At a new odor she looked around and spotted the pie-seller and a cookie-maker. "Papa, may I have a cookie?"
"Not now, Megan. We have to get to the shrine first." He looked and then said, "Megan, if I hold you up, can you see how crowded Market Street is, over the wall?"
"I think so."
"Tell me how many people are up ahead."
"Careful, love," Ness said. Papa sat Megan on his hand and lifted her straight up.
"There's so many people there, it looks like a mat, Papa, and a cart stuck in front." He let her down, swinging, and she laughed when he caught her and put her back on his shoulders. "Come on, Ness," he said to Mama. "If we can get to Avenue Street, we can cut across Piva and down to Reyeka. It's the long way, but we'll get there without standing in the sun all day and have to see the choosing from here."
"All right."
Papa had to turn sideways to get past a man with a basket of pots on his head and Mama followed, hanging on to his arm, but they got to the corner and went down that way, through an older section. "Megan-mi, don't pull my hair."
Reyeka Road skirted the edge of the River Quarter. The houses were sooty and dark, as if dirt crept out onto the road from them. Even the grass looked dirty.
Megan looked at a broken fountain as they passed. It had been a bear cub playing in the water, but its face had been smashed. It smelled of piss and shit and Megan wrinkled her nose, old enough to know that you were supposed to use the bucket and put the lid back on. Even Leonid didn't piss his pants or anywhere he wasn't supposed to.
She tried to read the words scratched or painted on the bricks, but Ness saw her lips moving and told her they were words she didn't need to know.
"We're late, Lixand," Ness said. "The priests are already beginning the rites. We'll never get into the temple and out again in time. We'll have to wait until after."
"Well be able to see from here then, love."
They were just off the Stairs bridge and Megan looked toward the Dark Lord's Temple. Across the city she could see a sparkle at the big black doors. She could see the priests on the steps of the Lady's Shrine with their hands raised, surrounding the priest who was playing the Elder Brother this year. He raised his two-fang over his head. Mama whispered, "It's Beyis the Sage. I know his mother."
His hair was very black and he was wearing the red and silver armor that the Elder Brother always wore when he fought the Dark Lord. The priests and priest-esses around him began singing, the Veysneya circling all around them, shining like copper-washed coins.
Across the rift Megan could hear horns and drums and screams, and she tried to stretch higher on her father's shoulders to see the Dark Lord's priests. They stood, surrounding their lord, who wore red and blue armor. The whole City, watching from the steeply sloping lanes and alleys and streets went quiet. In the Piatyacha Tower by the Market, the Woyvode's banner unfurled, snapping slowly in the breeze. Megan looked around, puzzled as the whole world went tight and strange around her. All the adults had a set, tense look of concentration on their faces.
The Elder Brother stepped away from the other priests, out to the farthest point toward the Dark Lord and shook the two-fang over his head. "COME OUT! I BEAR JUSTICE IN MY HANDS! SLAYER OF CHILDREN! ALL DEVOURER! ENSLAVER! MINION OF THE EAGLES OF WAR, COME OUT AND FACE ME!"
A dog barked across the city. Megan couldn't hear the Dark One's answer but knew it, had learned it in school. He wouldn't answer right away. He'd wait until the Elder Brother called again. Then he'd say, "CHILD! FOOL! CHAMPION OF RABBLE! YOU LACKWITTED MOTHER'S BOY! HOW DARE YOU SNIVEL AT MY DOOR? FACE ME IF YOU HAVE THE SPINE! FACE ME!"
A priestess struck a tiny bell in front of her and the chime rang through the whole City, echoing. The Elder Brother stepped out onto clear air, nothing under his feet. She'd never seen that much manrauq before. Sysbat Karlovna had told them about the invisible bridge created out of a united thought, but seeing it was different.
The priest walked out and then started trotting to the middle by the Piatyacha Tower where the Woyvode could witness their contest. The Dark One came out to meet him there, two-fang held like a lance. Megan clenched her hands in her papa's hair, praying for the Elder Brother.
The wind howled and tried to pull him sideways. He slipped, caught himself; she gasped and held her breath. Neither priest could see the edge of the bridge, both of them in the hands of the Gods fighting for primacy.
