Awakening Dusk Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Crypt

Leoni’s long black hair cast a shadow over the crumpled parchment in her trembling fist. It curled as she wound it back into the canister. The pigeon cooed from the parapet beside her. She reflexively dropped a handful of seed along the weathered stone. Leoni stared unseeingly at the forested hills below her, the bright glare of the sun watering her eyes.

She shouldn’t have opened it. Shouldn’t have tracked the messenger bird’s skyward path and met him in the tower. She should have stayed in the courtyard. He would have found his way to the aviary without her. The servants would have attended him. Mistress Odessa would have received the message when she returned.

Leoni’s hand tightened around the canister, her ears flicking back against her hair, as black scrawl stuttered in her mind.

Return to the Summit one fortnight hence. Reinforcements await your House. Prepare for the Rites of Ascension. ~ M. R.

Mage Rhydian must have sent the note after Leoni’s mentor had left the Summit. Mistress Odessa had been gone for two weeks and was due back any day. Why hadn’t he just told her while she was there? Why had he sent this message for Leoni to find? Her nostrils flared as fear enveloped her thoughts.

The last time reinforcements had been brought to the House of Time, Leoni had still been at the orphanage. The last time the Rites of Ascension had been completed, Prince Donlaur had been a boy preparing to ascend his father’s throne. There was only one reason to prepare for the rites again.

Her stomach dipped as she leaned over the parapet, tracing the trees as if their roots could somehow ground her, as if their branches could shield her from the truth.

Prince Donlaur is dead.

She whirled as footsteps sounded behind her. A servant bowed, his bald head highlighting the scarred twists of his tapered ears. Solemn brown eyes met hers before dropping to the canister in her hand. He averted his gaze as she tucked it into her pocket. He pointed to the stairwell.

“Gnashing talons,” Leoni whispered.

There was no hiding it now. She’d not only breached the tower; she’d intercepted a message. Now Mistress Odessa had returned, and her faithful servant wouldn’t hesitate to reveal Leoni’s overstep. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t speak.

Obscurity shrouded the answers, which refused to gather into anything coherent in her mind. Leoni struggled to recall the correct names, official titles, and family trees. Letting her hair unwind from her fingers and fall limply to her chest, she muttered, “Tharo Latif . . .”

“You studied while I was away?”

Mistress Odessa’s voice sounded steady and unchanged. As though she hadn’t been gone. As though nothing had happened. Leoni chewed her lip and nodded. Her recitation felt as foggy as the cloaked hills sprawling in the window opposite her mentor. Didn’t Prince Donlaur’s death usurp the importance of her lesson? How was she supposed to focus when the canister weighed heavily in her pocket, despite its small size?

She wished they sat under the cathedral of the forest and not the gold-painted dome of the library. Mistress Odessa was always more forthcoming under the shade of the trees, more willing to veer from the lesson and explore the myriad tangents turning like animal trails in the woods. But it had been weeks since Leoni had stretched her legs beyond the courtyard and inner crop fields of Ravenna Fortress. Meanwhile, Mistress Odessa had spent a fortnight traveling to the Summit and back. And she was about to leave again.

Leoni still didn’t know why her mentor had left in the first place.

Was it because of Prince Donlaur’s death?

It had been two weeks, and Leoni was stuck in the same lesson in the same fortress. She was tired of her sanctuaries being surrounded by stone walls. The bulwarks had loomed even higher while Mistress Odessa had been away, trapping her inside instead of keeping the world out. Leoni sighed. She couldn’t explain how the fog had crept from the forest and into her mind. There was no answer for her lack of progress. Her cheeks flamed at the pinched look on Mistress Odessa’s face.

“You should know it forward and backward by now.”

Leoni inhaled sharply. “Tharo Latif, son . . .” She couldn’t remember.

It was her duty to remember.

As a Sister of the House of Time, her training involved many fields of study. But the expertise of Raven’s Wing, the byname of her House, remained preserving the history of Avaithe. How could she be time’s keeper if she couldn’t retain a simple text? Why is this one any different from the hundreds I’ve learned before it? It blurred at the edges of her mind like the muted leaves framed in the window.

Mistress Odessa’s tongue clucked. “Since he is one of King Monaro’s generals and high councilmen, I expected you to pay better attention to Tharo Latif, son of Alois Latif.”

Leoni ducked her head. Her mind had felt clogged lately, even before Mage Rhydian’s note. The growing restlessness she sensed from Cadesh only exacerbated her mood.

“Try once more.” Mistress Odessa’s tone softened. “You may join him as soon as you finish. This evening, we’ll add a gold ring to your nose.”

Leoni’s eyes widened. She’d wanted to pierce her nose for months. Adornment, in the forms of flowering ink and piercings of gold, was her reward for memorizing new passages of Avaithen history. Beautification was sacred to her, a way for Leoni to display all she had mastered. The inked tattoos and studded jewelry were among the few things she had control over. The things she could choose for herself. But more than that, the House of Time’s ink and jewels had been given to her sisters from the dead goddess Pati, their patron goddess. Each drop of ink, each crowning jewel, held magical capacity to aid Leoni’s mind. Every time she received a reward, the fog lifted ever so slightly, allowing her more mental capacity for her studies. Realizing that the reason she was struggling was her need for another storehouse for memory and not her own failure bolstered Leoni’s mood.

