Citadel of the Sky (Thrones of the Firstborn Book 1)

by Chrysoula Tzavelas

  Sooner than Tiana expected, she’d been bundled onto her horse. Lisette was riding some merchant’s palfrey while Berrin led her mare, because apparently her mare really had hurt her foot. Kiar slouched in her saddle. Tiana felt a rush of pleasure at seeing all of her party healthy and mobile.

  And when she saw the townsfolk cleaning up from the day before, Maybe it’s good that I snuck out here….

  She asked Kiar, “So what happened to you yesterday?”

  Kiar said, “I said I’d explain it once we got home. I need to tell Jerya. But I have to think about it some more.” She grumbled, “Pity we couldn’t get out of there without attracting attention.”

  Tiana’s black mood rose, but she bit her tongue and kept it inside. Kiar didn’t exaggerate. But she hoped it might distract Jerya, all the same.

  Chapter 26

  Politics Are Crazy

  Twist found them on the road, appearing just long enough to confirm that they were all alive and relatively uninjured.

  “Tales from yesterday have preceded you,” he said. “And Jerya thought she had enough to worry about.”

  Fingers of cold tickled Tiana’s spine. “Good tales?”

  “Some good, some bad. You’re getting quite a reputation for violence, Princess,” he replied. “But everyone will be glad to see she didn’t do something terrible to you, Kiar.” The blonde girl scowled and looked away.

  Tiana thought, Of course. Blood tells. She felt like crying.

  **Who cares what they think?** asked Jinriki.

  Of course you’d say that. You’re a sword. I’ve always tried so hard—but she sealed that thought away and pulled the black mood over her head again.

  A full dozen guards joined them outside the city, escorting them for the remainder of their journey. It was an even mix of Regency and Justiciar guards, Tiana noticed, but she didn’t know what that meant. But they responded to Slater and Berrin with the same careful, uninformative courtesy that her own greeting garnered, so she took some comfort in the idea that she wasn’t the only one in trouble.

  After they entered the Palace proper, the commander of the Regency Guard pulled Berrin and Slater aside and waved the rest of them onward.

  “Can’t I even go and change?” Tiana protested. Berrin grimaced sympathetically at her.

  Lieutenant Thadden bowed and said, “Your Highness, the Crown Princess and your father the King are waiting for you in the Blood’s Hall.”

  Kiar said, “Oh, good. I won’t have to repeat myself.” Tiana rolled her eyes at her cousin and sighed. Kiar added, “Trust me, Ti. This will distract her too much to be angry at us.”

  Tiana followed along. She was still apprehensive about the location: why not have a little chat about responsibility in the safety of her own rooms, or Jerya’s rooms? Why so official? Well, she didn’t have to put up with it; Jerya was her sister, not her Queen, Blight or no Blight.

  The Blood’s Hall was nearly as full as it was a few days ago, though this time there were more guards and less of the Family. Jerya and the King sat together at the head of the table. Seven of the King’s shadows clustered around them. The King’s face was calm and simple, and he smiled as they entered.

  Jerya didn’t smile. She looked at each of them carefully and then said, “I’m happy to see that you’re all still alive. But there are those who won’t be nearly as pleased.”

  Kiar shook her head and said, “Jerya, I have news that shouldn’t wait.”

  Jerya’s face was like a marble sculpture. She inclined her head. “What do you have to say, then?”

  The King said, “Oh, a story?” and Jerya touched his arm.

  Kiar said, “I don’t know what you’ve heard already, about the fortress and the town. But what I found, you won’t have heard about. I don’t have answers, just new questions. But we all need to know about them. Everyone will be facing the Blight.”

  She took a deep breath and then continued, “In Mousame, there’s an anomaly. A space that isn’t there. When we approached it, it felt familiar. I realized it was an entrance. I went inside.” She glanced at Tiana and Tiana frowned ferociously at her. “I didn’t think about it until it was too late.

