Coldmarch

by Daniel A. Cohen

  I was quick to unlock the bars. Shilah swept past me, going right into the cage. ‘You can trust us.’

  ‘Couldn’t trust you in dat cart, priss,’ Ellcia hissed, holding up her fists. ‘You left us.’

  Shilah turned to Ellia. ‘Well, we’re leaving now, together. Convince your sister.’

  ‘She’s right, Ellcy. And if yuh stay, how we gonna get past thum guards on selection night,’ Ellia said. ‘Where we gonna hide?’

  Ellcia groaned. ‘Thum gunn try and torture us if we leave. Issa trick.’

  ‘No more torturing, ever,’ I said, grabbing my crossbow. ‘We’re going to take you on the Coldmarch. We have a secret place too, where they won’t be able to find you.’

  Cam was staring at Leah’s hand, still reaching up his shirt, his mouth agape.

  ‘He’s really not a Hookman any more,’ Shilah said. ‘And you can trust these Nobles.’ She nodded towards Cam. ‘I swe— you don’t have to put your hand on him like that, Leah. We’re not going to leave you behind.’

  Leah’s palm pressed tighter, ignoring her.

  ‘Please, beautiful Noble,’ Leah said. ‘Keep me safe.’

  Cam swallowed hard. ‘Yes.’

  Still Ellcia hesitated. I couldn’t imagine what had been done to her after she’d been returned here.

  Shilah wrapped the freckled sister in a hug, which I knew had to be extraordinarily painful considering the fresh burns on her chest. Shilah held tightly, even as Ellcia struggled. She whispered something into the girl’s ear, and all of a sudden the resistance stopped. Ellcia gave a single nod, letting herself be led out of the cage. Ellia trailed behind, and Leah filtered out, going right for Cam’s side, demure and poised.

  Cam looked as if he’d just swallowed a Wisp whole.

  I gave Shilah a questioning look, but she only returned a beguiling smile, shaking her head.

  ‘Dunes,’ I said.

  The big man stood at attention. ‘Yes, Meshua.’

  ‘Are you okay?’ I asked.

  ‘I am in your service,’ Dunes said. ‘I am the best I’ve ever been.’

  ‘Good,’ I said, lifting up my crossbow. ‘Help me lead us out of here.’

  Dunes stepped over the broken Noble and wrenched his blade out of the wall. ‘By your command.’

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Leah told us that the secret way out of the Sanctuary was in something called the ‘Clean Room’, calling out directions as we fled. Considering what the Beauty Room turned out to be, I prepared myself for the worst.

  We rushed down the empty hallways. Dunes brought up the rear at a brisk charge. No guards or masked Nobles came jumping out of the shadows or hopped around corners. Everyone in the Sanctuary must have been pondering the magnificent shield of Ice blocking the courtyard door. The Cold would have seeped through the wood, and been felt even in the garden itself. I prayed everyone was still in shock, searching the sky for answers, instead of the hallways.

  Shilah hunched as she moved, not able to stand up straight, and the sisters winced behind with every step. Leah showed signs of abuse too, having to walk a bit bow-legged, one leg limping.

  Severed ears and hands weren’t enough.

  I wanted to go back and cut out that bastard’s heart myself.

  ‘Left,’ Leah called, her fingers dancing through the air in front of her. ‘Up the stairs!’

  Dunes shot a questioning look back at me, the same way he’d done after every one of Leah’s directions.

  I nodded.

  Dunes swung left, barrelling into possible danger. Cam, Split, and I followed right at his back, weapons at the ready.

  ‘Cam,’ I said.

  He kept pace by my side, crossbow raised, but his focus kept flicking backwards to a certain Domestic. ‘Yeah, Micah?’

  ‘What do you think?’ I asked quietly. My heart was a hundred hands banging on a single drum.

  ‘About what?’ Cam asked.

  I paused, breath coming heavily. I seethed to the core. ‘How do we fix all this?’

  Cam gave me a soft look. ‘We stick by you.’

  ‘I mean it,’ I said. ‘This can’t be how it is.’

  ‘It won’t be for—’

  A rip from behind.

  Dunes swivelled his crossbow, high and deadly, his whole body tense. Ellcia finished tearing a painting off the wall, the frame smashing on the ground.

  ‘Don’t care if this a trick. He dunn get tah look at them,’ Ellcia said, going to the next nearest painting. ‘S’not right.’

