He froze and lowered his hand. A slow smile grew on his face, and he raised an eyebrow. “Adorable, hm?”
Wait, had she said that out loud? Her face flushed, and she backtracked, trying to figure out a way to save the conversation. Or maybe she should just run. She did not just call him adorable.
“I’ve already ordered a carriage to take us to the outer wall. I’ll keep her safe, Magi,” Alex said.
“Oh, Oona, would you do me a favor?” Mara turned to look at the Avem. The emperor hadn’t helped her so far, and would probably never do so, if she admitted it to herself. Especially if what Ella had said was true. But that didn’t mean she was without resources. “Would you send a missive to Stonehollow?”
Oona stiffened. “You’re asking me to break my vows to the Order?”
“Would you be breaking your vows, though? Cadmus didn’t say that you couldn’t contact your family, right?”
“Well, no, but it seems risky. What if he finds out?” Her face blanched, and Mara imagined she was thinking of what the Head Magi would do to her.
Mara wanted to feel angry at Oona’s cowardice, but having felt the sting of the whip herself, she couldn’t fault the Avem for wanting to save her own skin. “Look, you don’t have to say anything specific in the message. Just tell them to be alert. Wouldn’t you feel better knowing that your parents were protected, just in case?”
Oona paused to consider the request. “Okay, I can do that.”
“I might be able to help reduce the risk if you’re interested,” Ethan said. “After you take Zeke back to the aviary, meet me in the alchemy room.”
Mara beamed at him. “Thank you. Both of you.”
The carriage pulled up to the base of the steps. The driver hopped down from his seat and bowed before opening the door for them. Mara gave an awkward wave to Ethan before climbing inside and releasing a breath. He didn’t protest as much as she’d thought. Maybe he realized just how important it was for her? Alex settled into the seat next to her, kicking his legs out in the roomy carriage.
They passed quickly through the inner ring and into the middle ring. As the quality of the homes depreciated, Mara turned to Alex. “What’s going on with Ella? I’ve barely seen her since we arrived.”
“Ella was born in the outer ring, Mara. In a tiny one-bedroom shack just down there.” He leaned across her to point out the window. “It’s since burned down, but she knows what it’s like to grow up with nothing.”
“She’s upset by the poverty?”
“It’s a bit more than that. Her younger brother died from wasting fever because his parents couldn’t afford a Healer. Most children recover within a day or two, but he was too malnourished from the lack of fresh food. Her family never recovered from the loss. When she was six, disciples approached her family and offered to take her to the Order where she’d be trained, and most importantly, fed.”
“That’s awful,” Mara whispered. She had no idea that Ella had grown up in such dire conditions. Her hatred of the city made sense.
“It was bad enough when we came here for our assignment but being in the city hurts her deeply. She tries to help where she can by taking food and supplies to families in the outer ring, but she’s only one person among thousands. Living in the palace… it makes her sick to be around the elite who eat like pigs, wasting more food in one day than the outer rings will see in a month. Give her some time, Mara, but don’t be surprised if she disappears one of these days.”
“She would run away?”
“Wouldn’t you?”
Mara went silent, gnawing on the inside of her cheek. “If you had asked me the same question a few months ago, I would have said yes. I did run away from my family, from my home. At the time, I didn’t think I had another option except saving my own skin. And now? All I want is to go home and live a normal, quiet life. I want to run in my forest and swim in the lake and eat so many apple dumplings that I feel sick for a week. I want to build a home, have children, raise a family, and do everything I couldn’t as a dreg. I thought having a Gift would solve my problems, but I was wrong—it’s only created more.”
“So what’s stopping you from leaving and building the life you want?”
“Don’t you see? I can’t run away anymore, Alex. Since leaving Stonehollow, I’ve seen people sold into slavery, simply because they’re dregs. I’ve heard of parents leaving their babies to die because they didn’t have a Gift. Countless atrocities, and for what? Nothing! The whole system is a lie, designed to control people through fear, and the Order is at the heart of it. Something has to change, so shouldn’t we fight to make things right however we can?”
