“There has been growing unrest in the city, though,” said a man with a crooked nose that looked as if it had been broken. “The palace guards have helped put out a few small riots, and apprehended those responsible for a series of attacks on magical households. Anti-magical sentiment is growing, and I would not be surprised at all if one of these extremists was responsible for today’s attack.”
“How strong do you think they are?” Mother asked. “Do we need to increase the palace guard? Would they risk a direct attack on us?”
“I cannot say,” the crooked-nosed man said. “They gather in secret, so no one can guess at their numbers. I think the greater danger is that they might sway the entire city against Baylore Palace, drawing even the magic races into their fold under the guise of ridding the city of Kalleah’s forbidden power. From there, they could launch a campaign of extermination similar to what our ancestors faced in Whitland.”
“That’s it,” Mother said. “We need to protect ourselves. I will arrange for more guards to be stationed at the palace gates, and appoint new city guards to patrol the streets in civilian dress. Even if you don’t support Kalleah, you must realize this threat endangers all those with magic blood. And that means everyone standing here. You may not have the talent yourselves, but the potential is there, and it could be your child who becomes the next target.”
The pregnant woman put her hands around her stomach protectively.
As the babble of voices started up again, I slipped through the crowd to join the crooked-nosed man, who had retreated to the edge of the room and was leaning against the hearth.
“Do you know anything about the Truthbringers?” I asked him.
The man blinked in surprise. “They appear to be the leaders of these anti-magical groups.” He folded his arms across his chest. “What did you want to know about them?”
“Where did they come from? Why can’t we just arrest them all and be done with it?”
He laughed softly. “That would solve most of our problems. But not one of them has ever been discovered at the scene of a riot or a break-in, so we cannot pin the blame solely on them. Besides, if we were to arrest them without reason, the whole city might rise up against us. Since we don’t know how much support they have, we must assume the worst.”
“And where did they come from?” I persisted.
“In all likelihood, they are part of an extreme religious group from one of our outlying towns, and they have traveled to Baylore in service of whichever gods they follow. They are all unusually pale of skin, paler than the poorest of farming communities with only a scrap of magical blood in their ancestry.”
“Do you think your family is in danger from them?” I asked. “Do you have a wife and children with any talent?”
“I’m a Potioneer myself, but there’s no danger of my blood passing to a child. I’m not one for marriage,” he said with a half-smile. “I prefer brandy to tea, if you catch my meaning.”
I didn’t, but did not want to admit my ignorance. “And do you support me or Leoth for the throne?”
“Now, I don’t want to sow discord within my own family,” he said, “but I can easily imagine how much turmoil it would cause if a forbidden race took the throne. Surely a clever young woman like yourself can see that as well.”
I lowered my voice to a whisper and glanced over my shoulder to make sure Leoth and his parents were out of earshot. “But Leoth’s family is speaking out against magic altogether. Surely he would be no better a choice to rule.”
“Leoth is young, and we have many years to change his mind,” the man said. “We might not have the luxury of time if you take the throne. If you were wise, you would step aside now, before you gain too much notoriety.”
“Thank you for your honesty,” I said with a sinking heart. “What was your name?”
“Jassor.” He inclined his head respectfully, though I had the feeling he was mocking me. “I don’t know how we are related, Your Highness, as my parents claimed I didn’t have a scrap of royal blood in me.”
I corrected myself—it was royalty itself he was mocking, not me.
The hubbub died abruptly just then, and I whirled to see that our family’s guards had returned from their search of our wing.
“No sign of any other intruders, Your Majesty,” the white-haired guard reported.
“And has the assassin been taken for questioning?” Mother asked.
The white-haired guard coughed. “He was, but he collapsed on the stairs before we even reached the cells. He must have poisoned himself in the confusion.”
13
The Warehouse District
E ven though I knew my room had been searched, I looked in every corner when I returned that night, even stooping to peer into the very narrow gap between the bed and the floor. It reminded me of the way I had searched for spiders when I was a child, examining every crevice before blowing out the lamp each night. Though any lurking insects would be dead by morning, I still could not stand the thought of something with too many legs skittering across my bed.
My bedsheets had been stripped off, and the room aired out to remove any lingering odors of Jallera’s death, but I still felt squeamish as I slid into bed. I had spent the rest of the afternoon avoiding my tower, sharing a cup of tea with Mother and taking a drawn-out early supper alone in the dining room, and would have been very happy to be assigned a new bedchamber and never forced to return here. But there were no other rooms that guaranteed enough space around me to keep others out of danger. Even if I slept in the library, I might be inadvertently endangering the servants living on the floor below.
My dreams that night were filled with shadows lurking in the corner, ready to strike at every turn, and through it all, Leoth’s smirk kept returning to me.
When I woke at the grey light of dawn, exhausted yet still filled with the restless energy I had drawn from the crowd the day before, I decided I needed to follow Leoth and see if he was involved in whatever the Truthbringers were doing in Baylore.
