The Ever Cruel Kingdom

by Rin Chupeco

  I felt more than a little restless. In the two days following the galla attack, Lan and I hadn’t had much time alone. Haidee and I were finalizing plans with the clan leaders, building up the camp defenses and planning our infiltration into the city. Meanwhile, Lan and Arjun were busy patrolling our territory, guarding the border against any ambushes by the Golden army, or galla if more should come. They also planned on sending scouts to the east, to search for more of those strange mirages that had come to our aid.

  Haidee was adamant about making the infiltration attempt as soon as possible. I could understand her desperation. We still didn’t know what had truly happened at the Breaking, and the Golden City was the only place we knew to look for answers. There were indications that their army had resumed their mobilization, but I didn’t know if they planned on attacking us. I’d pointed out again that Latona had aided us the last time, but Haidee had scowled. “She thinks I’ll capitulate if I owe her enough,” she’d said, and that was that.

  “One of the goddesses must remain with us,” Lars suggested. “It’s a risky undertaking, and it will be a huge blow to us if Latona succeeds in capturing you both.”

  “No,” I said immediately. “I have to go with her.” I didn’t want to be somewhere safer while she was risking her life.

  Lisette was insistent. “I can sneak in just as quietly. I’m a good shot.” The Howler she carried made a rough, grating sound as she shifted the canister into place. “You’ll need more than one gunner if you’re gonna mess with those Silverguard lunks. I’m one more person to watch Their Holinesses’ backs.”

  “There are far too many of you to be an effective scouting party,” Tamera argued. “You’ll be discovered quickly enough.”

  “What about the darkness?” This was from the cannibal leader. The dishonored Saiga clan now had freer rein of the neutral grounds, though most stuck to their side of the camp, well aware of the others’ dislike of them. The Hellmaker had ambled nearer, not hiding the fact that he was keen on eavesdropping.

  The Fennec clan elder stared at him. “Pardon?”

  He shrugged. “Attack the city at night. The meat guarding the gates will not be prepared for the dayless hours, and they will not be as organized.”

  “He’s right,” I said. “How many we are will matter less under cover of darkness. I should know, I’ve lived with the night all my life. I doubt that any of Latona’s guards are handling it well.” The others, Tamera and Arjun included, still had stunned expressions on their faces, as if they’d never considered the idea before.

  “We may have to rework some previous strategies,” Tamera muttered.

  So despite Arjun’s objections, we were six when we finally set out at nightfall—Haidee and I, Lan, Arjun, Lisette, Noelle. Haidee claimed she knew a way to sneak back into the Golden City without anyone being the wiser. “Is that how you snuck out in the first place?” Lan whispered as we crouched behind some dunes, watching a group of Golden army soldiers making their rounds just outside the dome.

  Haidee shook her head. “Friends of mine helped me escape. They don’t know I’m trying to get in and I can’t let them know from out here, so we’ll have to do this the hard way.”

  “If we can even get close enough to the gates without them noticing,” Arjun said, and grunted. No area of the dome was left unattended for long; men strolled past us every two minutes, so we had little time to act. We could probably take them all out, but it wouldn’t be quiet, and their fellow soldiers would notice their disappearance. It would be only a matter of time before we were caught.

  “I think Lan and Noelle can take out some of the guards without anyone else noticing,” I said softly. “Just give us the signal.”

  Haidee waited until another soldier had walked past us, then crept out. We followed her to a spot far enough from the main gates to be unobtrusive.

  I’d never been this close to the air-domes before. Curious, I reached out to touch the shield that had kept the Golden City standing and protected for years. It felt solid enough underneath my fingers.

  “That’s what they’re supposed to look and feel like.” Haidee’s eyes were already glowing—she was channeling like a Shardwielder, fire-gate users who could control terra patterns. I watched them burrow into the thick barrier, slowly dissolving its surface. “The dome is made of densely packed Air and Fire patterns. At the right temperature, they can form this kind of steel-like glass. I’m simply reverse engineering the process by removing the Fire patterns so it reverts back into sand. With a shield of this size and scope, there’ll always be tiny bubbles in the surface, flaws in an otherwise sound—”

  “You do know you don’t have to tell us every step of the process?” Arjun reminded her gently.

