Page 97 of A Dance of Shadows

The three faces flicker with at least as much skepticism as awe. The man to the right eyes the imperial guard uniforms and eases back a step. “We weren’t complaining—we didn’t badger anyone about anything.”

Is he afraid this is some kind of trick?

I hold up my hand in an attempt to calm him. “You’ve faced trying circumstances admirably. We were passing by not far from here, and I wanted to do what good I can while I have the chance. And—” I motion to Aurelia. “Her Imperial Highness Empress Aurelia hoped to learn more about your concerns as she continues her tour of the empire.”

If the woman’s eyes got any wider, I’d expect them to pop right out of her head. All three of the farmers stare for a beat and then bend over in the deepest of bows. The woman stayscrouched down. “Your Imperial Highness—I never would’ve thought—I’m sorry if I seemed rude?—”

“Not at all,” Aurelia breaks in smoothly. Her Cotean words don’t come quite as steadily as when she’s speaking in Darium, but she conveys plenty of sincerity that I suspect will matter more. “It’s worried me to hear about the troubles your farms have faced. I’d like to know more about the problems you’ve encountered and what might help solve them. Every citizen of the empire deserves to pursue their livings free from dire hardship.”

The woman straightens up with a tentative smile in return. It looks as if my lover has the locals well in hand.

I have my own goal to see to.

As I step a little farther from their group, one of the men drifts closer to me. “Is there anything I can do to help, Your Highness?” he asks uncertainly.

I pause. “I wouldn’t mind having a mug of that cider waiting for me when I’m done working my gift. It takes quite a bit out of me. I’ll pay you, of course.”

“Nah, don’t even think about that! If you can bring the rains, that’s worth wagons full of cider barrels.”

He hustles off to procure my drink, and I turn to the south. If I stir up the air currents from that direction, we can ride ahead of the rainclouds as they drift on over this territory—and hope to escape getting caught in the downpour.

Pressing my hand against my godlen brand, I extend my awareness through the ripples of the air all the way up to the sky and farther west. The eddies weave between tufts of condensation that I recognize as the clouds.

I need to find thicker ones, full of moisture. Farther south and near the channel is the best bet…

As my mind travels away on the wings of my gift, my sense of my immediate surroundings fades. My head fills with the sensations of flowing breeze and billowing dampness.

There’s a clump of them. Jurnus give me strength.

I will the air to condense into an increasingly forceful blast of wind. It streams across the mass of cloud I’m focused on and shoves the water-logged puffs onward.

Drift a little farther… A little farther still…

An ache forms in the back of my skull, but I ignore it. With each passing minute that I focus my gift, the wind picks up vigor and the clouds rush closer toward us.

A nearby gasp brings most of my consciousness back to earth. I blink, clearing my vision, and find myself gazing up at a mass of ominous gray looming over the nearby fields.

The wind I’ve provoked has taken a mind of its own. It whips around the building with a hollow warbling, and I release it to fly free.

The throbbing in my skull has spread all the way around to my forehead. My single lung has constricted, my breath coming with a faint rattle. When I adjust my stance, my knees wobble under me.

“Your Highness, the cider.” The farmer scrambles over to me, hesitates, and dashes back to the building to grab a stool. He sets it down just in time for me to sag onto it.

“Thank you,” I say raggedly. I clutch the mug he hands me, inhaling and exhaling as evenly as I can until the worse of the strain subsides.

Thunder rumbles to the south. The first pattering of rain streaks down just a few miles distant. My helper lets out a crow of delight, and a bright glow of my own flows through my chest.

No matter how the empire batters us down, we can still find our ways to survive.

As much as I’d like to revel in the victory, we’re going to need to move on soon to avoid getting drenched. As soon as I can actually move.

I gulp the tartly sweet cider and glance over to where Aurelia is standing in conference with the other two farmers.

The woman’s forehead is furrowed. “I’m not sure if stopping up a canal would put things back to rights at this point. Once you’ve changed the way the earth is shaped, it can’t always shift back to how it was before, no matter how you try.”

Aurelia frowns. “There must be ways to ensure the water would spread out over similar routes across its old territory.”

“Mayhap. We’d have to see. It wouldn’t be so much turning back time as wiping the slate clean and seeing how the chips fall next.”

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