They imprisoned the others, sending for the city guard to come in and start cleaning up the wreckage of the palace. The breeze blew Siri’s hair—red, to show her displeasure—as they stood atop the palace.
“There, my lord!” a guard said, pointing.
Susebron turned, walking over to the edge of the palace. Most of his entourage of twisting cloths were no longer streaming about him, but they waited on his will in a pile on the rooftop. Siri joined him at the side of the palace, and in the distance, she could make out a smudge and what looked like smoke.
“The Lifeless army,” the guard said. “Our scouts have confirmed that it’s marching toward Idris. Almost everyone in the city saw it pass out through the gates.”
“That smoke?” Siri asked.
“Dust of its passing, my lady,” the guard said. “That’s a lot of soldiers.”
She looked up at Susebron. He frowned. “I could stop them.” His voice was stronger than she had expected it to be. Deeper.
“My lord?” the guard asked.
“With this much Breath,” Susebron said. “I could charge them, use these cloths to tie them up.”
“My lord,” the guard said hesitantly. “There are forty thousand of them. They would cut at the cloth, overwhelm you.”
Susebron seemed resolute. “I have to try.”
“No,” Siri said, laying a hand on his chest.
“Your people . . .”
“We’ll send messengers,” she said, “explaining our regret. My people can withdraw, ambush the Lifeless. We can send troops to help.”
“We don’t have many,” he said. “And they won’t get there very quickly. Could your people really get away?”
No, she thought, heart wrenching. You don’t know that, though, and you’re innocent enough to believe they can escape.
Her people might survive as a whole, but many would die. Susebron getting himself killed fighting the creatures wouldn’t be of much use, however. He had amazing power, but fighting so many Lifeless was well beyond the scope of whatever he could do.
He saw the look in her face, and surprisingly, he read it well. “You don’t believe that they can get away,” he said. “You’re just trying to protect me.”
Surprising how well he understands me already.
“My lord!” a voice said from behind.
Susebron turned, looking across the top of the palace. They’d come to the top partially to get a look at the Lifeless, but also because both Siri and Susebron were tired of being closed in tight quarters. They wanted to be in the open, where it would be harder to sneak up on them.
A guard came out of the stairwell, then walked over, hand on sword. He bowed. “My lord. There’s someone here to see you.”
“I don’t want to see anyone,” Susebron said. “Who are they?”
Amazing how well he can speak, she thought. Never having had a tongue. What did Lightsong’s Breath do? It healed more than his body. It gave him the capacity to use the regrown tongue.
“My lord,” the guard said. “The visitor—she has the Royal Locks!”
“What?” Siri asked with surprise.
The guard turned, and—shockingly—Vivenna stepped up onto the roof of the palace. Or Siri thought it was Vivenna. She wore trousers and a tunic, with a sword tied at her waist, and she appeared to have a bloody wound on one shoulder. She saw Siri, and smiled, her hair turning yellow with joy.
Vivenna’s hair changing? Siri thought. It can’t be her.
But it was. The woman laughed, dashing across the top of the roof. Some guards stopped her, but Siri waved for them to let the woman pass. She ran over, embracing Siri.
“Vivenna?”
The woman smiled ruefully. “Yes, mostly,” she said. She glanced at Susebron. “I’m sorry,” Vivenna said quietly. “I came to the city to try rescuing you.”
“That was very kind of you,” Siri said. “But I don’t need rescuing.”
Vivenna frowned more deeply.
“And who is this, Siri?” Susebron asked.
“My eldest sister.”
“Ah,” Susebron said, bowing his head cordially. “Siri has told me much about you, Princess Vivenna. I wish we could have met under better circumstances.”
Vivenna stared at the man with shock.
“He’s not really as bad as they say,” Siri said, smiling. “Most of the time.”
“That is sarcasm,” Susebron said. “She is quite fond of it.”
Vivenna turned from the God King. “Our homeland is under attack.”
“I know,” Siri said. “We’re working on that. I’m preparing messengers to send to Father.”
“I have a better way,” Vivenna said. “But you’ll have to trust me.”
“Of course,” Siri said.
“I have a friend who needs to speak with the God King,” Vivenna said. “Where he can’t be overheard by guards.”
Siri hesitated. Silly, she thought. This is Vivenna. I can trust her.
She’d thought she could trust Bluefingers too. Vivenna regarded her with a curious expression.
“If this can help save Idris,” Susebron said, “then I will do it. Who is this person?”
* * *
MOMENTS LATER, Vivenna stood quietly on the roof of the palace with the God King of Hallandren. Siri stood a short walk away, watching the Lifeless churn dust in the distance. All of them waited while the soldiers searched Vasher for weapons; he stood with arms upraised on the other side of the rooftop, surrounded by suspicious guards. He had wisely left Nightblood below and didn’t have any other weapons on him. He didn’t even have any Breath.
