I blinked. “Oh,” I said, feeling my cheeks warm. “Your dress. It’s… different. I thought the latest fashion was the lamé fabric, but yours is a new cut, if I’m right.”
“The silk’s cut on a bias,” Svida said. She looked away and around the room, her face neutral. “I don’t care for the lamé. I like soft fabric.”
It was true that my dress was rough to the touch, especially compared to silk.
“Radir Dihauti isn’t with you tonight?” I asked, my mind still worrying the vigjadis’s announcement like a tongue over a sore tooth. And it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen Dihauti—with her or anyone—in several days.
Svida’s dark eyes cut to me. She regarded me intensely for a moment, then looked away again, with a glance at Jarldis Humli, who was standing with her arms crossed awkwardly over her chest.
“Oh!” I exclaimed. “I haven’t introduced you. I’m so sorry. Jöfurdis Svida, this is Jarldis Humli…”
Svida cast an impatient look at the jarldis, extended a hand, and retracted it as soon as Jarldis Humli took it.
“Such a pleasure,” Jarldis Humli said, but Svida wasn’t listening. She moved to stand closer to me, leaning in to my ear.
“Be careful who you talk to about Hanif,” she said, and she walked away.
Jarldis Humli huffed. “A bit of a snob, isn’t she?” she said, but I was watching the jöfurdis go. What had she meant? What had happened to Hanif Dihauti? They hadn’t arrested him, had they?
I thought back to the conversations I’d had with him. His remorse over the destruction of the temple of Frigga. My skin went cold.
“Oh, Jarldis Sölbói, I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Jarldis Humli said, resting a hand on the side of my forearm. “How are you liking Froddis Illugi’s school? My daughter’s boy is four this spring, and we’re having a time of it, finding the right school.”
I stared at her, paralyzed. What had she said? “Frodi” and “Froddis” were titles for teachers. “Froddis Illugi?” I murmured.
“Yes,” the jarldis said, and frowned. “I do hope I said her name correctly. I was certain that was it. Am I wrong?”
Froddis Illugi’s school. …Where Reister had sent Bersi!
“Of course,” I said, and then caught myself. “I mean, no, no, you’re not wrong.” I gave a weak laugh. “It’s just that—well, you know I’m still new to Helésey, Jarldis Humli. I’m afraid I can never find my way to the school. Perhaps you can explain it better than the robots?”
Reister and Jarl Humli chose that moment to return. Reister handed me my drink. The glass felt icy in my hand. I took a sip. At least the alcohol warmed me.
For a second I feared that Jarldis Humli would answer my question in front of Reister, but her husband launched into a recitation of his health complaints, and I was saved from that. I bit my lip, wondering if another opportunity would arise for me to speak with the jarldis alone. It didn’t matter, I decided. Best not to risk it anyway—I could simply ask a robot for directions. What I needed to do now was find Liut.
Jarl Humli stiffened and grabbed his wife’s arm. Reister followed his gaze and then did the same to me. I looked around. Eiflar-Konunger and his wife approached, both dressed in brass lamé.
“Majesties,” Reister said with a bow. I bowed my head as well, and I sensed the Humlis followed suit.
“Jarl and Jarldis Sölbói,” said Leika-Konungdis, “and Jarl and Jarldis Humli. What a pleasure. I must thank you for attending my little ball.”
“The pleasure and honor is ours,” Jarl Humli said.
“Konungdis,” Reister said, rising from his bow. “Jarl Humli was just telling us how gracefully you dance this latest style. Is it called the ‘trot’?”
“Quite right, Jarl Sölbói,” the konungdis said. She gave Humli an appreciative nod, but Humli’s eyes were wide and startled.
“It is my dearest wish for you to teach it to me,” Reister said to Leika-Konungdis. I glanced at the konunger. He smiled at his wife.
She tilted her head to the side, arching one dark, sculpted eyebrow. “Is it? Very well, then, Jarl Sölbói. You shall have your wish.” She extended a slim, golden arm, and Reister took her hand. He bowed over it, then led her to the dance floor. I stared after him, unable to grasp what had just happened. Reister, dancing?
