by Sharon Shinn
I wondered how astonished Elyssa would be to realize that we—or at least I—would be as relieved as she was to have the screen between us.
The bedtime ritual was accomplished with much less drama this night, but both Elyssa and I lay awake for a long time after Gretta left. I didn’t know what Elyssa was thinking, but I was wishing I was back in my old room where I had freedom to move around under cover of darkness. I was wondering if, after a month of close supervision in the city, I would lose some of my independence of thought and motion. I was thinking that, if Elyssa really did marry Jordan, I would be in the palace for the rest of my life, always under the watchful eye of the unnerving royal inquisitor.
I was thinking, while the echoes slept dreamlessly on either side of me, how much simpler life might be if I was as untroubled, insensate, and unaware as they were.
Over breakfast the following morning, the noblewomen from Banchura insisted that Cormac arrange for an expedition to Amanda Plaza. “Whenever we are in Camarria, we always go to Amanda Plaza to toss coins at the feet of the goddess, and we are going today,” one of them said firmly. “So you can provide carriages and come with us, or you can stay behind, but we are going.”
“I’m sorry, but my father requires my attendance this morning,” Cormac said. “But my brother would be happy to accompany you, wouldn’t you, Jordan?”
“Yes, and anyone else who would like to come,” Jordan replied. “Dez? Nigel? Cali? We’d best go now, before the day gets too hot.”
It turned out that everyone except Cormac wanted to join the expedition, which meant a whole caravan of coaches had to be pressed into service. I could tell Elyssa wasn’t thrilled with the outing, but she wasn’t about to be left behind, so she joined all the others in the courtyard as the vehicles lumbered up.
I assumed it was due to some deft maneuvering on her part that we ended up in the carriage along with Jordan, two other nobles, and all of their combined echoes. The vehicle was enormous, holding room for twenty people on several rows of benches and being pulled by a team of six strong horses. There were so many people who had to climb in and find seats that, in the chaos, originals and echoes were mixed together on the benches. One of Jordan’s echoes was placed between Dezmen’s two, and a noblewoman was seated in the very back row.
I was sitting next to Jordan.
I had not been so close to him since that night at Lord Bentam’s manor when he and Elyssa had had that midnight conversation in the library. I had met his eyes, and he had noticed me, and I had not been able to forget him ever since.
But surely he had forgotten me. It was indisputably best for my continued health and safety that I never catch his attention again.
I had been very careful since we arrived at the palace two days ago. I had never looked at him directly—had never looked at anyone directly, keeping always that placid, blank expression on my face, focusing my eyes on some point in the middle distance. He had not had many conversations with Elyssa since we had arrived, and those few encounters had been light and brief; I had never caught his eyes scanning the faces of her echoes, wondering if he had imagined that one quick exchange of glances. He had forgotten. He must have.
But now I was seated next to him, the folds of my dress drifting against the fabric of his breeches, my shoulder so close to his I could feel the heat coming off his body. I wondered what it would be like to lay my hand over his, to feel that warmth seep into my bones and muscles.
Impossible to do it. Disastrous to speculate. I sat there, my motions completely in thrall to Elyssa’s for this very public outing, but felt my breath grow more uneven, my heart beat faster. I wanted to clench my hands to keep myself from reaching out to him, but I could not make my fingers respond to my will.
Beside me, Jordan seemed completely oblivious to my presence. “The carriage ride is only about ten minutes,” he said. “It might have been faster and easier to walk the whole group over.”
“Walk! You must be joking,” said the woman in the back of the carriage. “I find it fatiguing to walk from my bedroom all the way down to the breakfast room!”
Elyssa answered, her voice light and careless but the buried barb surely intentional. “But fortunately for you, Cali, there is so much food waiting at the end of the forced march that you are able to restore yourself after the journey,” she said.
If Cali was offended, she hid it with a laugh. “I do love the dining rooms at the palace,” she said. “Your cooks are magnificent, Jordan.”
