A new city.
It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for the Order to keep her busy. They kept her moving, never giving her, or any of the knights, a chance for a life to take root. That’s how they kept them under control; the girls with too much fire in their hearts and venom on their tongues.
The sun stretched across the sky, tinting it orange. She filled her lungs again. This was the only time of day she could stand the Vargah heat before it became something sinister, sweltering. Truth be told, there weren’t many things she cared for in Vargah, but the sunrise being closer to the west always had more of a payoff than she’d seen in Novaria. Deep pinks and light purples, the sky a seemingly endless painting sprawled across the open desert. Vargah also meant being close to Kamari and while she’d be pleased to leave the unrelenting heat, leaving her sister left a sour taste in her mouth.
She took in the last moments of silence before another sharp tailed bloodsucker crawled over the wall and ruined the sunrise for her.
“Commander, a word?”
She slammed her blade through the scorpion before turning to her knight, Rahashi. “What is it?”
“The Queen is asking for you,” Rahashi said.
“Did shesay what she needed?”
Rahashi shook her head, her dark skin at such a contrast to her tightly braided white hair. “She only said it was urgent.” They walked in sync along the wall, passing a few other knights who were dealing with more of the large scorpions that had made their way up, including the new recruit who was struggling to unsheath her blade.
“Was I that hopeless?” Rahashi pointed to the woman, fresh faced and untested, finally releasing her blade in time to slam it through the scorpion.
“You all were,” Aesira said with a smile. “Don’t worry, I was too. Keep an eye on her but first find Nev, let her know where I’ll be.”
“You got it, Commander.” Aesira left Rahashi and the other knights to finish their work and made her descent down the narrow, stone stairway that was carved into the wall.
Her heavy boots were unnaturally loud against the hard marble floor of the Citadel, but she didn’t have to wander far before she found Kamari pacing the foyer. “Have you been waiting long?” Aesira frowned but she stood straight, her arms positioned behind her back just as any soldier would. “What’s that?” She nodded to a scroll clutched in her sister’s palm.
“Treason is what it is.” Kamari shoved the scroll into Aesira’s chest then resumed chewing the tip of her nail between her teeth.
Aesira unrolled the scroll, fighting a grimace as she read the headline in bold script.
KING DESMOND; DESERTER OR DEAD?’ It seems as though our beloved king has gone mad after all–
"This is just gossip, Kamari.” Aesira passed the scroll back to her, repositioning her arms behind her back. “If you feed into it, it’ll only get worse. It’s better to ignore it."
“You want me to ignore that people think Desmond deserted them?" Kamari clutched onto the scroll, biting the tip of her nail as she paced. "Or worse, ignore that they think he’s gone mad ordead?” The word bounced off the walls like a sadistic laugh.
Dead.
Dead.
Dead.
When King Desmond went missing a week ago, Aesira had never seen her sister so distraught. Kamari was always the picture of poise and grace, but she would allow her mask to slip when it was just the two of them alone. When they could be sisters, instead of queen and commander.
“Has he gone mad, Kam?” Aesira’s voice lowered, she didn’t trust all the hidden corners of the Citadel. Kamari’s eyes narrowed and Aesira knew she’d asked the wrong thing. She didn’t really want to ask about the king’s mind, but the soldier in her wouldn’t let her dismiss the question. It wasn’t news that Desmond was of a different sort. Seen talking to himself, whispering in corners, face buried behind a notebook.
“Of course he hasn’t,” Kamari snapped. “He’s perfectly fine. He just…” She cleared her throat and Aesira followed her down the hall. “It’s my first meeting with the council since Desmond’s disappearance and I feel like a noose has been wrapped around my neck.” Kamari’s fingers, visibly shaken, drifted to her throat. “I need you to find who wrote that morning scroll and bring them to me. I can’t have a city full of panic on top of everything else.”
“Kam.” Aesira sighed deeply, which made Kamari frown. “So what do you want me to do? Find whoever wrote this and rough them up a little? Scare them? It won’t change the fact that it’salready written and now that it’s out there, it’s inevitable that more will follow.”
They came to a stop in front of a set of large bronze doors, spanning from floor to ceiling, ornate with carved moons and stars to honor their goddess, Celestria.
Kamari turned to her. “I know it doesn’t seem important to find who wrote this, but tomeit is.” She looked away and Aesira knew why, she was hiding tears. Holding herself together because it wasn’t accepted, in her position, to be anything other than composed.
“To speak of the king in such a manner is not only treasonous but rumors in this city spread as quickly as dry-lung. It’s already difficult ruling a foreign kingdom without him, I don’t need a sudden surge of panic to make things worse. The peace between Vargah and Novaria hangs by a thread as it is.” Kamari faced the door again, taking a deep breath. “I can’t mess this up.”
“You won’t, Kam.” Voices rose from the other side of the door. Kamari smoothed her skirts again, set her shoulders back, chin up. Aesira could see the pain in her sister’s expression and immediately her thoughts turned to erasing it.
She could fix this.
