“Cullen!” a man called up to them. Senator Yemir, Cullen’s father, stood on the main deck below, his narrowed eyes darting between them. “Come, we have preparations to go over for our arrival.”
Cullen’s attention switched between her and his father, finally landing on the latter. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Now.”
“Go,” Eira encouraged. “I’m fine, really. Thanks for checking on me.”
“Are you sure?” He took a half step closer to her. “We’re all worried about you.”
“There’s nothing to worry about.” She was still breathing, wasn’t she? That was more than her brother could say.
“Alyss said you’d say that, and not to believe you when you do.” Cullen leveled his eyes with hers and Eira cursed Alyss for saying anything to him. She knew Eira too well and had been hounding her for weeks. “Talk to her, Noelle, Levit, if not me thensomeone, please. We’re all worried.”
“Cullen!” Yemir snapped.
“I’m coming!” Cullen pulled away with one last, long look at Eira. His stare seemed to linger long after he vanished with his father belowdecks.
Eira shook her head and refocused on Risen. Cullen wasn’t her concern. He was from a different world than her, destined for different things. He would spend the weeks leading up to the tournament dancing and dining with Risen’s nobility.
She was headed for the Court of Shadows.
Belowdecks, Eira ignored Cullen’s advice and avoided Alyss and Noelle. She’d learned their habits and used the knowledge to her advantage on board. Other than the few times Alyss had cornered Eira in her cabin, she was mostly spared interaction. She needed the time and solitude to keep reliving that cold, dark night in her mind. To try and find some detail she might have overlooked, something that might give them a clue to where Ferro had been taken.
Because she would find him, Eira vowed both to herself and to the memory of her brother. She wouldn’t rest until he was brought back in chains. Ferro would see justice for Marcus’s and all the other apprentices’ deaths.
Eira dressed in the clothes that had been prepared for their arrival. Fritz had said that the competitors were going to have tailors in Meru attending to their needs as they arose. But the Empire would ensure they disembarked pressed and clean.
Each competitor wore a variant on the same style—close-fitting black trousers and patent leather boots. A tunic made of cotton, dyed in a color that was reminiscent—and a little too on the nose for her taste—of their affinity: Eira had a Solarin cerulean shade, Alyss a deep viridian, Noelle was in a dark crimson, and Cullen a sort of hazy purple that he somehow still managed to make look attractive. It was truly a testament to how handsome he was that he could pull offthatparticular shade.
The four competitors stood together on the main deck as their escorts—Senator Yemir, Senator Henri, Tower Instructor Levit, and Ambassador Cordon—inspected their attire a final time. Eira’s attention drifted from the men making their adjustments and humming over fashion, instead admiring the city they were docking in.
The city of Risen was unlike anything Eira had ever laid eyes on. A wide river snaked between tall buildings and the sloping hills the city rose up along. The architecture wasn’t entirely unlike Solaris…yet it somehow made the capital of Solarin look like a hovel by comparison. Risen was twice as large, the buildings twice as opulent, and magic was as thick as summer air. This was a city that had been steeped in histories Eira could barely understand and desired for nothing more than to learn. Her eyes dragged up toward the Archives of Yargen, high on the hill.
All the knowledge in the world was there. If that were true, perhaps there was something on Adela that could help them find Ferro. Perhaps there was something that would lead Eira to her own truths.
The thought cast the city in another light. Suddenly, the dawn had become harsh, the glints from the ornate, bronze gutters on the buildings becoming almost violent. Ferro had escaped. He was still out there. He’d killed before and he could kill again.
Deneya walked before them, drawing Eira’s attention back on board.
“All right, you four, listen up.” She spoke with the authority of a military commander.
Eira had heard Gwen use the same tone many times. She promptly pushed thoughts of her family away. Her parents never sent word following Marcus’s death. They hadn’t even bothered to come and bid her farewell when she left. Her uncles and aunt had held her fiercely, but by then Eira had been well out of reach of their arms.
“You’re not going to have the welcome parade we planned for.”
“Excuse me?” Senator Yemir blinked. “You did not—”
“Senator, you are not privy to everything that happens on Meru, especially not discussions with my queen.” Deneya looked at him from the corner of her eye. Ambassador Cordon pulled Yemir to the side, speaking in hushed tones as Deneya continued addressing the four competitors. “Since Ferro has escaped, Queen Lumeria has decided to lock the city down.”
“Lock down an entire city?” Cullen asked.
“The West did it for a decade while holding out from the Empire’s conquests.” Noelle tossed a fan of dark hair over her shoulder, not bothering to hide a proud smirk.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t take a decade to find Ferro,” Deneya said severely, drawing the attention back to her. “The queen is using everything at her disposal to locate him. However, his motives aren’t entirely known. And it is possible he might be working with accomplices…”
Possible?Eira knew he was. She and Deneya had found out that much with certainty when Eira had still been in captivity and they had investigated Ferro’s room together. It was obvious from the fact that Adela had been the one to free him. He had help in powerful places.
“If the city is locked down, then how will the tournament’s opening gala take place?” Yemir asked, charging back into the conversation. “Or the dignitaries’ dinners in the royal halls? Or the competitors’ display of skills? Or—”
