Witch Fall

by Amber Argyle

  “I won’t do it!” Sash cried as she sank below him.

  Lilette couldn’t understand why Sash and her witches didn’t just blast the emperor with lightning—level the whole city with a violent storm.

  The emperor turned his full attention to Sash. “Your witches brought our enemy to my city, and then you pretend innocence! I will do what I must to protect my people.”

  Lilette’s breathing came hard. This was wrong, horribly wrong. Why wasn’t her sister fighting back? Then the emperor made a gesture.

  Sash whipped around. Lilette followed her gaze to the other side of the barrier. Obscured by the strange lights, dozens of men and women knelt in rows, their hands tied behind their backs. An elite stood above each of them.

  Lilette’s hand flew to her mouth to silence her gasp of horror. Half of the witches had been forced to sing, while the other half and all their guardians were held at sword point.

  She had a sudden flash of memory—guardians holding a shield wall, fighting and dying to maintain the passage. Griz had held her to his chest and run. Lilette had never forgotten those guardians. Her father had been one. Their duty was to protect the witches, guarding their backs as their songs began to take effect.

  Fury rose in Lilette. Something sacred and good and right had been violated—twisted into something evil.

  Sash gasped. “You’re asking us to murder thousands of men!”

  “Don’t pretend this isn’t something the witches haven’t done for centuries,” the emperor replied.

  She glared at him, pain naked on her face.

  “I won’t let Vorlay slaughter my people,” he went on. “You witches think you can meddle in the affairs of men but never suffer the repercussions. Well, you came here as spies. That makes you prisoners of war!”

  “I keep telling you, we’re not spies! And those songs couldn’t have come from Grove City. It’s not our way!”

  “You told me yourself—the listeners hunt down anyone who sings outside of your city. If someone is singing, you know about it.”

  Sash was crying now, and Lilette scrambled for a solution—some way she could help. But what could she do beside getting herself caught?

  “We must have missed something,” Sash said as her feet touched down on the ground in the center of the circle. “I don’t know how, but I promise, I will find out.”

  The emperor motioned again. In unison, the elite drew their swords from their baldrics and held them poised over the witches’ heads. A whimper of fear and horror clawed its way up Lilette’s throat. She pressed both her hands to her mouth to keep quiet.

  The emperor paused before saying, “Make your choice, Sash. Either you capsize those ships, or we kill your witches and guardians.”

  Lilette’s sister tipped her head to the side as if listening to something. Without any direction from her, the witches began singing as one. Sash shot up into the night sky, her strange dress swirling around her legs. But she did not look up, did not move until it was her turn to sing.

  When she did, her song was punctuated with sobs. And this time as Lilette listened, something began to happen. She was remembering.

  Chapter 11

  We showed the world we were weapons. From that moment on, everything changed. ~Jolin

  Memories long lost churned inside Lilette. Her mother singing with her as a very young child. Their songs gliding through the air like a fish through water. The world responding to words that molded themselves naturally to Lilette’s tongue. Her father dancing with her amid flowers that glowed with a strange light. Her sister playing a musical instrument for Lilette as she sang for a crowd of thousands.

  She also remembered her mother and father arguing, their words cutting and hot. Her mother had been offered a place as a Harshen ambassador. Her father wanted to go. Wanted Lilette away from the pressure and demands that came with a child destined to be the next Head of Light. Her mother didn’t think Harshen was safe. In the end, her father had won.

  And there was more. Lilette remembered the Creators’ language. The songs. The harmonies. All of it came rushing back. And she knew that she was powerful. One of the most powerful witches alive.

  From overheard bits of conversation, Lilette learned that Vorlay’s entire armada had been sunk, down to the last ship. Any Vorlayan soldiers in the city were cut off from any means of support or retreat. It wouldn’t be long before any pockets of resistance would be overpowered. The invasion was over.

