by Sarah Wynde
“But I don’t understand. There were two guys in plain clothes and then another one in a gold robe. But where did the second guy go? He was gone. The one who was left—he didn’t look the same, but I recognized his hands. He was the guy who tried to kill me before, I’m sure of it.”
Her voice rose steadily, the tears coming closer with every word, until she had to stop talking to bite back a sob. Damn it, she didn’t want to cry in front of all these people.
“Shh, shh.” Kaio stroked her hair, petting it as if she were a kitten curled up in his lap. “Illusion, that’s all. They disguised themselves using illusion. It is a trivial magic, one any of the Sia Mara can master. The nanomites will most always bestir themselves to reflect light. It is nothing to them.”
“But he didn’t kill Luke,” she managed to gasp out. “He could have. He had the knife, but he didn’t. But Remy, they killed Remy, and…”
Fen had to stop again. The glass that had kept her calm was gone. She was breaking. In another minute, she’d split apart, all of her insides falling out in a gigantic torrential mess of grief and sorrow and fear.
She dug her nails into the skin of her forearm. She wasn’t going to cry. She was not. She pressed hard enough to bring the pain from piercing to the dull ache of an impending bruise and drew a deep breath. “It was them, I’m sure of it. The Val Kyr.”
“I would not argue with you,” Kaio said. “The question is why.”
He knelt next to her. She looked into his face. She could see the resemblance to Luke—same cheekbones, same nose. But the hundred and sixty years he had over his brother had given him a toughness Luke lacked, a sculptured strength carved in bone and flesh.
“I must ask you an immense favor,” Kaio said, his voice so quiet that none of the others bustling around the room were likely to hear it.
“What is it?” Fen asked.
“Come to the binding ceremony with me.”
“You want me to go to a party?” Her voice rose and her gaze shot back to Luke’s body, still motionless. It had to be bad news that they hadn’t managed to wake him yet, didn’t it? Brain damage, coma, internal bleeding—something horrible was wrong with Luke, she was sure of it.
“It’s not a party. It is a ceremony. The binding…” He stopped. “Fen.”
She blinked. Had he said her name before? He liked to call her Felicia. Had he ever called her Fen? “Yes?”
“I beg of you. Come with me to the opening ceremony of the Great Council.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” Fen said. “I can’t go in there by myself.”
They stood in a dim corner by the wall of the castle. Bright light spilled out of huge doors flung open for the evening, while people flowed slowly up the wide steps that led into the building. Music played, people chattered, and an announcer called out the guests’ names as they entered the building.
“Acquit me of vainglory if I tell you that eyes will be on me constantly, including those that are unfriendly. You will be safer away from me.” Kaio wasn’t even looking at her, his eyes roaming the crowd.
“So let’s not go in until it’s time for the ceremony to start.”
“My absence would also be noted. We want nothing that might chance disturbing the Val Kyr.” His lips tightened, his eyes narrowed, and he turned slightly as if shielding his face from sight.
“And you think people aren’t going to notice me? I’m going to stick out like a sparrow in a flock of parrots,” Fen protested. She didn’t want to whine, but Syl Var’s elite were wearing their dramatic best: robes and gowns in glorious colors that were stiff with embroidery and jewels, intricate facial tattoos, hair that sparkled and shone in more shades than rainbows. She was going to look like an idiot among them in her simple tunic and trousers.
Kaio looked down at her and his lips quirked up at the corners. “More of a peahen among peacocks, I’m afraid.”
Fen scowled at him. The jerk was patronizing her again. “Fine. Do you intend to tell me what I’m doing here?”
“At the ceremony. I’ll explain then.” He shot back the sleeve of his robe—a gorgeous bronze brocade—and glanced at the crystal watch on his wrist. “Listen for the bells. They’ll let you know when the ceremony is about to begin. Make your way as near the stage as you can. I’ll find you. Meanwhile, go unobserved.”
With a single dip of his head to her, he turned and strode away, people greeting him before he was more than halfway up the stairs. Fen glared after him.
