By the time Nico made it home from another long day at work, the sun had set, and the drums had stopped beating. She slipped off her shoes in the shroud room and leaned against the serving room entryway, amused to watch Zephyr attempting to teach Rae a few words of his second language. Zephyr had recently gotten a job as a sentry and replaced the night sentry to fill that hole in their security. She was lucky to have so many people around to help and support her. She couldn’t imagine going at this by herself. She was truly only as strong as her kull.
She kissed Rae on the forehead, greeted Kai and Rasia messing around in the kitchen, and then went to work in the library. Later that evening, she had plans to meet up with Suri to go knocking on voters’ doors with gifts of tea and alcohol. She found that listening and forming relationships with people were always better than throwing talking points at them.
“The Belly Councilor just announced she’s stepping down from the Council,” Suri said as she entered the library. “The gossip is all over the market, but messengers will have it announced throughout the Grankull soon enough.”
Nico looked up from the tome of laws she had been studying. The small script hurt her eyes, but she wanted to be prepared for any loopholes the Council might take advantage of. She smiled at the news. She had known it was coming. Her tent spies had informed her that the family was in an absolute panic. She stretched up from the desk and figured it was a good time to take a break.
She walked over to her board and crossed out the Belly Councilor with the clayish red mark of her reed pen. Three more names to go.
Behind her, Suri shuffled through the stacks of posters on the low table, which listed Nico’s campaign promises that she planned to pass out with the gifts. Suri was a great help, but it had also created a greater fissure between Suri and her tah. As of right now, she had officially changed households and was staying at her oldest jih’s place.
“You don’t have to do this,” Nico told her, not for the first time.
“I know,” she said. “But someone needs to hold my tah accountable.”
But her tah was a tough nut to crack. Nico couldn’t use the records Ysai found that incriminated the Neck Councilor in the assassination attempt. She had to find some other way.
“I might have something,” Suri said, uncertainly. “I was talking to my jih about the job thing.”
Suri had been apprenticing as a healer her entire life, but because her tah was also Han of the Healers, her job application had been quickly rejected. The consequences were often harsh for those who supported her. Sometimes Nico felt guilty about it, but she couldn’t change Suri’s mind. All she could do was make sure it was all worth it in the end.
“Apparently, jih has ambitions of becoming Healer Han herself,” Suri said. “She wants tah’s position and promises that she will give me a job when she obtains it.”
“And that’s when? When your tah retires?” Nico asked. “Your tah is too entrenched in the Neck—as both the Councilor and the Healer Han. You’ll be waiting half your life for that to finally happen.”
Suri bit her lip. She was extremely anxious about finding a job. She couldn’t keep living off her sibling’s family. “Then what do we do?” she asked.
Nico stared at that board. She wasn’t going to intimidate the Neck Councilor as she had with the Belly Councilor. The Neck Councilor had held her position for years. In comparison, Neema’s family was new to power, and many hadn’t liked how they skewed Grankull contracts in their favor. The seat had been entrenched in Azan’s family for generations, until the current Councilor came along—who had been someone new and exciting and . . .
“I have an idea,” Nico gasped. “We need to give people another option. Your tah is old and represents the establishment. We need someone new. Someone who will get people excited but whom constituents in the Neck will respect.” The Neck was filled with administrative types. They respected skill. They respected intelligence. They respected someone who could make bureaucracy, and therefore their jobs, more effective and efficient. “And if we find someone who can run against her, then your jih can make a play as the Healer Han at the same time. It’ll divide your tah’s attention and make it difficult for her to fend off attacks from both sides. But we need a candidate who truly has a chance at a successful run.” She smiled. “And I know the perfect person.”
Nico hiked the Neck’s vertebrae steps through the rainy season drizzle to reach the rationhouse. She entered wearing a green linen draped dress. Before, she stood out as the lone speck of white. Now, she stood out for other reasons.
“Nicolai Dragonshield,” the people in line greeted her with acknowledging bows of the head or clasps of the elbow. She responded with the names of those she remembered and asked for the names of those she didn’t. She rarely found herself able to walk the cobblestones without someone wanting to talk to her about her campaign, the wingfields, or her relationship status. After the high-profile blood price match, many went out of their way to show her respect. Nico had longed to join the colorful breadth of adulthood, but she never thought she’d become the light that reflected rainbows. The only person who could match Nico’s current popularity was Rasia, but Rasia was infamously known for being unapproachable.
A breeze through the entranceway wrapped a cool shawl around people’s shoulders. Several offered to let Nico skip them, but she politely refused. She chose the longest line and yet, she reached the ration counter before many of those who had arrived before her.
She smiled as she greeted her cousin’s bored face. Her cousin wore beaded earrings, a bejeweled broad collar, and the newest shade of eyeshadow that highlighted the kohl around his eyes. He was handsome, a young style icon of the Grankull, and extremely intelligent. But also, extremely lazy unless pushed otherwise.
“No,” Ashe said. “I know that look. I’m not interested.”
“I need someone to run against the Neck Councilor.”
“Absolutely not. I already have two jobs. I don’t need three. Why is everyone always volunteering me for things? Leave me alone. Let me sleep,” he lamented.
His tahs often forced him to do things with a combination of threats and guilt. Jilah forced him to do things by dragging him where she wanted him to go, but Nico came with a plan. She leaned forward and clasped her hands atop the counter, careful not to displace the abacus or the scales that took up half of the space. She smiled. “I am also backing the challenger to the Pelvis Councilor, and if they come into power, they have promised to ensure that your ban from the gambling dens would be repealed.”
Ashe froze. Before they banned him, he used to play multiple games at once for the challenge. He craved the mental stimulation and generally went through life painfully bored by everything.
She continued to sweeten the deal. “And I’ll talk to your tah about releasing you from your commitments to the windship builders. I know you’re too scared to ask him. You won’t have to work three jobs.”
Ashe narrowed his eyes. “How do you know this candidate of yours is going to win?”
“Aren’t you the gambler? You tell me the odds.”
He opened his mouth, then closed it. Then he straightened and corrected, “I am a mathematician.”
“And that is exactly why you’re going to win me the Neck. I’ll meet you for dinner at your house to start planning your campaign.” And then, she raised her voice over the other conversations in the warehouse, “You’ve decided to run for the Neck Councilor?!”
Immediately, his coworkers swiveled toward him.
“You’re running for Neck Councilor?” “It’s about time someone from the rationhouse represented the Neck.” “It’s good to see you wanting to do more with your talents.”
It didn’t take long for the entire warehouse to light on fire with the gossip. There hadn’t been a challenger for the Neck seat in five years.
Ashe dropped his forehead against the counter so hard he jostled the scales. He bemoaned, “Why does this always happen to me?”
“Ashe-shi.” She stroked her cousin’s hair soothingly and chided, “You can’t win if you’re not playing the game.”