“Yes…” I pointed the way around the square. It was a huge space. They held markets here, usually. I remembered exploring this market once with the other Strawberry Girls. We had such a good time, always having money to burn and new cities to explore. I bought a little carved box to keep my jewelry in, in a tent over by the fountain. My best friend in the troupe, Kaeli, bought a hat like the kind the ladies wore in Empero: white with a peak and a brim that split like little wings, edged in dark trim. They were silly and cute at the same time.
I also remembered feeling the way these people did—excited to be in one of the great cities of the Empire, where the first great leader had been born, the man who protected us from monsters and united the countries. It was nice not to question the leaders; to just feel like everything was safe enough, and pleasant enough.
Some kind of scuffle broke out ahead of us. First, we heard some shouting. A few seconds later, people pressed on us, a wave of alarm rippling back toward the crowd. A man in a cloak ran by, shoving people out of the way. Another man was right on his heels.
My sigil burned as the second man rushed by us. I tugged Sir Forrest’s arm. “It’s him!”
Four members of the standard imperial guard, wearing brown leather and helmets, tore after the first two men. That already seemed bad. But it got worse. Running ahead of them was a single member of the Black Army. “Halt right there!” he called, and to the crowds, “Stop them! Those men are under arrest!”
“You would say that was him,” Sir Forrest said to me. “We’re trying not to attract attention.”
“Well, I didn’t attract any attention! They did!”
The first cloaked man was forced to stop. The crowds were too thick and now some of the gathered townsfolk were trying to block his passage, thanks to the guard’s order.
“We’ve done nothing,” the first man said. “We were watching the projection.”
“Take off your cloak,” the guard said. “I want a look at you.”
The two cloaked men glanced at each other. The second one—my guardian—was extremely nervous, I could feel it. These guys were in serious trouble, whatever was going on. But he laughed lightly and took a step forward. “I know what’s going on, gentlemen,” he said. “This keeps happening! But he is not the man you’re looking for. It’s an unfortunate resemblance. Go ahead, Rin. Take off your cloak. Let’s get it over with.”
Rin, his eyes steely like he was braced for a fight, lowered his hood.
He was a Gaermon—far from home—with black hair that looked wild and windswept, and tanned skin, like he hadn’t seen a brush in a while. They both looked like they’d been doing some rough travel, like we had. He had what looked like a fairly fresh scratch on his jaw. His eyes were dark and alert, and the lines of his face were sharp as a blade, refined and beautiful.
His resemblance to the Gaermon princess in the projection was uncanny, despite that his skin was a rugged light brown and the princess was pale as moonlight.
“There, take a good look, gentlemen,” my guardian said. “All you’ve got here is a basic sword-for-hire with a few scars.”
I squinted. Rin looked a little different now. Or did he? Did he have all those scars on his face a moment before? Plus, he seemed more burly and his face was broader. It was like he’d changed before my eyes, but now I was second-guessing myself.
My guardian continued, “It’s been very hard to find work lately, considering that at a brief glance, he does look like—”
“Prince Raio,” the Black Army soldier said.
“No way, that ain’t him,” one of the common soldiers said, waving his hand as if he was greatly disappointed.
“I’m not fooled by your bardic tricks.” The soldier in gleaming black leather, with metal breastplate and wrist guards marked by the seal of the Black Army, drew a sword that just looked like it meant business. “Seize him.”
“Shit. Go with them. I’ll meet you at the next safe house.” Sir Forrest drew his sword in response before I had time to think twice.
“No!” I cried. “You ass! I’m not leaving without you!”
Of course, he ignored that, like I knew he would.
Rin—or Prince Raio of Gaermon, maybe, although I hoped not, because this seemed like a bad development if we wanted to stay inconspicuous—drew twin swords. The straight, slender blades were well-worn but their hilts were wrapped in royal red with an elaborate guard.
“Stay out of this, stranger,” he told Forrest. “This is my fight.”
“It’s not, and I’ll explain later,” Sir Forrest shot back. “You need to take your friend and leave the city immediately.”
