By the Morning Light_Smoke and Mirrors

by Melissa Giorgio

  While I’d been practicing, Gilbert had strapped the broadsword to his back. Emile hobbled over to us and although he asked for a sword, he was given a knife that he could sheath at his belt. “You’re already unstable on your feet,” Gilbert explained as Emile frowned his displeasure. “With the way your night’s going, you’ll probably fall over and land on the blade, too. So do us all a favor and take the knife.”

  Sighing, Emile accepted the knife.

  Aeonia watched us with her arms tightly folded across her chest. When I pointed to another knife, she shook her head. “I don’t want a weapon. I’ve done enough damage today.” She paused, biting her lip. “But I can do something to help, if you’ll let me.” She lifted her hands and we all recoiled.

  Gilbert shook his head. “I’ve had enough of magic.”

  Aeonia looked so crestfallen that despite everything that had happened, I found myself handing the short sword over to her. She blinked. “Are you sure?”

  “Do it,” I said before I could change my mind.

  “And hurry,” Gilbert urged as the sounds of fighting outside increased in volume.

  Aeonia shut her eyes and breathed in deeply. I braced myself as she ran a slightly glowing hand over the length of the blade. Nothing happened, not that I could see anyway, and when she handed back the sword, I felt a trickle of disappointment. “It’s been imbued with magic now,” she explained. “It’ll protect you against magic, and it’s also dangerous against magic wielders.”

  “But the only ones who are using magic are your family,” I pointed out.

  “I trust you,” Aeonia said. “I know you won’t use that sword on someone unless you have to.”

  Gilbert was staring at her. “Wait—I’ve changed my mind. Do that to my sword, too.”

  But Aeonia was pale and sticky with sweat, and I didn’t think she had it in her to cast the spell again. Still, she reached for the sword, her eyes hard with resolve, when screaming from outside the castle filled the air. The hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up and goosebumps formed on my bare arms.

  Gilbert swore. “Never mind. Let’s go.” The two of us flanked Emile, helping him hobble out of the room as Aeonia took the rear and followed closely behind.

  At the castle’s doors we paused and exchanged nervous looks. “Whatever happens, stick together,” Gilbert said. “We’ll head for the carnival instead of going deeper into Ayres. There has to be someone still at the carnival who can call off this attack, right?”

  Aeonia blew out a long breath. “Right.” But she didn’t sound convinced.

  I tightened my grip on my brother as we headed out into our panicked city.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I’d never seen Ayres like this. Even during the holidays, when the people liked to drink in excess and arguments sometimes spilled out into the streets, no one set out to destroy the city. Now, buildings were on fire, people were screaming and cowering in fear, and it was hard to identify friend from foe.

  Gilbert had us take the long way to the outskirts, sticking to the shadows of the buildings. Whenever someone rushed into our path, Gilbert unsheathed his sword and aimed it at them as he shielded the rest of us with his body. Both times this happened it was a fellow Ayren and Gilbert told them to head away from the center of the city. Neither one listened to him.

  With a sigh, Gilbert bade us to continue, not even bothering to sheath his sword again. I kept hold of my brother, hoping I’d be fast enough to unsheathe my sword if I needed it.

  I also hoped I wouldn’t need to draw the blade.

  Outside the castle the air was cooler, but the smell of smoke hung on the wind, overpowering the ever-present smell of salt. In my flimsy—and now ruined—dress I was freezing, but I had no right to complain.

  “How are you doing?” I whispered to Emile.

  “I’m all right,” he answered, but I could tell he was lying. His face was contorted in pain with each step he took with his left leg, and his skin was chalky white and sweaty. When his teeth started chattering, I knew we were in trouble.

  “Gilbert,” I called.

  He took one look at Emile and swore. After helping me prop Emile up against the side of a brick home whose front windows had been smashed out, he rummaged through his satchel and pulled out a flask. “It’ll help with the pain,” Gilbert said.

  Raising the flask to his lips, Emile swallowed the contents inside and immediately began sputtering. “What is that?”

  Despite the awful situation we found ourselves in, Gilbert’s lips twisted into a smile as he answered, “Whiskey. Drink up and you’ll forget all about your pain.”

