Sky Lands: The Gift Stones

Audrey spent the rest of the day in her chamber being fitted for an elaborate gown. Her maids swam around her in short silver dresses, pinning and measuring her. Meals were brought to her between bouts of tailoring.

  Later that evening, Audrey wore a dark blue dress, perfectly fitted, to a ball that her ladies called the ‘after-coronation’ at the Great Hall. I followed Audrey as she ascended a flight of stairs, the steps wide and pillared, with views over the sterling city.

  At the pinnacle of the stairs, elliptical doors were guarded by knights; they swung the tall doors open, revealing the largest hall I’d ever seen. The ceiling rose to an immense height, patterned into the shape of a crescent moon; beyond the ceiling glass, the stars lighted the night sky. Oval windows lined the walls, the glass stained with white murals. Between them, long Angel tapestries hung over the hall, and in a ring above the windows, spheres of light hovered in the air, like a crown over the room. Just below this ring of light, Satinah sat on a throne near the ceiling, canopied in drapes of silver; her translucent cloak fell across the sides of the throne, suspended over the heads of those below her. She seemed a goddess above mortals.

  A waterfall poured from the ceiling, long and slender behind the tower of the throne. It spilled onto the glass floor and ran in streams between the pillars. Upon the water, small boats glided carrying a variety of foods. The floor of the hall was completely clear and I could see down to the lights of the castle towers below.

  When Audrey entered, the whole room paused to look at her. A young man bearing the Kyrion crest on his attire came forward to escort her in. He brought her across the steps over a stream. She crossed the steps quickly, picking up the hem of her gown to keep it dry. In her hair was the silver crown that Satinah had previously worn, and around her neck, Audrey wore her necklace of white beads.

  Audrey made a courteous bow with her dress, then the dancing continued again. She took the hand of the knight and bowed again, low into the folds of her dress. Together, they swirled across the floor, above the lights of the castle spires far below.

  When they stopped dancing, Audrey’s escort picked up a drink for her from a boat on the streams. He opened a windowpane and they stepped outside onto the balcony. I watched for a while, as they stood before an expanse of stars. The night lingered on and the crowds only grew thicker. Along the ceiling arches, a small choir of youths sang clearly, high above the hall, blended into the architecture.

  The entrance was now left perpetually open for people to come and go as they pleased. It wasn’t until I felt myself being pulled past these doors, and saw Audrey disappearing around a bend in the stairs, that I realized she had left.

  I followed her through the twists and turns of the castle. In the distance, Audrey’s beast was flying through the spires below us, accompanied by a few of its kind. The winged beasts passed across the castle towers, the lights flickering behind them.

  We travelled down through the castle until nearly all the spires were above us. Finally, we descended stairs winding below the castle into the earth, leading to a series of white passageways. At the end of a hallway, a knight stood in front of a door. He nodded to Audrey as she approached and opened the door to let her through.

  Inside was a tiny room, arching to form a dome just above the head. Near the top of the chamber was a slight window; starlight could be seen beyond. Seeing the stars, I figured we were in the earth at the side of the mountains. Around me, the room was bare except for a layer of blankets on the floor. And on the blankets sat Hallain.

  He held a single flame on his palm. I was stunned to see how he had thinned, his features nearly skeletal. The light he held cast shadows into the hollows of his cheeks.

  “Sister, I doubted you would come.” His voice shook.

  Audrey made sure the door was closed behind her. She knelt on the blankets, her dress spilling out in blue folds over the floor. “Of course I came,” she said, and smiled, but her smile was sad.

  “Do you think Satine will know?”

  “Yes,” and she smiled that same smile again.

  Hallain stared into the flame. He seemed to struggle though his features were still. “Then you should not help me. Who knows how Satine will punish you.”

  “What will you have me do?” Audrey smiled once more, and this time her smile held more warmth. “You cannot spend the rest of your life here. Already a year has passed in which you have seen no daylight but what falls through that slit. Will you spend your whole life this way?”

  “Will you?”

  “I brought you here,” she whispered. She looked down at the folds of her dress splashed with white candlelight. “I should have let you go.”

  “You did not know Satine would extend my punishment this way.” Hallain drew breath, “Sister, you must come with me.”

  “Brother, how can I go into the land of the enemy when I’ve spent the past years killing their kind?”

  “I’m going,” he said.

  “And if they kill you –”

  “Death is preferable to a life in here. If I go to Moreina, at least I will have a chance to live. Here, it is certain I will have no life.”

  “If you live, you must promise to write me, that I can still speak to my little brother.”

  “And if Satine tries to take away your life, you must flee. It will be my turn to protect you.”

  “My brother,” Audrey laughed, “you’re full of your own ideas now, your own ambitions. Since when did you stop agreeing with everything I said?” Her smile turned sad as she seemed to look on a sight distanced by time. She stood. “We should hurry, before Satine notices I’ve been gone for too long.”

  She stepped to the slit of a window. Grabbing the ledge, she pushed it and the wall crumbled into the night, as easily as if it’d been made of sand. A fissure gaped wide. Audrey shoved away a few more bricks until the city could be seen plainly beyond. She took a reed from a pocket in her dress, giving it to Hallain. He blew into it, the sound drifting out into the sky.

  “Be safe, brother,” she said.

  “I think you have more to fear from Satine,” he half-joked.

  “I have yet to imagine a prison that can hold me.”

  “Satine may have a better imagination.”

  Audrey sighed, taking the flame from his hand. “Go and flee to the enemy. I fight a losing war because my brother chose to aid the other side.”

  “Ah, Rylo. What a time to make such an accusation. We have our differences over the war, but we cannot let that separate us.”

  “Separate us? You are leaving forever and you do not want to separate us.”

  “Don’t be angry. I’ve already lost the sympathies of one sister.”

  “You will not lose mine.” When Hallain didn’t move, she gave him a slight push. “You should go. Perhaps, I’ll come see you when the war is done.”

  “You will always have a refuge in Moreina with me.”

  “If they let you live.”

  “Don’t worry, sister.” He gave a weak smile. “Goodbye.” He leapt through the opening, down into the night. Audrey watched as he rose on his eira, the bird carrying him away. He rode across the sky, past the tapering star above the city. His figure grew smaller, and soon, he was no longer visible against the span of stars.

  Audrey lingered. At last, she blew out the flame. Opening the door, she stepped through, smiling at the guard who bowed to her.

  She walked briskly. Turning a corner, she stopped. In front of her, framed by the arch of the hallway, was Satinah.

  Chapter 15