The Bone Palace

by Downum, Amanda

  “I don’t know. But I’m willing to try.”

  “We both make ourselves miserable all too well. I’m not willing to help you.”

  The silence stretched taut. Finally Kiril rose to collect his scattered clothes. Isyllt watched him dress, and her stomach felt too small.

  A knock at the door snapped the strained stillness. Isyllt hadn’t realized she was holding her breath till it left in an aching rush. She winced as her feet touched the icy floor, huddling in her worn and faded robe as she went to the door.

  Her wards recognized Savedra now, but without them Isyllt might not have known her on first glance—she’d never seen the other woman without silks or velvet or the luster of pearls.

  “I’m sorry,” Savedra said. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  Isyllt’s cheeks warmed. “You didn’t. Come in.”

  Kiril emerged from the bedroom, his clothing rumpled but in place, and now Savedra blushed. “I should go,” he said. He nodded politely to Savedra as he passed. “Lady Severos.”

  Say something, Isyllt thought as she followed him to the door. Stop him. Don’t let it happen this way— But her tongue was numb, her jaw locked. Her hand twitched as he crossed the threshold. He paused on the first step, his mouth twisting in that sad familiar smile. He caught her hand before it fell back to her side, brushed his thumb softly across her knuckles. Then he turned and faded into the shadows of the stairwell.

  “I’m sorry,” Savedra said again as Isyllt closed the door. “I didn’t know—”

  “It’s all right. You saved us some argument and awkward farewells. What’s wrong?” No one went visiting on the demon days if everything was well.

  “Ginevra Jsutien is missing. Her aunt believes she’s been abducted.”

  “Do you believe it?”

  “I don’t know. Saints know Thea is a liar and a schemer, but I believe she’s upset. What if someone thought she was one of us last night?”

  Isyllt frowned. “We both had our veils off after the assassin attacked the princess. When did she disappear?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t remember when I last saw her.”

  “Damn. Who would want her gone?”

  “I would, if I were any more ruthless.” Savedra’s mouth twisted. “Though I find myself liking her. But everyone knows Thea wants Ginevra to be queen when Ashlin is gone, and I imagine there are plenty of factions who oppose that.” She rubbed at her injured arm fretfully. “You don’t think Phaedra had anything to do with it, do you?”

  “I wouldn’t put much past her, though so far she’s taken victims who wouldn’t be missed.”

  As soon as she said it, memories clicked like puzzle cubes: the protests in Archlight and riots in Elysia; the angry families in the Justiciary demanding answers; all the pale bodies on slabs in the Sepulcher.

  “Saints and shadows.” She shook her head, impressed by the plan even as her stomach clenched. “They’re not random.” Liar, she thought, remembering Spider shrugging the deaths aside, and laughed.

  Savedra’s eyebrows rose and she went on. “They’re killing refugee girls. And why not—there are enough of them in the slums, easy to snatch. But for every girl that disappears, the Rosian community gets angrier. There’s been rioting in Elysia already. It will get worse now that the army is home and the city is even more strained.”

  “They’re antagonizing the Rosians on purpose?”

  “They must be. They want the throne—turning the city against Mathiros can only help them. An unloved king is easier to overthrow, for reasons both practical and thaumaturgical. Then they seize the throne and the killings stop.”

  Savedra rocked back. “But a coup would throw the city into more chaos. They would have to kill Nikos, too, and then the Octagon Court would snarl like dogs over the throne.” Her face paled as she spoke. “And why now? The demon days are hardly an auspicious time to do anything.”

  “They are if you’re a demon. Phaedra’s power will only increase over the next few days, and the city is at its most vulnerable.”

  “Shadows. Nikos is in danger.”

  “Go to him. Warn him and keep him close.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Going to the Garden. I need to convince Little Kiva not to riot again, and I think I know someone they might listen to.”

  Carriages were scarce on the dead days, so Isyllt walked to the Garden. There were more people on the streets of Elysia than there should have been, and too many of them scowled and clustered in angry conversation.

