by C. C. York
She tapped her toe on the ground, recalling the shift earlier. Every nerve ending in her body pulsed tonight with her Dua, and she banged her head on the open book. Think, Alik. Your Dua is trying to tell you something, but you are too weak or blind or incompetent to see what that is. Think. As she drummed her fingers on the pages, a drawing snagged her attention.
She read aloud, "Bakilaran Altar Gift." That's bizarre. The rendering under her fingers depicted a stone doorway, laden with chains, and a Rifter accepting interlocking chain links from a bowed couple in servant garb.
Damari’s laugh echoed with Josef as they came down the steps.
She asked the elderman, "Why would Magaran folklore reference Bakilar?" Alik thought back to the map on her mother's wall, the sand wasteland of Bakilar stretching far across the Turkaz Sea from Efendi at almost the opposite corner of the world.
Josef paled slightly, urging Alik to scan him on instinct. He fumbled over his first few words, "I, uh, I believe the Magarans...once hailed from Bakilar centuries ago. Scholars once thought it hosted kin of theirs when it wasn't a desert."
She remembered her mother’s handwritten scrawl in one corner of the map.
"Are there references to something called 'Ley Lines' as well?" Alik asked.
His brows furrowed. "I'm not sure. Only a handful of texts regarding the Handmaidens mention the term 'Ley Lines' and in sparse words only, so I doubt it very seriously. If you'll excuse me," Josef bowed quickly and limped off out of their eyesight.
"That was odd," Damari said at his retreating back.
"Indeed," saild Alik. “Why would someone renowned for their knowledge fear a fable?” She shook her head to clear the Dua. “Canavar first.” The pair divvied up the papers and spread out at the table; the Magaran Folklore set aside.
Damari asked, "What am I looking for, Alik?"
"Maps. Deeds to land in Canavar Company's name or Hvard's within Efendi's Perimeter Wall. Particularly in the Dockside and anything that looks like the core of the Trades."
He nodded, and they worked side by side in silence apart from the shuffling of papers. Alik shivered at the frigid air. Almost every acolyte and elderman left but Josef and another when Damari's whispers broke her concentration.
"It looks like the Canavar Company began purchasing assets in the Lower Tiers about seven years ago. Small, dilapidated buildings mostly. Then about a year ago, they came into enough money to buy significant blocks of the Trades to use as gambling halls and pleasure houses. There are a handful of arrest warrants for stealing. Nothing we couldn't already guess, though. I didn't find anything showing they held interest in the Dockside---no slips, no boats, no trading documentation."
Alik began to speak when he mentioned almost casually, "I did see several grain silos under Hvard's name."
Her skin prickled. The map of the missing girls in her study had pins scattered up and down the Tiers, but some of the earliest pins clustered around the Silos.
Damari interjected before she could voice her question. "Ty and his men have combed the Silos, though. They haven’t found anything amiss."
She asked, "Theoretically, if you wanted cargo to remain hidden, where would you go?"
"Truly hidden? The Magaran mountain range may not be within Efendi's walls, but our Horde or Perimeter Patrols would eventually spot someone on the road or fields if they were coming back and forth with ample cargo. The Magaran scouts would have to be on your side as well if you were to remain there, and they hate all land dwellers."
He leaned back in his chair, flicking a stray lock of hair from his eyes, and crossed his arms. He chewed on the corner of his lower lip while he worked through the options, and Alik remembered studying next to him as a mischievous child. She smiled despite the anxiety growing in her belly, but she didn't interrupt him.
He continued, "One of the islands off Dvari would be the best option if you could get to and from the Dockside unnoticed. But again, Taavi doubled the patrol before even Shauna disappeared. A lightweight boat stationed upriver could work, but you'd have to go past our patrols, past the Aygir fields, and the guarded farms to get there. The same would be true if they shipped off as far as the sand seas of Bakilar." Damari paused.
"Say it." Alik wanted him to voice the one place he had yet to mention so she wasn’t crazy.
