She hopped down and marched past the front of the formation, throwing a smile to the mother who still hummed while rocking her baby. Daye followed close by her side. Unobstructed, she was able to gain a clearer view of the valley. She pointed to a spot in the distance—just visible in the horizon’s haze—that seemed clear of milling souls.
“What’s that out there?” she asked.
The prince squinted, shading his face with a hand against the early-morning light. “That? Just some local fields. Wheat, mostly, but a few other crops as well.”
“Are they growing?”
“Aye. But the harvest won’t be ready for months. I have to keep half of my soldiers stationed around them to prevent theft of seeds and half-grown crops. People still risk it almost every night.”
Jasside nodded. One. “Have you anyplace to collect the sick and wounded?”
“So they can catch something else and die all the quicker? No, my lady. We’ve not enough healers to even bother.”
Two. “What about the men, those without families to look after? What are you doing to keep them . . . occupied?”
“What’s there to do?”
Three. “My prince, with your leave, I think I might be able to—”
“What are you doing?”
Jasside flinched at the sound of Vashodia’s voice but immediately berated herself for the reaction. I can’t keep playing the wide-eyed apprentice anymore. If I’m to reach her, I need to show her what’s right.
“It’s called ‘helping,’ Vashodia. Have you ever heard of it?”
The mierothi glowered. “Don’t get snippy with me, Jasside. We’re in a hurry if you didn’t notice.”
“No, actually, I didn’t. These people are in desperate need of assistance we are uniquely suited to provide. Pray tell, what manner of haste could outweigh that?”
Vashodia ran her gaze over the throbbing masses below, her disdain so palpable it seemed to thicken the air. “These people are useless. Saving them means nothing.”
“No person is useless. Look around—it will mean everything to them!”
The mierothi’s eyes widened.
Jasside held her breath.
After what seemed an eternity, Vashodia shrugged. “Very well. I can see that you’re set on this. Just know that our little caravan will continue to march. It should take no more than four days to move beyond all this riffraff. You will be with us when we exit the far end of the valley.”
Jasside exhaled. She’d pushed her luck already by making a stand. No use poking a viper after it has decided to let you pass. She bowed her head in obeisance. “Of course, my mistress. I wouldn’t dream of missing my ride.”
Vashodia threw her one last, exasperated glance before twirling away and disappearing back inside the wagon. Jasside turned towards Daye.
“You really think you can help?” he asked.
“I do.”
“Then I may just ask for your hand in marriage before this is all over.”
Jasside pressed her lips together but couldn’t stop the laughter from bursting forth. Even the prince cracked a smile.
“Let’s make sure there’s actually food before we start planning a wedding feast,” she said after composing herself. She pivoted around and ambled softly over to the woman on the side of the road, stopping before her and smiling broadly.
The mother gave no indication that she acknowledged Jasside’s presence.
“Hello? Are you well? I just wanted you to know that I’m here to help. I’m going to make everything all better.”
The woman continued her wordless humming, oblivious.
Jasside narrowed her eyes, peering from the mother’s face down to the child in her arms. Her breath caught in her throat.
The baby’s face was white as milk, the lips blue. No breath had stirred from the tiny lungs in days.
Jasside brought a hand to her lips, quivering. Tears fell down her cheeks, not a trickle this time but a torrent. With shaking hands, she reached to pry the infant corpse from the woman’s grasp. Between the weight of the child and the strength of the mother’s protest, it hardly took any effort at all.
She passed the body off to the prince, who had come up behind her, then turned and wrapped the woman in an embrace, letting sobs loose with aching abandon.
Through it all, the lullaby never stopped.
“What have you found?” Arivana asked.
Flumere cast her gaze about as they sauntered through the colonnades on the floors of knowledge. “Not here, my qu—Arivana, I mean. Maybe when we have some privacy.”
“Is your information that scathing?”
“Perhaps.”
Arivana nodded as they marched through the entranceway of the royal library. Pillars of marble dotted the chamber, encompassed by gilded shelves filled with all manner of books and scrolls. Silk ribbons twirled around the top of the posts, coded by color to indicate the category of the works held below. Sunlight streamed through stained-glass windows on every side, warming her skin, augmented by rings of lightglobes placed to illuminate every nook and cranny.
Arivana inhaled, expecting the must-dust aroma of old books. She smelled nothing of the sort. The place seemed almost too clean for its own good.
“Your majesty!”
Arivana nearly jumped out of her skin. A woman stood at her side, and she hadn’t even heard her approach. The thick, golden carpet must have absorbed all the noise. Other than the sound of her own, newly frantic breathing, the place seemed as quiet as a tomb.
“Yes, what is it?” Arivana said at last.
“I’m just surprised—and delighted, of course—to have you in my library,” the woman said, tucking stray strands of brown hair behind her ears. “It’s been so long since a member of the royal family came to visit.”
“You are the head librarian, then?”
