“Thayree, come to me,” said Rhuun, but the girl was too frightened of Maaya and hid her face against Yu's side.
“Send her away,” Yu told the girl. “Take her to the Crosswinds and then come right back, and I'll make sure your mommy is safe.”
“Don't listen to him,” said the prince.
“Go to Moth,” said the woman in a flat, grating voice. She took another step towards the Seat.
“She'll burn us up,” said Yuenne, trying now to shake the child into action. “Send her away.”
“Everyone stop yelling!” Thayree screamed. The room around them shivered, blinked, and vanished. Everyone—and everything—went quiet.
Chapter Thirteen
The Veil/Mistra
“Stop making that racket . . .” Yuenne muttered, but the words died in the dull air around him. He sat up and reached for the child before she could shimmer off. “Where did you bring us, shan?”
She rubbed her eyes, still tight shut and leaking tears, and wouldn't answer. He, keeping a firm grip on her little wrist, looked around. There was nothing to see. What was the last thing she'd said? No yelling? Be quiet? Well, it was certainly quiet here.
Yu felt a distinct sinking sensation as he realized where the girl had deposited them. The quietest, most peaceful place there was, never any yelling or commotion, not here in the Veil.
“Rushta.” He pulled her closer. “Thayree? Please open your eyes.”
“I hate you,” she told him. “You're not my mommy.”
He inhaled and exhaled and said, “I'm sure the prince and that nasty lady are gone by now. Let's go back home and go see your mommy, shall we? “
She pulled one fist away from one eye. “You'll let me? For real?” He thought there was a shrewd appraisal in her expression that did not befit so little a child. But if she should shimmer off without him, he knew the chances of his ever seeing her, or Eriis again, were terrifyingly slim.
“Of course. I don't want to stay here, it's . . . scary. Isn't it? Aren't you scared?” He paused. “I surely am.” And he shuddered dramatically.
She moved her other hand from her face. “You are not. Growns don't get scared.”
“No,” he insisted, wide-eyed. “I am SO scared! Thayree, please don't wander away! I might . . . I might cry!”
She giggled, her hatred of him forgotten. “Then I will protect you,” she declared, and moved a bit closer. “Growns aren't supposed to cry. Mommy said so.” She peeked around his shoulder at the receding dimness. “But if you do get scared, it's okay if you want to cry. I won't tell.”
“You're a very brave little girl. Now, let's go home. I don't like it here, do you?”
“Nope,” she agreed. “It's dumb here.” And as the air around them began to waver, he sighed with relief.
They reappeared in the same place. Or maybe some other place, but surely, they were still in the Veil. She looked confused, then angry, and again used her unique gift. And again, the new place was the same as the last. After another five or six attempts, she was winded and red-faced, and he was filling with dread.
“Take your rest, Thayree,” he told her. “Let's just sit here for a bit and catch our breath.”
“Why didn't . . . “ her dark crimson eyes were filling with tears. Then she briskly shook her head and took him by the wrist. Again. Again. Again.
“Wait! Thayree, stop!” He thought he'd seen movement in the murk; an almost familiar figure, but it was too late. The girl moved them again, again, again, until she was too tired to even sit up. He sighed and pulled her onto his lap, where she mumbled something about her mommy and in moments was snoring against his chest. As she slept, he thought about what he'd seen, and how he could use it. But he had to get the two of them out of here first. Had anyone ever escaped from the Veil? Of course. Rhuun. If there was ever anything distressing, annoying, frustrating, or awkward, that young man was usually at the center of it. Rhuun had gotten out of the Veil courtesy of Yu's own pet human, Scilla. But the prince's rescue had been engineered from outside, by he himself. Could he contact anyone from in here? He had nothing but the clothes on his back and the little girl. He sat back to think, and gently stroked her hair away from her forehead, listening to her slow, steady breath.
Time passed, or so he assumed. Maybe a lot.
“Excuse me.”
