Despite my exhaustion, I woke up early the next day out of habit, while everyone else in the Valerian still slept. Careful not to wake the sleeping maids, I tiptoed out into the asha-ka’s entrance armed with my broom, prepared to do my morning chores. Fox was waiting as usual, leaning against the wooden stand that displayed the asha-ka’s name and crest.
“Who were you fighting with last night?” I asked as I began sweeping the sidewalks.
“Fighting?”
“I saw you. You were with some guy with a bird tattoo.”
“Oh, him.” He dismissed my question with a wave of his hand. “I’ve only just realized my army training in Odalia was woefully inept, so I’ve been asking some of the soldiers for some tips on fighting. That’s how I learned that something’s been happening at the palace.”
“Isn’t there always something happening at the palace?”
“There’s an army of Deathseekers preparing to leave the city.”
I stopped. Like the asha, Ankyo was the Deathseekers’ main headquarters, and most served the Kion empress. “What? But why?”
“I’m not sure.” For once, Fox’s uncanny ability to know the city gossip had failed him. “I think it has something to do with the savul. The Dark asha in charge of raising it died sometime ago, but no one knew about her death until after mine.”
“Yes. Her name was Sakmeet, I think.” I still wasn’t used to Fox treating his demise so casually. “I hope they find it before you do. That is not something you should be holding a grudge against.”
“Can’t hurt to try. I’ve acquired certain advantages since then.”
“I don’t know much about Deathseekers. I’ve only met one so far, and he didn’t have much to say.”
“They do pretty much what asha do. Except they’re not as pretty to look at, and I don’t think they dance very well. Little boys are taken away to be trained as soon as their heartsglass change color. Not the best childhood to have, but as a fighting force, they’re pretty effective. I intend to find out more about where they’re going or if they have an inkling of where the savul is hiding.”
“Fox, please don’t tell me you’re planning on infiltrating the palace just to assuage a curiosity.”
“OK.” My brother shot me a grin, gently nudging the broom out from my grasp. “I won’t tell you, then.”
“I’m serious. You could get in trouble.” I scooped out some water from a small metal bucket on the side of the gate, dousing the walkway with its contents. He stepped out of my way, limping a bit, and continued to sweep. “I’m already in trouble, so I think I’ve made the quota for us for this year alone.”
“It doesn’t look like you’re in trouble right now. Has the old lady been punishing you again?”
“Unless you count buying up half the stores in the district for my upcoming wardrobe as punishment.”
“They’re afraid of you, you know.”
“Me?”
“What you did at the Falling Leaf wasn’t something any other asha could do. The mistress of the Imperial was in an ugly mood yesterday. She wanted to pay for the Falling Leaf’s damages. She was livid when Parmina convinced the tearoom lady otherwise.”
“And how do you know all this?” I asked, suspicious.
“The Imperial’s maids like to talk.” He shrugged. “Two of them were at the sweetshop, trying to stay out of their mistress’s way. I’m not entirely sure why those old women were vying to pay for repairs though. Most people would do the opposite.”
“It’s less about feeling sorry for the Falling Leaf’s proprietress and more about showing off.” I dunked a rough sponge into the bucket, scrubbed at the white walls with it. “It’s about power and how much influence you can sway on behalf of your House. The one waving the most money around commands the greater amount of respect. More importantly, people get to see how influential they are.”
“Looks like you did learn something from your time here after all.” Fox leaned the broom against the now-clean wall and found another sponge. “Are you certain you want to step into this kind of world? I don’t think the cut-throatedness of this business is good for you.”
“I’m already in it too deep for me to get out. When I raised those rats and those”—I hesitated, not sure if calling them corpses would be respectful or appropriate, then forged on anyway—“corpses, it was both terrifying and exhilarating all at once. I was scared stiff. I felt like a part of me was being swept away, and I didn’t know how to get that back. But it also felt good.”
This time, Fox stopped, looking at me. “It felt good?”
I nodded. “Every time I draw in the Dark, it feels like I could keep drawing on it forever. Lady Mykaela promised to help me keep it under control. And it’s in Mistress Parmina’s best interests to protect me, no matter how much more she puts me in debt.”
Fox no longer drew in breath to sigh, but the noise he did make sounded empty, troubled. “I’ll stand by whatever you think is best, but don’t expect this conversation to be over. I still think there’s another way.”
“Tea!” Mistress Parmina’s shrill voice scared a flock of doves into flight. “Where are you? What are you doing outside? Scrubbing the walls! What would an asha apprentice be doing with the chores of the hired help? Come in at once and take your breakfast. Your first lesson starts in an hour! Do not keep Shadi waiting—no, no, your brother can stay and do the chores until Kana comes. I have no need of him. Rahim has brought over some apprentice robes for you. Get out of those cheap tunics before the rest of the world sees you in such rags!”
“Become an asha if you must,” Fox whispered to me, voice tinged with amusement, “and should you ever get to run the Valerian, promise me you won’t inherit that screeching voice and prune face.”
? ? ?
The robe laid out for me to wear the day I began my apprenticeship was of light chartreuse. It was nothing like an asha’s hua collection, but it was still a cut above most of what I’d seen novices wear. It was a soft green attractive to the eyes and an ivory waist wrap smaller than what asha wear, only a third of its size, so that it served more like a belt than as a form-fitting adornment. I was also given a small silk bag that contained a plain folding fan, a headscarf, and several pieces of sweetmeat and bread wrapped in fine paper to eat in between lessons.
I was used to dressing hurriedly and was already done half an hour before the others came down. Lady Shadi arrived first, in a very becoming beige and olive-green hua that highlighted her eyes. She smiled at me. “You’re early. That’s a very good skill to have for your training.”