by Kova, Elise
“Some safety may be good for us,” Vi muttered.
“Vi, don’t take their side.”
“Okay, okay, continue this plan of yours,” she conceded.
“So, we’ll say you race, and we take out your noru. Then, when we get there, I’ll let Darrus be disappointed that I’m not riding with him because you wanted to. And you can say that you won’t ride because… Well, I don’t know. You can decide that there. You’re sick or something.” Ellene giggled. Sick of noru, more like, Vi thought flatly. “Think of how surprised he’ll be when I’m astride. How impressed he’ll be when I come in first on your noru.” Ellene clasped her hands over Vi’s hand. “He’ll fall in love with me then and there, Vi, and we’ll live together happily for forever.”
“How can I argue with true love?”
“So you’re saying you'll do it?” Ellene squeezed tighter.
“There’s not much I need to be ‘doing.’ More what I need to make sure I’m not doing.” Vi chuckled. “Yes, I’ll do it. I’ll tell the servants first thing in the morning to saddle Gormon—full Imperial leathers. Just think how impressive that will look for Darrus.”
“I knew I could count on you!” Ellene clapped her hands. “I’ll let Jayme know in the morning that you agreed to the plan.”
“Not tonight?” It wasn’t like Ellene not to immediately rush off and tell everyone involved of her latest schemes.
“She wasn’t feeling too well after dinner. Said she might have ate something her stomach wasn’t familiar with in the market.” Ellene shook her head. “You know her, no matter how many times she’s been to Soricium, her stomach just refuses to agree with something at some point.”
“I’ll send Ginger.”
“I already offered to get a cleric.” Ellene raised her hands and shoulders in a dismissive motion. “She said she needs to sleep it off and that she doesn’t need help.”
“Well, we’ll see how she feels in the morning, and if we have to we can force some clerical help on her.” Vi gave Ellene a wink that was returned with a laugh.
“You can do that. I’m not going to be the one to test Jayme. She can be scary when pushed!” Ellene paused in the door frame. “Thanks again, Vi, for helping me. It’d be nice to have a friend in Darrus, at least, after you leave.”
Before Vi could comment on the sentiment, Ellene was gone.
She stood at her desk, tapping her fingertips on it thoughtfully. Darrus, at least. That was one more thing she needed to keep an eye on before leaving—how Ellene would handle it all. She didn’t want to see the girl running into a relationship purely to fill a void of companionship brought on by Vi leaving.
Then again, Sehra would be certain to ward against that as well. She would not allow her daughter to fall into despair, or resort to less-than-wholesome means to fill the gap.
Vi stood, extinguishing the candles in her study and starting for her bedroom.
It was then, in the silvery moonlight streaming through the windows, that Vi’s eyes landed on the outer edge of Soricium. All Vi wanted was a good night’s rest. But it seemed that would elude her yet again.
Chapter Seventeen
Vi clung to the walls and interior passages of the fortress as much as possible. Some were usually reserved for servants only, but they were vacant at this time of night. If she did run into someone and kept her head down, no one would suspect her to be here.
She hoped.
Because if she was conspicuous… anyone in the fortress would stop her. That person would take her to Jax, and there was no way she could explain what she was doing. Or, perhaps, she could maybe get them to take her to Jayme, who would either not believe her or insist on coming as well—and this was something Vi felt certain she needed to do alone.
She’d never attempted to sneak out before. It was all very cloak and dagger—quite literally. She wore her darkest and heaviest cloak, hood pulled high and tight.
Yet despite all her worries, Vi stepped out of a back door at the end of a long stairwell and vanished into the city proper without issue. She glanced back, looking at the fortress in relief.
Her feet slowed and she stared up at the silent giants that extended their leafy arms to the heavens. All her life, she’d stayed put, exactly as intended. Never questioning, never wondering what would happen if she did venture beyond the confines set out for her.
