by Kaylin Lee
Stumbling back, I caught myself just in time. Thankfully, the men continued to talk.
I edged back along the building until they were out of sight, and then sprinted away, my movements jerky and panicked as though my limbs belonged to someone else. The man with the face of blood in my nightmares had reached his cruel hand right into my life and taken hold of the people I loved most in the world. And now he was going to use them to destroy Asylia. From the sound of it, he intended to return the Kireth mages to power for the first time in seven hundred years. My nightmare would come true for everyone in the city.
I tripped over a loose cobblestone in some nameless alley and went sprawling. My head hit the stones with a painful crack. I sat up slowly, pressing a hand to my head, and looked around. It was dawn. The sky was lightening more every minute.
Running wouldn’t solve anything, so what was I doing? I needed to get help. But if the Quarter Guards were being paid off, I had nowhere to turn. I stood, my legs shaky, and straightened my dress. There was only one person I could think of who could help me.
~
Belle’s house was at the heart of a massive compound in the Argentarius family estate, smack in the center of the Procus Quarter. I knew Belle’s house by reputation. It was supposedly the centerpiece of the compound, the tallest villa, with the golden mage-craft fountain bubbling in front of it.
I looked up at the tall, glass windows and detailed, stone carvings. For a moment, I thought I caught a movement behind the window. If someone had seen me lingering, I had to hurry. I went around to the side and then back, looking for some sort of servants’ entrance. When I found the small door, I knocked quietly. Nobody answered.
How strange. Wouldn’t her servants be awake at dawn? I knocked again, louder. Perhaps they hadn’t heard me in the hustle and bustle of their morning labor. Nothing. I banged my fist on the door and called out, “Excuse me? I have a message for Lady Belle Argentarius!”
Finally, the door swung open, and Belle faced me. “Loud enough, Ella? You’re going to get me in trouble.”
“What are you doing here?” The very last thing I had expected was for Belle herself to answer the servants’ entrance door.
“Get inside. Quickly. And stop making so much noise. There are guards inside.”
I darted inside the narrow entryway, and she locked the deadbolt behind me. “I’m here because I—”
“Not here,” she hissed. She grabbed my hand and yanked me down the hallway, up a flight of stairs, and down another hallway, turning first one way and then the other. She acted as though she expected someone to discover us at any moment. Finally, she opened a door and shoved me inside, shutting and locking it behind her.
We were in a large, surprisingly dusty schoolroom, complete with desks and a blackboard at the front. The curtains were shut and the luminous dial was off, and she made no move to turn it on. I stared at Belle in the dim light, noticing her appearance for the first time. She still wore her gold dress from the ball. Her hair was a mess of wavy brown curls, all out of place, and her beautiful makeup was smeared around her red-rimmed eyes. “Belle? What’s going on?”
She crossed her arms and shook her head, eyes narrowing. “You shouldn’t have been at the ball last night. Of all the nights, Ella. I told you to leave.”
“I realize that now,” I said, annoyed with her tone. “But why? What happened? I swear to you, I did nothing to harm the prince when I met him on the balcony. I simply gave him a harmless note, a … request for him to consider.”
“If it was so harmless, why did you sneak into the ball? Why didn’t you go to the petition day, like any normal, law-abiding commoner?”
“Because he doesn't honor the petitions,” I said, my voice rising despite my best efforts to keep my temper. “I went to the petition day, and I waited all day but I never got my chance to speak. Besides, he didn't even listen to the petitions that were given. I had to get his attention somehow.”
“So you just had to sneak into the ball, did you? Oh, if you only knew.”
“Knew what? What happened? You must tell me.”
“There was an assassination attempt.” Belle’s voice was toneless and dry.
“I … know,” I said tentatively. “I heard that. I had nothing to do with that. You must believe me. But the Quarter Guard came to my neighborhood and rounded up the young women, including my stepsisters. My stepmother hid me so they didn't find me.”
Belle’s stare seemed so empty that I wasn't sure if she’d heard me. Had she not yet recovered from the blast in our classroom?
Then she shook her head and seemed to gain more clarity. “Well, someone tried to assassinate the crown prince immediately after you spoke to him. They timed it as he came through the balcony doors behind you. No doubt your stepsisters will be returned to you as soon as it becomes clear they had nothing to do with it.”
“That's the thing, Belle. They never came back.” Could I trust her? I wasn’t so sure now. The way the men were talking outside that warehouse, they had people on their side throughout the city government. And Belle’s family was one of the most powerful families in the whole city. What if she was involved somehow?
Wherever her loyalties lay, she clearly wasn’t happy. I had to believe she wanted to do the right thing. Procus heiress or not, she was my only hope. I took a deep breath and plunged forward. “My stepsisters were kidnapped after they were taken by the trackers, and then they kidnapped my stepmother as well.”
Belle frowned. “What are you talking about? If the Quarter Guard took them into custody, how could they be kidnapped?”
“Because some of the quarter guards and the trackers are working for someone else.” I waited for a look of shock to come over her face, but it never came. Whatever was going on, she must have known something wasn’t right in our city. “I followed them.”
