by Cheree Alsop
Soldiers marched in front of us and headed off questions. We went up several flights of stairs and turned down vast corridors until I lost all sense of direction. I closed my eyes and breathed in Axon’s scent, centering myself on the fact that he was alive.
He laid me gently on a marble table. I cringed against the hard surface and grabbed for his hand. “It’s okay,” he said softly. “I won’t leave you.”
A chair was swiftly brought so that he could sit. He leaned his head against my hand. I felt the soft fabric of the bandage from my shirt around his forehead. I opened my eyes and turned my head. “You should be healed first. You need it.”
He looked up at me, his eyes weary but smiling. “Still trying to take care of me?”
I smiled and rested my head back against the table. The ceiling of the room bowed in a high arch made of windows through which sunshine streamed in brilliant beams. Mirrors formed a circle halfway down the ceiling and reflected the light in a solid beam to the healing table on which I lay, warming the marble and touching my skin with reassuring heat.
Soon unfamiliar hands touched my body. I tightened my grip involuntarily and Axon responded by rubbing the back of my hand with his fingertips. “Just relax,” he whispered. “They’ll take the pain away.”
“My Prince?” a strange voice said from behind me. Axon looked up. “It would be good if she could sleep.”
He nodded and a cup of liquid was pressed against my lips. “Drink,” the voice commanded. I missed Staden’s soft tones. A tear escaped my eyes at the thought of the gentle doctor. I drank deeply of the sleep tonic and felt the tension ease from my muscles. I lost my grip on Axon’s hand, but he held on and didn’t let go.
Chapter 18
Light danced across my eyes and I opened them to see lace curtains waving gently in front of a window. I felt strangely light-headed, but my wounds were healed and my muscles barely ached. I pushed up from the overly soft bed and stared down at my white nightgown. I had never worn a nightgown in my life, let alone one so soft and fine. It added to the frightening effect of waking in a strange room with no one to explain what had happened.
I lifted a hand to my head, then stared. The manacle on my left wrist had been removed. The skin where it had been was lighter than the skin down my arm with numerous healed scars from pulling the log. I rubbed the skin and it felt unfamiliar as though the manacle had been a true part of my arm and the skin underneath was the fake. My arm felt light, like it would float away instead of being weighed down by the metal band. A slight, unreasonable pang of loss brushed my heart and I wondered if it was from losing the last remnant of my life at the Caves, or fear at the freedom the missing manacle represented. I pushed away both thoughts, knowing there were more important things to do.
I rubbed the skin distractedly and looked around for clothes. I saw tan pants and a maroon shirt with a set of small clothes folded neatly on a chair in the corner next to a rosewood polished stand. I clenched my teeth in pain at the thought of Jatha putting similar clothes into my pack, and forced my mind to focus on the present. The stand held a mirror and a beautiful white bowl with green and gold flowers painted along the sides in what looked like real gold.
I pulled on the shirt and pants, then folded the beautiful nightgown and set it on the chair where the clothes had been. Shoes rested next to the chair, but I ignored them. I felt a bit more like myself in familiar clothes, though they were far finer than anything I would have chosen. I scrubbed my face and arms and any other body parts that showed until they were clear of the gritty feeling of salt from the ocean. A soft gray cloak hung on the back of my chair, and my stomach growled while I fastened it around my neck. I wondered how long it had been since I had eaten. My thoughts drifted to Axon, but I pushed them aside. There was no reason why I should expect him to be at my side when I awoke. He probably had princely duties to fulfill.
I suddenly remembered the attack and the real reason we had voyaged to Lumini. I rushed out of the room and tripped on a rose and white carpet outside the door. When I righted myself, I found a Luminos man in green and gold finery staring at me. “Axon- the Prince,” I managed to catch myself. “Do you know where I can find him?”
