The Glass Girl

by Kim Alexander

  “Where do you think she found them?” Zaii asked.

  “You're taking this seriously?” Liim narrowed his eyes. “I see.” He turned to Coll. “You understand we'll need something more…concrete. It's not impossible that the Hand of Aa delivered them. We don't know much about those kinds of storms either.”

  Coll regarded Liim for a moment. “He shouldn't come with us.”

  “Oh, I wouldn't dream of it. I'll have to stay here and wait to see if you two need your cases pled before the High Seat.” Coll nodded, satisfied with the response. “I was joking,” said Liim.

  “Her door will be guarded,” said Zaii. “And if we approach her by daylight she may turn us away even if she wants to unburden herself. We have to assume there are eyes on her. It may be best to try and reach her now, when those eyes are mainly closed. But the guard will still be there, and we may assume they will take careful note of whomever she sees.” He frowned. “Unless…Liim, do you know where Iither put the gift paper? From the bottle?”

  “The one the prince sent her. Yes, it's in with some books and things she's got up on the shelf.” He turned to Coll. “We gave her a bookshelf, encourage her to read, I heard it's good for the baby . . .” Coll's gaze was stony. “Anyway,” Liim found the shiny black paper with its red trim and seal pressed between two of the books and handed it to Zaii.

  “Iither will be furious I've cut it up,” he said, “but I'll have Rhuun send her something else.” He carefully pried the seal away from the paper. “Find me a blank sheet, would you?” Once Liim placed a sheet of plain paper on the table, Zaii folded it into quarters. He held his warmed fingertip to the back of the seal just enough to melt it to the paper and hold it shut. “There. We have a vital message from the prince himself, which must be delivered to the queen. I don't care what color they wear, the guards would set themselves on fire before breaking a royal seal.”

  “Couldn't he just walk down the hall and tell her himself?” Coll asked.

  Liim snorted a laugh. “You clearly have never worked for Hellne.”

  “The prince might call,” added Zaii, “if the message was for someone else. Anyone who's dealt with them would know it's more likely he'd send a note through me than to visit her. If we are questioned, it's a plausible reason to be there.”

  Liim followed them to the door and handed Zaii his scarf. “I don't need to tell you to be careful, do I?”

  Zaii glanced at Coll. “It wouldn't hurt.”

  The halls were as empty as Zaii hoped, and there was only one guard. He handed back the note after a quick glance at the familiar red waxen seal. “Up late this evening,” he said.

  “I hope Her Grace won't mind the intrusion. The prince said it was urgent, frankly I wish he'd have his deep thoughts before the evening dust rolls back.”

  The man laughed and went to fetch Diia.

  Coll folded his arms. “That was clever. That bit with the seal.”

  Zaii pursed his lips. “Thank you. Here's something to think about. I prefer not to celebrate the success of a ruse while it's still in play.” He was spared having to explain why silence was often the key to victory when Diia arrived to take them to the queen.

  The receiving room was being renovated, and there was still raw sand piled against the walls. But it appeared to Zaii that the original furnishings had been moved back, and the boxes and crates that had accumulated while Yuenne was in charge were gone. “Forgive the lateness of the hour, Madam. But you know how the prince is when he's got an idea stuck in his head.”

  Diia looked skeptical. “As you say. Her Grace will see you in a few minutes. Water's on the table. Don't keep her up all night.” She closed the door and left them.

  They were halfway through the pitcher and had just decided it might be acceptable to sit at the narrow oval table when Hellne joined them. She wore a quilted robe of some soft-looking fabric in a warm russet. Zaii thought the shade strained the edges of what was appropriate, but after all, this was the privacy of her home. With her hair down, she looked younger. She really was quite the beauty; the faint lines of age only gave her features depth. He wondered why she had never married. Although her face, washed of any cosmetics, looked sweet and kind, her voice remained sharp, and he was reminded.

  “So, it took both of you to cart one note down a hallway? It must be gravely important, or else carved onto the side of a boulder.” She held out her hand. “Let's see it, then.”