“Well, being the only one, I suppose I am the head librarian after all. Imagine that.”
Arivana studied the woman’s features but couldn’t quite place her family. “Which house are you from?”
“House? No house for me, I’m afraid. I only got this job because my father owed someone important a favor. But enough of me prattling on, your majesty. I can’t imagine you’d be interested in hearing about my dull little life. I suppose you’ll be wanting a tour?”
Arivana shook her head. “No, thank you. Just point us to a quiet spot to lounge, please.”
“Oh! You came to read.”
“Yes.”
The librarian listed the various locations with couches and chairs and explained the color coding. Arivana walked away from the woman, perplexed by her own thoughts.
“Something the matter?” Flumere asked, as they maneuvered between the bookcases.
“I’m not sure. She said I wouldn’t be interested in her life, and . . . I’m afraid she’s right.”
“How so?”
“She’s only a normal person. No one of any particular importance. No one with influence. Just like those boys that Tior keeps dangling in front of me. I’ve never taken an interest in the lives of the people I supposedly rule. I don’t really know the first thing about them.”
“Perhaps we ought to change that, then.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we could take a trip through the city?”
Arivana rolled her eyes. “Right.”
Flumere only stared at her.
“Wait, you’re serious?”
“Why not? We could wear disguises to hide who we are and wander wherever our fancy takes us. Might be a good way to better understand the day-to-day affairs of your nation’s citizens.”
“But how would we even make it clear of the tower without being noticed?”
“Oh, leave that to me. I’ve gotten to know a fe
w people here. Shouldn’t be too hard getting some of them to help a poor maid escape from the greedy clutches of her lady’s lecherous husband.”
Arivana furrowed her brow for a moment before perking back up. “You mean me!”
Flumere smiled deviously.
Arivana chuckled, rolling the idea around in her mind. “I don’t know. It might be dangerous.”
“But educational, I think.”
Arivana shrugged.
They rounded another bookcase and found themselves between a pair of curving couches resting in a patch of sunlight.
“I’ll check to make sure we’re alone,” Flumere said.
Arivana nodded as the handmaiden made a circuitous route around the pillars surrounding them, ostensibly searching for a book. Arivana stepped up to the nearest shelf of the right color and began perusing the titles in truth. It took her a mark before she found a likely candidate. She pulled the book and settled down on a couch about the same time Flumere returned from her scouting.
“All clear.”
“Good. Now, please tell me what you’ve learned from the queries I asked you to put out.”
“For the first, I’m afraid there’s nothing much to tell. I spoke to at least a dozen tower servants, many of whom have been around long enough to remember wiping your mother’s bottom as a babe.”
“And?”
“Nothing. Your mother and Claris had plenty of spats over the years, as even the best of friends often do, but nothing so drastic as to cause a permanent rift between them. As far as anyone can say, the previous queen left this world on good terms with your adoptive aunt.”
Arivana shuddered, fighting back the tears. “I feared as much. Then it truly was something I did that set her off.”
“Now, Arivana, we don’t know that for sure.”
“What else could it be?”
Flumere turned down her eyes.
“None of that,” Arivana said. “I need you to be completely truthful with me.”
The handmaiden twisted her lips. “It’s not that. Honest. It’s just, like I told you before, I’m not that clever. I wish I had an answer for you, but I’m afraid you’ll have to figure it out on your own.”
Arivana sighed. “Very well. What about the second question?”
“As for that, I was able to get an answer, but don’t think it’s a good idea . . .”
“Just tell me. Please.”
Flumere hesitated. “I know where Claris is being held.”
Arivana felt a tingle of excitement sprout up and down her limbs. She almost shot to her feet. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go ask her what this is all about.”
“It’s impossible. Just learning the location of her cell cost me all the goodwill I’d built up with the wardens. They’re staunchly loyal to protocol and won’t let anyone in without proper authorization.”
“Even me?”
“Especially you. Minister Pashams gave them strict orders to keep you out. For your own good, he told them.”
“What about sneaking in?”
“Getting you out of the tower unseen is one thing. Getting down there?” Flumere shook her head. “Even if I could, I’m not sure I’d want to.”
Arivana frowned at her. “It can’t be as bad as all that.”
“I could practically smell the despair in the air, and I didn’t even come within a hundred paces of the outer door. That . . . pit . . . it is an evil place. You would not leave it the same person you were going in.”
A chill drove up her limbs. She hadn’t even considered that. She’d heard only the vaguest rumors about the deep dungeons, mostly stories by her siblings meant to scare her. She wasn’t ready to face the horror of such a reality.
And yet I sent a woman there to spend the rest of her life, a fate that might very well be worse than death. What kind of monster am I?
“What’s that you’re reading?” Flumere asked.
Arivana shook herself, peering down at the book in her lap. “What, this? I suppose you could say it’s the next phase of our little intelligence-gathering plan. Did you not wonder why I wanted us to meet in the library?”
