The Lantern's Curse

by Hannah King

  The pain was fresh, like a wound that had been awakened by the tearing off of a bandage. I swallowed and blinked.

  I have to do this, I told myself, gritting my teeth. I could not allow these well-dressed Leiden wolves to destroy everything we’d fought and died for all these years. Instead, they would wake up and realize their cash crop of foreigners had spirited away in the middle of the night. Then what would they say to the Parters when they came looking for their prize?

  I would have liked to see the Paraphrant wheedle their way out of that predicament. That Ambassador would have to find a new job, now that he couldn’t play our nursemaid anymore. I tried to imagine his face when he returned to the empty ruins the next morning. But then, he wasn’t one for expressions, I thought, just the one.

  I opened my palms and shut my eyes, hoping to visualize where any potential enemies stood posted around the city, but panic caused my chest to tighten the moment I started. I tried to breathe naturally but all I could think about was what had happened in the dark, stagnant room in the belly of the city.

  There is nothing wrong with my ability, I reminded myself. It was Nurandism that had brought on the horrors I’d experienced, not my Lantern code. Still, the line between the two had grown so thin in the last few days that they were hard to differentiate between.

  Tate took what little I had and destroyed it, I thought dismally. And I had blindly allowed him, allowed all of them, to trick me.

  “Can you sense anything Tali?” Somehow, Wes hadn’t noticed that I was quaking. His voice was calm and natural, bringing me back to where I was, reminding me that I had to do this, if only not to let a good friend down.

  Please, Lavalt, I prayed, help me.

  Hadn’t he made me a Lantern in the first place? Wasn’t each code supposed to be a blessing? A gift to guide us as we traveled through life? And yet my gift felt so foreign to me now, so far away, so weak.

  I tried to think of the open ocean air, how sweet it would feel on our faces above deck, like the scent of freedom. We would no longer answer to these Leiden’s, we would be safe from the Parters. Wes would have Fina with him. He will be so, so, happy, I thought.

  I took a deep breath, shut my eyes again and listened, refusing to allow my emotions to act as my compass. My mind was quiet at last, and at last it was able to receive the information I needed. To the west I could feel a group of human life forms moving quickly, and another larger group to the south.

  I turned to Wes who was still waiting patiently.

  “Everyone seems to be heading to the center of the city. They want to know why the bell is ringing.”

  He nodded. That’s exactly what we’d hoped for.

  We continued down the side streets cautiously until we came to a crossroads. Wes was the only one of us who had ever been down to the harbor.

  “Which way?” I whispered. He pointed and I frowned. My senses were suddenly awake with the location of thirty humans.

  “Wait,” I whispered.

  We ducked into an alley and waited until the people went by, talking loudly to each other in questioning tones. They too were heading toward the citadel to see what was happening.

  “This way,” Wes whispered once they were gone. We encountered some extra stragglers along the road without them seeing us, but all in all, our path was becoming clearer. I sensed fewer and fewer lifeforms. Those that I did sense were perfectly still, seemingly the deep sleepers of the town, likely tucked into their beds with their ears muffled by soft pillows and spiced wine. If they hadn’t woken up at the toll of the bells, they likely wouldn’t awaken until the next day. We would have to hope they wouldn’t at least, I grimaced.

  “It’s not far from here,” Wes said once we’d gone a little further without interruption.

  “There, just past this square,” he pointed as we made our way through the last alley. A deserted marketplace stretched out before us, and beyond it, the harbor wall. I could hear the sound of the waves from the other side and caught the salty scent with my noise.

  We wasted no time in striding over to the gate. It was ajar, just like the informer had said it would be, so we carefully slipped inside.

  Wide docks sprawled out in front of us. Beyond these I could see the glint of the gentle harbor waves in the moonlight. Two huge ships docked there. Our ships, I thought. I saw no guards, only a few figures on the decks of the boats, and two shadowy forms waiting on the pier near the gangplanks.

  Wes glanced toward a business on the opposite side of the street.

