by Rin Chupeco
When I rose the next morning, the Heartforger remained in the throne room, and I wondered if he had moved from his spot after I had retired. The asha was sitting at the window near the throne again; she had changed her hua to suit the Daanorian style, with several layers of wispy cloth over rich purple silk and a waist wrap that began underneath her breasts and ended halfway down her hips. She watched the emperor dozing at a corner nearby. His hands and feet were still bound, but I suspected he would be in no shape to resist even without his restraints.
“You’re up early,” she observed.
“I couldn’t sleep.” My voice sounded rough to my own ears. My gaze dropped to the pile of papers in her lap.
“I have been writing. I sleep little nowadays, and my mind requires distraction.” She gestured at herself. “I do not think they will appreciate me wearing a hua—after all, I have long since been stripped of my title as an asha. I shall enjoy their discomfiture.”
“Where is Lord Kalen?”
“Still in our bedchamber.” I blushed at her candidness, but she paid no attention. “Use the next hour to prepare yourself.”
“For what?”
“They will want to make contact first, of course. They must have a lot of questions about me.” Her smile was mischievous. “Would you like another story while we wait? I imagine it’ll take at least an hour for them to draw lots and decide on the unfortunate messenger, and Khalad is too engrossed in his work at the moment to hear us, much less be of use in conversation.”
“To be a perfectionist is not the same as being deaf,” Khalad said without looking up, and the bone witch laughed.
13
When I opened my eyes, I became aware of three things: the gleaming waters of Lake Strypnyk before me, the savory smell of food, and Chief nudging affectionately at me with his head. I had drawn Bloodletting on him before I’d fallen asleep, and the Gorvekan stallion bore no traces of injury from the night before.
I reached out and felt the familiar touch of the azi on my mind. It was still at Kneave, discouraging any attempts at pursuit. I probed further but couldn’t detect Aenah’s presence beyond a faint hint that she was still in Odalia.
“Are you back with us, Tea?” Khalad carefully placed a few strips of bacon and a loaf of bread onto a large leaf. Likh was crouched over the fire, cooking the rest. Polaire and Mykaela were both fast asleep, made as comfortable as possible on the ground with thick blankets. Their heartsglass still rippled green, but it comforted me to know that, although exhausted, neither was in any pain.
I moved back to my spot and accepted Khalad’s meal gratefully. “I’m surprised we even have food.”
“Altaecia’s doing. I think she brought the whole pantry.”
“Well, that’s shocking.” I shifted, winced. “Where are the others?”
“Kalen’s scouting ahead, and Zoya and Althy are bathing. I think the princess is with them.”
“Has she shown you Prince Kance’s heartsglass yet?”
“No. Althy said to wait till you woke up.”
“Do you know where my brother is?”
It was the boy’s turn to wince. “I don’t know. I think he’s distancing himself from us because it’s disconcerting to look at him.”
“Let’s fix that.” I stood, and the world tilted. Likh grabbed me just in time. “Vertigo,” I panted. “A daeva’s mind isn’t the most relaxing place to be.”
“I didn’t know that was possible,” Likh said, wide eyed. “Linking with a daeva, I mean.”
“I don’t think it’s something most people want to try. Better than—”
Better than compelling someone you admire against their will, the rest of my mind supplied.
I stopped. Likh waited for me to finish, but I didn’t. Instead, I stood, balance somewhat restored, and headed toward the lake.
“Wait up!” I heard him call, the crackling of leaves following me, but I trudged on, lost in my own misery and angry at myself for feeling so miserable. After all, I owed Kalen nothing. He wasn’t a friend—he said as much. I’d saved his life. Surely that was a forgivable offense? There was no reason for my despondency.
I spotted someone bathing along the edges of the river. I was still sluggish, and as my mind told me this person was not riddled with wounds, not missing an arm, and therefore not my brother, Kalen reached for the clothes he’d left along the embankment.
I froze. So did he. I’d seen Kalen shirtless on the practice field, but I was too busy avoiding blows and his well-placed sarcasm to pay much notice. Now without any wooden swords in the way, I watched water drip down his muscled chest and felt ridiculous at how grateful I was that he had kept on his breeches. For a moment, I’d almost forgotten what I’d done to him. I tore away my gaze and raised my eyes to meet his cold brown ones.
There was no witty banter, no sardonic rebuttals. Kalen ignored my red face and walked in the opposite direction, taking the circuitous route back to camp without bothering to dry off.
“Is Kalen OK?” Likh asked from behind me, puzzled.
I had expected his reaction, but it did nothing to quell my guilt. “Not yet.” He didn’t even want to be a friend. But it hurt anyway, more than I wanted it to.
We found Fox staring out into the water. He’d taken off his shirt, having little of it left, and his whole body was riddled with deep wounds and pus. The splinters and arrows lodged in his body were gone, thankfully, but he had casually tucked his torn arm underneath the other like it wasn’t of any import. I remembered the last time we were here at the lake—fighting the azi, trying to seize control of it from Aenah. Fox had been injured then too, and he had saved my life.
What I didn’t expect was the Kion princess. She stood several feet from my brother, staring out into the lake like he was.
