And then Leena noticed something else.
A lone figure. A woman in a pale lavender dress. A woman with short hair and dark skin. Was it possible?
Leena leaned a little farther out the window, as though a few inches would make the image clearer. They didn’t. But a pinch in her gut urged Leena to believe. Was it possible that the woman was Jinji, the girl who weeks before had spoken the very words promising Leena safe haven in Rayfort in exchange for saving the prince? The very girl who had given her the hope to believe that escape was possible? Could it be Jinji, no longer pretending to be a boy, finally revealed as the woman she was?
Leena blinked, stepping back, shaking her head.
It wasn’t possible. No one was that lucky.
Her hair must appear short because it is neatly pinned atop her head, Leena reasoned. Her skin must appear dark because it’s up against the pristine white stone of the city walls.
Unless…
Leena glanced over again, watching the woman walk to the very end of the pier and sit down with her feet dangling over the water. Who else could it be? No one in Whylkin who could afford to walk around in colorful silks would be unchaperoned and alone at the docks. Ourthuro and Whylkin were very different kingdoms, but some things always remained the same.
Before Leena had time to ponder any other possibilities, the girl fell face forward off the end of the dock as though pushed by invisible hands. Her body was lifeless and immobile as it splashed almost silently into the sea, dragged under by some unnatural force.
Leena’s eyes widened, alarmed.
Swim, she thought. Swim.
But there were no flailing arms breaking through the surface of the water. No gasping breaths. No movements at all. To the casual observer, it might seem as though the girl went willingly to her grave. But Leena knew something was wrong. She sensed it in her bones. A crime had just been committed, and Leena, it seemed, was the only witness around.
Body reacting before her brain had time to process, Leena found she was half out the window before she even realized what she was doing. But the circular opening was small, nearly too small for even her thin body to squeeze through. So she dangled, half in the ship and half out, pausing for just a minute before biting her lip and making the decision. If it was Jinji, there was no way Leena could let her die. And if it wasn’t, there was still no way she could sit idle—not knowing she could have helped. One strong push was all it took to shift her bum through the window, and then before she knew it, she was falling, smacking against the water, slipping under—free.
Leena smiled, surrounded by endless blue, and let the sea fill her senses. The taste of salt. The sensation of liquid smooth against her skin. The rumble of waves crashing overhead. After days of sailing above the surface, Leena had never felt happier to be back beneath the water, back in the only home she had left.
And then she swam.
Within minutes, she found the body resting still at the bottom of the ocean, weighed down by heavy clothes, barely disrupting the sand. One look at the woman’s face, and Leena knew she had been right all along. Somehow, someway, fate had given her another gift—the girl was Jinji. A lifeless, breathless Jinji, but Jinji all the same.
Acting swiftly, Leena scooped her up, wrapping an arm around her waist, and searched for some way out of the water. She didn’t want to leave, not really. No place had ever felt so safe, so expansive, so liberating. But saving Jinji’s life was far more important—saving all of Whylkin from her father was far more important.
Near the edge of the dock, Leena saw her chance—a stone ramp starting from the sandy shore and leading up and out of the water. Moving as quickly as possible, she pulled Jinji’s heavy body through the water and closer to their only way out. And as soon as she could stand, she broke the surface, breathing in air once more and dragging Jinji up the stones behind her. When they were free of the sea, Leena dropped to her knees. Sheltered as she was, she had seen someone drown before—a slave child who had tried to swim in the palace pools on a hot summer day. And she still remembered watching the guards try desperately to save him, to get him awake and out of the palace before her father found out.
Opening Jinji’s mouth, Leena pushed the air from her body down into her friend’s throat, and then pumped on her chest. Again. And again. And again. More times than the guards had tried with the little boy, more times than a sane person might, but there was no giving up. No other options. This had to work. Desperation fueled her movements. Jinji was the only person in Rayfort who could help her, who had seen her unveiled face, who could vouch for her identity and her truths. She couldn’t die or everything was lost.