  The Briar Patch was closed, as was every shop and tavern on Thistle Street, but smoke trickled out of the chimney. Isyllt hammered on the kitchen door; her hand ached before the latch lifted and Mekaran’s frowning face appeared in the gap.

  “What in the black hells do you want, necromancer?”

  “I need your help.”

  His frown didn’t fade, but the door opened. “Your timing is bad. But maybe you can help me in turn.” He ushered her inside, into warmth and the comforting smell of garlic and ginger. “Dahlia is sick.”

  Isyllt’s stomach tightened. “The influenza?”

  “What else?” His mouth quirked. “I want to blame you for sending her on errands in the cold, but I know that’s ridiculous. There’s someone sick in every house, lately.” He wore no paint today, and coppery stubble shadowed his jaw. His clothes were plain and dark, and even his hair had begun to fade, cinnamon-brown roots showing beneath the dye.

  “Is it bad?”

  He shot her a scalding look. “Bad enough. Can you do anything for her?”

  “I’m no healer. But let me see her, please.”

  Dahlia’s room was a small one above the kitchen, hardly wider than a closet. Warm enough, at least, between heat from below and the brazier glowing by the foot of the bed. The cot was layered in blankets, and Dahlia had burrowed into them. Her hair spread in lank tangles across the pillow and her cheeks were blotched with fever and an alarming yellow flush.

  “Lady Iskaldur.” She coughed as soon as she spoke, deep and wet. The whites of her eyes were washed yellow; Isyllt winced at the sight. Bruised lids sank shut a moment later, and the rasp of the girl’s breath deepened.

  She remembered the last time she’d sat a sickbed like this—her friend Ziya caught the influenza when they were fifteen and living in a freezing tenement attic in Birthgrave. No money for a physician and only the scant herbcraft Isyllt had gleaned from her mother to fight the illness. If Ziya had died that night, Isyllt would have lost everything.

  Instead Kiril had found her, and offered help in exchange for her apprenticeship.

  She didn’t realize she was crying till a tear slipped off her chin and splashed the blanket. “How long has it been?” she asked, scrubbing her cheeks.

  “Two days,” Mekaran said from the doorway. “The fever hit yesterday and the jaundice came this morning. What is this plague? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “Neither have I. The Arcanost swears it’s just influenza, but they’re lying to prevent a panic.” She sank onto the edge of the bed and took Dahlia’s clammy hand in hers. The symptoms were an unnatural mix of influenza and the bronze fever. A fever the city hadn’t seen since the summer of Lychandra’s death….

  Isyllt remembered her fevered dreams—blood and more blood, and black wings. She closed her eyes and extended her magic, sending tendrils of power questing through Dahlia. Death answered, a shadow in the girl’s lungs, a sickly yellow glow pulsing through her veins and coiling in her liver. Not the sharp echo of a mortal illness, not yet, but the potential was there.

  She forced her awareness deeper, clenching her jaw as Dahlia began to shiver at the invasive chill. Dimly she heard Mekaran’s indrawn breath, but he had the sense not to interrupt. There. Scarlet ribbons twined the muddy yellow of the plague, shining with a faint porphyry glitter. The taste of cinnamon spread across her tongue.

  Phaedra had taken the dead plague as well as the dead queen’s flesh, quickene
d it and melded it with the influenza till she had a new plague that would spread in winter. Isyllt’s breath hitched at the ingenuity of it, the skill involved. Silently, she cursed Kiril and Mathiros and all the fates for making this woman her enemy.

  Then she gathered herself and launched her magic against Phaedra’s. Dahlia shuddered and writhed and Mekaran swore. Death-magic flashed like a scalpel, slicing the ribbons of haematurgy. Crimson unraveled into yellow, and the yellow in turn began to fade. Magic spread the dead fever—if she could break Phaedra’s spell, only the natural illness should remain.

  She opened her eyes as Mekaran’s hand closed on her shoulder; she felt the violence harnessed in his manicured grip. Dahlia had curled into a shivering ball, her breath coming in soft keening gasps. Her lips were bruised blue, as were the tips of the fingers Isyllt still held. Sweat cooled on Isyllt’s brow.

