Ikaros’ heads tilted to opposite sides. “Very true. But not to the precise spot that you are currently occupying from a different Shift. I had hoped the experience would kill you, but I can settle for the stupid expression on your face.” He chuckled.
Kaislyn tried to grasp what he was saying. Was Ikaros really so precise in his own Shifting that he could trick her into Shifting to an identical moment causing... this?
“Why do I see two of you then?”
“Concussion most likely. Never had one before? Well, well, well, I’m surprised. Concussions are delightful. They mess up your mind. Enjoy, Immortal Walker.” He rose with more cracking knee joints and Shifted.
Kaislyn did not try to follow him. Burns stinging, vision blurry, she lurched to her feet and started walking. She didn’t notice the cliff until she walked off it.
Kaislyn limped wearily into the Second City through the riverside gates. She’d spent a nearly a month chasing Ikaros. Returning to her birth life, however, it’d only been a little over a day since the attack on Drazan and Sveka.
Doing her best to ignore the rush of people around her, Kaislyn made her slow way to the city guardhouse. She suspected her parents would be recovering at the guardhouse as it was closer to the temple than the palace was.
The guardhouse had expanded recently and was an assortment of multi-level houses and irregular yards that made navigation challenging. It was not unusual for guards patrolling along the roof or wall of the guardhouse to yell directions at new recruits who’d gotten lost and turned around. Inside the gates was the largest yard, a pristine expanse of stone that appeared to have been scrubbed recently.
The city captain, a tall, brawny man dressed in a stiff uniform of browns strode across the yard issuing a rapid stream of commands to his lieutenant, who looked like he was going to be sick. The captain caught sight of Kaislyn and changed direction toward her without ceasing his instructions.
“And no one on the roof or wall. You know how she gets about that sort of thing. Ah, Kaislyn! We’ve never met, but you look just like your illustrious father. I’m Captain Davol of the Ti-em City Guard.” He issued a polite bow, still talking. “I’ve been expecting you. No doubt you wish to see your parents. I’ve kept an extra patrol of guards on duty.” Davol’s speech slowed for a moment and his manner became grave before he bounced back with, “but they’re both doing very well now. The queen is due to arrive in less than an hour and I have yet to see my guards turn out in proper form for her. You’ll excuse me if I don’t escort you personally to your parents. My lieutenant will show you the way.” Davol was back across the yard in a few long strides, yelling in boisterous voice for a different lieutenant.
The lieutenant left with Kaislyn shook his head and offered her a slight smile. “Before you ask: yes, he always talks a lot, and no, he never stops smiling. This way.”
“He’s very... cheerful,” Kaislyn offered.
“First time I ever saw him not be was yesterday. The entire City Guard was shocked when Drazan was brought in. You don’t expect someone like him to get hurt like that. Or hurt at all.” They entered a building and the lieutenant guided her down several hallways. He liked to talk almost as much as his superior did. “A lot of people were hurt and killed. I was on duty there last night. The street’s a mess. This must all be horrible for you. I’m sure you’re glad to have missed most of it.”
Kaislyn felt a flicker of dormant anger. She wasn’t sure if it was for the lieutenant or Ikaros. “Oh, I was there. I saw what he did to my father.”
The lieutenant looked at her and Kaislyn offered him a very slow smile. “I wouldn’t ask why I wasn’t here sooner.”
It was silent the rest of the way.
Finally rid of the lieutenant outside of her parents’ rooms, Kaislyn knocked quietly and opened the door, peering around the edge to see a room converted into both a study and a sitting room. A second door, cracked open, led to another room. Sveka was bent over the desk, studying a map. She looked up at Kaislyn and then back at the map.
“You don’t need to be so quiet. Drazan’s awake and getting cleaned up.”
“How’s he feeling?” Kaislyn said, closing the door behind her.
Sveka shrugged. “Annoyed and grumpy.”
“Are you going somewhere?” There were several packed saddlebags leaning against the wall.
Sveka didn’t look up from the map. “Yes. We’re leaving this afternoon.”
“But he was just hurt!”
