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Thecity.
Now, this place could actually be useful to me. It’s teeming with people, many of them from all around Maledin. In my homespun dress and with my unremarkable appearance, I blend in so well that no one is going to notice me. I’ll explore for a little while, and then I’ll head back to the castle before Zabriel even notices I’m gone.
For an hour or more, my hopes are high. Lenhale is filled with people from all over Maledin, and they’re happy to talk to me. Many have never been farther than a few miles from home. I’m starting to understand that while it was usual for the Brethren to travel between the five monasteries in Maledin, dragging the Veiled Virgins along with them to wash their clothes and cook their meals, common folk rarely went farther than their closest market town. Very few people know of Gunster, and almost no one’s heard of Amriste. I start to feel like I’m going mad and wonder if I’ve imagined a whole region of Maledin and the hundreds, even thousands, of people who lived there.
I’ve been sweaty and uncomfortable since I got out of bed, and my empty stomach feels queasy. The roads of the capital are twisty and unpredictable, crowded with people, and are overlooked by tall, haphazard buildings. I glimpse an open square and hurry toward it, hoping I’ll get my bearings, when I trip on a cobble and go flying.
I land on my hands and knees, scraping them against stone and gravel. My pride takes a bruising as well, which isn’t helped by the fact that a dozen people walk past me like I’m not even there.
“You poor thing. Are you very hurt? Come and sit here.”
Someone puts her hands on my elbows and helps me to my feet. There’s a water pump over a stone basin nearby, and the woman encourages me to sit on the edge while she dips the corner of her apron in the cool water and washes the dirt and gravel from my palms.
I take a breath to calm my racing heart, and I see that the person who has come to my aid is a young woman, my age or a year or two older. She has a kind, pretty face, and dark brown hair, and she’s currently soiling her dress and apron with dirt and my blood.
“You didn’t need to do that. Thank you. I’m Isavelle, by the way.”
“Odanna. I’m a stable hand at that travelers’ inn over yonder, and I saw you go flying,” replies the young woman. She’s crouching before me and looks up at me with a smile. Then she hesitates and peers more closely at me. “Did I see you sitting in the Flame King’s lap at his coronation feast yesterday?”
My face turns scarlet.
No one inside the castle mentioned it to me this morning, though I was aware of a few curious looks, but since then I’ve forgotten all about the spectacle that Zabriel and I must have made.
Odanna smiles and shakes her head. “Don’t be embarrassed, I thought it was romantic. I crept up to the door in the middle of the feast so I could peep inside. A lot of us did. We were all saying to each other that maybe the Flame King won’t be a tyrant if he can so sweetly feed an ordinary Maledinni woman with his fingers.” She hesitates, and I can see the question in her eyes that she’s dying to ask.
A lump of frustration rises in my throat. “I should be on my way. Thank you for stopping to help me up.”
Odanna puts her hand on my arm, and in a tone of remorse says, “I’m so sorry. Listen to me gossip. Let me make up for my nosiness by helping you if I can. Come with me, and I’ll buy you a cup of silkmallow tea.”
The young woman has such a sweet, gentle way about her, and I’m too tired and overwrought to resist as she leads me over to a tea stall. We sit on low wooden stools and Odanna places a wooden cup of pale pink tea into my hands, and its warmth soothes my injured hands. It feels strange to have someone looking after me instead of me trying to comfort everyone else.
I take a shaky breath. “Thank you. This is very kind of you. As you can see, I’m not having a good day.”
“Are you new to the capital?” Odanna asks, interest lighting her eyes. Her dark hair is in a loose bun at the nape of her neck and loose tendrils frame her face.
It’s a simple question that doesn’t require more than a yes or no, but suddenly my despair fills right to the brim and spills down my cheeks. “I’ve been in the castle for over a week, but this is my first time in the city. I’m looking for my family, or even news of anyone from their region of Maledin. Anyone at all. I feel so wretched about them that I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Odanna presses my sleeve, her light brown eyes filling with sympathy. “Oh, you poor thing. I’ve never been outside Lenhale, but I might know someone who has been there. Where are they from?”
Without much hope, I describe Amriste and Gunster to Odanna, and I’m not surprised when she gives a sad shake of her head.
“I haven’t heard of anyone from that region. I’m truly sorry. We have a lot of travelers passing through the inn. I will listen for news and will let you know if I hear anything that might help you.” Odanna has a pleasant, throaty voice, and I hear the sincerity in her words.
“That’s very kind of you to help a stranger like this.”
“We’re all in need of a little help right now. There’s been so much upheaval since the invasion. Perhaps some roads or bridges have been destroyed that prevent news or people from reaching the capital from that region.”
I nod and make myself smile a little. It’s a thin hope, but it’s still a hope. What I fear is that something terrible has happened around Amriste, or that everyone in that region has fled across the western border and they don’t know it’s safe to return. That’s assuming it is safe to return and the fighting isn’t going to start again.
“Is your family safe?” I ask Odanna, taking a sip of my drink. Silkmallow tea has a delicate, sweet taste, and though these dried blooms must have been in storage for nearly a year, they have enough flavor to remind me that spring is just around the corner.
She hesitates. “My mother passed away several years ago. My father was a Brethren priest.”
I gaze at her in shock. Brethren take vows of celibacy, and they can’t have wives or lovers, though I’ve heard rumors of them forcing themselves on vulnerable women who haven’t got anyone to protect them.
Odanna must realize where my mind went and she hurries to correct me. “It wasn’t like that. They were in love, but of course they weren’t allowed to be together.”
“That must have been hard for both of them.” I hesitate, and then add, “I was one of the Veiled Virgins until not long ago, and it’s difficult for me to imagine any of those men acting out of so tender a feeling as love. Did you know him well?”