The man’s brow creased but he didn’t meet my eyes. “He left to war. I don’t think he’ll be back soon.” My heart caught in my throat, but he continued, “The Queen requests the pleasure of your company.” The way he phrased it signified that the request was really an order. I nodded and he led the way down the hall.
I had to keep reminding myself that I had nothing to prove and nothing to hide. The servant glanced once at my bare feet. I bit my lip to hold back an angry retort and followed him with my head high and eyes straight ahead. But my defiant thoughts fled when the servant pushed open a set of double doors to reveal the most elegant sitting room I had ever seen.
The rose carpet continued here, but pink and white flowers had been woven in as well as the red and gold ones, and the entire carpet was outlined in gold thread. White pillars stood around the room covered with living dark green vines that spiraled toward the glass ceiling and bore delicate yellow flowers that touched the air with a scent like honey.
Sunlight came from the glass walls, catching on the transparent leaves of the vines and casting light green shadows on the ground. Chairs made of a finely grained white wood were spaced tastefully around little tables with intricate legs and glass tops. I lifted my eyes from my surroundings to meet the gaze of a woman who was undoubtedly Axon’s mother.
Robes of the purest white and gold fell around her as though in worship. Her long white-gold hair was woven through with a crown of red roses bejeweled in the centers with clear gems that caught the sunlight and seemed to burn inside with a rainbow of colors. Her skin, though still the gray of the Luminos, looked soft and polished like a rock that had been washed by a stream for a thousand years until it practically glowed.
She was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen until I met her gaze. Where Axon’s eyes were icy blue and glowed with life and purpose, hers were just ice. There was no warmth to them, no welcome or understanding; she simply stared at me until it felt like her gaze pierced my soul. Then her beautiful red lips twisted just enough that I felt her disgust in every cell of my body.
“So you’re the one my son cares about.” She stated it with no feeling that I could decipher, no remorse or anger, just that twist of her perfect lips. The phrase ‘cares about’ should have warmed me, but the world was frozen under the daggers of her eyes and my brain refused to come up with a sufficient reply.
“He saved my life and I saved his,” I stated after taking a moment to collect myself. I wouldn’t give her any more than that. I wouldn’t let her see into my heart.
Her eyes widened slightly at my audacity to answer, but she covered it up with a sigh. “Ah, well. Too bad he’s not here. This nasty war, you know,” she said as if it was a tiny fly buzzing about her ear.
“People’s lives are in danger,” I shot back before I could stop myself.
Her eyes narrowed. “And you are in no position to do anything about it. Axon made it very clear that you are to be a guest here, but no Duskie,” her mouth twisted further on the word, “has ever been a guest at Lumini Palace.”
“Yeah, I get that a lot,” I said with a touch of sarcasm, cutting her off.
She glared and continued, “I doubt your welcome will be long lived. After this war is over, I’m sure he'll grow bored with you soon enough.”
My cheeks burned, but I refused to reply.
Her lips twisted in a smile as though she knew how much her words hurt. “You are dismissed,” she said with a wave of her finely manicured hand.
I left the room at a run, weaving between shocked Lumini servants tending to their duties about the palace and a few well-dressed, simpering ladies who moved like a flock of confused birds. I didn’t stop until I found a small side door and burst out into a beautiful garden. Green moss with small, light pink flowers cov
ered the ground. Shoots of light green were topped with delicate yellow, orange, and dark pink flowers that looked too fragile to touch. They surrounded bushes covered with green and gold roses as big as my head. I walked along the soft mossy path and touched a rose here and there, careful to avoid the thorns that were as long as my finger.
My thoughts raced with the words the Queen had said and tangled with the shock that Axon was already in the midst of battle and there truly was nothing I could do to help. The thought of him in trouble made my heart ache. It felt like we had been watching each other's backs far longer than the journey from the Caves. There had to be something I could do to help, I just didn’t know what.