* * *
The biggest challenge would be leaving the palace unseen. Cal had mentioned escaping through a servants’ entrance, but I was not welcome in that part of the palace, and did not know where to look for it even if I had been allowed.
I went first in search of Cal, but there was no possibility of slipping into the servants’ wing without drawing attention, as I now had four guards trailing me everywhere. Instead I waited at the foot of the stairs to the royal assembly chamber, where no one would be able to deny me access, until a curious serving-girl ventured down the hallway to speak with me.
“What do you want?” she asked nervously.
“Do you know where Cal is?”
She pouted. “His mother told him he can’t come down here any longer. He hasn’t been here since you came. You didn’t tell on him, did you?”
“Of course not.” I sighed. “That complicates things. Do you know where he might be instead?”
“Wherever nobles spend their free time,” she said with a shrug. “I don’t know, do I?” Then she turned and scampered off down the hallway before I could question her further.
“Where would I find royal children?” I asked my guards.
Three of them pretended not to hear me, while a fourth answered, “Usually in their own family’s wing. Unless they are attending lessons with their peers throughout the palace.”
“Can you lead me to wherever these lessons might take place?”
He nodded stiffly. I thought I caught one of the other guards rolling his eyes to the ceiling in exasperation.
We stopped outside several doors before reaching one with guards stationed outside, each representing a different royal family’s colors. The Aldsvell family red and black was present, which boded well for my chances of finding Cal.
After a long wait, while the guards exchanged confused looks, the door swung open and a clump of children filed out. They ranged widely in age, from no more than seven to nearly twenty; these w
ere the potential heirs to each family’s throne, so they were far less common than the nobility surrounding them.
I received many strange looks as the royal children went their separate ways, but there was no sign of Cal among them. Eventually the Aldsvell family guard ventured into the classroom, and when I peered around the doors, I was grateful to see Cal still inside, speaking to his teacher in an undertone.
When he began arguing heatedly with his guard, I stepped into the room, the click of my heels silencing all three.
“Kalleah!” Cal sounded delighted. “Are you going to join our lessons?”
“Perhaps,” I said. “May I speak to you in private?”
The elderly teacher gathered a pile of scrolls and beckoned the Aldsvell family guard to follow him from the classroom. As he passed, I caught sight of a thin silver circlet nestled in his grey hair—he must have been a king himself, many years ago.
Instead of shutting the door behind him, Cal’s guard left it ajar and stood watching us both with a threatening frown. We retreated to the front of the large classroom so as not to be overheard.
“What is it?” Cal asked in an excited whisper.
“I need to leave the palace unseen,” I said. “The servants in the historic wing ordered me to stay away, so I can’t use their entrance, but do you know of any other ways out of the palace?”
“Each wing has its own servants’ entrance,” Cal whispered. “There are only two entrances to the palace overall—the main one, and a side entrance for servants and anyone who wants to leave inconspicuously. There’s a maze of tunnels running beneath the ground floor, and all of the servants’ passages lead through that to the side entrance. There are other ways down to the basement as well, but I think they’re mostly secret, so I don’t know where they are. Some of them are hidden in closets and store-rooms, I think, and I’ve heard that one of the wings has a hidden entrance to the tunnels through the royal chambers, as an escape route in case the palace is ever attacked.” He grinned. “I’d love to find that someday. But I think most of them are just to let the servants move around the palace unseen.”
“And how do you get out the servants’ entrance without being questioned?”
“You can just leave,” Cal said. “It’s getting back in that might be harder. There’s a guard at the entrance, and he always makes a note of everyone who leaves each day and when they return. He recognizes every servant in the palace, so I had to tell him I was newly hired when I sneaked out the first time, and then he didn’t question me when I came back.”
“You’re brilliant,” I said, beaming at Cal. “I can’t thank you enough.”
He flushed deep red. “I wish my family thought I was clever, not just an imbecile for hanging out with servants.”
“And I wish everyone here didn’t just assume I was evil,” I said. “I know how it feels.”
* * *
That very afternoon, I ventured down to the servants’ floor of our Cheltish wing. I stopped the first serving-girl I saw and asked, “Would you lend me one of your uniforms in exchange for twenty dravs?”
Her eyes widened, though I could not tell whether it was from fear or excitement. “Why would you want that?”
“I can’t tell you. And if you share this secret with anyone, I will know.”
She nodded hurriedly. “Come this way, Milady.”
I followed her through the tangled passageways of our servants’ quarters until we reached a dormitory-style set of sleeping quarters. Each of the maids had a large wooden chest at the foot of her bed and a table with drawers at the head, but otherwise the room was bare.
“Wait here,” the girl said, leaving me at the door as she hurried to her bed. Digging through her chest, she soon produced a tidy, inconspicuous grey uniform that looked similar to what the staff had been wearing in the main palace kitchen.
“Thank you very much,” I said. “If I pay you six varlins, would I be able to keep this for the next span?”
“Oh!” The girl took a step back. “I suppose I can make do without. It’s still a bit big on me in any case. I’m meant to grow another hand’s breadth before I start working upstairs, but Mother doesn’t think it will happen.”