  Ellia hesitated and then followed her sister’s lead, ripping off a painting of her own. She looked rather proud beneath her puffy eye.

  ‘What’s not right about them?’ I asked.

  Shilah touched my wrist, shaking her head.

  ‘What?’ I asked. ‘I want to know.’

  Dunes gestured us onwards. ‘We have to move, Meshua. They’ll be looking for us.’

  We trudged onwards, with Ellia and Ellcia ripping down paintings as we fled. It slowed the group down, and made far more noise than was necessary, but I let them have their moments. The sisters stood a little taller after each one they destroyed.

  Dunes flinched at each crash of the wooden frames.

  ‘What’s your name?’ Leah asked Cam, having moved to his side.

  Cam gulped. ‘Camlish.’

  ‘You’re beautiful,’ she said, eyes on the floor. ‘Will you really keep me safe?’

  Cam nodded, his face stiffening with unease. He looked as if he was trying to dredge up something smart to say. The veins in his neck strained, but he remained silent.

  ‘Go right, sir!’ Leah called out to Dunes.

  Dunes looked to me, and I nodded.

  Leah turned her attention back to Cam, her leg dragging. ‘I know this is a strange request, Camlish, but will you braid what’s left of my hair? When we get to your safe place?’ She tucked her injured hand tightly against her chest, nestling underneath the fabric, revealing a healthy swell of breast. ‘I don’t want to be his kind of beautiful any longer. I want to be your kind of beautiful.’

  Shilah rolled her eyes.

  Cam just blinked, his face cycling through anxious expressions. Ellcia growled from back near the end of the hallway, tearing down a painting of a Jadan with hair dyed like flame.

  ‘Cam,’ I said.

  ‘Yeah— yes?’ Cam asked.

  ‘Can you grab that Sinai?’ I asked, holding my injured hand up helplessly.

  ‘Good idea,’ Cam said. ‘Get some light for any secret tunnels. Maybe keep the Sobeks away. That’s why you’re the leader.’ He gestured respectfully to Shilah. ‘Two leaders.’

  Shilah gave him a gentle nod.

  ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘That’s the reason.’

  Needing light did cross my mind. Mainly I wanted to steal some of the Sinai’s Cold Charge back in the cave. I prayed that it might at least delay the Frost’s disappearance. I knew the problem probably wasn’t just the salt, but I didn’t have any other ideas as to how to save the holy Cold. All I knew was that without a working Coldmaker, Meshua returned to the little blue book.

  Shilah gave me a curious look. I turned so she couldn’t read the secret on my face.

  Cam grabbed the portable light as we swept past.

  Leah’s head cocked sideways, her bottom lip thrust out into an intoxicating pout. ‘A High Noble taking orders from Jadans? Aren’t you the one who gave your slaves the Ice?’

  Cam gulped, looking away from her. ‘They’re not anyone’s slaves.’

  ‘Left, sir!’ Leah called out to the front, her face growing concerned. ‘Up the staircase!’

  Dunes turned to me. His dark forearms shone with pieces of broken glass, accentuated by streaks of blood from splinters.

  ‘You don’t have to check with me,’ I told him gently. ‘Lead us where she says.’

  Dunes’s eyes narrowed with suspicion, but he swept up the staircase.

  ‘Seriously. What’s with the paintings?’ I as
ked Shilah.

  She sighed, wincing as she climbed the stairs at my side, teeth clenching. I reached out to steady her, and she accepted my strength.

  ‘You really want to know?’ she asked.

  I gave her an obvious sort of look.

  She nodded, taking the stairs slowly. I kept a hand wrapped around her, lifting as best as I could. My grip slipped along her slick skin, and I kept getting lost in the scent of her burns.

  ‘There’s a ritual,’ she said. ‘Once a month. They set fire to one of the Domestics and make her jump off the cliff, a tribute to the original Fall. The paintings on the walls are of each girl they murdered.’ She put a little more weight on my arm. ‘Apparently Ka’in will just stare at the paintings in the hallways for hours. He picks a different painting to take off the wall and into his chambers every night. There’s quite a few for him to choose from.’

  Dozens of paintings flanked the staircase, and I couldn’t look at the girls’ faces.

  ‘You happen to see a group of Nobles in masks?’ she asked. ‘Maybe writing names down?’

  ‘At the banquet.’