  “Ah, Your Grace,” said Zaii, “I'm afraid I must make a confession. I wish to have a conversation…possibly a difficult conversation, and was hoping to gain a moment without eyes on us.”

  She raised a brow. “Am I to understand my son isn't involved in bringing you here tonight?”

  “He is unaware of our visit. This isn't a topic one might pursue over dinner, I fear. Let me see how to begin…”

  “The note's a fake,” said Coll. “Where'd you find your brother, or whatever he is?”

  Hellne folded her arms and regarded them without answering. Zaii sent up a silent prayer to Light and Wind that he'd live long enough to apologize to Liim for listening to the Mage.

  “This one,” she said to Zaii, “has certainly found his tongue, now that he lives above ground.”

  Zaii took a breath. “I must beg pardon for Coll's blunt speech. But he's correct.” He laid the note on the table between them. “The prince, as I said, does not know we are here. But we felt we had to speak to you regarding the king.”

  “Where did you find them? Really?” Coll asked again.

  She glanced at the Mage, and said, “Is this what you think, as well? I've never known you to follow fancy, Zaii. And I understand you have a growing family. Are you certain these are questions you wish to ask? It isn't too late to go back to your home. We can forget this meeting took place.”

  “It's already too late. It was too late when you brought them through the Arch. And it was far too late when you put the crown on your brother's head.”

  “He's not her brother,” said Coll. “Is he?

  She regarded the Mage for a long moment. “Sit. Please. And let me tell you a story about a woman who was so desperate to find her family that she put her faith in a monster.”

  By the time she was finished, the water was gone and the second moon had set. “And that's why I gave Araan—I don't know what else to call him—the crown. Not because he wanted it. I don't think they even knew what the High Seat was when I pulled them out of that hole in the Vastness. It seemed they had lost their memories, which slowly began to return. No, they had little care for the crown. It was the Zaal who insisted. It was hand over the High Seat, or Rhuun would pay. With his blood. All of it.” She looked from one to the other. “The same threat he's held over my head all along.”

  “The prince doesn't know any of this, does he?” Zaii's voice was gentle.

  “Better he should think me indifferent, or cruel, or worse, and live.” She sighed. “I know what people say. That I should have abandoned him to the Crosswinds when he was born, that I'm an unnatural mother. I tried to protect him, I let him protect himself…none of it made a difference. He is who he is. But this ambassadorship—I thought if he went back to Mistra, it might put him beyond the Zaal's reach. I may have been wrong about that, too.”

  Zaii was about to tell her she'd done the right thing, that she should be proud, but Coll spoke first.

  “The Zaal used to say the poison in the prince's blood made him our greatest weapon.” The Mage didn't appear to notice Zaii's look of wide eyed horror. “He still nurses old grievances. He loved the old Zaal like a father, and he never forgets a slight, much less a slaughter. He said the day the humans first came through The Door was the beginning of our end. He will never forgive the humans.”

  “And yet there he is at Araan’s side, helping to reopen The Door. Coll,” said Hellne, “what did he say about maps? And the Vastness?”

  “I don't know anything about maps,” he replied. “But he was a great student of the folklo
re of the hill people. He would read and reread stories about the daeeva that came from the mountains. He thought there was some truth to them.”

  “So, he hates the humans, believes in folklore, and sent you off with a special map to find your brother—purely out of the goodness of his heart.” Zaii could almost see the pieces coming together.

  “He has none,” said Coll. “He never does a thing without it coming back to help him. Whatever he sent you to find will somehow work to bring down the humans.”

  “And he gave them the crown so he could do his work in the light.” Zaii nodded to himself. “You no longer have a say in his comings and goings. There's no one to oversee him.”

  “You know he's moved back to Yuenne's old house. He wants the tower room. And my silence. And I have cause to think he still has some of my son's blood, left over from that barbarism . . .” She paused. “But what do they get out of this? Araan and Thaali? Certainly, they aren't interested in ruling.”