  Emile made a face, but he took another pull, and this time he managed to keep it down.

  “Someone’s coming,” Aeonia said suddenly, disappearing into the shadows.

  Gilbert, Emile, and I were slower to react to Aeonia’s words. Maybe it was because our last two encounters had been Ayrens and we figured this approaching person would be more of the same. We let ourselves be lulled into a sense of security when, all around us, our city was burning and people were dying.

  We were fools.

  The person who rounded the corner was one of the travelers. He was dressed in loose trousers and a vest that opened up to reveal his muscular chest, slick with sweat. I recognized him as one of the acrobats; I’d seen his show three times and enjoyed it immensely. Tonight the joviality that danced on his face during his act was missing. He took one look at us, identified us as Ayrens, and lifted up his crossbow.

  The first one to react, Gilbert jumped in front us as the traveler let loose an arrow.

  “No!” Emile yelled.

  Gilbert gasped and stumbled a step, one hand clutching at his chest. “Gilbert!” My eyes widened in horror as he turned toward us, the shaft of the arrow protruding from his chest. Already blood was seeping from the wound, staining his shirt red. Gilbert fell to his knees.

  Across from us, the traveler reloaded his crossbow and took aim.

  “No!” I unsheathed my sword, not knowing what I planned on doing, just that I had to do something or else we’d all end up dead. The blade hummed in my hands, coursing with power, and I could barely keep a hold on it as I aimed it toward the traveler.

  He paused.

  I took advantage of his hesitation, rushing forward with my sword and swinging it toward his hand. The blade sliced through the skin easily, and we both screamed—him in pain and me in horror. Before I could sever his hand completely the man jerked back, shoving me away with his other hand. Blood soaked the end of my sword and I gagged, realizing what I’d almost done.

  What I had done.

  This wasn’t like the adventures Emile and I always dreamed about. Those quests for glory were filled with treasure and good times. No one ever got hurt. We never imagined it’d be like this.

  Never.

  The traveler raced away, leaving his crossbow on the ground as he clutched his bloodied wrist close to his chest. Even though he’d shot Gilbert, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt. He’d never able to perform acrobatics again.

  “Claudette,” Emile called, his voice tight with panic. I turned around to see him kneeling by Gilbert’s side. Emerging from her hiding spot, Aeonia hovered nearby, her face pale. I wanted to yell at her for hiding when we’d needed her the most. Maybe the traveler wouldn’t have attacked us if he’d seen her. Why hadn’t she said anything? Done anything?

  But now wasn’t the time to fling accusations. When I met Emile’s gaze, I could see that his eyes were shining with unshed tears and I knew Gilbert’s situation was dire.

  My stomach dropped. No, I thought. No, no, no. I ran over, all but throwing myself to the ground. My hands fluttered uselessly over Gilbert’s chest. “What do we do?” I asked in a whisper. When no one answered, I screamed, “What do we do?”

  “Stop yelling,” Gilbert said weakly. He reached up and wrapped his bloodstained fingers around mine. “You need to keep… moving.”

  Emil
e shook his head stubbornly. “We’re not leaving you.” A few tears spilled down his cheeks.

  “It’s not safe.” Gilbert shifted slightly and gasped, his face tightening with pain. From the next street over came the sound of breaking glass, followed by screams. “This won’t… stop until they see that… Aeonia is safe. You have to get her… back to her family. You have to… save Ayres.” We still didn’t move. Gathering his strength, Gilbert yelled, “Go!”

  “Gilbert, please.” I was crying now too, even though I wanted to be brave for him. “Emile’s right; we can’t leave you. You didn’t leave us in the castle, even though you could have. Like Michel did.”

  “Michel.” Gilbert groaned and his grip on my hand loosened. I stifled a sob, watching as his eyes rolled back. He was dying, and I couldn’t do anything to help him. Next to me, Emile was rummaging through Gilbert’s satchel, pulling out anything he thought could be of use. “Michel,” Gilbert said again. “He’s the reason for this whole mess. When you see him next… do me a favor and punch him in the face. Tell him… that’s for… Gilbert.”