  The next steps made her whole body shudder, but she kept going. ‘They study the girls. Make bets who the Sun is going to choose this month. They don’t even bet Cold. It’s all for status and power in their Sun-damned secret society.’

  ‘And how does the Sun choose?’ I asked.

  She turned to look at Leah, lowering her voice. ‘The girls don’t ever get to go in the Clean Room, but they know about it. I think Ka’in let the information slip on purpose. There’s this big glass eye that can be rotated on an axis. And it’s curved, to gather up heat, like one of Leroi’s magnifying glasses.’ She took a deep breath. ‘So all the Domestics have their names written on scrolls, which are stuck in a thick layer of sand on the floor. Once a month those masked bastards take the covering off a big hole in the roof, so the Sun hits the glass eye. Ka’in gives it a random spin, and whatever scroll gets set on fire …’

  ‘We would have heard of such a thing,’ I said, my stomach tight enough to turn sand to glass. ‘That kind of sick torture would have made its way to Paphos. Everything comes back to Paphos.’

  Shilah gave me a weak smile, and I saw that a back tooth had been ripped out, roots and all.

  I was going to kill every Noble wearing a mask.

  ‘We have the Coldmaker,’ she said. ‘They have their Fall. There’s more secrets in this world than you think.’

  ‘Like Desert,’ I said.

  She paused, and then kissed me.

  I wasn’t expecting it. Her lips were hard from lack of water, and she flinched at the pressure, but she made it last as long as she could. Her breath was atrocious, but I was greedy for her warmth and taste and familiarity.

  She put her hands on my cheeks and stared deep into my eyes. ‘Yes. Like Desert.’

  ‘Did you mean that kiss?’ I asked, breathless.

  She nodded, putting a finger against her top lip. ‘It feels like stingers and flames to kiss.’

  ‘I’m so sorry—’

  ‘You’re worth stingers and flames,’ she said, keeping our lips close, foreheads touching. ‘World Partner.’

  Cam swept past us, Leah hovering a little further behind him, giving Shilah and I a suspicious glance. Dunes reached the top landing, his crossbow sweeping across the perimeter. I still couldn’t understand why it was so quiet in the hallways. My best guess was that everyone was kneeling before the Ice wall, praying together. If we had any luck, they’d be praying for days.

  ‘Go right, sir!’ Leah called out.

  Ellia and Ellcia ripped off paintings on the staircase. They toppled down the steps, making a spectacular racket. The sisters cackled as the paintings fell; Ellia’s laughter coming a little after her sister’s.

  No guards came to see about the noise. I guessed we couldn’t have been that far from the courtyard. Part of me was starting to panic at the silence, knowing no good would come from losing my cool.

  My hands felt too clean. For all these Nobles represented, for all the pain and suffering they inflicted on us, I didn’t want to leave until my forearms were tattooed red.

  Dunes led us down a hallway bright with Sinais.

  ‘Keep it up,’ Shilah said.

  I looked behind me, confused. We were moving at a good clip, and the sisters were no longer removing the paintings.

  ‘Not that,’ Shilah said, making a broad gesture over my face. ‘Look at you. You’re determined. You’re fierce. You’re ready for battle. You’re a new Spout.’

  I shrugged. ‘Probably because I’m not Spout any more.’

  ‘You’ll always be Spout,’ she said, her back stiffening in spite of the burns. ‘I think now it’s just that you’re my Spout.’

  ‘I—’

  ‘So keep it up,’ she said, giving a pained smile. ‘And I want a special Abb crossbow too, when all of this is over.’

  ‘Consider it done,’ I said.

  ‘That’s the one,’ Leah called, her voice musical and happy. She shuddered with delight, as if we already had her back in the Coldmarch cave. ‘The Clean Room.’

  Cam couldn’t stop staring at Shilah, his face full of sorrow.

  ‘Still no trick,’ Ellia said to her sister in hushed tones. ‘Who’s the priss, now?’

  Ellcia made an indiscernible grunt.

  Dunes stopped in front of a large metal slab with a Closed Eye painted on it in red. It was almost the same colour as alder. The symbol seemed to jump out of the door, painted with depth and shadow, making it even more ominous.

  ‘And you remember the way through the secret tunnel?’ I asked Leah. ‘You’ve done it before, right?’

  She threaded her arm through Cam’s, giving a demure nod.

  Cam looked too stiff to move quickly.