I might be trusting Belle to help me, but I couldn’t risk telling anyone about Weslan’s True Name. “And I overheard the man who took them talking. They work for the Crimson Blight. The Blight kidnapped my family, and they’re planning to act, to do something big in the city. I don’t know what they plan to do, but it could happen any day now. Since they have my stepmother, it could happen any moment.”
Belle pursed her lips. “What’s so special about your stepmother?”
“I-I can't tell you about that. Just trust me when I say you don't want them to act. They could destroy everything.”
“What do you mean, destroy everything?”
“They’re mages, Belle.”
She raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“They are,” I insisted. “I know where they’re hiding, and I heard them talking, saying as much. They said they couldn’t wait to put the Fenra in their place. I think they mean to return Kireth mages to power in Asylia.”
Belle was quiet for several long moments, and I waited on edge for her response. But then she said, “It makes perfect sense.”
“Um, what?”
There was no shock on her face. Just calm, bleak acceptance. “I said it makes perfect sense. I've been trying to figure out why my family and the Falconus family are always on the verge of war.” Belle paced around the old schoolroom, stirring up clouds of dust with each step. “They're constantly accusing us of being behind the Blight’s attacks, trying to destabilize the government so that we can overthrow the crown prince. And my father, for his part, is convinced that Lord Falconus is the one behind the Blight’s attacks. He thinks they attacked the school to target me. But if the Blight is controlled by mages, then maybe they’re trying to get my father and Lord Falconus to butt heads. But why?”
Then Belle’s face paled and she drew in a sharp breath. “I know what they’re doing.” She swayed on her feet for a moment, and I wondered if she was about to faint.
How long had it been since she’d slept? What was going on with her? “What are they doing, Belle?”
She kneaded her hands together. “My father and Lord Falconus also hold certai
n positions in government. They’re kept a secret from most people for obvious reasons. But if the Blight is pitting them against each other, then the Blight must know who they are.”
“They know what? Tell me!”
“They’re the true authorities at the Mage Division. Between the two of them, my father and Lord Falconus hold the True Names of all the most powerful mages in the city.” She eyed me hesitantly.
I nodded. “I know about the True Names.” Hopefully, she wouldn’t ask me to explain.
“The rest of the True Names are held in hierarchies among the mages themselves, all the way down to the low-level appearance manipulators who barely count as mages.”
I scowled at her offhand remark, but she ignored me. “The entire structure of authority in the Mage Academy culminates with the two of them, my father and Lord Falconus, with the names split between them so no single Procus family controls all the mages, especially not the royal family. It’s meant to provide a stable balance of power in the city, and it’s worked for seven hundred years.” Her voice grew even more tense. “But if they destroy each other in retaliation for these attacks, the entire structure of mage control will fall apart. We’ll be at the mercy of the mages once again.”
Chapter 21
My head spun with nightmarish images from ancient history class—the horrible abuses inflicted on the non-magical Fenra when Kireth mages first invaded and ruled for three hundred bloody, miserable years. And then my whirlwind of thoughts settled on Weslan—his joy at using his powers, his creativity and skill, and his wistfulness when he spoke of being free to work and live wherever he chose. I’d always thought Asylia’s founding families had enslaved the mages for good reasons. They couldn’t risk a return to that horrible past, could they? And yet, what new abuses had they inflicted on the Kireth to keep them under control? I remembered Weslan’s horrified face the first and only time I spoke his True Name out loud. Should one person ever have such control over another?
And then another thought struck me: “Belle, where is everyone?”
She looked at me bleakly. “My father and brothers are leading an attack on the Falconus compound. My sisters are hiding in their rooms, and all our servants have fled.”
I reeled back. “What?!”
“Last night, my father’s spies received intelligence suggesting that the Falconus family would make their move against the prince at the ball. That’s why I told you to leave—I didn’t want you to get caught in the crossfire. When the assassination attempt really did take place, my father took it as a sign that he should move against the Falconus family openly and thwart their ambitions for good.”
She shivered. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the Falconus family received the opposite intelligence, indicating that my father was about to make his move against the prince. The Blight could not have done this more neatly. If it weren’t so horrific, I’d be impressed.”
I shook my head. Only an Argentarius would be impressed by the calculations of dangerous fanatics. “We have to tell someone. Prince Estevan. He must know. There’s no one else we can trust, and besides, he’s likely the only one who can force your father and Lord Falconus to call a truce. Can you get me an audience with him?”
Belle laughed incredulously. “Just how do you think this works, Ella? I might be rich, but that doesn’t mean I’m on casual speaking terms with the crown prince.”
I glared at her. “Then what do you suggest? We’ve got to see him somehow.”
Belle ignored me and turned toward the window, her face as cold and bleak as a stone statue. I would never have known her father was involved in a private war. She looked untouchable. But then she sighed. “I hate to say this, but you’re right. We have to tell him. The thing is, the prince will never see me, especially if he’s still recovering from last night’s attack. My father is not exactly his favorite Procus lord. The best I can do is take you to the palace gates and use my name to get you inside. From there, you’ll have to find someone who believes you, someone who can get you to the prince.”
