Bluewing (9 page)

“Quiet,” he barked, and the whispers died away to a brittle silence.

He gazed at us coldly. “Word has reached me that the rogue group of idiots—the Blackcoats—are trying to organize trouble again.” He spat the word
Blackcoats
like a curse, and a few villagers flinched. Raine stared hard at the crowd, as if daring them to deny it. Then he lifted his hand. Something glittered between his fingers. A necklace?

“A patrol found this in the snow outside the village walls.”

Beside me, Ivy gasped. Her hand went to her throat, and she darted a glance at me. Chills prickled my spine. It was hers?

The skin around Raine’s eyes tightened. He waved the necklace at us. “There will be a new restriction, thanks to your Blackcoats. If any person is found outside the village without the proper papers—a signed pass from me—he will be imprisoned immediately and sent to the camps.”

Dread pooled in my stomach. Jullia. Ivy. They were our message-bearers from the Blackcoats. They brought us food and supplies that helped us survive. If they didn’t come, what would we do?

“Do not look at me with those cow eyes,” he snarled. “If you people want to keep your precious shops and houses and lives, then you’ll do as I say.”

“I see you’re still seducing them to your side with kindness—a good strategy, I think,” a voice drawled from behind us. The words carried easily in the stillness. Heads turned, mouths fell open. Korr. He stood at the back of the crowd, his long cloak fluttering in the wind. Behind him waited an Aeralian coach, the wheels muddy from crossing the river.

Raine’s neck turned a mottled shade of red, but he said nothing. Because Korr was a nobleman with orders from the dictator himself, Raine hesitated to speak against him for fear of political ramifications.

Despite my apprehension at seeing Korr, I got a delicious sense of satisfaction watching Raine squirm.

“He’s been in Aeralis for weeks,” Ivy whispered. “Raine didn’t expect him back for some time.”

“Will Korr do anything about the edict?” Surely he could see it was utter madness.

“Of course not,” my sister said. “But even if he wanted to, he can’t. He has no real power here.”

“I thought he wanted Frost dwellers to give him information.” I remembered how he’d interrogated me before trying to coax me into spying for him.

“He cares only for himself,” she said.

Korr smirked and gave Raine an exaggerated bow before turning to go. He didn’t even spare a glance at the villagers who stood between him and his political punching bag. Raine whirled and limped in the opposite direction, snapping his fingers to call soldiers to his side. After he’d left the front of the Assembly Hall, the Mayor stepped forward and gestured for our attention.

“Any person who wishes to leave the village and venture into the Frost for any reason—hunting, fishing, trapping, or even reaching your home—must obtain a pass from the Aeralian consulate today. Please, do not test the soldiers on this. They have orders to arrest anyone without the proper documentation.”

Ugly mutters filled the air. We needed passes to reach our own homes now?

My heart sunk. How was I going to leave the village? I couldn’t obtain a pass. I wasn’t supposed to be here. I wasn’t supposed to still be in the Frost.

The Mayor shoved his way through the crowd and vanished after Raine. The assembly was over. We were dismissed. Ivy and I left the yard and went into the street.

“What now?” Ivy asked finally, after we’d put several blocks between us and the Assembly Hall. Her voice was doggedly cheerful, but I detected the tremor of worry beneath.

“That was your necklace in Raine’s hands. The one our mother gave you as a birthday present two years ago,” I said.

She turned her head to hide her expression. “I didn’t even notice it missing. It must have fallen yesterday.”

“Yesterday? You didn’t come to Echlos yesterday.”

“Last week, I mean.” Her hands trembled as she brushed a tendril of hair from her eyes. “Regardless, how am I supposed to come to Echlos now? Do you think I could obtain a pass on the grounds of checking Da’s old traps?”

“You’ll have to stop coming until we can figure out a solution. Perhaps the Blackcoats can obtain passes for you.”

“What about you?”

“I can try to sneak out now.”

We slipped through the center of town, past the market and the shops, past the Quota Yard and the Farther school. It was empty today, and the building silent.

“Where are the children? Don’t you have school?”

“We only assemble six mornings a week,” Ivy said. “Today, the teacher rests.” She made a face as she said
teacher
. I didn’t ask.

