by Riley Tune
That was odd. If the Emperor didn’t use his room, where did he sleep? Maybe he had a mistress, as so many of the royals and nobles did.
“Look at this,” I said as Vida came up behind me and looked over my shoulder. She came so close to me to see the letter that I could feel her hair against my face. I read the letter out loud:
Dearest Selen,
Daughter, I fear that you are losing yourself in this game you continue to play. The Keeper watches over you. He has blessed you, and you use your gifts for such pointless ends. I fear the daughter I raised has become a person I hardly even know. We enjoy the wealth, privilege, and respect that comes with your union, but I don’t even know who you are married to anymore. The deaths. The murders. The lies. The secrets. All for power. The Keeper is watching, and always does. Please, I beg of you, stop this madness while you still can. You are not immortal. None of us are. I know this letter alone will not stay your hand or sway your thoughts, so I will venture from my home to the palace, the day after the ball, to speak with you in person. Until then, my child, I hope you hear my words. I love you so very much, and I still remember who you are.
Love,
The High Lady
Eve Bredon
I closed the letter and put it back where I had found it. “Interesting,” I said as I glanced to Vida. She raised her brow.
“Was it?” she asked. She had already headed to the entrance of the room.
“The High Lady clearly knows something. And listen to what she says. She talks about nobody being immortal.”
We both looked at each other for a second as the words I said hung in the air.
“She could know how to actually kill the Emperor.”
“Why would she know?” Vida asked.
“You know how mothers are. They ask questions. Worry about their kids. I’m certain the High Lady made Selen tell her, at some point, how to stop her husband in case they ever needed to.” I felt a fire inside me come to life. I was certain that the High Lady had answers, but how to get them? That was something for the others to worry about.
“What’s wrong?” I asked Vida. She was simply looking at me.
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t know what?” I asked.
“How mothers are.” She turned away from me. “Come on, we need to go.”
I had forgotten Vida was raised on the streets at such a young age. She hadn't experienced what myself, and clearly Selen, had, a mother always asking questions and wanting us to do the right thing.
“Sorry,” I said as I walked behind her. “I didn’t think, and—”
“It’s okay,” she said with a smile. I couldn’t tell if she was really okay or not. Vida was so strong and seemed to be able to block things with ease.
We made our way up the small hall and back to the large doors.
“I’m guessing you have a mom like that too, huh, Warps? Like The High Lady. Always worries about you.” She had called me Warps again. It really was a stupid name, but I didn’t say anything about it.
“Yeah I do. A mother that thinks that every time she sees me will be the last, and a younger brother and sister who simply think their older brother can move really fast. I’m all they have,” I said as we began to move back down the hall we had come in from. The guards were all still on the ground. Just how hard had Bren hit them?
“Then why do it?” Vida asked as she peered around a corner.
“Why do what?”
“Why risk your life all the time, if you are all they have?”
I followed her around another corner, and we quickly had to duck low behind a table as some guards walked past on an adjoining corridor.
“Because I’m literally all they have,” I whispered in her ear. “My jobs, the contracts Ember gets—most of my yolars go to them.”
She looked back at me and smiled some. “You’re a good guy, Warps. Well, for a killer and all. “Come on, I think we can get back to the main hall before it’s over. We should be pretty—what in Keeper's name is that?” Vida said, stopping so abruptly in the corridor that I bumped into her.
We both stood in the corridor, mouths half open as we watched a foot pop inside the corridor—from a window. We were easily six floors up, so how could a foot be coming from outside?
Naturally, the foot was followed by a leg, and then another foot and leg, and finally some hands as a man pulled himself inside of the corridor. A thin man of average height stood before us. He had long, matted black hair that was covered in some sort of scarf and tied at the back. His clothes appeared to be a little too big for him. He had on some worn black trousers, a green shirt, and a leather vest. He was also soaking wet. Why didn’t he have on a cloak? It wasn’t as if the rain that came every night was new.
