Authors: Barbara Ann Wright
Crowe ducked behind Brutal and chucked a pyramid at two enemies who moved to accost Katya. It shattered in a large sphere of blackness so profound it engulfed the two men whole. It faded in a blink of deep sound that made Starbride’s ears ache, taking the men with it, and leaving a perfect bowl-shaped divot in the dirt floor.
Starbride gaped. It had to be the disintegration pyramid. Would she learn that? Did she even want to? A step rasped in the dirt behind her, and she turned, holding her pyramid aloft. A burly woman with a short sword paused, eyes on the pyramid. Starbride did the only thing she could think of. She let her mind fall into the pyramid and watched the following glow reflected in the woman’s dark eyes.
The burly woman put an arm up as if to shield herself. Starbride backpedaled away, and when nothing else happened, the burly woman dropped the arm. An arrow plunked into her chest, and she toppled.
Starbride let the light fade as she realized why Maia wasn’t shooting more of the attackers. As they came into the little shafts of light, she could get them, but she couldn’t see them otherwise. Smiling so she wouldn’t acknowledge how insane her idea was, Starbride moved through the crates and ropes and flotsam. She worked her way behind the enemies that accosted Katya. As she lit the pyramid again, one enemy turned, and Maia got him in the back. Another focused on Katya before Maia took him in the neck. Katya frowned as the light faded, her face harsh behind her domino mask as she pulled Starbride close. “Stay behind me.”
Starbride wedged herself with Crowe between the two fighters, and when one of them moved to engage, she lit her little pyramid and gave Maia a chance to fire. The enemy fighters backed off, one after another, and a small glittering object sailed toward Starbride’s group over a stack of crates.
“Scatter!” Crowe yelled.
Katya hauled Starbride to the side. She stumbled and struggled to keep up. Katya shoved her down as flame exploded in a roar of heat and light where they’d been standing.
“Star, are you hurt?”
“No. You?”
Katya shook her head. “Bastards.” She scrambled to her feet, and Starbride followed, seeing two men hurrying a third through the door at the rear of the building.
“Look!” Starbride said.
“I see them. Crowe? Brutal?”
Cries of “Fine” and “Here” reached them at the same time, and Starbride turned at the sound of running feet. Katya pressed Starbride behind her and brought her rapier on guard, but it was only Maia running for the door, chasing the fleeing men.
“Maia!” Katya yelled, but she was already past. Starbride started after her even as Katya did. They cleared the doors as Pennynail sprang from cover to join them.
The three men were slow-going; the healthier two helped the third between them. The third threw something over his shoulder, and Katya pushed Starbride to the side again. Katya yelled, “Scatter,” this time, but as they hit the dirt, the pyramid struck the ground and shattered, doing nothing.
“A trick,” Starbride said, but it had stopped every pursuit except Maia’s. On a long pier, Maia slid to a stop on one knee and fired once, twice, taking both helpers. The wounded man they’d been supporting tottered and clutched his shoulder.
“Turn, turn,” Starbride said. All she needed to do was see the pyradisté’s face. He hustled toward the gangplank of a small ship and half turned, his hood concealing all but his chin. Starbride put a hand up to block the sun’s glare.
Maia’s first arrow took him in the side. Her second bit into his back as he spun. Katya sprinted toward him as he tried to stagger along. When at last he came to a halt, still on his feet, Maia nailed him in the back of the head, and he fell almost lazily into the river.
Katya reached the end of the pier mere seconds later. Starbride ran after her and skidded to a stop on the wet planks. The dark, muddy waters of the Lavine had swallowed the pyradisté as completely as if he’d never existed, leaving only a few spots of blood where he’d stood.
The rest of their party reached them a heartbeat later. Maia spat into the river, her face red and dirty but for the tear tracks on her cheeks.
“Did you get a look, Star?” Katya stared at the water, her jaw so tight the muscles stood out like cords.
“No.”
Katya turned her hard gaze on Maia. “We had him.”
“He killed my father,” Maia said.
