Starbride had to laugh, both at the proclamation and at the formality. “Do you plan to arrest the Fiend king before Katya gets to him?”
“If I can, I will. Something else is eating at me.”
“About the Fiend king?”
“About your man in the street today.”
Starbride froze but then tried to shrug. “It’s nothing.”
“He took off when he saw me.”
“Lots of people don’t like the Watch, I’m given to understand.”
Ursula lifted an eyebrow. “Criminals.”
“What of it? I’m not going to turn down help. There’s more at stake here than the crimes of former thieves.”
“So he’s a thief.”
Darkstrong could have carried Ursula away in that moment, and Starbride would have breathed a sigh of relief. “And you are most definitely a captain of the Watch.”
“I didn’t hear a no.” She rubbed her chin. “A thief that runs at the sight of me. Either he doesn’t know how to play it cool, which makes him a terrible ally, or he thought I would recognize him.”
“I really don’t see how this is helping us.”
Ursula pointed a lazy finger in her direction. “Evasion means I’m on the right track.”
Starbride lifted her arms and dropped them. “I swear by Horsestrong, I will never try and wheedle a secret out of anyone again.”
“Secrets, eh?”
“Please, Captain!” Starbride rubbed her temples again. “I do not have the time or energy for this. So, he’s a former thief who fears being caught. He’s not a thief now, so what does it matter?”
Ursula gave her a flat stare, and even with the pain, the look made her want to squirm.
“No,” Ursula said slowly.
“No?”
“I wouldn’t waste my time right now on a thief. If he’s in your camp, he knows that. Unless he’s the greatest thief of all time, laughing Jack come to life.” She nodded at Pennynail, and Starbride wanted to laugh and weep at the same time.
“Even then,” Ursula said, “I’d get his help chucking the Fiend king out before I tossed his ass in prison. Not a thief, then. Or not just a thief.”
Starbride wanted to tell Ursula how good a Watch officer she was, but the words wouldn’t come. Everything she said gave something away.
Ursula smiled softly. “Nothing to add?”
“I have a headache.”
“Anything else?”
“My hand hurts too.”
Ursula chuckled. “I see. Well, I’ll babysit our prisoner while you go get some rest. Maybe he’s seen Rhys.”
Starbride let out a breath. The room seemed to open up around her. Pennynail and Hugo came with her back to their hideout, and once the three were alone, Starbride shut the door and leaned against it. “I don’t know why Katya called me a ferreter of secrets. Ursula is like a landslide.”
Freddie pulled his mask off and sank into a chair. “She’s going to figure it out. I can’t believe I was so stupid.”
“All the brains in the world wouldn’t have let you know she was going to come around the corner just then,” Hugo said.
“You trying to make me feel better now, Hugo? Your sworn enemy?”
“Just pointing out the facts, and you’re not my sworn enemy.”
“Thanks,” Freddie muttered.
“You’re very annoying, though,” Hugo said.
“Thanks.”
“If you want to fake bicker and grin at each other, I can leave the room,” Starbride said.
They both stared at her.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s been a long day. I need some of Dawnmother’s tea.”
“The special sleepy mixture,” Hugo said.
“I don’t have time to sleep.”
“But time to wander the streets, distracted, in pain, and blaming yourself for everything that’s happening?” Freddie asked.
Starbride gave him a dark look and plonked down on the bed.
“I’ll go get Dawnmother,” Hugo said.
“What did you do to him?” Starbride asked when she and Freddie were alone.
“Alphonse? You really want to know?”
“Will I still like you after you tell me?”
He shrugged. “My father taught me that torture, the physical kind, only gets you what you want to hear. But there are…other means.”
All she could think of was the way Alphonse couldn’t seem to take his eyes off the mask. “What? You stared at him until he talked?”