  “Speak for yourself, Arjun,” Lisette breathed from behind me. “I’m entranced by her narration.”

  “Shut up, Lisette,” Arjun growled, and frowned at me when I giggled in spite of myself.

  Haidee ran her hands down one section, fingers sinking into a depressed spot. “I might need some help,” she told me.

  “Just tell me what to do.”

  “Better make it soon,” Lan whispered. “I hear someone coming.”

  Lisette was already drawing her Howler, setting her sights toward the sound of footsteps crunching lightly against the sand, accompanied by a bright light drawing nearer. As soon as the man rounded the corner, she shot him.

  Her Howler made no sound. Neither did the soldier, who promptly dropped to the ground. The light incanta he’d been channeling fizzled out.

  Both Noelle and Lan were on him in an instant, grabbing him by the feet and dragging him behind the dune where we’d been hiding. Arjun rounded on Lisette, furious, but she lifted her hand, anticipating his anger. “It’s a paralyzing dart. He won’t be able to move for a good three hours, which should give us plenty of time.”

  “Paralyzing dart?” Arjun looked mildly terrified. I remembered what Haidee had told me about him being stung by a giant scorpion en route to Brighthenge, rendered immobile and helpless to do anything but hope Haidee, thinking him dead, wouldn’t accidentally bury him alive.

  “There are more than a few snakes’ lairs in our territory. Milana’s taught a whole generation of kids to milk the poison out of their fangs. It’s been of use to us in the past.” Lisette frowned. “You all right? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it. It’s not something that would come up in regular conversation.”

  “It’s nothing.” Arjun had broken out into a mild sweat, and it wasn’t because of the growing cold that came with the night. “Just warn me next time.”

  Lan and Noelle trotted back over the dune, Noelle now wearing the soldier’s uniform. “Might help us avoid attention,” she said with a shrug.

  I hesitated, then reached out and took Haidee’s hand. Perspiration beaded Haidee’s upper lip as she concentrated, her eyes lit with a silver glow. I focused on taking as much moisture as I could out from the air, focused on taking the heat around us away and lowering the temperatures in the same way I would fix the dykes around Aranth. Ice slowly gathered around the edges of the hole Haidee was painstakingly boring through the dome, keeping the sand from re-forming.

  Even with the galla’s gifts, I struggled. It took much more energy to squeeze out moisture from these sunlands, much less create ice from it, even at night. Water patterns were common in Aranth, but even the recent rainfall hadn’t been enough to restore them to this parched desert. Lan realized this; she gently brushed the back of my neck with her fingers, and I felt the familiar warmth of her even as the glow of Aether patterns swirled around me.

  “Thank you,” I whispered, and the Catseye rubbed her thumb lightly over my collarbone in response.

  Two more guards ambled along and were promptly ambushed, and two more sets of uniforms were added to our collection, before we finally drilled a gap wide enough for all of us to steal through. Once inside, I allowed the ice to melt. Haidee reconstructed the glass, leaving no trace of our
intrusion behind.

  “That’s a good trick,” Lisette said, impressed. “But how did you create the ice?”

  “I drew moisture from everywhere I could, and lowered the temperature.” I was exhausted. Lan was already looping an arm around my waist, like she would carry me if it came down to it.

  “The Citadel is that way,” Haidee said. “But we need to take a detour to the North Tower first.” She pointed toward a dilapidated-looking, top-heavy structure that looked like it had been cobbled from random spare parts, then held together by spit and sheer force of will.

  “What’s in there?” I asked.

  “My friends.” Haidee grinned. “Having the mechanika on our side will help us bypass some of the security protocols at the Citadel.”

  “And how do you know they’re going to be on our side?” Arjun grumbled.

  “They helped me escape the first time. I’m sure they’ll see things my way.”

  The mechanika of the Golden City did not, in fact, see things Haidee’s way at first. We’d barely slipped inside the tower when alarm bells sounded—a horrifying jangle of noise. I found myself staring down the barrel of the largest cannon I had ever seen. “Don’t take another step,” warned the stressed-looking man behind it. “Or I’ll smoke you!”

