| |
Genevieve had already dressed and left our wagon by the time I awoke the next morning. After collecting a bucket of water from the cook wagon, I met the princess at the back door of the menagerie cart that Adaleiz and Mika were now calling home. Dark, puffy bruises underscored her eyes, and sweat dampened her shirt collar. Mika stood beside her, sides heaving. “You went riding?” I asked.
She nodded. “I woke early and couldn’t get back to sleep. Besides, Mika needed the exercise.”
I unlatched the wagon door and Adaleiz scampered out, eager to stretch her legs and nibble at a patch of roadside grass. Inside the cart, I poured water into the horses’ pails and opened a bag of feed, though if Adaleiz wanted to graze, I’d let her. The roughage was better for her than grain alone.
“If we really are going to be on the road long-term,” I said, “we’ll need to figure out a way to feed them better. They need hay.”
“And fresh air and sunlight.”
We had made a regular routine of letting them out to graze in the evenings, but leaving them out all night risked attracting predators and thieves. The time I might have spent with Adaleiz was now dedicated to Sher-sah. Again, I wondered how something as simple as catching a ride with a circus to Varynga had become so complicated so quickly.
We let the horses wander as long as possible, but when Gepennio’s cook wagon shuddered to life, we hurried to put Adaleiz and Mika away. The rest of the morning we worked and washed in silence. If the princess wanted to discuss the previous night’s revelations, I was open to talking, but I left it to her to bring it up. As the day passed, however, she never mentioned her sister or Otokar. Not that I blamed her. Yesterday she’d opened a wound that would undoubtedly be slow to heal.
That night, at dinner, Genevieve and I joined Bashaya and her snake. Without prompting from me, the princess greeted the snake charmer and they fell into a conversation of quiet mutterings, which I presumed was about our discovery of the emerald ring.
Bashaya’s dark eyes flashed to me before glancing at Genevieve. Her mouth had gone rigid, lips pressed together in a thin line. She leaned forward, and her shoulders and back were stiff. Despite not understanding her words, I understood her anxiousness.
“She says she’ll meet us tonight,” the princess explained, “at our wagon after everyone’s gone to bed. Once we give her the ring, she’ll tell us what she knows about the animals.”
I studied the snake charmer, and she returned my stare, her eyes hard and glittering like polished jet. “How do we know she has anything to tell us we haven’t figured out for ourselves?”
Genevieve translated my question and Bashaya replied, her voice a low whisper like a hiss from her snake.
“She says her information is good. We will be satisfied.”
“It’s not like we have much choice,” I said. “Sometimes we have to give trust to get trust.”
The princess snorted. “Whatever that means.”
After supper, Genevieve and I hurried to the riding ring before anyone could come looking for us. We practiced riding parallel with each other, she on the back of her unicorn and me on my lion. I’d found a pair of black leather knickers and leather slippers in a costume trunk. The change in attire improved my progress. I managed to keep my seat without slipping and sliding, and by the end of the night, I’d gained enough courage to attempt standing on Sher-sah’s back as he tiptoed around the ring.
“How many more days until we reach Barsava?” I asked.
“Five days.” Falak stood outside the ring between two torches, evaluating our progress, offering opinions, suggesting improvements. “Then we’ll take a day to set up tents and lighting and such.”
“So, we have five more nights to finalize this routine?”
“More like three. We won’t stop when we’re in the mountains. Everyone, except for those on patrol, will be required to stay locked in their wagons.”
“What is it? Do the mountains have trolls?” I was only partially joking.
Falak turned his head and spat. “If only we were so fortunate.” Sher-sah and I padded past the ringmaster, who kept his gaze focused intently on my figure. “Back straighter, Evie. Shoulders lower. Arms looser.” He tilted his head to the side and analyzed me again. “That’s better.”
Genevieve galloped past on her unicorn. She executed a series of flawless pirouettes before crouching and rolling onto her saddle. With her shoulder braced in the seat, she extended her legs into the air, her spine straight as a board. She kept the inverted pose steady for a lap around the ring. Then she rolled her legs down and returned to a seated position, facing backward in her saddle. The next part of her routine had stumped her over and over. On Mika, she could execute the trick flawlessly, but on the unicorn, she’d yet to complete the technique without a mistake.
The princess bit her bottom lip and screwed her face into an expression of intense concentration. She threw her left leg over, joining the right on the unicorn’s left haunch. Before her feet could hit the ground, she rolled, belly to back and over again, crossing the unicorn’s wide rump until she dangled over Ynnua’s right haunch, feet inches above the ground. I held my breath and bit my lip. This was the point most nights where she lost her balance and landed in some ungainly heap across the unicorn’s back.
Genevieve clenched her muscles and twisted sideways as she threw herself into a cartwheel. At the end of her set, she was sitting in the saddle, facing frontward, arm extended in the air. A smile as bright as sunlight blazed across her face. Ynnua thundered past us, her tail chiming as it whipped in the wind.
