Sierra watched the Cosa enter the tavern and pause at the doorway. He glanced around the crowded room and saw Sierra in the corner. She sipped her mead as he limped towards her. The chair scraped across the floor with his weight.
“What did you find out?” she asked.
“She’s not in Rahuda anymore. I had to chase her around the country, so you owe me some extra.”
Sierra gritted her teeth. This Cosa was already cleaning her out. She only had so much money from her job at the tavern in the seedy part of Renaul. “How much?”
“Fifty ryrels altogether,” he said, crossing his arms.
She paused. Twenty more than the original price, but she wanted to know about Sashe. Leaving her was the hardest. She reached into her cloak and pulled out her coin purse. “Fine.” She slid the ryrels across the table.
“Thank you, darling.” He grinned and pocketed the money. “She’s here in Renaul.”
“She is?” Her heart slammed against her chest. “Where?”
“The castle.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
He nodded. “She moved here a month ago, caught the king’s eye, and now she lives there.”
She did some quick calculations in her head. “Will you give her a protected letter from me for ten more ryrels?”
He paused. “Fifteen.”
She gritted her teeth. “Thirteen.”
“Fine.”
“I need her to be the only person to see the letter.” Protectors crawled all over the castle, and she wasn’t going to risk being found. What was Sashe doing there? But it didn’t matter; she had to see her. Sierra ran to her room and started a letter a dozen times before finally deciding on something. What could she possibly say after eight months?
Sashe,
I’m in Renaul. It’s been so long—too long. I want to see you. I have many things to say, but I need to say them to you in person. Can we meet somewhere? Please, please come see me. Tell the Cosa where and when.
Love,
Sierra.
She gave it to the Cosa along with thirteen ryrels, hoping Sashe could forgive her.
Two days later, the Cosa returned, telling her Sashe would meet her the next night at a tavern on the south side of town. Sierra got out of her shift that night and rode to the tavern. She stood outside the door, wringing her hands in front of her.
It’d been eight months since the battle. When Sashe was in Ivan’s house for almost two months, Sierra nearly went back. Even the chance of seeing Lisbeth, though, had kept her away. Since Sashe had recovered, she’d sent a Cosa every other month to check up on her sister.
A figure on a horse rode up to the stables near the tavern. When the person dismounted, Sierra could tell it was a woman, even with her hooded cloak. Sierra took a step forward, then hesitated.
The woman turned towards the tavern and walked to the door with confidence. She slowed when she saw Sierra. She pulled back her hood, revealing herself: her sleek black hair, high cheekbones, dark eyes. Her older sister.
“Sierra?” she asked, her eyes wide.
Sierra gave her a weak smile, blinking back tears. “Sashe.”
Sashe stepped forward and grabbed Sierra in a hug. “Oh, my god, Sierra,” she breathed.
Sierra hugged her back tightly, and a sob escaped her lips. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to leave you, but I got sick just thinking of seeing Lisbeth again. She killed them. We killed them.”
Sashe tensed and she pulled away, then put her hands on Sierra’s shoulders. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“Me? You were at Ivan’s for so long. I nearly came back. I sent Cosas to check on you, and it killed me to think. . .”
Sashe pulled on Sierra’s hand and started leading her to the nearby square. “I’m healthy now.”
“You. . .” she trailed off. “You’re at the castle.”
Sashe nodded. “I left, too. Just in a different way.”
“But what about the Protectors?”
“They’re okay with me mostly because the king is,” Sashe said. “But I still have to take truth potions every now and then.” She shook her head and shrugged. “I don’t have anything to hide from them.”
“Are you the king’s. . .mistress?” Sierra tried to keep the disbelief out of her voice.
“Yes, I am.” Sashe sat on the edge of the fountain in the middle of the square, and Sierra took a seat next to her. “I never expected it, but I couldn’t stay in Rahuda any longer.”
Sierra completely understood that feeling. She’d gone back only long enough to get the money they’d saved up, some things to sell, and her most prized possessions. Letters from Evan, things like that.
“What happened to our house?” she asked Sashe. “Mine and Evan’s?”
“Lina and I have been taking care of it,” Sashe said. “She still thinks you’ll come back someday. I did for a little while, too.” She looked down at her lap, her voice lowering. “You could have sent a letter or something, Sierra.”
“I know. I was. . .scared.”
“I needed you,” Sashe whispered.
Sierra rubbed her forehead and swallowed. She wanted to defend herself, but the excuses sounded so hollow in her mind. She’d left her sister, left her when she’d already lost Seth. “It was selfish of me,” she replied. She tentatively touched Sashe’s knee. When she’d thought of others, of the Avialies and their future, Evan and Seth were killed. “I knew it was and I didn’t care. I’m so sorry.”
“And your letter. So short, like you didn’t even need to explain yourself.” Sashe sniffled.
“No, I know I need to. I wanted to say this in person,” Sierra said, angling her body closer to Sashe’s. “Sashe, I should have thought about you before leaving, but I was angry and scared and I was only thinking about escaping. I was only thinking about myself, I know that. And for weeks, for months, even, I was. . .” She didn’t even know how to describe it, didn’t know how to describe the darkness she felt would suffocate her at times. She forced herself to endure it alone, deluding herself into thinking that contacting Sashe would be a mistake. Part of her was surprised she was even alive today. Nothing but a stubborn drive not to give the Protectors what they wanted had kept her from suicide. “I needed you, too, and I. . .I still need you.”