  “That’s the building where Fina is,” he said. “Can you tell if anyone is awake in there?”

  “Just one person, standing in the back I think,” I told him. “Go ahead. I’ll head back to signal the others.”

  “You sure?” he asked.

  “More than sure, hurry up,” I insisted.

  He nodded his thanks and took off.

  He was going to help Fina run away with us. The smallest bit of happiness bubbled up in me at the thought. Wes would have some family at last, and he wouldn’t have to leave her behind, instead, he had the chance to give her freedom.

  I turned around and ran back toward the Turaphelin. I imagined there was quite a crowd around the citadel by now. There was only so much time before the commotion died down and everyone returned to their houses. Adrenaline began to course through my body and my pace increased. The way was clear, the gate was open, the boats were ready. It was time.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  TALITHA

  BELONGINGS SLUNG ON our backs, hundreds after hun-dreds of us passed through the streets, moving swiftly and silently. I marched in front with the leads and captains, my gloves off, as one last defense against anyone oncoming who might give us away.

  Other Lanterns had been posted within the lines of ranks so that in the event of an approaching soldier or civilian, we could do our best to break up and take cover. It would be difficult to hide so many people last minute.

  The informer had warned us not to harm any Leiden’s in our escape. If we were discovered or thwarted by a soldier or an unsuspecting citizen, the best we could do was gag them and set them aside in an alley. By some miracle, our way stayed clear.

  We approached the gate with a certain sense of nervous relief and trickled onto the docks. I stayed at the gate, watching, listening, until I was sure everyone was accounted for, then headed toward the lines forming by the wharf to fall in with the others.

  I could see that Cora was at the back of the line too, so I gravitated toward her. She shot me an uneasy grin. I tried to return it, but a wave of exhaustion hit me. My legs suddenly felt weak and I struggled to remain standing. I took a deep breath to steady myself, but it didn’t help.

  “Cora,” I whispered, “Can I lean on you?”

  She frowned and nodded. “You ok?”

  “Think so,” I replied. “Just tired, and nervous I guess.” I figured the adrenaline that had been pumping through my veins for that entire hour was a direct contributor.

  My job is finished, I reminded myself. All I had to do was follow orders from there on.

  I tried to focus on what was happening ahead of us in the line. There, on the edge of the pier stood the Admiral, and at his side was another crewmember. The crewmember inspected each person quickly, then let them through to board.

  I was overjoyed and frightened once again. We’d almost succeeded. Almost, I thought, but first, we had to get out of this harbor. In my time as a fielder, I’d jumped to conclusions during missions, only to realize it was a grave mistake. You always had to be ready for complications and slow to pat yourself on the back.

  The line was thinning out and we were growing closer. There was a strange blur of commotion up ahead, but I couldn’t see what was happening. My heart jumped into my throat.

  “It’s ok, it’s ok,” Cora comforted, feeling me tense. “Just a bobble in the line or something.”

  I squeezed her hand. We were so close to freedom. So close.


  The cold breeze off the water stung my face, but the smell of salt brought me back to the Cronin shores. I’d loved to run along the beaches there, letting my hair fly out behind me. I’d gone alone as a child, safe in the woods and by the sea, before the shazod had ever been spoken of except in fairy tales. Maybe, we could be safe like that in Indarphe. I felt a little steadier.

  It was our turn, finally. Cora stepped up to the inspector. He shone the lamp in her face and looked her over, feeling her pulse and her forehead. He nodded to her and let her pass. She looked over her shoulder at me encouragingly as I stepped up, then she stepped on board.

  The lamp light made me squint. The inspector stared at me, then squeezed my wrist in his hand for a pulse. His hand went up to touch my forehead. A frown spread over his face, and he pushed the lamp closer.

  I wanted to step back, it was so blinding to my night adjusted eyes, but I resisted the urge. I couldn’t cause trouble. He was tapping the Admiral’s shoulder and pointing to me. The Admiral frowned, examining my face, bending so close that I could feel his hot breath. He shook his head.

