by Caitlin Seal
“That’s all right,” Naya said. Warmth bloomed in her chest. Maybe changing the minds of other Talmirans wouldn’t be as impossible as she’d feared. Clearly not everyone in the palace was as hostile as Lady Elv. She glanced down the hall. They’d nearly completed a full circle of the palace’s central ring. The swirl of aether from the ballroom seemed to have lessened. It was late, and as Naya watched, a group of delegates in Banian robes rounded the corner, speaking softly among themselves. “I should be getting back to my rooms anyway,” Naya said.
Once they got back, Naya slipped into her room and shut the door firmly behind her. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. Leln had seemed far less nervous, almost friendly, as they’d returned to the Ceramoran delegation’s halls. But friendly or not, he still hadn’t let her out of his sight. She was going to have to get creative if she wanted to move through the palace unwatched.
She crossed to her desk and sat. Servants had stocked the drawers with more writing supplies than Naya had ever owned. She pulled out a thick sheet of paper and a gold-tipped pen and ink, then did her best to sketch a map of what she’d seen. It would look suspicious if anyone found it, but she didn’t trust herself to memorize all the details. The results mostly served to show how little she’d managed to learn wandering the halls. If she could get out on her own, maybe she could start filling in the gaps. Though with soldiers at every stairway, it would be slow and risky work to get access to the other wings.
“Assuming there’s even anything to find here,” she muttered under her breath.
A knock came at her door and Naya started, glancing at the clock. It was past midnight, late for anyone else to still be up, especially since the first meeting of the Congress was tomorrow morning. The knock came again and Naya reluctantly stashed her writing supplies and stood.
She opened the door to find Francisco outside. His cravat was loose around his neck and his face looked even more flushed than it had when she’d left the party. “Um, yes?” Naya asked.
“Where have you been?” Francisco demanded.
Naya’s shoulders stiffened. “Here,” she said.
“You’re lying,” Francisco said. “I told you to go straight back to the delegation hall.”
“So? You’re not my nursemaid. Creator, how much wine did you drink after I left?” All the tension of the evening came rushing back. When she’d left the ball, she’d thought Francisco’s cautions were because he was still nervous after the attack. But the anger on his face now suggested there was more to it than that.
Francisco wrinkled his nose. “I am not drunk. Anyway, don’t change the subject. I heard some soldiers outside talking. Apparently you were wandering around the palace for more than an hour. What were you doing?”
Naya winced. Creator. Whatever was going on, this was not a conversation she wanted to be having out in the hall where anyone could overhear. “Would you please keep your voice down?”
Francisco crossed his arms. “Why? Do you have something to hide? You’ve been acting friendly lately, but maybe that’s because you don’t want me to pay attention to what you’re really up to.”
Naya grabbed his sleeve and pulled him into the room, shutting the door behind him. With her hand on his arm, she could sense his aether. It made her head spin and her chest feel strangely hollow. Definitely drunk.
“Let go of me!” Francisco pulled his arm free, then glanced around the room. “What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to keep you from waking up the whole damned palace,” Naya said, struggling to keep her voice even. “And in answer to your question, I was just looking at paintings. There was a soldier with me the whole time, so it’s not as though I could have done anything.”
“But you wanted to,” Francisco said. He took a step toward her. “You’re up to something. Tell me what it is, or I’ll tell my father you’re carrying coded documents.”
“What?” Panic made Naya’s chest go tight.
Francisco smiled. “Felicia is a very loyal Ceramoran. She told me she found a book full of coded messages in your bag.”
“That’s none of your business,” Naya said, her thoughts racing. So Felicia had told Francisco about her father’s logbook. Why hadn’t he confronted her about it before now?
“Why? Were you hoping no one would find out you were still spying for Talmir?”
Naya’s mouth dropped open. “That’s ridiculous. Are you listening to yourself? Even if I wanted to spy for them, which I don’t, they would never take me. I’m a wraith, remember? When we were attacked outside the gates, the guards didn’t even bother to help. Why would they do that if I was on their side?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it was all a setup to get us to relax our guard.”
Naya’s jaw clenched. This was so stupid. She couldn’t afford to spend the entire Congress fighting off accusations like this. Somehow she had to convince Francisco to trust her.
Naya’s thoughts turned back to her nights spent training with Celia. Truths carefully shaped can be just as deceptive as lies, Celia’s voice whispered through her memory. Could she twist the truth into something less threatening? Maybe. “It’s my father’s logbook,” Naya said after a pause.
Francisco blinked. “What?”
“The coded document Felicia saw—it’s my father’s logbook. I found it in his cabin on the Gallant and I’ve been translating it.”
“Not possible. My father had the Gallant searched before he gave it to you. They brought all Garth’s papers back for analysis weeks ago.”
She’d assumed as much—still, it was infuriating. “Well, maybe if he’d consulted me I could have told his men where to look. My father wasn’t exactly the most trusting person. He never kept anything important where he thought strangers might find it.”
“Then you still should have said something sooner.”
Naya shook her head. “I can read my father’s ciphers faster than anyone else. I wanted time to translate the logbook on the journey over. That way, if I found anything useful, I could take it to Delence.”
