Silverblood

by Jamie Foley

  Kira’s palms began to sweat. “She and her bodyguard are hardly protected. They’re just sleeping on the floor of the cave. Not to mention they just woke from comas; they need medical attention.”

  “Do you trust me?”

  Kira took a deep breath and released it. “I do,” she said, but she wasn’t certain she believed her own words.

  “They’re better protected than you think,” a disembodied voice said.

  Kira nearly jumped out of her boots as Ryon appeared next to her. She balked up at him. He winked.

  “I thought I said coming along was too dangerous!” Tekkyn barked.

  “You did,” Ryon said, adjusting the soft rabbit-fur moccasins that had replaced his boots. “If you think I’m going to let Kira go somewhere dangerous and not be at her side, you don’t know me at all.”

  “I’m at her side,” Tekkyn said.

  “Well done, Idryon.” Oda’e said with a grin.

  Ryon raised an eyebrow. “I believe I introduced myself as Ryon, sir.”

  “Indeed, you did.” Oda’e chuckled. “Tell me, Ryon: could you use those skills to safely bring Vylia here to meet with me? Secrecy and her safety are of utmost import.”

  “Yes, sir.” Ryon bowed his head. “And then I have another matter to discuss with you in private, if I may.”

  Ryon didn’t look at Kira as he spoke, but his fidgeting made her guess at what he wanted to discuss with her father. Trepidation and excitement sprouted within her.

  If the appreciative and intrigued way that Oda’e regarded Ryon was any indication, he was sure to give his blessing for his daughter’s hand in marriage.

  The platform streets and bridges of Jadenvive were eerily empty, as if a plague had swept through and no one dared leave their homes. The only vestige of life left in the market square was the occasional guard where two paths crossed.

  Vylia supposed the empire was a plague of sorts, spreading at any opportunity.

  “Going dark again,” Ryon whispered as they neared the corner of a bakery that had smelled divine when she’d toured the city as the Malaano ambassador. The Great Hall shouldn’t be too far from here, if Vylia remembered correctly from her brief tour of the treetop city before her world had been inverted.

  She couldn’t see her escort who stood only a few feet in front of her—based on the sound of Ryon’s voice—but she’d grown accustomed to his strange disembodied directions and floating orange eyes when he glanced back to check on them.

  Sousuke reached for Vylia’s hand, and she took it. He was clearly on high alert—squared jaw, sharp eyes, low crouch. But for some reason, despite everything, Vylia felt no fear as she waited for Ryon’s surreal darkness to fall once again.

  Maybe it was the new plainclothes Kira had found for her. No one would recognize a foreign princess without her crown or dress or makeup. Assuming any of these soldiers had laid eyes upon her before, anyway.

  Or maybe it was the fact that this Commander Oda’e already knew about her and she hadn’t been killed in her sleep in the cave. Apparently the new leader of the city had even been supplying the hidden refugees with food and other necessities. And he was the father of two out of the three people in Jadenvive she could probably trust.

  What a peculiar stroke of luck.

  “I think I’d like to do something for the people of this city,” Vylia whispered as the world evaporated into darkness once more, shrouding her in Ryon’s invisibility.

  “This isn’t a time for jesting,” Sousuke hissed.

  “I’m not,” Vylia said as they slowly started forward, one foot blindly in front of the other. “The children have found ways to have fun already, but the adults look like their souls have fled.”

  “These aren’t your people, Vy. You don’t have to be a princess right now.”

  “But I want to,” she whispered back. Truthfully, as her body recovered from the coma and she spent more time awake, she found she needed something creative to do with her hands—anything to help, somehow. “Maybe I could make some decorations for the Moon Festival.”

  She heard Sousuke’s frustration in his breath. “I don’t think they’ll be celebrating. And risking your life for some hanging tassels and ribbons is beyond foolish.”

  Vylia pursed her lips. He never used to speak to her with such a blunt lack of decorum. “I could at least make some corn husk dolls. Someone else could hand them out. It wouldn’t be dangerous. Ryon, could you nab some ears of corn from the field?”

  “Yes. Now shhh,” Ryon hissed from somewhere in the blackness before her.

