by Tara Brown
“I want you to train hard, learn to fight with your swords. Then you will leave with the brothers and go find these creatures, bring them here to safety. The people of Dahleigh aren’t ready for magic. It scares them. Brother Estevan agrees, whatever has woken the magic is likely not good.”
Lenny nodded along, unsure of what to think or say. She was scared of not only her new abilities but that something evil lurked within the magic. Or worse, she was to blame for all this. The possibility that she had started it by activating the stone when she absorbed its magic had crossed her mind several times.
“Promise me you will keep your abilities hidden until we have more answers. Train with the swords for now.”
“I promise,” Lenny whispered back.
“Thank you,” Queen Saleen said with a sigh. She lessened her grip on Lenny’s arms, breathing as though she had walked quickly. She stepped back, nodding as if the conversation continued. “Excellent. Now go and enjoy the party. Do not speak of this to anyone, not even Ivor. I want no one to know you will leave.”
“Yes, Aunty.”
Queen Saleen smiled softly. “I adore you, Lenny. I’m sorry this is happening to you. It is a great responsibility.” She turned and walked back to the stairs, rejoining the party on the upper terrace.
Lenny’s heart raced and her stomach twisted in knots. The queen’s words circled in her mind like birds over a carcass.
She had a bad feeling she was the carcass in this.
Or rather the thing that had killed whatever lay dead.
Bad luck.
The words rang in her head.
If it wasn’t for bad luck, they wouldn’t have any.
Lenny wondered if it was as the queen claimed and someone had cursed her family so brutally they were still enduring it generations later.
The sound of a large bird lifting off to take flight brought her attention to the right where a large crow flew away and faded into the darkness.
The evening hadn’t held much promise for Lenny, but as she made her way back to the ballroom, a smiling Lord Ivor on the terrace surrounded by a group of giggling young women was the end of any hope she might enjoy herself.
She slipped into the shadows and hurried to the lower part of the gardens. She found a bench overlooking the sea, hidden below the railing of the walkway. The group of young women twittered, joined by Ivor’s robust chuckle.
She struggled to breathe but her eyes locked on the sparkling calm sea, and she found herself wondering if she might join Amaya there; she, Wen, and Amaya, swimming forever.
But the faces of the hounds flitted into her head, reminding her that despite her wish for it to be so, she would never leave them behind.
Lenny knew she was stuck there, trapped.
Chapter 12
Lenny walked through the Midtown Market where the flowers were always sold on Wednesdays, taking deep breaths of the smells surrounding her. The ground was littered with petals, brightly colored and all shapes and sizes. They rode the wind and tainted the air with beauty. She hadn’t been able to explore as much as she wanted, with most of her time being spent at the arena, but what she had available, she used roaming the city. She understood how the boroughs worked and whom the different neighborhoods were filled with and where to find whatever your heart desired.
“For the lovely lady,” an old woman interrupted her thoughts, holding out a deep orange-colored flower with long petals and a tiny bud in the middle.
“Thank you,” Lenny said, smiling as Hilde took the flower, closing her eyes and inhaling.
“It’s beautiful, thank you.” Hilde beamed. She glowed in the late afternoon light. Truthfully, she shone in all light.
“Have you been down here before?” Lenny asked, weaving through the people and turning right, toward the sea, their destination.
“I haven’t been allowed to leave the castle much,” Hilde muttered, her stare drifting to the left to the three guards walking with them, eyeing everyone suspiciously.
“Mother was fine with you coming today?” Lenny questioned randomly, turning into an alley.
“I suspect she believes you to be the best sort of bodyguard one could hire.” Hilde laughed bitterly.
“That’s fair,” Lenny agreed. “So long as I get scared enough.”
“Have you been coming here a lot?” Hilde asked quietly.
“I have,” Lenny lied, as she had been since she started training. She told no one, not even her sister.
“With Lord Ivor?” Hilde pressed.
