The Fading Dusk

by Melissa Giorgio

  I lost myself in the memory, reliving it as I described what had happened to the captain. Bantheir had eventually looked up, noticing me. “Did you enjoy the show?” he asked kindly.

  I nodded, but then I remembered my mother and my lip started trembling. I began crying, my tiny frame wracked by heavy sobs.

  Bantheir put down his magic wand and rushed over. “What’s wrong?”

  In halting sentences, I told him everything. Bantheir watched, his brow creased in concern. When I finished, he pulled out a white handkerchief. “Dry your eyes, little one,” he instructed.

  I did as he said, gasping when the white fabric changed to an array of colors once it became wet. Delighted, I began vigorously rubbing at my face, trying to eliminate all of the white. Bantheir watched, smiling the entire time. “You’re a real magician!” I gasped.

  He winked, but before he could answer, more people entered the courtyard, inquiring about the magic show. They’d just heard about it from their friends, and wanted to see Bantheir’s magic for themselves. When one young woman saw me, she asked Bantheir, “Is this your daughter?”

  Watching me carefully, he pursed his lips. “No, she’s my assistant.”

  My voice trailed off, and the captain’s quill paused. When he looked up, I met his gaze, unflinching. In a quiet voice I said, “And that’s how it’s been for the past thirteen years. Bantheir performs, and I assist. He’s never pretended to be my father, and I’ve never pretended he was, nor have we ever talked about that fateful day, or why he decided to adopt me. Bantheir was my savior. What would have happened to me if I hadn’t stumbled upon his magic show?” I shook my head. “I’d probably be dead, too.”

  I continued to stare at the captain. “Are you still going to sit there and tell me someone capable of such kindness can also be a killer?” I gestured toward his papers. “What’s it say in there? What’s tying Bantheir to the other murders? Why don’t you tell me what you know, Captain? Don’t you think I deserve to know?”

  Aden walked in at the end of my speech, hovering in the doorway with a tray loaded with a teapot, teacups, a small pitcher of milk, and a sugar bowl as we waited for the captain’s decision. He was quiet for a full minute as he mulled over my request. Then he looked up, a spark of approval in his eyes as he gave me a nod. “Fine, then. Let me tell you what we know.”

  CAPTAIN LEONID UNROLLED A LARGE, very old map of the city. It was creased and wrinkled with age, and there was a long tear down the right side. Plucking the sugar bowl, milk pitcher, and empty dishes from my tray, he used them to weigh down the corners. I watched, taking small sips from the tea Aden had brought. The hot liquid felt good running down my dry throat.

  We peered at the city of Dusk. I ran my eyes over the familiar image of the circular city and noticed red marks on the map, three in total. Scooting forward in my seat, I pointed them out. “What are these?”

  “These are where the crimes were committed.” Captain Leonid pointed to the dot in the western part of Way. “Six months ago, a man went out for a drink and never returned home. His wife found him the next morning in the middle of the road with his throat slit.” Horrible images danced through my mind as the captain’s finger slid up to Rise. “A husband, his wife, and their groomsman also had their throats slit and were left to bleed to death right outside their home. They’d come home from an evening at the opera and were ambushed, but, curiously, their purses weren’t taken.”

  I pressed my hands over my stomach. The porridge tasted sour on my tongue. I reached for my tea, taking another small sip, but it did nothing to settle my racing emotions. “I-I don’t understand,” I stammered. “Ambushes and slit throats; that’s not magic.”

  “No, it’s not,” the captain admitted. “I was getting to that.” He paused. “Perhaps I’ve said too much. You look a bit green.”

  “I’m a big girl,” I said stubbornly. “I can handle it.”

