoke tightly, and his expression was stiff. “I wanted to see that you’re unharmed. Did they stab you, prick you with anything?”

  “I’m fine,” I responded. His angry words lingered in my mind. Yet here he was, still angry, but still here.

  He faced me resolutely. “You’re wrong about Kit.”

  “I’m not wrong,” I said. “He is my best friend. I can trust him.”

  Nol ground his teeth together. “I know what I saw.”

  “You were mistaken. You have to be—”

  My legs sagged, and I pitched forward. Nol grabbed my elbow to steady me. “Aemi?”

  His voice faded in and out. My tongue was numb. I leaned on him more heavily, and his hands tightened.

  “Aemi. Aemi, are you in pain?”

  My legs sagged, and he caught me as I fell. I heard him calling for help through the thunder in my head. The last thing I saw was his face as he leaned over me, and his mouth saying my name.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  I WAS COLD. Was it the air that made my cheeks and nose numb? I wanted to move, to protest, but every inch of me lay still, as if coated in stone. My throat ached with a dull pain. Something heavy lay on my chest. I tried to speak and wheezed.

  “Aemi.” Hands touched my face, my shoulders. I blinked as bright lights stabbed at my eyes. The room was blurry. Was that Tallyn? More voices. I coughed, and someone helped me up. I was shivering. Something cool pressed to my lips, and I drank. Water dripped
down my chin and neck, making me shiver.

  A guttural voice murmured something above me, but the words ran together like the rattling of pebbles in a sieve. I blinked again, and the world became clearer.

  I lay in a bed, covered in white blankets. A bare room with a blue ceiling surrounded me, just a closet, really. Tallyn stood at my right side, and a man I didn’t recognize was beside him. The stranger held an instrument in his hand, which he pressed to my chest. A physician, I presumed.

  “How do you feel?” Tallyn asked.

  When I spoke, my voice squeaked like a rusted hinge. “Cold.”

  Tallyn heaped extra blankets over me.

  “Your heart has been working very slowly due to what you ingested,” the physician said. “You will feel cold and numb all over for a while as your body recovers.”

  I met Tallyn’s eyes. Questions filled my mouth, but I held them in until the doctor had finished his examinations and left the room.

  “It worked?” I asked.

  “It worked,” Tallyn confirmed.

  “What happened after I fell?” I asked as soon as Tallyn and I were alone.

  Tallyn offered me more water, which I accepted. My fingers were clumsy as they clutched the glass, so he helped me drink it. “I’ll get you soup in a minute,” he promised as he lowered himself into a chair beside my bed.

  “First, what happened?”

  “Nol was the one who called for help after you went comatose. He was frantic. Demanding a doctor, carrying you himself. Your mother would not leave your side while you were being examined. Neither would Nol. When you were pronounced dead, they both turned ashen. Your mother left the room, and I haven’t seen her since. Nol has been like a caged animal.”

  I shut my eyes a moment. I was still furious with him, but I was sorry. “And the others? Have you told anyone else?”

  “Soon,” Tallyn promised. “For now, you’ll stay here in Annah’s house, under the care of her private physician, until further notice.”