We didn’t bother to move or hide. If he was coming in this way, he had even less right to be here than we did. We, at least, had come through the front door.
The man stood up and looked down both sides of the corridor. Then he saw us.
He jerked for a minute, and then realized we weren’t guards.
“Oh, hey there,” he said with an accent as he did a slight bow before us. He then put up a finger to hold us off and he returned back to the window.
I thought he was going back outside until he leaned over and extended his hand. Then, he pulled in another man, who was also soaking wet, and apparently waiting outside, somehow, for him.
“Hello, chaps. Don’t you mind us. Plenty in here for us all,” he said as he made to move.
I warped in front of him and blocked his way.
“Keeper! A Warper,” he said, as he touched his finger to my forehead sternly, as if to see if I was real. “Haven’t seen a Warper in ages.”
He backed up slowly, towards the window and his companion. He then looked me up and down. “A Warper, minus the cloak and weapons?” he asked. I didn’t reply, and he didn’t move. “No need to risk it, I suppose.”
“What are you doing here?” Vida said as she grabbed the second man who had come through the window by his damp white shirt. She pushed him to the wall hard, but he only smiled at her, and then looked back to the first man. His teeth were so white that they seemed like miniature moons.
The first man held his hands out, as if to keep us at bay as he quickly spoke.
“Let’s start over. I’m Craydon. Craydon Addersfield. Man of many talents, but I only use one. Getting into places I shouldn’t and taking what I can once inside.”
“That sounds like two talents,” I said to him.
He looked up into the air as if he were thinking, silently moving his mouth, and raised his brow. “I guess you’re right,” Craydon said.
Vida slammed Craydon’s friend against the wall again.
“Hey, come on now, girlie. Easy,” Craydon said. “He don't talk much. Well, he doesn’t talk at all, if you want to be honest about it. I call him Rollins.” Craydon placed his hand on Rollins' shoulder and tried to get Vida off of him. He failed.
“Why are you and Rollins here?” Vida said as she looked at Craydon, who was still trying to pry her fingers from around Rollins' wet shirt. Rollins, however, just stood there calmly, smiling, and looking at me. He paid no attention to Vida. His gaze felt—odd and familiar all at once.
“I’m here for the same reason as you,” Craydon said. “To steal things while the upper class of Thera drink and dance themselves into hibernation.”
Vida released Rollins. Craydon stood in front of Rollins and fixed his shirt for him.
“I hit five noble houses solo before I decided to try the palace. Couldn’t do it alone, and by the Keeper's luck, I bumped into Rollins here. Literally—I was walking and thinking that I could use some help on this next gig, and we collided into each other. He can’t speak, and may not even understand what’s going on, but he’s an extra pair of hands, and that’s all I need,” Craydon said as he slapped Rollins on both shoulders.
“You have to leave, now,” I said. I didn’t care if he had come
here to steal things—just not tonight. We needed to keep the element of surprise, and that didn’t involve some random thief leaving signs that somebody uninvited was here.
“Leave?” Craydon said as he looked at me. “I’m here to steal, you’re here to do what Warpers do, and she—” He looked at Vida, who had a scowl on her face. “She’s just scary, to be honest,” Craydon said. “We all can get what we want, I’m sure.”
“No, we can’t,” I said to him. “Come back tomorrow, because we can’t have signs that people from the outside were here tonight.” This wasn’t actually a lie, either. So far, Vida and I had covered our tracks well. Even when she had assaulted the guards, they had only seen themselves being attacked by one of their own.
“A Warper, not here to kill, who wants to be stealthy? Curious. Well, we will leave, but it will cost you.” Craydon rubbed his chin. “Three silver yolars.”
Vida exhaled deeply and balled her fist, and then suddenly turned and looked out the window.
“Warps! People are leaving,” she said to me.
I could feel my calm tone fading. This idiot was wasting time we didn’t have anymore.
