by Rin Chupeco
I hurried to comply, pressing my forehead against the soft bamboo mats that covered the floor of her room.
“Too slapdash, too quick. It looks as if you want it to be over. Do it again.”
She made me practice this throughout the night, always finding fault with the way I moved. By the time I returned to my bed, it was night and the candles had burned low, and I was exhausted. I reached out to Fox’s reassuring presence in my mind, finding comfort there. I felt him respond—and with it the faintest of images: Fox’s hands clenched into fists, bandaged but not from injury. There was another man in front of him, hands also raised, with a shock of red hair and a tattoo on his neck shaped like a bird—and then the image disappeared.
Cautious, I prodded at his presence in my head. After a moment’s pause, I felt his thoughts drift back to mine. Go to sleep, Tea.
Easy for you to say, I thought grouchily just before I drifted off. If today was any indication of how my lessons shall fare, I might not last the week.
The dance was as old as time. They performed it every year at the darashi oyun, a beautiful solo that singled out the most accomplished asha dancer of the season, the most distinguished award she could be presented with. Winning the role could have dramatic effects on an asha’s success.
They performed it on rare occasions in Drycht, in the cool summer palaces of King Aadil. They performed it in the Yadosha city-states, where men in loud voices and women with tobacco in hand paid exorbitant prices to watch them onstage, like these dancers were exotic species of a human menagerie. They even performed it in cold Istera, where the muffled cloaks and fur did nothing to hide the sway of bodies and grace of form.
But here, before the lonely grave, the girl performed the ritual of the Dancing Wind, and the waves jumped around her and applauded. The taurvi moved on instinct, circling as the girl did, leaping and bowing so that it rose when she rose and fell as she did, and with them, the world spun.
The dance wound down, drew to a close. The girl’s eyes were a mystery. The taurvi drew closer and licked her face like a faithful dog might greet its owner, and her laughter echoed across the waters, a sound of joy.
13
Despite my exhaustion, I woke up early the next day out of habit, while everyone else in the Valerian still slept. Careful not to wake the sleeping maids, I tiptoed out into the asha-ka’s entrance armed with my broom, prepared to do my morning chores. Fox was waiting as usual, leaning against the wooden stand that displayed the asha-ka’s name and crest.
“Who were you fighting with last night?” I asked as I began sweeping the sidewalks.
“Fighting?”
“I saw you. You were with some guy with a bird tattoo.”
“Oh, him.” He dismissed my question with a wave of his hand. “I’ve only just realized my army training in Odalia was woefully inept, so I’ve been asking some of the soldiers for some tips on fighting. That’s how I learned that something’s been happening at the palace.”
“Isn’t there always something happening at the palace?”
“There’s an army of Deathseekers preparing to leave the city.”
I stopped. Like the asha, Ankyo was the Deathseekers’ main headquarters, and most served the Kion empress. “What? But why?”
“I’m not sure.” For once, Fox’s uncanny ability to know the city gossip had failed him. “I think it has something to do with the savul. The Dark asha in charge of raising it died sometime ago, but no one knew about her death until after mine.”
“Yes. Her name was Sakmeet, I think.” I still wasn’t used to Fox treating his demise so casually. “I hope they find it before you do. That is not something you should be holding a grudge against.”
“Can’t hurt to try. I’ve acquired certain advantages since then.”
“I don’t know much about Deathseekers. I’ve only met one so far, and he didn’t have much to say.”
“They do pretty much what asha do. Except they’re not as pretty to look at, and I don’t think they dance very well. Little boys are taken away to be trained as soon as their heartsglass change color. Not the best childhood to have, but as a fighting force, they’re pretty effective. I intend to find out more about where they’re going or if they have an inkling of where the savul is hiding.”
“Fox, please don’t tell me you’re planning on infiltrating the palace just to assuage a curiosity.”
“OK.” My brother shot me a grin, gently nudging the broom out from my grasp. “I won’t tell you, then.”
“I’m serious. You could get in trouble.” I scooped out some water from a small metal bucket on the side of the gate, dousing the walkway with its contents. He stepped out of my way, limping a bit, and continued to sweep. “I’m already in trouble, so I think I’ve made the quota for us for this year alone.”
“It doesn’t look like you’re in trouble right now. Has the old lady been punishing you again?”
“Unless you count buying up half the stores in the district for my upcoming wardrobe as punishment.”
“They’re afraid of you, you know.”
“Me?”
“What you did at the Falling Leaf wasn’t something any other asha could do. The mistress of the Imperial was in an ugly mood yesterday. She wanted to pay for the Falling Leaf’s damages. She was livid when Parmina convinced the tearoom lady otherwise.”
“And how do you know all this?” I asked, suspicious.
“The Imperial’s maids like to talk.” He shrugged. “Two of them were at the sweetshop, trying to stay out of their mistress’s way. I’m not entirely sure why those old women were vying to pay for repairs though. Most people would do the opposite.”
“It’s less about feeling sorry for the Falling Leaf’s proprietress and more about showing off.” I dunked a rough sponge into the bucket, scrubbed at the white walls with it. “It’s about power and how much influence you can sway on behalf of your House. The one waving the most money around commands the greater amount of respect. More importantly, people get to see how influential they are.”
