Her voice pitches high as she squeaks, “Daring escape?”
“By any chance, do you have an extra servant’s uniform?”
11
TEN MILES FROM THE CITADEL, the town of Neumovos sprouts from a forest clearing like fungi following a hard rain. It bears resemblance to Edgewood from this distance: mud cottages, a central square. Everything, from the empty goat pens to the hobbled wagons, is faded and surrounded by a tumbled stone wall.
I take a sip from my flask. Orla puffs hard at my side, tugging her coat around her front with her mittened hands. “Nearly there, my lady,” she gasps, sweat slithering down her temples. In the patched sunlight, her body is all but invisible.
That’s twice now I’ve escaped the confines of the citadel with the North Wind none the wiser. I disguised myself as a servant beneath my cloak, and the parapet guards opened the gates under the belief that Orla and I were venturing out to replenish the grain stores, by order of the cook. Damn fools. It had been too easy.
As we walk, I trail the pads of my gloved fingers over the strange, intricate carvings on the smooth white bark. I’ve never seen anything like them before.
“Protections, my lady.” At my confusion, Orla adds, “From the darkwalkers.”
My head snaps toward her. “But you’re a specter.” I did not think the darkwalkers posed a danger to them.
“The people of Neumovos still retain some life. Enough that the darkwalkers feed on us, if given the chance.”
When we step inside the protective ring of trees, I hear it. A hollow tone rising and falling with melancholy. “Is that…?”
Orla’s eyes glimmer with unshed tears. “My lady—”
“Music.” I can’t remember the last time I heard music. It softens what is hard inside me.
“It’s not what you think.” She sets her jaw, appearing pained. “When the flute sings, it means someone has been sentenced to a life in Neumovos.”
My footsteps falter. “Someone has been forced into the king’s service?”
She nods.
From the corner of my eye, I catch sight of a woman’s incorporeal form moving swiftly through the trees.
“You’re making a mistake!” she cries, fighting whatever invisible force drags her toward the town. “I had no choice! Please, you have to believe me!”
The woman vanishes between two buildings. Stillness hangs in her wake. Beside me, Orla twists her hands together.
“Orla,” I whisper. “Why are you bound in service to the king?” She tenses. “And this time, I would like the truth.”
I need every piece, every sliver, every ugly, broken shard illuminated. Knowledge is my weapon. Knowledge is my power.
“I am sorry I gave you a false perception of my situation,” Orla murmurs, “but I didn’t want to disappoint you. You are strong and brave and there is much I admire about you.” She turns, head bowed meekly. “I said before that those who are sentenced to Neumovos have yet to fully pass on. What I should have said is that we are barred from passing on.”
I’ve only known Orla for a number of weeks, but she has been kind to me. She is loyal and true. A friend, if I allow myself that luxury. “What do you mean?”
“Neumovos is where the lord sends those who have committed violent crimes in life. Our punishment is to serve him for an eternity.”
Violent crimes? That doesn’t sound like Orla. A mayfly is more violent than this woman. “What did you do?”
“Please, my lady. I can’t take more of your disappointment.”
I’m not disappointed, but I let it go. Perhaps I was unfair to the king at dinner the other night. It is his duty to judge the dead, to determine who is worthy of an unburdened afterlife. If Orla did something terrible, then wouldn’t his actions be justified?
The sound of the flute has almost faded. It is beautiful, even if it proclaims a tragic end. “My mother would sing to me and my sister when we were young,” I say, gesturing to continue our stroll. “She had a lovely voice.”
Orla glances at me questioningly. “She is… gone?”
“Yes. My sister is all I have left.” Already I struggle to remember the sound of Elora’s laughter. The longer I’m away from home, the more my memories fade. Soon, I fear they will disappear completely. “I would give anything to see her again.”