“Okay, I’m done talking. Leave the way you came, or you and Rollins get thrown from this window.” Naturally, I couldn’t throw him from a window. It would cause the curse to take effect, and draw too much attention. Vida, on the other hand, likely would throw them out.
Craydon, grabbing onto Rollins arm, quickly pulled him to the side and away from the window. “I have another idea, Warps,” Craydon said.
“Guards! Guards! Help! Intruder! Save the Emperor!” Craydon shouted, over and over again, as his voice echoed through the corridor. Then, with Rollins in tow, he dashed off down the hall in the direction we had come. I had no doubt in my mind that he would end up at the Emperor’s quarters.
“That pile of lopeseal,” Vida shouted through clenched teeth. “If I ever see him—”
Her words faded away as her mouth hung open, and she slowly stepped back. Whatever she had seen was behind me, on the other end of the corridor. Against my better judgment, I turned and looked, expecting to see guards—but guards wouldn't put that look on Vida’s face.
What I did see was the figure of a woman. A woman dressed in all black from head to toe, holding a massive double-sided axe. She wore the mask of a monster, and in the mask's holes were glowing globes of purple.
The axe cut through the air a few times, and then this thing, this beast of a woman, charged towards us.
16
This woman moved quickly, dragging her axe behind her as she ran, sending sparks flying from the corridor floor. I grabbed the throwing knives that were hidden on me. I only had two, so whatever I did with them, I needed to make it count. Vida placed her feet and balled her fist. I could feel my grip tightening around the handle of my knife.
The woman in black was about ten feet away now. I stepped to the side a little, drew my arm in close, and then let my knife fly. It was a good shot. Full of power and precision that only one trained as a Warper could deliver.
And she blocked it with a swipe of her axe as she ran. She never even slowed down. How was she swinging that huge axe so easily?
I decided to keep my second knife in my hand, in hopes of being able to deliver some damage. As the woman got within arm's distance, she jumped and flipped over us with ease. Silently, she landed and spun, kicking Vida in the face and sending her to the ground. Her axe swung at me, and I dodged it as I heard a loud bang against the stone corridor wall.
Glancing over my shoulder, I could see where the axe had connected with the wall, leaving a massive chunk missing and debris on the floor. I slashed with my knife, but the woman, still holding her axe, caught my attack with her free hand.
She had a grip like nothing I had ever felt before. The pain was instant as she began to squeeze my forearm. I tried to free my hand, sending blow after blow with my knife to her midsection. She only looked at me with those glowing purple eyes.
Her axe-wielding hand came up in the air. She was going to try to chop my arm off.
Vida was back on her feet now, and punched this woman-beast square in the chest. The punch had no effect; the woman looked down, and then gave Vida a backhand to the face. The sound of her hand connecting with Vida’s face echoed through the corridor, and blood erupted from Vida’s mouth.
The only saving grace of that final attack was my hand. The woman let it go in order to attack Vida, and I used the moment to go on the offense.
I needed to get that axe away from her. She was clearly strong, unnaturally so, and she would be a problem, but at least she wouldn’t have an axe the size of my body to swing at me. Vida was back on her feet yet again, but she was moving more slowly than before, and her face was beginning to bruise.
“Let’s try this one more time,” she hissed as she wiped some blood from her mouth.
She wasn’t afraid, I’d give her that.
The axe came at me again, and I jumped back slightly as it sliced through the air near my stomach.
Her massive swing put the lady in black off-balance some. I used his moment to try and get the axe away. With my knife out, I closed in, and struck at certain points that gave the arm strength.
The axe should have fallen. Her arm should have been limp and in pain, but the woman in the mask continued to hold her axe.
“How are you able to—” I began as the woman drew back her small fist and punched me right in the face. I fell down, and things began to spin and turn slightly black. I could hear Vida attacking as I placed my hand on the ground to try and push myself up.
