“Scilla? What are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to take you home,” she had said and held out her hand.
Scilla thought of the way her voice sounded and the way she’d looked down on him—on everyone at the Guardhouse, really—thinking she was the only one clever enough to actually contact the other side. That had been a hard lesson in humility, learning her dear friend from Eriis was actually a villain. Even if he was Ilaan’s father, he was still up to no good.
Brother Blue had always been up to good. She decided to try and do better. But how could she be of any use if she could barely see her hand in front of her face?
“Scilla, please use that pen of yours to contact our friends on Eriis.” Coll wanted her to write to them and let them know Mistra was in one piece and the monsters were gone. He said to leave out the part about Malloy, and she thought that was right; Moth should hear that in person.
“Um, remember what I said about it being my business about what happens with my eyes?”
He was silent, and she could see just enough to know that he was holding still. She could imagine the look on his face. He must be horribly disappointed with her.
Finally he said, “Without you and your eyes, we would not have won the day. There may be a remedy. In the meantime, may I write the note on your behalf? You can dictate.”
The following day, she woke up wondering if her vision would be clearer, but it was the same soft blur of color and light. Coll, although his jobs on Mistra were both done—having solved the mystery of the dead demon woman, who was neither a demon nor a woman, and sent the monsters away—put off his return home.
“I feel the need is greater here, for the moment,” he told her.
And it was true, the Guardhouse had been without a real sorcerer of any weight for many years, and the last adult with any serious training in magic was now dead. The remaining teachers, including Brothers Clare and Maron, would no more consider performing a serious spell than flapping their arms and flying across the sea. And Brother Maron hadn’t even noticed his mistakes with Billah. But since their trip to Eriis. their feelings on the subject of demons and magic had softened considerably, if not completely reversed.
“The position is yours, if you could be persuaded,” Clare told Coll over breakfast. “And we’ll pull those books you and Blue were interested in out of storage.”
Coll had conditions, of course. “There are students on both sides of The Door who might benefit, and they ought to be welcome here. Boys and girls both. Also, I remind you there are many things my people can do that yours cannot.”
“Fly, for instance,” Clare agreed.
“For instance. I strongly suspect the reverse is also true. I’ll need a clever and responsible human assistant.”
“I can do it,” Scilla said at once. “I’m aces at memorizing, and I already know...” But no one had stepped in to argue with her. “You meant me, didn’t you?”
“I meant you. I have an idea about your vision problem, but if you had no eyes and only half a nose, you’d still be a fine assistant.”
Hellne joined them at the table. “I have a few ideas myself. Things must fall into place, but you should be rewarded for your work. I’ll be going back to Eriis in a day or two, and I’ll speak with a friend of mine. She has a way of making things happen.”
“You refer to Mother Jaa?” Coll asked.
“Yes. I’ve made some decisions. I’ll be staying at the tents for a sort of vacation when I get home. I think it’s time for me to let Rhuun run things.”
Coll sounded shocked. “You would give up the Seat?”
Hellne laughed. “There are other things in life than the crown. I’ve let too many of them pass me by. Our young friend Olly will most likely become the ambassador, and he’ll need some help getting started. Yes, I’m rather looking forward to a new set of challenges.”
Scilla thought that Olly probably was looking forward to spending time alone with Aelle, and wished him luck. “You think you can get your friend to fix my eyes?”
“In a way,” Hellne said. “It’s more like you’d be getting a pair on permanent loan.”
“And this is the sort of conversation that makes me question my decisions.” Clare rose from the table. “I have classes. Sir, we’ll continue this later. Madam.”
He must have given the queen a little bob of the head. When he was out of earshot, Scilla leaned in the direction of Hellne. “A pair of eyes? Like, from another person?”
“How interesting,” Coll said. “Do you have a donor in mind?”
There was a long pause. Scilla figured the two were making hand signals at each other. She felt a familiar rush of frustration. “I’m not a child,” she said.