“No credit to me,” he said amiably. “But I will tell the queen you approve of her staff.”
Jordan was right—the trip was short, and I could not be certain if I was sharply relieved or deeply disappointed when the carriage jostled to a halt a few minutes later. Once we had disembarked from our fleet of vehicles, we did have a bit of a walk ahead of us, since it turned out that the roads leading to the plaza were too narrow to admit the great lumbering carriages. Cali grumbled good-naturedly about the exercise, but Jordan said, “Here, let me ease your way,” and offered her his arm. That made her smile and stop complaining. Elyssa stared straight ahead of her and fought to keep her lips from twisting in a bitter smile.
As for myself, I could only be grateful that I was still mimicking Elyssa so closely, otherwise I would have given myself away by gaping in delight at Amanda Plaza. As it was, I cut my eyes back and forth to take in as many details as I could. Amanda Plaza was a wide open space floored with intricate brickwork and dotted with things to admire—two different groupings of statues, a large ornamental tree, and a high arching bridge made of a warm golden stone. The place was thronged with people pausing before the statues or racing across the bridge or merely passing through on their way to some urgent appointment. It was clear that the square was a meeting place for friends, a destination for visitors, and a touchstone for the residents of Camarria, all at once. My guess was that people could be found here night and day, making this place the beating heart of the royal city.
Our carriage had been the last to arrive and the others in our party were already making their way across the brickwork to the central feature of the plaza—three bronze statues that I assumed were meant to represent the triple goddess who watched over the kingdom. The statues stood with their backs toward each other, their faces turned out to the crowd. One held her arms above her head, one stretched her hands out to either side, and one reached down toward the ground. Lord Bentam’s house had never been an overly religious one, so I knew nothing about the goddess or what her poses signified. Still, there was something about the stillness and serenity of each face that I found appealing.
The blond women from Banchura began laughing and calling out to each other. “Take the poses! Remember? Pretend to be the goddess!” And with a swirl of blue fabric they spun around till their shoulders touched and their bodies made a small triangle behind their backs. One lifted her arms over her head and cried, “I’m joy!” Another spread her hands out as if seeking to find balance and answered, “I’m justice.” The third one lowered her palms toward the brick and said, “Then I guess I’m mercy. Why don’t I ever get to be joy?” Around them, like endless replicas of the goddess’s incarnations, their echoes reached and stretched and bent over the herringboned brick.
“Very nice,” Jordan said. “Should we also toss coins at your feet? Will you grant our prayers if we do?”
The triplet pretending to be joy started laughing and couldn’t hold the pose any longer, and instantly the whole tableau dissolved. “You can certainly throw money at me!” she exclaimed. “I’d be happy to go shopping as soon as we leave the plaza.”
“Money collected by the goddess is supposed to go to the temple so it can be distributed to the poor,” Jordan said, mock stern.
“Well, that’s not nearly as much fun,” one of the other sisters said. “But I still wouldn’t mind going shopping.”
Cali stepped up and ran a reverential hand along the smooth metal arm of the goddess who represented me
rcy. “I didn’t bring any coins,” she said regretfully. “It didn’t occur to me.”
Jordan gestured to a footman who had accompanied us to the plaza. The man jogged forward and handed over a leather satchel that made a muted jingle. “I brought enough for everyone,” Jordan said.
Cali turned to smile at him. “It doesn’t seem right that you should have to fund our supplications to the goddess.”
He returned the smile. “The palace supports the temple in many ways. A few coins won’t materially affect our arrangement.”
She held her hand out and the echoes beside her did the same. Jordan dropped disks into every open palm. “Then I will happily turn your largesse into my prayers.”
She and her echoes turned back toward the statues and I saw them all close their eyes and curl their hands into fists. Cali’s lips moved slightly, so perhaps she was indeed speaking a prayer. Then they all opened their eyes and, in perfect unison, lobbed their coins between two of the statues. That was when I realized that there was a small grate at the center of the three statues, set into the brickwork at their heels. The coins all dropped smoothly past the grill.