  “Not this one.” The words were so quiet, so sure, that I almost didn’t understand them, until I felt another crew member coming up behind me.

  “She’s diseased,” a man muttered.

  “Wait,” I couldn’t scream or shout it, I had to keep my voice low, but the urgency in my tone scraped my throat. “I’m not sick,” I insisted.

  The Admiral shrugged.

  “You’re running a fever and you’ve got strange speckles in your eyes. I won’t have any of that on my ship.”

  No, this can’t be happening, I panicked. I’m weak, achy even, but not sick.

  “Hold her back, make sure she doesn’t sneak on board,” he insisted. “She could cause an epidemic. I can’t risk it. Get her out of here, same place we put the other one,” he directed. “Be quick about it, we’re almost done here.”

  Cora had already made her way onboard, oblivious to my crisis. The others that had stood behind me didn’t know what to do. There was nothing they could do. These were the regulations of the ship.

  The crewman gripped my arm firmly and started to drag me away from the lines.

  No, no please. I felt tears of desperation streak down my face.

  “Please, I have to go with them,” I begged the crewman in a whisper. He didn’t even bother to answer me. He towed me through the gate and out of the harbor until we neared a small shed with a lock on the door. He was going to throw me in the shed and secure the door behind me.

  Summoning all my strength, I pretended to stumble, then kicked his kneecap as soundly as I could. He recoiled in pain, losing his grip on me a moment, but he quickly grasped one of my wrists again, yanking me toward him.

  Ignoring the pain, my free hand flew at his face, clawing at him, then I kicked him again. This time the kick sent him sprawling, and as he finally released me, I took off, running blindly, feeling as though I might fall over at any moment.

  I hid behind a pile of cargo barrels, close to the harbor wall, hoping and praying he’d think twice before following me and simply return to his boss, pretending he’d done what he was supposed to.

  I waited, listening for the sounds of a pursuer, but heard nothing. My breaths tumbled over each other as I began to fully understand what was slipping away from me. I couldn’t go back to the docks. The ships would soon be filled and would waste no time leaving the bay. They would go as swiftly as their sails could take them, and they would leave me behind.

  WYATT

  Wyatt scanned the crowd nervously. They were almost all boarded now, but out of all of them, he still didn’t see Talitha. Everyone was taking shelter below deck, and now Gorstol was giving his crew the commands to set sail.

  He made his way over to him.

  “Is everyone here?” he asked.

  Gorstol nodded.

  “Almost everyone. A couple didn’t meet the standards, but for that many people, I wasn’t surprised. There’s always a few that aren’t healthy, even among slaves.”

  “Where are they? The ones that didn’t meet the standards?” Wyatt asked, panicking. “What did they look like?”

  Gorstol waved him off.

  “No one memorable. A young man and one girl. I sent them to the holding shed. I’m sorry, but we agreed upon the standards. I can’t allow illness onboard, not even for you.”

  Wyatt shook his head. He had always known he was going to regret making a deal with this man.

  “What did the girl look like?” he heard himself asking. “Brown eyes? Brown hair? Tall?” He knew if he described her as pretty, he’d never hear the end of it. Gorstol was already eyeing him skeptically.

  “Hmmm… yes, maybe. I don’t know. I’ve seen a lot of them tonight and they all look the same to me. It’s a little dark to see anything really.”

  “There was a mark,” Wyatt said suddenly, remembering a defining factor. “On her right hand!”

  “Ah, yes, lucky for you I did happen to notice that. Odd mark...Lantern isn’t it?”

  “Give me the key to the shed,” Wyatt commanded. “I, I’m going to take them to the infirmary.”

  Gorstol sighed and handed him a rusty key.

  “Go ahead, Ambassador, so long as it doesn’t get tangled up with my business.”

  Wyatt wasted no time in running to the shed. The lock was weathered and sticky, but he finally unbolted the heavy door and pulled it open.

