Amina was right. There were monsters everywhere. Some were born, and some were made. Risa had no idea which one she was.
“Risa.”
Javi’s voice was close. Too close. She could not bear to look at him. Yet she lifted her gaze and was awestruck by how very handsome he looked even with sweat peppered over his nose and dotting his temple.
“Yes?” It came out a whisper. Barely a word. She was terrified that he might have divined the truth about her, seen the monster lurking under her skin. Terrified he would banish her or, worse, tell her to stay.
“I’ve been trying to tell you. If you are a monster, then I—” He swallowed. His hand rose like it was being pulled by a string, his fingertips inches from grazing her jaw.
They were frozen in that moment. She watched in fascination as his eyelashes fluttered, and her heart threatened to catapult itself through her rib cage. Brunhilda’s spell was hard at work despite him being right there, sharing the same breath in the stifling heat.
Another bump sent them flailing in opposite directions, a muffled “Ow!” coming from Javi’s curled-up lump of a body.
Risa might have been riddled with bad luck, but she was grateful for it then. When the tarp lifted away, she was the first one out.
CHAPTER TWENTYIn Which the Trio Suffers the Perils of Public Transportation
Paulo didn’t seem suspicious when Risa scurried out, nor did he look concerned when Javi followed, complaining about the third attempt on his life via dangerous unsanctioned carriage driving. Amina, however, rose an arched eyebrow at Risa in silent question, which Risa refused to respond to.
The more pressing matter was the wide plain that stretched before them. Cast in shadow, it was barren except for a wooden platform a few yards away. Whatever once grew there had long ago died. Sunlight hadn’t graced any part of the land in what might have been years. Only an empty wasteland remained.
Risa glanced upward. The shadow was being cast by a dark object that resembled an unmoving silver cloud. She watched as black specks detached from the shape and floated downward like fluttering leaves shucked from a dying plant.
San Cirilo.
This was the city of airships. A collective of steaming contraptions that called itself an autonomous state, hovering over a darkened region of the Kheadish kingdom. Large buildings sprouted from the tops like weeds, most of them carved from the same steel as the hulls of the ships. Other vessels boasted exposed cavernous insides where smaller buildings had been built within their bowels. Some were monstrous juggernauts, their outer skin giving no indication of what lay inside. Some possessed flattened disks supported by a steel hull, gardens and parks and small lakes decorating their surfaces.
The combination of magic and science was a testament to their mortal hubris. The shadow that San Cirilo cast left the world below sheathed in decay.
Several figures on the platform huddled against the barrage of wind created by the floating city. These were all people who had converged at the port, seeking the ferries that would spirit them up to the floating city, though they knew not what it might hide or what lay waiting. Some came from the west, where Monpira and, beyond that, Spearbelly and Barrow lay. Others had trekked from the south, where Kheadon’s capital was nestled. And to the east beyond the horizon was the desert separating Kheadon and Amina’s kingdom.
“It’s massive,” Amina said, her voice a mix of wonder and disgust.
San Cirilowasmassive, and grotesque, and a marvel of technological advancement.
It was impossible to perceive the true magnificence of San Cirilo beneath its haunting breadth. Tiny blimps zipped back and forth from ships hovering halfway between the ground and the city proper.
“I must leave you,” Paulo said, patting Amina’s head. He gaveher shoulder a brief squeeze. “Be safe, little wolf. And come visit when you can.”
Amina nodded. “I will.”
Paulo returned to his cart, gave the three of them one final look, and climbed into the driver’s seat. Amina watched him go, face buried in Brunie’s fur, and when Paulo was quite a ways ahead, she turned and hurried up the platform steps.
People crowded the platform edge, determined to be first in line when the airship destined for San Cirilo opened its doors. If people weren’t pushing their way to the front, they were gathering around a lone shed at the end of the platform.AIRCAB TICKETSwas hand-painted above a cutout window, and the assembled crowd before it ranted about fare hikes and lack of visible improvements, though no one was behind the window to take note of complaints. There was a sign indicating that the attendant was “on break, be back in 101 minutes,” with no way to knowwhenthe countdown had started.
A grinding shudder ran beneath the platform as a smaller, darker shadow began to creep over it. Above them, a small blimp had detached from the airships that hovered between San Cirilo and the ground, traveling down a thick cable fastened to the platform. It was too tiny to carry everyone gathered there. If they didn’t manage to get on this ship, they would be left exposed on the platform, and Risa, unlike Javi, wasn’t optimistic enough to believe everything would be fine. Especially when her bad luck was part of the equation.
Amina turned to them, hood lowered, hair a curly black mass around her round face. “Thank gods you’re both unnaturally tall. No losing you.”
Javi bent until he was face-to-face with Amina, his eyes narrowed in accusation. “Do you look different?”
Amina grimaced and ducked back under her cape, hiding her face.
But there was no following up, no need for the princess to avoid the question. For El Gib—mustache and all—stood a few feet away, surrounded by his goons. The moons embroidered upon their black tunics and tattooed on several of their limbs were the same shape as the rictus smiles they all wore.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here? Looks like this will be a two-for-one sale, lads.”
Ohno.
