Heir to the Sky (21 page)

The voices inside go quiet. I wait a moment, then knock again.

The door creaks open and I look down, frightened to be identified if we have the wrong address. A slender man steps out, his hands on his hips and a golden necklace sparkling against his dark skin.

His voice is gruff. “Can I help you?”

“We're looking for friends of Tashiltu,” Griffin says quietly.

The man says nothing, but looks up and down the street before stepping away from the door. “Welcome,” he says then, and we step into the tiny room as he closes the door behind us.

The curtains are drawn over the windows, and slowly our eyes adjust to the light. And that's when I see the black-haired, olive-skinned girl at the table, a map laid out in front of her.

Her eyes meet mine, and despite my cloak and cropped hair, there's no mistake that she knows me, or that I know her.

“Elisha,” I breathe, and her eyes fill with tears as she stumbles over the bench and into my arms.

TWENTY-ONE

I HOLD MY
best friend tightly as the tears blur in both of our eyes.

“I thought you were dead,” she whispers.

“I thought I'd never see you again,” I answer, and for a moment everything else is forgotten. I can't believe she's here, and we're together again.

She leans back to look at me, her arms still grasping mine. Her eyes are wide and confused, like she's looking at a ghost. She speaks, her voice barely above a whisper. “How? How did you come back?”

Where to start? “There's a barrier,” I explain. “To save those who fall off the edge. It broke my fall.”

“They've told me about the barrier,” she says, looking at the man who opened the door for us.

“I'm Aksel,” the man tells us, while the others put water and food on the table. Griffin sits down shakily, his head in his hands.

“This is Griffin,” I say. “He's the one who saved me on the surface.”

“A fallen?” Elisha asks. How does she know about the fallen? And why is she here?

“He's the one from Ulan, Elisha. He's the child that fell when we were kids.”

Her eyes turn round and wide, staring at him with disbelief. “But...”

“Now he's a monster hunter on earth. And he...he saved me.” I wonder if Elisha hears the tenderness in my voice. Self-conscious, suddenly, I feel the heat rise to my cheeks as I turn to Aksel. “Can you help him? He's having some kind of reaction to being on Burumu.”

“Altitude sickness,” Aksel says. “Come with me. You can lie down in the back.” He leads him away, and from the other room I hear him add, “We owe you a great debt for saving the heir.”

They know, then. Even with my hair cut and the cloak over my face, they recognized me. I knew from the way he looked at me outside the door.

“I don't understand,” I say to Elisha. “Why are you here in Burumu?”

“To find you,” she says, and she pulls me over to the table where I gulp down a glass of water. “At least, I held out hope. So much has happened since you've been gone.”

“Then...you thought it was possible I survived?”

“With the monsters, I...I didn't think...”

I grab her hands with urgency. “My father. Does he think I'm dead? Is he looking for me?”

“I don't think he could come to terms with it,” she said. “He's in denial.”

“Please, Elisha. Tell me everything.”

She nods. “That night, when you fell off the edge, Jonash just about lost his mind. He was shouting about how you'd tried to throw him over the side, but that you'd fallen instead, and how he couldn't save you. He was weeping and ranting, and I could barely understand him.”

“What? I never tried to throw him over the side. He was walking too close to the edge. I ran to save him.”

“I knew you didn't like him much, but as if you would do something horrible like that. It was ridiculous. I tried to calm him down. He said how you accused him of some kind of conspiracy with Elder Aban and the lieutenant. I was confused, because you had been talking about it, but not about him being involved.”

Is that why he had fired on me from the airship? Did he really believe I was a threat? That seemed too far-fetched to be true.

“Your father didn't believe it, either,” Elisha said. “He accused Jonash of conspiring against you, but when Jonash started sobbing in the audience hall I think the Monarch didn't know what to believe. He sent out airships to search, but no one believed you could have survived the fall. It was... It was a mission to recover your body. But it was no use, because the airships can't fly that low.”

I shiver to think of my father ordering a search for my body. I long to tell him I'm alive, and that will be the first thing I'll do.

“Jonash headed the search, but after a week, the efforts were given up. There was so little they could see from up here. Jonash came back to Burumu, and then the Sargon accused the Monarch of sabotaging the engagement by attempted assassination of his son.”