“Because we don’t have enough to fight for already, Miss Chosen One?”
“Don’t call me that!” Mara snapped, regretting losing her temper when she realized he was teasing her. She hugged her middle, sinking deeper in the seat. “Do you know what it’s like? Half of the world is terrified of me because of my Gift, and the other half wants to use me. But does anyone bother asking what I want? No. I’m either a tool or a monster with nothing in between.”
“I know what you mean,” Alex said, his eyes adopting a far-away look. “Remember when you asked me if I could even touch someone without taking someone’s Gift? It reminded me of how I’ve been treated my whole life. There are so many terrible stories about Guardians. In some ways, our reputation was earned, but in others? There’s so much misinformation out there that people are terrified to be around me. Other than you and Ethan, no one will come near me. Not even my own family. I can’t walk down the street without people whispering in fear and crossing to the other side.”
Mara pulled him into a hug and he said, “I have twelve brothers and sisters in the Order, but I was the only one born a Guardian. Why me? Why couldn’t I have been an Armis or a Cultor? We talk about wanting to make a difference, but I can’t see how my Gift can be anything but a curse.”
“I know you feel that way now, but there’s something you can do, even if you don’t realize it yet.”
“And you? Does this mean you’re going to accept your role in the prophecy?”
“No.” She swallowed and looked away. “The prophecy was referring to someone else. And even if it does mean me, I want no part of it. I’m sick of people trying to use me, especially long-dead Seers. Besides, Cadmus is too big for me to handle on my own. I’m just not strong enough. He had me for a few weeks, and he almost broke me. Someone else can take the lead and I will lend my support, however little it may be.”
“You’re stronger than you think,” Alex said quietly.
The carriage dropped them off at the gates. Mara pulled her new identification from her pocket and flashed it at the gatekeeper while Alex did the same.
“The gate closes in an hour. Be back inside by then or you’ll have to wait outside until this evening.”
“It won’t be an issue, thank you,” Mara said, walking outside. She turned toward the dreg encampment, which looked terrible and smelled even worse. How could people live like this? And how could the emperor turn a blind eye to it? She felt the familiar rage bubbling up inside that she’d felt in Stonehollow when Tobias was being mistreated. Just because they didn’t have Gifts didn’t make them less worthy of being treated like people. And what was worse was the fact that their oppression was completely unnecessary. It was all part of the Order’s plot to sabotage the prophecy from coming true.
What if someone could Gift the dregs? It wasn’t too late—Opal had Gifted Wynn and Steel in Tregydar. If they could do the same for these dregs, there wouldn’t be a need for an encampment at all. The people here could move inside the city walls and live as full citizens of Esterwyn. In her excitement, she almost blurted out her idea to Alex, but she decided to wait until she could speak with Ethan.
As they entered the encampment, a few dregs eyed her suspiciously. Now that she was here, she wasn’t sure what to do. Would they resent the fact that she was Gifted? Hostile, even? She stood awkwardly
to the side. A young woman carrying a baby brushed past. Mara watched her duck inside a tattered tent, the walls barely thick enough to keep out the wind. Maybe Ella had the right idea. While she couldn’t help everyone, some food and blankets would make a difference for a few.
“Well, are you going to stand out there all day, or will you come inside?” a reedy voice asked from inside a tent.
Mara blinked in surprise before pulling open the flap of the tent. “Hello? Are you talking to me?”
“You and that hulking fellow out there. Well, come on in, won’t you? It’s mighty cold out there.”
The skeletal woman looked like she could barely stand, but her cheeks were surprisingly plump. Deep wrinkles were etched into her umber skin and her white, coiled hair was pulled back in a bun. Despite the fact that her clothes were in tatters, she carried herself like a queen. “I’d offer you some refreshments, but a hunk of dried bread and moldy cheese isn’t good enough for guests.”
“Thank you, but we’re fine,” Mara said, wishing she had stopped by the kitchens before leaving the palace. “I’m sorry we didn’t bring you anything.”