My feet took me out a side gate past a pair of guards who glared but didn’t lower their swords to stop me. I wondered briefly if I would be able to get back in, but after meeting Axon’s mother, I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
I glanced back at the palace and my heart slowed. I stopped and turned around to face it fully. The sun stood high in the sky, lighting walls made of white marble so that it looked as if the Lumini palace was made of light itself. Where the Lysus castle had been built for security with the spiky red rocks and intimidating gates, the Lumini palace stood before me bathed in elegance and beauty, looking as though the sunbeams had fashioned a home for themselves out of the silver lining of clouds.
I turned and surveyed the city that sprawled below the green hill on which the palace sat. Grass met the edge of the path I walked and flat, orange, three-petaled flowers had pushed up through the cobblestones and speckled the path. The houses below were crafted of smooth river stones that reflected light on their water-worn surfaces, but what made the view truly spectacular was the type of mortar used to hold the rocks together. The mortar sparkled like a million gems packed between the soft gray stones. Even in places of shadow, the mortar shone as though it glowed with light it had absorbed from earlier in the day. The effect made a city that winked, shone, and basked in the light of the sun as though in worship of the lords of daylight that had created the city.
I walked to the edge of the cobblestone walkway and reached up slowly to touch a branch of an overhanging tree. A million leaves rustled in the lazy breeze. Several tickled across my palm. I stared at the living images of the leaf I had held so preciously back at the Caves. Where mine had been dry and brittle, these practically glowed with life, dark green and vibrant with the pulse of existence just below my fingers. Their veins were rich and full of moisture, and the web work across the back looked like tiny maps that led to distant and mysterious lands.
I smelled the leaf and smiled at the echo of the scent that mine once held, sunshine and green things, sharp and sweet with the promise of water and a reminder of growth and strength. The leaf was warm where it had soaked in the sun, and the branches high above waved gently as though swaying to a melody I couldn’t hear. I couldn’t believe I looked at a tree where before my only hope had been a tiny, withered leaf. I longed to climb up and sit in the branches listening to the secrets of the wind and forgetting my past, my pain, and to just be.
My stomach growled and I fought back a rueful grin. I was distracted by trees when there was so much to accomplish. But after the healing, I felt like my stomach would practically eat itself if I didn’t find something to fill it. I made my way to the main road and fell in step with people rushing to and from the market square. It seemed that even though there was a war going on, business continued as usual.
I frowned and took another look around. Duskies hurried from shop to shop, bartering and trading goods and joking around, but there was a tightness about their eyes and mouths and it was obvious the presence of the war was on everyone’s minds. What struck me most was that there were no Luminos on the streets. With the empire at war, only the Duskies had been left to their regular trades.
It felt wrong to see one complete race of people left out when the wellbeing of the entire country was at risk. The thought made me pause. With Axon's help, for the first time I saw the Duskies as their own race instead of inferior half-bloods only useful as slaves and for hard labor. Axon's attitude had finally sunk in. The thought made me smile, but also made me miss Axon so much I wanted to find him as soon as possible. My stomach growled again. I let out a small sigh and ducked under the awning of a shop that smelled of brown sugar, pressed fruit, and cream.
“Welcome,” said a woman with a wavering voice, a delicately wrinkled face, and kind dark eyes.
I smiled at her. “Thank you.”
She gestured with a veined hand to the delicacies on the table. “Let me know what you would like.”
I looked over the pastries and my stomach growled again, then I remembered that I didn't have any money. The coin pouch Axon had given me in Lysus had been lost when the ship was attacked. I was so used to not having any money that I hadn't noticed its absence until I needed it.
I stifled a sigh and figured that it wouldn't hurt anything if I just looked. The woman smiled, but didn’t press me further. A sound in the corner caught my eye and I turned to see a crib. My heart thumped strangely in my chest and I took a step closer, though my feet dragged reluctantly.
“My granddaughter,” the woman said behind me with a hint of pride. “Her parents tend the vegetable booth across the way. There’s more room for the crib here and I enjoy the time with her.”