Yuenne yelped and leapt to his feet, dumping Thayree onto the floor. A bright light, the brightest thing he'd seen in who knew how long, was in his face. He held his hand over his eyes. “Oh, sorry.” The light, which turned out to be a little flame inside a tube of glass, lowered. A human man was holding the lamp. “Are you all right? I didn't mean to startle you.” Thayree screamed and darted behind Yu's legs. The human looked horrified. “Now I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to frighten your daughter.”
“Oh, she's not . . . she's not frightened. She was just asleep. You know how it is when they wake up.” He picked her up, but she hid her face against his shoulder. He made a decision. “My name is Yuenne, and this is my daughter, Thayree. How long have you been stranded here?”
The man grinned, a terrifying sight on that strange, pale face, and shook his head. “Oh no, sir, I'm not stranded at all. I had a feeling there were people here. I came looking, and I was right. I'm here to rescue you.”
Yu narrowed his eyes. “You had a feeling?”
The man shrugged. “I'm lucky that way.” He raised the lamp again and studied the two of them more closely. Yuenne ducked his head. “Yuenne and . . . Thayree? Where are you from? The Southern Provinces? And how did you end up here?”
Yu took a moment to think. In this dim place, he probably resembled a man of small stature. And maybe there were people from this Southern place who had oddly tilted eyes. There could be a further reckoning when the three of them were out of the Veil. Out of the Veil, and, it appeared, in Mistra. “We were traveling and got lost in a storm, and here we were. Now we just want to get out of here and go home. We are very grateful. What is your name, sir, so I may thank you properly?”
The human stuck out his hand. Yu remembered that from dealing with them before the war, swallowed his distaste and took it. “I'm Aurelian duReed. Call me Auri.” He leaned over and addressed Thayree, who was watching him from behind her elbow. “Young lady, would you like to see some new kitties? I'm afraid they've taken over the whole yard—maybe you can get them to behave.”
Thayree looked up at Yu. “What are kitties?” she asked.
Before the human could respond, Yuenne swung her to the ground and said, “You'll like them very much! Let's not waste another moment!” He looked up at the human—Ori something? “I think she's been down here too long. Shall we follow you?”
Holding Thayree firmly by the hand, he followed the human, who had left a trail of lights—candles, Yu thought - back to the crack in the Veil.
“Close your eyes,” Yu told Thayree. He knew Mistra would be much brighter, more filled with color and light, than anything she'd ever seen. He didn't want her to be alarmed.
“Is it scary? 'Cause I'll protect you,” she said.
“No,” he answered. “It's not scary. Not for someone as brave as you. It's just different, and the light will seem bright at first.” The human regarded them curiously, but waited until the girl had her hands clapped over her eyes before he held the lantern up and moved his free hand in a shape that caught and bent the light, making an elaborate pattern in the dark. In less than a blink, the Veil was replaced by a perfectly ordinary room. A study, Yu thought, with books and rugs and big wide windows. The only things out of place were a large wooden table, something you might do your mixing on in a big kitchen. The table, and two demons.
The human—Auri—set the lamp on the table and stared open-mouthed at his guests, seeing them clearly in the bright afternoon light. “Your eyes,” he said. “And the girl's. Kitties, no wonder. You are from Eriis. You are demons.” And to Yu's astonishment, the young man leapt forward and embraced him, lifting him off the
floor. “I've been waiting - this is a miracle.” He held Yu at arm's length, and then went in for another hug.
Yu stepped back and smoothed his white tunic. “Waiting? For us?”
“He's like us,” said Thayree. “A little. Aren't you?”
Auri leaned shakily against the big table. “She's a smart girl. I am . . . um, let me think where to begin. My . . . great, great, well, there are three or more greats in there. Grandfather. Was the Ambassador.”
Now it was Yu's turn to reel from shock. He felt as if he'd been caught in a firewhirl. “The Ambassador from Eriis? Who never returned? Is this true?” He pushed back his hair. “What was his name, then? What befell him? Who told you these things?”
“Look,” said Thayree, pointing at the man. He'd have to remind the child it was rude to point. Even if she was pointing at something impossible. Auri had his hand out, palm up, and it was full of fire.