Eiflar Konunger looked around at us. “Well, it seems I find myself without a partner.”
“As does Jarldis Sölbói,” Jarl Humli pointed out. “You mustn’t both get lonely, Majesty. Perhaps a dance with the jarldis would prevent such an unfortunate outcome?”
I clenched my jaw and forced a smile. Meddling, silly fool. I could think of nothing I would prefer to avoid more than a dance with Eiflar-Konunger—I needed to find Liut. But when the konunger extended his elbow for me to take, I couldn’t refuse. Despite my dread—would he share more pearls of Galmr’s wisdom with me as we shuffled around the floor? Maybe gloat about the vigjadis’s conversion?—I kept the smile in place as we joined the other dancers.
I met the konunger’s eyes. They were blue-green. His face had handsome angles and planes, and he gazed at me with a small smile. His hair, though slicked back like the rest, was parted to the side, and the tonic he used didn’t mask how light it was completely. Or perhaps the light reflected off his golden suit coat onto his hair, and gave it the illusion of being blond.
“You’re the only one wearing a lamé suit, Majesty,” I said to him as we began to dance. I followed his lead easily—I had been dancing more than a dozen times since that first night at the dancehall, and I knew all the styles now.
“Do you like it, Jarldis?” he asked.
“It’s dazzling,” I said honestly.
His smile widened. “That’s the intent.”
We whirled to avoid a couple, who saw that they had nearly collided with the konunger and hastily exited the floor.
“How are you enjoying Helésey, Jarldis?” Eiflar asked me.
“Very much,” I answered automatically. “Everyone has been most welcoming. It seems like every night I’m invited to at least three soirées. It’s delightful.”
Eiflar nodded slowly. He swayed me to the left and then the right. “Soirées. I miss those. Perhaps I will have to start attending a few soirées again.”
“I’m sure anyone would be honored to host you, Majesty,” I said.
As we turned again, I spotted the distinctive curls escaping from slicked hair that I had been searching for all night. I stiffened.
“Did I step on your toe?” Eiflar asked.
How unbearable—I didn’t want to look away from Liut; I was sure to lose sight of him again. But I must meet the konunger’s eyes when I spoke. Agonized, I turned to Eiflar. “Certainly not,” I said. “I’m just—I’d just like a drink. When the dance is done, of course.”
Eiflar raised his eyebrows and gave a nod towards the musicians. They brought the number they played to a close, and Eiflar released me. I felt a blush burn in my cheeks, but still I yearned to turn away from him and run through the crowd after Liut. I didn’t dare look away from the konunger to see if I had lost Liut, however.
I bowed my head. “Thank you for the dance, Majesty. I am honored.”
“The pleasure was mine,” he answered, his voice ironic. I bit my lip but kept my head bowed, watching the tips of his shoes. After a moment, they stepped away.
I straightened and searched the faces all around me for Liut. I could not see him. I slipped through the throng, making my way to where he had been. Once there, I caught a glimpse of him again. I followed him, trying to do so quickly enough to catch him, without colliding with another guest.
A group of laughing women passed between us and I couldn’t find a good way around them. Cursing under my breath I waited for them to move enough to clear a path. I plunged into the crowd again, but I had lost sight of him. Making my way to the platforms on the side of the room, I climbed to the top of one to look around. I saw him—clear across the ballroom, leaving throu
gh one of the smaller doors along the wall.
I eased back down into the mass and dodged my way toward the opposite wall and the door. To my relief, I encountered no one I knew well enough to have to stop and speak with them. Simple nods and smiles sufficed. I had already been delayed long enough. I had to tell Liut about Froddis Illugi and her school. Maybe we could find it tonight. If we did, and Liut had sold the jewels—we could escape Helésey by tomorrow! I would never have to see these faces again. We would be free of this place, free to build a new life together.
At last I reached the door and pulled it open, slipping through. It led into a narrow corridor like many around the palace, with doors all down it. Each probably had a private room behind it—I had discovered that Liut and I were not the only ones who needed clandestine places to meet. The court families all owned many rooms like these all over the ziggurat, and used them for their private meetings. The palace seemed designed for secret lovers.