  Captain Leonid regarded me long enough that I began squirming in my chair. Going back to the map, he pointed to the last dot, located in the eastern part of Way. The three points formed a triangle—with the peak in Rise—but I wasn’t sure if that mattered, so I kept quiet. The captain probably wouldn’t be fond of me interrupting him while he was speaking, anyway. “This is where the young couple you saw your master with was killed. Again, their bodies were found outside their home with their throats slit.” He reached over to his stack of papers and began flipping through them. I was certain he had the contents of all of those papers memorized, but perhaps he needed something to do with his fingers. “Any sort of murder is alarming, and we work swiftly to detain the perpetrator before they can strike again. But when something like this happens three separate times?” Captain Leonid’s dark eyes were flashing in anger. For once, that anger wasn’t directed at me. “It’s unacceptable. The council is furious, the president is furious…” He paused to run a hand over his face. “And they’re all breathing down my neck. So I apologize if I’m a bit… intense in my questioning, but I need answers.” His gaze snapped back to me and I tightened my grip on my cup. “Now, before it’s too late.”

  He fell silent, letting me mull everything over. Even the president is involved, I thought with a sense of wonder. The case was even bigger than I’d imagined. No one saw the president; no one I knew, at least. The rumor was he’d been badly maimed as a youth and hid in his mansion in Rise, away from prying eyes. As the laws he passed had very little impact on me, I hardly cared one way or the other. Even now, to hear the captain say the president was furious—did that mean anything? If the president was so concerned, why didn’t he leave his precious mansion and investigate himself? I was more concerned with Raynard. He was the one, after all, who marched straight over here to accuse me of all sorts of things.

  “We had no leads after the first two crimes,” the captain continued after a moment, still fidgeting with the papers. “Just a few connections linking them together.” He began counting things off on his fingers. “The slit throats, of course. The fact that the bodies were found outside the homes—this shows the victims were mostly likely followed. And, finally, curious markings on the ground.”

  I frowned. “What sort of markings?”

  “Nothing I recognized.” He paused. “But then again, my working knowledge of magic is extremely limited.”

  “Well, that makes sense, considering it’s forbidden and all,” I pointed out.

  The captain nodded his agreement. “I couldn’t exactly go around Dusk asking about the marks, not if I didn’t want to cause riots in the streets.”

  “They’d think the old wars were starting again,” I said quietly, referring to the times when thousands of people not just in Dusk, but across the lands, had died because of dark magic. “They would think the dark wizards were back, ready to destroy everyone and everything.”

  “Exactly.” The captain looked grim. “No one wants to return to those times, Lark. They want to be dazzled by the magic from your shows, not cower in fear, awaiting their impending deaths. While I don’t believe the wars are beginning again, I can’t have this information become public knowledge. The only ones who know about it are the ones I completely trust.” Captain Leonid paused, sliding his eyes over to Aden. “And now you.”

  The blond held up his hands. “I won’t say anything!”

  “Of course you won’t.” His tone of voice promised eons of pain for poor Aden, should he go against the captain. Shifting his attention back to me, Captain Leonid said, “Luckily, I have a scholar we can also trust. He’s spent his life researching the old wars. These marks are nothing he’s ever seen before, but he did identify them as part of a dark magic spell.” The captain pulled a sheet out from his pile of papers and slid it over to me. “I had one of my men copy the drawings.”

  Aden leaned closer to get a better look. Thick black scrawls covered the paper, and nothing made sense to me—circles and various other shapes, and letters that were completely unrecognizable. I tapped the paper. “Were t
hese on the bodies? Or maybe on the ground, as part of an incantation?” Magic may have been forbidden, but I knew some of the basics.

  Captain Leonid shook his head. “They were a little ways off, down a side street or an adjacent alley, drawn on a building or the ground. It took some searching, but we found the same patterns at all three scenes.”

  “Huh.” I sat back in my chair, studying the markings. “Is there a chance there’s a copycat out there? Someone could have found out about the markings at the first scene and copied both them and the crime.”

  “That would be possible, but remember, this information is classified.” He lifted an eyebrow. “Unless you’re suggesting someone on the council is the copycat?”

  I thought back to Raynard, and how close he’d come to striking me. “It’s possible. More possible than Bantheir being the murderer, anyway.”

