by Krista Rose
Still, the monster from the night before was fresh in my mind, and I worried. Reyce took my hand and squeezed, reassuring, then let go as we reached the front of the line, the impatient vendor beckoning for us to hurry.
Lanya was tending to her own lunch, so I only bought five of the meat pastries, deciding to eat lunch with the others before at last seeking out our grandfather. Reyce and I carried what we’d bought to the alley behind the incense shop, and I blinked in surprise to see the heavy pile of lumber beside our steps, and the progress they had already made rebuilding the stable. It was more than half-way done, the dry-rotted beams replaced with fresh, smooth boards, and I nodded to it in admiration as my brothers emerged from inside.
“Good work.” I handed them each a meat pastry. “Where did you get the lumber?”
“I asked Eloise,” Brannyn said around bites. “She knows someone, and he knew someone who works at the lumber yards. He dropped it off, took the coin, and left.”
“Ah.” I took a bite, and glanced up toward the apartment. “Have you seen Kylee yet this morning?”
“She went for a ride about an hour ago.” Alyxen shrugged. “I’ll eat hers if she doesn’t want it.”
I raised a brow, and pulled my sister’s lunch away from his grasping fingers. “I’ll leave it in the apartment for her. For her,” I emphasized, spotting the look in Alyxen’s eyes. “She needs to eat. And if I find out either of you ate it while she was out, you’ll be mucking the stalls for her every morning for the next month.”
Alyxen made a face, but his eyes were amused as I went to put my sister’s lunch inside. I contemplated reaching out to her to tell her the food was waiting, but decided not to. I understood the desire to be alone, and Kylee needed her solitude even more than the rest of us. After her scare the night before, she would require time to clear her head.
I returned to the others, and looked at Reyce. “I’m off to introduce myself to our grandfather, finally. Do you want to come with me?”
He shrugged. “Sure.”
With a wave, we left Brannyn and Alyxen to continue their work on the stables, and headed down the alley toward Tarrow Street.
Farther from the market, the shops became more infrequent, fading into simple one- and two-story houses with roofs made of rusty-red tiles. Small, budding gardens grew between them, the green surprising and welcome, like hidden jewels amid the white and grey stone.
Tarrow Street was quiet and empty, only a few people about, leisurely attending to errands. I searched for the landmarks the barmaid had told me of, and turned toward the house just beyond the public fountain of rearing marble horses, which sprayed water in arcs that filled the air with sparkling rainbows. A sign swung gently on metal chains above the door, a faded blue bottle painted on it- the symbol of a healer’s residence.
I wiped my sweating hands on my breeches, and knocked.
There was the sound of movement from inside, and the door was roughly yanked open by a scowling older man. I saw at last where my brothers had gained their height, and where I had gotten my coloring; the man, who could only be our grandfather, towered over me, broad-shouldered and intimidating, his skin nearly as pale as my own. Though his vibrant red hair had faded to rusty silver, his sapphire eyes were clear, and hard as stones as he glared at me.
“Do you have payment?” he demanded, his voice flat and unfriendly.
I swallowed my surprise as best I could. “G- Garyl Moon?”
“Yes? Who’s asking?”
“My name is Kryssa, and this is Reyce.” I attempted a smile, though it felt weak and false on my face. I wished I’d left Reyce at the apartment with the others. “We- we’re Adelie’s children.”
For a moment, he looked utterly stunned, staring at us as if the air had been driven from his lungs. I thought, in that instant, that I saw a flicker of pain I could not begin to comprehend, a vast loneliness and hurt that time had done nothing to heal.
Then his face hardened. “Adelie made her choice. I have no money to give to her brats.”
I recoiled, the sheer fury in his gaze causing me to retreat a step before my own stubbornness had me returning his glare. “We neither want nor need your money. We only sought you out because you’re family- whether you like it, or not.”
His eyes could have burned holes through stone. “Well, it’s too late. Tell your mother if she wanted to keep the peace between us, she should have come to her own mother’s funeral. Or even written us a letter in the last decade.”