Falak pumped his fist into the air. “Yes! That’s it. That’s what I’ve been waiting for.”
I clapped and momentarily lost my footing. The excitement of the princess’s success had broken my concentration, and I struggled to hold my balance. Like a set of pinwheels, my arms fluttered and I bent down, clutching at Sher-sah’s reins for stability. Having mostly regained my balance, I jumped down from the lion’s back and dashed across the ring, meeting Genevieve as she slid from Ynnua’s saddle.
We threw our arms around each other and danced about, shrieking in excitement. “You did it!” I shouted.
“Did you see me? I finally did it.”
Falak sauntered over and slapped her shoulder. “Knew you had it in you. You’ve got that fearless look about you. Great job, princess. Now we can plan the grand finale.”
The princess and I went still. She stepped out of my embrace and set her hands on her hips, scowling. “Grand finale?”
“Mm hmm.” Falak scratched his chin. “I’m picturing something with flames.” He swirled a finger through the air. “A ring of fire.”
A deep-red stain rushed into Genevieve’s cheeks, and she snapped at him. “What?”
I stepped away, chuckling to myself and shaking my head, eager to escape before they drew me into their blooming fight. Without watching where I was going, I backed directly into someone who had crept up behind me.
“Oof.” Breath whooshed out of me, and I bent over, giggling. “Sorry. I’m so sorr—” My apology froze in my throat as I spun around and saw whom I’d backed into.
Blood drained from my head so fast that my vision spun like a carousel. My legs lost all feeling, and I dropped to my knees hard enough to jar my teeth. Gideon bent and gathered me into his arms before I completely collapsed. Tears sprang to my eyes as I hugged him close, burying my face in his neck. I savored his scent of leather, hay, and horses. “Dear gods, Gideon, what are you doing here?”
He grasped my shoulders and pulled away far enough to look me in my face. The torchlights danced in his gray eyes, enhancing the impishness of his grin. Pink patches of new skin dotted his cheeks and forehead, and his eyebrows were sparse but growing back.
Raking my fingers through his short, unruly locks, I bit off a sob. “What happened to your hair?”
His grin deepened, revealing his charming dimple. “Cut it. What was left of it, anyway. The fire took most of it.”
His mentioning of burns sobered me. I stroked my thumb across a pink scar on his cheek. “I can’t believe you’re really here. I’d feared the worst.”
Shifting his balance, he stood and tugged me to my feet, but he kept me firmly locked in his arms. “I’m good as new.” He turned aside and coughed. It wracked his chest and rattled in his lungs like a train running out of steam. He’d suffered because of me, and I didn’t know how I would make peace with that. “Or I will be. I’m well enough to come running after you, anyway. Just like old times.”
“I’m sorry.” I shook my head. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear, and his fingers lingered near my temple. “It was the right thing. The smart thing.”
I couldn’t quite agree, but not wanting to argue about right or wrong, I changed the subject. “How did you find me?”
“You told Marlis you were going with the circus—not that I wouldn’t have guessed that myself, considering how the circus is going to Varynga, which happens to be the place where you think we’ll find the Fantazikes. There are only a few roads to Varynga, Evie, and even fewer mechanical circuses travelling on them. It wasn’t hard to find your trail.”
Nodding, I glanced around, searching for another familiar face that should’ve been nearby. “Where’s Marlis?”
“I didn’t want to bring her on the road again, not knowing what to expect, not knowing if it was safe. She’s not a fighter like you, Evie.”
I squeezed his hand. “She’s not still at the castle, is she?”
“Of course not.” He clicked his tongue. “Even though Otokar and Tereza swore they didn’t know about Vanessa’s connections to Le Poing Fermé, I couldn’t afford to trust them. I left Marlis with the kareeyatids in Prigha and begged for their silence. Your friend, Sister Maria, said she would put Marlis to work in her library.” He chuckled. “She actually seemed a little excited about it.”
Falak had noticed my visitor. He strode forward to confront us, but he possessed enough showmanship to cover his hostility with a friendly greeting. After doffing his cap, he swept into a low, dramatic bow. “I believe we’ve met before, but forgive me for not remembering your name. I am Falak Savin, Ringmaster of Le Cirque de Merveilles Mécanique.”
“Oh,” I said, remembering my manners. “Falak, this is Gideon Faust, one of my dearest friends.”
Falak’s eyes roamed over Gideon and me, still locked in our embrace, and he waggled an eyebrow. “Friends, huh?”
A blush burned in my ears, and I pulled away.