  With their dark purpose fulfilled, the witches released each other. Cracks spread across the barrier until it exploded in a shower of dying light. The elite rushed in and bound and gagged the witches. Lilette watched, appalled. She knew the women’s power—she held a piece of it inside herself—it was unthinkable that something so strong should be so easily subjugated.

  Someone shouted. A woman was struggling against the men holding her—men dressed in the black robes of the eunuchs. “You will pay for this evil you’ve forced us to commit,” she shouted up at the emperor with his impassive face. “The deaths you’ve stained our hands with!”

  One of the eunuchs brought his staff up and swung it down on the woman’s head. She collapsed, hitting the brick courtyard so hard that she skidded forward before coming to rest in a heap. As she lay there unmoving, the torchlight caught her face.

  “Jolin!” Lilette cried. Clapping a hand over her mouth, she immediately pressed herself flat against the smooth bark, hoping no one had noticed a voice coming from the harem. After a moment, she dared peek around the tree. Elite soldiers were hauling Jolin away, their torches illuminating her head hanging limply from her neck. Blood matted her hair.

  The rest of the witches and guardians were herded farther into the gardens until Lilette could no longer see them through the trees. Her breathing came fast and hard. She glanced up and noticed Chen watching the spectacle, his face emotionless.

  Hate built inside her chest. He’d taken everything from her—her family, friends, future. Her mother was right. Lilette was a weapon; all these women were. And if she could just find a way to free them, her power would be multiplied a hundredfold.

  She waited for hours, until the generals and soldiers had gone, until the garden was dark and quiet. She sang softly for the tree to grow even more. It stretched up and out, until branches cast comforting shadows over the harem wall’s sloping roof, which was about as wide was she was.

  Not trusting her reflexes, Lilette lay down and scooted along the length. She dropped down on the wall and pressed herself flat against the rough tiles. For a long time she watched the dark garden, noting the placement of torches and the guard towers spaced along the ramparts. A soft glow of torchlight illuminated the tops of the trees about a hundred paces from where she lay concealed. That must be where they were keeping the witches.

  She fingered the knife she’d stuffed in her robe. She’d seen how powerful they were, how strong. All she had to do was cut a few of their gags free. The witches could call down a storm that would bring the city to its knees, just as Lilette and her mother had done long ago. Then they would steal a boat by the docks and escape.

  Eventually a pair of guards marched by, their half-moon halberds catching the starlight. They didn’t carry torches, so the shadows would conceal them and make them harder to avoid.

  Once they passed, Lilette slid over the side. She hung by her fingertips before she dropped, then pressed her body against the wall. She paused, her heart in her throat, and when no one sounded a cry of alarm, she entwined her fingers inside her wide sleeves and hurried through the garden.

  She came to a clearing with a fountain surrounded by flagstones. She remembered this place. Remembered playing for hours with Han in the fountain. Now it held bound and gagged witches. The guardians were nowhere in sight.

  A pavilion had been set up above the witches, with a glowing torch on every pole. Elite surrounded the witches in groups of ten, with the whole surrounded by more elite. Desperate to know if Jolin was alright, Lilette tri
ed to pick out her friend among the witches, but they were all huddled together in a tangle of bodies.

  Not daring to come closer, Lilette kept to the shadows along the perimeter, counting guards. Two guards per witch. She hadn’t counted on that. She’d figured the witches would be bound and watched by just a handful of guards. Nothing like this. Clearly, Chen and the emperor knew just how dangerous the witches were.

  If Lilette were to free them, she needed a way to draw away the guards. The beautiful palace, lit up with distant torchlight, caught her eye. A smile stole over her face. Now if she could just manage to avoid being caught.

  Eight long years had passed since she’d been in the garden, but she hadn’t forgotten the shrine. She moved in its general direction and stumbled upon the guardians. The emperor obviously didn’t see them as nearly the same threat as the witches. They were kept inside a metal-barred enclosure that had once held exotic animals. Fewer than a dozen elite stood guard at the gate.