“You would get yourself thrown in jail on my account?”
“No. I’m not going to get thrown in jail. But I can disappear into a crowd. Unlike your foreign hide.” Sir Forrest lunged at the soldier. “Get out of here!”
My newfound guardian watched this squabble, as I did, but then he looked at me and Wretch beneath his cloak. His eyes lingered on my unusual pet for a moment.
“Hey,” I said. “This is awkward. We’ve been looking for you.”
“For me? Well, it’s about time I got some of the attention. I suppose you’ve heard word of my ballads?”
Ballads? Maybe it was better to just go with that for now. “Yeah. Your ballads are the best.”
“Exactly! I mean, not to brag, but I think my Dragon’s Song deserves to be up there with the Seven Stones Cycle. And yet, Bard Keith gets all the credit, at least on a national level… I’m not sure how much you know about music theory…”
Sir Forrest made a sudden “unfh” sound and took a step back, clutching his sword arm.
“Forr—Mr. Argrave!” I said, remembering that he told me not to call him by his given name among strangers. Argrave was a common enough family name. I caught him as he pulled back from the fight but he almost toppled me over as he leaned into me, big as he was. “Your arm is bleeding,” I said.
“It’s nothing. Let me go.”
“It’s not nothing! It looks pretty deep. We should’ve—the book said I would grant you more power in advance if—” In a fit of desperation, I grabbed his collar, yanked him down to my level, and kissed him.
Forrest’s sigil, the one placed oh-so-conveniently right above my crotch, throbbed with heat as our lips mingled. He was, for just a moment, stiff and surprised, and then his tongue slipped into my mouth and he took a taste of me. In returned, he tasted surprisingly sweet and smelled of sunshine and grass, undercut by something more earthy and masculine.
He pulled back, gave me a heavy glance, and turned back to the soldier.
The common soldiers had rushed out ahead of their leader, and Rin was moving fast around them, dodging their attempts to strike him and knocking them with the blunt side of his slender blade.
Sir Forrest clearly didn’t want to be usurped by Rin. He rushed back into the fray and went for the leader but I could tell that brief kiss was like putting a scrap of bandage on a stab wound: not nearly enough. He wasn’t moving his sword with as much confidence as usual, and he grunted with suppressed pain as he moved.
My musical guardian, meanwhile, had pulled a violin out of a case on his back and started to play a dreamy tune. Everyone stopped to listen to it, except Forrest, Rin, and the Black Army soldier. The crowd seemed dazed. I didn’t know much about music theory, I just knew how to sing whatever I was told to sing, but there was something about this song that was different from any ordinary song… It made you want to forget all your troubles.
I heard a blade cut through flesh. The Black Army soldier spat up blood. Rin had driven his sword through a crack in his armor. I saw a glimpse of gore before turning away, battling a wave of queasiness. Seeing monsters die didn’t bother me; it was like killing a chicken for dinner. But I had never seen a person die a violent death.
Sir Forrest grabbed my hand. “We need to get out of here. You too.”
“And why should I trust you?” Rin asked.
> “If you’re with the bard, we’re with you,” Forrest said. “We’ve been looking for him. He’s Phoebe’s guardian. She sensed his location and she knows you’ve been in some kind of danger. Besides that, if you are the prince of Gaermon, I’m on your side—against the Black Army.”
“All right,” Rin said, apparently satisfied. “We’ll hear you out. But we have our own business.”
I could tell Sir Forrest wanted to say, Not anymore, you don’t. “Let’s find someplace we can talk.”
Chapter Six
We collected the horse from Winter’s Rest and found a shadier sort of inn run by a lone old blind woman who wouldn’t be able to describe us later, just in case. Even though my newfound guardian said his music should have dazed the crowd, so no one would know who killed the soldier. Forrest clearly didn’t trust that.
“Keeping secrets is my primary business besides making the beds,” the woman assured us with one wink of a milky eye. Creepy, but her stew was good. After all those beans and grains, the big chunks of sausage and different vegetables were heavenly.