I blew out a long breath. A few hours ago, the conspirators had come to my home to arrest me for the attempted assassination. Could I walk back inside the gates of the very people who wanted to execute me and ask them to believe me? I balled my fists at my sides. It had to be safer than turning myself in to the Quarter Guards. If I was at the palace when I was arrested, there’d be less chance for someone in the Blight’s employ to intervene.
Would Zel do this for me? No question. She would do it without a moment’s hesitation or doubt. Would Bri or Alba do this for me? The very thought of those two tousled heads, one light, one dark, bent together as they waited beside the tracker’s fomecoach, made my eyes burn.
They’d already done it for me. The least I could do was try.
~
The splatter of blood on the footpath was my first sign that something was wrong.
I followed closely behind Belle and stepped around it as she did. The morning was growing hotter, but we both wore jackets and hats pulled low over our faces, hers glittering and ornate as befit a Procus lady, mine the plain, clean black of a household maid. We turned on Procus Avenue, and Belle stopped so quickly I nearly ran into her back.
“Turn around,” she said quietly, taking several quick steps backward. “Go!”
I took in the scene on the street at a glance. Guards in the deep navy and gold uniforms of the Argentarius clan clashed in the street with guards clad in the black and orange liveries of the Falconus family. At least a dozen bodies lay in the road around them. I retreated in a hurry.
Belle shoved me into an alcove—a servants’ entry on the abandoned street—and we huddled there, both breathing heavily. She shielded her eyes with her hands for a moment before she resolutely straightened. “Do you still want to do this?”
I stared at her, still seeing the bloodied bodies lying about the street in my mind’s eye. “What?”
Belle grabbed my shoulders and gave me a shake. “Ella. Do you still want to do this or not?”
I swallowed. I had to be brave. For Bri. For Alba. I had to be stronger than my fear. If nothing else, I had to get into the palace, throw myself on the mercy of the guards, and beg for their help. That was something even a coward like me could do. “Yes. I … I still want to do this.” The words came out barely above a whisper.
“Then we’ll take another route. Come on.”
Belle led me in the direction of the Royal Palace, slipping down back alleys and side streets to avoid the main avenues. We could still hear the shouts and screams of men fighting, and even the occasional boom of an explosion. But we kept our heads down and hurried from street to street. Finally, we came out of a narrow alley between two stately government offices. The Royal Palace was straight ahead. We’d made it.
But the shouting wasn’t coming from the fighting we’d left behind. It was between us and the palace gates.
~
After all our twists and turns to avoid the fighting in the street, the sun had risen high over the city by the time we made our way to the palace. Somewhere nearby, a clock tower’s bell rang ten times. The bell’s clanging made my head throb as worry coursed through me. I’d gotten back to the bakery just before midnight, which meant Zel, Weslan, and the girls had already been in the Blight’s grasp for almost ten hours. It had taken me far too long to reach the palace, and now we faced further delays. What if I was too late?
Belle pulled off her hat and her jacket and handed them to me. Then she fussed with her hair. With her straight bearing and glittering gown, she looked regal enough to be a princess despite her wild hair. “Stay close behind me, Ella. Don’t allow yourself to be separated, even for a moment. Got it?”
I nodded mutely. I couldn’t believe we were doing this. We hid in the alley and peered around the corner.
The mob in front of the palace wasn’t made up of guards from the Procus families. They were commoners, attacking each other, screaming curses and slogans. As far as I
could tell, they all thought something different was going on. Some shouted slogans in defense of the Argentarius family, the scions of open trade, while others cried out in support for the Falconus family, the patrons of the arts who abhorred dangerous, plague-inviting trade practices. Some had placed themselves by the gate, as though to defend the Royal Palace. Others railed against the Procus families and the royal family, shouting about greedy leeches and coming to blows with those they suspected of supporting any Procus family.
Inside the tall gates, a squadron of armed guards stood and watched, but they made no move to bring order to the mob. And Belle was planning to walk us right through the madness.
“Belle, are you sure about this?”
She’d already taken one step toward the mob. She paused and eyed me over her shoulder. “I’m sure if you are.”
I bit my lip. “If we don’t get to the prince, the Blight will win. We don’t have a choice.”
She had the nerve to roll her eyes at me. “Then what are we waiting for?”
She squared her shoulders and charged toward the crowd, and I hurried along in her wake. She aimed for the part of the mob with the most Argentarius supporters. As she approached, nose in the air, the first few people recognized her and stood back.
“Out of the way, there,” said one man, shoving some of his comrades back to make space for her. I followed as closely as I could behind her.
Belle gave him a regal nod. “Thank you, kind gentleman. My maid and I are needed at the palace. Perhaps you could help us clear a path?”
He nodded eagerly, and began to shout, charging before us and shoving his buddies none too gently out of our way. Sweat dripped down my back. People jostled roughly against us as we steadily worked our way through the crowd. We were halfway to the palace gates when the Falconus supporters realized that the Argentarius heiress herself was in their midst.