  “Unfortunately, you’re wrong about that, Lark. Bantheir was seen at the latest crime scene, and you confirmed his involvement with that young couple when you said you saw him with them after your performance.”

  I opened my mouth and then closed it, feeling horrible. I hadn’t meant to do that, I hadn’t. If I’d known my words would implicate Bantheir, I would have kept my mouth shut from the beginning. I cursed softly under my breath and felt Aden look at me in surprise. I imagined he hadn’t expected to hear me say something like that. “Was he seen using magic?” I finally asked.

  “No. The couple was already dead when the witness stumbled across the scene. Bantheir was leaning over their corpses; when he heard the witness, he looked up, met his eyes, and then fled. Based on the description the witness gave us, we were quickly able to deduce that it was Bantheir.” The captain nodded toward me. “You perform throughout Way; you’re easily recognizable. Most of my men have seen your performances more than once.”

  “And then you rushed to my home, intent on arresting him,” I said. Except that Bantheir hadn’t shown up, the burly man and his friend had. Coincidence, or not? “What about the men in my home?”

  “It really is a shame they were killed before we could question them,” Aden said sadly.

  “Yes, well,” the captain said, leaning back in his chair, “as I heard it, some idiot very stupidly killed them before we had the chance to talk with them.”

  My eyes grew very round. Exchanging a look with Aden, I could see he was as shocked as I was. Had he… Had the captain just made a joke?

  He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “You haven’t had a chance to describe what happened with those men, Lark. Go ahead. Enlighten us.”

  I filled them in, sparing no details. When I got to the part where the burly man had hit me, I paused and rubbed my cheek. I hadn’t seen my reflection since being arrested—probably a good thing—but I imagined there was a dark bruise staining my cheek. It hurt when I touched it, and I couldn’t sleep on my side like I normally did. “Well, I guess you can figure out what happened next,” I said lamely, folding my hands in my lap. I sneaked a glance at Captain Leonid, startling badly when I saw how angry he appeared. When he caught me looking, he took a couple of deep breaths, calming himself.

  “The captain came in just in time, it seems,” Aden said, reaching over to squeeze my hand. I gave him a grateful smile.

  “What do they think Bantheir stole from them?” I asked. “It has to be important, don’t you think?”

  The captain lowered his eyes, speaking to the desk. “I do. My men are out there, trying to trace where these brutes came from. We have little to go by, so it may take some time.” He looked thoughtful as he focused on a spot over my shoulder. “What I want to know is why they thought it was in the house, instead of in Bantheir’s possession.”

  “Maybe it was too big to carry?” Aden suggested.

  Captain Leonid gave him a withering look. “What, you think it’s a statue, or something equally absurd?”

  “No, I…” Aden trailed off, clearly regretting speaking up.

  “How do you know it’s not?” I demanded. “If it’s so important, and small enough to carry, wouldn’t Bantheir have it on him at all times?” Before the captain could answer, I made a noise of disgust and threw my hands up into the air. “This is ridiculous! Bantheir isn’t a thief! I’m starting to sound like everyone else!”

  “Those men very strongly believed he stole something,” he pointed out.

  “Well, they were wrong.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Everyone is wrong! I’m the only sane person left in Dusk!” I gestured to his pile of papers. “You keep saying Bantheir was capable of murder! Murder! He’s a sweet man, Captain. He puts on magic shows and gives candy to children! Do you honestly believe a man who goes around wearing a silly red cape is capable of slitting throats and evoking dark magic to perform some sort of ritual?” I paused to breathe, my chest heaving with the effort of my long-winded speech.

  “Yes,” he said immediately.

  I buried my face in my hands. “Oh, what’s the point? Your mind is made up. Bantheir is guilty, I’m guilty—”

  “I never said you were guilty, Lark.”

  I peeked through my fingers to stare at him in astonishment.

  He seemed mildly amused by my reaction. “Quite the contrary. You’re innocent in all of this. That I know for a fact.”