“But-” I blinked, astonishment causing me to speak before I could think, “-you don’t know?”
“Know? Know what? That your bastard father was never going to be able to provide for her? That she would come crawling back here one day, begging for my help? Yes, I knew, and it’s too late.”
I took a deep breath, and tried to keep my voice gentle. “Our mother is dead. Almost thirteen years ago now.”
He stared at me as my words sank in. His face turned grey, and his breath caught as he sagged against the doorframe. “My Adelie. No.” His eyes were unfocused as he stared at me, his voice barely a whisper. “How?”
“She died in childbirth,” Reyce said flatly when I hesitated. “With me.”
Garyl’s pain transformed into rage so quickly that I moved on impulse to shield my brother from the blow. It didn’t come- he remained in the doorway, shaking, his hands clutched into fists at his sides.
“You dare,” he growled through clenched teeth. “You dare to show your faces to me, when you killed my Adelie? You dare to come begging from me, when you bear her blood on you?”
“We haven’t asked you for a damn thing,” I retorted, my own rage rising to match his. “I’ve already told you, we don’t want your money. And we don’t ‘bear her blood on us’, either. We were only children when she died.”
He ignored me, still glaring. “Your thrice-cursed father no doubt sent you, to steal from me-”
“He’s dead, too.” Bitterness leaked into my voice. “And if you think to insult us by cursing him, you can save your words. We hated him far more that you ever could.” He gaped at me, finally speechless, and my temper spurred me on. “We wanted nothing from you but to know where we came from, to reach out to family rather than drift alone. But now that we’ve met you, I think we were better off without.”
His eyes bulging from their sockets. “You little bitch-”
“Enough.” Reyce’s face was infuriated as he pushed in front of me. “You will not insult my sister. If we are unwelcome here, then we will leave.” His eyes- my mother’s eyes- flashed in defiance. “Forgive us for intruding upon your misery. Allow us to leave you to it.”
He turned and walked away. After a moment’s hesitation, I followed. Behind me, I heard the door slam closed, and the sound of glass shattering against a wall.
My heart ached. “Reyce,” I began, “I-”
“Don’t.” He levelled me with a look beyond his years. “His ignorance and pain aren’t your fault. He was prepared not to like us anyway, for Father. He’s miserable, and he wants us to suffer.” He sighed, the anger draining from him. “Come on. Let’s go home.
LANYA
Brannyn came to fetch me from the apothecary at the end of my first day, and for once I was too tired to argue that I was strong enough to take care of myself. My shoulders and arms ached from an entire morning spent cleaning grime from the windows; my knees were bruised from the afternoon of scrubbing floors. Ten years of neglect had left the tiny shop in a state unfit even for the mice that infested it.
I reminded myself to buy cheese in the morning to poison the rodents with.
“How was your day?” He grinned when I stared at him. “That bad?”
“I’m fighting ten years of neglect.” I made a face. “Hamar hasn’t cleaned that place since he bought it, and all of his assistants have been pretty much useless. I have a lot of work to do.”
“Did you learn anything?”
“Don’t ask what’s in the bo
ttles labelled Fertility Draughts.” I shuddered. “You don’t want to know.” I finally noticed the basket he was carrying, and raised a brow.
“Kryssa asked that we pick up dinner before I take you home.” He gestured flamboyantly to the market. “If it pleases you?”
I rolled my eyes at his mockery, and led the way down the line of vendors. The basket quickly filled with potatoes and kale and beans, and I gained us a thick slab of beef and another of venison after a few minutes of hard bargaining with a gap-toothed vendor. I bought three more tin cups from a merchant, and allowed myself to indulge in a few, small jars of spices.
Brannyn trailed behind me, lost in thought as we made our way further and further from the apartment, edging slowly towards the outskirts of town. It wasn’t until I heard the familiar crash of steel that I looked up and realized how far we’d come.
