Page 139 of The Shuddering City

When the ground finally steadied, they pushed themselves into sitting positions and looked around. Most of the house had emptied, soldiers and servants alike gathered in pockets on the lawn, everyone clearly planning to stay outside until they were sure the quake was over. It seemed like the wisest course.

“Let’s just stay right here for a while,” Madeleine said. “I’ll tell you stories about when I was a little girl and I used to play games with my brother Logan.”

Just thinking about Logan made Madeleine’s heart spasm with grief, but she was determined to talk about him. Her father and Harlo had conspired to erase him from the world. Maybe she could, in some small way, bring him back.

She was on her third tale about her brother’s exploits when she heard noise from the front gate. At first she thought it must be Reese, who should be arriving at any minute, but she soon realized that the newcomer was arguing with a guard. “But I need to talk to Madeleine! Let me in!”

She recognized Tivol’s voice. For a cowardly moment, she wanted to lie back down in the grass, so flat and so still that he would never notice her. But they had parted on such bad terms the day before. And eventually she was going to have to come to some sort of truce with him. She swallowed a sigh and came to her feet, pulling Aussen up by the hand. “That’s Tivol,” she said. “Shall we go talk to him?”

Hand-in-hand they crossed the lawn to the tall front gate. Tivol was still arguing with the guard when he spotted them. His face showed first surprise, and then relief. She nodded at the guard, and the man slipped away to allow them privacy.

Tivol’s fingers were wrapped around the bars as if he wanted to pry them apart with brute strength. “There you are! Madeleine, I heard about what happened yesterday with Benito—”

Madeleine nodded wearily. “It was too awful. I can’t bear to talk about it.”

“But are you all right?” he asked urgently. “He didn’t hurt you?”

It was all she could do not to glare at him.Do you think he’s the only one who has tried to hurt me lately?she wanted to ask, but she managed to refrain. “Jayla was there,” she said. “But thank you for thinking of me.”

“I would have come by anyway to check on you,” he said. “But just now, when I felt the quake—”

She couldn’t keep the bitterness from her voice. “You thought, ‘What a good thing that Madeleine survived Benito’s attack! Now she will realize how important it is that she do these terrible things.’”

“That’s not what I thought! I was worried about you! Yoursafety!”

Aussen glanced up at her. “What terrible things are you going to do?”

She squeezed the girl’s hand. “Nothing. It doesn’t matter.” And then, to Tivol, “We were fine. We were outside when the quake hit.” That sounded a little bare, so she added, “And you? Are you all right?”

“There are downed wires and wrecked gridcars along the main routes, but I didn’t have any trouble. But I wanted to come see you.” He gestured behind him where his sprinter was parked on the drive. “And I brought a present for the little girl.”

“For me?” Aussen squealed before Madeleine could replyDon’t try to buy my forgiveness by giving gifts to a child.

So instead she had to say, “That was kind of you.”

He gestured at the car again. “I’ll just go get it.”

He was back in a moment, carrying a large unwieldy box. “It’s carvings, mostly. Fish and flowers and little goddess statues. We used to have a Zessin gardener, and he made these all the time. We found a whole room full of them after he left. And I remembered Aussen was from the islands, and so I thought—”

Aussen was on her tiptoes, trying to peer through the railings. She said something in Zessin, then added, “I can’t see them.”

“Here, let me open the gate and Tivol can hand them to us.”

She threw the lock and pushed open the metal gate, and Tivol set the box on the grass just inside the fence line. Almost cooing, Aussen bent over to look inside.

Tivol grabbed her around the waist and yanked her into his arms, crushing her against his chest. Aussen made a small sound of distress and gazed at Madeleine in fright, but she didn’t scream for help. Madeleine was too stunned to do anything but stare.

“Tivol! What in—put her down!”

He shook his head. “I didn’t plan this but—come with me, Madeleine, it’s the only way.”

“Come with youwhere?Andwhy?”

“You can’t marry Reese. You know it. He’ll never let—he’ll never do the things that have to be done. And there’s nochoice,Madeleine. You have to come with me.”

“Idon’thave to! I won’t!”

He backed up toward his little sprinter, still holding Aussen tightly against him. Now she was squirming in his arms, kicking against his shins. Her face looked stark with fear. “Then I’ll kill her,” he said calmly.

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