"The Batiwood. You'd still have to get past the Perimeter Patrol and through the valley, but there are few farms and hardly any people between Efendi and the woods. Our patrols do not go there, and the Magarans refuse to fly over. You'd just have to navigate bloodthirsty Yurutec and Garfu, as well as Goddess-knows what other creatures lurk in the bowels of the woods."
“And the Dua of the missing girls would be diminished there,” Alik said.
Damari nodded. "Yes. But the Perimeter Patrol would spot anyone coming or going. And some of the missing are as old as you and Shauna, well into their defense study. They would put up a fight. How, then, could they be taken without even a hint of a struggle?”
Alik shook her head. “I don’t know, but I know Hvard Canavar is involved. He has to be.”
Damari said, “A Rifter would make sense, Alik.”
“Nothing about any of this makes sense.” Alik's mind spun, and she palmed the red leather journal of her mother’s in her pocket. She wasn’t sure why she wanted to keep Agnian’s theory to herself about Firtina, but she didn’t mention it regardless. “I need to get back. Tell your Eyes to comb through Hvard’s assets in the middle of the Trades, and report immediately when any of his men go to the Silos.”
Elaine
Turns out, Rifting is exhausting.
After her handful of Rifts in the Silos, Elaine came back to the Hadishi home and slept harder than she ever had before. When she woke up, though, she could barely sit still with the need to do it again. Grateful that she had the excuse to work with Kanne Da’Neen, she spent the next few days practicing in the Silos. Each night she’d sleep like she was hibernating, only to wake up with an even stronger desire to Rift again. She feigned illness to avoid Kanne Da’Neen again and set off for the Silos as the sun rose.
Almost as soon as she arrived, she knew there were too many Groundwerkers loading grain for her to practice. She kicked at a pile of discarded husks, debating where to go instead. I could just not Rift today. The thought made her feel like a trapped rabbit.
She pictured a mid Tier where Kara took her once before. That could work.
The residents of the mid Tiers had proud homes with permanent walls and small, tidy gardens in front that just poked above the Perimeter Wall. The houses were pastel; light periwinkle windows cut through daisy yellow walls, and next door, lavender trim encased mint green doors. The colors were not as bold as the Trades or as natural as Low Town, but it was a sight more welcome than the upper Tiers. Elaine never understood the allure of the Elite Tiers' stark white stone walls, but even here, she felt like the color was leached out the higher you scaled in Efendi.
The real allure, though, is that most Efendians of this rank worked elsewhere, and so it was as empty as one could hope mid-morning. Elaine ignored the eeriness of her echoing footfalls off the pastel walls as she ran around the bend, checking to make sure the path ahead was clear.
Creepiness aside, Elaine relished the ability to Rift without being seen. She likened Rifting to squeezing in between a tight doorway; she could feel the edges compress against her cheek and chest and thought it helped if she held her breath during the process. Initially, Elaine could only Rift a handful of feet in front of her, but this morning she figured out how to Rift to a place around the bend that she couldn't see.
It’s a lot like my bike back home, she thought. Summers tended to mush together in her memory, but there was one that stood out above the rest. Their tin-colored trailer backed up to another man's mobile home separated only by thick wild rhododendrons and sparse crabgrass. She knew she wasn't allowed over there, but Elaine often traded common sense for curios
ity, and she'd seen the neighbor leave that morning. She plucked her way through the rhododendrons to explore but came across a rusted red handlebar before she got out.
The bike was ancient. It somehow survived the summer storms and god-knows-what else, and she felt a kinship with the forgotten treasure. She wrestled it from the underbrush, filled its tires at a gas station using some hard-found quarters, and spent the next two weeks mustering up the courage to teach herself how to ride it. When she finally sailed steadily for the first time, she felt like she was flying. She spent the next two years on it, and it became as much a part of her as her walking legs.
Rifting, she figured, is a lot like that bike. Once she trusted herself enough to figure it out on her own, Rifting became as natural to her as tooling around the marsh on two wheels.