“Now, how would I reach the tunnels from here?”
I could see the girl beginning to piece together what I was up to. She did not question me, though, for which I was thankful. “It’s just through this way.” She led me back along the narrow halls to a stairway just outside the kitchen door. I was so turned around by the time we reached it that I wasn’t sure I would find my way back out of the servants’ quarters.
“Remember, not a word to anyone,” I said, putting a finger on my lips. Then I slipped down the stairs.
A cool breeze greeted me as I descended—even with the late-summer sun bearing down on the palace, this underground warren was kept cool by the stone walls and insulating earth. I realized as I went deeper that I had not brought a lantern, but as the foot of the stairway rose to meet me, a row of lights lining the corridor below emerged from the gloom. They were enchanted lights, much like the ones illuminating the palace above, though these appeared to be nothing more than roughly-cut translucent stones that glowed, rather than the perfect crystals encased in delicate metal trimmings I was growing accustomed to.
I had feared I would lose my way down here, but none of the many passages branching off from the one I followed were illuminated, so my route was straightforward. I stopped several times along the way to peer behind doors, out of curiosity more than anything, and I found countless barrels and sacks piled high with grains, alcohol, potatoes, and who knew what else. There were store-rooms as well, housing great rolled tapestries and sturdy chairs and piles of unused books; I wondered how many servants made use of these discarded treasures. In one of these rooms, I folded my gown carefully by the door and changed into the serving girl’s dress, braiding my hair down my back. I had worn one of my plainest dresses today, as I was unable to figure out any of the finer ones without Jallera’s help, so it was easy enough to struggle out of.
Twice I took a wrong turn and ended up at stairways leading to other wings of the palace—at one, I was nearly seen by a servant carrying a bucket that reeked of spoiled milk, and only avoided him by ducking through a door seconds after I spotted his boots on the stairs. Eventually, though, I came upon a flight of stairs that led to a landing that smelled less stale than the rest of the basement. The stench of sour milk lingered here as well, which meant the servant I spotted had come this way.
At the top of the stairs, I unlatched the door and slipped through.
I had come out on the east side of the palace, opposite the cathedral, and I could just see the edge of the main gates around the corner.
“Who are you?” a gruff voice barked.
I jumped. I had not noticed the guard standing beside the door, a ring of keys around his belt. “I’m the new lady-in-waiting for Princess Kalleah, now that her first lady is—”
“Sad, that,” he said, his heavily lined face twisting. “They say she was killed by an assassin sent against the princess, but I don’t believe that. I bet she’s killed the girl herself, and used the assassin as a cover story.”
I opened my mouth to protest, and then snapped it shut again.
“Anyway, all I’m saying is you need to watch yourself around her. Don’t get caught off guard.”
“Thanks for the warning,” I said grimly. “She seems pretty nice so far, but I guess you never know.”
“You’ll be back before dark?” he asked.
“Of course. I don’t have long before she’ll start looking for me anyway.”
The guard unlocked a gated door on the side of the palace wall which opened to the streets beyond. I did not trust myself to find my way through the winding alleys of Baylore, so I followed the palace wall directly to the main square, from which point I recognized the wide street heading toward the city gates.
It was unlikely I would see Leoth today—aft
er all, I had no idea how frequently he left the palace, since I had spent most of my time hidden away in my tower—but escaping the palace and blending into the crowd was a reward in itself.
Taking a seat on the edge of the fountain that dominated the center of the square, where I had a clear view of the palace gates, I dipped my hand in the water and let the worries of the past days slide away. My thoughts kept returning to Jallera, who had done nothing but help me despite her fear. I hoped her family was not struggling without her income; in truth, I had no idea how well or poorly the palace staff were paid, or how many of them had family outside the palace versus within. I resolved to learn more about the people who served me. If I was to rule Itrea, I could not allow my own worries and selfish desires to blind me to everything else. The fact that I felt lonely and isolated within Baylore Palace did not excuse me from my job. Monarchs should not succumb to such base emotions.
When several hours had passed and I still saw no sign of Leoth, I decided to go exploring. The sheer number of passersby had fed me so much energy I felt as though it was about to burst from my skin.
Threading my way through the crowd, I started briskly down Market Street toward the city gates. The sun was dropping low in the sky by the time I left the city behind, but I estimated I had at least three hours before I lost it completely. I hoped the guard at the palace gate would not give up on me if I ran a bit late.
Once I had passed beyond the city wall and into the plains beyond, I breathed a sigh of relief. The chaotic sounds and smells of the city were replaced by a warm breeze ruffling the grass, and the dirt road underfoot was much softer than the endless cobblestones.
I had not seen this part of the country in daylight before, so I noticed details I had not seen before. The first stretch of land just outside the city did not appear to be farmed—instead it was open grassland with no fences or grazing animals. Perhaps a hundred paces from the city walls, the first farms began, with goats ambling amongst orchards and stalks of millet and wheat drooping from the weight of the ripe grain.
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