“As you have so recently reminded us, you’re the one who captured my son in the Veil and then kept him on a string for months. I think it was good for him. You’re the one who transformed your sister and sent her to rescue him from the Zaal. That was certainly good for him. To say nothing of finding my poor Malloy there in the dark. Could a child have done those things? You, a child? Oh, believe me,” Hellne said, “I never thought you were.” She felt a small hand on her sleeve. “Leave the details to me. We’ll get you some nice new eyes.”
Chapter Fifty
Eriis
Lelet was in and out of dreaming.
In a dream and out of her body was better because, when she was awake, every breath burned her lungs, her heart felt like a bruise, and her hand throbbed with every pulse. But Mother Jaa came to check on her, Leef came and went, and sometimes they wanted her to talk to them. Are you awake? Can you hear me? How do you feel?
On fire. She didn’t say that though. She didn’t want to upset them. I don’t think I’m dying. Moth wouldn’t have left me here if I were dying. But he might have been forced to make a choice that took him from her side no matter what. He’d been gone for two days, and she missed him more than her long-lost finger. She had an indistinct memory of him swearing to be careful, to find those willing and ready to fight at his side, but if something happened to Ilaan, if Rhuun went against the Zaal alone, he would die. And she was here, and she couldn’t help him. Or herself. Her hand—the hand merely lacking a finger, not the hand currently sporting a hole through it—came up to brush the place where the knife had scratched her.
“It is poisoned,” Mother Jaa had told her when she finally woke up with her wits more or less restored. “We don’t know as much as we should about things like that. You humans have outstripped us in the art of murder. And about healing, we know almost nothing. I should thank you.”
But she also said she didn’t think Lelet would die. She didn’t think so.
Her fingers traced the outline of the wound. She obviously hadn’t been conscious when Mother Jaa and Ilaan had poured the sand of Eriis into it, then fused it into glass, but Ilaan told her she screamed to bring down the moons.
“It was very dramatic,” he’d said. “You should consider a career on the stage.”
It was cool now, as long as a finger and edged with a thin bead of gold, joining it to her flesh.
“We can’t remove this filth from your blood,” Jaa said. “But I have stopped it. It will go no further.”
The same for her hand. She held it up. Jaa had removed the cast, and what remained was a coin-sized disc of cloudy, blue-green glass, rimmed with gold. The light faintly came through it. The one over her heart was opaque. Jaa had held up a mirror for her to see it. It looked a bit like a drawing of a river on a map, snaking and branching. It might even be pretty, greenish blue and gold. She wasn’t sure yet.
The curtain to her quiet, dim little room pulled back, and she squinted against the brighter light coming from the corridor.
“Moth? Did you get shorter?”
“What?” He dropped the curtain and then knelt next to her. “You must still be sick. I’m the same size I always was. Let me see your hand.”
She held it up. “You saw it already. See? You can al
most read through it.” She laughed then coughed. It hurt, so she stopped. “Aren’t you gone? You left with Ilaan two days ago. Am I dreaming about you again?”
Rhuun stroked her hand, taking care not to touch the glass, now a part of her. “You aren’t dreaming. I had to make sure you were safe.”
Then I am not safe. “Aren’t I? Safe here? No one knows about this place.”
He sighed. “I’m afraid word has gotten out. People talk. You know that. You should really recover back at your home.”
“Home? You mean I should go back to Mistra? But...”
“They know how to take care of humans better than we do, don’t they? You’ll be better looked after. Maybe they can figure out how to fix your, er...” He waved in the direction of her breast. “To make it less...to look more appealing, I mean.”
“Oh,” she said and pulled the soft fabric of the blanket up to her chin. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, it’s fine. I’m sure they’ll fix you up. But we should get you on your way. The Guardhouse, right? And you should call to them? Open a Door for you, they can do that even out here, can’t they?”
Lelet frowned. “Mother Jaa doesn’t want me to move around yet. What’s going on, Moth?”