We reached the edge of the village. The gate to the Frost loomed ahead, bristling with steel and other Farther-built armaments. Ice scabbed the walls and clung in a clouded crust to the edges of the gates. I could see the Cages. The Frost glowed white beyond their bars. My heart surged with hope, but it flickered and died when I saw the Farther soldiers standing guard, weapons slung across their arms.

Still, I could try. I squeezed Ivy’s hand before dropping it. I inhaled deeply and approached the gate with an air of confidence.

A gun slapped across my path, stopping me.

“Pass,” the soldier said. “I need to see your pass.”

“I...I just need to get home. I’ll get one tomorrow.”

He didn’t blink. “No one goes out without a pass, girl. Get it today.”

I returned to Ivy’s side. We didn’t speak as we slipped down a side alley and leaned against the wall behind a stack of barrels.

“What now?” she asked. “You can’t stay here forever. Where will you go?”

“We need to contact the Blackcoats. And if all else fails, I can try to slip out tonight through the weak spot in the wall.”

“I’ll leave a message for them in the normal place, behind the water barrel outside the Blacksmith’s shop.” She bit her lip. “I’ve got to get back. They’re expecting me to help with quota this afternoon.”

They
. Her new family, the one she’d been reassigned to. A bitter feeling bristled in my chest. My sister was a Weaver. She shouldn’t be working her fingers raw for another family, bringing in their quota and learning their trade. She should be living on my parents’ farm, the same as me. She should be weaving...or freely choosing her own path, if she wanted a new one. A wave of determination to see Iceliss free of Farthers surged through me.

“Go,” I said. “Meet me here again at six. If I don’t come, assume I’ve found a way out. Don’t try to leave the village without a pass. Get one from the Blackcoats if you can’t obtain one yourself. I don’t want you risking arrest simply to bring us updates about Raine’s latest tantrum.”

“But the messages Jullia and I bring from the Blackcoats—”

“We will find other ways to communicate with the Blackcoat leaders,” I said firmly. “I want you safe first and foremost. Raine isn’t playing games.”

She frowned, but she didn’t argue with me.

“Now go,” I said. “Leave the message telling them to meet me here as soon as possible.”

“Lia...”

“We’ll meet again soon,” I promised.

She hugged me briefly, squeezing the breath from me, and then she was gone.

I stood by the barrels for a few minutes, gathering my thoughts and making a plan. For the time being, I was here in Iceliss. I’d better make the most of this opportunity. But I could not be recognized. Fortunately, people tended to see what they expected to see, and no one expected me here. They all thought I was dead.

Perhaps this would be a good time to find out what I could about Ann.

I left the alley and cut through the center of town again. Villagers stood in small clumps, whispering about the new rule and glancing nervously at any Farther soldiers who passed by. No one seemed to see the girl in the gray cloak slipping through their midst. Unnoticed, I passed the bakeries and the smitheries and headed toward the hill where the Mayor’s house stood.

The house seemed changed—the architecture was small to my eyes now, harshly white and pitifully plain, a desperate and failed attempt at opulence. Memories of the Compound’s glittering, easy beauty filled my mind.

I slipped through the mush of snow covering the garden, heading for the back door. I reached it and raised my hand to knock.

I HESITATED BEFORE my knuckles touched the wood. This was foolish. I had nothing to say to the servants, who might recognize me, although they didn’t know my name. I had no way in.

I returned to the yard. Voices floated on the breeze, and I ducked into the bushes and pressed my back against the wall. Was it soldiers? Had someone seen me?

My eyes narrowed as I recognized the low, silky baritone of one of the voices.
Korr
. I inched along the side of the house until I reached the corner. Bushes shielded me from view, but I could hear everything.

“...A stupid idea to draw the noose tighter around these people,” Korr was saying. “You’re only going to make them angrier. And angry people do foolhardy, desperate things.”

Someone else snorted, or choked, it was hard to tell. Raine? He’d never been good at the witty rejoinders, especially not when it came to certain young Aeralian noblemen who made veiled comments about his limp.

I leaned forward, parting the bushes slightly to see what was happening. There was Korr, standing with his hands on his hips and his dark hair in his eyes, looking spoiled and pretty in his gold-seamed clothing and long black cloak with the purple stripe. Raine faced him, arms crossed, jaw clenched. The Mayor lingered in the background, unobtrusive as a coatrack.