Elaine ran ahead, breathless, to check out the next turn around the bend. The mid-Tier houses didn't bend with the curve like some of the other Tier homes, so she ran past sharp angles and edges that jutted out to block her next move. Spying no one, she ran back to her predetermined starting position, steadied herself, and drew the lavender home with a taffy pink door in her mind before Rifting. It was the longest jump she'd successfully done, and Elaine had to bend over to quell the dizziness that overtook her.
That’s when she spotted the boy standing at the taffy pink door.
He was somewhere between a boy and a man but young enough that Elaine noticed his details. He had thick, chestnut-colored hair streaked by bits of copper from the sun and an almost feminine mouth that parted in surprise. Elaine wasn't as good as Reiki or Kara at pinpointing status based on looks alone, but he looked cleaner than she, so she assumed he belonged at least in the mid Tiers. Likely at this house, she thought. The house that he just walked out of right as you leapt through thin air in front of him, you idiot.
"Wait!" He shouted as he ran down the pretty pathway and through the fence gate to her.
Elaine ran faster than she had ever run before around the bend. She thought of the chaos of the Trades and the nooks and crannies she had explored in the short time she'd been in Efendi. She pictured the heat of Kabushi's grill and the shift of the grains in her hand as she bagged grain for Reiki and Kara's customers. It would be the most significant Rift so far, but she felt like she had no other choice. She thought of Kara's voice calling out to merchantresses and the way she always knew what to do.
Take me to Kara, Elaine thought as she closed her eyes tight.
It felt like two giant, invisible palms flattened her. She needed air desperately but couldn't find space in her lungs to inhale. Just as she thought she would never make it out, she landed hard on her butt at the back of Reiki and Kara's stall.
Through the wave of dizziness, Elaine registered two things. The first was Kara's eyes comically wide on her and her mouth unhinged. The second was the bulk of Hvard Canavar's frame standing just opposite of Kara on the other side of the table.
Hvard leaned over the table, his meaty finger pointing inches from Reiki's face. Hvard's face was ashen, and he scratched at a few scabs Elaine hadn't noticed before on his neck. Kabushi must have said something because, in the moment Elaine Rifted, Hvard turned towards his stall and not Elaine. Kabushi's bushy white eyebrows shot to the top of his forehead at her entrance.
Kara suddenly flipped over the ladder holding every grain they'd brought to sell. Small pellets of yellow, gold and brown flew like confetti in the air, and merchantresses and passersby alike were bombarded by the hard flecks of grain. An immediate uproar ensued. Hvard's small black eyes focused first on Kara, then the upturned ladder, but instead of turning to the increasingly confused and angry crowd covered in grain, his eyes caught Elaine's.
Kabushi kicked his grill. Flaming nuts and red-hot charcoal spilled out at Hvard's feet, forcing him to jump back with a shout. Kara shoved Elaine behind their back curtain, her shoulders slamming against the stone of the Trades Tier. She could barely stand but forced herself to pull upright and ignore the waves of nausea threatening to overtake her.
Elaine heard Reiki cry out, "What in the ever-present Ates flame just happened?"
Kara, never faltering, "Did you see that bird? That was the size of two grain sacks!"
The turquoise curtain draped Elaine's face, and she dared not breathe. She heard Kabushi's baritone voice, "That was a Sisleman Sahin! I've never seen one of those on this side of the Magaran. Are you both alright?"
Kara and Kabushi spoke animatedly over each other, fabricating what would have had to be the most terrifying bird in increasingly detailed depictions.
"It was right here!"
"And then it landed over here and flew off-"
Hvard's voice cut through Kara's lie. "Where is she?"
Without pause, Kara replied, "How do you know it was a female Sahin?"
Kabushi chimed in, "That's impressive, Hvard. I had no idea you were a bird watcher and-"
Hvard shouted, "Enough! The two of you--- Stop. Talking. You know exactly who I'm talking about, and it's not some filbish bird! Where is she?"