  “Yeong-ho?” Haidee didn’t even look fazed. “Yeong-ho, it’s me! Where did you find the cannon?”

  “Your Holiness?!” Other faces peeped out behind Yeong-ho, all dirty and smudged from the heavy smoke lingering in the air. The whole place was shrouded in darkness, save for a few paltry orbs of light floating above us. Wheels and cogs of varying sizes turned and creaked, many of them larger than my head. And this was the place Haidee spoke of lovingly as her home? It made the Spire look like a luxurious palace.

  “It’s a long story. We need to sneak into the Citadel without anyone else knowing.”

  “Absolutely not,” the man said immediately. “Are you aware of the chaos you caused by running away, young lady? Night has returned! Night! Her Holiness Latona had her hands full calming everyone down. Nearly started a riot! A mob tried to force their way in here, like this was all our fault! And your mother’s furious! She upended the whole city trying to find you, combed the desert for miles around. If she’d known Jes and Charley had abetted your escape”—he turned to glare at a couple of his sheepish-looking charges—“she would have thrown them in the gaols! Or worse! And so I had to lie! To Her Holiness! It’s a wonder she believed me, and that I haven’t been imprisoned myself!”

  “This is important, Yeong-ho! I’ve returned from the Great Abyss! Night has returned because the world is turning aga—”

  “What? You’ve been to the Abyss?! Haidee, what exactly is it that you—”

  And then Yeong-ho stopped and stared, because I had stepped forward, the light from the orbs falling on my face. One of the other mechanika emitted a high-pitched yelp, and another swore, his fingers curling tighter around a large wrench.

  “Did you bring a mirage into the city, Your H-holiness?” Yeong-ho stuttered. “I know you’ve been curious about them in the past, but I never—”

  “I brought my sister,” Haidee said. “My sister, Odessa, who Mother said had been dead all these years. Do you understand now? Mother has been deceiving us this whole time. The world is turning, but monsters are still pouring out of the Abyss. Aeon’s healing is incomplete, and the secrets are in her study. We must get into the Citadel, and I know you have the key.”

  “I must inform Her Holiness that you’re in the city,” Yeong-ho warbled. “I can’t disobey her again, Haidee. I can’t.”

  Lan turned to Haidee. “If I may?”

  “What are you going to do?”

  I spoke up, knowing what she was about to do and hoping the mechanika wouldn’t panic. “She won’t hurt him. I swear it.”

  Haidee looked a little agonized, but nodded. Lan stepped toward Yeong-ho.

  “Sorry, pal,” she said, giving him a friendly pat on the cheek. The man’s eyes widened, glazed over. The Catseye caught him easily. “I only put him to sleep,” she said, before the other mechanika could react. “Your goddess, Latona, isn’t willing to listen to us, and time is something we can’t afford to spend. Will you help us gain entry to this Citadel of hers, or would you guys like to take a nice long nap, too?”

  “Lan!” I exclaimed.

  “Please,” Haidee said softly. “You know I wouldn’t ask this of any of you if it wasn’t important.”

  The three mechanika exchanged glances. “I have the key to the postern,” the woman finally said.

  “Charley!” one of the men said, sounding shocked.

  “I believe Haidee. And you saw the rains coming down just as well as I did, Jes. I’ve never seen that much water in my whole life. And then there’s all this darkness. Tell me that’s normal.”

  “But how do we know we can trust the rest of them?” The tallest mechanika eyed us with suspicion. “Did your sister do all this?”

  We had, technically. “It’s more complicated than that,” I said instead.

  “Do you need a hostage?” Arjun asked. “I’ll be your hostage. You know what that is, right?”

  The boy froze, horrified. “Y-yes, but I don’t—”

  “It means,” Arjun barreled on, because his patience was obviously running thin and Haidee wasn’t going to like it if Lan knocked out the rest of her friends, too, “that if any of the others harm your goddess, or if they do anything to indicate they’ve lied, then you’re free to kill me.” Calmly, he slid a knife out from his boot and extended it to the mechanika, hilt-first. “Here you go. Cut my throat if you need to, right about here.” He drew a line across his neck. “I keep the blade good and sharp, so you shouldn’t have any trouble.”