He stood and paced inside the little room. Was he really shorter? “It’s just…it’s not safe for you here. Anything could happen. You should be with your own people.”
“My own people did this to me. Why do you want me to leave?” After last time, there could be no words unsaid, no misunderstanding.
“I don’t want you to leave. I just think you’d be much safer away from all this. I wish you could stay here. You should know by now how fond I am of you.”
The ice that gripped her heart was colder than the glass in her breast. “What did you say?”
Rhuun pulled the curtain to the side and peered down the corridor. “That I’m very fond of you and I don’t want you to suffer any more damage.”
She swallowed and took a breath. “I see. I understand. Then, I should go.” He nodded, looking relieved. “But do something for me?”
“If I can.”
“Send my best regards to your aunt.”
He frowned. “My aunt?”
“You know, the one with the wheels? She was always so kind to me.” Then she waited. She didn’t have to wait long.
He shrugged and said, “If I can, of course I will.”
“Mother Jaa! Leef!” She shouted at the top of her voice. The glass sliver in her breast vibrated. “Come quickly.”
Moth was on her in an instant. He clapped his hand over her mouth and pressed his finger against the wound in her chest. She screamed under his hand. Looking annoyed, he wrapped his free hand around her throat. She struggled and managed to bite him, and he yelped and let go of her, falling back and almost through the silken wall of her room.
“What have we here?” Mother Jaa stood in the doorway. Leef and two of Jaa’s women took Moth by the arms and marched him to where Jaa stood. Jaa reached up to trace the prince’s face with her fingertips. Moth flinched his head away.
Lelet stood for the first time since she’d been brought here from Auri’s burning basement. Her legs quivered, and she clung to the silk wall for support. It sagged beneath her weight but didn’t tear. She pointed at him. “This is not your prince. I don’t know who this person is, but they are wearing a false face.”
Moth began to shimmer out and away, but Jaa laid her hand on the imposter’s arm, and the process stopped. “Not so fast, young lady. You might as well let us see who you really are.”
“Rushta, you scorping bitch sdaasch.” Moth’s beautiful face contorted with anger, twisted, melted, and became a woman Lelet recognized.
“Calaa. How nice to see you.” Lelet turned to Jaa. “This woman was the prince’s secretary until... When did you decide to betray him?”
Calaa sneered. “I’ve been scorping him all along. Didn’t know that, did you?” She struggled and twisted, trying to shimmer or simply run away, but Jaa’s feather-light touch on her arm held her still. “He sent me to get rid of you. We’re going to get rid of all the humans and remake Eriis for demons only. He said he wants you gone.”
Lelet laughed. “Oh, lord. That old story again.” That old story, from someone who wasn’t really Hellne either. “It was you, wasn’t it? Pretending to be the queen? You’re right about one thing—he’s awfully fond of me.” She lowered herself back down onto her sleeping mat, chuckling. She’d have to tell Moth at once. Of course it was possible he already knew and Calaa was on the run. “This one has made a career of impersonating the royal family.”
Jaa and her companion women looked grave.
“Girl, you must know the penalty for what you’ve done.” Jaa turned her blind face towards Lelet. “The danger, obviously, is enormous, if people went around wearing the face of the queen or the prince or any royal. The punishment, as this lady must know, is the Crosswinds.”
Calaa went pale. “You wouldn’t.”
Jaa didn’t reply.
“Even now, with the city in crisis? Even here in your secret city?”
No answer.
“I’ll tell no one what I’ve seen. I beg mercy.” Calaa cried. She was a damned fine actress, but the tears were wasted on Jaa.
“Who sent you here?” Jaa asked. “And why are you so keen on our guest going back home?”
Calaa sniffed and wiped her face. “If I tell you, will you spare my life?”
Jaa turned to Lelet. “Did she hurt you? Just now?”
“No,” Lelet said. “She was almost as tall as Moth but only as strong as herself. I’m fine.”