“Mostly.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“When he woke up, I was there with the mask on, staring, not moving. He asked me twice if I was alive. Then the lights would go out, and when they came back on, I was in a different place, staring again. After a while, he just started babbling. If he dozed off, I moved closer, so that soon, he was afraid to close his eyes.”
Starbride shivered and didn’t know what to say.
“Still like me?” he asked, not looking at her.
“I’m a little more afraid of Pennynail, but I like you just the same, Freddie.”
He smiled wider and winked.
*
Starbride listened to Katya that night with growing horror. “Fiends,” she whispered, not quite able to believe it. Dawnmother’s tea had worked well, so she’d gotten some rest, but now that she was awake, the headache was back. It had probably followed her into her dreams. And to add to it, wild Fiends were loose in Farraday. “How?”
“I wish I knew.” Katya’s fear reared between them, the cold wind of terror. “It has to be Roland’s doing.”
“Something inside the palace, maybe, something we haven’t seen before.” Or maybe Roland had broken through the cavern door beneath the palace. “He might be using the great capstone.”
“I’m going to sneak into the city, into the palace while the army attacks and see if I can put an end to some of these pyramids.”
Starbride’s heart beat a little faster. “If you take the palace, and I’m attacking in the streets, we’re sure to cripple him.”
“In the streets? You’re coming into the palace with me.”
Starbride sighed. “I know these people, Katya, those behind the revolution. I have to be here to lead them.”
Katya’s disbelief was palpable, but then Starbride felt something else from her: pride. “Oh, Star.”
Starbride laughed. “After this is all over, I’m going to kiss you like you’ve never been kissed before.”
“I’ll hold you to that. I just can’t believe that I’m going to come so close and not see you right away.”
“You will,” Starbride said, “in passing as we’re both running for our lives.” She thought for a moment that she could delay telling Katya about Averie, but if Katya was going into the palace…“There’s something you have to know.” She told the story haltingly, finally able to allow her own tears to come. She hadn’t known Averie well, but Katya had, and she could feel the terrible grief.
“Oh, spirits, my poor Averie. I thought…I thought she was alive!”
“She is, Katya. Maybe we can—”
“No. I’m done with false hope.”
“Katya—”
“Do you believe it, Star? Really?”
Starbride thought of what Alphonse had said, what he’d continued to swear to under capture. Averie, the real Averie, was lost to them. It would have been better if Starbride had never found her, but at least now they knew. “No.”
Katya’s grief swelled, but then she brought it under control with the masterfulness that Starbride had come to expect. “If I see her, I’ll deal with her.”
Starbride squeezed her eyes shut tighter. She had a sudden hope that she would be the one to find Averie, to deal with her. As much as the idea turned her stomach, she would save Katya that added grief. “When will you be here?”
“Day after tomorrow. We’ll sneak in just before dawn.”
“I love you, Katya. Be careful.�
�
“And I love you, Star. Be more careful than me.”
“You might find it helpful to meet with Ursula’s men stationed outside the wall. They’ve been feeding us information, and I’m sure they could help you.”
Katya was quiet, long enough for Starbride to suspect her mind of racing.
“What are you thinking?” Starbride asked.
“Just that I love how resourceful you are.”
“Flattery. What are you thinking?”
“Just ahead, dearheart, always thinking ahead,” Katya said, and Starbride could almost feel her smile.
*
Starbride’s day was taken up with planning and maneuvering. The sigil for the Princess Consort’s War had spread through the city like the plague, though those who carried it kept it hidden. Freddie told her that little old men and women who wanted to do their part had been holed up in their houses for days, sewing their fingers off, making patches as fast as they could.
An army from within the city. It sounded so strange. They’d been their singular, ragtag band for so long. But that wasn’t exactly true, was it? They’d freed a number of strength chapterhouses, and Master Bernard and the heads had been busy freeing others when they weren’t working on traps. They’d been reaching through the city and countering Roland’s mind pyramids. Maia and Reinholt were ready to lead the Docklanders to Marienne and push at Roland’s forces from that side. What Reinholt thought of Starbride’s colors, she could only guess. Maybe he modified them for the Docklanders to be his own symbol. As long as the two groups didn’t forget who the enemy was, Starbride didn’t care.
