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“The dye will last about a week on your skin, probably two weeks in your hair,” she informed him as they walked through a market square. She’d only been to Talamh a handful of times in her life, but it seemed like there were more city guards on patrol than usual, hands toying with the pommels of their swords as they kept a watchful eye over the citizens. “You need to stop fidgeting with your hair and skin so much, though, or it will come off faster.”
“Squalls,” Leap swore under his breath. “I have to walk around looking like a carrot for two weeks?”
“If you don’t want to get arrested, then yes.” Mavlyn nudged Leap’s shoulder as they passed through an archway, drawing his attention to the guard posted by the entrance. “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I haven’t seen a single water or air fae here since we’ve arrived. That means they’ve either made themselves scarce because of the impending war, or been imprisoned as spies.”
“I did notice,” Leap muttered. He glanced around as they moved away from the shopping district and into a more residential area. “Where are you taking us, anyway?”
“An old friend.”
Mavlyn quickened their steps as they turned down a street lined with old, expensive houses. Small snowdrifts were piled along the sides of the streets, and a chill wind whistled around them, making Mavlyn shiver. She still wore the fur cloak the ice fae had given her, the hood drawn up around her face not only as a deterrent against the cold, but in case the guards had been told to look out for her.
Eventually, they came to an old brownstone at the end of the block. Mavlyn’s stomach churned with nerves as they walked up the path and onto the wide porch so she could knock on the door. It had been a long time since she’d last seen Emelie, and given recent events, she wasn’t sure how well she would be received.
A servant answered the door, and Mavlyn explained who she was. “Miss Troth isn’t home right now,” the servant said, a little snootily as she eyed Mavlyn and Leap’s shabby, travel-worn clothes. “But if you’d like, I can leave a message for her, and—”
“Mavlyn? Is that you?”
Mavlyn whirled at the sound of the familiar voice. Her heart beat faster at the sight of Emelie Troth hurrying up the sidewalk toward them, her honey-brown eyes wide with excitement. Mavlyn remembered her as a plump girl, with long, wavy red hair she wore in chin-length, corkscrew curls around her round face, and a pair of thick glasses perched on her button nose. But while she still had the glasses and the apple cheeks, she’d slimmed down, and she wore her fiery hair waist length now. She’d also traded her colorful dresses for a Talamh University school uniform—a button-up white shirt with the university’s crest embroidered on the breast, and a green and gold plaid skirt. She wore black leggings and boots beneath the skirt to keep her warm, along with a black cloak and matching bookbag.
“Emelie!” Mavlyn raced up the path to greet her old friend. The two embraced, and a wave of giddiness rushed through her. She and Emelie had been close, once, but her father had moved them from Fenwood to Talamh five years ago for business, and they hadn't seen each other more than a handful of times since. “How are you?”
“Drowning in homework, as usual,” Emelie huffed. She slid her bookbag off her shoulder and onto the ground, then stepped back to give Mavlyn a good once over. “Where have you been all this time? I thought you were supposed to start university this year! I was looking forward to helping you settle in.”
Mavlyn winced at the hurt expression on her friend’s face. In her last letter to Emelie, she’d asked her friend for help in finding a place to stay and introductions with the various university clubs and organizations. Emelie had enthusiastically agreed, even offering to let Mavlyn stay at her home for a few weeks while she searched for accommodations. But when Adara had fled from the village on Einar’s back, everything had changed. Mavlyn had penned a brief letter to Emelie before she’d left with her aunt for Wynth, but she hadn’t explained the circumstances, only telling her an emergency had come up and she wouldn’t be arriving for the start of the semester.
“It’s a long story,” Mavlyn said. “Maybe we can tell you about it inside, over a cup of tea?”
Emelie glanced over Mavlyn’s shoulder, to where Leap and the servant were waiting on the porch, and raised her eyebrows. “Yeah, I think you’d better.”
Emelie led them inside, and Mavlyn and Leap hung up their cloaks on hooks by the door, then joined her in the sitting room. Her parents were both away—her mother visiting a friend, her father working at the family trading company—so they had the house to themselves, if you didn’t count the servant. She still didn’t seem pleased about having them here, but she served them tea and biscuits, then disappeared into the kitchen, where she would undoubtedly eavesdrop on every word.
“So,” Emelie said after they’d taken their first sips. “Who is your friend, and what brings you both here? Are you hoping to get a late start in this semester?”
“Not exactly,” Mavlyn said. She introduced Leap, then told Emelie about the situation with Adara, Einar, General Slaugh, and the Shadow. Emelie listened with an open mouth, hardly touching her biscuits as she absorbed the tale.
“I think the only good thing out of everything you’ve said so far is that Dune is dead,” Emelie said when Mavlyn paused to take a breath. “I never liked him—he used to tease me about being fat, and he was horrible to Adara.” She wrinkled her nose as she picked up another biscuit. “When you told me the two of them were seeing each other, I nearly asked Father to borrow a horse so I could travel back to Fenwood just to slap some sense into her.”
Mavlyn laughed. “That would have been a sight." Adara and Emelie hadn’t been as close as Mavlyn had been to her, but they’d still been friends. Mavlyn half-wished she’d been able to convince Adara to attend university—the three of them would have had such fun together! But then, Adara’s powers might have been unleashed in the capital instead, and it would have been far more difficult for her to escape Lady Mossi's and General Slaugh’s clutches. She also likely would have never found Einar, either.
Fate was a funny thing.
“How have things been here in Talamh since King Aolis’s death?” Leap asked. Emelie started at the sound of his voice—Leap had stayed silent for most of the conversation, nursing his tea as he curled up onto the settee by the window, and Mavlyn suspected she’d forgotten he was there.
“Not good,” Emelie said darkly. “Things were good for a while when the shadow creatures disappeared, but now that civil war is brewing, shipping companies are far more reluctant to travel. The supply routes have stalled, and it’s difficult for anyone to move goods in and out of the city. My father has been working long hours trying to manage it all, and Mother is stressed. So, if there is something I can do to help, I’m all ears.”
“Well, now that you mention it,” Mavlyn said hesitantly, “Leap and I do have a plan. We came to Talamh to raise awareness about Nox and General Slaugh, and to convince the people to protest the war. If enough citizens refuse to fight, Nox won’t be able to tip the balance from light to dark. We only need to hold her off long enough until Adara returns to Ediria.”
“Where exactly did she go?” Emelie asked. “I can’t imagine where she could find another priest to help her, given that she’s public enemy number one.”
“To the Deadlands,” Leap said before Mavlyn could answer. “There’s ancient magic hidden in the ruins that the Radiants said can help. But it’s going to take her a few weeks to find it.”
“The Deadlands?” Emelie shuddered. “May the Radiants watch over her, then. I wouldn’t wish anyone to set foot in that horrid wasteland, not even my worst enemy.”
Emelie convinced her parents to let Mavlyn and Leap spend a few days with them, and the next day, she took them to Talamh University. Mavlyn felt a pang of longing as they entered the campus grounds, taking in the grand buildings and the excited chatter of students as they walked from one class to the next or sat together in the common areas, studying or working on projects together. She nearly wept when they walked by the massive greenhouse—she’d visited it on her campus tour, and the collection of plants there rivaled Lady Mossi’s arboretum. She would have to sneak in there at some point to get a look at some of the rarer specimens.
“Are you okay?” Leap asked in a low voice. “You seem… sad.”
Mavlyn blinked at Leap, surprised at the concern on his face. “I’m fine,” she said. “It’s just… I can’t help wishing things were different, that I was here as a normal girl going to university for her first semester, not as an activist.”