Elder Brother's two-fang flashed in the sun. The Dark One's hair was bright white, as if he were old, but he ducked, quick as a ferret, and slashed back. Elder Brother jumped over the cut and they changed places twice. The Dark One's black-painted two-fang wouldn't flash.
Behind them, at the Dark One's Temple his banner in blue and red stripes flapped, flashing white stars. Their two-fangs whirled and jabbed, ringing off armor and scraping blades together like tinging Mama's kitchen knife with a fingernail.
The Elder Brother was winning; he was driving the Dark One back to his temple. The setting sun shone on the two priests, shining with the Elder Brother's color: red. He'll win. I know he'll win. He has to.
Then something happened that Megan didn't understand. Someone screamed, "The Woyvode, he's ill. He's down!" People were starting to shake their heads, the City's will faltering. A man nearby fell, holding his head. Lixand shuddered as the spell ripped, fell to his knees, weeping, trying to stand, trying to keep the bridge whole.
"Hold on," he whispered. 'Hold the bridge. Enough of us have to hold…"
The Dark One and the Elder Brother stopped fighting and both turned to run for the Dark One's Temple as the City's concentration broke as the manrauq that maintained the bridge began to come apart. There were more yells and suddenly the two priests were falling. Someone had to catch them, Megan thought. They fell like leaves blowing, arms and legs waving. Someone had to catch them, Megan thought. But no one did.
People were yelling all around them. Lixand dragged Megan down off his shoulders and took hold of Ness's shoulder, pulling her into a corner between the steps and a wall. Megan heard someone shout, "The Woyvode! The Woyvode!" Why didn't anyone catch them?
"RED! RED! MIKAIL! MIKAIL!… GREEN! KHO-VORBOD! GREEN!" Two women in red pulled down another in a green tunic and struck her. She wasn't fighting them, just rolling as they hit and kicked.
Lixand tugged at Ness's shoulder and they ran, carrying Megan. She held tight to his neck and cried. Glass smashed somewhere near. Someone wearing red swung a length of board at Ness, but she ducked and Lixand punched him. Ness grabbed Megan away from Lixand and the two men fought. Ness got a tight look on her face and a brick fell off the wall and hit the stranger on the head.
They ran. The sun turned the scene around them red. Something was on fire. Ness stopped in a doorway.
"Lixand! Take Megan." Ness pulled off her green tunic, left it lying in a heap in the shadow of the door; pulled off Megan's green hair ribbons.
There was a roar up ahead and a mob surged into the street. Megan could see rocks clenched in fists and sticks waving, the flash of a knife. Their faces were bloodied and sometimes when they fell they didn't get up and were trampled as the fight surged back and forth.
Papa looked up and shouted, "Ness!" He grabbed Mama, yanked her under an overhang as a hod of bricks smashed down from the roof, dust swirling everywhere. Lixand called, "Here!" and squeezed between two buildings. It was too tight to breathe; Megan was squished against him and the bricks scraped her back. He pulled her hands loose and made her look at him. "We'll be all right, Megan. I've got to put you down now because it's too narrow, but I don't want you to let go of Mama's hand. You have to keep up. You have to. Understand?" He shook her a little. "Understand?" He had to say it loudly because of all the people on the other side of the pile of bricks in the street.
She nodded. She didn't have any breath because she was crying so hard. The sound of the riot was loud enough that Megan couldn't hear herself crying. Someone outside the alley was screaming. Papa put he
r down and started sliding along between the two buildings.
Megan took Mama's hand in both of hers. It was dark in here, the ground was all slimy and it smelled bad. Papa was too big for some spots and had to scrape sideways. At one point he stopped and kicked a rotten, two-board fence out of the way. Mama's hand was slippery and the walls scraped her, too.
Megan looked up at a sky that was still red from the sun. Above, someone ran along the edge of the roof, then jumped across, almost over them. Papa waved a hand at Mama and she held Megan still. "Shh," she whispered. If someone noticed them, they could drop things.
There were flies buzzing, crawling on the wall in front of Megan. She looked way up at the roof and at Papa. He was big against the sky and black, and by his stillness he was using the manrauq. Someone looked down and Mama's hands tightened on Megan's shoulder. They jumped across and went on. Papa hid us.
Lixand leaned against the wall gasping. "Ness, we have to wait. I'm too tired to go on immediately.