This woman must have had the strength of five men, because I’d been hit before. Plenty of times, and never had it hurt this badly. We were losing this fight, and making enough noise to shake the walls as we did it. Reinforcements, as if this beast woman needed them, would be here soon, and I could only hope it would be normal guards and not the male beast that I had seen earlier.
Vida screamed as the woman placed her hand around her neck and squeezed, lifting her off the ground with ease, as if she was a child.
“No!” I shouted as I did the only thing I could. I ran at her, using my entire body as a weapon, and threw myself on the woman in black. She fell, and so did Vida. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked.
I wrestled with the woman on the ground, trying to keep her contained, but I was failing. My entire body hurt. I felt like I had run full speed into a wall.
“Go!” I yelled at Vida.
She coughed and rubbed her throat. “I’m not leaving you here. We can finish this.”
She was mad. I respected her lack of fear and determination, but she was utterly mad. One thing you learned early on as a Warper—you’re not invincible, and you have to know when to cut your losses and attack another day. This moment right now was one of those times.
“We can’t win this now. Run. Get out of the palace and—”
My words were cut off; I groaned as the woman’s fist found my stomach. The punch seemed to make my world stand still as pain consumed my body and took my breath away. I could feel the woman overpowering me. The punch had done its job.
The little bit of fight I had been putting up was almost gone. I needed Vida to go. The woman grabbed my hand and began to squeeze, bending it away from her at the same time. This wasn’t good.
“Vida, go!” I shouted. “Escape through the palace. Once you’re clear of this corridor, I’ll Warp away from a window. Please.” Just talking seemed to be sapping away my energy, but this last part seemed to do the trick. Vida looked at me for a moment, battling herself and her emotions, and then turned and ran as fast as she could down the corridor.
She was out of sight in seconds. She would head to the meeting point. The plan was simple. If Vida and I didn’t make it back to the hall before the ball was over, everyone was to consider that something had gone wrong, and we would meet at a secondary safe house in Thera. The Thornes owned a lot of property, it seemed.
/> Now that she was gone, or at least out of sight, I could get away. I stopped struggling with the woman beast and let go. I couldn’t see a face under the mask, and those glowing purple orbs where eyes should have been didn’t even move, but I could tell she was surprised, because her head tilted slightly. Her grip on me relaxed some, and then, with strength no normal person could wield, she pushed me single-handedly off of her and sent me flying to the wall.
I felt something crack as I hit the wall and slid down on the floor. I coughed and squeezed my eyes shut as they adjusted. I could taste blood in my mouth now, and my head was throbbing. It felt like it was going to explode. The woman was on her feet now, axe yet again in hand, dragging it mockingly on the ground.
She was waiting. Waiting for me to get up. No—she wasn’t waiting, she was playing. She knew I couldn’t win, and she seemed like a hunter who wanted to have fun with her prey. Well, I didn’t want to play anymore.
I pulled myself up, and as I did so, I looked out one of the corridor's windows. The same one we had seen Craydon climbing in from. I squinted my eyes, and felt a ping of happiness. I was going to be safe. I was going to warp away and live to fight another day. I didn’t need a great place to warp; I just needed to get out.
I heard the woman move behind me, in my direction. I picked a large house across the street as my destination.
“Later, you stupid pile of lopeseal,” I said out loud to the woman approaching me. The blood I tasted in my mouth, and the pain all over my body, told me I needed to insult this beast, just once, before I warped away.
I looked at the building one more time, reached inside myself for that forbidden power, and warped.
Or at least I tried to.
“What?” I said as I looked down at myself. I didn’t warp. I tried again and again, but I didn’t warp. I couldn’t warp. That portion of greatness, that power inside me—I couldn’t feel it anymore. It wasn’t there.
The woman beast stopped moving, and let out a sound that made my hair stand on end. A low, rumbling, muffled sound. She was laughing. Laughing at me. She knew what was happening. She drew her axe, and came towards me.