  ADEN ESCORTED ME BACK TO my cell in a stunned silence. It wasn’t until he unlocked the door that he finally looked at me. I could see a multitude of conflicting emotions run across his face as he nervously shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

  “I really hate this,” he admitted. “Bringing you here, locking you in. You’re innocent! Even the captain said so! So why…” He shook his head. “This is ridiculous.”

  I was touched that this meant so much to him. I wasn’t used to having someone care this strongly for me, about me. Taking a hesitant step toward him, I placed a hand on his shoulder. Aden froze, his breath catching.

  “I really appreciate this,” I told him. “And while spending another night, another day, another week in here isn’t exactly ideal, it’s a little bit better knowing you feel the way you do. Believing in me, I mean.”

  He placed his hand on mine, his green eyes bright with emotion. “I do! Whatever the captain needs me to do to help convince Raynard to free you, I’ll do it. I’ll be there when he questions you again, I promise. And I’ll vouch for you, if he needs me to.”

  “Thank you,” I said. “I-I don’t even know what to say. You’re so good to me, Aden. I don’t know if I deserve this kindness.”

  “Of course you do.” His gaze softened. “When are you going to realize how special you are?”

  Before I could respond to that, he leaned forward and kissed me softly on the cheek. Stunned, all I could do was stare at him in silence.

  “Well… I’ll see you later, then,” he said, embarrassed. I found his awkwardness endearing and smiled.

  “Later,” I repeated. We locked gazes as I stepped backward into the cell and he shut the door with a firm click. Turning the key in the lock, Aden lingered there, and it was hard for me to resist the urge to jump forward and place my hands over his, through the bars.

  It took him some time to rouse himself with a shake of his head and walk away. I followed his retreating form, feeling a bit… breathless. It was a nice feeling, and one I found I liked.

  “Woohoo!” Coreen called from her cell next door. “Kissing the guard! Go Irina!”

  I blushed. “We weren’t kissing!”

  “Then what were you doing?”

  “He felt bad for me, so he…” I trailed off. “Kissed me.” I held up my hands and waved them vigorously when she started cackling. “But it was on the cheek—”

  “Doesn’t matter. A kiss is a kiss.”

  I kept quiet. Considering what Coreen did for a living, she knew a lot more about the topic than I did. I didn’t want to admit that I’d never kissed or been kissed by a man before. That would probably prompt her to teach me about all sorts of things I didn’t want to
hear about.

  Coreen held onto the bars, swinging her head back and forth. Her black hair swished like a lacy black curtain; again I wondered how she kept her hair so shiny and glossy while mine probably resembled a bird’s nest. “He’s very cute, your soldier boy. Although I prefer them dark and handsome, like the captain!” She shook her hips very suggestively, moaning while she did so, and I felt my face turn bright red.

  I stared at the doorway, imagining the captain still poring over his map and notes, looking for something we’d missed. He’d barely acknowledged us as Aden and I had left the room. “I suppose he’s all right,” I admitted. “If you like dour, irritable men who never smile.” Coreen laughed at that, but instead of joining in, I felt a jolt of guilt. We may have clashed in the beginning, but today the captain had almost been… nice. And the fact that he believed I was innocent? That gave me a sense of hope, something to cling to while I rotted away in prison.

  But he’ll always think Bantheir is guilty, a nasty voice whispered. I clenched my fists, suddenly angry. Why was everyone so insistent he was guilty, without even hearing his side of the story? It was so unfair!

  Stop it, Irina! I forced myself to calm down by taking a few, deep breaths. Remembering something, I slipped my hand into my pants pocket, my fingers closing around the cool, small stone I’d discovered earlier. Pulling it out, I saw a brown rock, no bigger than my thumb, wrapped in a piece of paper. There was writing on the paper, so small I had to squint to read it.

  Protection amulet. One use only.

  Amulet? I nearly dropped the thing in shock. It wasn’t… It wasn’t real magic, was it? Holding it up to the weak light that leaked in from the small windows, I frowned. It looked more like a rock to me. What did Elyse know about amulets, anyway? She was a street magician’s assistant, same as me. The amulet was either her idea of a joke, or—