  “Here,” Emile said, thrusting a roll of bandages in my face, like he expected I knew what to do with it. I took the roll, my bloody fingers staining the pristine white cloth red. My eyes darted from the bandages to the wound on Gilbert’s chest, my heart hammering.

  “Don’t bother.” Aeonia watched us unhappily. “It won’t help.”

  “Of course it’ll help!” Emile snapped. When I didn’t move, he snatched the bandages back from me and started laying them on Gilbert’s chest. “We need to take the arrow out. Or do we leave it in? Claudette? Claudette!”

  “He’s gone,” I said. Gilbert was staring up at the night sky, his gaze unblinking. This time I didn’t bother to swallow my sob. My shoulders shaking, I reached for my brother. Stunned, he wrapped his arms around me, openly crying. “He’s gone, Emile.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Aeonia allowed us a few short minutes of grief before she said, “We need to go.” She was right. The sounds of fighting were increasing in volume, and any minute the violence would spill out into this street.

  “We still can’t just leave him here,” Emile said.

  “Let’s move him over there.” Aeonia pointed to the side of a house that hadn’t been touched by the violence yet. An overhang provided a small patch of darkness, and that’s where we dragged Gilbert’s body, tucking him into the shadows.

  I swept my hand over his face, closing his eyelids so he looked like he was sleeping, while Emile rested Gilbert’s hands on his stomach. “Goodbye,” I whispered, placing a kiss on his forehead. “Thank you for helping us. I’ll never forget that.”

  “And I swear Michel will pay for this,” Emile said grimly. I glanced at him, my heart breaking. This night had already taken Gilbert from us, and now I feared I’d lose the brother I loved as well.

  “Come on,” Aeonia urged, already halfway down the block. Retrieving my sword, I went to help Emile walk, but he waved me off.

  “I’m fine.” He picked up Gilbert’s fallen sword and walked away without glancing back at Gilbert.

  It hurt to leave Gilbert like that, alone, but I knew we didn’t have a choice. He’d wanted us to leave and I would honor his last request by getting Aeonia to her people so we could stop this madness before it claimed another life.

  Hang on, Ayres, I thought. We’re going to stop this.

  Heading to the edge of the city wasn’t as easy as we hoped. We continued to stick to the shadows, like Gilbert had instructed us to, avoiding any streets where people were fighting, but eventually it proved impossible. People were fighting everywhere, and if we wanted to leave the city, we would need to pass someone.

  Emile’s strength was failing again as we peeked around the corner to assess the situation, but he refused my help when I reached for him. His normally warm eyes had gone hard with anger, transforming him from my brother into a stranger. Taking another swallow from Gilbert’s flask, he snapped again, “I’m fine.”

  Aeonia and I exchanged a doubtful look, but we kept quiet. “What’s the plan?” she asked me.

  When had I become the new leader of this group? They were both watching me expectantly and I knew I had to come up with something that would keep us alive. No pressure, I thought grimly. I watched as the Ayrens hacked desperately at the travelers with swords, sticks, pots and pans. The Ayrens must have grabbed whatever they could from their homes and rushed outside to protect their city.

  Home. I squeezed my eyes shut. Had my parents locked themselves inside, barricading both the doors and the windows, or were they too out here, fighting and looking for me and Emile? Sweat trickled down my back. Every moment we wasted here cowering meant another needless death. I’d been able to stop Aeonia from burning us all to death. I could stop this war, too.

  “Stick to the side of the building,” I told them. “Go slowly, so as to not draw attention to yourself.” I pointed to a building across the street. “Meet at the side of that bakery. When we’re all together, we’ll tackle the next street. And the next, and the next, until we get out of here.” It sounded simple, but as we edged our way down the street, I could barely breathe. Please don’t look at us.

  Two male travelers were fighting a group of Ayrens. There were two Ayrens already on the ground, bleeding, but they appeared to still be alive. With a bloodcurdling scream an Ayren woman with a butcher’s knife rushed toward a traveler, but the traveler lifted a hand, knocking her back with magic. The Ayren’s body narrowly missed hitting Aeonia, who was in the lead. Aeonia let out a shriek, drawing the traveler’s attention. His eyes narrowed as he lifted his hand again, this time aiming for her.