The sign hanging before the wooden gate declared that we had found the Fallor Guardhouse, a long, low grey building squatting among the neat, white-washed houses that surrounded it. A training yard had been set up in the dirt enclosure before it, painted lines forming a series of circles on the ground. Archery targets lined the front wall of the guardhouse. Men in plain shirts and breeches practiced with unadorned short swords, swinging at each other’s shields with flagging enthusiasm as they ran through drills.
We were not the only spectators; a gaggle of girls were also watching the men, their eyes dramatically large as they cooed and sighed. The center of their attentions seemed to be a young man with coppery hair, his green eyes fierce with concentration as he practiced.
Startled, I realized that the girls were my age. Am I supposed to act like that? All giddy and vapid, as if nothing matters but the man I’m staring at? I glanced again at the young man, admiring the way his muscles moved beneath his uniform. Well, he is fairly nice to look at.
An older, grizzled man, obviously of some rank by the armband he wore, whistled piercingly. “Enough! Ya’ll lads get to the baths. And Rose!”
I flinched, thinking he was calling to us.
The copper-haired man turned. “Yes, Captain?”
“You have duty tonight. Try not to fall asleep in the baths again.”
A few of the other men chuckled, and he grinned, somewhat roguishly. “Of course, Captain.”
The Captain frowned, but dismissed him. The men began to wander from the training yard in groups of twos and threes, many of them grinning at the group of girls.
And, I realized in bewilderment, at me.
I glanced at Brannyn, saw the same strange yearning I had seen on his face the night before. I nudged him, and he blinked at me before nodding at my unasked question. We started back to our apartment.
We had taken perhaps ten steps when the copper-haired man fell in beside me. I glanced up at him, judging him to be about twenty, and handsome, though I didn’t consider myself to be a good judge of such things. His green eyes were filled with surprising flecks of gold, though the intensity had faded from them, leaving them friendly and curious.
Brannyn scowled at him.
“I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you before,” the man said, the white of his teeth all but blinding as he smiled at me. “I think I would remember someone so lovely.”
“We just arrived yesterday,” I explained. Brannyn was bristling beside me, and I elbowed him. Be nice. “I’m Lanya, and the unfriendly one is my brother, Brannyn.”
“I’m Elias.” He gave me a slightly exaggerated bow. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, milady.”
Brannyn grumbled.
“I have to ask,” I began, wondering how best to phrase my question, “back there, did your captain call you Rose?”
“Yep. Elias Rose, son of Jaryd and Ester Rose.” His head tilted in curiosity. “Why?”
“Our surname is also Rose.” I gestured to my brother. “We’re Malachi and Adelie’s children.”
“Malachi…” He frowned, thinking, then snapped his fingers, his eyes lighting up. “Mychael’s little brother, the one that left twenty years ago! You’re his daughter? That makes us cousins! Well, third cousins, or is it fourth? Either way, if you’re a Rose, you’re family. Damn, wish I didn’t have duty tonight. It’s not every day I get to meet a cousin. Well, yeah, alright, it does seem like it’s every day, because the clan is so large and all- but not pretty ones.”
Brannyn coughed pointedly.
Elias grinned at him. “Yes, you’re very pretty, too.”
My brother sputtered, speechless, and I laughed. I was a little confused by Elias’ teasing- we were family, though it was distant and diluted- but I sensed it was just part of his charms, and that he meant no harm by it.
We had reached the bathhouses, and Elias stopped. “Perhaps next Starsday we could meet for dinner? My treat.”
I glanced at our heavy basket, which would only be enough to feed us for today. I doubted he could afford to feed all of us on a guard’s salary. “Why don’t you come to our place for dinner instead? Then you can meet the others.”
“Others? There’s more of you?” He grinned, one brow rising. “Are they all as lovely as you?”
I could all but feel Brannyn roll his eyes behind me. “You’ll have to see for yourself.”
He placed a hand over his heart and bowed, so similar to the movement in the Camp that his features for a moment changed, his eyes staring at me with burning madness. Then the ghost of the Darkling Prince was gone, and all that remained were the icy cramps in my stomach.