“That phoenix can work wonders,” rumbled Drazan, entering the room in time to hear Kaislyn’s protest. “A solid night’s sleep and I’m as good as new.”
He looked completely different from the last time she’d seen him. His face was no longer white from lost blood and he moved with a light, quick step.
Kaislyn opened and closed her mouth a few times. The anger from earlier grew stronger. “Are you both crazy? You nearly died yesterday and today you’re off on some errand for the queen? She’s as bad as he is!”
“He who?” Drazan’s brow furrowed in puzzlement.
“When are you going to stop? When are you going to realize that he’s not ever going to give up until he wins? Until you’re both... Why can’t you just stop being you!”
Kaislyn realized she was shouting. She swallowed and tried again. “It isn’t right that the queen is sending you off after you were so obviously targeted yesterday.”
Sveka set her map aside, transferring her full attention to Kaislyn. “I talked with Nisken for much of last night. We, and Raina, agree that the Sorcerer must have been behind yesterday’s events.”
“Obviously. There was Black Sand.”
Sveka’s lips thinned and she nodded her head sharply. “Quite. So we’re going east of the First City.”
“Why—”
Kaislyn stopped. Hezere. He’d last been seen in the First City before vanishing near the end of the Second Bloody Year. “You think Hezere can stop Ikaros?”
“Yes,” said Drazan simply.
Hezere wouldn’t help, assuming they found him. He’d had plenty of years to deal with Ikaros and chose not to. It was a waste of time to look for him. But if her parents were busying searching for him, Ikaros couldn’t attack them.
“I hope you have a nice trip,” she said.
“That’s a quick change around,” commented Drazan.
She shrugged. Remembering Davol’s warning that Raina was supposed to be arriving soon, Kaislyn didn’t want to linger and risk seeing her. Offering each a rare hug, Kaislyn left Drazan and Sveka. She promptly got lost trying to return to the guardhouse gates.
By the time she found them, Raina had arrived, but, from the sounds of it, had disappeared to talk with Drazan and Sveka. The courtyard was clear of queens and birds. A lot of guards stood at attention in neat rows waiting for their queen’s return. Zarif was chatting with Davol. Or rather, Davol was chatting. Zarif said nothing.
Kaislyn waved at Davol and hastened for the gate before he started talking to her too. Zarif turned to watch her progress. His voice stopped her partway to the gates. “Kaislyn.”
She gritted her teeth and turned. “Yes?”
“Why are you limping?”
Davol stopped talking to look at her too.
Her burns and concussion had healed, but her cliff fall injuries lingered which made her suspect they were a Shift attack from something else. But the limp wasn’t too bad really.
Kaislyn plastered a smile on her face as she looked at Zarif’s blank face that wasn’t blank. At the slight crease between his eyebrows as he examined her, looking for bloody prints, she was sure.
“I tripped.”
Zarif folded his arms across his chest.
Annoyed, she added, “I sort of... fell off a cliff this time.”
“You fell off a cliff.”
“Well, I tripped over a rock first. I didn’t notice there was nothing beyond it at the time.”
“A rock.”
Kaislyn look
ed at him through narrowed eyes. Zarif’s face was had grown still, but there was a faint gleam to his brown eyes. “Are you laughing at me?”
“I would never laugh at a woman who falls off a mountain.” He turned back to his conversation with Davol.
“It was a cliff, not an entire mountain! There is a difference you know!” she added and then winced at how stupid that made her sound.
Zarif’s shoulders rose up and down in a shrug. No, not a shrug, Kaislyn realized, staring at him.
He was laughing. Captain Zarif of the Royal Guard was laughing.
2 | The Phoenix King
Kaislyn hastily exited the guardhouse and turned back toward the mountains. Satisfied that Drazan was all right, and knowing both her parents would now be gone for several weeks, she wouldn’t have to worry about them for a while. Nor would she have to worry about running into them by accident when returning from her Shifts.
She felt almost cheerful. She could now focus on Athalia again. Resume looking for Ikaros’ abandoned snake skin of a birth life.