“Come on,” Leena whispered harshly, pounding on Jinji’s immobile chest. “Come on!”
The gods listened.
Jinji’s entire body jerked, lifting off the stones, twitching as a cough ripped through her. Quickly, Leena turned her on her side, giving the water rising from her chest a better place to go—out.
“Let it go,” she cooed gently, trying to ease the worry tensing Jinji’s muscles. She patted her back softly until the endless river stopped pouring, and the coughing was replaced by gasping breaths instead.
“Rhen?” Jinji whispered scratchily, voice sore and broken. But soon her eyes gained focus and she turned her head, brows furrowing in confusion. “Princess?”
Leena winced at the title. “I’m not a princess anymore,” she growled. But then she paused, breathing for a moment to regain her composure. It wasn’t Jinji’s fault. The girl was oblivious of everything Leena had done to strip herself of the title of princess—a different girl and a different life she had left far behind. Softer, she said, “You may call me Leena from now on.”
“Leena…” Jinji repeated, trailing off and shaking her head, eyes alight with confusion and disbelief. A feeling Leena definitely understood. For the second time in mere weeks, against all odds, fate had thrown the two of them together. And Leena had no idea what fate had in store this time.
But before she could answer, a shout rose behind her—harsh and angry, riddled with accusation.
“It’s an Ourthuri!”
“Seize them!”
Leena spun toward the sound, fear pinching her heart. How could she have been so stupid? Of course these people would fear her. She was the enemy after all. And before she could even offer a single word to defend herself, hands covered her lips, grasped her arms, and hauled her to her feet. Within minutes, her limbs were bound by rope and she was tossed in the back of a carriage, locked away once more.
Leena sighed and shook her head, silently fuming. This was exactly what the captain had predicted would happen, the entire reason he locked her in the first mate’s cabin. No one in Whylkin would trust her. No one would see past her olive skin and tattooed arms. No one would believe she was trying to help. No one except the girl by her side and the prince out of reach in the castle.
Leena glanced over, trying to make Jinji out in the darkness of the carriage. There were no windows, just a slight crack where the door opened, letting a tiny sliver of light peek through. Did they think Jinji was an Ourthuri too? Or had she lost favor with the prince? Had he cast her out? Leena sighed, shaking her head. Of course Prince Whylrhen would not have cast his best friend aside. But what if it wasn’t his choice? Leena had seen the love in Jinji’s eyes, and maybe someone else had too. Someone who didn’t like the idea of their prince with an oldworlder, someone who would keep Whylrhen out of both of their reaches.
With yet another sigh, Leena dropped her head back against the carriage wall, shifting her hands uncomfortably as the ropes tightened around her wrists—a completely unfamiliar sensation. All of these questions were useless. Only one thing was certain at the moment—for the first time in her life, Leena was truly a prisoner, not in a golden cage, but in an iron one. And she needed to find a way out.
Just as she was about to question Jinji, the girl spoke up instead, voice tenuous. “Leena, are you all right?”
<
br /> Leena sighed once more, rolling her eyes in the dark. No, she wasn’t all right. There were so many things wrong about the situation, about her life, so many things she wished could have happened differently. But instead of complaining, Leena just answered honestly. “I never expected a warm welcome, and I’ve been through far worse than this.”
“As have I,” Jinji replied quietly.
And a familiar sensation returned, one Leena had felt the first time the two of them met. Companionship. Like-heartedness. Two women who understood each other despite not truly knowing each other, two women forced to be older than their years.
“Do you know if they will take us to the prince?” Leena asked, mind wandering back to Whylrhen and the need to give him her information. It was the entire reason for her journey, the desire to somehow help put a stop to her father and maybe bring about a better life for her people.
Jinji paused, taking her time with the answer. Leena tried to ignore the growing sense of unease spreading through her limbs. For such a simple question, she had hoped for a simple answer. But nothing was simple, not anymore.