“Tsk. Don’t you mind about that. Come here so I can get a feel for you, child.” The woman turned her head to face them and Mara gasped. The woman’s eyes were clouded over and milky. Was she blind?
Mara tiptoed closer and leaned down. The woman reached up her hand and traced the planes of her face with a smile. She motioned for Alex to come over as well. After a slight hesitation, Alex knelt before the older woman.
After she was done feeling Alex’s face, Mara asked her, “What’s your name?”
“I’m Evelyn, child. Now tell me, what are an Impriga and a Guardian doing in a dreg haven?”
Mara stiffened, her eyes darting to where Alex stood in the corner of the tent. “What makes you think he’s a Guardian?”
“I can feel it.”
“Are you Gifted?” Mara asked, dismissing the thought as soon as it crossed her mind. Why would a Gifted live outside the city walls with all these dregs?
“Well, no, not anymore.” Before Mara could say anything, Evelyn pointed to a basket of yarn sitting on a pile of blankets at the back of the tent. “Young man, would you mind handing me that basket over there? I get the feeling this will be a lengthy visit, and I like to keep my hands busy while I talk.”
Alex fetched the basket and set it on Evelyn’s lap. She pulled out a hook and handed a ball of yarn to him, then patted him on the knee. “Thank you, child. You just hold that yarn and keep it free of tangles for me as I work.”
Mara couldn’t hold in the question any longer. “What do you mean you’re not Gifted anymore?”
“A Guardian took my Gift a long time ago, but he didn’t take it all. I was a Veniet, and I can still get a sense—a knowing—about people, and I know that this young man is a Guardian, sure as I’m breathing. Curious why you have him with you.”
Mara shifted uncomfortably, but she refused to apologize. Alex couldn’t choose his Gift, and he had enough grief over it. Besides, Evelyn didn’t seem bothered by him. “I need protection, so I asked Alex to come along with me today.”
“And why would an Impriga be needing protection?” Evelyn tilted her head toward Mara, her fingers looping the yarn over the hook.
“It’s a long story. What about you? Why do you stay here? Is there nowhere else you can go?”
Evelyn chuckled under her breath. “Once, there might have been, but that time has passed. Besides, I wouldn’t leave, even if I had a choice. She told me to stay here. She told me to wait.”
“Who?”
“An old friend. She said, ‘a golden-haired girl of might and power will reappear at darkest hour. Joined by forces near and far, aid the one to break the star.’ I’ve been here ever since.”
Mara froze and turned, eyes-wide, to stare at Evelyn. “Who told you that?”
“A Seer named Ruby.”
“Ruby!”
“Oh, do you know her?”
“You could say that,” Mara said, thinking of the scatterbrained Seer who kissed a Guardian and skipped down the road afterward. “I met her in Oxrest a few months ago when my friends and I were running from the Order… she foretold many things that ended up coming true, but at the time, none of it made sense. It just sounded like nonsense rhymes.”
Evelyn’s face clouded. “That would be the trauma.”
“The what now?”
“The trauma—what happens when a Guardian takes a Gift. She’s caught in a place of madness with no escape. I’m afraid her words will scramble more and more until we can’t reach her anymore, if she’s even still alive.”
“What happened to her?” Mara looked over at Alex. He stared intensely at the ball of yarn, a muscle ticking in his jaw.
“You best take a seat, child.”
Mara curled up on the floor by Evelyn’s feet.
“Many, many years ago, when Ruby and I were just girls barely into womanhood, Ruby got it into her head to leave home and travel the continent. She and I grew up close as sisters, so when she snuck out one night, I went with her. Oh, we went everywhere—ballets in Merrowhaven, swimming with sharks in Crystalmoor. Even had a tryst with the Rei in Kearar at the time. Years passed, and we settled in a small town in Esterwyn called Brighton. One day, the Order sent a group of green disciples to Brighton for training, and with them came a young Magi named Marcus. Well, Ruby was taken with him from the start, and the two of them would sneak off together. Before too long, Marcus returned to Order Headquarters. That’s when Ruby found out she was in the family way. Marcus was a decent sort of man who disagreed with many of the Order’s teachings, but Ruby couldn’t show up at the gate and reveal their relationship. Instead, we went home to Mordryl until her baby, Cadmus, was born. He was such a sweet little baby. He never fussed for nothing. Who knew that he would turn into a monster?