"It'll be safer getting Megan home when it's darker." She reached over Megan's head and brushed his hair out of his face. "Are you all right?"
He nodded. "I'm fine, love. Though I don't know how anyone can fight after the bridge spell broke." It was getting dark fast. "You must have a headache like mine."
"A little one." Then Mama went down on one knee sideways and hugged Megan. "Are you all right, bylashka?" She wiped the child's face with her fingers and Megan hugged her. There was dust all over them, gritty between their teeth and in their eyes. Megan pressed her face into Mama's chest and nodded. I'm not hurt. It's getting dark. I'm tired. I want to go home.
"I think it's all right, Ness." Papa slid down to the other end of the alley. "Come on."
It was a little brighter outside the alley, but Papa hid them in the shadows as they made their way home, slowly. They spent a lot of time standing still while people ran past with torches. There were buildings burning and sometimes they had to go back or around.
Megan hid her face in Papa's neck, hearing things, not wanting to look. Fire. There's smoke all around. He passed her to Ness and checked the street ahead. He was coughing and Ness's voice was hoarse. My eyes hurt.
They were near Teik Khitza's toy shop, but Megan couldn't see the yellow and blue stripes of its shutters. The whole street was full of smoke like a cloud and there was only an empty hole where the store had been, with broken shutters and shelves and soot on the walls around. Broken pieces of toys lay scattered in the street.
It was dark and past supper and Megan couldn't cry anymore, she was so tired. All three of them were covered in soot and Papa had a tear across the back of his tunic while Ness was still bare from the waist up. There were goose bumps all over her arms because of the cool wind blowing. They had gotten as far as the park and Megan could hear the Sneykh gurgle in the dark. Up ahead there was a small fire where somebody had dropped a lamp and the grass was oily and burning. Papa said, "Don't look, love. Or Megan." Before Mama's hand covered her eyes she saw the people lying in the grass. I didn't think that dead looked like that, Megan thought.
We're almost home. We're almost safe. We can close the shutters and nobody'll try to hurt us. She held tight to Mama.
Their gate swung open in the breeze.
"Lixand," someone said. Megan pulled her head up and looked. Teik Vyaroslaf stood in front of their house, several people behind him. The gate swung shut: bang. On Market Street Megan could hear a roar as if a monster were loose in the city, and the sound of glass breaking, wood smashing.
"Ness." Lixand stood in front of his wife and child. He whispered, "Go." Megan saw that he was sweating. The air went tight again, and when Ness stepped closer to the wall she left a copy of herself and Megan behind, standing by Lixand. "You don't need to lay hands on us, Vyaroslaf, we'll come," he said. "You've sunk to this now rather than letting the Guild choose?" One of the men with Teik Vyaroslaf raised a hand as if to strike, but Lixand didn't flinch: Vyaroslaf stopped his man with an upraised hand, gesturing Lixand and his "family" into the garden.
Mama pressed herself against the wall, her hand over Megan's mouth, and everyone passed them by as if they weren't there. The gate swung open again and she slid backwards along the wall, trying not to rustle the leaves. They took Papa. He went with them so we could hide.
Ness ran, carrying Megan to the empty lot in the street and put her in a hiding place near some stones. Megan clung to her and cried. Ness pulled her arms loose and said, "Stay here. I'm going to help Papa. Stay here!" And left her alone in the dark.
It's all broken. It's all red and sticky and fire and all smokey. Why did this happen? Someone was screaming like a bird the cat had caught. Megan scrunched herself down small and peeked through the long grass over the heap of stones, but couldn't see anything. Her eyes hurt, and she coughed and cried though she didn't nave any tears left. There were people running in the street. It was quiet for a while. Mama, come back. Papa, please come.
Then something blew up in the Brewery and there were more fires. She put her hands over her ears and closed her eyes tightly. The fire burned so bright, licking the sky, that she could see it through her eyelids. The brewery horses screamed and screamed even through her blocking hands.
She looked and saw the fire on the other side of the lawyer's house. Their house was on fire. The wallbed and her bed and their cushions and cedar chest and lapdesk and the rugs and Mama's good kahfe set and everything was burning. Mama, come, please come back. Papa, come to get me.