Asshole. Go unobserved. How the hell was she supposed to do that?
“Men.” The voice came from right next to her and Fen, startled, whirled around. A very old woman stood beside her, her hair pure white, her face lined with age, but her eyes bright and her back straight. “Invisibility is not as easy as not wearing fancy clothes,” the woman said, with a gentle smile. “Do you think he knows that?”
Fen swallowed. “I have no idea.” How had this woman approached them unobserved? Who was she?
The woman nodded at her as, in the background, Fen heard the announcer saying, “Kaio of House Del Mar, Syl Var, First Watcher.”
The woman lifted her hand, spinning a finger in the air. Fen felt a weight dropping onto her shoulders. She looked down. Her clothes hadn’t changed, but a robe now covered them. By the standards of Syl Var, it wasn’t elaborate, but it was smooth, silky, a deep forest green with a lighter green pattern that blended well with her tunic.
The old woman’s finger rose and dropped again. Fen shivered and put a hand to her shoulder. What the hell? Curls curved around her fingers, real enough to touch.
“Follow me in, love. No one will notice us until we reach the doorway. When I’m announced, the stir will provide a distraction for you.”
Fen stared at her. How the hell had she just done that? And why? Fen opened her mouth to ask questions, but before she could get a word out, the woman smiled at her, eyes kind, and started moving into the courtyard. The shock left Fen motionless for the space of three or four steps, but then she hurried after the old woman.
The woman was right. No one seemed to see them as they wove their way through the crowd and up the stairs. Fen even bumped into a boy, mumbling an apology as she tried to stay close to the old woman, but he didn’t respond except to rub his arm, his face puzzled.
At the top of the steps, the woman said, “Excuse me, love, yes, excuse me, pardon me,” to the few people at the front of the line.
“Of course,” they responded in scattered, startled unison, bowing away from her.
Fen stopped moving and stepped to the side to see what would happen next.
As the old woman paused in the arched doorway at the top of the steps, the announcer blared, “Her Royal Majesty, Queen Ellinora of Syl Var.”
The woman raised one hand, acknowledging the crowd, and moved gracefully into the room as the crowd inside seemed to surge forward, bursting into welcoming applause.
Queen.
Right.
She’d been very nice for a queen, Fen thought faintly.
But whatever invisibility magic she had cast appeared to be gone. Two men, arm-in-arm, were eyeing Fen curiously as they glided by in robes of glossy damask in deep purple and blue. They passed through the doorway, the announcer dutifully declaring their names.
Fen wavered, unsure of what to do. If she stepped into the doorway, what would the announcer say? Her hand lifted toward her crystal then dropped again as several men, all in shades of red, approached. A woman at the center of their crowd, wearing a gown in raspberry with sheer black sleeves, spotted Fen and paused as Fen tried to get out of their way.
“Lost your House, have you, child?” she said with a smile, her eyes narrowing. “Hmm, you must be with House Roaki, yes? Ayano, is it? You’ve grown since last I saw you.” She glanced about her and settled on a tall boy standing behind her left shoulder. “Evander, escort the young lady to her House.”
The boy looked startled. He opened his mouth, then closed it again and sm
iled. “Yes, ma’am,” he said, stepping forward and offering Fen his arm.
Kaio was an idiot, Fen thought bitterly. How the hell was she supposed to be invisible when every maternal person in the entire damn town thought she needed to be taken care of? She hesitated. Still, entering in the midst of a family might be better than walking in alone as if she owned the place.
The boy grinned at her. “Come on,” he said with a bob of his head in the direction of the door, and an encouraging lift of his elbow toward her.
Fen put her hand on his arm, forcing a smile. “Thank you.”
As they walked into the crowded room, the announcer pronounced, “Jirenth, the Lady Mother of House Tiago, accompanied by her husbands, Raul Tiago, Baraz Tiago, and Seafra Tiago, and sons.”
And sons.