Sashe put her hand on Sierra’s, entwining their fingers together. “We’ve never gone this long without seeing each other.”
Tears stung her eyes again, and she squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry.”
“You can’t do this again. I have to see you more often or I might go insane.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t. As long as I don’t have to see any Protectors at the castle.”
Sashe shook her head. “No, of course not. I wouldn’t do that to you. They’re not there too often, anyway. When they come, I try to disappear.”
If Sierra saw Niculai again, she’d kill him. Sometimes the fantasy kept her enduring through horrible days.
Sashe sniffled, wiping her face. “Dar’s coming to Renaul, too, to court. I know he’d love to see you.”
Sierra glanced away. “I know he would. I don’t want to risk anything, though. I don’t want the Protectors to find me.”
“I think you’d be okay if they did. You haven’t been with the Avialies for eight months.”
She just shrugged. “I don’t know.”
After a moment of silence, Sashe said, “I saw the wreath you left on Evan’s grave.”
Sierra’s face flushed. “It took me hours to make one I thought was good enough.”
“It was beautiful.” Sashe sighed and stood. “Sierra, I shouldn’t stay long. The Protectors are still watching me closely since I’ve only been there for a few weeks. They think I’m a spy.”
Sierra stood. “Thank you for taking a risk to come see me.”
Sashe hugged her again. “I’d do anything for you,” she whispered.
Sierra closed her eyes. “I can’t apologize enough, can I?”
“No, stop. I’m sorry.” Sashe pulled away. “I never should have talked you into trying the prophecy.”
Shaking her head, Sierra said, “We’re all to blame.”
Sashe dropped her hands and began walking back to her horse. “Some more than others.”
“Did they ever find out who gave away the safe house in Nyad?” That was another life she would like to take. They were dark thoughts, but she let them take her mind sometimes, convinced she’d never again be as happy as she was when Evan was alive.
Sashe shook her head. “Not yet. If they do, I doubt they’ll tell me. I haven’t talked to any Avialies outside of Shyra in months.”
Once they reached the stables, Sierra said, “It was good to see you.” She shuddered. “Last time I saw you, you were unconscious, bleeding everywhere. I watched Ivan put your organs back in.”
Sashe smiled. “That was probably disgusting.”
Sierra nodded, laughing. “It was.”
Sashe hugged her once more, then mounted her horse. “Stay safe, Sierra.”
“Please be careful in the castle.”
Sashe waved before turning her horse. She disappeared into the night, her black cloak fading into darkness. Soon even the sound of her horse was drowned out by tavern goers and the sounds of Renaul at night.
Sierra went into the tavern for a drink. She sat down in a dark corner, but soon a rowdy group of men and women moved into her area. After listening to her conversation, she picked up that they were circus performers. The circus. . .that would be a nice chance to get some money, travel around, and keep the Protectors off her tail.
She leaned over and pulled on the sleeve of one of the men. He turned towards her. A couple teeth were missing from his smile.
“Are you guys looking for any new workers?” she asked.
***
Dar didn’t think it could be possible, but Grace was even more beautiful than the last time he’d seen her. She outshone the other ladies in the room. Half of her dark blonde hair was down, the waves framing her face, and she laughed with her friend Lady Jocelyn, putting her hand on Jocelyn’s arm. She leaned in, whispering into Jocelyn’s ear, and her brown eyes lit up at Jocelyn’s response. She wore a light blue dress that made her skin look creamy, almost luminous.
She looked up suddenly and saw him. Her eyes met his, and she gazed at him intently for a moment. The last time they’d been together, he’d turned her down, saying her father didn’t like men like him. She smiled at him, waving. She said something to Jocelyn and moved through the room towards him. He glanced at others while she walked to him, but it was nearly impossible to keep his eyes off of her.
She came up to him, a wineglass in her hand. “I heard you came to Renaul, but I wasn’t sure whether to believe it or not.”
“Oh? Why not?” He’d gotten special permission from the king to come to the royal city as a noble. He’d barely gotten past the Protectors, but of course Grace didn’t know that.
“You seemed so fond of Rahuda.”
There were too many dark memories there now. Too many things he needed to forget. People he needed to leave behind. He shrugged with one shoulder. “I still am, but I needed a change.”
Grace raised her eyebrows. “I never thought you’d get tired of Shyra.”
“We all change, don’t we?” he asked with a sad smile. So much had happened since they’d last seen each other.
She gazed at him, taking a sip of her wine. “You can’t be that different. You still like Shyran cherries, right?”
His smile changed as he thought of Evan’s family and their cherry orchard. “Definitely.”
“And you probably still know all the constellations.”
So many constellations, all viewed from the grass behind his manor or from the river, the Rahudan sky imprinted on his mind forever. “Guilty.”
She tilted her head. “I bet you’re even still looking to fall in love.”
If he wasn’t careful, he was going to.
***