  “Wait,” I said, alarmed, not really sure if he was serious.

  “I’m not—” the other boy quavered.

  “Arjun—” Haidee began.

  “If taking me prisoner helps you agree, then that’s what I’ll do. I’m one of the desert riffraff your goddess has been at war with for most of our lives. I’m the enemy she keeps your dome up for. I never liked Latona. Still don’t. But Haidee’s different. I’ll protect her any way I can. You’re her friends. You’ve known her longer than I have. Why can’t you trust her?”

  “You don’t even know us,” the second boy sputtered.

  “But I know Haidee,” Arjun said, “and that’s enough for me. Let them in. There’s more at stake here than either you or me.”

  “I feel like you should have led with this instead of threatening them into taking you hostage,” I suggested, unhelpfully at this point.

  “I might not have thought this completely through, yeah.”

  “Did you really do that?” the girl asked Haidee. “Did you bring back the night?”

  Haidee looked down, guilt crossing her face momentarily before she straightened to return her gaze. “I did. For better or for worse, we did. My sister and I did. And that’s why we need to act immediately.”

  The taller boy frowned; gave in. “We don’t need a hostage. Give them the key, Charley. Haidee, I don’t know what’s going on, and I don’t know if this is the right thing to do . . . but your friend is right. I don’t know what the Mother Goddess intends, but if I had to bet between her and you, I’d choose you every time.”

  “Thanks, Jes.” Haidee’s eyes had gone very soft. “And Arjun. Thank you.”

  Arjun grinned. “Thank me as soon as we’re out of here.”

  Once all the misunderstandings had been put to rest—much like the mechanika they called Yeong-ho, who now snored on one of the benches—I allowed my curiosity to get the better of me. I stopped by one of the heavier wheels, watching them shift and click into place. So this was how the Golden City worked, I thought. The grinding metal made an intimidating noise, cogs turning in place or combining with others to create a revolution of gears, like they were all small, spinning worlds of their own.

  Was this how Haidee
had lived? Exploring these little worlds, making sure each one ran smoothly? I could see why the thought of fixing Aeon might appeal to her; the thought of it no longer spinning, like a cog out of place, would have been too alluring not to try to solve.

  The closest I’d ever come to an act of rebellion, Lan and smuggling my way onto the Brevity aside, was escaping into the city to buy romance novels. Meanwhile, Haidee had been having all sorts of adventures—exploring the desert on her own, conducting experiments among the mechanika here. Why wasn’t I as brave?

  Would I have been more like my twin if I’d grown up in the Golden City along with her? More outgoing, more adventurous? Would Lan have been attracted to that girl?

  “I helped,” Haidee said, popping up beside me. She sounded proud. “Yeong-ho was the architect of it all. He taught me everything I know about building things.”

  “I wish I was as resourceful.” It didn’t feel like I’d done much for Aranth in comparison. I’d always been too sick to be let out of the Spire. Not for the first time, I wondered what more I could have done for my city if it hadn’t been for my illness.

  “You told me about the Banishing,” Haidee said stubbornly. “That must have taken a lot of strength, to keep your home from being overwhelmed by the ice. Don’t sell yourself short.”

  I smiled at her. “I guess I’m a little jealous. You had freer rein here than I ever did.”

  My sister ran her fingers along the edges of an unused gear leaning against the wall, sounding wistful. “My cage might have been a little bigger than yours, but it was still a cage.”

  I couldn’t argue with that.

  Charley had volunteered to come with us, while the others tended to their sleeping comrade. It was a short walk from the North Tower to the Citadel, with half of us in army uniform and the other half wrapped in cloaks the mechanika had supplied for us, hoping the strange mishmash wouldn’t arouse curiosity. Looking above us, I could see dark clouds gathering in the sky again. I caught Lisette and Arjun staring as well; they were still unused to the sight. “This is normal for when it’s about to rain,” I tried to assure them. It was the truth; this was common in Aranth, where the storms were even more relentless. But the sudden swirl of heavy mist reminded me of the fog that marked the edges of the Great Abyss. I took that as an omen, but kept that fear to myself.