  “Hello?” he said softly into the dark interior, heart pounding. Out of all these people, he’d wanted her to be free more than any of them; and now this. He knew Gorstol wouldn’t soften. She had no chance of getting on that ship, but he had to get her out of Leida somehow.

  If she stayed, she would be enough to give to the Parters. She would be a consolation prize, and they would take her in exchange for peace, even without the other Cronins. Only because she was the Lantern who had tried to match Faldir’s Shazod. He would want her dead, and the Paraphrant would not hesitate to say exactly who she was to Faldir. There was a noise in the shed, a stirring. A rattling of tools and boxes.

  “Talitha?”

  A face came into the light. To his dismay, it wasn’t the girl, but the young man instead. He lunged at Wyatt and tackled him against a wall. Strongbearer.

  “Wait, I can help you,” Wyatt sputtered.

  “I think I can help myself now that you’ve unlocked the door,” the boy said, grabbing him by the shirt and brandishing a fist.

  “Is Talitha here with you?” the words tumbled out.

  “Talitha? No. What do you want with her?”

  “They won’t let her on board. She’s diseased, like you are, I want to help you get out of here. You’ll both die if you stay behind.”

  The boy relaxed his hold a little.

  “And you know a way out?”

  “I can’t get you on board, but I can get you out of Leida. I’ve lived here all my life.”

  “I’m not sure where Talitha went,” the boy admitted. “She never made it to the shed, but I heard a struggle outside, and it sounded like her. She might be nearby.”

  Wyatt nodded, his head swimming. He had to find her, somehow, before anyone else did.

  TALITHA

  I heard the sound of masts rippling in the wind, the creak of anchors being hoisted out of the icy waters. Crouching against the harbor wall I shuddered in the dark. Tears stung in my eyes, but I held them back, racking my brain, trying to decide where I could go.

  Boarding the ship was out of the question. I could swim, stow away maybe, but the water was too cold, too dark. My only choice was to find a way out of the city, but I had no idea where to start. It’s as difficult to get out of Leida as it is to get in, I thought dimly.

  Someone was swiftly approaching my hiding place. I scrambled to my feet and began to run, but I was so groggy that my feet hardly left the ground. Someone grabbed my hand and whirled me around.

  My heart sank. It was the Ambassador. Disco
vering me out of the boundaries meant he would soon discover us all. He would alert his superiors and they would chase down the ship before the others had a chance of escaping the harbor waters, and it would be all my fault.

  I felt for the hilt of my knife, prepared to kill him if only to buy us a little time, but remembered the crewman had taken it from me the moment I’d been deemed unworthy for the voyage.

  “No, no!” I panted, struggling and clawing, but I was dizzy and exhausted. His hands gripped my tired arms like iron clamps.

  “Talitha, please listen to me,” the man whispered urgently.

  He had a sword at his side, but he didn’t draw it or threaten me, instead, he looked at me with his usual somber eyes, without a hint of malice in them. Instead, I saw fear.

  Realization dawned. He wasn’t trying to capture me. He was trying to help me.

  It was then that I saw Camphraz step into view, his face dogged and grimy in the pale moonlight.

  “He knows a way out,” he said wearily.

  The Ambassador nodded. “There’s a passageway that runs underneath the army barracks, it’s used to drain the bathhouses. We can get in through the workmen’s trapdoor, near the brewery. If you follow it to the south it will take you to the river outside of our walls.”

  I gaped at him.

  “You can’t stay here, do you understand?” he stressed. I nodded, my breaths coming quick and sharp in the cold air. This was the man that had given us the warning, the informer. It had been him all along.

  Why would he risk everything for all these strangers? I wondered. Yet somehow, it was he who felt like a stranger. I still didn’t know what to call him. In my mind, he was only the Ambassador. He’d called me Talitha, as if he’d known me all his life. The encounter struck a spark of curiosity into my deadening mind, giving me the will to follow his instructions. Soon that spark would guide me through the dark, underneath the city, through the murk and out toward freedom, even though everything inside me wanted to let go, to slip into grief.