? ? ?
“I’m sorry I’m late,” I apologized as the door slid open. Faint traces of laughter wafting out told me that the party was still in full progress, that I had not been missed. Fox had already slipped away, still intent on searching the neighborhood for the skeleton’s summoner.
Kalen stepped out through the door and took the heavy tray of drinks out of my hands.
“Thank you, milord. Was there anything else you wanted me to—”
“Stay away from Kance, asha.”
The air felt colder, a strong chilly wind sweeping through the gardens unannounced.
“I—I don’t know what you—”
“Stay away from him, Tea. And if you do not, then I will make sure you do.” He stepped back inside, and the door slid shut.
I remained there a little longer, until Mistress Peg found me. It wouldn’t do to keep my guests waiting, she scolded, and I would have all the time to rest when the party had ended and my visitors had gone home. I nodded dumbly, barely listening. Kalen disliked me—because I was a danger to the prince or because he disliked bone witches? And after tonight, I couldn’t even say he was wrong.
I slipped in quietly and resumed my seat. For the rest of the evening, Kalen said nothing, though his silver heartsglass pulsed red.
“It pains me to see these put to use in this way,” she said, studying the bezoars. “We could cure the world with these, heal almost every known ailment. But I have no choice. The dozens we could save today pales in comparison to the thousands and millions we could save tomorrow.”
But I could not imagine how raising an army of daeva could save so many people; I feared the opposite held true and said as much.
“Imagine a world filled with daeva like my friend over there.” The taurvi basked happily in the sun, tongue lolling over the black sand. “Imagine the lives potentially lost by their rampages, by the people’s fear.”
She lifted up a ruby-red bezoar from the akvan she had slain only days before. “Now imagine that these daeva can be tamed. Imagine how, under a benevolent ruler, they could right everything wrong in all the kingdoms. We could use the daeva to rid ourselves of the Faceless once and for all. We could fill the world with runeberries, see that no one would go hungry or thirsty ever again. We could punish the tyrants of Drychta for your grief. Where would you like to begin?”
“I am more concerned,” I said, “of knowing where it will end.”
She laughed, a mirthless sound. “Where it always ends, Bard. With me.”
17
Lady Mykaela returned a week later, and I was shocked by how much she had aged in the interim. Her hair had lost some of its luster, and dark circles lurked underneath her eyes. She had arrived sometime the night before, but I found her already at the breakfast table. She gave me a wan smile as I entered, but as she lifted the bowl to her lips, I saw her hand shake, a little of the tea sloshing over the brim.
“What happened to you?” I rushed to her side. She looked so thin and frail that I feared she might topple over at the first sign of wind.
“It’s good to see you again, Tea.” Her laughter reassured me; it was still every bit as warm. “You’re looking very well. I’m afraid I’ve been feeling a little under the weather and so can’t say the same about me.”
“A little under the weather, my ungainly behind,” said someone by the door. “Would a ten-year war be a minor inconvenience for you, Mykaela? Would a devastating hurricane be an errant breeze?”
Two asha stood at the entrance, slipping out of their wooden sandals. The bright morning light shone behind them, so that at first I only saw their outlines silhouetted against the rising sun and thought for a moment that they were my sisters Rose and Lilac come to visit. But one was a plump woman with bright-red hair half-hidden behind a gauzy veil and large spectacles. Her maroon-colored hua had one of the most unusual motifs I had ever seen—light green cantaloupes were painted at the bottom of her robes, interspersed with holly sprigs and small white butterflies. The other was almost a head taller, with dark hair cut short above her neck—a style rare among asha, most of whom preferred to wear their hair long—and pale-gray eyes. Her hua was a bright yellow, in a simple buttercup pattern.
“The nanghait took more out of you than we wanted, but it is not good of you to trivialize your health in this manner,” the tall brunette continued, her voice slightly accented.
“I am fine, Polaire.”
“Not from where I stand.” The brunette turned her attention to me. “You must be the asha apprentice people are so terrified of these days. Aren’t you going to invite us in?”
“Terrified?”
“Ignore Polaire,” the plumper girl chimed in. “Where Mykaela likes to understate, she is fond of exaggeration.”
“But not by much.” Without waiting for my reply, Polaire entered and settled herself on the table beside Lady Mykaela. She placed a heavy bag containing large twigs beside her. “I bought a bag of forkroot at Maseli’s. That salope of a woman charged me an extra three shekels because it was fresh, handpicked just this morning. She wanted five, but I would have none of that. It should get your strength up, at least.”
“When people gift others with fresh herbal tea, they grind it into powder first,” the other asha murmured, “not present it with the leaves still on their branches.”
“I could never figure out how to prepare these things,” Polaire said. “If the recipe calls for half a pound of butter and a dash of nutmeg, I would probably forget and take half a pound of nutmeg and a dash of butter and kill somebody in the process. I simply take the ingredients and shove them on to someone more knowledgeable than me. It’s healthier that way. You’re good at potions, Althy. Why don’t you whip up some tea for Mykaela here—and for me too while you’re at it.”
Althy shook her head sadly at her companion but picked up the bag and moved toward the scullery.
“You’ll have to forgive me, I’m sure,” Polaire said to me. “We are old friends of Mykaela here. Tea is your name, isn’t it? How odd, since Althy has just repaired to the kitchen with your namesake. But I am not one to make fun of odd names, having one myself.”
“Polaire is known to speak her mind,” Lady Mykaela said, smiling.
“Oh, I’m the life of the party,” Polaire said. “They ask for me all the time. And if anyone gets too forward, Althy will take care of them. Althy doesn’t look it, but she can floor a man in the time it takes to raise an eyebrow. That’s why she’s Princess Inessa’s bodyguard. But we took time off to accompany our Mykaela here to Istera. Gloomy la épave of a place, is Istera. Have you been? Aren’t you going to give me some breakfast?”