It was after dark when she saw Freddie again. He slipped into her room and pushed his mask on top of his head. “We need you right now.”
“What is it?”
“Roland’s planted a large pyramid outside the city gates. If we don’t take care of it before Katya gets here…”
Starbride grabbed her satchel. Katya would be arriving at dawn, so that didn’t leave them much time to slip out of the city, neutralize the pyramid, and get back. Her stomach lurched to the left, almost making her forget her headache. “Do you think we might…see her?”
“No, I’m sorry. With all we have left to do in the city—”
“You’re right, of course.” She was surprised by the need to blink away tears. She’d already dealt with the fact that she wouldn’t see Katya until the fight was done, but just that little bit of hope almost undid her. She tried to put it from her mind and hurried on Pennynail’s heels.
They went over the wall that time, on the opposite side of the city as the road to Dockland. Pennynail helped her climb over, and they ran for the forest, using it as cover while they headed for the road that led to the east. When they reached it, Starbride looked toward Marienne’s main gate but saw nothing.
“Where is it?”
Pennynail waved her on, down the road. Starbride frowned, her suspicion deepening when they took a small track into the woods. Why station a pyramid so far from the wall?
A cold feeling grew in Starbride’s stomach. Maybe Averie wasn’t the only one who’d been mind-warped by a pyramid. Pennynail sometimes disappeared for days, long enough for Roland to catch him and treat him. Starbride slipped into her satchel and grabbed a fire pyramid.
But she continued to follow, continued to hope. Horsestrong preserve her, what if she had to kill him? Apart from Katya and Dawnmother, he was her best friend, had been her advisor and confidante. The few times she’d laughed since the troubles began were because of him.
“Pennynail,” she whispered.
He waved again, and she saw a glow ahead, torchlight in the gloom. She slowed, letting him get ahead.
In a small clearing, at the end of the dirt trail, sat a farmhouse and barn. She recognized the place from Ursula’s description, the farm that the Watch was using as a base. Would they be taking her to the pyramid? Maybe Pennynail didn’t know exactly where it was.
A sentry called for them to come forward and be recognized, and Starbride did so, though she kept hold of the pyramid inside her satchel. A few of the Watch officers were standing around, though when they saw her, some turned away as if embarrassed, little smiles on their faces.
“What’s going on?” Starbride said.
Pennynail pointed to the farmhouse. Starbride put her fists on her hips. “What’s going on?” she said again.
“The captain wants a word,” one of the men said.
“Ursula’s here?”
“Just inside.”
She was still suspicious, but this seemed more like the setup for a practical joke than an ambush. Maybe it was some sort of hazing. Suddenly, she didn’t feel bad that she might have to hurt Pennynail after all.
“Honestly,” she said as she marched alone toward the farmhouse, “as if we have time for this.” She threw open the door, spied Ursula in the gloomy interior, and stepped inside, shutting the door behind her. “Captain, I…”
The words died in her throat as her eyes adjusted. Not Ursula. She knew this particular woman far better, though she couldn’t believe her eyes. “Katya?”
“My Star.” Katya opened her arms.
Starbride had to pause. There’d been so much deception, so much disappointment. “Are you real?”
Katya smiled softly. If it was a trick, they’d captured every detail, right down to the gray at her temples. “Dearest Princess Consort Meringue, I’m very real.”
Starbride leapt into Katya’s arms and held on, clutching at her like a drowning woman. Her headache faded to a dull roar. If this was a dream, she didn’t want to wake, and no deception could be so pure, so right.
Starbride kissed every bit of flesh that came near her lips. She slipped Katya’s clothes away without thinking and felt hers go in turn. It didn’t have the immediacy of mind-sex, but the actual physical sensations, the warmth and the feel of Katya’s breath on her skin, made up for it. Starbride caught herself saying, “I missed you, I love you,” over and over until Katya’s mouth silenced her.
