Wish and mercy, p.26
Wish and Mercy, page 26
part #1 of Nightwalker Series
“She’d had Marika all along. Just like she’d had us.”
She wiped away tears. “I couldn’t say anything. I just froze. She had Marika, and she had you, and I couldn’t say a word. So Cato made the choice, and Myentra killed Marika right in front of us. You all know the rest. Rori, you and Centa and the others had found us at last—”
“And that’s when you hid Alor with me!”
“I did. Centa knew that Cato had loved me for years. I was afraid if he saw a baby, he’d jump to conclusions. He’d think it was Cato’s, and I’d never be able to do or say anything to salvage our relationship. He’d be angry and jealous and mean, and he’d push both of us away.”
“But you did have Cato’s child! And that’s the one you let him believe was his own instead of the one that actually is!” Rori shouted.
“I know it’s stupid!” Adeska yelled back. “Trust me, I know! But it’s not like I could take it back. I can’t say, ‘Oh no, nevermind! This one is yours too.’ I just panicked!”
“That would be infinitely better than what you actually did!”
Allanis rubbed her temples. “So what are you going to tell him?”
Adeska sighed. “The truth.” She considered her options, watching Alor’s big brown eyes search her face. “All of it. It would be easier to leave out the part about Mariette, but I’ve been dishonest enough. I should just come clean and get it over with.”
Rori put her finger in the air. “I’m not against leaving out that part. I’ve seen Centa when he’s angry.”
The look Adeska gave her was chilling. “Trust me. You haven’t. You haven’t seen either of us angry.”
Alor’s little voice cut through the air. “Marika died so I wouldn’t?”
Adeska hugged him tight. “Yes. I’m sorry you had to know that, but we did want you. Do you understand?”
“But you didn’t want Marika?”
“Honey, we wanted her too. We wanted her very, very much. But we could only have one of you. Cato chose Marika to die so that you could live.”
“Does he not like me?”
“Cato?” She kissed his forehead. “He was there when you were born. He can’t not like you. He’s not around much anymore, though. He’s still sad about Marika.”
Allanis and Rori looked on as Adeska and her son shared a tearful embrace. Allanis fidgeted with her hands. The day she knew something was wrong, the day she really knew, the feeling when it struck her in the chest and reverberated through her like a broken violin string, it haunted her.
“I never told you.” She twisted her pearl wedding ring around her finger, the one from her coronation day. “I never told you how we knew something was wrong. Phio and Tizzy figured it out. I had him over to paint us a new portrait, and he was talking about it and mentioned how long you’d been gone. Tizzy suggested that by that time, you’d be stupid enough to try and send us a letter, dangerous territory be damned. It was just to make small talk, but when she took that jab at you, we thought about it and got worried that she was right. That’s what sent the rescue in motion.”
“I’ll be sure to thank her next time I see her.”
***
Isa could tell the days were getting shorter. She could feel it in the skies more and more. The sun still danced above the horizon as evening came closer, but she knew there could only be another hour of daylight left before hazy purple dusk stretched out overhead. She watched people spend it gathered around entertainers on street corners, awed by captivating songs or daring talents and tearing into peddled street food. Suradia could be a magical place when it wanted to be.
A honey roll did sound good, Isa thought. She’d been waiting for her friend for the greater part of the day now and hoped they’d be making an appearance soon. Isa sighed inwardly and went to find the man with the honey rolls. He was across the street from a woman juggling knives.
“Gio, good evening!” Isa called to him. He was perhaps Gavin’s age but tall and with a generous stomach and black beard. He smiled for her.
“Little Isa! Come for a roll?”
“I have.” She dug through a pouch on her belt, through all the new wealth gained by working at House Hallenar, and gave him a silver star—double the ten brass pennies that he typically charged. He looked around his cart for the biggest pastry he had.
“It’s getting close to dinner time. Won’t this spoil your appetite?” he asked, handing her a glossy, golden roll dusted in spice.