“Until Starsday, then, cousins,” he said gallantly, and strode off into the baths, forcing a male attendant to chase after him when he walked through the doors unescorted.
I smiled as Brannyn took my arm, barely noticing the dark curses he muttered in my ear as he towed me toward the apartment.
Fallor was certainly more interesting than I had expected.
BRANNYN
11 Driel 578A.F.
“I joined the Guard.”
Kryssa glanced up from the books she had spread across our tables, borrowed from Fallor’s library, and frowned. “What?”
“I joined the Guard.” I straddled the chair beside her, resting my arms across the back. “This morning.”
Her brows drew together. “How?”
I shrugged. “I walked in and told Chanach I wanted to join. He tested me on using a sword, said I was decent, and gave me a uniform. I report for duty this afternoon.”
“Who’s Chanach?”
“My Captain.”
She shook her head, still confused. “But why? After the Camp-”
“The Camp was a mistake.” I thought of Marla, and my stomach tightened. “We should never have stayed there. I should have-”
“Brannyn.” She touched my hand, her voice quiet and gentle. “Why did you join the Guard?”
“Because it’s the right thing to do.” I looked down at our hands. Hers looked so tiny beside mine. Why did I always forget how small she was? “I want to help people, Kryssa. I want to make a difference.”
“Then I’m glad. Though I am a little confused. Weren’t you talking about Mejares three days ago? The Allun Temple, I think it was?”
I jerked a shoulder. “We haven’t met any of our family yet, and that’s important to you. And we still haven’t really recovered from what happened to us at the Camp. I thought about it, and I figured we’d be to staying here for a while. I may as well do something useful.” I avoided mentioning that my dreams were filled with the ring of steel.
“If this is what you want, dear heart, then I support you. But please, be careful.”
I grinned. “I’m always careful.”
She raised a brow. “Oh, really?”
I thought of potatoes, and flushed. “Well, mostly.”
She shook her head, glancing back down at the books.
I peered at it, curious. “What is all this?”
“Books,” she replied with a sigh. “Sennett’s recommendations.”
“Who?”
“
Eloise’s father. He runs the library. She took me there yesterday. This one’s called The Fall of the Elder Gods.”
I nodded. A phrase caught my eye, and I leaned closer. “‘-to understand the myth of the Virago, one must understand the history of the Elder Goddess Shree. Once called the Mother, Shree was mutilated horribly by her corruption, and demanded infants be sacrificed so she could bathe in their blood-’” I broke off, sickened. “Sweet Gods, Kryssa, why are you reading that?”
“They were pretty bad.”
“They’re vile.” I shuddered, and looked away from the spidery print. “No wonder the Younger Gods killed them.”
“Defeated them,” she corrected. “Gods can’t die.”
“Defeated, killed, same thing. They’re still gone.” I saw the look on her face, and flinched. “Aren’t they?”
“Maybe.”
“You think the thing with the glowing eyes was- what, a defeated Elder God? Wandering around Fallor back streets in the middle of the night? Because I’m pretty sure it wasn’t, since it’s dead now. I killed it. With fire.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think it was an Elder God. But whatever it was, it was evil, right? And the Elder Gods were the original evil. Maybe there’s a connection.”
I looked at her doubtfully. “Maybe.”
The others arrived then, bursting into our great room in a whirlwind of noise and shouting. I waited until it grew quieter before telling them I was a guard. Alyxen congratulated me, Kylee rolled her eyes, and Lanya only muttered finally before starting on dinner. Reyce, however, seemed excited, and began pestering me, wanting to join, too. I gently explained that he was too young, that he had to be at least sixteen before he could enlist. He grumbled that it wasn’t fair, but I had to leave for drills, and so didn’t have to suffer through him pouting at me for the rest of the afternoon.
The drills were simple enough, though they left me sore, unused to the discipline of swinging a sword. When we had finished, Chanach called me over to him. “Brannyn Rose, this is Baedon Errit.” He gestured to the weasel-faced young man beside him. “He will be your duty partner. You’ll be on watch together tomorrow night.”