“Are you feeling better?” Fox asked me quietly, his gaze still fixed on the water’s surface.
“Much better. I need to fix you.”
“It can wait.” His voice was harsh. “You’re still worn out.”
I saw the princess grip her collar with one hand and tug at it, refusing to look his way. “You are literally holding what’s left of your arm in one hand,” she snapped. “I’m surprised maggots aren’t crawling over you.”
“I’ve been dead for nearly four years. If maggots haven’t found me appetizing all that time, I doubt they’d start now.”
“I have to agree with the princess,” I said rather crabbily, not in the mood to mediate. “I can rest later. You, on the other hand, can’t afford to go anywhere looking like this.”
Fox didn’t look happy but remained still while I cut my finger and let the Bloodletting strands wash over him. It was a disconcerting sight, seeing the bones knit together and the flesh reform itself. Those wounds closed to become scars, thinning out and disappearing. His arm reattached itself to his elbow, sinews twisting and muscles distorting.
Likh was white but held on to his breakfast this time. Princess Inessa abandoned her pretense at ignoring him and watched. Her eyes traveled down his body before returning to the three large scars on his chest, the only part of him my magic couldn’t cure.
Fox flexed his arm. “Almost as good as new,” he reported.
“‘Almost’?”
My brother finally smiled, and it was like the sun breaking out from behind a dark cloud. “Just a little spongy around the edges.”
I took pity on Likh, who was making small choking sounds. “I don’t think we should linger at Strypnyk for too long. When we can leave, Likh?”
The boy bobbed his head, relieved. “I’ll ask Althy.”
I turned back to Fox, but some of the levity had disappeared. The princess continued to stare at him until he spoke. “Am I done repulsing you, Princess?”
Inwardly, I groaned. “Your Highness, it might be best if you started preparing as well.”
&nbs
p; The princess nodded but looked back at Fox again. “If I’d found you repulsive,” she said quietly, “I would have left the day I learned you were a familiar. Will you accompany me, Lady Tea?”
“As you wish, Your Highness.” I felt a brief start of surprise from Fox’s end, immediately stamped down.
The walk back to the campsite was quiet. A few feet shy of entering camp, she stopped.
“Do you think the prince is all right?” I finally asked, unable to bear the silence.
She took a deep breath. “I think so. No, I believe so. They wouldn’t dare lay a hand on him.”
“I’m going to kill them.” It felt good to let the anger out. It was a better emotion to dwell on than the guilt.
She flashed me a small smile. “From what I’ve heard, and from what I’ve seen with my own eyes, I’m sure you’re more than capable of that.” A pause. “I’d like to watch.”
I laughed, surprising myself. “I’ll try my best to arrange front-row seats, Your Highness.”
“Are you close friends with my fiancé?”
Fiancé. That was enough to slide the smile off my face. “Yes. We are.”
“It must sound strange then, talking about my fiancé when… I suppose you know about Fox and me,” the princess said softly. “Of course you do. You must think badly of me.”
“I don’t,” I said, confused. “I thought the opposite… I mean, he didn’t tell you that he was my…”
“Familiar? I discovered that two weeks after meeting your brother. He didn’t know I knew.”
“And you’re still…?”
She laughed softly. “After my grandfather’s death, my grandmother took a consort-familiar. Dark asha have resurrected old lovers in the past. Kion are more open to these relationships than Odalia or other kingdoms. The only real problem with a familiar would be…the bringing about of heirs.” She blushed.
“I understand,” I said hastily, not wanting any more details.
“I didn’t know about my engagement until a few days ago. I was furious when Mother told me. Kion empresses usually chose their own consorts. I swear on my life, Lady Tea, I never expected for my mother to determine my engagement when I met your brother and especially not after sleeping with him.”
I was glad for the trees around us. I put my weight against one, to recover my balance, which I’d lost again. Princess Inessa continued, oblivious.
“I will try my best to distance myself from now on, to spare him any more unpleasantness.” Her mouth twisted. “He has made it abundantly clear that he wants nothing more to do with me.”
“That’s not true, Your Highness.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m engaged to Kance. That’s all there is to it.”
Altaecia and Zoya sat by the campfire, looking grimmer than usual. Likh was with them, still green about the gills. Polaire and Mykaela were still fast asleep.
“I wondered where you’d gone off to,” Althy said, looking up at us. “We need to talk, Tea.”
“I know I promised not to overexert myself. But Fox couldn’t go around looking like…”
My voice trailed off when Altaecia placed Aenah’s book on a large stone beside her. “I think you owe us an explanation,” she said quietly.
• • •
Althy folded her arms across her chest. “Whatever made you think you could handle spells so powerful—and from a Faceless, no less? I’m equally disappointed in you, Fox.”
“My first loyalty is to my master,” my brother said serenely, absolving himself of all blame.
“I would have told you, but I didn’t want Polaire to know that—” I bit my lip, casting a look at the sleeping asha.
“I see. Was this about Polaire all along?” Althy gave me a searching glance. “Don’t lie, Tea. I taught you to read heartsglass, and I know when you’re evading. You know she’s only looking out for your best interests.”