I can't keep my voice down. “What? That's absurd!”

Elisha nods. “The Sargon used the news to stir up more unrest in Burumu. It was propaganda against the Monarch, that he had found a way to break the engagement and keep control of Ashra and her lands by assassinating Jonash. That you fell was a tragic mistake. The lieutenant, who had failed to protect you, resigned, and then he disappeared. Jonash became the leader of the Elite Guard. None of it sounded right to me. I started to look into what you'd been talking about that night, about the meeting with Aban and the lieutenant. And my search led me here to Burumu. I've been staying with my uncle and trying to piece together the truth. And then I found Aksel and the rebels.”

I've returned to a complete political mess, and the prospect of war is closer than we'd thought. Aksel returns from the back room without Griffin and sits at the table with us.

“I imagine your friend has been filling you in,” he says. “What I believe happened to you is that you uncovered a truth the Elite Guard didn't want you to know, and that is why Jonash pushed you.”

“Pushed me?” I shake my head, remembering that night. “No. He was walking too close to the edge. He'd only just learned to see the crystal edge of the rock bed, and he was dangerously close. But my weight threw us off balance, and then...”

“Kallima,” Aksel says, putting his hands on the table as he leans in. “Jonash is the son of the Sargon. And Burumu was fractured from the side of Ashra three hundred years ago. Do you not think we have the same glittering crystal edge around our continent that our prince can easily recognize?”

My face crumples in confusion. “I don't understand.”

“You were set up. Jonash meant for you to fall.”

My heart races. I think of how pathetic his attempts were to save me that night, threading my hands through the useless tufts of grass. I remember him falling belly-down to save himself at my expense. And I remember Jonash's face as he ordered the airship to fire. Did he... Did he really intend to throw me off the continent? Did he intend for me to die?

Elisha's gentle hand presses against my back. “The Elite Guard have strict orders to get rid of anyone who finds out the truth about Operation Phoenix or the Benu. We think Jonash panicked. He had his orders, but he didn't know if they applied to his fiancée. I think that's why he was trying to persuade you not to talk about what you'd seen. And when you were adamant...”

“But he doesn't know about the barrier,” Aksel says. “He's brainless, that boy. He only acts to please his father, the Sargon. And the Sargon wants to control the lands of Ashra, if not by his son's marriage, then by an uprising and civil war.” Tash and Griffin were right, then. That's exactly what's happening.

I can't believe it. I was pushed. I was meant to die. And by the same man that I tried to respect and love, that Griffin and I held back for because we felt such guilt and remorse.

“These secrets only have power in the dark,” Elisha says. “If everyone knows about the Benu and the genocide that occurred, then we don't have to fear anymore. The Phoenix has listened to our prayers for three hundred years. Even if the Benu are half monster, why should we fear them?”

“The Sargon is the real enemy here,” Aksel says. “He's using the rebels and the Monarch against each other. The rebels are a decoy to keep the Monarch distracted and to provoke him to war. Between new recruits and reinstated members, the Elite Guard has doubled in size this past month. Grief has pushed the Monarch past reasonable reaction.”

“I have to get to my father, then, and warn him not to bite,” I say. “The Elite Guard's loyalty should be to him, not to the Sargon. If they see I'm alive...”

Aksel nods. “This was our hope,” he says, “but we had no way to be sure we'd find you, or that you'd survived. But now you're here, we can stop all this.”

Another rebel puts a plate of honeyed chicken in front of us as I nod my gratitude.

“There's an airship for Ashra in the morning,” Elisha says. “I'll take you back with me.”

“Won't I be recognized?”

“We'll do our best,” she says. “Just wear that cloak and look down.”

“Everyone thinks you're dead,” Aksel says, “and people see what they want to see.” It's true, I think. So many were witness to the massacre three hundred years ago, but they chose to look away. Taking over the continent saved the human race. They were willing to forget the dark price it cost, the blemish staining our history.

“Remember,” Aksel continues, “the Sargon is using the rebellion against the Monarch. We can't be sure what you'll find on Ashra, but you can be certain that your father is in danger.”

“Thank you for your help,” I tell him. “I will get there, and I will stop all of this.”