  “I only know one thing about the daeeva,” Coll told them. “They live to feed.”

  “On us?” Hellne was aghast.

  “No,” said Coll. He shook his head impatiently. “Not on us. He rescued them, and he's not so big a fool as to let them threaten his city. They are his pets, or he is theirs. No. Who does the Zaal hate? Where would he send them?”

  “Through The Door.” She rose to her feet. “He's going to turn them loose on Mistra.”

  “There's more,” said Coll. Zaii and Hellne looked at him expectantly. “I mean, there's more of them. If they exist at all, the stories must be true. There's a whole world of them, behind another Door. These two are just an advance. Now that the Zaal knows where their Door is, he can unleash the rest of them.”

  “How?” asked Hellne, sitting back down. “They are trapped behind their Door just as we are. He'd have to…I don't know…prop The Door open, wouldn't he? For a long enough time to…what is it?”

  Zaii had turned pale. “The Door will be propped open, Madam, you are quite correct. It will be open when we resume trading with the humans.”

  “When they come here to negotiate with us, that won't be the time. It won't be long enough. When both sides are ready to move goods through, that's when he will set them free.” Coll sipped his water. “He now knows where their Door can be found. So he'll simply direct them through.”

  “Coll,” said Zaii, “How did you know? I mean, yes, they behaved strangely, but the Veil…”

  “The Veil had nothing to do with it. The male creature spoke words he plucked from my memory. From my head, from my books. They smell wrong. They act as if their bodies are suits of clothing that don’t quite fit. It's not my fault if people don't speak of what's in front of their faces. Any jumpmouse could tell those two are no proper Eriisai.”

  “Diia knew,” said Hellne. “And I rebuked her for rudeness.” She rubbed her forehead. “How long until this trade thing gets underway?”

  “Well,” Zaii replied, “the humans will be arriving soon. After that, it's just details. I would imagine both sides are eager to begin. So not long.”

  “Someone has to warn them. Someone who will be believed.” Hellne looked from face to face. “I have an idea. But before we three continue, let us agree to leave my son out of this conversation. Whatever he may say, he still loves that human girl. If he thinks she's in danger, he may act without thinking, and we all know he would not prevail against the Zaal.” She sighed. “Zaii, I trust you can keep this confidence.” She looked at Coll.

  “I spent nearly my whole life without saying a word. I can return to that practice if I must.”

  “Well,” said Hellne, “you must.” She rose to her feet, ending the meeting. “I’m going to speak to Aelle. We have much to discuss.”

  “You’ll warn her about your brother?” asked Zaii.

  “No. I’ll tell her what the Zaal intends, and the danger to the humans. After all,” she said, “there’s a chance we’re wrong about Araan, and he’s my brother after all. But if we’re right…”

  “As it stands, she is no threat to him, and in no danger from him. The less she knows, like your son, perhaps the better.” Zaii nodded.

  Hellne nodded. “I will send a message—a real one—through Diia, once I’ve made arrangements. But first I have to talk to Aelle.”

  Chapter Sixty

  Eriis

  One did not refuse a request for a meeting with a queen, neither current nor former. Aelle couldn't imagine what Hellne wanted to talk about and resented her wanting to meet at the small and shabby house she'd been forced into. Her lovely home, where her mother could find peace among her stones, had been 'requisitioned' by the High Seat. She assumed it was some sort of retaliation against her father's behavior and was repulsed to see the Zaal poking his face out of her brother's old tower room window. At least they were still inside the Arch, and her mother still had a quiet room of her own. She knew Siia had work to do, even if she didn't know the content of the messages that moved between the city and the tents. She didn't know if Hellne knew about her mother's stones and was determined not to slip up.

  So she smiled and poured water and asked after her health, and asked how her brother the king fared, and agreed how well, how very well Rhuun had done at holding the Seat. Yes, what a surprise, without Ilaan's hand to guide him. And poor Ilaan, still in seclusion, no, not a word, these things move at their own pace. Siia? She prefers to keep her own company, for the time being.