Fen breathed a sigh of relief. The announcer hadn’t named her. Now all she had to do was get away from this kid and find a corner to hide in until the ceremony started.
“I think I see my, um, house over there,” she said, pointing vaguely in the direction opposite of the way his family was headed.
“Great.” He put his hand over hers and started to lead her that way.
“I’ll be fine on my own,” she tried. “I don’t want to take up more of your time. You must have better things to do.”
“My mother would never forgive me.” Evander’s good cheer was relentless. Fen tried to slip her hand out from under his. It was a big crowd. If she got him to let go of her, maybe she could fall back a little, get a couple people between them, and then disappear. But his hand didn’t budge. Fen wanted to hit him, as he continued, saying, “I shall deliver you to your destination, never fear.”
Damn it. She had to get away from him and he was just a boy, taller than her but no way more than fifteen or so. “Listen, I’m not—
“I know,” he interrupted. He glanced at his family, already moving away, then lowered his voice anyway. “I know what Ayano looks like and you’re not her. You’ve got to be the new girl, the one who blasted a hole in the castle defenses. The guys are going to be so freaking jealous. I got to come to the ceremony and I got to meet you? They’re never going to believe it.”
Fen couldn’t think of a single thing to say. She gaped at him.
“So how come you’re here by yourself? I thought House Del Mar had you all wrapped up. You wouldn’t believe the rumors. Tell me you really did blast the wall into dust. That would be so cool. Or no, wait—I liked the one where you turned into a bird and flew over the wall, too, but I was pretty sure that was just that asshole Jake making stuff up. I mean it would be awesome if it was true—turning into a bird? Like, way, that would be amazing, but even if you are the hottest shit anyone’s seen in years, nobody can transform, that’s psycho.”
Fen closed her mouth. “You talk like a normal person.”
It was a dumb thing to say but they were the only words that came to mind.
He looked over his shoulder. “Yeah, my mom would put me in remedial speech if she heard me. But House Tiago.” He lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “We’re a lesser house, thank goddess. Del Mar, they were probably doing manners instruction in their cribs.” He made a face. “Ugh.”
Speechless.
Fen was flat-out speechless.
“Say, I know you must have things to do, places to be, people to meet, but there’s a guy from my Quidditch team here somewhere. It would so cool if we could find him. Like five minutes, just to show him that I met you? Proof would be the mega, because nobody’s gonna believe me.”
“Elfie, Quidditch?” Fen said, feeling dazed.
“A flawed interpretation,” Elfie said in her head. “A three-dimensional sport played underwater with multiple goals and multiple balls. The interpreter pattern does its best, but interpreting at speed is imperfect, as you know. I shall provide it with assistance.”
Fen glanced down at the Celtic knot on her wrist. Was Elfie going to change it? But the bug on the back of her hand caught her attention first.
It was roaming, its tiny antennae out and trembling, its color a pinkish yellow.
She glanced up and around, automatically stepping closer to Evander as if she could hide in the shadow of his height.
“I’ve got to get to the place where they’re going to do the ceremony,” she said, voice hurried. “If you want to bring your friend to meet me there, that’d be cool, but I’m supposed to wait there.”
“Awesome!” His grin was huge.
Fen glanced down at the back of her hand. The bug had stilled, its quivering antennae pointed to the right.
“The ceremony’s going to be in the west atrium.” Evander took her hand from his arm and slipped his own down until he could wrap her fingers in his. “Come on.” He started off to the left, tugging her with him.
Fen let her fingers tighten around his hand.
The Val Kyr wouldn’t try to kill her in this crowd, would they? Could they? Was she dragging Evander into danger with her?
And where was Kaio? What the hell was he planning?
New Friends and Old
The atrium was insane.
Shit, it was a castle, the whole place was insane.
But what they called an atrium, Fen called a…
Nope.