I hesitated.
What was Liut doing in one of these rooms?
My heart, already beating rapidly, accelerated, and my throat closed.
I hadn’t seen him all night. Was he spending it with another woman?
No. No, of course not. Liut was in love with me, as I was with him. These last weeks we had spent every moment we could together—we were only limited by the presence of Reister and the need for secrecy. Now that we were going to run away together, how could I suspect Liut of infidelity? It was absurd. He had some other reason for being in a side room. I would soon know what it was.
I treaded silently down the hall, choosing my steps carefully. At each door, I checked the family insignia—Liut might be in someone else’s room, of course, but it didn’t hurt to look. Then, I stopped and listened. The sounds coming from the second one I passed did nothing to alleviate my anxiety, but I refused to believe Liut was one of the people inside. I would come back if I didn’t find him further down.
Then, at the fourth door, which had an insignia I didn’t recognize, I heard his voice.
I reached for the doorknob, but my hand hovered over it, frozen. Best to listen for a moment, anyway, I told myself. I wouldn’t want to interrupt him if he was doing some sort of business.
That was it! Of course. He must be meeting a buyer for the rubies!
Relief flooded me and my breathing loosened. Of course. How silly of me to let such doubts frighten me. I almost turned away from the door and went back to the ballroom. The prospect of finding out how the deal was going stopped me.
Would he be angry if I spied?
I pondered this for a moment, but the urge to kneel and put my ear to the keyhole pulled at me. It wasn’t really wrong, when the outcome had such a profound impact on my life, was it?
After all, it was my jewels he was selling.
I knelt and pressed my ear to the door, hoping that no one would exit one of the other rooms and catch me that way. The next voice I heard froze me in place.
“You can’t tell me you missed what happened on the floor!”
It was Reister.
I pressed my palm against the cool wood of the door, trying to anchor myself. It couldn’t be Reister. Or else it hadn’t been Liut. They couldn’t be together in that room. What did they have to discuss?
“It was a disaster,” Reister continued.
“Don’t exaggerate,” Liut responded. “The konunger did dance with her, after all. That’s progress.” Could they be talking about me?
“Apparently he said he wants to start attending soirées,” another voice—a woman’s—contributed. It was a voice familiar to me. Not Mother Tora. “I’m sure he said it because he liked her.”
“What does it matter if he liked her?” Reister demanded. “She was so rude to him, he stopped the music to end the dance early! She’s entirely useless.”
“Look, I’m doing what I can—” Liut said.
The woman cut him off, “Oh yes, you’ve been doing quite a lot.”
“Finnarún, don’t,” Liut said.
“I’m just saying, perhaps you’ve done enough. Too much, some might even say,” she continued. My head spun. Finnarún Vaenn, talking with Reister and Liut? About me?
“Too much?” Reister echoed.
“Well, yes,” Finnarún said, and I could picture her shrug. “He was supposed to seduce her, teach her some tricks… loosen her up. Instead, he made her fall in love with him.”
I covered my mouth to smother a cry. Her words hit me like a smack. With my other hand I dug my fingernails into the carpet.
“Well at least she trusted me enough to tell me her little plan and give me the jewels. At least now she won’t be able to use those to finance some desperate flight from the city,” Liut said. “How would that have looked, Jarl Sölbói? Do you think the court would have let you forget you lost control of your wife and she kidnapped your son and fled Helésey?”
“What I don’t understand,” said Finnarún, “is why it’s taken you so long to invite me into one of your little secret meetings with her. She’s so infatuated with you, surely she would have agreed. Anything to please her beloved Liut.”
“She’s very clingy,” Liut said. “And old-fashioned. You rushed things, Finn. She might have yielded to you alone if you’d waited. You lost. Remember, you owe me that dagger, the one with the diamond in the pommel.”
“None of this matters,” Reister interrupted. “Neither of you have done what I asked you to do. Is my wife the lover of the konunger? No. She’s just insulted the konunger, in fact. I thought you were sure to succeed. All the promises you made me… and see the result! I’m back where I started.”