“Looks like you did learn something from your time here after all.” Fox leaned the broom against the now-clean wall and found another sponge. “Are you certain you want to step into this kind of world? I don’t think the cut-throatedness of this business is good for you.”
“I’m already in it too deep for me to get out. When I raised those rats and those”—I hesitated, not sure if calling them corpses would be respectful or appropriate, then forged on anyway—“corpses, it was both terrifying and exhilarating all at once. I was scared stiff. I felt like a part of me was being swept away, and I didn’t know how to get that back. But it also felt good.”
This time, Fox stopped, looking at me. “It felt good?”
I nodded. “Every time I draw in the Dark, it feels like I could keep drawing on it forever. Lady Mykaela promised to help me keep it under control. And it’s in Mistress Parmina’s best interests to protect me, no matter how much more she puts me in debt.”
Fox no longer drew in breath to sigh, but the noise he did make sounded empty, troubled. “I’ll stand by whatever you think is best, but don’t expect this conversation to be over. I still think there’s another way.”
“Tea!” Mistress Parmina’s shrill voice scared a flock of doves into flight. “Where are you? What are you doing outside? Scrubbing the walls! What would an asha apprentice be doing with the chores of the hired help? Come in at once and take your breakfast. Your first lesson starts in an hour! Do not keep Shadi waiting—no, no, your brother can stay and do the chores until Kana comes. I have no need of him. Rahim has brought over some apprentice robes for you. Get out of those cheap tunics before the rest of the world sees you in such rags!”
“Become an asha if you must,” Fox whispered to me, voice tinged with amusement, “and should you ever get to run the Valerian, promise me you won’t
inherit that screeching voice and prune face.”
• • •
The robe laid out for me to wear the day I began my apprenticeship was of light chartreuse. It was nothing like an asha’s hua collection, but it was still a cut above most of what I’d seen novices wear. It was a soft green attractive to the eyes and an ivory waist wrap smaller than what asha wear, only a third of its size, so that it served more like a belt than as a form-fitting adornment. I was also given a small silk bag that contained a plain folding fan, a headscarf, and several pieces of sweetmeat and bread wrapped in fine paper to eat in between lessons.
I was used to dressing hurriedly and was already done half an hour before the others came down. Lady Shadi arrived first, in a very becoming beige and olive-green hua that highlighted her eyes. She smiled at me. “You’re early. That’s a very good skill to have for your training.”
“Thank you, Lady Shadi.” The beautiful asha still made me nervous, even after all these months. We never had the opportunity to talk to each other before, and it felt strange to realize there were two kinds of worlds in the asha-ka. In one of those worlds, asha ruled with their odd secrets and curious customs. The other was the more mundane, everyday world occupied by everyone else, where maids cleaned and cooked and scrubbed and ran errands but still thought and functioned in the same way most people in the city did. And I was leaving this second world that I was more comfortable with in order to join the first, which I still knew very little about.
“A word of warning about Mother: she can be a miser when it comes to money, and she has a lot of bad habits, as I’m sure you know. But she will always work for the best of the Valerian, which means she will work to make you popular. And after what happened at the Falling Leaf, we all have very high hopes for you. Don’t let her intimidate you, and be confident. We will be visiting many people today for your first lessons. Bow when we do—as low as you can, for you are the junior of everyone we will meet—and stay quiet unless you are spoken to. Do you understand?”
I nodded. Mistress Parmina bustled in, looking hideously regal in red and gold. “What are you two dawdling for? Come! We are wasting time, and Lady Yasmin is expecting us.”
Fox, as usual, brought up the rear, and once again, Mistress Parmina neither forbade nor acknowledged his presence. Unless they had a pressing engagement, few asha were out at this time of day, so we only encountered servants rushing out on errands and other apprentices hurrying for their lessons. Just as before, many stopped to pay their respects first to Mistress Parmina and then to Lady Shadi and then rushed ahead.
It took us several minutes of walking to reach the studio of my first instructor, a smaller bungalow carefully hidden behind a large tower of trees growing at the entrance of the lane. With Fox resuming guard outside, we were ushered into a small, cozy-looking room. I was surprised by the age of the instructor who rose to her feet to greet us; Lady Yasmin was as tall, as slim, and as pretty as my sister Daisy, but the similarities ended there. Instructor Yasmin’s green eyes were fringed by long, dark lashes, with freckles scattered across the bridge of her nose. She was dressed in long, flowing robes dyed a soft lavender, and her reddish-gold hair was tied back in a loose ponytail that reached her thighs.
This was the first time I had ever seen Mistress Parmina bow to anyone. “Lady Yasmin,” the old asha said formally. “I am pleased to introduce a new jewel from House Valerian. Please instruct her to the best of her abilities, and we ask that you take extraordinary care of her, that she may flourish under your tutelage.”
Lady Yasmin returned her bow. “I am honored, Mistress Parmina. Shall we retire to the inner chamber, Miss Tea?”