Elaine slid down behind the curtain to the neighboring stalls. She slipped out a few stalls down and walked back on as steady feet as possible to Hvard's broad back.
"What happened here? Are you guys OK?" She asked, studiously ignoring Hvard and devoting her whole attention on the mess before her.
Hvard snatched Elaine painfully by the arm, hauling her up to her tiptoes. Reiki, Kara, and Kabushi shouted their alarm simultaneously. But suddenly, the crowd behind them began to stir in commotion. Panicked shoppers pushed each other to get out of the Trades as shopkeepers hastily packed up their stalls. Kabushi left to find out what happened, leaving the rest of them in an awkward pause.
Thank you, sweet baby Jesus for distractions, Elaine thought. She wiggled hard enough to rip her oversized shift out of Hvard's grasp and darted behind Kara and Reiki.
Kabushi returned with a Towner Elaine recognized from a nearby cluster. Visibly shaken, he said, "Pack up, Kara, you should get home quickly. Everyone is saying Rifters are among us again and are the ones that have been taking our Daughters."
Hvard stiffened, and Kara nudged Elaine while the man continued talking. Elaine didn't need to be told twice. She slipped out again, not daring to Rift, and ran as fast as she could to their home.
Alik
Alik sent a note to Agnian the following morning asking him to join her in the gardens. She needed to know more about his role and what wider ramifications the kidnappings could cause beyond Efendi’s borders. He referenced “we,” which she assumed meant Dvari, but now she wasn’t so sure.
She pulled her thick braid over her shoulder and ran a finger over her stained burgundy lips. She spent the final remaining hours of the night alternating between studying her mother’s journal and mulling over all the pieces of information she’d learned. The extra effort in her appearance just made her look less dead.
She could care less. Mind-numb and bone-tired, she felt every second she wasted meant one less second to find Shauna. Agnian can hate me while we work together; I need every piece of information he has.
Agnian waited at the far bench, boots propped so that his toes pointed off the terraced cliff towards the sun. The water's spray occasionally spits on this lowest terrace, and the waves crashing against the rocks below them drowned out any chance of someone overhearing their conversation. He didn't stand when she came into view, instead only briefly glancing at her before returning his eyes to the Turkaz Sea ahead of them.
This will go well, she thought as she sat next to him. She opted to ignore the awkward rant he left her with last night. There’s nothing I can do about his grudges against my family and me, but I can find Shauna and the others.
The morning sun warmed the stone bench, and she leaned back, wishing its rays would bake the unease from her skin. She debated how to begin and settled with, "I went through my mother's private study after you left."
She p
eeked an eye open. His full attention was on her now, so she continued. "Nothing referenced where the missing girls are or gave any hints as to who she would be in contact with regarding their kidnapping."
"I'm not saying that you're wrong," Alik said as he opened his mouth to object. "I just need to know how you came to believe she's involved so I can narrow my search. You said the Canavar Company is involved. I need to know what you've found and who the 'we' is you referenced."
He punted her questions and asked instead, "If she is not involved, who do you think is responsible?"
She couldn’t voice the theories in her mind just yet, not even to her brothers. She certainly wasn’t about to lay her suspicions on the table with a stranger hiding his own secrets, so she hedged. "I'm thinking that I'm losing my mind and that if I said my theory aloud, it would be crazy enough to lock me away forever."
She glanced sideways at Agnian. He watched her intently before turning his gaze back to the jewel-toned sea. He raked a hand over his salt & pepper stubble and down the back of his deeply tanned neck.
"I hated Dvari when I first came home around seventeen." Alik turned to him at the unexpected turn of conversation. He cleared his throat and continued, "I had just come back after spending my youth abroad, and I loathed the water city. I felt like it was a maze of canals, rope bridges, and ladders and that they were all part of an entangled lure meant to trap me. My father insisted that it was time to return home and learn the family trade, but all I wanted was to go back to what I felt was my homeland."