“She didn’t trust me enough to tell me about the betrothal, and she’s constantly belittling me. I know there’s a way to heal Mykaela using this book, but Polaire’s more concerned about kissing up to the asha elders!”
That was going too far. Althy didn’t slap me, but I wouldn’t have blamed her if she had. As it was, her words came like a blow.
“Not at the expense of your life, she wouldn’t. You claim to do this for Mykaela, but did you ever think about what she wanted? Would she want you to follow the same path she had, working herself almost to death for people who want nothing to do with her, losing her life with every flicker of spell and drawing of rune? Did you not stop to think how Polaire feels, watching her best friend die a little each day for years? Did you not stop to realize how horrified they would be, knowing that you would do the exact same thing?”
I looked down, embarrassed and guilty. “But Mykaela’s dying. It’s worth that risk.”
“Mykaela doesn’t think so and neither does Polaire. And neither do I, for that matter. Tea.” Althy’s voice broke. “People have killed renegade Dark asha for far less than this.”
“Are you going to kill me?” I was angry and tired and sick of people telling me how I had to be strong enough to protect other people from these monsters, but not strong enough to defend myself because my life was worth less than their fear. “Do it then. You were there when Mykaela killed Illara, right?”
She sighed. “If you were anyone else, I might have. But there is an azi someone has once more resurrected that is running amok, and you are the only person who can control it. Illara was a different case. She was blighted from darkrot, Tea. It corrupted her, made her become something much like a daeva, and she had to be put down. No matter how foolish your choices were, none of this warrants killing—though the asha association might think otherwise.”
“Are you going to tell them?”
“I would have, no matter my affection for you. We are honor bound to do so.” Althy turned to Zoya, who was being unusually quiet. “And what do you think?”
“Well,” the pretty asha said calmly, “judging from Polaire’s current state, while she may not be keen on allowing Tea to sacrifice her life for Mykaela’s sake, it’s obvious that she’s willing to sacrifice hers to do the same. Isn’t this all a matter of perspective then? Don’t you agree, Likh?”
The boy started. “Ah. I don’t know. What Althy said makes sense…but so did what you said.”
Althy shook her head. “You are right about one thing, Tea. Polaire would have never allowed you to use the book.”
“But Polaire knew one of Aenah’s spells,” I insisted. The rune around Mykaela and Polaire glowed fainter but remained constant.
Zoya peered closer at the couple. “It’s not any rune I’ve ever studied before, that is true.”
“Polaire owes us answers as well,” Althy conceded. “This rune’s not life threatening at least. It’s unusual to find this kind of rune in a Faceless’s book, given the trust this requires.”
“Don’t be hard on either of them, Althy,” Princess Inessa interrupted. “I know you better than most. And if Tea hadn’t learned to control the azi, we would still be stuck in Kneave, right? If Lady Polaire hadn’t learned this spell, it would have doomed Lady Mykaela. Incidentally, Lady Tea, can you reestablish a rapport with the azi?”
“Yes.”
“Can’t you force it to stay?”
“I can, but it needs its rest too.”
“It sounds odd to hear you refer to that monster like it was a pet.” The princess paused, reflecting. “You’re going to let Tea keep the book, aren’t you? Cat’s out of the bag, so all you can do is limit the catnip.”
“Not quite,” Althy said firmly. “I will keep the book close to me for now, and there will be repercussions later. That shall be up to the association, though I shall ask for leniency.”
I’d hoped she’d see things closer to Zoya’s perspective. Bu
t I had committed many of the runes to heart, so the book’s loss was not too great. “I understand.”
“Now that that’s settled”—Princess Inessa clapped her hands together, delighted—“I’d like to take a look at the book myself.”
“It’s not something Your Highness should be reading,” Kalen said, breaking his silence in favor of admonishment.
“Why not? It’s not like I’ll be able to use the spells. And the more you say I can’t, the more I want to.”
A stray thought entered my mind. The last time you wanted to see something you weren’t supposed to, we wound up wearing each other out.
I looked at Fox, now a bright red. The telltale embarrassment filtering through our link told me it was an inadvertent slip.
“But first, the prince’s heartsglass. We need Khalad to take a look.” Princess Inessa reached into her robes. Khalad scooted forward.
“Well?” Zoya demanded after several minutes.
“He’s well,” Khalad reported. “As well as he can be anyway. He has the same sleeping sickness as the other nobles Master visited.”
“Is there a way to cure him?”
“Master was working on a possible spell for it, but he never left me any instructions for replication.”
“Why were you and the prince wearing your own heartsglass?” Zoya asked. “Aren’t you supposed to be wearing each other’s?”
“Kance suggested that we wear our own until we’re more comfortable with our engagement.” A small smile played on her lips. “But neither of us reneged on the exchange, so I was able to sneak into his chambers with Althy and filch his heartsglass when the fighting started.”
“When you create a memory, you take in several hundred impressions at once,” Khalad said. “Smells and sights and touch make up only a small part of it. Whoever caused Kance’s illness left a faint trace there…a desire to return to Daanoris.”