Some part of her felt silly for not doing this sooner. It was so easy to slip out unattended. Likely because she had never really attempted it. There was no guard posted at her door or individual on duty watching her room at all hours of the day.
A smile crossed her mouth, an expression that quickly vanished when two small glints of reddish light flashed into view.
It was only a glimpse, and yet it felt as though someone was staring down at her. Vi scanned the bridges and walkways of the fortress, stretching upward with the trees to merge with the dark sky above. There was no indication of anyone watching, no other bright red spots, and yet she had the distinct, sinister sensation of being observed.
She was imagining it, surely. Maybe she’d never snuck out before because she didn’t have the proper constitution for espionage. Paranoia was her just reward.
Turning quickly, Vi crossed through alleyways and wove around small trees that curved to support signs and rooftops. Vi kept her face down, hood up, and hunched slightly. She’d braided her hair and tucked it away. No one should be able to recognize her… Unless they recognized the cloak itself. But outside of the fortress, no one knew Vi well enough that they’d know her by that alone.
Several times, she could’ve sworn she heard footsteps behind her. But when Vi stopped, so too did the sound, forcing her to believe her mind was just getting the better of her. Still, one time, she called out softly, “Jayme?” thinking that perhaps her friend had sneaked out behind her in an effort to keep her safe.
A response from behind her nearly had Vi jumping from her skin.
“Princess, is that you?”
Her eyes landed on a robed man. Long sleeves were tucked into heavy gloves that went to his elbows. On his face was a pointed mask, crafted in heavy leather, extending like a long beak away from his mouth. The inset glass goggles shone in the darkness, like some kind of terrifying monster.
She took a step back. The voice hadn’t been hostile, yet given the strange garb the man wore…
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” The man quickly pulled off his mask, revealing a handsome face Vi instantly recognized.
“Darrus?” Vi blinked from the mask, to the heavy gloves, to his face—indents of the inside of the mask lingering on his flawless skin. “What are you wearing?”
“You haven’t seen one yet?” He lifted the mask slightly. “I would’ve thought…”
“There’s been much going on of late,” Vi answered cautiously.
“Oh right, Ellene mentioned, you’re going back to your home soon.”
Vi resisted correcting him that she’d never actually lived there. The North could be as much her home as the South… if she had ever been fully accepted.
“What is it?” She pointed to the mask, reverting the topic back to safer territory.
“They call it a plague mask. There are medical screens the clerics have made on the inside of the beak to help filter out the White Death. We don’t know if it’s effective yet… but it feels a lot better wearing one than not when you’re around the infected.”
“White Death…” Vi swallowed hard, remembering all the words of panic her tutors had used when her travels were first starting to be delayed due to the plague. She couldn’t get sick, the Empire needed her. “Why are you wearing one? Is someone in your family ill?”
“Thankfully no… I’m helping the clerics. We set up a building for the ailing over there.” He pointed up to the outer ridge of Soricium. Vi couldn’t see the building from where she stood, but she gladly took his word for it. That was one area that, for all her curiosity, she knew better than to exp
lore.
“Are there that many ailing?” Vi asked. She didn’t want the answer, but she owed it to her people to pursue it.
“Again, thankfully no…” He paused, cleaning one of the lenses on his mask. “There might be, though. They expect it to get worse with time. They’re already talking about if we have to move it—the infirmary, that’s what they’re calling it—where the next, or new one, will be.
“But we think we have a handle on the spread. Giving the infected a place to go and be treated, keeping them sequestered from the masses seems to have stinted the spread.”
“What can I do?” Vi asked.
“Unfortunately, nothing.”
“I’m the Crown Princess,” Vi needlessly reminded him for the sake of emphasis. “I have resources, I can get you what you need.”
“I misspoke.” He gave her a tired smile. “There’s nothing anyone can do. The clerics have no idea what’s causing the plague, how it spreads, who it chooses. It’s seemingly random… as if people’s bodies just… give up and die.”