  “It felt like entering the phantasmagory, except it was real. It was a place, a world. There was no light and yet I could see. Can you understand that? I hardly can. It was like the place spoke to me and my family magic listened. It made me realize we don’t know anything about the phantasmagory, not really. We studied the dreams there, but the phantasmagory itself we simply accept as our birthright.”

  Jant nodded vigorously as Kiar went on. “How are we connected to it? Why? What is it? Those are my first questions, and if that place is as like the phantasmagory as it felt, they may be important ones.” There was a murmur around the room, and Kiar moved a hand. “There’s more.”

  “Things lived there that do not exist in our phantasmagory. Monsters.” She hesitated and corrected herself. “Creatures. And the stronghold was there. The invader’s stronghold, we saw it from the hill in Mousame, and then I saw it again inside this other place. And it was surrounded by creatures. There is an army’s army of creatures in there. Waiting.” She raised her voice over more noise. “What is this enemy who comes from a place like the phantasmagory?”

  Tiana shifted uncomfortably, thinking about the copy of the Royal Pendant and how she and Jinriki had theorized it was connected to the phantasmagory somehow. And she remembered a dream, in which somebody had said, Will it hold? The first one cracked. She wondered if she should mention the pendants, or if it even mattered anymore. After all, they were both cracked now.

  She’d bring it up later, she decided. She couldn’t do it now, with everyone here and with Jerya looking so forbidding.

  One of the King’s eidolons stepped into him, merging with him. His smile flickered.

  Cathay said, “Maybe the similarity is simply that they are other places, secret places. You said it was more real.”

  Kiar shrugged. “Maybe that’s all it is. But it felt like our place. Making an eidolon was like creating a phantasmagory dream. And there’s more. That’s not the most pressing question. When I was trying to find my way out, I found lines that connected that world to our own, through the anomaly. They were… pulling.” She stopped and swallowed.

  Cathay raised his eyebrows. “Pulling.” Tiana realized he was angry, angry at Kiar, and wondered why. Jerya moved a hand to quiet him.

  “Like I might tune a violin,” Kiar snapped. “It was bad. The world isn’t meant to be pulled on. Not like that. I couldn’t dislodge them, and I did try.” She glanced at Tiana again. “Some of the creatures tried to stop me, though. So maybe I didn’t try hard enough.”

  Another of the King’s shadows stepped into him, and his smile vanished entirely. He sighed. “Like hooks in fish. Things haven’t been the same since the dying started.”

  Everyone looked at the King. He looked down at his hands. Finally, Jerya said, “Somebody’s always been dying. Kiar, is there more?”

  Kiar shook her head. “No. I was able to get out with a little help from the other side. I came back and found myself in the middle of a battlefield. I think they tried to stop me from both sides.” Another tiny glance at Tiana. “I believe it’s a serious threat, maybe one the big fortress and the bands of monsters are supposed to distract us from. So we should focus our defense there.”

  “Thank you,” said Jerya gently. “The scouts who have returned tell us that your anomaly is not the only one, however.”

  Kiar said, “No! That’s more—” and then stopped, falling into a brooding silence.

  Jerya said, “Additionally, you skipped an exciting scene at the Justiciar’s Court. Aren’t you pleased?”

  Tiana forgot everything else and said, “What? They ratified the Blight!”

  Jerya said, “Yes. And claimed day-to-day management as their own. Then they brought a representative from Vassay out. They discussed all the disruptions caused by this Blight, in day-to
-day management. They’re not sending an army in, no, they’re sending in troops of engineers instead. And an honor guard for their official ambassador. They told me to tend to the Blight.” Jerya was angry again, but this time she wasn’t crying.

  Tiana frowned. She didn’t know what to think. “They could be helpful, right? I mean, I saw the river.”

  Jerya hesitated. “They could. If they trusted us. If they could be convinced we weren’t a danger to Ceria ourselves. But you heard them in the catacombs, Tiana. You told me about it yourself. They want us out of the way.”

  The King looked up. “Send the girls to the Citadel.” Another eidolon drifted into him and he grimaced.