“I hope so,” Jinji finally answered, “but an army rests outside the walls, an army of soldiers from your homeland, so I doubt the guards will take care to treat us kindly. I expect they’ll send word to the king, so one way or another, Rhen will find us.”
Rather than bring comfort, the words brought a heaviness to Leena’s heart. The armies were already here, already stationed outside. Was she too late? Would she be locked away before ever getting the chance to speak with the prince? Was all lost? Leena shook her head, tightening her brows and then releasing them, determined to keep at least a small flame of hope alive.
“Much has changed since we last saw each other,” she whispered, more for herself than for Jinji. More to remind her what she had lost and what she was fighting for—what she would continue fighting for with her dying breath. “I have lost someone I love. I have abandoned my family. I have betrayed my people. And I have defied my father. But if I can bring an end to this war before it truly begins, if I can help overthrow my king, then everything will be worth it.” But just as the words were spoken, Mikza’s face flashed before her eyes, his beautiful, warm, loving face. A vision in the dark. A memory, which was all she had left. Leena murmured, “Almost everything.”
Jinji found her hands, grasping them as though sensing the loss in Leena’s words, giving her comfort in the only way she knew how. Unused to the kindness, Leena wasn’t sure how to respond. Affection was not the way of the Ourthuri. But it was the human way, the natural way, because her body responded for her, fingers tightening and soaking in the warmth.
“I noticed that you no longer hide your face, that you now wear the clothes of a woman and not a man,” Leena mentioned quietly, not wanting to pry but curious all the same. What had changed on the other side of the Dueling Sea while her own life had turned upside down?
“A lot has also changed in Whylkin since we last spoke,” Jinji answered. And Leena couldn’t help but grin just a little at the words. It was as though Jinji had read her thoughts, as though they were of the same mind. Which in some ways, perhaps they were.
But before Jinji could explain any further, the carriage jammed to a halt and the door beside them was thrown violently open. Leena barely had time to brace herself as rough hands grabbed her, tossing her from the carriage like a sack of dirt. Off balance, she fell to her knees, unaccustomed to such treatment, but it was clear the guards had no idea who she was, or perhaps knew and didn’t at all care.
As new hands grasped the ropes around her wrists, tugging her upright and toward some unknown destination, Leena couldn’t help but glance at the white stone castle looming over her shoulder. Just as domineering as the golden palace she was used to, if totally different in style. But that wasn’t what really caught her attention. It was the fact that it was behind her, the fact that she was so clearly being pulled away—away from access to the prince, away from her true destination, away from anywhere she might be able to help.
Leena focused her attention ahead, to Jinji, to the one person Prince Whylrhen would hopefully come running for. It was the only chance she had. The only chance they all had.
TWO
Of all the times Leena ever imagined traveling to the mysterious city of Rayfort, she never imagined this. Sitting idle in a cell, locked behind bars, dripping wet in a soaked gown with her hair sticking to her neck, waiting for a prince that might never come. She felt more like a wet dog than a woman, let alone a woman carrying vital information that just might save everyone in this city—including the men who had mishandled her.
So Leena did the only thing a former princess who had abandoned her kingdom to help aid an enemy king could do, she straightened her shoulders, held her chin high, and tried to look as royal and as unaffected as possible. Because if the prince did come, she needed to be the princess he remembered—a princess with authority who would be taken seriously.
“How did you find me?” Jinji asked, pulling Leena from her thoughts. “How did you happen to see me in the water, to save me?”
“Luck,” she said, answering the question with the first thing that came to mind. And yet, something about the word felt right, felt so accurate. Suddenly her mood lifted. Luck had brought them together twice. Luck was on her side. Luck would bring Prince Whylrhen, luck would get her message to his ears. Turning fully to Jinji, Leena smiled widely, letting the glee filling her chest trickle out into the world, dissipating the dreary mood surrounding them. Words began to tumble quickly from her mouth, excited. “Probably the same luck that brought us together in Da’astiku, the same luck that made it possible to save your prince. The ship that carried me away from my homeland is currently docked in Rayfort’s harbor. I recognized you the instant I saw you and did not hesitate to dive into the icy waters the moment I saw you slip under.”