“Gideon!” came the princess’s excited shriek. She raced over to us and, without any compunction, threw her arms around his neck, hugging him until he fell into another coughing fit. Immediately she let go and stepped away, alarm showing clearly in her wide eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s nothing.” He waved aside her apology. “Some lingering effects from the smoke. Nothing I won’t overcome in time. I owe Otokar a huge debt for his physicking. If not for him, I hate to think what might have happened.”
Genevieve rolled her eyes but kept her opinions about Otokar to herself. After her revelations about the Magician’s participation in her torture, I’d doubted my decision to leave Gideon in his care. But there he stood, hale and on his way to recovery. For the princess’s sake, I would have dismissed Otokar for a scoundrel. For Gideon’s sake, I had to grant the Magician a modicum of leniency and admit most individuals were neither wholly good nor entirely evil. We all, including myself, teetered up and down on the scales of morality depending on our circumstances. Still, I preferred to remain as far beyond Tereza’s and Otokar’s reach as possible.
Gideon waved, motioning to the riding ring and all it encompassed, including Ynnua and Sher-sah, who lounged in the center of the ring and seemed, if it were possible for a mechanical creature to do such a thing, to be napping. “Would someone explain what’s going on? I saw a little as I rode up, but I’m not sure any of it makes sense.”
“We’re, um, learning to trick ride,” I said.
He gaped at me and pointed at Sher-sah. “On that thing?”
“Be careful. He understands more than you’d think, and he’s very, very proud.”
“And his teeth are very, very sharp.” Falak’s tone sounded playful, yet his words carried an undercurrent of threat.
“Take it from someone with firsthand experience.” I scowled at the ringmaster. “I think we’re finished for the evening, anyway. It’s late and we’re all tired.”
“What are your intentions, Sir Faust?” Falak asked. “Forgive me, but the circus is not a travelling inn, though lately it would appear otherwise. I cannot provide you with room or board.”
Gideon nodded as though he’d expected Falak’s response. “I’ve brought my own provisions and transportation. I only ask that you allow me to follow your caravan, so I can guard Evie.”
Falak pressed his lips into a thin line. His nostrils flared. He folded his arms over his chest. “If you ask the lion, there, he might tell you Evie no longer requires your protection. He seems to have taken it upon himself to offer his services in your absence, and he might resent the usurpation of his position.”
Gideon arched an eyebrow and bit his lip, smothering a chuckle.
“It’s not funny,” I said. “Falak’s serious. So is Sher-sah. Come, let me introduce you. Maybe I can negotiate an arrangement between the two of you.”
He followed me across the ring to the napping lion and stopped before him with a guttural exclamation of surprise. “But...he’s a machine.”
“Spend enough time around the circus’s creatures and you’ll find yourself questioning things you never thought you would.” While placing a hand over my stomach, I raised the other high in the air, and executed a deep and melodramatic bow. “King Lion.”
Sher-sah opened one eye and looked at me. He opened the other, raised his head, and smacked his lips. His attention shifted to the young man standing beside me, so I nudged him and hissed under my breath. “Bow.”
Gideon’s jaw clenched, but he did as I asked, dropping low in a graceful gesture of deference.
“This is my companion, friend, and guardian, Gideon, and I’m hoping you’ll accept his presence. I’m asking you not to eat him if you find him prowling about the circus. He’s here to protect me. And the princess.” The last bit might have been presumptuous of me, but I knew Gideon well enough to assume he’d never let harm come to Genevieve if he could help it.
Sher-sah huffed and rose to his feet. He stretched, sinking low on his forepaws while his rear end rose high. His tail flicked. He stood and padded around Gideon and me, snuffling the air as he prowled. Finally, he stopped and sat, curling his tail around himself as he faced my guardian. “What now?” Gideon asked.
“Hold out your hand. Let him smell you.”
The muscles around his eyes tensed, but he offered Sher-sah his open palm. The lion snuffled his hand and rubbed his jaw against his fingers in an inviting way.
“Does this mean he’s not going to bite me in two?”
I shrugged. “Seems like it. So long as you stay on his good side.”
“He lets you ride him?” Sher-sah had risen again and rubbed himself against Gideon with greater enthusiasm. Gideon spread his feet, bracing himself against the cat’s caresses. “Is that...is he purring?”
“I’m not sure if that’s the right term, but I don’t know what else to call it. It means he likes you, I think. And as for the riding thing.... I don’t think he lets me so much as he tolerates me.”
Gideon stroked the big cat’s smooth hide, rubbing his haunches. “You’re right. He’s something more than just a machine. But what?”
“I’m not sure, yet, but I’ve sown some seeds of inquiry that I hope will bear fruit tonight.”
“What do you—”
“Not now,” I whispered, noticing Falak’s approach.
“The lion seems to like you,” the ringmaster said.
“Sher-sah recognizes a kindred spirit when he sees one,” I said. “He shouldn’t bother Gideon tonight while he’s patrolling.”