“No.” Lenny’s chest tugged. “He is busy I imagine with the wedding preparations and helping King Landon fulfill his duties.” Lenny’s stare drifted to her sister. “You must see him frequently.”
“Indeed.” Hilde scowled. “Did you end things? Your arrangement with him? He is unbearable to be around and most certainly unwilling to discuss you at any time,” Hilde pried aggressively.
“I have not,” Lenny muttered as they turned another corner. She paused when they entered an alley, recognizing the laundry and buildings. Her chest ached, but she forced herself to move on, desperate not to speak on it further. How could she tell her sister it was the alley where Lord Ivor told her he would marry her, especially now that it seemed the wedding would never happen. He hadn’t spoken to her in a week, which was partly due to her hiding from him at all costs. She didn’t want to lie to him about being trained with the guards or leaving, so she avoided him to her own detriment.
“The air is heavy here. It makes me miss Blockley,” Hilde changed the subject politely. “Have you noticed there’s always spices and cooking and laundry and filth in the air? You cannot take a breath here without it.”
“Of course, there are tens of thousands living here. The wind takes tiny pieces of us all on its journey through the city. In Blockley, the wind touches very few humans, it’s mostly trees and nature so it’s limited in the number of stories to tell.” Lenny lifted her focus to the tall buildings on either side of them. “Here there’s no nature, just people. The wind is filled with stories, tales of every person it touches, stealing a little something from them each.”
“It’s busy,” Hilde complained. “I miss the quiet.”
“I don’t mind it,” Lenny confessed as Scar and Ollie took their place at her side, both licking their lips suggesting they’d managed to find a snack along the way. “I feel lost in them.” She pointed back at the busy crowd moving in both directions past the entrance to the alley. “I am no one and everyone. People are too busy to care that I’m dressed as a boy or that my hands are dirty, or my dogs are massive.”
“They still notice me.” Hilde was stuck in her mood, unable to see the good in anything.
“Perhaps it’s because of your beauty, they can’t help but stare.” Lenny teased her.
Hilde stuck her tongue out.
When they exited the alley, Lenny took a deep inhale of the sea air. It was fresher here, close to the bay.
“The harbor is so huge.”
“But fascinating,” Lenny said excitedly. “I heard they have something called an engine that runs on steam. It comes from one of the northern kingdoms. Quite interesting to see a boat that moves with no need for wind.”
“How are you this well informed?” Hilde laughed. “Though I suppose you’re gone every morning at dawn and this is the first day you were home before dusk. Do you spend all your time touring the city?”
“Yes,” Lenny lied again. She hadn’t told her mother or sister that she was leaving in a week when Hilde’s wedding was over.
“You have always been so strange, Lenny.” Hilde sighed as they crossed the busy street where the horses and carts were permitted, dashing through the crowds to the seawall.
Lenny scampered for a set of stairs carved into the stone, climbing down and rushing to the waves. She barely had her boots off and was already waist-high in the water by the time Hilde managed to reach the beach.
Scar and Ollie barked as Lenny forced her way through the water whil
e the waves pushed her back in. She dove when it was deep enough, ignoring the cold, and swam into the swells. When she surfaced, she took a deep breath and sunk below, swimming along the bottom of the ocean, eyes open and heart hopeful.
Once she was deep enough that the waves lost their surge, she bobbed, rising and falling with the waves, as she pulled a small knife from her pocket and stuck her finger.
She squeezed, letting her blood drip into the sea, hoping this would work. She waited a minute before she dove back under, staring at the murky water.
She held her breath a long time but nothing happened.
Her finger stopped bleeding, the seawater washed it clean.
But Amaya and Wen did not come to the call.
Her first fear was that it was as the old legend said, Hithu forgot her family, as would Amaya and Wen.
Her second fear was that they were in trouble. She contemplated using magic but the queen’s words drifted through her mind, stopping her.
Lenny stayed in the water until her vision turned to tunnels and her body shook with shock. Only then, did she surface, gasping for air and bobbing in the waves. But they didn’t come.