  “The plague is sorcery. Another attempt to weaken the city.” She let go of Dahlia’s hand and pulled the covers tightly around the girl’s neck. “I broke its hold on her.”

  Mekaran released her; her shoulder throbbed where his fingers had ground flesh to bone. “You nearly killed her.”

  She nodded, unclenching her aching jaw. “I’m no healer,” she repeated. “But it worked. She’s still sick, but the taint is gone. The jaundice should clear soon—if it’s anything like the real bronze fever, her urine will be bloody when it passes. Keep her warm and full of soup and tisane—she’s strong enough to fight the rest.” Or so she prayed.

  Mekaran’s frown remained, but his shoulders slumped. He added fuel to the brazier before leading Isyllt back to the kitchen.

  “What do you need my help for?” he asked as he poured tea. He set a cup in front of Isyllt, followed by a plate of yesterday’s bread and honey.

  Between sips of tea, she explained about the murdered women, the riots and the growing unrest. “The last thing the city needs during the demon days is rioting. Violence and destruction will draw spirits like a beacon, and only further these demons’ plans.”

  “And this demon witch who made the plague is the one who killed Forsythia.”

  It wasn’t a question, but Isyllt nodded anyway. “Between you and Ciaran I thought you might talk some sense into the instigators. Once we deal with this sorceress they can march on the Justiciary all they please, but not in the next five days.”

  Mekaran stared at the mug cradled in his broad hands. “I know some of the leaders. I’ll talk to them. They’re angry, though, and the marigolds who refuse to help them are a likelier target than demons no one has seen. Pray they listen.”

  Isyllt laughed grimly. Her prayers were spread thin these days, and she knew the sort of answer she was likely to receive.

  Nikos wasn’t in his chambers, and rather than hunt him through the palace Savedra settled in to wait. His room was cold, the air heavy with ash and incense—he didn’t often pray, but the doors of his shrine were open now, the burners streaked with ashes. She hoped the saints were listening.

  She knelt in front of the cabinet, letting the scent of sandalwood and myrrh ground her as she gathered her wits. She’d waited too long to tell him and the story had grown too convoluted. A coup she could understand, even Varis’s misguided need for revenge on the Alexioi, but demons and stolen corpses—

  Footsteps broke the spiral of her thoughts and she straightened her shoulders. The connecting door to Ashlin’s suite swung open, and Nikos entered with the princess at his heels. Savedra’s carefully planned explanations crumbled in surprise, and she drew back into the shadows to regroup. Neither of them turned in her direction.

  “What is it?” Nikos asked when the door was latched behind them. His face was drawn, his voice strained. He inspected a bottle of wine on the sideboard before he poured, and Savedra smiled in approval—she’d insisted he seal all his bottles, and always check them before he drank.

  “I’m sorry to trouble you,” Ashlin said slowly, waving aside an offered goblet. “I know this isn’t a good time for distractions.”

  “You’re my wife,” he said with an exasperated laugh. “You’re allowed to distract me whenever you wish. Some might even encourage it.”

  Ashlin didn’t so much as smile. Savedra knew she ought to speak before she eavesdropped further, but her tongue was frozen.

  “I’m pregnant.”

  Nikos’s mouth opened and closed again. “Are you sure?” Savedra felt as though she’d turned to stone.

  “This is the third time. I know the signs.”

  He drank before he spoke. “Forgive me,” he said after a long swallow, “but—”

  Her mouth twisted. “But how can that be, when we haven’t shared a bed since I lost the last one?”

  Savedra’s hands ached, clenched white-knuckled in her skirts.

  “I would never accuse you….”

  “It’s true, though. It isn’t yours. I’m sorry.” She squared her shoulders, a soldier facing discipline. “I didn’t mean for it to happen, and I won’t dishonor the oaths I swore any further by lying. I know the odds are poor that I’ll keep it any longer than the others, but I thought you should know. If you wish to begin divorce proceedings—”

  “Slow down, please. You’re making my head spin.” He set his goblet aside. “Most state marriages last at least five years before public scandal and divorce. But if you’re that unhappy….” All of them flinched at the hurt in those last words. More than injured pride, and Savedra’s chest ached; he loved Ashlin after all, or something close. “I don’t suppose you’d tell me whose it is? As long as it’s not my father, I think I could stand to hear anything.”