“Your sister is an amazing woman,” the God King said.
Vivenna glanced at him. This was the man she was to have married. The terrible creature that she was supposed to have given herself to. She’d never expected to end up like this, pleasantly chatting with him.
She’d also never expected that she’d like him.
It was a quick judgment. She’d gotten over chastising herself for making those, though she had learned to leave them open for revision. She saw kindness in his fondness for Siri. How had a man like this ended up as God King of terrible Hallandren?
“Yes,” she said. “She is.”
“I love her,” Susebron said. “I would have you know this.”
Slowly, Vivenna nodded, glancing over at Siri. She’s changed so much, Vivenna thought. When did she become so regal, with that commanding bearing and ability to keep her hair black? Her little sister, no longer quite as little, seemed to wear the expensive dress well. It fit her. Odd.
On the other end of the rooftop, the guards took Vasher behind a screen to change. They obviously wanted to be certain none of his clothing was Awakened. He left a few moments later, wearing a wrap around his waist, but nothing else. His chest was cut and bruised, and Vivenna thought it shameful that he should be forced to undergo such humiliation.
He suffered it, walking across the rooftop with an escort. As he did, Siri walked back, eyes watching him keenly. Vivenna had spoken with her sister briefly, but could already tell that Siri no longer took pride in being unimportant. Changed indeed.
Vasher arrived, and Susebron dismissed the guards. Behind him, the jungles extended to the north, toward Idris. Vasher glanced at Vivenna, and she thought he might tell her to go. However, he finally just turned away from her, looking resigned.
“Who are you?” Susebron asked.
“The one responsible for you getting your tongue cut out,” Vasher said.
Susebron raised an eyebrow.
Vasher closed his eyes. He didn’t speak, didn’t use his Breath or make a Command. Yet suddenly, he started to glow. Not as a lantern would glow, not as the sun glowed, but with an aura that made colors brighter. Vivenna started as Vasher increased in size. He opened his eyes and adjusted the wrap at his waist, making room for his growth. His chest became more firm, the muscles bulging, and the scruffy beard on his face retreated, leaving him clean-shaven.
His hair turned golden. He still bore the cuts on his body, but they seemed inconsequential. He seemed . . . divine. The God King watched with interest. He was now faced by a fellow god, a man of his own stature.
“I don’t care if you believe me or not,” Vasher said, his voice sounding more noble. “But I will have you know that I left something here, long ago. A wealth of power that I promised to one day recover. I gave instructions for its care, and a charge that it should not be used. The priests, apparently, took this to heart.”
Susebron, surprisingly, dropped to one knee. “My lord. Where have you been?”
“Paying for what I’ve done,” Vasher said. “Or trying to. That is unimportant. Stand.”
What is going on? Vivenna thought. Siri looked equally confused, and the sisters shared a look.
Susebron stood, though he kept his posture reverent.
“You have a group of rogue Lifeless,” Vasher said. “You’ve lost control of them.”
“I’m sorry, my lord,” the God King said.
Vasher regarded him. Then he glanced at Vivenna. She nodded her head. “I trust him.”
“It’s not about trust,” Vasher said, turning back to Susebron. “Either way, I am going to give you something.”
“What?”
“My army,” Vasher said.
Susebron frowned. “But, my lord. Our Lifeless just marched away, to attack Idris.”
“No,” Vasher said. “Not that army. I’m going to give you the one I left behind three hundred years ago. The people call them Kalad’s Phantoms. They are the force by which I made Hallandren stop its war.”
“Stop the Manywar, my lord?” Susebron said. “You did that by negotiation.”
Vasher snorted. “You don’t know much about war, do you?”
The God King paused, then shook his head. “No.”
“Well, learn,” Vasher said. “Because I charge you with command of my army. Use it to protect, not attack. Only use it in an emergency.”
The God King nodded dumbly.
Vasher glanced at him, then sighed. “My sin be hidden.”
“What?” Susebron asked.
“It’s a Command phrase,” Vasher said. “The one you can use to give new orders to the D’Denir statues I left in your city.”
“But my lord!” Susebron said. “Stone cannot be awakened.”
“The stone hasn’t been Awakened,” Vasher said. “There are human bones in those statues. They are Lifeless.”
Human bones. Vivenna felt a chill. He’d told her that bones were usually a bad choice to awaken because it was hard to keep them in the shape of a man during the Awakening process. But what if those bones were encased in stone? Stone that held its shape, stone that would protect them from harm, make them nearly impossible to hurt or break? Awakened objects could be so much stronger than human muscles. If a Lifeless could be created from bones, made strong enough to move a rock body around it . . . You’d have soldiers unlike any that had ever existed.