She swam back to shore, dragging herself from the water to be assaulted by Scar who checked her as she always did.
“Nothing?” Hilde asked softly.
“Nothing.” Lenny walked to the guards and took the sheet Hilde had insisted they carry. She wrapped herself in it, shivering from the cold for a moment.
“Maybe they’re too far to smell you in the water.”
“Maybe,” Lenny agreed but her mind was busy contemplating all the other options. She sat on a log and watched the sea between Pappelwhick Island and the docks. It was busy, a constant stream of ships and barges, some fancy and others barely holding together. “I wonder how Uncle Alek and Father are?”
“And Wilfred and Bethel,” Hilde added, sitting next to her, though it wasn’t easy in her ridiculous gown.
“And Gran.”
“And Tubby and Sir Kitty.” Hilde laughed but a tear slid down her cheek. “What if I never go home, Lenny?” She turned to her sister, her eyes glistening with sadness.
“Then home will come to you. Once the season is over, Gran and the cats and Father will come and visit and bring Bethel and the baby. Which means, of course, Wilfred will come. And maybe you’ll see him finally.”
“And maybe Aunt Mildred will go home,” Hilde sighed.
“There is no chance of us being that lucky,” Lenny lamented.
They sat in silence for a moment, staring out at the waves and ships.
“May I ask you a question, Lenny, one you have to answer me honestly?” Hilde finally spoke. “An important one.”
“Yes,” Lenny lied.
“Why are you and Lord Ivor not engaged properly? Why does no one know of his intentions toward you?”
“I don’t know,” Lenny answered, though she supposed she might have the answer. “When I did like you and he asked, saved King Landon, he stopped having intentions toward me. He has barely spoken to me since.” She kept back the part about the fight in the arena.
“How odd?” She lowered her tone, “Though I think what I meant to ask is has something happened between you two that would make him lose interest in pursuing you?”
“I did magic, Hilde,” Lenny whispered back. “And I killed two men doing it. And a plant.”
“Cactus,” Hilde corrected her. “And that’s not what I meant.” She eyed her younger sister in that older-sister way. “Have you and he—made—”
“Hilde!” She gasped.
“What? You have spent an awful lot of time together in compromising situations—”
“He has been a gentleman and I have never been much of a—”
“Yes, fine, excellent.” Hilde blushed, shushing her sister as the guards took notice, turning in their direction. “Good. That’s good.”
“He wanted to marry me, Hilde. And strangely enough, I wanted the same. But the moment I took those men’s lives and saved his cousin, that was it. He has cut himself off from me. Reacting exactly as he did the last time something remarkably scary occurred.”
“It is a lot to take in, Lenny.” Hilde sighed, resting her chin on her hand and propping her elbow on her knee. “I’m glad you did it though. I’m grateful.” Hilde gave her a side-glance. “I’m not scared of you. You’re changing but you’re still you, I can see that.”
Lenny leaned against her sister and groaned, “I wish he could see that.” And she also wished he could see she needed to learn to fight, that she wasn’t fragile or delicate. Because she definitely couldn’t depend on her inner warrior. It was about as reliable as Wen and Amaya. Showing up selectively when she needed it.
They sat in silence for a while longer, neither wanting to leave without seeing Amaya.
But as the sun began to set, Lenny needed to get home to eat. Her body was sore from the training and her bed was already calling her. “Shall we get back then?” she asked.
“Yes. I am due to dine with several houses this evening. The queen mother has me meeting them in order of importance, or rather who has gained her favor. This is apparently her way of showing who has not. She is insulting them by making them low on the list.” Hilde stood and began the slow trek back to the stairs. “Landon suggested there’s been some grasping for too much power and certain families need to be taught a lesson of importance.”
“That’s ridiculous. Why not just tell them they’re reaching and being dishonest? Call the insults out for what they are instead of playing these games?”
“Has anyone ever told you that you have too much common sense for political intrigues?” Hilde asked with a smile.