“That’s… terrifying,” Vi whispered.
“It is.” Much like in Ellene, Vi saw two different forces existing in Darrus. There was the terror of the boy she’d seen dancing with Ellene in the spring. But there were also the makings of a man who had the bravery to face his fears. Perhaps Ellene was right, and he had actually grown some.
They fell silent, Darrus looking from his mask to her. Then, as if remembering what he’d stopped her for initially, he asked, “What are you doing out so late? Is everything all right?”
“Yes, just… I needed some air.”
“I see.” He did not sound convinced in the slightest and his blatant disbelief made her feel awkward. His emerald eyes set on dark skin were striking, and they reminded her of a similar set she dared hope to see again.
“Please, don’t tell,” she whispered. “Not even Ellene.” Her and Darrus had never been particularly close. But she could only hope the man had enough favor for her as a friend of Ellene, or enough fear of her as the Crown Princess, to oblige.
“Should I come with you? Is everything truly all right?”
“I have to do this alone. It’s important. It’s for the crown.”
He gave a small nod, clearly still unsure. “Well, I need to get back to my work. I’m the lowest rung, so that means I’m stuck taking the late shifts. They’re expecting me.”
“I didn’t know you were so interested in being a cleric,” Vi said thoughtfully. She’d only seen Darrus through the context of Ellene’s gaze—a handsome man who was a good dancer and charming to no end. The fact that she’d never invested more time in learning his true nature, his hopes and dreams, when her friend was so invested, made Vi’s insides tighten slightly with guilt.
“I’m not sure if I am, to be honest.”
“This must be a bit of trial by fire.”
He chuckled. “Spoken like a Firebearer.” Vi’s mouth quirked into a small smile. If only he knew how wrong he was on that. They both knew precious little about each other, and were now unlikely conspirators in Vi’s nighttime jaunt. “But yes, these are rather hard conditions to learn under. I’m not sure if I’m cut for it, but I do want to help people and it seems to me that this is the best way to do so presently.”
The words he spoke now were in stark contrast to the free-spirited boy she’d seen originally become the target of Ellene’s girl-like crushes. Darrus was fast becoming someone Vi could respect. Perhaps, if this gentle and heartfelt manner was Darrus’s true nature, she should be less worried about the idea of Ellene drifting even closer to him after Vi left.
“Thank you, on behalf of the crown.” Vi hoped he took both her meanings: gratitude for his work in dealing with the steadily spreading White Death, and for his silence on her being out long after dark.
“Yes, your highness.” He paused, right before putting his mask back over his face. “Perhaps you can return the favor by putting in a good word with Ellene to dance with me at the winter solstice? She still has yet to give me a response.” There was the boyish grin she remembered.
“Consider it done.” He turned to leave and Vi stopped him. “And Darrus, don’t worry so much about Ellene. She’s crazy about you.” They shared a small smile.
“That’s good to hear.” Just as Vi turned to leave, he caught her by her shoulder. “One last thing…” His voice had dropped low and was tense.
“What?” Vi whispered in reply.
“I could’ve sworn I saw someone following you. I thought it may have been Jayme but…”
“I’m alone,” Vi insisted. She wasn’t sure if she was informing him, or saying it out of hope that the fact remained true.
“Keep your hood up, and be careful, okay?”
“I will.”
They parted ways, then, and she slipped into the night on her hasty path.
At the edge of the city was a ruin so ancient it was nearly taboo. Everyone had always been hushed about the worn and ominous structure. But with Martis’s lesson, Vi now knew why. If she was right, and this was the place her mother had retrieved an axe that had changed the course of history… then she could understand why it was willingly being expunged from memory. Expunged, just like her parents had decreed the dangerous Crystal Caverns following the Mad King’s uprising.