Once in the mountains, she remembered it would be winter in Ti-em. Annoyed, Kaislyn decided to take as much of the summer day with her as she could. Clinging to the hot, summer air against her face and the soft grass beneath her boots, she Shifted to the morning a day after Ikaros had stabbed her in the snow.
Keeping her gaze averted from the telltale spot in the snow where she’d bled, Kaislyn walked back to Ti-em. To her delight, the breeze she’d brought with her, lingered around her person, keeping her warm during the hike.
“Athalia,” Kaislyn said when she brought the princess her dinner that night, “you’re very careful to say as little as possible. Haven’t I earned an explanation for your house arrest by now?”
She’d been in Ti-em for only a few hours but her limp had finally vanished and adding to the positive, spring had come early to the mountains and Ti-em. Warm breezes flickered through the air and the musical drip of melting snow greeted Kaislyn each time she stepped outside. She thought guiltily of bringing that summer breeze in her last Shift. Had she done this? Had she accidentally brought an entire change of seasons with her?
Athalia played with a few crumbs on her plate and didn’t answer.
“Some of it is because Ikaros is insane. That much is obvious.”
The woman froze. “What?”
“Ikaros is mad. I’ve never seen him sane except for here, but he’s put his own heir under house arrest. So unless you did something stupid, which I have a hard time imagining, the problem must be with Ikaros himself.”
“Indeed.”
“You ought to be queen and you know it.”
Athalia shrugged thin shoulders. “I will inherit the throne upon the king’s death.”
“I thought about Shifting and killing his parents before he was ever born or killing him when he was still young,” she said, more to herself than to Athalia. “But it doesn’t work that way. Otherwise he would have killed my mother instead of enslaving and torturing her.” They both just... existed. That drop of dye splattering everywhere in the past or present or future all at once, happening all at the same time.
“I didn’t know that about your mother.”
“Eh?” Kaislyn jerked her head up. “Oh, she’s fine now. As fine as I am anyway.”
“That does not say much.”
Kaislyn looked moodily at her empty glass. “You’ll be dead long before Ikaros ever is.”
“The king is blessed with great health,” said Athalia.
“Sure,” Kaislyn snorted. “Health, immortality, it’s the same thing.” But she was struck by what Athalia had said. She was at the wrong point. Ikaros must already be immortal.
Athalia tapped long, painted nails against the edge of the couch. “The king is a direct descendant of the Serpent House. It’s considered a sign of respect to treat such persons as though they are indeed immortal. It’s a grave insult to remark upon their aging.”
Kaislyn rolled her eyes. “That is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard.”
“Perhaps,” Athalia smiled. “But what of you? You call yourself the Immortal Walker. Are you a cousin of that indestructible house?”
“My mother is the last true heir. I’ve been told I’m an impossibility.” Kaislyn shook her head.
“I would like to meet your mother.”
There was something in that tone that made Kaislyn sit up straighter, fix her full attention on Athalia.
“Do you know,” Athalia said, in a voice devoid of emotion, colder than Kaislyn had ever heard before, “I’ve given you a great deal of thought? Why I evade your attempts to entrap me in a confession of treason? Why your...sacrifices for me is not enough? Will never be enough?”
Kaislyn shook her head.
“I think you are Ikaros’ daughter and he has decided he’d rather have an heir of his precious Serpent House inherit the throne after him than me. What else can explain your timing? What else can explain how much alike you two are? Too much alike.”
Kaislyn was too stunned for words. Her mouth opened and closed a few times but no sound came out. She rose to her feet only to feel dizzy and she sagged back down. She stared at Athalia, her mind for once completely and utterly blank.
Athalia tilted her head to the side and considered Kaislyn. A small smile appeared. “No one could possibly fake the astonishment on your face.”
She had a point, girl. Clever queen.
Kaislyn managed an outraged squeak.
Athalia laughed. “Perhaps we can be friends after all.” Previous coldness gone, she rose from her seat and poured Kaislyn a glass of wine. “Drink. And perhaps breathe?”
Kaislyn took the wine and downed it in one large gulp.