  Vylia frowned. She’d never been shushed before.

  Well, she’d spent much of her life wanting to just be treated as a normal person. So maybe she shouldn’t complain.

  She abruptly realized that the Moon Festival was a Malaano holiday, anyway. Even if the Katrosi celebrated it as well for the few Malo-heritage people who called Jadenvive home, putting decorations around the city would probably send the wrong message.

  She could still make some dolls, though. The orphans would love them regardless. Especially the little girl named Mayla who’d asked Vylia approximately seventy-eight questions about what it was like to be a real princess.

  Ryon’s footsteps stopped, and so did Sousuke. He pulled her close with one arm, and she knew the other was ready on his sword hilt.

  Something squeaked—Vylia guessed it was a door hinge. According to the plans Ryon had laid out beforehand, it should be the kitchen door to the Great Hall. They crept forward once again.

  Vylia’s vision returned with a flash of color, making her simultaneously squint and blink. Smells of garlic and roast beast filled her senses. She missed her regular diet of lobster and angel tuna and rice, but Katrosi cooking certainly had its own appeal.

  “Oh, hello, Idryon! You look completely drained, sweetheart,” said a plump woman whom Vylia assumed was the chef because of her sauce-smeared apron. She handed Ryon what looked like a wheat bun with crusted cheese on top as Sousuke closed the door quietly behind them. “Take a moment to rest.”

  “I’m fine,” Ryon panted. “Do you know . . . the guards’ schedules?”

  The woman’s smile grew wide. “No need. All of the soldiers in the Hall are on our side.” She winked and pressed the roll into Ryon’s hand. “If this had to happen, it was the best possible way, yeah? God is good.” She took another roll from a stack on the kitchen’s island and offered it to Vylia with a bow. “Pleasure to meet you, Your Highness.”

  Vylia took the food and curtsied, forgetting that her dress had been replaced with a flowing beige tunic and a simple drawstring skirt. “Were you the one who prepared the red soup for my first dinner with the chieftess?”

  The chef’s brown eyes brightened. “The long pepper, aye. I was hoping it wouldn’t be too spicy for you.”

  “It was the perfect amount of spice! Absolutely delectab—”

  “All right, let’s go.” Sousuke took Vylia’s hand again and wove through the kitchen staff to a door on the opposite side between baskets of pumpkins and gourds.

  “Hey!” Vylia tore her hand free. “If we’re safe, I have a few seconds to have a chat.” She stared up at Sousuke’s sharp green eyes. “You’ve been awful bossy recently.”

  Sousuke sighed and rubbed his nose, his plate armor clanking with the movement. “Kitchens are not secure. You might have noticed we just strode right in from the street. I’m just trying to keep you safe.”

  “As usual, but you don’t have to be a grump about it.” Vylia took a defiant bite of the roll and was momentarily distracted by how soft and buttery it was. “I’ve been living in a cave for . . . for . . . I don’t know how many days because there was no sunlight! Let me have a little human interaction, please.”

  Sousuke watched her for a long moment, and slowly the hard lines of his face smoothed. It wouldn’t have passed for a smile on anyone else’s face, but Vylia knew him. “You’re ridiculous,” he said. “I’ve never met anyone who could actua
lly be positive in this kind of situation.”

  “Ridiculous?” Vylia wrinkled her nose in a disapproving look. “I have no more tears left to cry. Should I be more like you and always be miserable, even when we receive a ray of hope?”

  Sousuke’s lips flattened into a thin line but one corner tilted upward. His green eyes flashed with words unspoken, leaving Vylia to guess at what was going on in that needle-sharp mind of his.

  “This way,” said Ryon, whose dinner roll had disappeared. He was leaning out of the door and glancing down the hall. “Let me lead.”

  A jitter of nervousness shot through Vylia’s limbs as they followed Ryon past pairs of curious Malaano guards. One of them tipped his head as if in an imperceptible bow, and Vylia hid her face.

  But no one made a move to stop them as they reached the map room—an inner chamber where Vylia had met with Brooke before.

  Ryon knocked, and a deep voice beyond the door granted entry.

