“It’s perfect.” As I stare at the cards, I realize that it has been years since I last received a present on All Coins Day. That no one,ever,has gifted me a complete deck before him, and he does it like it’s nothing. The money he spent on it and the time he spent to make it were both well beyond the reach of anyone in my life before.
My fingertips settle on the Prince of Swords, and my eyes drag back to him: to my own Prince of Swords. My whole body aches. It’s as though my soul is suddenly too large for my frame.
“I’ve something for you,” I say without so much as a thought.
“Do you?” His brows lift.
“Follow me.” I take his hand, and our fingers lace instantly, as though on instinct.
I guide him through the city streets, down the back alleys and crumbling staircases that I could traverse in my sleep to Rot Hollow. Most of the houses we pass in Rat Town on the way are just as Iremember. Though, as we continue to descend, I see some have fallen further into disrepair.
But then we reach Rot Hollow, whose poverty is unlike anything else in Eclipse City. Here the buildings are barely standing: They’ve been built haphazardly to squeeze in extra living space wherever possible, alleyways walled by additional shelters to the left, right, and above. A few people loiter, even at this hour, and they regard us with wary eyes. If anyone looked too closely, even our cloaks would make us stand out, the heavy wool a stark contrast to their cotton and threadbare wool.
Kaelis surprises me by saying nothing. There’s no remark on the conditions in Rat Town. Nor does he ask any questions, even though I’m sure he has many. Maybe he knows enough about me already that he knows we’ll come to a stop before a certain three-story building well before we actually do.
The first floor is halfway swallowed by the ground, with only its horizontal windows peeking up just above the curb. A stairway has been carved into the rocky earth that leads to a partially subterranean basement door. The second floor is a few steps up from the road. The third is accessed by a ladder…always was. No one ever bothered to construct stairs. With what money would that ever happen?
But I don’t look at the whole building. I focus on the narrow window that’s still shattered. A thin cloth has been pulled over it, and barely,barely,I can hear words from within, just beyond the flickering candle on the sill.
And also a child’s soft laughter, though I’m not sure if I’m imagining it.
“This was my home.” Four words and the night becomes so still. Kaelis’s fingers tighten against mine.
Who lives here now?I desperately both do and do not want to know the answer to that question.
“My sister and I were illegitimate children”—as I’ve come to learn—“and so my father never came around—in fact, my mother ran away from him, and that’s how we ended up here.”
I’ve spent so little time thinking of the truth of my parentage with all that’s happened. One of the last things I asked Bristara suddenly returns to me in force.
Am I a Clan Tower bastard?
Did Mother even love my father? Or was she some kind of hostage, brutalized and abused? I shudder, and Kaelis shifts closer to me. Clan Tower was hunting her down on Naethor’s orders; there would be no way she would willingly…
I turn away and inhale slowly through my nose, afraid that if I breathe through my mouth, I’ll be sick.
“She loved us,” I finally say, for myself and him. I drag my eyes back to that little hovel—what was once my whole world. “And she did all she could for us.”
“That’s all that matters.” He’s clearly trying to be reassuring. But there’s also a note of longing in his voice for the mother he never knew.
“I didn’t take you here just to show you this, though.” Forcing myself to move is harder than I would’ve thought. I haven’t come back here in years. The last time I was here, Arina and I were girls fleeing from the enforcers.
The thought has me looking over my shoulder, scanning the refuse-lined passageways and nooks for any who might still be hunting me.
Kaelis shifts a little closer still, fingers unraveling before his hand wraps around my waist. “No one will hurt you, not while I draw breath.”
“Only everyone who already has,” I try to say teasingly, but I don’t miss the flex in his cheek as he tenses his jaw.
“When the world is ours, I will make sure that you never know pain again.” There is nothing but determination in those words.
We finally reach our destination. It’s a small watering hole tucked into the rock of the mountain cliffs that make this stony back wall of Eclipse City. From a fissure in the stone, a tiny waterfall has formed—little more than the amount of water that would stream from a gardener’s watering can. It trickles down over the rock to a shallow pool that would barely be large enough for a young child to bathe in.
It’s the one spot in Rot Hollow that is free of debris and grime. A halo of cleanliness forming in an arc where the water splatters.
“This was one of the few consistent sources of clean water for us.” I walk up to the edge of the rock. Tiny stacks of thin copper coins have been placed—glots. There’s about a dozen of them.
“Some kind of offering?” Kaelis surmises of the money. It’s barely enough coin to afford bread for a week. But bread for a week here is better eating than most get. So I can see why he’d be curious as to why no one takes it for themselves.
“Something like that. They’re left around All Coins Day.” My gaze settles on the back of the pool, where copper winks in the moonlight. Nearly a hundred glots rest there, almost a doln. That is real money to the poor and hungry. “Those with a little extra leave a little. There isn’t much here to celebrate. No Arcanists are coming here to offer to repair windows or mend shoes.” As I speak, I empty the contents of my own pockets. What little there is. I hadn’t been planning on coming tonight. If I had, I would’ve brought more. “No one has the money to entice students or clan members. When hunger is your dinner and imagination is your warmth, the best you have is hope, and a wish.”
