by Alyse Zaftig
Both of them went to their steeds to comb them for just a little while before they went for a run solo. After sitting all day, they didn’t want to ride; their horses were exercised daily, so they weren’t worried about their horses getting weak and fat.
Olivier touched his flat stomach. Gahariet was better about going out for runs. If he wasn’t careful, he’d get too heavy. They both ate like the dragons that they were, but he wouldn’t be able to fly if he got too heavy.
“Do you want to go to the Dawn Tower?”
The terrain around it was rough, but it would be strenuous enough for their dragon spirits.
They began to run to the Dawn Tower, which was only a few miles away. Olivier felt the wind go through his hair, and he felt alive. Why didn’t he run more often?
As he ran and ran with his brother keeping pace next to him, he was reminded of his very young childhood. Their mother always took them outdoors. Their father was always busy, but sometimes he played hooky and went on picnics with them, which were sometimes near the Dawn Tower.
One of Olivier’s first memories was playing hide and seek with Gahariet and seeing his parents kissing while he was the hider and Gahariet was the seeker.
It had seemed really gross to him at the time, but now, as an adult, he could see that his mother had been the love of his father’s life — she’d tempered his rough edges. Once she’d died, his father had gotten a lot stricter. A lot more rigid. His queen should be ruling now.
Olivier felt an ache in his chest. He rubbed it.
Gahariet watched him do it, and Olivier felt self-conscious. He dropped his hand.
“Do you want to go home now?”
Olivier could remember why he didn’t run that often now.
“Yeah.”
They did an easy jog away from the Dawn Tower and the past.
Olivier gritted his teeth as he ran. Grown men didn’t cry. They didn’t. And if he panted especially hard, maybe it was because he was out of shape. And he was sweating a lot, enough that the sweat was getting into his eyes. And he might be wiping them, just to get rid of the stinging. Men didn’t cry.
Olivier gritted his teeth as Gahariet easily ran back to their home.
“I need a shower,” Gahariet said. “I’ll ask for our servants to pump the water up.”
“Sound good,” Olivier said in his low voice.
Gahariet waved his hand over a glow pad before speaking into it quickly.
Olivier and Gahariet made their way back up to their chambers. He could hear the water running, so he knew that the servants had listened to them.
“Why do we have old pipes when we could just install Drakan technology?”
“This castle is made out of pure stone from the time when the Yore were in charge. It can’t be modernized. You know that.”
“Still annoying to have manually pumped water up here,” Olivier grumbled.
“You’re in a bad mood. Do you want to go to Arekir’s party?”
“No. I smell terrible.”
“I mean later.”
“Getting dressed up in fancy clothes just to mingle with the usual boring people? The same ones, since we’re only supposed to associate with a certain class of Draka. I’ll pass.”
“Maybe there’ll be something interesting this time.” But there wasn’t much hope in Gahariet’s voice.
“What else is there to do?”
“Good point,” Olivier conceded. “We’ll go. I’ll be out in an hour.”
Olivier went into his room and got naked before getting into his tub and washing away the grime of the day.
The clothes make the man, his mother used to say. Wearing his princely clothing made him a prince. Wearing a stable hand’s clothing made him just a humble stable hand.
He wondered what it would be like, to really be free like that. Gahariet was the older twin, but he couldn’t just strike out on his own and do whatever he wanted.
But he was a prince, even if he wasn’t first in line.
He went to put on his shiny party clothes. He knocked on Gahariet’s door exactly an hour after they came back.
“You’re on time,” Gahariet noted.
“Yeah.”
“You really aren’t yourself today. Are you sure you want to go?”
Olivier shrugged. “There’s not much else for me to do.”
8
Evening in the Garden
Olivier
Oliver and Gahariet took their levi-car to the party.
Even before going inside, Olivier was bored. Same faces. Same people.
“I hope they have alcohol.”
Gahariet didn’t say anything. They both knew that they had to put on public appearances, but it didn’t mean that they’d enjoy them.
“Just the men I wanted to see!”
Olivier winced as he turned to the left to see an extremely large ball-shaped man coming at full speed towards him. He felt like a standing pin in front of an oncoming sports ball.
“Olivier! Gahariet!” The man hugged both of them in turn. Olivier couldn’t even remember his name. Didier, maybe?
“I have the best news!”
“Oh?” Gahariet, who was far more polite than Olivier would ever be, raised one eyebrow, his tone cool and formal in contrast to the overly familiar hug.
“I have one of the best investment opportunities available. Just a little bit of a cash infusion and we could print our own money.”
“We can already print our own money.” Their father had plenary power, including the ability to make currency.
“Ah…yes…but I’m talking about business.”
Olivier was already bored, but Gahariet was accepting two glasses of wine from a pretty Yore waitress dressed in a very low cut red dress. Apparently he wanted them to hang around.