“I’m not sure what you are saying about guardians and this young woman, but if you are indeed a foe of the Empire, you will realize that I can’t get wrapped up in other business,” Rin said, before taking a single bite. “The emperor has destroyed my kingdom, killed my father, and taken my sister Himika.”
“Why weren’t you there?” Sir Forrest asked.
“I wish to the gods I had been!” Rin growled. “If I had known that Leonidas was taking aim for my castle…but we had no warning. I was hundreds of miles away. Once the siege began, I wasn’t sure how to get back in. I’d surely be killed. I need to find a ship in Capamere and beg aid from our allies in the west to negotiate her release.”
“I’d help you get your sister back. No need to go that far.” Forrest sat back—holding his wounded arm, although he was trying to make it look like a casual gesture—and crossed his legs on the table, which was too low for the chairs. The common room was empty except for us. All the furniture looked like it had been bought in different places for the cheapest prices. I wasn’t expecting much from the beds.
“How?”
“Prince Raio—”
“Call me Rin, until I regain my throne.”
“Okay. Rin. If my plan works out, the Empire will fall anyway. You’ll get your sister back, your kingdom, and we’ll even be free of the monsters. You’ll be the first king to rule over Gaermon in a new golden age. How about that.”
If Forrest was going to sell this idea, I thought, he probably shouldn’t take a vaguely sarcastic tone.
“Sounds extremely far-fetched. And time-consuming. What is this plan? And what does Gilbert have to do with it?”
“Gilbert is one of the four guardians of the priestess of the gate. I’m sure you know the story of the priestess of the gate.”
“Everyone knows that story,” Gilbert said, raking a nervous hand through his locks.
Gilbert was beautiful. Like, as pretty as a girl without looking like a girl, which was a feat I had only seen accomplished by a few capital boys. Usually with some strategic makeup. But Gilbert was totally natural, just perfect lips, perfect cheekbones, perfect blue eyes with flecks of gold like some precious stone, perfect eyebrows, perfect flaxen hair that framed his face with a soft wave. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to kiss him or ask him what his secret was.
I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when the next words out of his mouth were, “But I’m with Rin.”
“You’re gay?” I started reaching for the book. I was pretty sure it hadn’t said anything about what to do if one of your guardians was gay. Was I just supposed to ruin his life? Could I turn him un-gay? But that sounded wrong.
“I have been with women before, but…I’m with Rin now.”
“Awaken his sigil,” Sir Forrest said.
“Right now? Shouldn’t we talk this out first?“
“Do it,” he pressed. “There is no use having this conversation unless he fully understands.”
Reluctantly, I took out the stone. Gilbert looked at Rin anxiously. The prince’s arms were crossed. Was I the only one who was going to eat this stew no matter what the conversation?
“As you say,” Rin said, “we have all heard the story of the priestess and her four guardians. We know what she meant for the world. You should see if indeed it is true.”
“You want me to do this?” Gilbert sounded shocked.
“If it is true,” Rin said, “it would be your duty.”
“My duty…to be with a woman.” He looked at Wretch, and shook his head. “All right.” Gilbert met my eyes, more boldly than I expected. There was some defiance there, too.
I faltered. “I don’t want to make you feel something you don’t feel!”
“Phoebe,” Forrest said. “None of us have chosen this.”
“No,” Gilbert said, finally breaking eye contact. “I understand.”
“Hold out your hands…” From reading the book, I knew where all the sigils were located. Gilbert’s sigil was on his right palm, so it was easy for me to simply press the stone into his open hand.
The symbol flashed, and the sigil on my breastbone warmed in unison.
Gilbert’s beautiful lips parted. He looked at his hand, and at the ceiling, then toward Rin as the glow faded.
“Rin…,” he said.
“Did you know this would happen?” Rin asked.
“A fortune teller told me I would marry a pretty, black-haired girl once,” Gilbert said. “Of course, don’t they all say that? She didn’t seem aware that it was not my predilection.” I thought I saw a little shiver run through him, and my gaze lingered on him curiously.