“His name was Preeve,” he said. “He loved a woman—a human woman who served at the Guardhouse. Her name was Gita. The brothers of the Order killed him, somehow, to make their weapon. And the family of the silk merchant va'Everly grew fat off his death. That's why I found you. I knew there must have been a reason.” The human's eyes—not really a human after all, though—his eyes were bright. “You came here to help me. Both of you.” He gave his wrist a flick and the flame went out.
He's mad, thought Yu, but he may be of use. “Auri—may I call you Auri? This is a great day. All of us mourned the loss of Ambassador Preeve. Me, especially, seeing as how he was, um, my nephew.” Now Yu held his arms out. “My dear boy, we are kin.”
Auri looked confused. “Really? Your nephew? But…it was a hundred years ago, when he died.”
Yu shook his head. How much does this one not know? “Not back home. Even our calendar was warped by the Weapon. Only a scant twenty years have gone by.” He looked around, taking in the smell of damp, mold (he remembered that), the garish colors, the blinding blue sky. “It's almost as wonderful as it was the day I left. Oh, Preeve and I were close. How I've missed him. But he kept his human lady friend a secret. A discreet man, was our Preeve.” He struggled to overcome a lifetime of correct behavior and stared directly up at the man's face. “Yes, I can almost see it.” And in fact, he could see, in certain light, that his eyes were somewhere between deep brown and dark red. And here he was, just waiting to be picked up and put to use.
Thayree was tugging on his sleeve. “I want to see the things,” she said. “Why is it so shiny here?” But there was no fear on her small face.
Auri reached behind his desk and tugged a cord. Then he knelt next to her. “Your father and I have a lot of boring, grownup things to talk about. But my friend, Miss Jadlen, will take you to see the kitties. Can you say that?”
“Kitties,” she repeated. “Jadlen.” She looked uncertainly at Yuenne. “Father?”
They were joined by a human woman (this one, thought Yu, was nothing but human) wearing a tidy black dress, her salt and pepper hair neatly pinned back. If she was surprised to see two demons in the study, she didn't show it.
“Miss Jadlen, this is my new friend Thayree. Would you mind taking her out to see the kittens? I think they were last spotted in the cutting garden. And possibly a glass of milk along the way?”
The maid smiled and took Thayree by the hand. “Bye, I'm seeing kitties now, don't go away,” she told Yu.
“She doesn't know what kittens are, does she?” asked Auri.
“Nor a glass of milk, nor a cutting garden either. Our home has been a grey place since the Order attacked us.” He began a tour of the room, picking things up and putting them down—a glass, a book, a pair of scissors, a small, tightly stoppered bottle of bright green liquid—so many things. “I'm afraid we must impose, my daughter and I. Explaining our presence here will be difficult. We can't show our faces, and I confess I don't know how to get back home without appealing to the very people who nearly killed us all.” Only one way back through The Door, he thought. Without the books and charms he’d left behind on Eriis, it would take either a mage, a miracle, or a little blood to get The Door open.
“You can't go to the Guardhouse and ask for help,” Auri agreed. “But I think I can help with your appearance. Please, come with me.” The young man led Yu through the house—a much larger one than his own, which was no longer his own, of course. Auri paused at a doorway which opened onto a flight of stairs which switched back the way they'd come. Yu, who prided himself on his excellent sense of direction, believed they were nearly underneath the room they'd arrived in. At the bottom of the stairs was a spacious, though windowless library, and behind yet another metal-strapped wooden door was a small study. Yu noticed the dirt floor, and the moldy smell rising from the floor before anything else; damp dirt, while the rest of the house was nothing but polished wood or glass or stone. The dusty brick walls were lined with bookshelves, and there was a twin of the big work desk he'd seen in the room in which they'd arrived. Sitting there among the litter of papers and books and glassware was another of the bottles of green liquid. The color caught his eye and he picked it up.
“Careful with that. It's a poison of my own invention. I know your folk—our folk - are hardy but it should be strong enough to kill even one of us.”