But a moment after she finished speaking, Leena watched as Jinji’s mood turned from one of curiosity to one of panic. Her breath grew staggered and her eyes turned sharp with concern.
“Leena,” Jinji began, voice urgent. “Do you remember when you asked why I no longer wore the face of a boy?”
Leena nodded slowly, unsure where she was headed.
But the response was enough, because Jinji leaned forward, frantic. “It was not by choice.” Leena’s brows tightened, instantly on edge. Jinji continued speaking, “I never meant to reveal myself, but an evil force—a darkness I know only as the shadow—that is killing spirit users like you. It can take possession of a person’s body, it can control them. When we first met, I didn’t know what it wanted, but it tried to murder Rhen, and I realized the truth too late. He is alive by a miracle, and I do not want your fate to be the same.”
Leena hardly heard the end of Jinji’s words, her mind was already spinning, already whirling, traveling back to that day a week and a half ago in her rooms, that day her dear friend had become a man she did not recognize. The day her dear friend had tried to kill her. “Tam…” She whispered, trailing off with disbelief.
“What?” Jinji asked, inching just slightly closer as she bit her lip, desperate for more information.
“He was my friend, is my friend,” Leena said haphazardly, trying to make all of the connections in her mind as the questions that had haunted her journey across the Dueling Sea were brought back to the forefront of her thoughts. Was Tam alive? Was he dead? Had King Razzaq discovered Tam’s involvement in her escape? Was he just another man whose blood was on her hands? Leena shook her head, trying to dispel the heavy weight of her doubts. Instead, she focused on her memory of that day, speaking to Jinji almost without realizing. “He was in my rooms one afternoon, helping to plan my escape, when his eyes suddenly glazed over, grew the most vacant white I have ever seen. And then he attacked. I barely got out alive, I had to…had to hurt him…”
A picture as vibrant as any she could recall rose to the front of her thoughts. Tam with a knife lodged deep i
n his shoulder, blood flowing freely over the golden chain links of his uniform, slumped on his side and unconscious. And now Leena was discovering that it was all because of her. Because of who she was. The one thing that had provided her comfort through every hardship in her life, her relationship with the water, was the one reason her friend might now be dead. Because this thing, this shadow, wanted to kill her. And according to Jinji, he would use any means possible to do so.
Hands grabbed her wrist, jerking her back to reality. It was Jinji, wide-eyed and demanding. “When did this happen?” she asked, tone deathly grave, for reasons Leena did not quite understand.
“Not two weeks ago,” Leena muttered as a ripple passed through her body, a shiver. But she pushed the ache aside, as she had so many times in her life, drawing back into the act of a poised princess to feign strength, to keep the fear and the sadness locked inside where no one else would see it. Such was the Ourthuri way.
Jinji, however, was quickly losing all control. She stumbled back, eyes flicking this way and that, not looking out into the world but stuck in memories, in a place Leena could not see. Finally her lids slipped closed, head shaking slightly, face dropping in utter defeat.
“Jin!”
Leena spun, eyes slipping down the hall to a figure running at them in full speed. A man with vibrant red hair, fire in his gaze, and fury that sparked the air around him.
Prince Whylrhen.
“Jin!” he shouted again.
Leena couldn’t help but grin the closer he came. Partly because luck had saved her once more. But partly for something else—for the fact that his eyes had not yet noticed her, that his eyes had seen no one but the small woman by her side. And for just a brief moment in time, he reminded her of Mikza. The fiercely protective, fiercely in love Mikza.
Leena's Story - The Complete Novellas (A Dance of Dragons Book 4) Page 11