“Yes.”
“Me too.” Hilde giggled half-heartedly. “Seemingly, it has nothing to do with being a successful leader.”
“Why does that not surprise me?” Lenny shook her head at the idea of keeping up with that much nonsense. Hilde would never be capable of it.
“Speaking of the houses and dinners, Lord Ivor has been joining us at them all. He seems quite popular. Everyone vies for his favor more than Landon’s. It’s strange. Even Landon does.”
“Perhaps, he knows a great deal more about the houses and their intrigues than Landon does and Landon looks to his cousin for guidance. He is a young king and listening to one’s mother constantly must become tiring.” Lenny helped Hilde up the last step.
“The carriage is waiting, milady.” A guard pointed at the sizeable royal carriage.
“Excellent.” Hilde hurried toward it. Lenny wanted to decline the ride, but she would get home quicker, meaning be in bed faster. She had left training early to be with Hilde. They’d agreed to try to reach Amaya. “Thanks for joining me,” Hilde said as they sat comfortably in the carriage. Even the hounds seemed more relaxed after having frequently ridden in carriages.
“I wish it had been more fruitful.”
“Don’t add Amaya to your worries, Lenny. You have enough to think on. If she won’t be in the harbor for the wedding, then it is not meant to be.” Hilde took her hands and squeezed. “And don’t worry about Lord Ivor. If his intentions weren’t true, better to know this now before you do something scandalous.”
Lenny nodded along but it was easier said than done. All of it. She felt as if she and Ivor were at opposite ends of a rope, each jerking and tugging and neither convincing the other of their desires.
When they reached the castle, she kissed her sister and hurried off in the direction of her rooms with the hounds next to her. A servant stopped her along the way, offering treats to the dogs. They both sat, tails swishing and mouths open, even Scar.
The people of the castle had become as bad as the locals in Blockley, always treating the dogs and offering love and adoration. She had yet to meet anyone who wasn’t won over, apart from her mother and aunt.
As the dogs chewed their cookies, a familiar face came around the corner.
Lord Ivor paused, lifting
an eyebrow as the dogs bolted for him. He scratched their heads, but his scowl suggested he was ready to talk and the conversation wouldn’t be one Lenny wanted to hear.
“I’ve just been to your rooms looking for you.”
“I was with Hilde.” She offered nothing else.
“I heard you’ve been with the guards, fighting. Is that true?” He scolded her as though he had the right.
She wanted to lie but decided to face the music. “It is, what of it?” she barked back.
“You cannot go back.” He stepped closer to her, his eyes lit with fury but he lowered his tone, “Don’t you see why I was trying to protect you? What if you use magic again by accident and someone sees? What if you kill someone by accident? They’ll demand you hang.”
“I won’t.” She scoffed. “I can’t get it to work to save my own life. It’ll be fine so long as no one I care about is there with me. I’ve been there for a week and nothing has happened.”
“Yet!” he barked. “You aren’t to go back. I’ve instructed the trainers not to let you. Don’t disobey me on this!” He lifted a finger in her face. “It’s for your own good. If you won’t worry about yourself, you leave me no choice—”
“You don’t get to decide for me!” she snapped and stepped back. “I have to know how to fight.”
“Why?” he asked, exasperated. “Where are you going that you need to be a fighter? The castle is filled with guards and if you spent so much as half the time on learning about your magic as you have on swords, you wouldn’t need swords at all!”
“You don’t get to ignore me for a week and then tell me how to live.”
“I haven’t been—”
“It doesn’t matter.” She turned around and decided to take a different hallway to get to her room. She rounded the corner and slapped her leg, calling the traitorous hounds still getting pets from Ivor.
She wished she could tell him about leaving with the brothers, but the queen must have had a reason for her keeping it a secret. Maybe she knew Ivor would prevent it.
Lenny snarled in her mind as she reached her suite.
She wished she could be done with him, cut the feelings from her heart.