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‘Eggs?’ I plopped down on the blankets, shaking my head at her with a bewildered laugh. ‘I’m not sure where you’re going with that, I’m sorry. What is the matter with Rosalind?’
The equally confusing image of a worm dangling from a bird’s beak was added to the mix, emerging with an odd blend of my own disgust and Alyra’s fond early memories. Aworm– did Rosalind make a habit of feeding the fledgling birds around the city’s parks? Did she enjoy fishing in her spare time?
But then why in the world were we thinking of the Crimson Court and eggs, too?
‘Alright,’ I said weakly, because it was clear Alyra was expecting an answer of some sort – I just did not have the faintest cluewhatanswer she needed. ‘I’ll … consider it?’
She let out a shriek of despair and dropped herself onto her back on the mattress, wings spread and claws up in the air like a dead bird. I needed no additional clues to interpret that little piece of communication –you idiot.
‘Look, I’mtrying.’ The irritation bled into my words no matter how hard I tried to keep it out. ‘You could be clearer, too, don’t you think?’
Her glare said she absolutely could not be, and that even a little fledgling still wet from the egg would have been able to make sense of her perfect clarity. As it seemed unlikely she was going to change her mind on that point, I just grimaced and added, ‘Are you trying to tell me I’m in immediate danger?’
That didn’t seem to be the case.
‘Well, then I’ll figure it out later.’ I glanced at the open window. ‘Could you fly back to the outer city gate and let whoever is waiting there know that I’m alive and well so far? They’re probably a little tense, and I don’t want them to worry any longer than necessary.’
She brightened immediately at the prospect of something useful and important to do. I dug one of my simple white ribbons from my bag – the signal we had agreed upon to let the Alliance know I was not in any trouble – and handed it to her; she curled her talons around the smooth silk as if it was a precious jewel.
‘Good luck,’ I said, and she soared out of the open window with a last little trill, the ribbon fluttering after her like a banner of victory.
I watched her until she was no more than a tiny dot in the bright blue sky, then sighed and turned back to my room with a mixture of relief and anxiousness. At least Creon would know I had arrived safely at my destination … but there was still the image of that little nest, five blue-and-grey eggs on a soft bed of moss, and Alyra’s excitement suggested the message had to be of some importance.
Separated from my friends and allies by ancient divine magic, this was a terrible time and place to feel like I was overlooking something.
It had been about Rosalind, hadn't it? So what if the consul wasn’t all she seemed, just after I had told her all about the bindings and my godsworn magic? What if I’d been too quick to trust her and she’d happily betray me to the rest of the consulate? What if …
I shoved that first inkling of a developing panic aside with a heartfelt curse. Alyra had at least said I was not in danger, and either way, there was no undoing the things I’d done. Waiting and hoping for the best was all I could do.
Which admittedly sounded like a miserable way to spend the rest of my day.
I managed to fill a whole five minutes unpacking my bag, hiding my daggers underneath my pillow and in the desk drawers, and exploring the adjacent bathroom. By the time I was done, the sun still hadn't moved any farther across the sky, and Alyra hadn't returned from her mission; it left me with little else to do but stand at the window and stare at the city below, watching the citizens walk by with their carts and their children and their groceries. People who had never needed to hold a weapon in their life. People who would never lose their limbs or bleed to death on a battlefield.
Easy prey, Creon would have said if he had been here to see them, in that rough voice of which even thethoughtsent shivers down my back, and it would only have been half a joke.
He would not have been wrong, either.
What an enviable thing, to be powerless and unimportant, a replaceable piece of the puzzle in this peaceful little corner of the world.
And damn it, what was I doing, standing here moping and staring at what had once been the world of my dreams? The city was expecting me. Rosalind had said I could go wherever I wanted. This was my only chance to experience that life, if only for a few hours; did I really want to return home having seen little more of this place than my own bedroom?
It could hardly be dangerous, going out. Either people would know who I was and think twice before attacking me, or they wouldn’t recognise me and have no reason to hurt me. But just in case …
I stepped back from the window and snatched up the dagger I’d slipped into the desk drawer. Two of the white ribbons were sufficient to strap it securely to the inside of my thigh.
There. Even without magic, I wouldn’t be a helpless victim.
Now that my plan was made, the thought of spending a single minute more in this lifeless silence suddenly seemed unbearable. I tossed my small purse into my backpack, gulped down a few mouthfuls of water, and slipped out, heading down the winding stairs. The maze of rooms was already starting to look familiar. I found the route out more easily than expected, resisting the urge to snoop in some of the abandoned rooms I encountered on my way – Rosalind was supposed to be taking care of the politics for now, and either way, getting caught with my hands in a clerk’s drawers would likely not endear the other two consuls to me.
No one granted me more than a glance of acknowledgement as I stepped out the door and descended the marble stairs to street level. The crowd had vanished, perhaps disappointed I’d failed to kill anyone or blow up the White Hall; I crossed the square feeling remarkably like I had the day I’d arrived on Ildhelm for my apprenticeship and realised that not a single soul in that city knew my name. There was a certain lightness, a sense of freedom, that came only with utter anonymity.
Where to go, if I could go anywhere I wanted?
I turned left, the side I hadn't walked with Rosalind. Stately mansions lined the road before me, surrounded by small but lush gardens where gardeners were tending to the flowerbeds. Around the corner, I discovered a row of shops that obviously catered to the richest inhabitants of the city – a jeweller, an antiquarian, a perfumery. I passed a window full of stately portraits and was annoyingly relieved to see they were not painted in Valter’s style. Next came a dressmaker’s shop showcasing some cornflower blue creations that could rival the fae designs I’d seen at the Crimson Court, all silver and pearls and frothy organza – and good gods, was that a piece of needle lace I glimpsed in the back of the workshop?
Old habits took over. I slowed down, despite knowing that even the cheapest of these dresses would cost ten times the money I was carrying with me.
In the reflection of the shop window, I could see a man on the opposite side of the street skid to a halt.
