He laughed for a brief moment, like I was trying to play a trick on him. When I didn’t join him, his laughter faded away. “You’re joking.”
I shook my head. “I’m not. I can see the smoke, the domed wall, and the things attempting to come through it.” I grabbed on to his upper arms to steady myself.
“Can you see me?” With his thumb, he tipped my chin up. I tried to imagine what he looked like. I knew colors. Knew that at one point, I had seen its infinite shades. I knew what things looked like and could picture them in my mind: grass, metal, red, birds, glass. At one point in my life, I had perfect vision.
From the descriptions of others, I knew that Iric had brown hair and lighter brown eyes, but wasn’t sure of their shade or the shape of his features. He was a head taller than I, muscled but lean, with bronze skin. He was also decidedly handsome, from all the female whispers that always trailed him through the Trenches. I’d made an image of him in my mind, but wasn’t sure if I was remotely right, because I couldn’t see him standing right in front of me.
“No, I can’t see you,” I breathed, “but I can see out there.” I nodded toward the wall.
Right then, an ear-splitting boom came from the wall. I crouched and covered my ears.
“What is it?” he asked, clutching my upper arms. “What’s happening?”
With wide eyes, I searched the roiling gray until it parted with another bang. This time, it wasn’t a hand at all, but the enormous tail of an equally large beast that was banging against the enclosure. “A beast.” My voice trembled. “It’s... huge. Its tail struck the wall. Can’t you hear it?” There were spines all along the scaled tail of the animal, but the smoke concealed the rest of it.
He tucked me under his chin, resting it on my head and wrapping his arms around me. “No, I can’t. This is crazy, K.”
I knew it was. “Iric?” My heart thundered.
“Yeah?”
“I need to see if I can save that girl – Trava. You said you didn’t think she had the sight, and I know that’s true because I do. If she’s still alive somehow, I could bring her home safely.”
He pulled away from me and began pacing through the grass. “She’s probably already dead. If you’re seeing monsters from here, that means she came across them, too.”
At times, Iric could be exasperating. “But what if she’s alive and terrified? I could help bring her home. I have to try!”
He let out a frustrated breath. “Why? Why do you have to? She’s a Sloper. Do you think she’d do the same for you if the situation were reversed?”
“It’s not about that!” I insisted. “And even if it were true—”
“It is,” he argued, the anger thick in his voice. And then I understood. Why would the fae pick me when they could pick someone else who wasn’t damaged? Why not an esteemed Sloper? Or someone like Iric? The thoughts had assaulted me through the night as I watched, but in the end, there was no argument that trumped the fact that I had the sight and needed to do this. The responsibility had been given to me.
“Okay, let’s assume you’re right,” I bargained. “In the end it doesn’t matter, because we aren’t like them. We’re better. If I can see her home and somehow gather the smoke we need—and believe me, Iric, we need it—I owe it to everyone to go and try.”
Iric stopped pacing and came to a stop in front of me, his toes brushing mine, his breath fanning the small, flyaway hairs as he settled his chin on my head and hugged me tight. “You’re like a sister to me. You can’t blame me for not wanting you to bear this burden. There are so many things that could go wrong…accidents that could happen to you on the other side.” Hesitant, he added, “You said there are monsters.”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“What if you go across the wall and become blind again?”
The thought had crossed my mind. “Then I’ll cross back.”
“What if the wall won’t let you back in?”
I picked at my sleeve. “It will. The woman from the Trenches made it back with the smoke. It’s been years, but she came back.”
“So they say, but she had smoke. Maybe that’s the key to getting back in.”
“Maybe it’s not. Maybe it really is as simple as stepping back through to the other side.”
He stepped away from me and sighed. I could hear his fingers rake through his hair. “You have an answer for everything, but K, I don’t think this is as simple as you’re making it out to be.”
“And I don’t think it’s as complicated as you’re making it out to be. Look, I’ve thought about it for hours, and I’ve already decided I’m going through that wall, but before I do, I need your help. I need supplies, something other than a dress to wear—something I can easily move in—and then I need you to take me back to this exact spot and let me go.”
“Are you just trying to leave because of Vivica? I know she’s said some awful things to you, but you should never listen to her, K.”
“It’s not because of her.”
“Is it the others?”
He promised to never bring that up again. “It’s not them,” I scoffed, trying not to get exasperated with him. “Iric, I can see through the smoke. I swear it. I’ve never lied to you, and I’m not suicidal.”
His teeth ground together.
Dew clung to my skirts, weighing down the hem. Though it was homespun cotton and soft, it would not be easy to travel in.
“I need boots.”
“Boots?” He sank to his knees and took one of my feet in his hands. “Why didn’t you tell me?” His calloused thumb brushed the bare sole of my foot through the gaping hole on the bottom.
“Because you have more than enough to worry about. The state of the soles of my shoes aren’t important.”
“Yes, they are. You’re like a sister to me, not to mention my best friend. There’s nothing more important than my family, and I count you among them, K.” He rose to his feet, his voice just in front of me. “What if something happens to you? I’m fast. I could make it to the smoke, and if Trava is still alive, I could help her back.”