She didn’t have a word for it. It was an enclosed courtyard, smaller than the courtyard in the front of the castle, but still spacious. Walls on all four sides held arched doorways on the ground floor and balconies and galleries going three stories up, while the roof opened to the twilight sky. In the center of the space, a raised dais held a rainbow of light, with seven bright beams shooting down from unseen spotlights creating a circle of color.
Water fell at intervals, sheeting down from one story up, two stories up, three stories up, the water filling flowing streams and pools that covered half the surface of the tiled floor, and then spraying up again in fountains, small or tall, in every corner.
The balconies were draped in the tiny sparkling lights that the Sia Mara loved, and filled with people. They leaned over the metal railings, calling out to their friends, waving to the other sides of the room, squeezed together in a jovial camaraderie that reminded Fen of a much friendlier version of a rush-hour El train.
She wanted to turn around and run. She hated crowds.
Evander’s eyes were on her and his grin was gone. “Milady?”
She took a shallow breath and let it go.
She was not going to hyperventilate. She was not. That was all there was to it. Shit, people wanted to kill her and she was going to freak out about being surrounded by safer people? She ought to be grateful she could hide amongst them.
“Are you all right?” Evander asked.
Fen forced a smile. “Just a little crowded for me.”
He looked around the packed atrium.
“I’ll wait here,” she added. “If you want to try to find your friend.”
She could see his chest rise and fall when he sighed. “My mother would kill me.”
“What?”
“For leaving you alone in a place that makes you uncomfortable.” And then he grinned his impish grin and tilted his head at the direction of the stage. “Want to get closer?”
Really, no, she didn’t.
But the question reminded her of times past, other boys, other places. She glanced around with fresh eyes.
Okay, so maybe she was trapped in an insane underwater world with people who wanted to kill her, a friend who was dying or dead, and bullshit rules she didn’t understand at every turn, but this place sort of looked like a club. A seriously cool club, crowded, with maybe a good band coming out soon. She could deal with that. “Let’s go.”
At the edge of the stage, they stopped. He was still holding her hand, his a little sweaty now. People gave them more space than Fen would have expected. Guys who noticed her dipped their heads and made room. It was nice in a way, but she wished they wouldn’t. How was she going to hide with a foot of open space around her?
She shivered. So many people crowded together should be warm, but all the water mist in the air kept it cool. Still, her skin felt itchy, sticky, as if something was on her. Or as if someone was watching her.
She looked up.
Zach, her former neighbor, stared down at her from the second story balcony, his mouth open, his hair mussed in the same attractively disheveled way as always.
Fen froze. She yanked her hand up to her face, bringing Evander’s hand with it. The bug was green. It didn’t have its head tucked under its wing, but it was just kind of meandering, definitely not on alert.
“Oh, fuck,” she whispered.
“Are you well?” Evander’s eyes were wide, startled.
“Yep,” she squeaked, letting their hands drop and separate. “Just, um, yeah. Ah—”
What the hell could she tell him? Not the truth, that was for sure.
But he was frowning and looking worried, so she plastered a smile on her face and said, “All good.” She turned the back of her hand to show him her bug. “Green, see?”
“You have art.” He touched it with a tentative fingertip. “You’re so lucky.”
“That’s nothing,” she said. She was barely aware of the words coming out of her mouth as her brain raced. “You should see my others.”
Zach here.
Was he Val Kyr? Had he been in on the decision to kill her? But why?
If he wanted to murder her, he could have done it in her own apartment any time. She would have let him in. She would have made him a cup of tea, for God’s sake.
“Gaelith gave me this data access pattern that’s fantastic,” she continued. She let her eyes flicker back up to the balcony, searching, but Zach was gone.
Shit.
“You have art by Gaelith Del Mar?” Evander’s tone was reverent. “Oh, man, that’s amazing.” He looked around them. “Damn, I wish my friend could see us. No one’s ever going to believe me when I tell them about this.”
“Go find him,” she said impulsively.
Zach had to be on his way down, either to talk to her or to murder her. And if the latter—well, this sweet kid was not, absolutely not, going to wind up like Remy or Luke. She needed to get him out of the way.