  Vylia gathered herself and fixed her posture as Ryon beckoned her inside. The room was just as she remembered, with weapon racks and couches on one end and a large table with maps and figurines on the other. The only difference was that a mountain of a man stood at the head of the table instead of Brooke. Vylia recognized Commander Oda’e from her brief meeting with him in Navarro. The horns and scales of the helmet that sat on the table beside him seemed to change color in the light as she moved closer, gleaming like a water dragon of old.

  “Princess.” Oda’e bowed low as soon as the doors were closed. He motioned to Tekkyn’ashi, whom Vylia hadn’t noticed in the corner. “Fetch her a chair.”

  “It’s all right. I’m happy to stand.” Vylia reached the wide table and inspected the various maps drawn on parchment with ink and charcoal. The surface was so high she wouldn’t have been able to see anything while sitting, anyway.

  Ryon and Tekkyn’ashi stood at each door while Sousuke took his place at Vylia’s side. Oda’e seemed to approve of their positions before he spoke. “I can’t express how sorry I am for what you have endured recently.”

  Vylia bit down on rising emotion and released some in a deep breath. “What’s done is done. The greatest sin against me was not yours.”

  Oda’e nodded. “I am at your command, Your Highness, but I fear there are some among my ranks who would do you harm. As we speak, they are being weeded out and reassigned.”

  Vylia rested her wrists on the table. “Oh? And how do you determine such a thing?”

  “By testing whether their allegiance lies with the empire or the land, Your Grace.” Oda’e’s voice deepened and quieted. “My men and I seek peace with the tribes and independence from the island.”

  Surprise left Vylia speechless for a moment. Independence? These Malo heritage people—their people—wanted to form their own country? For the Malaan-owned tribal lands to be their own?

  She stared down at the maps. How badly had the Empire abused the Navakovrae for them to be willing to risk their lives for this?

  Perhaps they deserved to rule their own land. It would be a stunning rejection of her father’s expansionism. She couldn’t argue with that.

  “Then our aims are aligned.” Vylia cleared her throat. “It seems you have an unnerving skill for deceit, Commander. You made a fool of me in Navarro. I can see how your rebellion has remained a secret. Though you should know whispers of a revolution have already reached the palace in Maqua.”

  Oda’e’s blue eyes widened before he bowed. “Please forgive me, Princess. We were concerned for your safety but didn’t fully unravel the emperor’s plot against you until it was too late. I’m so relieved that you survived.”

  Vylia glanced at Sousuke. “I have my men to thank for that.”

  “Sir, if I may speak,” Sousuke said, but continued before permission was given. “I would like an escort of your most trusted guards to accompany us to Way Maar.”

  Vylia choked on her breath, rendering her unable to retort before Oda’e did.

  “The safest place for her is here,” Oda’e said.

  “We’ve heard that before.” Sousuke rested his arm on his scabbard. “I have connections with the Lotusfall in Way Maar. We’ve received word from our comrade that the Lotusfall have a great interest in the princess’s safety.”

  Vylia’s mind raced to keep up as Oda’e frowned. Why hadn’t Sousuke mentioned this before? Probably because he knew she’d protest. The southern part of Malaan Island was said to be a nest of pagans—especially the swamp near Way Maar. And since when did he have connections with the Lotusfall insurrectionists?

  “And you believe these Lotusfall are to be trusted?” Oda’e asked.

  Sousuke nodded. “On my life.”

  Alarm bells clanged in Vylia’s head. Sousuke never bet anything on his life. He was all percentages and risks and caution. How could he be so certain of such a ridiculous notion? The Lotusfall had been the most elusive enemy of the imperial monarchy for over a century. They could just want her so they could execute her themselves.

  Or perhaps they wanted to use her to strike at her father. To prove that she yet lived would undermine the emperor’s reason for declaring war.

  Finally Vylia’s voice cooperated. “And how do you expect us to remain safe as we travel to Way Maar? The trade route is full of bandits, but it’s not half as treacherous as the Sea of Bones. And do you expect me not to be recognized by anyone in My’Eyah?”

  “We’ll take a smaller port,” Sousuke said. “I have heard that the Emberhawk tribe has their navy stationed in Quin’Zamar and the Sekoiako tribe has a port at Rainosek.”