“The Blackcoats are fools, of course,” Korr continued. “But they are not without their reasons. And you just gave them another one.”

Raine looked about ready to order a firing squad to practice its marksmanship on the young nobleman. His fingers clenched into fists, and a vein in his neck bulged.

“We thought you’d be in Astralux at least another week, my lord,” the Mayor interjected, as if desperate to puncture the mounting tension. “Your room is not ready, and I—”

“Miss me?” Korr drawled, turning his head toward the Mayor with a smirk. He looked at Raine again and dimpled. He leaned forward, lowering his voice to a purr as if sharing a delightful secret. “You have to lull these village people into complacency. Have them eating out of your hand, trusting you, needing you. Then they’ll give you whatever you want.”

“Like you’ve done with the Mayor’s girl?” Raine said.

I bit my lip so I wouldn’t make a sound. My stomach twisted.
Done with the Mayor’s girl
? What did that mean? What had he done?

Korr stiffened almost imperceptibly, his smile fading and his eyes crackling with sudden fire. Behind him, the Mayor went white.

No one spoke for a moment. Raine’s lip curled in a satisfied smile. He knew his barb had hit the mark.

Then Korr smirked again. He straightened, adjusted his cloak, and brushed a speck of dirt from his clothing. “And it worked for me,” he said. When he looked at Raine again, his expression was smooth and glib as ever. “Trust me, you’re making a mistake.”

“I know what I’m doing,” Raine growled. “A caged animal will fight back until its will is broken. Then it will simply lie there, and it won’t try to escape even if you open the cage door. Believe me, Korr, I have shattered many wills in my life.”

Pressure built behind my eyes, the promise of a headache, and I gnawed my lip until I tasted blood. Anger simmered in my blood.

Korr tipped his head to one side. “I don’t doubt it. Any brute can break something. It takes finesse to mold and shape it to your own desires.”

He turned on his heel and strode toward the house. Raine watched him go with a look of pure loathing. I exhaled shakily and sagged back against the wall. I’d learned one thing, at least. Korr knew where Ann was—and he’d been interacting with her in some capacity.

That gave us a starting place, at least.

I waited until Raine and the Mayor had entered the house, and then I slipped from the bushes and through the garden to the bottom of the hill. I returned to the alley where I’d last seen my sister, taking care to keep my face covered with my cloak.

When I reached the alley, someone was waiting. I slowed, hesitated. A Blackcoat?

The individual turned. It was Jullia. I let my cloak fall away from my face, and she sighed as she recognized me.

“Lia,” she said. “Thank goodness.”

“Did you get the permit?”

“We couldn’t,” she said. “Only Fishers and Hunters are being granted them at the moment. There’s a list. Your name has to be on the list, or you must put in a petition with Raine. Of course, you are out of the question since we can’t explain who you are. We’ve petitioned for pass, Ivy and me both, but...I’m not sure if we’ll be granted them. Since this all just happened today, no one has another solution yet.” She rubbed her forehead and peered at me, her expression timid. “What are you going to do?”

“I’ll just have to sneak out through the breach in the wall after nightfall.” I rubbed my forehead. My head was already aching. “Jonn is going to be frantic. Gabe too.”

“We’ll find you a safe place to stay until dark,” Jullia said. “No one is supposed to be in the streets after sunset, so you can’t stay here. Come on.”

~

The house was more of an afterthought squeezed between two alleyways, with windows in odd places and a door with a triangular top. Cluttered shelves lined the walls, and a table with six chairs crammed around it stood close to a little black stove.

“You can stay upstairs for now,” Jullia said, pulling me toward a ladder that leaned against the back wall. “No one will see you in the attic.”

“Whose home is this?” I asked, glancing around with curiosity. Several pairs of ragged socks hung above the stove, drying. Some were tiny. Children’s socks.

Jullia looked around as if seeing it with fresh eyes. She licked her lips and cleared her throat. “Mine.”

I was unable to hide my surprise. This wasn’t the Dyer home, that was for sure—that had been located in the artisans’ quarter, and was much larger. And it wasn’t the home where she’d temporarily taken up residence with her sister and mother after her father’s arrest, either.