Awakened by Magic (The Four Kings Book 1) by Katy Haye (12)

Chapter Twelve

I shook off the worst of the water, and that’s when it occurred to me to check. Lifting my hand to my face and twisting to get as good light as was possible, I saw the new addition to the marks on my palm: three wavy lines beside the straight ones symbolising earth. Water.

“Where’s the king of fire?” I asked. “Is he lurking there with you?”

“He still slumbers,” Vashri replied. Was that a smear of contempt in his voice?

“He always needed more rest than the rest of us,” Rey added. “He uses more energy than necessary.” Perhaps it was his lilting accent, but the king of water sounded amused about the matter, rather than angry. I couldn’t fathom the dynamics between the four men.

And I had other, more pressing problems.

“I need to find where the Emperor keeps his prisoners.” I spoke half to myself, but if the kings had any ideas they were welcome to chip in. I was more than happy to have them along with me now Vashri had stopped telling me to go and wake them up first. Perhaps he was happy now the other kings had begun to awaken without my help.

“There must be cells here, some sort of a prison.” I shivered and started to walk, following the curving walls, seeking a way through to the palace at the centre of the citadel. The alley I’d come out in was crowded on both sides by single-storey hovels. I’d walked three steps before I’d realised they were people’s houses and not simply junk piled against the high walls to get it out of the way. A pair of watchful eyes caught my attention and I turned to see a child staring at me from the gap formed where two pieces of wood were propped against each other and didn’t quite meet.

I nodded hello. I didn’t like to speak, somehow that felt as though I would be drawing attention to myself, and I didn’t want anyone official to know I was there.

The child withdrew silently, shadows swallowing her.

I pressed on. I’d bet prisoners would be held at the bottom of the palace, the most secure part of the citadel. I was sure that’s where I would find Essa. At any event, she wasn’t among the hovels here. My beautiful sister would stand out a mile.

As I paced past more shacks, I reflected that wasn’t a problem I faced. Being damp and dishevelled meant that I fit right in – although I lacked the fearful expression of dismay I read on the faces that made themselves visible.

There were few people hidden amongst the shacks, all children. They ducked away when I advanced, as though my determined steps marked me as someone to be avoided. I saw no adults. Unease crept through me as I wondered where they’d gone.

I glanced up as I dodged between two shacks leaning drunkenly to form a narrow passageway between them. The palace in the middle of the citadel was clear to see over the hovels, but reaching it was a different matter. The houses formed a maze. Ten steps and two turns and I swore I was farther away than I’d started.

I was starting to wonder whether the inside of the citadel was also enchanted, when a rook appeared on top of one of the nearby roofs. He cawed loudly, demanding my attention.

“Are you there by magic, or just by chance?”

The rook peered down, examining me with a coal-dark, glistening eye. It made no reply. Naturally. Kings already filled my head; there was no room for pets to join the conversation. The bird hopped along the top of the roof, flapped its wings and landed two hovels down. I shrugged, reasoning that I had nothing to lose by following the bird. “Thank you,” I muttered to the kings, just in case.

I ducked between the shacks, following the rook. It continued to hop and bounce along the roofs, sticking close in a way that gave me hope it had been sent by the kings.

Pushing between two final huts, I came out into a clearing. The palace walls rose on its far side, a forbidding wall of strongstone stretching high overhead. My spider comparison returned to the front of my mind. There were no doors, and not even windows within reach. It rose what looked like two storeys before windows were allowed to break the surface, at which height they littered the wall, like a spider’s close-set eyes. The walls were a dull shade, the colour of storms and clouds. That was my destination, but this part of the palace was no use to me.

The rook cawed, and I realised it had further to lead me. I looked around, searching for the bird. I’d arrived in what was surely the citadel’s marketplace. Stalls huddled around the outskirts, their canopies dirty and sagging. It clearly wasn’t market day because the only goods on display were a few rotten vegetables that must have been left behind after the last market.

The rook jumped into the air, half-flying, half-hopping from place to place, guiding me around the marketplace and the curve of the palace. I swerved past a piece of fabric flapping half-heartedly from a stall, my eyes on the rook.

And froze. A crowd had gathered outside the palace. Raggedly-attired people. And smartly-dressed guards.

I ducked back the way I’d come. I needed a way into the palace, but I wanted to be unobserved.

“Hey! You there! Halt!”

I stopped, my gaze darting around the marketplace, seeking somewhere to hide. I could throw myself beneath one of the stalls, but as footsteps rang out I knew that wouldn’t help me for long. The Emperor’s guards had found me. Now, I needed to brazen things out.

“Me?” I lowered my voice and slumped my shoulders as I turned, making myself look as unthreatening as possible.

“Where do you think you’re going?” She advanced on me. If I punched her in the stomach, would that be enough to get me thrown into a cell? Or would it get my throat cut?

“You mustn’t face the Emperor.” Vashri’s concerned voice rang in my head.

The Emperor wouldn’t be bothered by a brawl – would he?

“I think it’s too late for that,” Axxon countered.

“We’ll protect you,” Rey assured me as the guard neared. I found I was almost smiling as I faced the woman.

“I’ll try not to need protecting,” I muttered. Then the guard made a grab for me and the smile fell off my face. I dodged out of the way. “I’m not doing any harm!”

“You should be at the palace. Didn’t you hear the call?” She grabbed again, seizing my arm. “There’s work to be done.”

I let her drag me after her, back to the palace and the loitering crowd. “A penny and a loaf for a day’s work, it’s a fair deal,” she said, grumbling as though I were ungrateful. Or lazy.

I was starting to understand. The hovels were empty because the Emperor had called on everyone to go to the palace and work for him. I didn’t want to get caught up in his plans, but I needed to get inside the palace, and the guard seemed to be offering me a way in without having to break in or climb the walls. “What – what do you want me to do?”

She made an impatient sound. “Do you live in the clouds, girl? The palace needs to be prepared for the Emperor’s wedding, of course.”

My unresisting feet carried me alongside the woman. Wedding? I must have been living in the clouds. How could I not have heard of something like that? Had the Emperor negotiated a match with a foreign princess?

“Who is he marrying?”

The guard laughed. “What – do you think you might know the lady? I’m sorry, but servants won’t get to witness the ceremony.”

We came within sight of the doors and the crowds, which had shrunk down to only half a dozen people, plus nearly as many guards. My guard pushed me so I stumbled towards the others. From the looks of them, I thought they were waiting because they were too old and infirm to be of use for whatever tasks the Emperor required.

“This one was delayed because she took a bath before signing up!” My guard laughed, wiping the hand that had gripped my damp arm on her jacket. Several others joined in with her mirth.

Someone else, in a tabard rather than a full jacket, looked up at the words. Her eyes narrowed on me. “If you’re clean, we’ll take you in the kitchens.” She gestured me to join her. “Come along.”

As I neared, she plucked at my sleeve with an expression of distaste. She didn’t change her mind that my lake-and-rain-gutter-rinsed self was clean enough for the kitchens, however. Clearly, the Emperor had very low standards when it came to servants.

I hurried through the doorway indicated, wondering if I might be able to poison our ruler. I was a little surprised his servants hadn’t done so by accident if my dishevelled state was considered the pinnacle of cleanliness.

“Down the stairs,” she directed.

I started down the stone steps, my heart thudding. As easily as that, I was inside the palace.