Page 49 of Daughter of No Worlds

But I just placed a finger over my lips. “Is only for me to know.”

* * *

We tooka different route back through the city once we reached the main roads, Max leading me through wide, colorful streets. We were very close to the Palace now. I could see the golden stairs leading to its entrance in the gaps between buildings. Marketplace booths lined the sidewalks, hawking fruit or trinkets or gaudy jewelry. It was less crowded here than it had been where we first arrived, but I still struggled to adjust to the sheer number of people in my vicinity.

“Are you looking for something?” I asked Max, who paused to observe an extremely old-looking book at one of the stalls.

“Not particularly.”

I brushed my fingers across a jeweled dagger. Beautiful— but even I could tell it was practically a toy. Nothing like the elegant tools we had seen at Via’s shop.

“The bottles.” I nodded towards Max’s pockets. “Are they weapons?”

“Not exactly.”

“Is Via making so many weapons for war?”

“Let’s not talk about that here.” Max’s eyes darted from one side of the street to the other, looking deeply uncomfortable.

But before I could respond, horns cut through the air, drowning out even the loudest voices in the crowd. Nearly everyone on this packed street silenced at once, all turning their heads to the Palace in unison that bordered on eerie.

“Shit,” Max hissed. I turned to look at the golden stairs leading up to the Palace gates to see a procession of figures making their way down to the steps. Curiosity seized me, and before I could think, my feet were carrying me forward.

I knew nothing about Ara’s politics, and I would have to remedy that. Whatever was happening up there, it looked important.

“Tisaanah—”

But I didn’t even hear Max as I slipped through the crowd, pushing my way to the front of the group with my eyes drawn up to the stairs.

I got there just in time to see the first figures descend. There were eight of them, all entirely in black — tight-fitting pants, long jackets, hoods that covered their hair. The darkness was punctuated with shocks of gold in the buttons of their uniform, the thick belt that encircled their waists, and, most noticeably, in the long, sharp spears that each of them held crossed over their bodies. Every single one of them, I realized, was a woman.

“Ascended, Tisaanah.” I jumped, startled, as Max emerged in the crowd beside me. “What happened to,‘If I become lost I will never be found again’?”

He was lucky I was too distracted to be offended by his imitation of my accent. “Well, you found me,” I said, dismissively.

“I almost didn’t. This place is a disaster. Let’s go.”

One of those hooded faces jerked towards me. She moved like a bird, with uncanny, abrupt leaps. When she turned to me, I had to strangle a gasp.

At first, the shadow of their hoods had obscured their faces so much that I didn’t notice. But now…

“They have no eyes,” I rasped.

Nestled into her eye sockets were only two neat, pink scars. And yet, she lookeddirectlyat us—

“We saw those—” The Aran word for “spear” evaded me. “—Those pointed things. At Via’s workshop. She made them?” I turned to look at him to see that Max looked so shockingly pale that I stopped short. “Are you alright?”

“Yes. But let’s just—”

A shudder of murmurs ran through the crowd, and I felt their excitement, their fear, lurch into my bones. It crashed over and flooded my own thoughts, momentarily drowning me. I had to fight back to the surface of my own mind, forcing myself to observe every detail of this procession.

A smear of gold and blush descended the stairs — long sun-colored hair and a pink dress that trailed long behind its wearer. Disbelief stunned me, but there was no doubt who I was looking at. If any remained, the delicate crown atop that cascading hair put them to rest.

“Thatis the Queen?” I gasped.

“Yes.”

“She’s achild.”

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