  Lilette counted the guardians as best she could—over sixty. It would be much easier to free them and let them fight their way past the elite guarding the witches. She skirted the enclosure, and it wasn’t long before she caught the sweet smell of incense. She followed the smoke to the wide pillars and slipped inside. Names of all the emperors for the last thousand years were carved into the five walls, sticks of burning incense before all of them.

  The stones were cool beneath her slippered feet as she approached the dais, upon which was a statue of the five-clawed dragon curled around the sun. Hundreds of sticks of incense in various states of burning lay before him—prayers for a Harshen victory. All those sticks of incense were lit by holding them to one of dozens of cork lamps floating in glass jars of oil.

  Wetting her lips, Lilette took one of the lamps, careful not to spill the hot oil. She couldn’t hide anymore, not with a lamp lighting her up to the night. So she walked straight toward the palace as if she belonged.

  Taking a deep breath, she left the safety of the shadows and stepped onto the porch. The door wasn’t guarded—the only way into the gardens was through the palace, so there wasn’t really a point.

  Knowing the exact tapestries she would light on fire, she reached for the handle.

  “Stop,” someone said in a commanding tone.

  Her first instinct was to run. But she forced herself to stay still. She was winded after only walking. There was no way she could outrun two elite guards.

  They came toward her, their half-moon spears lowered. She kept her eyes trained on the floor, hiding her pale coloring in the shadows.

  “Who are you? What is your business?”

  “I’m Chang,” she said, her mind working quickly. “My madame lost her comb in the garden and sent me to fetch it.” She held out the comb Salfe had given her as proof.

  One of the men lowered his spear long enough to take it from her. She had to resist the impulse to snatch it back. The other guard squinted at her in the dim light. “You’re not one of the palace eunuchs.”

  Oh, no. “I’m new.”

  The first guard tucked her comb into his pocket. “Easy enough to find out. We’ll take him to the master eunuch.” He clamped a hand on Lilette’s shoulder while the other guard opened the palace door.

  Nausea hit her hard. This would not end well.

  The guard steered her forward, and she entered the palace for the first time in eight years. The smell hit her—incense and scented oils. Carved reliefs of phoenixes and dragons covered the walls. Tall columns of green marble were spaced throughout the room. It was dark, but Lilette knew the walls were painted red—the color of passion and life. Motifs in tones of jade and gold adorned the high ceiling.

  The main room was broad and open, filled with low tables surrounded by cushions. The guards directed Lilette toward the back of the palace, in the direction of the small, screened rooms where the palace eunuchs slept.

  Her mind scrambled for a way out, something that didn’t end with various parts of her body being sold for curses. She was vaguely aware of the front doors swinging open. An elite wearing full battle armor strode in. Was he here for her too?

  Gripping the lamp hard, she lurched forward, deliberately spilling oil on the nearest wall. But the sudden motion caused the lamp to go out, so the wall didn’t catch fire. Dread filled her whole body, making her limbs heavy. One of the elite swung the shaft of his spear, hitting her across the shin. Lilette dropped to the ground as pain shot up her leg.

  “What are you doing?” he barked. “You’ll set the whole palace afire, you fool!”

  “Get up,” the other growled, his gaze flashing to the elite who’d come in after them.

  Lilette gasped for breath. She didn’t think her leg was broken, just terribly bruised. She started to push herself up, but she was shaking so badly her body wouldn’t respond.

  “Come on,” the second guard said through clenched teeth. “You eunuchs are all so soft. Not even men at all, are you?” He jabbed the butt of his spear into her side. “Get up!”

  Lilette cried out in pain. Her vision went black before coming back in streaks of gray. Pain shot through her side with every breath. “Please, just give me a moment.”

  “I have better things to do than act as nursemaid to some gelded weakling. Get up!” The guard raised the butt of his spear above his head.

  Chapter 12

  A true test of any civilization is how they treat their women. ~Jolin

  Lilette braced herself for the pain, but it didn’t come.