Katya gestured at the swift current. “We’ll never know if that was him.”
“It was the last one. He matched the description. It was him.”
“Maia—” Katya started, but Crowe laid a hand on her shoulder.
“I would have done the same,” he said. With a shaky, hesitant start, he patted Maia’s shoulder, too. “You thought of it just before I did.”
Maia’s eyes slipped shut, her face unreadable. She squeezed Crowe’s hand—hard if his flinch was any indication—and then dropped her arm to her side.
The bearded man was dead. Starbride knew they all should have been relieved, but no one looked it. Katya grumbled the entire way home. Crowe seemed thoughtful and Maia downcast. The side of Brutal’s face was red and raw-looking, singed by the fire pyramid, but other than that and a few scrapes and bruises, they’d gotten away unscathed. Starbride only wished she could have glimpsed the pyradisté’s face and given them all a sense of surety.
At the royal stable, Starbride touched Katya’s arm gently. “I’ll see you later?”
“It’ll have to be. I have to tell my parents what happened. Back to the library with you?”
“I think I’ll have my promised drink with Maia first.”
Katya’s lips brushed her cheek. “Go carefully.”
Starbride draped her arm across Maia’s shoulders. Maia blinked at her in surprise. “Glass of wine?”
Maia sagged against her. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Back in Starbride’s room, Dawnmother found them a bottle and then retreated to her embroidery. She perched on her low stool in the corner and listened while pretending not to, the servant’s illusion.
Maia stared into her glass. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m not a fascinating conversationalist at the moment.”
Starbride didn’t want to ask about the bearded man. Things were heavy enough in the room. “How are things with Brutal?”
“Brutal? He’s fine, I guess. Why?”
Starbride winked.
“Oh. He, well, we’re not…together. I, um, I don’t know how he thinks of me, not really. I mean, he’s, well, he’s gorgeous.”
“He speaks to you fondly, smiles at you. He cares for you. That’s easy to see.”
“Yes, I know, but I wonder sometimes if he sees me as a woman or more like a little sister.”
Dawnmother didn’t look up from her work as she said, “There’s one way to know for sure.”
Maia craned her neck to look over the chair. “How?”
“Grab his head and kiss him.”
Maia gawped, and her face turned a deeper shade. “I can’t do that!”
Dawnmother tsked. “If he won’t kiss you, kiss him. Then you’ll know for certain.”
“But, I…but…”
Starbride chuckled. “If you’re a sister to him, he’ll break apart from you, stammering excuses. If you’re a lover…” She left the thought hanging.
Maia made a strangled noise and downed her wine in one gulp.
“Liquid courage?” Starbride filled the glass again.
“I’m not doing that today,” Maia said. “I’d kiss him once and then pass out.”
“It’s been a long day.”
“I loved my father very much.”
Starbride forced herself to relax. Here was the weight from Maia’s shoulders at last.
“I feel like I’ve done something to avenge him, even though the man in the warehouse wasn’t even there when he died.”
With a nod, Starbride picked up her glass and remained silent. She hoped there would be many more talks between them, plenty of time for all the words to be spoken. “Let’s think on more pleasant things.”
“Like Brutal.”
“Grab his head and kiss him,” Dawnmother said again.
Maia laughed until she snorted. “Is that what always happens in romantic Allusian stories?”
“Ah,” Starbride said, “if it’s romantic Allusian stories you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right place. Dawnmother and I know them all.”
Dawnmother scooted her stool forward, and they spent the next few hours talking, Maia’s jaw dropping at the stories’ juicier bits. When finally she left them, she had a very thoughtful look on her face.
“The princess will be happy you could turn her mind to other things,” Dawnmother said.
“Not if she repeats the tale of the farmer’s son and the midwife.”
“It’s only a saucy story.”
“Another thing they try to shield her from,” Starbride said. “Let’s hope Katya is only happy I helped. And I hope for Maia’s sake that she’s not a little sister to Brutal. Though I’d love to have her as my younger sister.”