“When Cadmus was still a little thing, Ruby decided that he should be raised with his father in the Order. What better place for a Magi? Unfortunately, that would prove to ruin us all. When Marcus’s father learned that he’d had an affair with a Seer, he had him executed immediately. Ruby was inconsolable. She tried breaking into Order Headquarters to take Cadmus, but the security was too tight, and she was almost caught. Unable to get her son, Ruby did the next best thing. She stayed close, always watching over her boy from a distance. It broke her heart when she saw how Zacharias, Cadmus’s grandfather, was filling his mind with darkness and turning Cadmus away from the Seers. He was shaping the boy into his perfect heir—someone who would carry out his will, even after he was gone.
“But she never gave up hope. One day, when Cadmus was sixteen, Ruby tried reaching out to Cadmus again. Ruby and I waited at the meeting spot for hours, hoping to explain the truth of what had happened. When he finally showed up, he brought a group of disciples and a Guardian. He ordered them to seize her. You see, Zacharias had filled his head with lies, saying that his mother had abandoned him. He was so filled with rage that he didn’t want to listen to reason. Seers were the enemy, and he couldn’t suffer her to live. The Guardian started taking her Gift, sucking it out of her like a leech. I’ve never heard such a sound before. It was like her very soul were being ripped from her body. I tackled the Guardian and managed to break the connection so she could escape, but the Guardian took my Gift instead.
“Ruby is still a Seer, but she’s all twisted up inside. After her encounter with the Guardian, her connection with the future was spotty at best, and sometimes I wondered if she could tell reality from fantasy. I brought her here to Merrowhaven to recover, but she was never the same again. One day, she woke me up in the middle of the night to give me that prophecy. She said it over and over again until it was stamped into my mind. The next morning, she was gone, and I haven’t seen her since. All I can do is wait for the girl who can change everything. I can’t help but wonder if she’s already here.”
Mara felt Alex’s eyes on her, but she kept her face dow
n. She swallowed thickly and said, “No, I don’t think she is.”
22
Mara shivered and glanced around the bustling streets of the middle ring while Alex strode silently at her side. After leaving the dreg encampment, Mara had asked Alex if they could walk back to the palace rather than take the carriage so she could have time to process everything. Evelyn’s story had shaken her more than she’d like to admit. It seemed like no matter how much she wanted to forget the prophecy, it wouldn’t let her go.
Alex seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. She knew he struggled with the ramifications of his Gift, but he hadn’t known Ruby. Why was he taking the story so hard? Or maybe he was bothered by Evelyn’s welcome, and how she didn’t question or fear his presence.
As they approached the barrier between the middle and inner rings, Mara couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. Along with the plainly dressed citizens of Merrowhaven, dozens of disciples milled around the street. Was it more than usual? She didn’t think Cadmus would risk snatching her when the sun was at its peak, but she wouldn’t put it past him. Who knew what he would do?
Despite her paranoia, she couldn’t help but drool from the savory smells that radiated from every shop—mutton stew, baked bread, mint cream, and more. Maybe Alex would let her stop and buy a bite to eat before returning to the palace.
A disciple brushed past her and Mara cringed into Alex’s side. His brows knitted with worry. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, projecting the image of a perfectly normal couple out for a stroll. She threw him a grateful smile. “Thank you.”
“It’s no trouble.”
She marveled at their familiarity. Only a few weeks ago, such close contact with a Guardian would have sent her into a panic. But now, they’d become close friends.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spied a flash of black, but when she looked, the street was empty, save for a disgruntled sausage vendor. What was that? She glanced down the alley to their left. Nothing but rubbish and a stray cat.
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