“Very clever. But that still doesn’t answer my question.”
She held up the book so her handmaiden could read the title. Statutes Regarding the Power and Limitations of House Celandaris, Vol. I. “We’re doing some research. Grab a book that you think might divulge what the law says I can and cannot do. Let’s see if we can find us a way to make my council do what I want for a change.”
Flumere rose. “As you wish.”
“Oh, and Flumere?”
“Yes?”
“Regarding your offer to take me on an unrestricted tour of my city: I accept.”
The woman patted her shoulder as she passed on the way to the nearest bookcase. “It will be an experience to remember, Arivana. I guarantee it.”
Tassariel slung her travel pack over her shoulders and pulled the straps tight. It rested comfortably over her plain grey cloak, which dangled nearly to her toes. It seemed sad, somehow, that everything she needed for the foreseeable future could be held in so small a satchel.
“Are you at least going to tell me where I’m—where we’re headed?” she asked.
“Patience, my dear,” Elos said. “Good things come to those who wait. Or some nonsense like that. You know what I mean?”
“No. I don’t.”
“Just as well. I’m not exactly clear on it either.”
She took a deep breath, gritting her teeth. This is your god, Tassariel, even if he’s the furthest thing from what you expected. Keep a firm grasp on your temper.
“Very well. I’m to go to the docks and book passage to the mainland, correct?”
“Correct. Have you brought everything I instructed?”
“Weren’t you paying attention while I was getting ready?”
“Not a bit.”
She sighed. “Yes, I have it all. Coin, a jewelry case, my best robes, and a bag full of cosmetics. Why is all this necessary again?”
“You obviously haven’t spent much time among humans.”
“No.”
“Appearances are everything, Tassariel. Nowhere is this more true than among the people we’re headed towards.”
“Stringing me along with cryptic clues, are we now?”
“Maybe?”
“I’ve already agreed to obey your will, my lord. I don’t know why you can’t . . .” She shook her head. “Never mind.”
She took one last look around her dwelling. Everything seemed in order. She briefly wondered if this would be the last time she saw the place but realized she didn’t actually care. It had seemed a cage for most of the last century. She should be ecstatic to leave it behind.
Then why aren’t I?
And yet she trudged out her front door without another moment’s debate.
Walking down the path, Tassariel took in all the sights of Halumyr Domicile, making a point to capture the images in frozen slices of memory. The dwellings, the gardens and parks, the library, the shops, the learning centers for each calling, a hundred other places she’d visited countless times over the span of her life. She knew not when she would return and wanted to be able to recall it all with clarity. Despite her long desire to leave it behind, this place would always be her home.
All too soon, she reached the edge of the floating island. She peeked down over the ornate silverstone railing. The Phelupar Islands lay in the shadows of both their own peaks and the greatvines that connected them each to the valynkar city. The seas between them shimmered like a sheet of scattered rubies under the setting sun.
Tassariel marched along the rim, destined for a place she’d never had reason to visit before. Five marks later, she reached it.
Eluhar waited there for her.
/> Though his face glowed at her approach, as it usually did, his body seemed unusually rigid. The smile he gave her was tight.
“Thought you could leave without saying good-bye?” he asked.
Though he meant it in jest, something seemed off. Perhaps it was the strained timbre of his voice as he said it. Perhaps it was how humorless they both knew the words to be.
“How did you know I’d be here?” she asked.
Eluhar looked away sheepishly. “I’ve been . . . keeping an eye on you. To make sure you were all right. Everyone was worried about you.”
“Everyone? You and my cynical uncle are the only two people who even know I exist!”
“That’s not—!”
“Don’t lie to me, Eluhar. Name another person who actually voiced a concern to you on my behalf.”
He hung his head, scuffing his sandaled foot across the ground for several beats. “Fine. It was just me. It’s always been just me. Can’t you see that?”
“See what?”
He filled his lungs, holding the air until his face turned red. Then, all at once, he spurted out, “Don’t you know that I love you, and we’re meant to be together forever?”
Tassariel stepped back, quivering in rage.
“Go easy on the boy,” Elos said. “At least he means well.”
“Shut! Up!”
Eluhar blinked rapidly, cowering beneath the force of her scream, and she realized that it was meant for both him and Elos.
“Did you not stop to think for one moment about what I wanted? About my desires and dreams? Or does none of that matter to you at all?”
“I—”
“No. You didn’t. You wanted what you wanted, and abyss take all else.”
A pair of tears streaked down either cheek. He bounded forward, closing the distance between them in a heartbeat and grabbing her wrists. “It’s not like that, Tass. Please. After all I’ve done for you, why won’t you listen to me!”
Have to get away. Have to get away. Have to get away. . .
On instinct, she twisted her arms around, wrenching free of his grip, and shoved him with both palms. He staggered back, wincing.
Tassariel pivoted. Lunged away. Stepped off the edge. Flexed the hidden muscles in her back.
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