My gaze was locked on the beautiful dark blue eyes that stared at me from between the crib bars. One tiny gray and white swirled hand held a bar with amazingly small fingers. The baby’s petite mouth lifted in a toothless smile and she let out a gurgle of delight. I took another step closer, mesmerized by her smile and the way my arms ached to hold her.
I had never held a baby before, or even wanted to. I had accepted before my life changed so abruptly that I would never marry and would never bear children, and the thought was made easier at the Caves when I saw the way Duskie children were torn from their mothers after they were born and trained in a life of defense for the Caves. I had vowed long ago to never have a child if it meant that it would lead the same life as mine.
But now, looking at the Duskie baby in soft white and yellow clothes, her shock of dark hair poking out from beneath a white woven cap, I couldn’t help but wonder. I touched the fingers that held the bar and the baby’s smile widened.
“Do you want to hold her?” the old woman asked. She met my eyes with a knowing, gentle smile, and before I could protest, she scooped the baby out of the crib and placed her softly in my arms.
I kept my arms locked how the woman had placed them, afraid of moving and breaking the delicate infant. She babbled at me and reached up toward my face. Before I could think to move, she had one of my uneven locks entwined in her chubby fingers. The bright white stood out against her soft gray hands. She tried to put it in her mouth and when I jerked my head back in surprise, she laughed and let the hair go.
“She likes you,” the old woman said with an air of satisfaction. “Isletta has good taste when it comes to people.”
I dared to let my eyes leave the baby’s face and met the woman’s gaze. “The baby has good taste?” I had never heard such a thing and it made me smile.
The old woman nodded knowingly. “She cries if anyone comes into my shop with cruel intentions. But she took to you from the moment you walked in.”
“She’s so little,” I said, stating the obvious because I couldn’t think of anything else to say.
The woman merely nodded, her eyes crinkling at the corners.
“I-I’d better give her back.”
The Duskie woman took her with a smile. The baby curled against her chest, one hand firmly entwined in the cloth of her shirt. I stared at her for a moment longer and, feeling emboldened by her presence, decided to trust the woman who had been so kind to me.
“Why don’t the Duskies fight?” I asked, and my heart pounded as though such a question was forbidden.
The woman’s eyebrows rose. “We’ve never been asked. Where are you from
, darling?”
I dropped my eyes. “Firen Caves.”
She nodded as though that explained everything and motioned for me to take a seat by the baby’s crib.
I shook my head. “I’d better go.”
The old woman nodded again. “As you wish.” She picked up a pastry from the table and handed it to me. “For you. It’s a gift. From Isletta.”
“I can't pay,” I protested.
“It wouldn’t be much of a gift then, would it?” she asked, the wrinkles from her smiling eyes spanning out across her face. The baby peeked at me, her dark blue eyes so beautiful it took an effort to look away.
“I-uh, thank you.” I accepted the pastry and made my way to the door. Just before I exited, the woman’s voice stopped me.
“The Duskies would fight, you know.”
I turned back slowly. The woman nodded, her eyes bright. “They would fight. They want to fight. No one wants to leave the fate of their home in someone else’s hands.”
“What’s stopping them?” I dared to ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Someone to lead them,” she replied.
The words sent a tremor of truth through my body, as if I had known all along that was what I had come to hear. I nodded and ducked my head against the understanding in those worn dark eyes and left.
Chapter 19
I hurried along the streets with racing thoughts. The sun was almost through its descent. They would have to change the shift to Nathos soon, and I knew my chance of catching Axon before he reached the palace would be slim. I asked around in several places and met incredulous stares from Duskies when I asked for direction to the heart of the battle. One friendly Duskie, a young man who looked like he also yearned to be heading into war but was kept home by the stern glances of his mother and the worried gaze of the young woman checking the quality of grain they were planning to purchase, gave me directions and even walked the first block with me.