  Jerya looked at him sharply. Then she said, “That would be convenient.” She looked up, meeting Tiana’s eyes.

  Tiana said, “What? Shouldn’t the Citadel be coming here?” She tried to remember when Antecession was. Four days? The Magister would arrive tomorrow.

  “Yes, you missed that, too, yesterday.” Tiana winced. This was worse than a lecture on responsibility. “The Magister isn’t coming this year. He wants representatives of the Blood to celebrate Antecession at the Citadel.” Jerya was thoughtful.

  “But the Magister always comes here. Why would he do this now? Because of the Blight? But that’s more reason for us to stay here.”

  Jerya sighed. “The pretty tale is that the Firstborn gave Ceria to our ancestor. The political reality is that our eidolons and emanations defend the Citadel from those who would work the Logos against it. I think he knows we can’t afford to weaken our relationship with the Citadel right now. And I expect Vassay’s been pressuring them to increase plepanin production. We won’t really know until someone goes and finds out.” She looked more cheerful. “Besides, the library there is even older than ours. It might have insights into this particular Blight. You and Kiar will go.”

  Tiana said, “What? Why me?”

  Rather than answering, Jerya stared at her for a while. Then she shook her head and said, “Because the King asked you to go.”

  Wild anger bubbled through Tiana. “You can’t seriously be suggesting I go off to a fortress at the top of a mountain to celebrate Antecession for some goatherds and monks.”

  For a moment, Tiana thought she saw entreaty in her sister’s eyes, but—no, she must have been mistaken. Jerya’s mouth tightened and she said, “You will go and take our part in Antecession. Kiar will go to research the Blight. And you will take Lisette’s political advice, if she provides it.”

  Tiana demanded, “And how will this be ‘convenient?’ How will this be useful? I’m more useful fighting these monsters! Send Gisen! Send Shanasee! We don’t have time for a holiday, no matter what some old monks think. Didn’t you listen to Kiar?”

  Jerya’s words were clipped. “It will take you away from the Court and all the whispers of your temper. It will slow your undermining of our family’s position with your rash actions. It will strengthen the court’s sense of my authority. Do I need to go on?”

  Tiana thought she might be dying inside. She’d thought she was used to failing her sister, thought she was prepared for her sister’s annoyance. She was wrong.

  “No. No, please don’t.” She swallowed tears and felt bitterness rise to replace them. “I’m sure you’ll make a fine Queen, big sister.” She blinked away wetness and realized the others in the room were looking anywhere but her. “I’m going to go and pack for this journey, then. Right now. We can leave right away. Come on, Lisette.” Not looking to see Lisette’s expression, she fled the Hall.

  Chapter 27

  Alone

  Later, Kiar paused outside her own door, looking at Tiana’s door further down the hall. She thought she should stop by and see if the princess really insisted on departing at dawn. She thought she should stop by and see if she could understand what rift existed between Tiana and Jerya. She thought she should argue with one of them, both of them. How could any of this be right? There was a mistake somewhere, some confusion, they hadn’t understood what she saw. They were unfocused. She was always in favor of research, but how could research help this?

  She pushed her door open and closed it behind her, standing just inside, staring unseeing at the carpet. Her father had been in the Hall, leaning against the wall behind Jerya and the King, and he’d spent more time examining Lisette than herself. She knew it was just how he was, but with the shadow of the plague still on her brow, she’d hoped for something more. Foolish hope. She might as well still be in the other world.

  “Are you unwell? You can come in, you know.” Even Twist didn’t sound very concerned.

  She squeezed her eyes shut, then jerked her head up in surprise. “This is my room!” He was lounging on her couch, peeling an orange pilfered from a bowl of fruit someone had placed on the table. She wondered who. She didn’t have a personal maid.

  “I would never have imagined from the way you were waiting at the door. Would you like some fruit?” He broke his orange and proffered half to her. His words might have been mocking but his face was serious. She couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes.

  “This is my room! Why are you in my room?” She took a deep breath, calmed herself. “What do you want?”