  “I said, what’s the meaning of this?” The armored elite was standing above her, his hand wrapped around the spear shaft to prevent the guard from striking her again.

  Both guards took a few steps back. “We found him in the compound after dark. Said he was sent to find his madame’s lost comb, General.” He held it out as proof.

  In her peripheral vision, Lilette watched the general stare at the comb. He squatted in front of her. Knowing he was her only hope, she tipped her face into the light.

  For a single beat of Lilette’s heart, disbelief crossed Han’s face before his expression shifted back to impassable. He tapped her comb against his leg as he stood. “This is only one of them. Where’s the other?”

  Her mouth came open and she gave a slight shake of her head. “Other?”

  He rubbed his forehead as if her mere presence exhausted him. “I know his madame, one of the emperor’s favorites.” Han tugged off his helmet and ran a hand through his sweaty hair. “She’s not going to be happy.”

  The soldiers shifted. “Sorry, General. We didn’t know.”

  Han’s voice went low and dangerous. “Did I ask for your excuses?”

  “No, General,” they said in unison.

  There was blood on his armor and on his neck. He’d been fighting Vorlayans. “How about we forget any of this happened? My guards won’t report you leaving the palace at night. You don’t report their . . . manhandling.”

  The elite nodded eagerly. Her hand clenching the cramp in her side, Lilette nodded.

  “Do you remember where you found the first comb?” Han went on. “Chances are the mate is somewhere close by.”

  What was he going to do with her? Was he really helping her? Relief threatened to overwhelm her, but she held the emotion at bay. Fear was the only thing preventing her from collapsing. She kept her eyes averted. “Yes, General.”

  “Well, let’s go find it then. There’ll be no living with the madame if she doesn’t have her combs.” Han tipped his head back the way the guards had come. “Get to your rounds.” The soldiers left as if death itself chased them. Knowing Han, it probably did.

  He reached down and pulled her to her feet. “This is a deadly place to be. We need to move.” His voice was dark and angry.

  She leaned limply against him, all her weight on her uninjured leg. “Where are you taking me?”

  “Back to the harem.”

  She tried to pull away from him but was shaking so badly she could barel
y stand. “No. I have to free my sister.”

  He shook his head. “You can barely walk. You’re going back into the harem whether you like it or not.”

  Lilette glared at him, but inside she knew he was right. She would just have to wait for another chance at escape. She let out a humorless chuckle. “So I surrender. Again.”

  Han took hold of her elbow. “No soldier would be seen carrying a eunuch.” His voice was gentle. “Lean on me. We’ll make it look like I’m dragging you.” Her leg cramped in protest, but she hobbled forward despite the pain.

  Han grunted. “Were you actually trying to burn the palace down?”

  “I had to do something.” After slowly descending the palace stairs, they entered the comforting shadows of the garden. He guided her toward the harem wall. With each dozen or so steps, the trembling in her limbs faded.

  “Why are you helping me?” Lilette asked. “Why not just turn me in to your father?”

  Han glanced at her sideways. “I have no desire to see your head anywhere but at the top of your shoulders.”

  She winced at the thought. “And before? How did you find me the night I was poisoned?”

  He nodded toward the top of the ramparts, where a tower lorded over the harem. “I was up there. I saw you wandering below, obviously sick or injured. I saw you fall.”

  Her brows drew together. “But you’re not a guard. There’s no reason for you to be atop the ramparts—especially so soon after returning home.” Then the realization hit her. “You . . . you were looking for me?”

  He didn’t deny it. Lilette looked into his eyes, like chips of onyx in the starlight. “They would have killed you, had they found you.”

  “Yes.”

  She could walk by herself now. She put a little distance between them. “I don’t understand. Why would you risk it?”

  Han studied her. His scar was on the other side of his face. From this aspect, with the starlight to soften his harsh features, he looked almost handsome. “It’s been a long night, Lilette. I have watched many, many men—none of them soldiers—die. I don’t have any more to give.”