“What did you think you would find?”
“I don’t know. Maybe something that could expose Valn’s other allies, or something that could explain what my father did to me. He acted like he loved me, but then he gave me over to Valn for his schemes. And when he found out I’d been resurrected, he looked at me like I was this disgusting thing he had to get rid of.” Her throat threatened to close off around the words. The memories of that night still felt like a raw wound, one she wasn’t sure would ever heal.
Francisco leaned back, and Naya saw curiosity and something that might have been sympathy spark in his eyes. He was still angry, still suspicious. But that curiosity was the hook she’d been hoping to land. “You want revenge,” Francisco said.
Naya hesitated. “Not revenge. I want to make sure Valn and his allies don’t hurt anyone else. None of them deserve to get away with what they tried to do.”
“Have you found anything?” Francisco asked after a moment.
“No.” Naya let frustration leak into her voice, another little truth. “It’s just ordinary stuff so far.”
Francisco sat on the arm of one of the room’s overstuffed chairs. He rubbed his hands over his face, then stared at the floor, obviously trying to focus. “Valn’s allies—assuming he even has any more—won’t be easy to pin down.”
Naya bit her lip. “If there was strong evidence of a connection, would the Congress act on it?”
“Maybe? But even if Hal Garth wrote down the names of his accomplices, his word alone wouldn’t be enough.”
“It would at least be a place to start.” Naya met Francisco’s eyes. “You said on the ship that your father only wants us here as distractions. But we could be so much more than that. Valn was training me to gather information. I know how his people operate, and I know this city. You obviously know a
ll about the Congress. If I can find a lead in the logbook, then maybe together we can get the evidence we need.” Naya leaned forward, trying to make the anxiety humming through her body sound like excitement. It was a risk. But if she could convince Francisco that all she wanted was to find Valn’s allies, then maybe she could turn him from an enemy to an accomplice.
Francisco was quiet for a long moment. “We only have two days until the trial. And if we got caught doing anything illegal, it could ruin everything.”
“So we should just give up?” Naya asked.
“I didn’t say that. Just—my father has a plan. We can’t mess it up. We need to be cautious.”
“We might not have time for caution. Valn’s facing execution. When he dies, all his secrets die with him.”
“You’re assuming he has any allies left to find,” Francisco said. He sounded tired.
Naya could hear the frustration leaking back into his tone. She took a step back. “You’re probably right. We should stick to the plan, be the good little distractions your father needs.” She looked down at the carpet. “Just, please, let me keep translating the logbook. If I find something, I promise I’ll bring it to you.”
“Good little distractions,” Francisco muttered under his breath. He sighed. “Do what you want with the logbook, just don’t mention it in any of the meetings and I guess it won’t really matter.”
Naya heard the tread of his shoes on the carpet. When she looked up, she saw him standing with his hand on the doorknob. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “When I knocked on your door, I was not in a good state. I just…It’s hard to know who to trust in this place.”
“I know,” Naya said.
Felicia arrived early the next morning, presumably to help Naya dress for the Congress meeting. She smiled as she stepped into the room, but her smile fell when she saw Naya’s expression. “Miss Naya?” she asked, sounding uncertain. “I, ah, I see you’ve already gotten dressed. You never rang last night, so I wasn’t sure if I should come down and…” She trailed off.
Naya crossed her arms. After what Francisco had told her, she hadn’t felt up to facing Felicia last night. She’d spent a good half hour wrestling with the ties on the back of her ball gown before realizing she could simply make her body incorporeal and step through the fabric. She’d changed into a far more practical skirt and blouse of a modest Talmiran style, then spent the remaining hours of the night translating her father’s logbook and trying to figure out what to do about Felicia. In the end she’d decided a direct approach was her best option.
“You’ve been spying on me,” Naya said.
Felicia’s eyes widened, and Naya sensed a jolt of icy panic slicing through the girl’s aether. “I would never—”
“Would never dig through my bags and then report everything you found to Francisco? That sounds like spying to me, and I would know.”
Felicia opened her mouth as though to object. Instead she bit her lip and ducked her head. “I wasn’t spying exactly. Your things really did fall out of your bag back on the ship and I…” She grimaced, then met Naya’s gaze with obvious effort. “I did what I thought was best. When we left Ceramor, Lord Francisco asked me to look for anything suspicious. He said it could be important, so when I saw that strange book in your bag, I told him about it.”
When put that way, it didn’t sound so unreasonable.
Naya shifted uncomfortably. “You could have asked me about it instead of going straight to Francisco.”
She could sense Felicia’s fear and uncertainty like a heavy, sour fog in the aether. But underneath that she caught a glimmer of steely determination. “Is that what you would have done in my place?” Felicia asked.
“That isn’t the point at all.” Naya glared at Felicia. This wasn’t how she’d expected this conversation to go. “I never wanted a maid, especially not one I can’t trust.”
“Then what would you have me do? Should I go sit on my hands and wait in the servants’ quarters until the Congress is over?” Felicia asked.
“No, that’s not—” Naya closed her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. “Could we start over?”