She scrambled up a hill and into the trees that surrounded the city. A shadow began to loom against the starlight winking through the leafy canopy. Vi paused to look up at the tall, pyramid-like ruins that towered above her. She didn’t know if it could be called a tomb, but she would say based on the embellishments that it was made by the same people who had crafted the underground ruins she’d discovered—just far worse for wear, having been exposed to the elements.
It couldn’t be coincidence that Taavin had used the word tomb, then Martis, and it all added up to this particular place. Looking around for any who might be watching, and finding none, Vi dared to hold out her hand.
“Repeat the process,” she whispered. Only one way to find out if this was her next apex of fate…
Fire ignited in her hand. Vi stared, and waited for the sensations of future sight to overtake her.
Chapter Eighteen
No visions came.
“Why?” Vi whispered, as though the fire would answer. It didn’t, and she extinguished it, looking around. “This has to be the place…” She looked up at the ruins, hoping they would give her the answer, and was surprisingly rewarded.
“Repeat the process—I have to be inside,” Vi mumbled. Of course it wouldn’t be as easy as standing at its base. She had to be inside the last set of ruins and assumed this to be the same. “Now… how to get in?”
Vi took a lap around the structure, then doubled back to where the remnants of an old cave-in could be found. Time had taken its toll on the collapsed rubble, as with the rest of the weather-worn ruins. Roots and vines pulled it apart, creating an opening barely large enough for her to wiggle through.
Taking a deep breath, Vi debated if she was extremely brave or stupid to go into something so dangerous-looking, and began to clamor over the rubble anyway. Just as she suspected, it was barely large enough for her to fit through. A narrower portion dug into her wide hips and made her twist and contort her legs to get her thighs through. But get through they did, and with a small tumble she landed in a hollowed alcove eerily similar to what she’d seen in the jungle.
Shards of what looked like obsidian scattered around her, leaving Vi to pick a few from indents in her hands with small winces. Miraculously, they did not draw blood. She stared at the glass-like stones, lifting up a larger piece for inspection.
Martis had said that following the fall of the Mad King Victor, the blight of the Crystal Caverns had been put to an end, once and for all, on the Main Continent. According to his telling, the crystals, once illuminated with their strange and twisted magic, had gone dark, fractured, and broken.
“This will work,” Vi whispered into the darkness, le
tting the shard fall from her hands.
Readying herself once more, she held out her hand. Already, the atmosphere around her felt vastly different than it had outside. The feeling of sinking into the flame, of being consumed by it, of not being able to tear her eyes away even if she tried, was already on the edge of her consciousness.
As if drawn from her by an invisible string, her spark rushed forth the moment Vi allowed it freedom. It hazed into the air over her palm, condensing into an open flame. When Vi looked at it, the world went white; like last time, she was quickly overcome.
Shapes were slowly drawn into existence.
While white threads of magic continued to blur at the edges of her vision, the scene she was presented with was one of night.
A man stood atop a dais, a curving silver blade with runes etched along its flat side was gripped in a fist. In the other he held a hand up to the full moon overhead, blood streaming down his palm. It mingled with blood from a secondary source—on an altar behind him was a figure, distinctly human and wrapped in what looked like burlap, whose blood was soaking through the fabrics covering them and dripping into a channel that ran down to a symbol painted on the ground.
She tried to make out who the sacrificial person on the altar could be. But they were wrapped tightly and immobile. Dead, more likely, given that she couldn’t see them breathing. For some reason, Vi couldn’t move; she was positioned in one location in the vision and no matter how she tried, she couldn’t change her vantage.
Ignoring the body, altar, and bleeding man, Vi followed the channel of blood that was flowing down to a symbol Vi recognized near instantly.
It was a dragon, curled in on itself to form a perfect circle. A line had been drawn through the middle, cleaving it in two, off-setting the halves. It was the broken moon of the Tower of Sorcerers. But Vi had never heard of a place like this in any sorcerer lore she knew. She certainly knew there were no sacrificial rituals codified at the Tower.