  That drew an outraged laugh, but Ashlin sobered quickly. “I’m sorry, but it’s not my place to say.”

  “No,” Savedra said slowly, pushing herself off her knees. “But it is mine.”

  They both startled. Nikos’s goblet teetered on the sideboard and fell, spraying wine across the carpet with a metallic thunk; Ashlin groped at her belt for an absent blade. She flushed as Savedra stepped out of the shadows. “Vedra—”

  “My place,” she went on, cutting her off. “My place, and my child.”

  Nikos blinked, and his jaw slackened in confusion. It tightened again with the realization that followed. “You can’t mean—”

  “Yes. I’m the—” Her voice broke. “The father. Forgive me. No, forgive Ashlin. I understand mine is the worse betrayal.”

  Nikos lurched away from the wall and Savedra tensed for shouting, for rage, even for a blow. But he turned back to the sideboard to fetch a new goblet and pour more wine. His hand shook and garnet-red drops splashed the table.

  “It was my fault,” Ashlin said. “I pressed the matter, abused my position and Savedra’s trust.”

  “Please.” He laughed bitterly and raised his cup. His throat worked as he swallowed. “You said no lies. I know you too well for that.”

  “I’m no ravished maiden,” Savedra said, her voice so dry she hardly recognized it. “Let’s place no blame beyond what we’ve earned.”

  “Vedra—” His eyes were dangerously liquid. Her composure would shatter if his did. “Is it over, then? Between us?”

  She started forward, stopped short as if held by a leash. Her cheeks tingled; her hands shook. “I love you. I love you as I always have. I would never leave you willingly, but what I’ve done—” She forced the words past her tightening throat. “It’s treason.”

  “You love me.” No mockery, no doubt. “Do you love Ashlin, too?”

  She saw the princess tense as if for a blow. No assassin could ever wound them all so gracefully. “Yes.”

  “Well, then.” He drained the rest of his cup. “Doubtless my father could be decisive about something like this, but I don’t think I can. I need time, and more wine. I trust neither of you have spoken of this to anyone else? Good,” he said when they both nodded. “Then please don’t. I—Excuse me.” With that, he left, easing the door shut behind him so it didn’t make a sound.

  As
hlin and Savedra stared at each other.

  “When did you know?” Savedra managed at last.

  “I’ve worried since we got back from Evharis. The timing was right for a child to catch—which I should have thought of then, but I was too drunk and stupid. And then this morning my breasts began to ache, and I knew.”

  “And you didn’t tell me?”

  “I looked for you this morning. I thought of waiting, but that would only have put the burden on you, and been a coward’s choice. I’m sorry, Vedra. It seems that all we can do is hurt one another.”

  She turned back to her rooms and shut the door behind her.

  Savedra stood for a moment, stunned and sick, before she remembered the reason she’d needed to talk to Nikos in the first place. With a curse she ran after Ashlin, catching her before she reached the door of her suite.

  “Wait! Saints, Ashlin, your timing is impossible.” She couldn’t look the princess in the eye, but she forced out an explanation of Phaedra and Isyllt’s suspicions.

  “Blood and iron,” Ashlin swore. “No, we can’t let him wander off to drink himself stupid now. Where would he go?”

  They searched the library, the stables, and the wine cellar with no luck, and Savedra silently cursed the cold and empty halls. Whenever she and Nikos tried to find a moment alone, the palace was crawling with servants, and now it was desolate.

  An hour passed before they found a groundskeeper who pointed them toward the palace temple. The memory of the black crypts and the queen’s empty coffin sped Savedra’s stride, till Ashlin had to jog to keep pace.

  His guards waited inside the temple, but directed Ashlin down to the crypt. “His Highness ordered us to leave him,” the unhappy sergeant said. And, more reluctantly, “He’s been drinking.”

  Ashlin’s smile didn’t fool anyone. “I think I can carry him if he’s too drunk to walk. Stay here.