Falak raised both hands at his sides, palms splayed. “That’s between you, your friend, and Sher-sah. I accept no blame for what could happen if the lion changes his mind.”
“I take full responsibility for the risks,” Gideon said.
“You say that now....” Falak brushed his shirtfront, smoothing wrinkles, removing dust. He squared his shoulders and narrowed his eyes at the spot above Gideon’s shoulder where Sephonie’s tip peeked out. It appeared Gideon had found the time, after all, to rig a harness for his beloved crossbow, so he could always keep it at his side. “Don’t interfere with this circus or its performers, and you and I will have no reason to quarrel.” He touched his cap and bowed from the neck. “Good night, everyone.”
Falak strode away, disappearing into the darkness at the edge of the camp. Gideon started toward his horse, Wallah, waiting at the edge of the riding ring, and I followed. “You’ll be alright for the night?” I asked. “You have enough provisions?”
He stopped at Wallah’s side and stroked his neck. “I’m better prepared than we were when we fled Inselgrau...and Lord Daeg. I have a tent, blankets, food. I’ll be alright, Evie.”
“Did you tell my sister where you were going?” Genevieve asked.
He shook his head. “If word of Evie’s plans got to the wrong ears, it could endanger everything. Trust is too valuable a commodity to be given away freely these days.”
“If you’re not too tired, there’s a lot I want to tell you,” I said, “but we’d best do it somewhere a little more private.”
“Besides,” said the princess, “we’re expecting company.”
Gideon arched an eyebrow.
“Come.” I motioned for him to follow. “I’ll explain everything.”
The three of us wedged ourselves into the costume wagon’s limited space and attempted to make ourselves comfortable. Genevieve and I slumped together on the floor while Gideon leaned against a sewing table and tried not to bump his head on the wagon’s low ceiling. “So,” I said, bringing our meeting to order. “I’m not even sure where to start.”
“Start from the moment you left the castle,” Gideon said. “You went straight to the circus?”
I bobbed my head.
“Then what?”
“Then I asked for a job.” I launched into the story of my escape from the castle and the bargains I’d struck with Falak to join the circus and travel to Varynga. “The lion taming act was a bit unexpected, though.”
Gideon’s forehead crinkled. “But you’re going along with it?”
“For now.” I nodded. “If you’ll remember, I’m in the business of making allies. I certainly don’t need any more enemies. There’s more, but it’s not my story to tell. All I can say is that Tereza and Otokar could prove troublesome. They want the princess back, and they’ve already tried to abduct her once.” I rehashed the tale of Genevieve’s name change, her kidnapping, and our agreement with Falak to keep her hidden and safe.
A soft knock at the door interrupted my story, and Genevieve and I glanced at each other. “Bashaya?” she asked, her voice low and quiet.
“Probably.” I looked at Gideon and jerked my chin, gesturing to the door. “Mind letting her in?”
The snake charmer eased into the room with the same slithering grace her serpent used to glide around her neck and shoulders. I’d never seen her without her companion, and this encounter was no exception. Her eyes followed Gideon as he backed from the door, and her brow tensed. She glanced at me and Genevieve before her attention returned to my imposing companion.
“Qui est-ce?” she asked, her tone low and wary.
“Je suis Gideon,” He bowed from his neck. Our tight quarters restricted him from performing a grander gesture. He said more to her and Genevieve joined in, presumably to explain the nature and circumstances of our guest.
When the chatter died down, the princess turned to me and gestured to Bashaya. “She wants her ring, now.”
I removed the emerald from its hiding place beneath a stack of fabric bolts in the corner of the wagon. We had placed it there after returning the jewelry box to the trunk where we had found it, hoping no one would come looking for it and discover its wrecked lock anytime soon. The moment Bashaya saw the ring, her eyes lit. A bright smile unfurled across her face. She snatched the ring, jammed it on her finger, and proceeded to admire its sparkle in the lamplight.
“I’ve held up my end of the bargain.” I glanced at Genevieve, a silent request for her to translate. “Now you hold up yours. Tell us about the animals.”
Without looking up from her ring, Bashaya spoke. I watched the faces of my companions as they listened and understood. Yet again the frustrations of my ignorance burned through me, hot and sour like acid. As the snake charmer talked, Gideon’s face went from mildly interested to curious, to awestruck. His eyes were wide and his mouth had fallen open. Genevieve wore a similar expression.
After waiting patiently through what had turned into a rather long story, I nudged the princess with my elbow. “I can’t stand the suspense. Fill me in.”
She raised her index finger, a silent request for me to wait a moment longer.
The snake charmer glanced up from her ring and fell silent. She studied the faces around the room before settling her gaze on me. She nodded, and Genevieve explained all, staring with a huge exhalation of breath, as though she’d been holding it for the entire length of Bashaya’s story.
The princess shook her head and gave me a wry smile. “You’re never going to believe this.”
