Boundary (14 page)

My stomach churns at a nauseating thought. Could the timing of the gallows be related to our return from the
Genesis
Site?

“Eva,” my mother calls from the street.

I ignore her, mesmerized by what’s happening on the
dais. The Ring-Guards lead a stumbling man up its stairs. A rough-hewn bag covers his face, so I cannot tell his identity. Still, I can see from his clothes that he is Boundary. My pulse quickens. By the Gods, I pray it isn’t Lukas. Could someone have found out about our visits and communications? Wouldn’t I have been told, as I’d be complicit?

“Eva!” she calls again. This time, her voice bears no Lady-quality. But I cannot turn away no matter what price I’ll pay with her anger. I must find out the criminal’s identity and Lex-violation.

A Herald steps onto the dais. “People of New North, hear this!”

A hush falls over the assemblage. People crane their necks and stand on their tiptoes for a glimpse at the condemned.

“A terrible crime has been committed against the Aerie!” the Herald continues. His rich voice seethes with contempt. “This Boundary”—he practically spits the word—“was given a gift. He was allowed to rise far above his birth and bequeathed a precious task by the Archons themselves. One entrusted with a sacred duty on a sacred Archon Site. A fact that makes his Lex-breaking all the worse.”

I stop breathing. This must relate to the
Genesis
Site. But how? I feel a quick flood of relief that this poor soul can’t be Lukas, but am just as quickly sickened by the notion that Archon Laurence might have orchestrated the hanging.

“This Boundary was charged with returning to the Aerie priceless Relics found on an excavation only days ago. Instead of securing all these Relics within the safety of the Hall of Archons, the Ring-Guards found one of those precious Relics in his bag as he made the Passage back out into the Boundary Lands.”

The crowd gasps. Shouts of “Thief!” echo from the more zealous Aerie. Other than outright murder, The Lex contains no greater offense. But I find the accusation almost impossible to believe. The Boundary are gifted at many things, particularly at concealment from the Aerie. If this Boundary indeed took an item from the Site, no Ring-Guard would have found it. This must be Laurence’s doing.

More outraged shouts ring out from the throngs of Aerie. Some call out for the criminal’s immediate death. Other cry out for justice, which is basically the same thing. One lone, loud voice screams, “What is the Relic that he stole?”

Prepared for this query, the Herald reaches into a sack and steps forward. He thrusts out over the crowd a single object. The hooting and jeers grow even louder—uncertain of the nature of the Relic but certain of the Boundary’s guilt.

They might not know what the Relic is, but I sure do. It is a boot. A hard, inflexible climbing boot from the pre-Healing days. The sort we used for training in the Hall of Archons. The sort of which we saw no evidence at the
Genesis
Site. The useless sort that no right-minded Boundary person would ever steal. As I watch the Guards wrap the noose around the Boundary man’s neck, it hits me. I realize precisely what this hanging is. A message from Laurence to me to stay out of his way. And in that sudden moment, I know with dread certainty that he was the one who ransacked my
iglu
and left the message for me back at the
Genesis
Site as well.

XXV
.

I am shaken by what Archon Laurence has wrought. I can barely maintain my composure as I continue to stroll toward the Clothing Keep with my mother and Lady Charlotte. Thank the Gods they’re so wrapped up in the gown that they barely take notice of me. I’m not even sure if they noticed the hanging. Besides, deriving pleasure from such gruesome justice is not behavior befitting a Lady or Maiden.

The Clothing Keeper stands at the threshold. As he steps aside at the open door, he smiles broadly, proud to display his finest fabrics and threads. Only the best of his wares are available to a Lady of such high rank. While I’m certain that he’d rather be spending his one day of rest doing something else, I know that he’s eager to please the
uncompromising Lady Margret. Her word is nearly tantamount to The Lex in all things concerning the hearth and home.

Despite the overcast day, the Keep interior is bright. The Keeper has arranged for nearly a dozen torches to be lit around the room. The front table is already laid out with many threads in varying shades of blue. Someone was hard at work in the ticks between our summoning and our walk from the Basilika. But the Keeper is alone. Where are the Attendants? I came here for Lukas, after all, not to improve my Betrothal gown.

“My Ladies.” The Clothing Keeper bows and gestures toward the threads.

We approach the table. The array is sumptuous, and I cannot keep from fingering the silken threads. The Keeper is reputed to have unparalleled skill with the dye, and his reputation is warranted. The range of blues is enormous yet subtle. I see sky blue, azure, cobalt, aquamarine, navy—more colors than I have names for.

“They are lovely,” I say.

“Beautiful,” Jasper’s mother echoes.

“Is there one in particular that catches your fancy, Maid—” The Keeper isn’t certain how to address me. “Arch—”

My mother interrupts, ever happy to display her knowledge of Lex protocol. “Eva is here as a Betrothed today, so it’s best to address her as Maiden.”

“They are truly exquisite, but …” I force my voice to be slow and hesitant.

“But what, Maiden Eva? I am here to serve you.”

“Do you have any others?”

“Any others? Eva, I’ve never seen so many blues. Not
even in the midwinter night sky.” My mother punctuates her remarks with an embarrassed chuckle. Her voice is back up to its Lady-pitch; it always rises this way when she’s making up for my behavioral lapses. She probably doesn’t want Jasper’s mother to think I’ll be a persnickety wife.

“Maybe a thread dyed with a berry grown elsewhere? Beyond the Ring? Or perhaps in the Boundary lands?” I offer.