“It will,” she admitted. “But things are so busy, I’m not sure anyone’s going to remember dinner.” She tore off a piece and chewed it up in excitement. Then her eyes went wide. “Gio, this is a different recipe!”
He beamed. “Isa, I’ve met someone.” He gazed right through her with a dream in his eyes. “A brilliant woman from Wakhet, the capitol of Besq! Brilliant and talented and so kind. She made some adjustments to the recipe.”
Isa tasted a bouquet of warming spices that she wasn’t familiar with. “It’s good. Is that ginger I taste?” She didn’t have the faintest idea, but it sounded smart.
“We’re going to marry!”
For some reason, the notion shocked her. Worried her, even, as she realized she didn’t know many married couples.
“I’m so happy for you, Gio.” She tried to say it with confidence. “When will it happen?”
“Truthfully, little Isa, I’m not sure.” Now he was the one who sounded worried. A group of townspeople carried on behind him, looking for another promising entertainer.
“I am hoping to consult the queen,” he said. “But I know she doesn’t meet people very often. I have very little to offer my love, Safiya. Nothing but this silly cart of sweets. But maybe if the queen took an interest in what I do, she would consider lowering the cost of an empty building near the Square so that I might start an empire of my own.”
The dreamy look that came back to him made her smile, but she was confused about his words.
“You would call the lots in the Square expensive? Or just too much for you?”
“No, little Isa, they are very expensive. They have always been that way since before our queen.”
Isa squared up and put her hands on her hips. “I’m sure Her Grace has no desire for those lots to remain so—” she searched for a big word, “—unattainable.” Good enough. She chewed on another bite of the roll. “Her Council is small, so I’m sure it just fell unnoticed next to all the other pressing matters. You know what, Gio? You should meet with the queen. You and any other artisans hoping for a lot. I’m going to arrange the affair myself! For all of you!”
Gio started to laugh the way old men do when a child amuses them. Isa folded her arms.
“I appreciate that you believe in my dreams, little Isa. Truly.”
“I’m serious, Gio. Gavin works for the queen now. He’s spoken with the dean at the Academy about it and everything. It’s official!”
“What?”
“That’s right! I can come and find you when I draw up the details. How about that?”
The people who were stirring behind Gio finally shuffled farther down the street. That was when she saw them—two scruffy boys about her age who had stopped moving at the group’s pace. One plucked the sack of coins from Gio’s cart so deftly that she had barely noticed it.
“Hey, give that back!” she yelled. The boys shot off with speed like a wild animal. Isa huffed and tried to remember her lessons—some of them unwisely ahead of curriculum—and reached into her pouch for ingredients. She pulled out a thick pinch of shimmery purple Akashic powder and an amethyst chip, and her casting necklace started to glow. Keeping her eyes on the boy with Gio’s money, she aimed and flicked the ingredients into the air.
The Arcane Blast spell erupted from the ground in a thunderous crackle. It was uneven, terrifyingly powerful, and missed its target entirely. Isa’s heart sank as a minstrel went flying alongside a stall of embroidered sashes.
“Oh no!” She tried to rush forward, dropping her roll, but Gio rested his hand on her shoulder and pulled her back. A Topaz Mage from the Hesperan Hospice had already emerged to tend to the minstrel’s wounds. The woman selling the sashes ran with her mother to pick them all up before sticky fingers saw to it first.
“Gio, let go! I have to fix this!”
“No Isa, look.” He pointed to a couple of men in heavy blue and gold cloaks. The Watch. “Let them sort out the bystanders first. Maybe they will have lost interest when it’s time to look for you.”
“But your money!” Isa gestured to the boys who were getting away.
But when she looked at them again, she wasn’t so sure that was the case. A short figure in black wrappings and mismatched leather armor came around the corner. Isa could see just a glimpse of a yellow scarf around her neck as she padded effortlessly down the streets, dancing between crowds with utmost grace. Isa smiled.