Dawnmother kissed the top of her head. “Star, you have a heart made of gold.”
“Easily bent?”
“And all the better for it.”
Katya stood in front of her long mirror and fastened the last buttons on her coat. Dark blue adorned with silver braid, it befitted the greeting of a dignitary…or a royal brother. The breast bore her personal hawk and rose. She had a rapier at her side, the pommel and guard dotted with jewels. It was a showy piece, but the blade was as sharp as any of her others.
In the mirror, hands curved up around her shoulders and fingered the braids at the sleeve. “Very stylish.” Starbride’s face appeared over Katya’s shoulder. “Beautiful.”
“I clean up nice when I want to.” She fastened opal studs in her ears. Averie had already set her silver diadem at her forehead and hidden the ends in her hair. “How’s the hair in the back?”
Soft hands patted here and there. “Flawless. I like the small braids. They make your usual style a bit more…dramatic.”
“I learned it from you.”
Holding her petal-layered dress out to the sides, Starbride made a face. “I don’t see what you can learn from this besides what two tons of napkins should look like.”
“I meant your natural style.” She tugged Starbride forward, her shoulder protesting a bit after the tumbles she’d taken the previous day, but she forgot the pain in favor of the soft lips.
After too few kisses, Starbride pulled back. “Averie will be here any moment to clear her throat and take you away.”
“You’ll see me again soon enough.”
“At the family dinner.”
“Nervous?”
“Aren’t you? I’m meeting your entire family tonight. Your brother’s reception will be the perfect place for Layra to strike.”
Katya nodded, her stomach clenching at the words. “I’m hoping the sheer number of people and the fact that she’s lost her pyradisté will dissuade her. I’m only sorry you’ll be at the back of the crowd with the other courtiers.”
“I’ll keep my eyes open.”
“I know. We all will.”
“I’m sorry I mentioned it. I just wanted someone to be as nervous as I am.”
“You have nothing to worry about as far as the dinner is concerned. They’ll love you.”
“At least I know that you and Maia will be my allies.”
“She’s much happier with you around. You’re invaluable, do you know that?”
“Of course!”
Katya bent in for another kiss just as Averie opened the door and said, “It’s time.”
Arm in arm, Katya and Starbride strode to the great hall just inside the main doors of the palace. There, Katya kissed Starbride’s hand and had to leave her amidst the courtiers at the rear of the hall. They crowded around her like feasting crabs.
The crowd of nobles gathered on the steps parted for Katya’s passage and opened a route to the lowest steps of the entryway where her family waited. The sea of people yielded no one suspicious to her eye, but she didn’t have much time to look. She knew her Order was hidden in the crowd, and Crowe was in the gallery above, watching. In the city beyond, cheers marked the passage of Reinholt’s carriage through the streets.
Ma lifted an eyebrow as Katya arrived, radiating maternal disapproval. Katya tossed her head, conveying childish rebelliousness. The crowd behind them would eat it up, never guessing that the night before, Katya and her mother had timed her entrance to just before Reinholt’s carriage rolled into sight.
Reinholt looked splendidly happy as he alighted and held a hand out to his wife. Brom beamed up at the royal family, though she quickly brought her non-aristocratic smile under control. She’d been learning in her years away from court. Katya settled for a fond look. She wished that their children could be beside them, but all members of the royal family were only supposed to occupy the same place at the same time once a year, during the king’s birthday celebration.
Reinholt flashed a grin that sent sighs sweeping through the nobles and those courtiers who had a view. He was a handsome devil; even Katya had to admit it. Darkly blond, his eyes were a light blue like their mother’s instead of cobalt like Katya’s and their father’s. Not a gray hair touched his head, a sign that he didn’t have enough to do. Brom didn’t bother with flounces on her gown. She favored an empire waist that hugged her ample bosom before falling to the floor. Katya almost expected to hear a joyous cry from Starbride. If the crown prince’s wife could thumb her nose at current fashion, Starbride could do it, too.