Studying time exceeded the limits of all elven sisters, not just Leoni.

She eyed the inked vines and flowering trees, glittering bracelets, feathered earrings, and heavy necklaces adorning her mentor. Each was a testament to Mistress Odessa’s devotion to the Sisterhood. Though Mistress Odessa’s gray eyes sagged with wrinkles and her hair twisted in wiry waves of slate gray, her memory remained as sharp as a raven’s. If she believed Leoni was ready for another piercing, Leoni would do everything she could to prove herself worthy of it.

“General Latif is one of six generals leading the Enician army, but his service extends beyond King Monaro and Queen Remiri.” Leoni closed her eyes as pieces of the text returned to her mind. “As a member of the high council, he serves the people by being one of three advisers to our king. It is a position of great honor. And power.” Leoni’s ears lowered slightly. “He . . . he also—”

“Stop fidgeting with your hair, Leoni.”

Leoni looked down at the black spiral wound in her hands. “Why were you called to the Summit?” she blurted. So much for proving herself.

Mistress Odessa’s eyebrows arched. Her lips formed a taut line before rolling over her teeth, as if struggling to stay silent.

Leoni carefully pulled the canister from her pocket. “How did he die?” She set it on the table between them as shame and grief tugged her ears down, the tips brushing against her hair. “Prince Donlaur is dead, isn’t he?”

“Gnashing talons, Leoni.” Mistress Odessa’s eyes watered. She took the canister and rubbed her forehead. “Yes, the heir to the throne is dead.” Wrinkles creased like scars as she uncurled the paper. “Prince Donlaur is dead.” She spoke as if she herself couldn’t believe it.

Leoni’s mouth gaped, refusing to work. “But how? How can he be?”

Mistress Odessa grimaced. “The queen ordered me to the Summit immediately. Once there, Mage Rhydian informed me of the dire circumstances. No one—I repeat, no one—knows of Prince Donlaur’s death. Somehow the king and queen have kept it within their inner circle.”

Leoni’s breathing grew shallow. “What happened? How did—”

“He fell ill. The queen suspects poisoning.” Mistress Odessa massaged her temples.

“Poisoning!” A chill broke out across Leoni’s arms.

Mistress Odessa hesitated. The emotion in her eyes welled up. “The queen has hidden the princess away. She may be queen, but she’s acting as a mother first. I fear—” Mistress Odessa’s fist closed over the note. Her breath bated. “I fear whoever killed Prince Donlaur knew what the effects would be. How can we stop the ripples without knowing who threw the stone? What if another gets thrown? Peace is always tentative to uphold. This last thread could unravel it.”

Leoni gulped. “Wh-what did the queen want from you?”

“She sought my advice. Just as she will one day seek yours.”

“And?”

“Leoni, I’ve told you more than I’m permitted to.” Mistress Odessa cleared her throat. “The Valerian throne is strong but weakened. With Falel’s claim on our princess, the monarchy will rely on the wisdom of all our Houses in overcoming this.” She reached out and grasped Leoni’s hand. “We are one of five pillars that our kingdom stands on. Do you understand? We must rise to every challenge, Leoni. No matter how small.” Mistress Odessa squeezed her hand before releasing it. “We’ll resume your recitation tomorrow.” Her gaze struck Leoni. “I want you to shift your focus to the queen. Tomorrow morning, explain why King Monaro married her. Describe her background. And determine, in your own words, the effects of his decision on our kingdom in light of the treaty.”

Leoni stiffened, her ears going flat. “You want me to criticize our king?”

“I want you to fulfill your role. If we are truly to inform our leaders, we must ask the right questions first.”

“And . . . and what will you be doing about—” Leoni couldn’t finish. The words wouldn’t form.

“I will analyze our copy of the original treaty. If our kingdom is to survive, we must secure our princess from the clutches of Falel.”

“But she’s been betrothed since before she was born! And what of Prince Donlaur? Shouldn’t we be figuring out who killed him?”

“If Prince Donlaur has been murdered, we must trust our king to root out the poisoner.” Mistress Odessa stood and walked over to a bookshelf lined with ancient scrolls. “Things that move now only do so because of shifts created long ago.” Her slender fingers danced across the dusty wooden handles. “I must prepare for the Rites of Ascension.”

Leoni attempted to make her legs move. They had melted against her chair like wax.

Mistress Odessa turned and helped her to her feet. “Go and join Cadesh. It will help you feel better. Oh, and don’t forget about the nose ring. We’ll do it after supper.”

Leoni shook her head. “Aren’t I in trouble?”

Mistress Odessa’s face softened. “I would be a fool to squelch your curiosity. But next time, muster restraint, Leoni.”

“It doesn’t feel right to get my piercing now. Not with everything else.”

Mistress Odessa smiled. “That’s why we must do it.”

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