  ‘Okay,’ I said to Dunes, getting a bad feeling. I lifted my crossbow, just in case. ‘Open it.’

  ‘I don’t like this,’ Split said, weapon trembling in his hand as he looked at the sisters. ‘It’s too quiet.’

  ‘Maybe we’re just finally catching our luck,’ Cam said.

  Leah gave a dainty laugh, looking up into Cam’s face with glowing admiration.

  Cam blushed. ‘I agree. I am funny.’

  ‘What was the joke?’ Shilah asked, her face stern and unamused.

  ‘Dunes,’ I prodded.

  Dunes rushed to try the handle, which turned without any resistance. He lifted his crossbow and pushed open the whole slab of metal with one heave, marching into complete darkness. There were no sounds from the room, everything calm and black. I thought I heard people breathing, but it was just my imagination playing tricks again. My heart was beating as rapidly as ever.

  ‘Cam,’ I said, nodding to the Sinai, feeling a huge wave of relief.

  Cam puffed himself up in a self-important way, winking at Leah as he strutted into the room.

  Leah tittered once again.

  Shilah groaned.

  We followed Cam inside as a group, the light only just penetrating the darkness. The room was vaster than I would have thought. And still. Too still.

  Something slammed behind us.

  All at once the room lit up in a blinding haze, dozens of Sinais blazing to life across the room. The place was vast and long, with a low ceiling that made it feel as if we were being crushed. The floor was covered in sand, and the walls were done up with hundreds of Closed Eyes, all staring towards the centre of the room. Dunes stopped still in front of me, his huge shape burned into the back of my eyes. I had to blink rapidly to adjust to the onslaught of light, the dazzling glow catching me off guard. I almost dropped my weapon.

  Leah had led us right into a trap.

  I looked behind us. Two guards stood with their swords drawn, helmets down over their faces. They’d slammed the door and locked us inside.

  A row of a dozen guards were lined across the room in front of the lights, swords out of their scabbards, pikes at the ready. Their armour gleam
ed. Behind them had to be every single masked Noble in the courtyard. They huddled in imperfect rows, sneering at us from behind their black velvet, their smiles broad and hungry. They still had their scrolls and pens in hand.

  A large glass eye waited on a pedestal in the middle of the room, as Shilah had predicted. The clear pupil was the size of a caravan wheel. Beneath its gaze, dozens upon dozens of scrolls stuck out of the layer of sand. Ka’in was casually leaning against the base of the pedestal. The formation of guards and masked Nobles behind him were clustered around one of the walls, which would surely mask the entrance to the secret tunnel.

  ‘Welcome!’ Ka’in chimed, as jovial as if he were greeting an old friend. His smile was easy and languid, smoother than the velvet masks the rest of the Nobles wore. ‘Come in. Let’s chat! Chat about the Khat. Chat about this and that. Hamman, so delightful to see you!’

  ‘I am not Hamman,’ Dunes growled, waving his crossbow in Ka’in’s direction.

  Leah was huddling behind Cam, the look of terror on her face strange. Perhaps she hadn’t betrayed us after all.

  Ellia was looking at her sister with heavy shame, her puffy eye making it all the sadder. Ellcia took her sister under her arm, holding her close.

  ‘Trick,’ Ellcia said in hushed tones.

  ‘Well, you sure look like a Hamman,’ Ka’in said, tapping his bottom lip. ‘Twins, I assume? I didn’t realize that scars covering an entire body could run in the family.’ At this he gave a heavy chuckle, looking to his guards, who echoed the laughter.

  ‘Hamman. Is. Gone,’ Dunes said, sounding less confident than I’d have liked.

  ‘No matter the name you wish to call yourself, Hookman,’ Ka’in said, pressing himself off the pedestal with a little skip, stepping slowly towards us. ‘Once again you did a spectacular job, returning all the runaway—’

  ‘I returned nothing,’ Dunes said, crossbow high and ready.

  A flash of concern ran through Ka’in’s face, but it quickly returned to glee as he spotted Leah and the other Domestics cowering at the back of the group.

  ‘Do you really think I didn’t know about this passageway, ladies! I had the damn thing built myself a few years back!’ He clucked his tongue. ‘Ahh, hunting. What’s a Noble without sport? Loose the Jadan, catch the Jadan, through the secret door. Loose the Jadan, catch the Jadan, catch the Jadan whore.’