The fire roared up so hot she could feel it on her face. All the houses around were burning. The lawyer's house was full of fire, wings and teeth flaring out of the windows, chewing the walls above. It's eating his house. It's eating our house. A cracking rumble and the lawyer's house fell over onto their house as she'd always imagined it wanted to.
It was so bright she couldn't see. Another Fire's come. The world's burning. It's all broken. Her lungs hurt. If she closed her eyes tight enough, if she put her hands over her ears hard enough, she wouldn't see or hear it—it wouldn't be happening. It wouldn't be real. Papa. Mama. Brunsc. Koru. Please, pretty please, put it back. Please.
Papa Mama, Pa-pa Ma-ma, Pa-pa come. Please come. Please come.
Chapter Three
Some one touched her and she jumped, afraid to look. If I open my eyes it'll be the same, but she did anyway. Her eyes had been closed so tightly that all she could see at first were green and white trails in the dark.
Her mama stood holding her papa up with her shoulder under his arm. Lixand, his hair scorched short, slumped over his wife, barely conscious, one arm so badly burned it was black. Ness ignored the burns on her skin. They were both covered in soot and dust and wood splinters, with bits of leaves and grass stuck on them. Megan leaped up to hug their legs, though they smelled of fire.
"Megan, don't knock us over," Ness said hoarsely. "You'll have to carry the bundle, I have to help your papa."
"Mama, Mama, I want to go home. I want to go home. Can we go home, pleeeese?"
Ness shifted, to keep Lixand from falling as his knees gave. "Megan, pick up the bundle. We have to go to Aunt Marte's to stay for a while."
Megan stood and held onto her mother's leg, trying to see in the dark. The fire wasn't bright any longer and black smoke swirled around them. "No! I don't want to," she cried. "I want to go home—"
"MEGAN!" Ness shouted. Megan wiped her nose with her sleeve, and sniffed, letting go of her mother's leg.
"Megan, I'll explain later. Pick up the bundle and come on. I need you, child." Megan hesitated, then went to the bundle, a blanket heavy enough that she had to drag it as she followed her parents. It was sticky and black and smelly and there were splinters and bits of wood all over it. She shifted her hands to avoid a couple of damp spots. In the distance she could hear voices raised, a rumble like the waterfall, but couldn't make out words, or even if it was still a fight. Lixand stumbled on the cobbles and almost fell. Ness grabbed and tried to get him up, tri
ed to get him to hold on with his good arm over her shoulder, but he kept letting go and almost falling again.
People around the neighborhood were staying inside if they could, though some ran with buckets of water passed hand to hand from the Sneyekh and the splashes of water fell into the fires with no other effect than to hiss. Nothing's going to stop it.
The three stopped to rest, and Ness let Lixand lie down. He didn't look like Megan's papa to her with his face grey and sweaty. Ness got Megan to put his feet up on the bundle while she pulled out a tunic to put on.
As she did, a man came up, saying something so low that Megan, who was at her father's head, patting his cheek, couldn't hear. Ness shook her head. "No. Go away." The stranger waved at Lixand with a dismissive gesture. Papa moaned and his face was sticky and Megan wanted him to get up and tell the stranger to leave them alone.
Ness straightened and a quick move put her knife in her hand. She didn't look tired anymore. "Pickings are easier somewhere else, 'Rhokatzk. We have nothing we wish to sell." He backed away, both hands up. Ness kept her head up and the knife in sight until he'd gone.
The going was slow, walking all the way to Pisznychiy Street at Lixand’s pace. He was trying to keep going but his knees would give, and every time he jarred his arm a faint whine forced itself out of his throat. In the light of a street torch Megan could see that his face was covered with tears.
There weren't many people around now because it was so late, and near Pisznychiy Lixand couldn't go any further. His foot caught on a raised cobble and he fell, dragging Ness down with him. Megan dropped the bundle and ran back to them. Was her papa dead?
"It's all right, Megan. Papa just tripped and fell." He was unconscious, lying as limp as Brunsc without any sawdust in him. "We'll be all right, Megan." Mama got up slowly. "We just have to get to Marte, then we can rest."
"I'm tired, Mama."
Papa groaned. Megan touched his hand and his skin crackled. He didn't twitch. "Get the bundle Megan," Mama said. "I have to try and carry him."
Shadow's Daughter Page 4