“The Ark grows the finest berries in New North, Maiden Eva. The Lex tells us so. And I only use Ark berries.” The Keeper’s smile falters for an instant, unsure of why he’s being forced to defend his practices. I can’t blame him.

“Hmm. There is a certain blue that I’ve seen in the glaciers bordering the Frozen Seas, a color that makes brilliant the waters. I would love to see its hue on my Union gown. Perhaps you have something like it here?”

The Keeper glances at the Ladies. “I’m not familiar with that shade, Maiden Eva. I have never been beyond the Ring.”

“Ah,” I say, as if that explains the absence of this particular thread. “Might I see your dye shop?”

He laughs a little at my suggestion. I’m guessing he’s wondering if it’s a joke, as I doubt any Lady or Maiden has ever asked to set foot in the back of his Keep. “My dye shop. Whatever for, Maiden Eva?”

“Perhaps if I look at your dyes, I might be able to find that exact shade. Or guide you to combine two dyes that might approximate the color on which I have my heart set.” I glance at him. “I’ve seen this blue beyond the Ring.”

The Keeper bows low. It is the bow of a Keeper to an Archon, not the bow of a Keeper to a Maiden. In a tick our roles have changed.

“Ladies?” He gestures for us all to follow him into the Keep.

My mother’s eyes are ice as they meet mine for an instant. Then she turns to the Keeper and titters, “Oh, no, Keeper. We couldn’t possibly. That wouldn’t be a fitting place for us.”

The Keeper is no longer smiling. Now he just appears confused. Again I can’t blame him. Nobody is sure of the next move. If the interior of the Clothing Keep is unsuitable for my mother, how can he possibly lead her Maiden daughter back there unescorted? The new rules concerning the Maiden-Archon Eva are confounding.

My mother sighs. “Keeper, you have my permission to take Maiden Eva to the back.” She squares her shoulders. “After all, she has seen
many
things that most of us have not—Lady and Lord alike. Like the Frozen Seas.”

I smile at my mother. Her flash of anger has melted. The pride there is real. All at once, my throat tightens, and tears sting the corner of my eyes. I’ve never, ever witnessed her so proud of me. I square my shoulders right back. “I’m ready.”

As the Keeper leads me to the farther reaches of the Keep, I note a distinct change in the craftsmanship of the interior. Instead of the heavily polished stone and intricately carved wood found in the Keep’s public room, this area, typically seen only by assistant Keepers and Attendants, is made of ice, rough-hewn rock, and timber only when necessary. No adornment here.

No Attendants, either. Where is everyone? True, it is Basilika Day, but someone helped the Keeper open the shop and set up the display of threads.

We work our way farther into the warren of workrooms,
at last entering the area where the thread is dyed. Finally I see an Attendant.

The Attendant’s back faces me, as he’s busy with a pestle and mortar, crushing buckthorn berries to make a brilliant green shade. I can only see his hands. They are strong and muscular with calluses on every knuckle, and a distinctive scar that comes only from the lightning-fast slide of a sealskin rope across the palm. They are not the hands of a Clothing Keep Attendant but a Climber.

My heart soars. I’ve found him.

XXVI
.

I lie awake in the darkness, waiting for the house to quiet. My parents went to bed after the evening meal, but it wasn’t until about a half bell ago that I heard the gentle rumbles of my father’s snoring. Still, I had to wait; the scurrying sounds of the Attendants finishing their nightly tasks continued until about a quarter bell ago. Only then could I consider my next steps.

I tell myself that I can rise within fifteen ticks. That should be long enough for the whole household to deepen their sleep such that my creeping to the turret won’t awaken them. I’m so nervous—about getting caught or seeing Lukas, I’m not sure which—that I can hardly stay still under the covers. That, and the fact that I’m wearing my full Archon uniform under the bedcovers and am boiling hot.

In an effort to still my mind and body, I recall that moment earlier today at the Clothing Keep when Lukas turned and realized I was standing behind him.

His dark brown eyes widened in shock. For an instant his lips formed that wide, rare smile of his. His lips parted as he began to offer greetings before he recollected where we were and who we were meant to be. Then he snapped his mouth shut. And in the next instant, his brow furrowed in anger. He’d made me promise to stay away, to allow him to find me. Still, I wanted to hug him; so fearful I had been for that tick when I thought it might be him on the gallows.

The Keeper ignored Lukas, and I followed his lead. A Maiden of the Aerie would not be expected to recognize an Attendant in any event; eyebrows would be raised if I greeted a Boundary worker unprompted. I pretended to hang on the Keeper’s every word as he led me past the row of blue dyes, carefully stored in ice bowls. As I did, I brushed up against Lukas’s arm, slowing his rhythmic pestle motions.

Standing on my tiptoes, I examined each ice bowl. “These are exquisite, Keeper. Truly.”

“Thank you, Maiden Eva.”

I returned to the two shades nearest Lukas. Drawing close enough to him that I could hear his breathing, I whispered in my lowest voice, “Tonight I will come.”

Before Lukas could react, I summoned the Keeper. “Here. If we combine these two shades, I think we will come close to the brilliant blue of the Frozen Shore’s glacial waters.”

“Maiden Eva, I will make the most beautiful blue thread for your Union gown that the Aerie has ever seen.”

The Keeper offered his hand to guide me back to the
Ladies. I wanted to look back at Lukas one last time, but I couldn’t bear to see the expression on his face at the mention of my Union day. I took the Keeper’s outstretched hand and returned to the Ladies.