“There’s going to be an amazing auction tonight.”
“Mhm,” Olivier murmured, wishing that he could just go home. It was funny, because he was the more extroverted twin, but he didn’t want to be here in a crowd of too-familiar people.
“There are going to be some very rare items there tonight. Some very rare items that might open up good doors.”
Olivier stopped listening and scoped out the rest of the party. Gahariet always made sure that everything was on an even keel; he’d take care of it.
There were a lot more girls than there normally were at parties like this. It felt like he was surrounded by big, ostentatious flowers. The girls were dressed in vibrant colors, and a lot of the bolder ones made eye contact with him.
He felt like a fish in a room full of cats. His dragon spirit came roaring to life. A dragon was never prey.
He needed to get out of here.
“Sorry,” he said, without a hint of contrition. “I just remembered that we need to be somewhere else.”
“Somewhere else? But you haven’t even heard about the…”
“No time,” Olivier cut in.
“But I’ll see you at the auction house?”
“Maybe.” Olivier tugged Gahariet’s hand. Gahariet, always polite, gave a simple nod to their companion before they went off.
“Where are we going?”
“Tally boards.”
“Again? I thought you stopped betting after you lost a month’s allowance in ten minutes.”
“We don’t have anything better to do. Besides, I like to watch the fights.”
“They’re underground fights. If you get caught…what would our father do to you?”
“Don’t know. Don’t care,” Olivier said cheerfully. “He stays out of our lives, and we stay out of his.”
“If there isn’t anything interesting when we go to the tally boards — should we really be in that part of town? — then we’re going home.”
“Yup. I can promise you that much.”
9
Prep Time
Phuong
Phuong used a damp bit of cotton in order to fix the wing of her eyeliner. The bit of her skin that was touched see
med to shine, but it was probably just the water.
Phuong looked at herself in the mirror. On another day, she would’ve thrown a fit about just how much money they’d had to spend on the makeup kit, but it was necessary. She needed to fit in at the auction house. She couldn’t afford the tiniest slip that would get them caught.
Oh, she could mesmerize a single person, sure, no problem. But she couldn’t do a crowd, particularly not with her implant.
She didn’t know what she could do, since she couldn’t remember a time that she didn’t have it. But she had a feeling that she could blast a larger number of people if only she didn’t have the implant.
She heard the thunk of a drawer closing behind her. Xuan was dressed to the nines.
“Are you ready? Hurry up!”
Phuong used makeup fixing spray to make sure that everything stayed where it was supposed to be. She picked up another canister of hairspray to make sure that her hair stayed in its elaborate hairdo.
The silvery spirals of her hair were adorned with stop-motion blooming and budding flowers in all the colors of the rainbow. They were kept in place with pins. She’d undergone a lifetime of torture at the hands of a hairdresser that afternoon.
This job better be worth it. Phuong wasn’t into girly-girl stuff, partially because she’d never had the money and partially because it was just impractical.
“Done.”
Xuan opened the hatch of their den.
“The future is ours to write. Come on! Time to ride the affirmation train.”
“Tonight will change our lives for the better.”
Phuong looked at herself in the mirror, so dressed up that she was basically a stranger. She didn’t know the person in the mirror, but that person was about to steal from one of the most dangerous Draka in the city.
10
Tea Leaves
Hoa
No matter how many times she brewed the tea leaves, they always told her the same thing.
The time of the Yore resurgence had come, but it was a crossroads. The Yore would inevitably rise, and she knew that it’s what they’d hoped for since the day that the Draka had taken over the planet.
But there was a shadow over their savior. She could land in the wrong house. If the savior’s powers were turned in the wrong direction, it could corrupt the Yore resurgence. Even as they rose from under the Drakan heel, they would rebuild in a way that would fall apart.
“Mother, you shouldn’t have run out to the princes.”
“Child, it’s my sacred duty to…”
“Not get killed.” Vien put down his satchel on the table. “You could’ve been arrested if the princes wanted you to die in a prison.”
“There are worse things.” She loved her son, but he didn’t have the Sight. He didn’t understand the compulsion to warn people of their futures.
“There are dark circles underneath your eyes. You need to sleep more.”
“I’ve seen the future.”
“You have precognition. You always see the future.”
“There’s never been a more dangerous time.”
“Especially for you, if you refuse to stay away from Drakan royalty.”
“What are you talking about?” Hoa’s brother, Trai, came in. “Can you see the Drakan royals’ future? Anything that would help us slaughter them?”
“Nothing. I didn’t see anything.” Her brothers hated the Drakan boot more than anyone else. If they’d seen the princes alone in the market, they would’ve attacked, no matter what the consequences were. They could just about stomach trading with Drakan merchants for necessaries, but they hated the royals, who symbolized all the brutality that the Drakans had brought to the planet.