  “No, Yashear!” Aeonia cried.

  The traveler faltered. “Aeonia? But they said you were killed!”

  Aeonia blinked. “Who said that? Is that why you’re attacking the city? Because you think I’m dead?” She ran up to him, her arms spread open. “I’m not even hurt. We need to stop this!” Even as she said that Yashear’s companion was busy fighting another Ayren. He must not have had magic like Yashear because he was swinging a short dagger in the Ayren’s direction. The Ayren was wielding a broom, his jabs at the traveler sloppy and off their mark. If the situation wasn’t so dire, it would have been funny.

  Yashear shook his head. “When we entered the city in search of you, we met a group of Ayrens. They didn’t like us entering their city, armed.”

  “I wonder why,” Aeonia said dryly.

  Ignoring her, he continued, “Aurora said you were taken, but she didn’t say by whom. We approached those men and…”

  “Let me guess,” Aeonia cut in. “You sat around and had a nice chat about me. Maybe you even asked for directions.”

  I could see Yashear’s patience was about to break as Aeonia hurled snide remark after snide remark at him. But before I could warn her to back down, he said, “There was a fight. They started it, Aeonia, and they killed one of our own. That was the same as declaring war on us. We are family.” Yashear’s dark eyes shone in the torchlight. “An attack on one of us is an attack on all. You know this.”

  Listening to them, my heart sank. Gilbert had thought once the travelers saw Aeonia was all right, the fighting would stop. But things had escalated further than we’d imagined. This wasn’t just a fight to save Aeonia.

  This was war.

  “Claudette,” Emile whispered.

  At the sound of his voice I realized I should have grabbed Emile and fled while the travelers were distracted. But that would have meant leaving Aeonia behind, which I couldn’t do. She was still our best chance at stopping this.

  Yashear frowned, as if he’d only just noticed us lurking behind Aeonia. Perhaps fearing we’d stab Aeonia in the back, he launched his dagger at us, but Aeonia shouted, “No!” She lifted her hands and the dagger froze inches from my face before clattering to the ground.

  “You’re protecting them?” Yashear snarled. He reached for another dagger, but paus
ed when he saw smoke begin curling from Aeonia’s clenched fists. Is she summoning fire again?

  “Do not hurt Claudette,” Aeonia said harshly.

  “You stupid girl,” he said. “To think, we’re risking our lives to avenge you, when meanwhile you’ve aligned yourself with them. We should have let them kill you.”

  Yashear’s words caused Aeonia to flinch, as if he’d slapped her. Her fists were shaking, but she held them at her side, the fire kept at bay. I wanted to reach out to her, but I didn’t dare move. Next to me, Emile was just as still, although I could tell by the strain on his face that he wouldn’t be able to stand for much longer.

  Luckily, at that moment, Aurora appeared. “Aeonia!” She ran down the street and pulled her sister into a hug. “You’re all right!”

  Aeonia shoved her away, ignoring the hurt on Aurora’s face. “What did you do?!”

  Aurora’s mouth opened and closed a few times before she was able to answer. “I told them you were in trouble. They gathered an army and the next thing I knew, everyone was fighting. I don’t know what started it. I think an Ayren was drunk. But I don’t care about that. I just wanted to find you.”

  “Well, here I am.” Sneering, Aeonia flung her arms wide open, smoke wafting from her fingertips. “Safe and sound. So now get them to stop.”

  Aurora eyed Aeonia’s smoking fingers warily. “I… I don’t know how to.”

  My stomach dropped at that. I’d thought finding Aurora meant an end to this nightmare. What would it take to stop this? The destruction of my city?

  Something inside of me snapped. I stepped out of the shadows, aiming my sword at Aurora. “That’s not a good enough answer, Aurora.”

  “What are you doing?” she demanded.

  Emile joined me, gripping Gilbert’s sword in both hands. “Claudette’s right. You started this, Aurora. Now you need to finish it.”

  Her hands went to the sword hanging on her hip. “Are you threatening me?”