“It will be interesting to see if that wish comes true,” Cali observed. She paused a moment longer, bringing her fingertips briefly to her forehead, down to her heart, and back up to her lips, before stepping away to make room for the next petitioner.
Jordan, meanwhile, was parceling out money to everyone in the group who came forward, which included all of the women and some of the men. Then, one by one, the nobles tossed their coins into the grate before touching their foreheads, their chests, and their mouths. I thought that must be some ritualistic act that honored the three incarnations of the goddess, but no one bothered to explain it.
Elyssa hung back, still displeased with this whole outing, but once he had doled out coins to everyone else, Jordan turned to her with his pleasant smile. “Elyssa?” he asked. “Surely you have some favor you would sue for?”
Her own smile was edged. “So many I could hardly narrow it down to one,” she said, but she extended her hand anyway. The echoes and I were right beside her. “But I’m happy to throw down money for your beggars.”
I held my breath as Jordan dropped a coin in my palm. I felt the barest brush of his fingertips against my skin, and my face flushed with sudden heat. Surely the color wouldn’t be noticeable in the bright sunlight.
“Gold,” Elyssa said. “That’s generous.”
“As I said,” Jordan replied, his voice determinedly polite, “the palace supports the temple with many types of funding.”
She didn’t answer, just turned away from him and stepped closer to the statues. The echoes and I spread out just enough so that the four of us made a ring around the three goddesses. Elyssa brought her clenched hand to her heart and stared meditatively at the nearest statue.
What was she wishing for? I wondered. Did she hope that the marriage with Jordan would go forward—or that it would somehow be averted? Did she pray that some assassin would slip into the city and take Cormac’s life, igniting revolution? Or did she wish for something simpler, more primal, such as happiness or security?
I briefly closed my eyes and squeezed the coin as tightly as my bones would allow. I was practically face-to-face with the goddess offering mercy, and I knew what I would ask for if she would listen to the pleas of an echo. Freedom, I thought, and opened my eyes.
Elyssa gracefully swung her hand forward and pitched her coin into the grate. She had grown a little careless as the afternoon progressed and her mood deteriorated, so she had not maintained perfect control of her echoes, and our movements were not entirely synchronized with hers. However, the difference was so slight I couldn’t imagine that anyone would notice. She also didn’t bother indulging in the ritual benediction afterward, but simply turned back to rejoin the group. I thought that, if I was going to hope the goddess would grant my prayer, I should show her more honor than that. I had just enough willpower to lift my arm and touch my fingertips to my forehead, my heart, and my lips. Then I turned to follow Elyssa as she strolled across the plaza behind the others, heading toward that impressive golden bridge.
And found Jordan staring at me with so much astonishment he might have just seen one of the statues come to life.
I was so careful for the next few hours. So careful. I focused so intently on Elyssa that even though she was keeping us on a loose rein, I mimicked her precisely enough that I might have been her reflection in a mirror. I followed her up the gentle grade of that long, golden bridge and rested my elbows on the stone balustrade, just as she did, and looked out at the lively view below. I paraded behind her as we returned to ground level and toured the rest of the plaza, only half listening to the explanations that Jordan provided to the first-time visitors. These statues represent Queen Amanda and her echoes. She was married to King Edwin, the first man to unite the warring provinces and create the Kingdom of the Seven Jewels … This tree was a gift from the country of Ferrenlea … We don’t need to linger here by this wall, it is where traitors are executed …
It seemed to me that he made an effort to stick close to Elyssa while he showed us around, for he was never more than a few steps away and often had a hand out to help her over some slight obstacle. I could tell she was pleased by the attention, for her attitude improved and her smile grew more genuine, but I wasn’t fooled. His gaze kept slipping from her face to skim over the faces of her echoes, hoping to catch them in an unguarded moment of alertness. It was a comfort to me that he would glance from one of us to the next to the next, clearly unable to distinguish us from each other.