  “I’m very pleased to see you’re feeling well enough to be testy.” He put both halves of the orange down on the table and stood up. “I thought I’d save you the trouble of coming up with an excuse not to talk to me. Was I fast enough?”

  She stared at him in confusion.

  He answered himself, “I suppose I must have been. Tell me about what you saw yesterday.”

  She scowled and walked past him to the cupboard where she stored her winter clothes. “Where were you earlier? I already said it once.”

  “Must you be so exasperating?” She flinched away from the amusement in his voice. “I was busy. Your cousin has kept me very busy today.”

  She hesitated and then told him about the other world, about the blindness and the creatures and the fortress and the lines. She sorted through her winter clothes as she spoke, shaking each item out, inspecting it, and refolding it. She was very aware of where Twist stood behind the couch.

  When she was done, Twist said, “Do you think anybody other than the Blood would have any hope of survival there?”

  “I don’t know. I think they would be helpless, though.” She rubbed the mouse-eaten edge of a skirt between her fingers. “This is why I don’t understand why Jerya is sending both of us. If there are more holes—”

  “There are,” Twist said. “What is your opinion of the fiend?”

  She looked up at him and then looked down again. “You mean Tiana’s sword.”

  “I do.”

  She took a deep breath. “I saw the village after she fell over. I heard what some of the villagers said. It makes her powerful. As powerful as any of the stories I’ve heard about Benjen or even ancient Tyanth.”

  Mildly, Twist said, “Not positive comparisons.”

  Kiar considered, “I suppose the bad ones seem more powerful because they don’t scruple. That’s interesting.”

  Twist asked, “Do you think it’s dangerous to her?”

  Kiar scowled. “Everything I know about fiends I learned from you. What do you think?” She looked up, meeting his eyes. He wasn’t smiling, but he wasn’t angry, either.

  He waited. She realized, belatedly, that she’d been staring too long. She ripped her gaze away, her cheeks warm, and folded a sweater. From the corner of her eye, she could see Twist regarding her with a pleasant, bemused curiosity.

  She bit the inside of her cheek. “It encourages her. She’s wilder, more aggressive, more careless. It wants her to do something, though I haven’t worked out what. She doesn’t like to talk about it. But I don’t know how to interfere with it; it’s got hooks that reach her even when the sword is out of her grasp.”

  “A conundrum,” said Twist cheerfully. “I’m sure the Citadel will sort it out. Antecession is a purification ritual, after al
l. And of course, there are a great many Logos initiates there.” He tossed an apple at her. “Enjoy your packing.” He vanished.

  Kiar caught the apple in one hand, staring at the spot where he’d been sitting. Then, savagely, she bit into it.

  Chapter 28

  Deep and Away

  Lor Seleni was usually described as nestling at the base of Sel Sevanth, the sacred mountain, but even in ancient times, access to trade and moving water had been more important than access to the Firstborn. This meant the city was actually sprawled across the bend of the Mise River where it curved toward the mountain, thirty miles away. A sufficiently motivated traveler could make it to the Citadel of the Sky in two days, with most of that spent on the ascent.

  Tiana was anything but motivated, but she was still startled and irritated to discover they were less than five miles away from the city when Lisette called a halt for lunch in a pleasant grove nestled in the valley of two shallow hills. Sixteen mounted nobles and guards, three servants on ponies, and five mules didn’t move nearly as fast as five skilled riders. She’d wanted five skilled riders, but Lisette and Jerya had objected strenuously.

  She curled her legs under her on the picnic blanket and nibbled on an apple. The guards were staying a discreet distance away from the ladies, and the groom was inspecting the horses, but Misa the maid and Dennys the cook were both crouched nearby. Tiana frowned at them until Dennys drew Misa away, offering to show her some interesting weeds.

  Lisette saw Tiana’s expression and asked, exasperated, “What is it?”

  Tiana pulled the skin off her apple with her thumbnail. “I can’t do this. We’re going the wrong way. The little girls should be doing this. There are people out there who need me. Us.” She turned her most appealing look on Kiar.