I was glad that Mistress Parmina wouldn’t be on hand to witness my first lesson. The last thing I wanted was her scrutinizing every mistake I made.
“Let us begin, Tea.” Mistress Yasmin raised her hand above her head and extended her right leg out so that only the tips of her toes touched the floor. “Do as I do. Good. Keeping your leg straight and without lifting it off the ground, move it in a half circle away from you, and end by touching it to your left heel. Extend your left leg this time, and do the same, brushing your toe against your right heel. Now for your arms. Raise both over your head and keep them steady. Every time you move your leg, bring the arm on the same side down and extend it as far away as you can until it runs a straight line from your shoulder. Now left heel and left arm. Right heel and right arm. Repeat.”
And just like that, my dancing lessons began.
“She has potential,” Lady Yasmin said an hour later, after we returned from the inner chamber. Lady Shadi and Mistress Parmina had been waiting for us the whole time I had my first lesson, enjoying tea and scones served to them by Lady Yasmin’s assistants. “She takes to instructions well and has an ear for music. With time, she can be more than adequate.”
This seemed to be what Mistress Parmina wanted to hear. She rose, and we bowed again. “We are delighted,” the old asha said, “that you have accepted her as your student.”
The next studio we visited was similar in size, with different musical instruments framed against the walls, some weathered with age. My instructor was a dark-skinned woman named Teti, but Mistress Parmina gave the same speech, I bowed just as I was told to, and Lady Teti brought me to another inner chamber as Lady Yasmin had. Once we were settled in, she handed me a wooden setar, and my face burned. It was a reminder of the trouble Zoya had put me in.
“First, I will teach you how to position your fingers over the struts and the different techniques you can use to strum at the strings. Hold the neck of the setar loosely in the palm of your right hand, letting your fingers hover above the strings. Settle the base of the setar on your lap, with your other hand cradling its underside, like this. That is good. But why is your hand trembling? Don’t be nervous, Tea.”
I couldn’t help it. I tried to stop my tremors, but although I managed to place my fingers the way she had instructed, the setar in my hands quivered.
We practiced for close to an hour, and she gave me more instruments to practice on: a pair of drums with treated sheepskin stretched over their surfaces; a thin, reedlike cylinder with seven holes carved into its body and a mouthpiece on one end; and an unusually shaped bow made of wood that produced a range of powerful sounds when scratched. I found my rhythm easily on the first, could produce no sound at all on the second, and could only manage scraping noises on the third. Finally, I managed one long note on the setar, the closest thing that sounded like music that I could manage. “It will get easier with a little more time and practice, of course.” Lady Teti promised me. “But you already learn quickly. That is good.”
She said as much to Mistress Parmina when we returned. “She is doing well on the setar. I believe she will have a similar aptitude for the sahrud, though I do not think she will fare well with the mey. I will help her find her footing and see which shall appeal to her most.”
Mistress Parmina looked pleased again.
We visited four more small studios that day: one for singing; one for general instruction, mostly about history and politics; one for meditation; and one for flower arrangement and etiquette. The fifth place I was brought to was bigger than the others; it consisted only of a large hall as big as three or four cha-khana put together and loosely sectioned off by thin dividers to shield some areas from view. Yells and shouts of pain came through some of these partitions, alongside heavy thumps, as if something had hit a hard object at great speed. Asha and asha apprentices milled about, but they were all dressed in long, plain white robes and breeches.
The instructor here was a Lady Hami. She was petite and slim, only an inch or two taller than I was then, and with her hair in multiple braids like asha Brijette. Mistress Parmina gave the same introductions and then took several steps back. So did Lady Shadi. I was unaware of the reasons why and was wondering if I should follow their lead, until I was literally knocked off
my feet.
The floor was lined with thick bamboo mats that cushioned most of my fall, but that didn’t stop it from knocking the wind out of me. I lay there for a few seconds, stunned. Lady Hami took the opportunity to drag me back to my feet. She lifted her hand, and I was down on the floor again, though she never touched me. It felt like a great gust of wind had picked me up and slammed me onto the ground.
“You are a Dark asha, aren’t you?” She circled around me, while I gasped for breath. “That means you will never be able to command the runes we can: Fire, Water, Earth, Forest, Metal, Wind. Unfortunately, that doesn’t matter. Get up.”
I struggled to my feet, my dress greatly restricting my movements, and was knocked down again for my efforts.
“You will be taught to defend yourself. You will be taught to fight back. That you start off at a disadvantage does not excuse you from losing. Get up.” It took me longer this time, but another push of air sent me on my back while I was still on my knees. “This will not be like your other lessons, where you are taught finery and flowers. Get up. You will be taught to hone your body like a weapon, to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each rune so that you can learn to counter its effects. Get up. Understandably, it will be difficult for one who cannot harness their use, but that does not make you completely vulnerable. Get up. The Dark rune has its own advantages, but it will take work on your part to master. Get up. I will reassess your progress in two months and determine whether or not I will continue with you as a student or send you away. Not every asha can do this, and I will not waste my time with those who cannot cope with the demands of the training. I told you to get up, novice!”
I scrambled up, heart pounding, and fought to get my breath back.