“She’s here!”
Her contact had finally arrived.
The boys, while fast, were clumsy, but their pursuer was like a gust of wind, sailing over obstacles with delicate leaps and tumbles. When they took notice of her, they turned down an alley, their worn boots sliding on the cobblestone. She didn’t let the turn slow her down at all. Her momentum carried on as she ran halfway up a wall and spun off into the side street with precise acrobatics. The boy with the bounty lost his footing and stumbled to the ground. His friend stayed by his side and pulled out a dagger.
“Stay back!” he warned, shaking it.
The pursuer removed her skull cap and shook out two little pom-poms of black hair. A dashing smile crept onto her dark, freckled face.
“What’s all this for?” she asked.
Isa finally caught up, out of breath. Her necklace was aglow, and her hand was full of purple powder.
“Give back the money!” she panted. “I won’t miss this time!”
The boy on the ground groaned and tossed it at her feet. “Fine.” He looked up at his partner. “I told you we wouldn’t be able to get away with it.”
His friend helped him up and they started away in shame. The pursuer cleared her throat as Isa picked up the coin sack.
“Why don’t you two try an honest day’s work for once instead of ruining someone else’s?”
“There’s not enough work to get by in this stupid town!”
“That’ll change!” Isa shouted, putting away the spell components. “It is. And soon!”
The boys left the scene with mumbled profanity. When all was finally quiet, Isa threw her arms around the girl and hollered.
“Djara, that was amazing!”
Her friend giggled. “Ma just says I’m good at running around.” Her fingers tangled idly in her yellow scarf. Now that she was close, Isa could see the flower-shaped splotches of color in it.
“You like it?” Djara asked. “Ma and I made them for each other. Just hammered a bunch of flowers into the fabric and it stained like this. Pretty, huh? This one that she made for me looks so much better than the one I made for her.”
They laughed, and Djara tucked the scarf under her leather vest until it was only a thin pop of color at her neck.
“Speaking of your mother, would she want to meet with the queen about a job opportunity?”
“Are you serious? That’s what this is about?” Djara’s jaw dropped. “Yes, but only if I get to come!”
“Of course you’re coming!” Isa linked arms with her. “Come on, let’s get this back to Gio. He’ll be so relieved. Did you know he’s getting married?”
Djara laughed. “Isa, I know everything around here.”
And it was true, which gave Isa an idea. She looked back over her shoulder at where the boys had been. “Did you know those two?”
“Sure. Rupert the Robber and Sydar the Stabber.” Djara rolled her eyes at the cheesy monikers. “Ma says they’re bored and lazy, but there’s still some truth to what they said.”
“What do you mean?”
“There really isn’t enough work to get by around here. At least not for them. There’s no family business to inherit or work from because they’re both orphans. They’ve got no real skills, and fat chance of finding a mentor with an opening for an apprentice. They’re at a disadvantage, it’s true. But Ma says you have to work hard for anything, and honestly, she’d know.”
“Why don’t they just go to Saunterton?”
“Saunterton is a glorious place of opportunity!” Djara poured on some dramatic flair. “But it’s demanding. You can’t be lazy there because if you’re gonna prowl the streets for a living, it’s competitive. You’re gonna get swindled by people ten times better at it than Rupert and Sydar.”
Isa made a contemplative noise. “Do you think they’re okay guys, though? Deep down? Do you think they’d do the right thing if enough depended on it?”
“What on Rosamar’s Green Earth do you have going on in that head of yours, Isa?”
“You’ll see!”
***
Crickets came out to sing and explore as the sun set over the woods. It was cool and the clouds in the distance promised rain by morning. The black blades of Wish and Mercy met with a gentle clang.
“You’re slow!” Aleth said it with a grin, striking playfully.
Tizzy swung upward with much more effort. “It’s heavy!”