A piercing baby’s cry interrupted them.
“I need to check on her.” Hoa walked out, away from her brother and her son. His daughter, her granddaughter, had just woken up from her nap.
“It’s okay,” Hoa cooed to the tiny baby who was doing her best to get as much attention as she could. “It’s okay.” She picked the baby up out of her cradle and held her. The baby stopped crying.
The baby’s whole body was shaking with hiccups from the ferocity of her crying.
Hoa walked in a slow circle around the baby’s room. She pulled from the wellspring of peace in the center of her chest to chant the song of Aloka, the Yore queen who had ruled the Yore for two decades. After she died, she became a spirit of health and hope.
Even now, there were Yore priestesses who made regular offerings to her spirit. Most Yore only knew her song, used as a lullaby.
It could give hope in the darkest circumstances. The song could fill their hearts with light when they were near being overcome with despair. It was the last strength of the Yore.
The baby let out a little chirp.
“Hungry, baby?” Hoa walked the baby into their small kitchen, reaching for a bottle. Her daughter-in-law would love to feed the baby herself, but she was still working.
She got a pillow and fed the baby carefully. Her granddaughter had eyelashes long enough to rest on her cheeks.
When the bottle was done, her eyes had drifted all the way shut. Even though she’d just woken up, she was ready to be put down for another nap. She was still at the age when she slept constantly.
She put the baby back into her room. She realized abruptly that her son and brother had vanished. Where could they have gone?
She looked down at her darling granddaughter. She hoped that by the time she was an adult, the Yore would be free again. It was a possible future.
11
Tally Boards
Gahariet
“You’re crazy. He’ll never make it.” The two of them walked away from the tally boards.
“He’s got a crazy uppercut and he’s great in a pinch. So what if he’s a little short? He’s got so much power. He’s so good in the ring. People barely touch him.”
“You just want to cheer for the underdog.”
“Guilty.”
Olivier nearly slammed into a man. Gahariet put a hand on his brother’s arm.
Olivier let out a little bit of flame.
“Watch where you’re going,” he snapped at the man, who had the wall.
Olivier’s body language dramatically changed when they saw who it was.
“Hello, Marc.”
The owner of the Alrech Auction House was rubbing his hands together, the events of just seconds before forgotten when he looked at good prospects.
“Looking for a little excitement.”
Before Gahariet could stop him, Olivier said, “Yes.”
“What do you have?” Gahariet asked.
“I’m sure that tonight’s auction will have something that will interest one or both of you. I can give you passes.”
“We’re princes. We don’t need passes.”
“Just complimentary passes, that’s all.”
Gahariet knew that Olivier was ready to start flaming again. Gahariet tightened his grip on his twin’s arm.
Marc looked from one brother to the other. Gahariet didn’t like the grin that was spreading on Marc’s face.
“I have to go on my way. I have a lot of things to do before tonight. I hope that you will be there. My seers have predicted an eventful night and unexpected treasure.”
He nodded at the princes before going on his way. Gahariet and Olivier watched him go away.
“Why is everyone always overly familiar with us?”
“Our father is locked away with matters of state. We’re the face of the royal family.”
“I guess.” Olivier sighed. “Do you want to go to the auction house? We could just go home.”
“Why don’t we try it out? It can’t hurt.”
“What is it with Marc’s Yore seers? Are they real?”
Gahariet nodded. “Yeah. He searches for seers especially, and they’re paid very well to stay with him. If you can predict the future of all of your business decisions, then…”
“You�
�re always going to come out on top.”
“Marc doesn’t have a title, though.”
“I didn’t know that you were a snob.”
“It was an observation, nothing more.” Gahariet shrugged.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he married his way in. There are plenty of us who don’t have any cash, despite having holdings.”
“Not my problem. But why not check it out?”
“It might be fun. Why not?”
12
Plus One
Phuong
Phuong’s heart was beating hard in her chest when she gave her forged pass to the attendant, a Draka man.
But he barely seemed to even notice Xuan, staring instead at Phuong. She guessed that she was disarmingly beautiful tonight.
The two of them went through the door and went into the very first room.
It was dedicated to antiques. Phuong gritted her teeth. It would take them longer to find the Illinium. It wouldn’t be in one of the official rooms that were open to anybody walking through.
It would be in the underground storage part of the auction house, kept under lock and key until a buyer with ready cash was ready to claim it.
Phuong and Xuan had studied the blueprints until they knew them by heart. The access to the underground tunnels leading to the Illinium was in a secluded corner of the auction house. There was no sure way to penetrate the tunnels from outside of the auction house. If there had been, Phuong would’ve chosen that rather than entering the jaw of the dragon.