“No, no, I’ve taught her a great deal,” Liut said. “Before my instruction your wife was as green as a virgin, Reister. Now she’s ready to please the konunger in any way he wishes.”
“But he doesn’t wish, you fool. My wife is nothing but a drunk, and she’s destroyed any chance I had of putting her to good use…”
I could hear no more. I pushed myself away from the door, but my legs had no strength in them. I sat on the floor in the middle of the corridor, digging my fingers into the carpet, feeling a scream caught in my chest.
Lies. All lies. Liut—oh, what a fool I’d been. Why hadn’t I realized, when Finnarún passed me to him like a piece of cake? Had they made some wager, that won Liut a dagger? And Reister. All this was his plan? He wanted to use me somehow, by putting me in the konunger’s bed—and he wanted me trained first?
I put a fist to my mouth and bit it, hard, trying to stop the scream from escaping.
Liut. I thought he loved me. I loved him. How could I have fallen in love with someone so false? Someone with so much contempt for me? The pain of the realization blazed through me. My body shuddered with it.
I had to get out of here. I had to find a place—some safe, secluded place—to grieve. To think. To try to push through this agony. Struggling to my feet, I moved as if wounded, leaning on the wall with every step, clutching my belly with my other hand. I headed away from the ballroom, further down the corridor.
I had to find some hole to hide in—somewhere I could howl and no one would hear. I stumbled into a run. Doors flashed by me as I picked up speed. I had always been a fast runner. Now, I lost my shoes as I sprinted, a moan building in my chest. I turned each corner I came to until I was hopelessly lost. Collapsing, finally, I huddled in a corner and sobbed.
Hours passed and luck favored me: no one came by. I wept until I was empty, fell asleep for a short time, and when I woke, I remembered and wept again. The cycle repeated itself several times. I had only to think of any phrase I’d overhead for my heart to rupture once more. It felt like I would never again be whole.
The revelation of my husband and lover’s treachery speared my heart like the dagger Liut had won, but worse still was the loss of the dream of freedom I’d treasured for such a short time. I was no closer to finding Bersi, to fleeing the city, and now, my jewels were gone. It was this insight that brought m
e out of my heartbreak and into my rage.
What a stupid fool I’d been. I’d let them all play me like a pawn in their games. I had no one to blame but myself—using alcohol to numb my grief, to forget Bersi and freedom for so long.
No more.
They would pay for what they did to me. And I would find Bersi. And somehow I would raise the money I needed, and we would escape. And nothing those perfidious worms did could stop me.
I sat in my corner, knees bend up under my chin, and considered. How could I hurt Liut? How could I destroy Reister? For a time, despair flooded me, for I could think of no way. And then an idea came to me.
I could hurt Reister, at least. Perhaps another opportunity would present itself for my vengeance against Liut and Finnarún. But until then, I would content myself with this.
The trouble was, how to go about it and survive? If caught, I faced imprisonment at the least. I couldn’t let that happen. Only I could save Bersi, and take him to freedom. Being recognized and caught would prevent me from doing that. Then I thought of Raud Gríma.
A smile touched my lips. Perfect. Raud Gríma would avenge me. How fitting.
~~~
Another pleasurable irony came in the form of the weapon I chose. I loaded as many bottles of Reister’s clear brandy as I could fit into a leather sack once I returned to our apartments. It was early morning—no sunlight yet shone through the windows in the outer corridors. From what I could tell, no one was home—not even Sveinn. Were they all out in the palace, searching for me? I paused. That was no good. It would be too easy to connect my disappearance to what I planned to do.
With a groan of frustration I replaced the bottles—all but one—and went back to my room. I hid the sack in the same chest as the Raud Gríma disguise and poured half the brandy down the sink in the bathroom. I checked myself in the mirror. Sure enough, I looked a wreck—all that crying and sleeping in the corner of a corridor had done it. Well, that was perfect. Let them think I’d got so drunk I’d collapsed in bed fully clothed. After all, Reister must have told Sveinn to keep the bottles stocked. He must have needed me numb and confused—the better to manipulate. Let him think his tactics worked only too well.
The City Darkens (Raud Grima Book 1) Page 15