Then the words came. “You thought I was the—” she choked on the word ‘daughter.’ “Me? And that horrible, vile, lunatic? I only ever came so I could kill him! He’s killed me and tricked me and sold me into slavery! He enslaved my mother! He ruined the Five Cities. Is trying to kill a poor baby! He torments my mountain home. He...” Kaislyn leapt from her seat and circled the room. Her voice rose, grew hysterical.“Ikaros! You thought he was—! Whatever I’ve done, I certainly don’t deserve such an accusation as that! I even liked you! Ikaros...!”
Athalia waited until Kaislyn ran out of words and collapsed into her seat again.
“How do you know that the king is trying to kill my baby?” Athalia demanded, all former mirth gone.
Kaislyn shook her head. “I wasn’t talking about you. Oh!” She straightened up in her chair. “Is that why you’re under house arrest? What does it matter if Ikaros has a daughter so long as she remains childless, but he found out you’re having a baby and that changes everything. He’s only ever concerned with his immortality and being king. He’s doing the same thing to Raina.”
Kaislyn lapsed into a brooding silence. Athalia said nothing, returning to her favorite spot on the couch, content to watch Kaislyn glare at nothing.
“Ikaros likes to think he’s clever, but I’m clever too. I have to get him out of the city and you on the throne. He has too much power right now. You’ll never be safe until you’re queen. Safer anyway.” Kaislyn made a face. “I wanted to take away his immortality. Now it looks like I have to take away his kingship too. And he has that blasted bird. Can it leave of its own will? Why stay with him otherwise?”
“Why leave?” Athalia countered. “The kingdom is stable and, for all intents and purposes, the king is sane.”
Kaislyn snapped her fingers excitedly. “That’s what’s wrong with the phoenix. It’s loyal!”
“Loyalty is a problem to you?”
“It is when the thing in question is a homicidal, demon bird that likes Ikaros.” Kaislyn leapt to her feet. “Don’t you see? It was fiercely loyal to Hezere and he was as crazy as they come. But Hezere gave the bird up, so it had to go to Raina. I hear they argue a lot, so it must have preferences and opinions. Raina’s too sane for it. Ha! The bird can be reasoned with.”
“I don’t think it works that way,” said Athalia doubtfully.
Kaislyn wasn’t listening. The phoenix was loyal to Ikaros and loyal to the Five Cities. It could have gone back to Ikaros but it didn’t. It went to Hezere. It must have decided that Hezere would keep the cities more stable. Made sense given that Ikaros was responsible for the mess in the first place. All she had to do was convince the phoenix that switching to Athalia only increased its loyalty to the cities.
“I need to go think for a while. Words of persuasion has never been my strength.”
Athalia arched her eyebrows. “I never would have guessed.”
The next evening, Kaislyn was no closer to thinking of a persuasive argument. It wasn’t like the ruler had to die for the phoenix to switch, either. Raina took the phoenix from Hezere. Why couldn’t Athalia take the phoenix from Ikaros? How hard did it have to be? It’s not like she was trying to blow up pyramids and avenge her family while she’s at it. She slowed outside Athalia’s rooms.
The difference wasn’t that Raina “took” the bird. The phoenix chose Raina. She needed to convince it to choose Athalia over any loyalty it had for Ikaros.
Kaislyn eyed the additional guards on duty. She fought the urge to run. “Here. I don’t think the princess will be eating tonight.” She handed the tray to a guard and let another one open the door for her.
Ikaros stood in the middle of the room with Athalia, who was tight-lipped and white-faced. Kaislyn was faintly amused to see that the princess was the taller of the two. As the door closed, Ikaros turned to look at her.
He was dressed in his usual black robe edged in gold, feet hidden in warm boots. Gold hung from his earlobes and neck. A gold band pinned thick, curling black hair back from his forehead. A familiar perfume, the one he usually wore in the mountains when so formally dressed wafted across the room.
She guessed he was in his forties, the youngest she had ever seen him, a few lines etched his face, absent of any beard. His eyes were not the familiar, comforting wild blue of insanity. They were black.
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