“Your predilections hardly matter,” Sir Forrest said, with a typical lack of sensitivity. “There is no denying destiny. I need you, Gilbert. And most especially, Phoebe needs you. If all goes as planned, we will find the two other guardians and seal the gate. Even if we fail at finding the rest, the two of us might even be sufficient.”
“I did not think priestesses were still born,” Rin said. “Himika always held out hope that one would come again, but…”
“The priestesses never stopped being born,” Sir Forrest said. “Leonidas had them killed.”
“Killed? For over a century? Why would he kill the very person who used to protect us from the monsters?”
“He wants the gate open. He wants the monsters to come.”
Rin gripped his sword. “So he has an excuse to conquer.”
“And rule with an iron fist,” Forrest said. “After all, he certainly isn’t hurting from all this.”
“Ah. That actually seems quite obvious, once you speak it aloud. And even Gaermon couldn’t stand against that commander of his. I tell you, my father was a brilliant commander and our army outnumbered theirs. What did it do for us? Nothing. Abel swept through like a storm.” He paused. “I would like to believe fate may have brought us together.”
“Now, this is no easy task,” Forrest said. “We can’t seal the gate until the Elders have confirmed us in the Temple of Stones. We’ll have to go south into the belly of the beast, and then north again, without being detected. And even after we seal the gate, the empire will come for us. If we can seal it long enough, the monsters will stop coming. The people will realize that the Empire has been a sham all along.”
Rin pushed back his chair and bowed to me on one knee. “I will aid you in your quest.”
“Thank you, your majesty,” I said, once I had quickly gulped down a large chunk of carrot and put down my bowl. “I am honored.” I kind of wished Rin was my guardian. He seemed to be taking this well. And he was both a killer swordsman and royalty.
Gilbert, on the other hand, slid his fingers up and down one knee of his trousers, and then reached for the ale on the table. “This means our relationship is sexual,” he said to me. “Doesn’t it?”
“Well, technically, yeah, I mean…there are just some rituals and stuff we have to
do… I grant you powers and things like that… I don’t mean to mess up whatever you guys have going on.”
“No, Phoebe,” Sir Forrest said. “Don’t downplay it. Gilbert is right. He belongs to you and you belong to him. The rules are explicit on that point. Although I suppose there is nothing that says he can’t have a relationship with Rin if you allow it, you must come first and foremost in his heart and mind at all times. You have to be able to trust that your guardians will never choose someone else over you, nor over each other.”
I almost smiled just because he sounded so passionate about it—about protecting me. “I can’t make him feel that way.”
“You won’t have to. He will find that feeling inside himself.”
A sudden sick feeling swept over me. It was one thing with Forrest. He might have some resistance to such a rigid destiny, as any person would, but deep down I thought he genuinely liked me. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe magic twisted all our minds. “I don’t want to make people love me! Not—not either of you.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Forrest said. “We have to love you. We’d die without you.”
“Wait—we die?” Gilbert cried.
“Yes,” Forrest said. “The sigils grant us such a strong bond that if Phoebe dies, we will die with her.”
“Oh, I damn sure didn’t ask for that.”
Now even I had lost my taste for the stew. Well, actually, I’d finished the bowl, so it was convenient. But either way, I stood up and left the table. Wretch flew after me. This was terrible and it all felt like my fault, even though I didn’t like it either.
“Phoebe—” Gilbert rushed after me, looking concerned, but that might have been his sigil talking. “Wait. I didn’t mean offense to you.”
“Look, I don’t blame you if you did. Don’t worry about me. I think I just want to be alone right now. It’s too much.” I went to the old woman, who was sitting behind a desk knitting.
“You want your room, dear?” she asked, setting the yarn aside.
“Yes, please.”
“C’mon, then.” She patted her hand around the edge of the desk, getting out a ring of keys, and led the way to the stairwell. Her steps were brisk; she obviously knew the inn well. I didn’t look at the men.
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