  Finally, her patience frayed beyond mending. “So, I assume this is not a social call.”

  “Why would you think so?”

  “Because…” She took a breath. “So much time has gone by since your return from the sand. You find me in reduced circumstances. Perhaps you were waiting for them.”

  Hellne nodded over her water. “You think poorly of me.”

  “Poorly? Not at all, Madam. But your timing is curious, and I can't help but wonder—”

  “I've been practicing that composed face since before you were born. You might as well tell me. What's on your mind?”

  Aelle gnawed the inside of her cheek. Then she said, “Very well. You traded your son for your brother. You left Rhuun to the Mages and did nothing that might interfere with your search. And now that you've got your prize, you put your brother on the Seat where for some reason you think he belongs, you continue to act as if nothing ever happened. Have you even spoken to your son? Did you tell him you think he held the Seat so well?”

  Hellne looked pleased. “Isn't it refreshing, to say what we think? And I must say, you've turned into quite the advocate for Rhuun. I recall a time not that long ago when you'd spit on the ground if anyone mentioned his name. What's changed? Has he given you a reason to think he wants to renew your relationship, such as it was?”

  Aelle's cheeks burned. She took a breath. “No. I hear he's taken up with an actress, you might see her in his retinue.”

  “So that's who that little chit is.” Hellne laughed. “I thought she looked familiar. She certainly has made her way in the world.”

  “To your question, I've changed. He's changed. We live in changeable times, Hellne. You know that.” She waved a hand at the small, sparsely decorated room. “Look around. I wonder if we were better off playing in the dust in our beautiful house and complaining nothing ever happened. But that's blown sand. The humans are coming. They’ll be here today.”

  “Ah, that must make him happy. He'll see his human girl again.”

  “I think not,” Aelle said. “It ended badly. Of course, you wouldn't know that. Having been so busy.”

  Hellne smiled. “Well said. Sometimes you make me feel as if I'm looking in a mirror at my younger self. So, enlighten this poor excuse. What happened?”

  Despite herself, Aelle was warmed by Hellne's compliment. She found she was eager to confide in the older woman. She said, “It was the only topic for weeks. He came to me a few days after she left. He had some crazy theory about Ilaan's hand in it.”

 
; “Is that so?”

  “Your name was also mentioned.” Hellne put on an insulted face, and Aelle quickly added, “Mentioned, but only in passing, Madam.”

  “But you don't believe any of that.” She cocked her head. “What do you think?”

  She shrugged. “I think it was like any couple. Things go unsaid or are said improperly. Remember, she had a human heart under her Eriisai skin, so she probably took something the wrong way, that you or I would understand. Knowing him, I think he said or did something she didn't like, and off she went. She had no place here anyway.”

  “You are not an admirer, I take it.”

  “No. She couldn't count many, inside or outside the Arch. But I must admit, she improved him. He struggles, now. I…”

  “Say what is on your mind, Aelle.”

  “I think he may be better off among the humans. Making him ambassador, sending him there, it might bring him happiness.”

  “Happiness is unfortunately not the first priority for those in this family. Nor the second.” She leaned on her hand. “I did not suggest him for that position out of concern for his state of mind. No, I'm afraid his happiness is entirely up to him. I don't have the power to grant it.”

  Aelle thought of Siia, who was surely listening to them now, and wondered who, if not one's own mother, might have that power. She went to the corner cabinet and brought out a bottle of sarave. No maid to fetch it for her now, no servant to open the bottle, no one to pour. She did it herself, she did everything for herself, and found she didn't mind. If you didn't have to ask for a thing, no one could tell you that you couldn't have it.

  “Madam, may I ask you a question?”

  “I suppose.”

  “Why did you never marry?”

  Hellne looked surprised, and then she laughed. “Many reasons. Mainly because of the Seat. It was mine alone. And I found I preferred not to share.”

  “But don't you get lonely?” As soon as she said it, she regretted it. “Pardons, Madam, I—”