  Oda’e’s expression steeled. “Any Emberhawk city is out of the question. Just because they have the strongest tribal navy does not mean that taking passage from them would be safe in any regard.”

  Sousuke didn’t budge. “And Sekoiako?”

  Oda’e didn’t speak for a long moment. “They are strong allies of the Katrosi and are certainly hostile to the empire, as their territory borders Navakovrae land to the south. But that does not mean they would be friendly to our cause.”

  “I have friends among the Sekoiako,” Ryon said. “I could arrange for you to take a ship from Rainosek. It’s not far from here, and we wouldn’t have to take the trade route to Navarro. There’s another road that goes southeast that’s less travelled.”

  “Excellent,” Sousuke said. “Commander, would you grant us some of your men—”

  “Excuse me,” Vylia interrupted. She glared at Sousuke, but he didn’t look at her.

  “Guard Rhu,” Vylia said in a flat voice.

  Sousuke flinched—the desired effect. Vylia couldn’t remember the last time she’d called him by his formal title.

  “How long have you been plotting all of this without consulting me?” she demanded.

  Sousuke slowly turned to her. “I didn’t know if it were a viable option until now, when I had the opportunity to ask.”

  “I am still the imperial heir,” she said, sitting up straight and hopefully appearing as regal as possible. “I will not be shuttled about like a criminal on the run, nor will I be associated with pagans and renegades.”

  Sousuke frowned. “Did you know that House Rhu would be considered pagan by your priestesses?”

  Vylia’s lips parted but no response formed. House Rhu worshipped the creator instead of Lillian? But they were a warrior house who had guarded the emperor’s family for generations. When had they abandoned the faith?

  Wait—did that mean he was an unbeliever? How many times had she used the word “pagan” around him, insulting him and his family?

  And after her own interaction with the Malo stone, Vylia didn’t know who she herself believed in any more. Certainly not Lillian, who had proved herself to be cruel and murderous at the very least.

  Did that make her a pagan?

  “Remember, Hiro said in his letter that the Lotusfall are trustworthy,” Sousuke said, and Vylia barely heard him. “My family has been supporting them since befor
e I was born. And there’s no way the emperor completely wiped out House Rhu—many of his own guards. We train for situations like that. I guarantee my family is still alive and in hiding. They will help you.”

  Vylia swallowed, but the knot in her throat didn’t budge. This young man had been protecting her for years—he was one of the youngest to ever be assigned as a royal bodyguard, such was his martial prowess and the reputation of House Rhu. He’d risked his life for her and nearly lost it against Aoko. He’d endured elemental fire and smoke at her side.

  And apparently she didn’t know him at all.

  “Trust me,” Sousuke whispered. “I won’t let anything hurt you.”

  Vylia met his gaze, tripped into the emerald pools, and drowned in them.

  She tore away and looked down at her fingernails with their chipping polish. “Very well,” she murmured. “We will do as you say. I—”

  Loud banging on the door behind Ryon cut her off. “Urgent news for the commander!” a voice yelled.

  Oda’e’s brows knitted together. “Not now.”

  But the door pushed in behind Ryon with enough force to shove him aside.

  “Commander!” A man in an officer’s helmet barged in.

  “Lieutenant Sa’alu, you are in breach of protocol,” Oda’e said. “Wait outside and do not interrupt again.”

  Ryon snarled and rounded on the one called Sa’alu, who stared at Tekkyn’ashi across the room—first with surprise, then with unbridled hatred in his narrowed eyes.

  “Sir,” Sa’alu said in a low tone. “Are you aware that your son is a traitor?”

  Tekkyn’ashi’s hand slid to his sword hilt as Oda’e stepped around the table to block Sa’alu from further entering the room.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Oda’e growled. Vylia took a step back as Sousuke moved in front of her.

  “You know he was on my unit,” Sa’alu hissed. “He was to take a message to Navarro and deliver your daughter home safe, but he went missing. Then I heard he was alive in Jadenvive and working for the Jade Witch.”

  “He was under my command,” Oda’e said. “I used him as a spy, running reconnaissance on the Great Hall for the invasion.”