“But you don’t have the sight!” I argued. “Without it, you can’t see the fae. You’d just see the woods around you. And besides, the fae are the ones who gift the sight. Maybe the sight isn’t all they gift. What if they also offer protection?”
“Yes,” he contradicted sarcastically. “That must be why so many Retrievers have made it back to Ironton.”
His sense of humor sucked sometimes.
But what if we could combine our skills? With his speed and my sight, maybe we would stand a better chance at success and survival... “What if we went together?” I suggested.
He paused to consider my question. “We could. We could do this. But we’d have to make sure the boys don’t starve.”
“We can give them enough iron to last until we get back,” I offered.
“How do we know how long we’ll be gone?”
“We give them all we have and pray they use it wisely.” That was the only answer I could give him. “If we succeed, if we make it back with the smoke, the Governor will have to reward us.” With a grin, I added, “Even the Slopers would appreciate us then. Imagine, a hero from the Trenches.”
“Two heroes,” he agreed quietly, pensively. But he and I both knew I would never be hailed a hero in this world.
I listened as Iric climbed the ladder. Another moment later, he descended, taking my hand and positioning it on my staff. “You have to promise me that you won’t take one step outside that wall until I can get more information and we can properly prepare.”
I wanted to argue; Trava could die while we hesitated, but he was right. If we went into Faery unprepared, we might not make it back alive. “I promise, but you have to promise to hurry.”
He grunted his assent. We walked side by side in the grassy paths that lay between the fields of crops, passing the Border Gray who would take our place. Normally, we stopped to talk to him, but there was no time this morn
ing.
“Let me guess,” he chided. “Nothing came through the wall.”
Iric replied in the affirmative with a stilted laugh.
If he only knew what was outside it.
We followed the smooth, dirt path until we came to the Trenches, winding through the alleys and streets, until the shanties thinned and we finally arrived at our home.
Inside, Iric quickly removed his jacket. I heard the fabric swish against the wall as he hung it on the hook and dressed for his deliveries. “I hate leaving you here,” he admitted. “But I need to make these runs to earn enough iron to get what we need. Then the rest of what we have saved will see the boys through until we return.”
“I won’t stay with Vivica again,” I retorted.
“I know,” he bargained. But I could tell in the strain of his voice that he wished I would.
He was worried. He’d found me that day, shaking and crying, rocking in the corner. I didn’t tell him what happened, but he knew it was bad. “I need to rest. I’ll be right here when you finish your runs.”
He tapped the tin roof of the tiny porch twice before stepping off it. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
When I was sure he was gone, I waited five minutes and then left the house, my staff quickly tapping the earth in front of my feet. Iric would be far ahead of me, and no one would have to know where I was going.
The only woman who would have the answers we needed was the woman Iric admitted was staring at me from her home near the Trench Market yesterday; the only one who had made it back from Faery with the smoke. She could tell me what I needed to bring, what I would face, and how to find and bottle the smoke our wall needed to be rejuvenated.
My staff knocked back and forth over the worn path I knew led to the market. When I could hear the hustle and bustle of bargains being made, iron being exchanged, and the scent of wood smoke and spices, I paused, hoping someone might help me find her.
About that time, Dusty’s small hand slipped into mine. “Karis, why are you here alone?”
“You caught me,” I confessed, crouching down and flashing him a smile. “I need to find someone. Do you think you can help me?”
“Sure I can.”
“Where are your brothers?”
“They’re still asleep,” he claimed, shifting his weight on his feet.
“Good. Do you know the game ‘Bets and Bargains’?”
“I do. I’m better at it than even Mage,” he boasted.
I smiled at him. “I’m sure you are. I’ll make a bargain with you. If you help me, and you keep this excursion a secret from all your brothers, I’ll buy you and all of them breakfast.”
“Sure,” Dusty quickly agreed. “What do you need from the market?”
“I need to find someone who lives nearby, a woman. Iric said she was outside watching us from her house yesterday as we passed by on the path from the amphitheater to Watchtower thirty-four.” I described where on the path we’d stopped, so he would know where to search for the woman’s house.
“Then we need to go all the way across the market,” he announced authoritatively, tugging my hand as we started walking. “What’s the woman’s name?”
“I don’t know, but Iric said she was the only Retriever to have returned with smoke.”
“I’m not sure which house is hers, but I’m sure we can find her.” Dusty paused. “Are you sure we should be bothering her?”
“You don’t have to go with me to speak with her, but I need you to be my eyes.”
He squeezed my hand comfortingly. “Okay.”
There were only a few houses that could be hers, Dusty reported, and all of them were empty this morning. Two, he concluded, were lived in, but no one was home. The third one’s roof had caved in, and the walls had collapsed.
My heart sank. Iric would know which house it was, and he knew what the woman looked like. He could bring me back before we left Ironton.
“Tell you what – I can have Iric bring me back later. He knows exactly where to find her. And I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. Why don’t you find us something for breakfast?”
“Eggs!” he exclaimed, tugging me in the direction of so many delicious smells. The market held wares, but also freshly prepared food. Eggs would do us both some good. I should have just enough iron to buy both of us something to eat, and for him to take some to Mage and Root.
