Page 13 of Ashes of Gold
“If I’m your Queen, shouldn’t I say it the way—”
Clang.
He clamps a hand over my mouth. Footsteps grow louder, and I tighten my grip on my weapon. She’s here. Theclack clackof her feet drums faster, echoed by heavy breaths as if… Is she running? Jhamal’s and my quizzical stares match.
I spot her garment before her, a flutter of fabric denting my vision, and I reach between the bars to grab some piece of her. Isnag the edge of her robe and yank her toward me. She grunts.
“Sssh,” I say. “I’m not gonna hurt—”
But when she faces me, her eyes bulge and a dagger tip bursts from her neck.
I yelp, holding her tighter as she goes limp.
“I-I—” she sputters. “I-I’m so-sorry. I-I didn’t know. She—” She lets out a gush of air with her last word and her weight doubles in my arms. Red flows like a river over her robes, soaking my arms.
“I—” Words are tar in my throat. This woman did nothing to me but feed me, greet me with a smile each day. I didn’t hurt her, but somehow her blood is on my hands. Like so many others’. Her glassy stare stills and I swear I see smoke plumes rising from Yiyo in them. I blink and hear screams.No…I bite my lip to stay in the present and turn, expecting to find Jhamal shocked, but instead his brows kiss as he reaches for the tip of the gold point protruding from the woman’s throat.
“This is—”
“Ghizoni gold.”
I don’t recognize the voice, but it’s brittle, with a smirk lurking behind each syllable. The girl who comes around the corner shoves a long weapon into a strap latched to her thigh. She’s tall with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and even broader hips. Gold armor covers all but her right shoulder, rippling off her like waves. Light from the floating orbs reflect like diamonds off her velvety brown skin. Her head’s shaved low on the sides, and a thick braid down the center of her head is wound up in a high bun. Jhamal looks like he’s seen a ghost.
“You don’t look happy to see me, coquella.”
“Brother?” Jhamal scoffs. “Friendly, are we now?”
She steps over the woman whom I’m struggling to keep up. I ease her to the ground and press her lids closed when this friend of Jhamal’s sticks out a hand.
“I’m Kai. I didn’t get to meet you before.”
“Rue.” I blink, half confused and half relieved to see the face of one of my people. Hope blossoms in my chest. For a second the air is thick with silence as we stand behind bars waiting for this Ghizoni warrior to let us out of this cage. She plucks a card-shaped key from the woman slumped on the ground and slips it into the cell door. The bars glow and clank open.
I take a step but Jhamal stills me with the slightest touch. “Why are you here, Kai?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. To rescue you, of course.”
Silence.
“Don’t be silly. We were kids. I harbor no ill will to the boy who dumped me. I’m here to free you, Jhamal, and the Ancestors’ Chosen.” She smirks, turning to me. “Have you been stuck in here with this arrogance this entire time?”
I scrub the surprise off my face and resist laughing because Jhamal probably wouldn’t appreciate it and I don’t know this girl like that.
We step out of our cell into the dimly lit hallway. A chill washes over me like I’ve stepped through an icy waterfall, and something that was on my chest like deadweight lifts. My fingers titillate with warmth. I whisper a spell and my magic answers, flames dancing on my fingers. A smile tugs at my lips.
“I’d missed this. My magic. Thank you,” I say. “For coming andfinding us. I’m sure it was no easy task breaking in here alone.”
“Oh, never alone.” She dips her chin when I walk past. “My girls are clearing the exit point. Never enter and exit the same way. Misdirection is its own magic.”
Jhamal side-eyes her on the sly, but I don’t miss it.
“We should go,” I say, fragments of broken memories playing in my head like a pile of puzzle pieces calling to me. I need to see the state of things aboveground, figure out where the Chancellor and my people are, decide what’s next to take him down.
“After you.” Jhamal gestures for her to lead the way, and she stares at him for a second, stuck at my side. If the childhood crush was nothing, what’s this awkwardness between them? I don’t have time for the bullshit. Jhamal’s only got eyes for me, I know she sees that. Without another word, Kai takes off, and we stick close to her heels.
The tunnels wind in every direction and my legs throb. Sleeping in such confined quarters and on such a hard surface for so long has made me weak. My muscles cry with each step, and my eyes burn from the flames dancing in orbs overhead.
“The Web, underground tunnels, runs from Yiyo to the Capital and all across the island. That’s how we found our way in.” Kai hangs a left and Jhamal and I keep pace, my hands dangling at my side, fingers loose. Ready for anything. She’s so close, I can smell her, a mix of jpango wood and something acrid like burnt rubber.