“Well then.” Jaa nodded. “I suppose if the information is worth something, I will consider keeping you here for scullery work.”
Calaa nodded. Perhaps that seemed like a good deal to her. “No one sent me here.”
Jaa sighed. “How disappointing. Prepare the way for a trip to the Vastness—”
“No,” cried Calaa, and this time Lelet thought her tears of terror were genuine. “Not like that. I mean, I’m here by accident. We were going to do it, but it all went wrong.”
“We who?” asked Lelet.
“Me and the Zaal.” Calaa looked from Lelet to Jaa, defiant. “We were going to get rid of the humans once and for all.” And she told them about the daeeve, the open Door, and how she’d seen the first of the brood vanish into something that definitely wasn’t Mistra. “I tried to warn the Zaal. And Ilaan picked me up and threw me here.”
Jaa nodded. “We watched the stones,” she said. “We saw the Zaal defeated. We did not see you though.”
Calaa smirked. “Been here two days. No one noticed me. I didn’t know where I was at first. Nice set up you got out here. You need some fresh eyes to watch it though.” She laughed at her own joke.
Lelet gave Calaa a hard look. “Your plan failed, but you’re trying to get rid of me anyway. Why? And you can knock off the whole scorping the prince thing. No one believes you.”
Calaa smiled. “You think we are defeated. But I know something you and your rock watchers don’t. There’s another weapon.”
“Where? In whose hand?” Jaa’s light touch on Calaa’s arm had become an iron grip. “A weapon to do what?”
“A weapon that will destroy The Door. All The Doors, everywhere. Once this human vermin is gone, no one gets in, and no one gets out.” Calaa pulled her arm free. “Now you know. Not that you can stop the Zaal. Is that worth my life?”
Chapter Fifty-One
Eriis
With Ilaan gone and Lelet still recovering at the tents, Rhuun was hesitant to go out into the city. In his mind, the Zaal, knife in hand, lurked behind every corner, wore every calm and smiling face. The element of surprise was quickly turning into simply hiding. And he had to oversee repairs to the High Seat hall, the whole point of him taking back the Seat was to appear in public, so he put on a composed expression and went with Zaii to find some help.
“Fix it up
for your mother,” Scilla’s note had said. “She was very brave, and she’s been through a lot.”
A lot of what, exactly? But the note didn’t say, and so he set himself to work, and tried not to think about knives or the Zaal or what he was doing with the female creature. She’d been badly hurt. It was possible she’d succumbed to her wounds. Despite her strangeness and her murderous appetites, he felt sorry for her, abandoned and injured. It seemed a cruel thing, to die alone. His guards were ordered to search for her, but not to approach. He’d deal with her himself. What exactly he would do to her, he wasn’t sure, but she was his responsibility. She wouldn’t offer him the same mercy. But still.
They’d made good progress in the three days since the daeeve had passed, he and the gang of folk from mostly outside the Arch. The rubble had been cleared away, and the dust had settled enough to see through the top of the atrium to the sky. It was just low clouds, of course, but he could see them whip past. He thanked his workers and sent them home with extra rations of sarave and bread from the palace kitchens.
“That was clever of you,” Zaii told him. “I think they’d rather be working on their new dirt with their kin out at the Edge rather than rebuilding the palace. But they’ll remember the bread once this job is done.”
Back in his quarters, he changed quickly—one, two, three—to burn off the dust and sweat then, shrugging into his black silk robe, went to sit in the garden with a glass. As he’d expected, Mother Jaa was there waiting for him—well, her image was. She’d appeared, slightly flickering in and out of focus every evening since he’d come home to update him on Lelet’s condition. The reports had generally been favorable, and Lelet might be well enough to join him in the city soon. Mother Jaa looked agitated, but he started with the same question he always did.
“How is she today?” he asked.
“Stronger. Stronger daily. But if she is strong enough, I don’t know.”
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