We waited quietly while he asked the vendor to make our breakfasts. The sound of someone beating rugs, and the dust that came out of them, wafted into the air, tickling my nose. A couple of men haggled over the price of a knife next door. Lambs bleated in a nearby fenced booth.
Dusty’s hand tightened on mine.
“What’s the matter?” I whispered.
“Nothing. We should just go soon.”
“What is it?”
Even after I pressed, he wouldn’t tell me what was wrong. We took our cups full of eggs, an extra for the other two boys and a portion for Iric, and Dusty quickly led me away from the market. He took me to the small, but new home he and his brothers had built themselves. I didn’t dare ask where they got the materials.
We gave the boys their eggs, and though I expected Dusty to point me in the direction of my own home so I could rest, he offered to walk me back.
Inside my house, I waited for him to leave, but he was in no hurry, which was odd. “I’ll stay here while you sleep,” he insisted solicitously.
“Why would you do that?” His brothers would no doubt come searching for him, and he never stayed with us so long.
He didn’t answer.
“Dusty, why did you want to leave the market so fast?” Hot anger coursed through my veins. A cool, fierce wind forced the door open and flew through the cave. I could hear his sigh as the wind calmed and he pulled the door closed. “What did you see in the market? What aren’t you telling me, Dusty?” I sat on my cot, waiting as he crossed the floor boards and settled on Iric’s cot across from me.
“I saw Iric and he... he was angry. You were supposed be home asleep, not in the market. I was supposed to distract you.”
Distract me?
My stomach clenched. “Dusty, no. Tell me he didn’t.”
Dusty sniffled.
We left the market an hour ago, maybe more. That meant Iric was planning to go after the smoke without me. Iric was gone; just as foolish as he was brave, and I had to go after him. And if one of the fae monsters hadn’t already eaten him, I was going to kill him.
“Dusty, I need you to run to the market and see if you can find a few things for me, and then I need you to get back here as fast as you possibly can. Do you understand?”
“What do you need?” he asked as I rummaged through a box I kept hidden under my cot. I placed all the iron I had in his hand and gave him a list of items—which I made him repeat to me three times.
Pants, shirt, and boots that would likely fit me. I felt for the knife beneath my cot.
“Please don’t forget what I need. Now go, Dusty. It’s important that you make like your fool of a brother and run.”
His footsteps rushed across the floor and the door hinges squeaked as he opened and closed it behind him. I grabbed my forehead and uttered a curse, and then cursed myself for not seeing Iric’s intention from the moment I told him and he agreed to go with me. I should have left without him like I intended to do.
Another half hour passed by the time Dusty returned. In the meantime, I packed what food we had in a sack—a small piece of bread that didn’t smell too moldy, an apple, and a canteen of water—and attached a rope through it so I could wear it on my back.
“Turn your head away,” I told Dusty as I shrugged off my dress, tugged on the pants, and buttoned the shirt he brought me. The pants were tight and a little too short, but they would be covered by the boots he brought. Those were also too small, but better than the ones I had. The soles were thick, with no holes in the leather.
“All clear,” I told him as I began to braid my h
air.
The front door burst open and someone strode in. “Mother,” Dusty sputtered in surprise. He backed into me as she approached, bumping into my legs. My hands found his shoulders.
“What has he done?” Vivica growled, taking my hand and placing a bag full of jagged iron into it. “What is the meaning of this note?”
I opened my mouth, but she started reading aloud before I could tell her what Iric had done.
“As the fastest runner in Ironton, I vow to bring back the smoke my city desperately needs. Ration the iron and help the boys and Karis as much as you can. Iric.” She paused, collecting herself. “Karis, tell me my eldest living son did not foolishly run into Faery. Tell me he is safe.”
“I can’t do that.”
Vivica let out a wail that even frightened Dusty. He moved into my side, reassuringly solid.
“I’m going to find him,” I told her.
“You? That’s rich. Now I’m going to lose another son to the fae. It was one thing to lose Roane to the mine…but Gregoire, and now Iric...”
“I can stop it, Vivica. I have the sight. I can see through the wall,” I admitted. “And I believe I’ll be able to see on the other side of it.”
“What?” she breathed. “When did this happen?”
“Last night.”
She waved her hand in front of me, the air whooshing past my face. I rolled my eyes. “I still can’t see in Ironton, but I swear I can see outside of it.”
She scoffed, “Arrogant fool. I told him he’d miscalculated Midsummer.”
“Who did you tell?”
“The Governor.”
I understood then how she’d had the occasion to tell him. Swallowing thickly, I tied a leather strip around the bottom of my braid and slung the sack across my shoulder.
“You’re really going after him?” she asked quietly.
“I am.”
“Karis?”
I stopped in front of her.
“Bring back my son. And if you find Gregoire, bring him back to me, too,” she demanded through gritted teeth.
“Take care of the boys while we’re gone, Vivica. If Mage gets caught stealing again, you’ll have three sons in Faery, and I can’t be in two places at once.”
Glamour of Midnight Page 4