It’s midafternoon by the time I make my way past Scorpion Fountain to Anise’s stable, where I first learned the Fives. I slip inside to find Anise lounging with her household in the shade of a porch, napping in the heat of the day. I stand by the gate until they see me.
Anise strides over. She’s a big woman, but it’s her unsmiling expression that intimidates most as she looms over me. “Jessamy.”
“Honored Lady.”
“Given everything I’ve heard about you recently, I’d say your presence creates an unacceptable risk to my household. Why are you here?”
“General Thynos told me to come to you if I needed assistance.”
“Ah.” She indicates that I may accompany her to the porch. After I have greeted everyone, a child brings me a cup of refreshing sugarcane juice spiced with ginger.
“He said you can get a message to General Inarsis, that you run a network of couriers and messenger pigeons that the rebels have been using for months now. Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“I had no idea!”
Anise does not laugh, but everyone else does, and one whistles the tune to “The General’s Valiant Daughter.”
Anise shushes them and says, “We heard the Efean army has been forced to retreat and that our situation is dire. What information do you have for Inarsis?”
“He needs to be warned that the Royal Army is being sent to pacify the north. I plan to personally deliver a more detailed version of my plan to him but I can’t do that until I’ve spoken to the king. And also… could I please stay here tonight? I have nowhere else to go.”
They leave me sitting alone while they discuss the issue in the Efean manner, letting everyone give an opinion before they come to a conclusion. In the end they let me stay because I’m part of the rebellion, but I can tell they’re skeptical that speaking to the king will solve anything.
That night, after Anise unfolds a cot for me on the porch, I gesture toward the court’s pillars and posts.
“How did the Fives court come to be? Is the game Efean or Saroese?”
“How can we know, who weren’t alive in those days?” Her face gleams in lamplight as she contemplates all we have lost.
“I have seen so many astonishing things in the last few months.” I tell her about the buried complex underneath the tombs in the City of the Dead. I tell her about the ruins in Akheres and the architecture of the Inkos temple in Maldine. I tell her about the island at the heart of Ibua with the Fives symbols carved into the stone of its top platform, and how the victory tower in some villages is actually a well. “I don’t think it belongs to one or the other. What if, after the Saroese conquered Efea, they and their priests buried the Mother of All by turning Her worship into a game? What if we Efeans embraced and influenced the Fives because it is built on Her bones and heart, and it was a way to remember Her?”
“That would make the Fives a little like you, Jessamy. Both your father’s blood and your mother’s five souls have made you what you are.”
The next day I join a stream of adversaries crowding down the stairs to the attiring hall of the City Fives Court. I’m wearing ordinary Fives gear, pretending to be a fledgling. My face is concealed behind a butterfly mask that I decorated myself although Amaya would be appalled at its slapdash design. The bell rings as I’m descending. Above, the doors shut.
I’m so nervous I’m bouncing on my toes. What if he doesn’t come? What if he’s changed? What if he’s already courting brave, beautiful Talon and doesn’t care that I’m here?
“First trial!” cries a ready cage custodian.
That’s when I spot him. He’s wearing Fives gear scuffed at the knees and elbows from steady practice, and an undyed linen mask.
As I approach he turns and sees me. It’s like a bolt goes through him.
He grabs my hand, lifts my palm to his lips, and kisses it, his mouth a fire against my skin. Seen through the holes in the mask, his eyes have a feverish intensity.
“Is it true?” he whispers harshly. “Did my uncle kidnap you?”
“Yes. With the help of Captain Helias.”
“Snake.” His voice is rough. “You shouldn’t have come back.”
“Which trial are you in?”
He glances at his token. “Seventh.”
“I’m third. I’ll wait for you in the retiring room afterward.”
“No.”
“Why did you come here today if you don’t want to hear what I have to say?”
“To tell you to stay away from me. Now, and always.” He lets go of my hand and takes a step back. “The one thing that keeps me going is knowing you’ll survive.”
But I follow him. I take hold of his arm and lean in close. “You have to listen to me. We can carve a new path.”
Again he shakes me off. “You can’t save me, Jes. I’m not the person you want me to be. All my life it’s been so easy not to see what I didn’t want to see. I thought I was fighting for Efea but I’ve just been the puppet my uncle and my grandmother needed to foment their own ambitious plans. I thought I would be so brave, killing Nikonos, but all it means is they have everything they want: the throne, the gold, all of it. And Meno?’s son to replace me, if I cause too much trouble.”
“You’re not a puppet. You’ve taken action. You freed the women from the temple!”
“Yes, aren’t I a hero?” The self-loathing in his voice is so sharp that I flinch. “Don’t condescend to me like they do. You tried to tell me and I ignored you. At least look me in the eye and remind me that I forced my cousin to enter a prison where she knew she would be murdered. Because it was easy for me to tell myself she was lying. It was convenient to throw her in that dark place, and maybe even to hope I would not have to preside over her execution.”
I look him in the eye. “You did do that. And even though I hate her for all the terrible things she did, you were still wrong.”
He whispers. I can barely hear him above the buzz of the crowded hall. “I freed them because it is shameful to continue that horrible custom, but mostly I did it because I couldn’t bear what you would think of me if I didn’t stop it.”
“But you did stop it. And you acted responsibly during the siege. You treated all the citizens of Efea fairly.” When he doesn’t answer or look at me, I go on. “I know my father meant to lead the charge against Nikonos. Why did you go instead of him?”
“Because they couldn’t order me not to.” There’s an edge to his laugh.
“That’s not an answer.”
Shadows weight his gaze. He looks so weary.
“Maybe because I hoped to die in a blaze of glory. Then I could be the tragic and noble king, cut short too soon. The honored poet Ro-emnu could write a play about me. Wouldn’t that be for the best?”