Aksel nods. “I'll look into acquiring tickets for the airship,” he says, and excuses himself to talk to the others. I watch him leave, and then I catch Elisha staring at me.

“What?” I say, meeting her amused eyes.

“You're different,” she says, resting her head on her hand, her elbow propped on the table. “You used to have this look in your eyes, like you were far away. Like you were dreaming. But now...you look like you've woken up.”

“I missed you,” I say, and I hug my dearest friend close.

After we eat I check on Griffin, but he's fast asleep, his face pale. Elisha stands in the doorway with me, her eyes curious, but she doesn't ask me. I tangle my fingers in the shell necklace, toying with the string as the circles clink against each other. She can tell from the way I look at him, I think. Nothing needs to be said—only that he saved me, from the earth's surface and from myself.

Elisha slips back into the front room, and I go to lie down beside Griffin. Outside, a lady is setting a ladder against the lamppost and climbing up to light the wick. The sun is setting, and the world is fading behind the closed curtains of the house.

I tuck my head into the curve of Griffin's neck and lace my fingers with his. He wakes slowly, and I lean back to look into his confused hazel eyes as he remembers where we are.

“Are you feeling better?” I ask quietly. He breathes slowly, his hand reaching to my cheek. His calloused fingertips are warm against my skin.

“I got you to the floating mountains,” he murmurs. “I kept my promise.”

“You did,” I smile, and then I press my lips against his, taking back the moment stolen from us. It is everything I had hoped it would be—softness and tenderness and honeyed sweetness. It is flames curling on my skin and electricity sparking through my blood like the crystals of a storm dragonling.

I close my eyes, and we are in the house in the tree in the marshlands. We are in the cave on the summit of the mountains. We are deep beneath the earth in the dugout haven.

We are in each other's arms, and promises have been kept.

Griffin has brought me home.

* * *

The crowds are thick to board the airship as I stare down at the sea of leggings and sandals and cloak hems. I pull my cloak tighter around me, praying to the Phoenix I won't get caught. I know now she's a myth, but I've believed in her my whole life, and so it feels natural to look to her for protection.

Elisha's handed the guard our tickets and he's looking them over. Immigration to Ashra is tight, and citizens of Burumu are often trying to smuggle people in. “Who did you say this was again?” he asks, thumbing toward Griffin.

“My cousin,” she says. “My uncle's son. We need some extra help for the coming harvest. You can see I've already bought his return ticket.”

He flips through the documents, checking the details. “And her?”

I stare at the ground, saying nothing.

“My sister. She came with me to Burumu to fetch our cousin.”

“What's your name?” he says to me. I continue to look down, the blood racing through me like flame.

“She's can't speak, sir. She's mute.”

“Hmm.”

“Will you hurry up the line?” a man shouts several people back. I recognize Aksel's voice, and I know he's trying to pressure the guard. “We've been waiting all morning!” he adds, and others in the line being to mutter, as well.

The guard flips through the documents, but you can tell he's nervous about the long line and the delay it might cause to the departure of the airship. He glances at his superior, who is dozing off in a chair nearby. “These seem to be in order,” he finishes weakly and hands Elisha the papers.

We step on board the airship, taking seats near the back.

Griffin brushes his hand against my cloak, just for a moment, but the gesture gives me courage. He still looked a little pale this morning, but managed to eat the eggs and honeyed peaches on his breakfast plate.

The airship fills up, and before I know it, we are wobbling and puttering our way toward Ashra. Many of the passengers are members of the Elite Guard, easily recognized in their white uniforms and red-and-gold plume pins. I long to look out the window and see the mountain range as we float over it, but I don't dare lift my head. There's plenty of time to think on the journey, and I try to sort out everything that's happened. The marriage to Jonash, which my father thought would strengthen the bond of the continents, was a ploy of the Sargon's to take control of our lands. The whole rebellion has been cultivated by his lust for power. And the discussion between Aban and the lieutenant led Jonash to push me off the side of Ashra on purpose. He panicked, and then probably realized how stupid his decision had been. Maybe you could make an unknown in Burumu disappear without a trace, but a public figure? That wouldn't go unnoticed. The Sargon, with no claim to the throne by marriage, built an army in the Elite Guard and would take our lands by force. Only my father stands in his way, and he thinks the real problem is the rebels.