Felicia looked away. “If that’s what you want. But if you expect me to go around pretending I don’t see things, or never asking questions, you’d be better off dismissing me.”
“What if I asked you to come to me first if you do see something?” Naya asked.
Felicia hesitated. “I guess I could do that.”
“Good.” Naya felt her shoulders relax a little. “Because I’d appreciate having someone around who can run errands and carry messages for me.” Felicia would likely have an easier time moving around the palace without guards following her every move.
Felicia’s eyebrows rose. “Even if it’s someone you don’t trust?”
“I trust you a lot further than I do the palace servants,” Naya said.
Felicia sniffed. “That’s just common sense. From what I’ve seen, the queen hired a right mob of newcomers to handle all the extra guests. Half of them don’t even seem to know their way around any better than I do.”
Naya responded with a weak smile. Even with all the preparations she’d made before coming to the Congress, she still felt badly out of her depth. She needed allies, and she was starting to realize that there was a lot more to Felicia than she’d first assumed. Felicia must have heard all the rumors about what Naya had done in Ceramor. But when Naya had confronted her, she’d told the truth and defended her actions. Naya respected that. “What you saw on the ship was my father’s old logbook. Francisco’s agreed that I should be the one to translate it to see if it has any more clues about Valn’s allies.”
Felicia met Naya’s eyes, as though looking for something there. Eventually she nodded. “Have you found anything?”
“Not yet,” Naya said. “But I’ll work on it some more after the meeting.”
Felicia glanced at the clock on the mantel. “Speaking of, maybe we should do something with your hair before everything gets started?”
“What’s wrong with my hair?” Naya asked. For the moment it hung in a simple braid down the back of her neck, the same way she’d usually worn it before she’d died.
“Well, simple styles like that aren’t really in fashion right now,” Felicia said. “I was talking with Lady Briello’s maid Yenni up in the servants’ quarters and she said she knew a girl who was maid to a lady wraith. Yenni said this girl would always do her lady’s hair and makeup, even though the lady could twist her features any way she liked. The lady found it easier to hold the changes if she saw them done beforehand by ordinary means. If you’d like, I can show you some of the new styles, then you can shift that way whenever you like.”
“We could try that,” Naya said cautiously. Felicia had done up her hair last night, but it hadn’t occurred to Naya to try re-creating the look from memory.
Felicia grinned. “Excellent!”
A half hour later, Naya stepped into the hallway with her hair spun in an elaborate coil on the back of her head. She wasn’t sure she could re-create the knot from scratch yet. But having watched Felicia create the style did make it easier to hold the image in her head and keep her hair from falling back into her usual braid or loose curls.
Most of the other delegates were already gathered near the stairs. Naya paused at the edge of the group, and after a moment Francisco came to join her. He was dressed in a fresh suit and walked with the quick steps of someone impatient to be elsewhere. Despite that, he looked exhausted. The skin under his eyes was puffy, and Naya saw him wince when a door slammed farther down the hall. “Good morning, Miss Garth,” he said.
Naya smiled politely. She wasn’t sure exactly where they stood after last night’s conversation, but at least his tone wasn’t as confrontational as it had been before. “Please, just call me Naya,” she said.
“That wouldn’t be very
appropriate,” Francisco said.
“Please?” Naya asked. “It’s strange having so many people call me by my father’s name.” At first in Ceramor it had felt like treason to shed her old name. But in a way, it had also been freeing. As Naya Garth, she’d been a merchant’s apprentice who’d kept her head down and done as her father said. But Blue had been so much braver. She’d danced across rooftops and fallen in love with a boy who shaped molten fire with his bare hands.
She couldn’t be Blue anymore. Blue had died the day she told Corten the truth. Naya wasn’t sure exactly who she was now, but she knew Miss Garth didn’t fit the person she’d become.
Francisco watched her, and for a moment the tense lines of his face seemed to soften. “Naya, then,” he said.
Four soldiers waited at the end of the hall to escort the delegates to the first meeting of the Congress of Powers. “Excuse me, Miss Garth?” one of them said as Naya approached with the others.
Naya tensed. “Yes?”
The soldier stood parade-straight, staring at a point somewhere above her head. “The queen has requested you join her for tea.”
Naya stared at the man, stunned. “Queen Lial wants to have tea with me?” Queen Lial was a devout follower of Dawning law. She wasn’t as fervent as Naya’s father had been, but the queen was still outspoken about the dangers of necromancy. Why in creation would she want to meet with a wraith?
“I am to escort you there now,” the soldier said.
Naya heard murmurs from the other delegates. Delence clasped one hand on her shoulder. “Of course, Miss Garth would be delighted to join Her Majesty.” He squeezed so hard Naya imagined it would have left bruises had she still been made of flesh and blood. She struggled to regain her composure.
“What about the meeting?” she asked. Regulations prevented any ruler from attending the Congress meetings in person. Since the other leaders couldn’t abandon their lands to join the debates, Queen Lial would be represented by a delegation of advisers and experts, just as the other three Powers were. But though the queen wasn’t expected to be there, Naya had certainly been planning to attend.