And I gave him no clues. My expression was absolutely blank, even when my lips curved in Elyssa’s smile. I made sure that I was always in the middle of our small group, that there was always a body between us, so he couldn’t accidentally brush up against me and feel my involuntary start of pleasure. I made sure I was not distinctive in any way.
He would think he was imagining things again. As he had imagined them that night in Lord Bentam’s house. He certainly wouldn’t address the matter with Elyssa, would he? Is it possible that one of your echoes misbehaves? I’m certain that I saw her act in an independent manner, almost as if she had volition of her own.
Surely, he wouldn’t say such a thing, even if he had noticed.
Surely, even if he had noticed, he didn’t care.
CHAPTER TEN
That night as the noble guests gathered before the meal, there was a new arrival who drew all eyes. She was a striking woman with dark skin and dark hair, wearing a dress of antique lace and displaying opals on her hands, at her throat, and braided into her midnight hair. I heard someone mention that she was Dezmen’s sister Darrily. She seemed to be well-known at court because both Jordan and Cormac stood by her for some time, talking with the ease of old friends. Jordan even took her arm to escort her into dinner.
Elyssa stared after them with swelling indignation. I couldn’t entirely blame her. After Jordan had been so solicitous all afternoon, she had put extra effort into dressing for the meal, with the expectation that his attentions would continue. But Darrily’s arrival had made him forget Elyssa completely.
Or, well, forget me. But it would be even worse if she knew why he had followed her so closely all afternoon before abandoning her now.
“Well, he doesn’t look like a man who’s ready to announce an engagement any time soon,” murmured a man’s voice at her ear. Elyssa spun around in a small fury.
But as soon as she recognized the speaker, most of her anger fled. “Deryk,” she said, leaning forward so he could kiss her on the cheek. Her echoes bent forward as well, each of us receiving our own chaste salutations. The man and his three echoes all had a rakish, piratical air, enhanced by a deep scar running through one eyebrow. However, none of his shadows matched his air of malice and mischief, instead appearing to be as placid and dull as an echo should.
“Did you just arrive?” Elyssa asked. “I looked f
or you earlier but you were nowhere in sight.”
“We pulled up not more than an hour ago,” he answered, tucking her hand under his arm and strolling toward the short hallway that led to the dining room. They moved slowly, absorbed in their private conversation, and all the others preceded them down the corridor. My own hand rested on an echo’s arm, but it was like clinging to a piece of driftwood, hollow and light. Deryk went on, “I thought I would be the last to arrive, and be met with much acclaim, but I see that Darrily has upstaged me. As always, Camarria fawns over Pandrea.”
“So much so that I can’t imagine why the king hasn’t announced Jordan’s marriage to Darrily any time these past ten years,” Elyssa said, her voice spiteful.
“Oh, no! Pandrea is so loyal there is no need to offer crowns and husbands,” Deryk said. “It is only rebellious little provinces like yours that need to be placated and wooed.” He squeezed her hand playfully.
She gave a short laugh. “There hasn’t been much wooing since I’ve been here. Just politeness and rumors. Oh! And that bitch!” Elyssa didn’t trouble to name the queen, but it was clear Deryk knew who she meant. “She summoned me into a private room merely to tell me I had to behave like a royal fiancée, or I’d never win a proposal.”
Deryk crowed with laughter. “Did you claw her eyes out?”
“No, but I wanted to.”
“So I haven’t had a chance to look over all the guests,” said Deryk. “Which one is the girl from Orenza—the one who might marry Cormac?”
“She’s not here yet, but they seem to expect her tomorrow. Oh, and you know who else isn’t here yet?”
“I haven’t a clue.”
“Vivienne.”
Deryk came to a standstill just outside the door to the dining hall. He appeared delighted. “No—she’s actually been invited? So she can watch Cormac pay court to another woman? I thought I was coldhearted, but even I wouldn’t have been so cruel!”