The war didn’t exist in the one-room farmhouse. Roland was a mere memory. There were only their bodies, standing, kneeling, lying on the bed, entwined and laughing. Starbride couldn’t stop touching Katya, over and over. Even after she found sweet release, she had to dive back in again. They couldn’t be together enough, couldn’t be close enough. Starbride would have been quite content to make love until she died.
Chapter Thirty-one
Katya
Katya caught herself dozing. She shifted and stretched. Beside her, Starbride let out a small noise of protest. Katya grinned so wide her cheeks hurt. She would have liked nothing better than to stay in the narrow bed for the rest of her life, but she had to sneak into the palace in a few short hours. When Starbride’s arms went around her neck, though, Katya leaned back against the thin mattress.
“I hoped I hadn’t dreamed you,” Starbride said.
“You had time to dream in all that?”
“Just now.” Her lips pressed to Katya’s, and Katya was tempted to forget the war, but the dead would haunt her.
“We have to be going soon.”
“I know,” Starbride said. “To our separate battles.”
Katya caressed her cheek. “And later to meet again. Promise me you’ll come through it all unharmed.”
“You asked me to promise that once before.”
“And?”
“I’ll give you the answer you gave me: if you promise me the same.”
“Done.” As they dressed, a pall settled over Katya’s shoulders. When Starbride left her arms, the warmth went, too. They took every chance to gaze at each other, to “accidentally” bump against each other, or cast stray caresses. When they emerged from the cabin, everyone else was waking up from a short rest. Brutal lifted Starbride in a hug, and Katya clapped Pennynail on the back. Starbride laughed at Castelle’s courtly bow and greeted Redtrue in Allusian, a trifle coldly to Katya’s eye. Starbride had only spoken to her a handful
of times and yet had picked up on the fact that Redtrue didn’t have the most sparkling of personalities.
Katya joined them just as Redtrue said, “Leafclever and I have modified the pyramids we will use to subdue the Fiends.”
“Will it work on the wild Fiends?” Starbride asked. “I can’t believe we even have to consider that.”
“I cannot think why it wouldn’t work. Besides those pyramids, I’m carrying those that will shield us from mind magic.”
“Good,” Starbride said. “We’ve developed something similar.”
Redtrue frowned. “With Farradain magic?”
Starbride’s smile had a brittle edge. “I don’t know any other kind.”
“A mistake we shall fix.”
Starbride turned toward Katya and rolled her eyes.
Katya covered her smile with a cough. When Starbride turned toward the barn, her mouth fell open. She gripped Katya’s arm as Katya’s mother stepped into the light of the torches. “You brought the queen?”
Katya nodded, though Ma had brought herself. Back in camp, Ma had approached their party as they’d prepared to leave. She’d dressed as simply as Katya had ever seen her: cloth trousers and coat, her hair pulled up behind her. She’d had a long knife strapped to one thigh and a short one at her ankle.
Katya guided Starbride a few steps away, out of earshot of the others. “My parents think that the wild Fiend spared my scout because I told it to, that it recognized I used to contain part of Yanchasa.”
“Who knows the mind of a Fiend?” Starbride whispered. “There are any number of reasons—”
“You don’t need to convince me. She insisted that there was a chance. If it even hesitated because of what I once possessed, there was a chance it would obey someone who still carries Yanchasa’s Aspect.”
“That’s a lot depending on chance.”
“If we find a wild Fiend, she hopes it will follow her orders.”
“Well, it can’t be a coincidence that wild Fiends are walking in Farraday. It must be Roland’s doing.”
“I won’t argue on that point,” Katya said.
“Then if he’s calling them, your chances of meeting one in the palace will be greater.” She squeezed Katya’s hand. “Now I’m more worried for all of you.”
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