One of us. This boy has been waiting his whole life to say that. I can use this. Yu set the bottle down and said, “Your time among the humans hasn't been wasted, I can see that.” As he hoped, the young man preened.
Now Auri took a key from a thin gold chain around his neck and opened the bottom desk drawer. So, he keeps his secrets in the same manner I did. Yuenne reminded himself to keep an eye on that key. The young man pulled out two books; one bound in heavy paper, the other with faded leather bindings. “These have been in my family for a hundred years. They came from the Guardhouse. Gita took them when she fled the place, after Preeve was murdered.” He set them on the desk. “We won't be using this one.” He stroked the cover of the newer, paperbound book, which had to do with luck. I'm lucky that way, Auri had told him. That explained their rescue. Yu didn't believe in luck, but he did believe in opportunity. A duplicate key? But how to make the exchange? Time for that later . . .
Yuenne picked up the second, older book. “A Treatise on the Changing of Appearance with Special Emphasis On The Second or Practiced Upon Party. That's a mouthful. Have you ever tried it? Does it work?”
The young man shifted uncomfortably. “I have tried it. There was some question of consent, but it all ended well enough. Yes. If you allow it, I can try to give you and your daughter human faces.”
“Me first, of course.”
“Of course. And then you can help me with my va'Everly problem.
Yuenne considered the books and the young man. He thought of Scilla, of how helpful she’d been. He thought of the white-haired sister who had somehow changed her face and sent him here. “They have daughters,” he said. “Maybe you should start there.”
Chapter Fourteen
Eriis
The Seat was vacant. Yuenne and the girl had vanished, shimmered out of the room. Rhuun assumed the child had taken him with her, but where?
“The Crosswinds,” Hollen gasped. “They're gone.”
“Don't be a fool,” Rhuun snapped. “They're probably in the next room.” He turned to Maaya. “Can you hear me? Shani?” She blinked and he watched light and life flow back into her eyes. “Do you know where they went?” Why she would know, he wasn't sure, but she could do things no one else could, that was clear enough. She shook her head helplessly and sank onto the step below the Seat.
“You have defeated the Counselor,” said Hollen, who openly gazed with wide, stunned eyes at Maaya. “You filled him with fear and he fled with the child. You have taken back the High Seat.” He made as if to kneel, then stopped himself.
“What? No.” Rhuun glared at Hollen, and plucked at his ruined shirt. The flesh of his arms, so recently healed, was a mass of livid finger-shaped burns.
“The Cross—why do you keep saying that?”
“It was her only lesson, the little girl. The Crosswinds, and how to get there. She knows the way. Or knew it. Rest her now.”
“You shut up,” Maaya hissed. “She's not . . .” A look of horror came over her and she sobbed into her hands. “She was scared of me. This is my fault.”
Rhuun knelt beside her and whispered, “Don't say such things.” He didn't know how Niico's old training partner had found himself at the elbow of the Counselor, but the man seemed ready to let the wind blow him in a new, potentially useful direction. “And definitely not in front of Hollen. You heard what he said—Yuenne sealed his own fate. We need him to say it to others”
She looked up at him, shocked. “But you saw—”
“I am trying to protect you. Let the blame rest with Yuenne. Light and Wind grant that she come back soon—without him. But wherever they went, he sent them there. Not you. Do you understand me?” She nodded, looking away. “Hollen, can you—” but Hollen had already gone. Rhuun could only hope the story he carried was the right one.
When Kaaya arrived, she said Yuenne's name and spat on the ground. When his mother's old household guard came trickling back into the High Seat Hall, they were wearing black, not white. When Rhuun left the Hall to take Kaaya back to her home outside the Arch, the crowds parted for him, hands reached to tap his arms and shoulders. He nodded and let them gather their luck, putting the pain away. He promised Kaaya he'd send guards out into the Vastness, if need be, to find her daughter and bring her home. The search would start inside the Arch at once, house to house. The story of the child being so terrified of Yuenne that she sacrificed herself to rid the city of its notorious Counselor had spread from the Arch to the Quarter and was even now heading for the Edge, but Kaaya simply shook her head.
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