“It wouldn’t be—” he jabbed, and she parried, “—if you had kept practicing. Now you’ve got princess arms!”
Her jaw hung open, and he laughed.
“I’ll show you princess arms!”
She attacked recklessly, but the strikes were fluid. And weak, Aleth thought. He parried with a little too much force, and Tizzy went stumbling back. Swiftly, he grabbed her hand and pulled her steady before she could fall to the ground, but instead she fell into him with a mischievous giggle that said it was anything but an accident.
“Goodness. You two are having some fight now, aren’t you?”
Talora’s voice startled them both, and they stared at her with blushing faces. They untangled themselves.
“That’s right,” Tizzy said. “He’s awful, and I hate him.”
Talora smirked. She leaned against an old fir, her smile friendly but dry.
“That is how Eidi’s been telling it. Arguing and even getting physically violent.” She looked up into the canopy, and they could tell she hadn’t believed it. “You two must have settled your differences, though. You’re getting along famously.”
Aleth looked at Tizzy with all the contempt he could possibly fake. “Getting along? With her?” He jabbed Mercy in her direction. “It’s impossible. Look at her! And she smells. Like—”
He stopped, frozen in his thoughts. The rest of the sentence wouldn’t come to him. Tizzy sighed and motioned for him to go on, but the only word that came out was a noise of indecision.
“You could have said literally anything.” She rolled her eyes. “You picked a good direction, you did, I’ll give you that. But you have to run with it! Instead, you stood there and broke your own legs.”
Talora grumbled. “I knew you two were faking it. Why?”
Tizzy sheathed Wish. “Because Tal, I don’t like everyone knowing my business! But they’re going to stick their noses in it anyway, so I’m giving them something to think they know.”
Why did she tell her that? She didn’t trust the woman enough to reveal her thoughts, so why would she say anything at all? It was too late now, Tizzy thought. Talora just stood there, nodding thoughtfully.
“Smart.”
It was the opposite of what Aleth had been telling her. Tizzy stuck her nose in the air. “See? I told you.”
“You’re going to get yourself in trouble,” he said, sheathing Mercy. “You’re going to get all of us in trouble.”
“He’s absolutely right,” Talora said. “But until that happens, you’re at least buying yourself a bit of freedom.”
“It’s going to buy me a lot of freedom, Tal.” She folded her arms and came closer. “I’m not staying here.” She studied Talora’s face, watching the notion disturb her. “If everyone is really as afraid as Louvita says they are, maybe you should leave too. And make sure Dacen leaves. I like him.”
Talora cleared her throat and pulled at her veil. “We shouldn’t talk about all of this out here. Will you two come to my place?”
“The Treehouse?” Tizzy asked. When Talora nodded, she looked back at Aleth. “What do you say? Is my training over?”
“Gods no. You’re terrible! But nothing else we do tonight is going to change that, so we might as well call it.”
“Yes!” Tizzy smacked Talora on the shoulder and smiled. “Teacher says I can go!”
Talora’s little grin was warm. She squeezed Tizzy’s hand and led the way.
“What’s this part of the woods called anyway?” she asked. “I know we can’t still be in the Bogwood. The trees are different.” She tried to imagine her exact location—seeing Davrkton from the plateau had helped. Suradia, Saunterton, and Davrkton were sister cities forming a prim triangle on a map, one not more than a two-day ride from another. Suradia was to the west, Saunterton to the southeast, and Davrkton to the northeast. She imagined they’d be just outside of the triangle’s boundary at the Suradia-Davrkton line.
“This area is technically the Wistwilds,” Talora told her. “There’s more evergreens this way, while the Bogwood has more oaks.”
The Wistwilds were indeed much greener than the Bogwood. It was the first thing Tizzy had noticed. Autumn had kissed the leaves back home, making it a fiery, copper-colored paradise. As she looked at the firs and cedars and their needles and the crunchy brown forest floor underfoot, she realized the Wistwilds wouldn’t get the season’s love.
