I was so happy to see him, I didn't even get angry. "I know."
He looked around, then pulled me into the darkness of an alley. "This is dangerous."
"No more for you than for me."
He nodded and kissed me again. "By the Arrow, I'm glad to see you. It's been a hellish few weeks."
"Are you all right? And Dae?"
"I'm fine. She's fine, though the burden of her pregnancy is starting to get to her. She says she doesn't get tired more easily, but I think she's lying. She entered Alyria three days ago with about eight men who were dancing to her every whim. I got word she's taken herself to the hidden bath house."
"She'll find a lot of company there." I leaned into his warmth. "I missed you."
We took to the streets and made it home before dawn. Galya grumbled sleepily when we came back into the room, but when her eyes fluttered open and she saw Lir, she sat up.
"Where's Dae?"
"In the hidden bathhouse," Lir told her, and Galya didn't even wait to hear anymore before she was up and dressed. Her kedalya fell in a puddled length around her feet, and she snorted with frustration as she tugged it off and tossed it at me. "Here. Yours."
"It will be hours before you're allowed on the streets," I pointed out.
She shrugged and tugged her follyblanket over her head. "I want to get to Daelyn. I'll find a way."
"She will, too," Lir remarked when Galya had gone from the room.
Then we were alone, and we used our time wisely.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
"The coronation's in two days." Daelyn addressed the bathhouse, which was filled to overflowing. The bath had been drained to provide a place for the men from Elitan to train and sleep, and the furniture removed. "The ceremony's going to take place in the ballroom, with invited guests only. The rest of the city's going to have to stand outside and wait for the announcement it's been done – if any of them care."
Dae gave a wicked grin. "Something tells me those who didn't get an invitation from the Lord Regent are not going to be waiting with bated breath for him to get his crown."
She paced the tile floor. She'd chosen to clothe herself in a tunic and trousers while in Alyria, but still wore her bulging belly with pride. She'd tied her hair back from her face with a ribbon that was a far cry from the circlet of gold on her head the first time I'd seen her. Had that only been a year ago?
She continued. "Rosten will take his throne just after the first course of dinner has been served. Give them time to drink some wine. Move among them, hidden, and when Rosten stands to take the crown from Sinder's high priest, we'll strike."
"How many men will he have there?" called out one man.
"Our sources say he'll have most of his men stationed around the edge of the city in preparation for our attack." She gave a low chortle. "The others, the ones he trusts most, will be covering the doors in and out of the White Palace. Closest to him will be his lords and inner core of guards, the ones who attend him wherever he goes. They're also the ones who are of a mind with him, and will fight the hardest. Keep that in mind. When we've done here, we'll dispatch a messenger to the rest of the army to tell them to stand down."
"And if they won't?" called another man.
Daelyn took the time to cross to him and meet his gaze, though she stood a good four inches shorter. "If they don't, we'll have to be ready for them. But I think they will. Every account has it that most of Rosten's forces would be only too happy to be retired with a pocketful of gold for their services, which is what I'll give them if they lay down their arms. Without Rosten to threaten them, I do believe a good number of them will stand down. But if they don't, I'm willing to fight them."
There was much rumbling and muttering at that, which Daelyn bore with a grace and patience I was unaccustomed to seeing. Finally, she held up her hands to address the crowd again. "If you are here today, it's because you don't believe in oppression. Those of you from Elitan can choose to go home now, back to your queen who rules you all with grace and compassion, regardless of your gender. Those of you who are Alyrian can choose to leave the place of your birth and find a new life elsewhere. I choose to fight. I would rather die than see Joffsen Rosten rule this country."
It seemed as though every eye in the room had turned to her belly. One young Alyrian woman got to her feet. "What about the children?"
Daelyn looked down at her. "We'll bring them to the bathhouses. They'll be safe until the battle is finished."
The young woman nodded and seemed pleased. Daelyn addressed the crowd again.
"If there are any of you who wish to leave, do so now. Otherwise, we have two days to prepare ourselves."
Nobody left. Daelyn nodded. "Good. Let's get started."
Chapter Fifty-Eight
There hadn't been a coronation in Alyria since Daelyn's, and that had been a simple ceremony with little fanfare to name dead King Harrigan's last child Prince Regent. It seemed Rosten planned something a little more exciting. Daelyn and I watched from across the street as wagons full of produce and meats arrived from the warehouse district. The White Palace swarmed with activity. Daelyn spotted her personal tailor, arms overflowing with bags of fabric, stagger through the front gates.
"Bastard," Dae muttered. "New clothes for his party, I see."
"Hey, you follies. Move along!" called out one of the guards, and we had no choice but to comply.
"You couldn't have paid him enough gold coin to appear fashionable," Dae said later, when we were in the hidden bathhouse going over the tactical plans. She swiped at her hair, which wasn't quite long enough to braid and consequently kept falling in her face. "Now all at once he's using my tailor – mine! To outfit him. What a bastard."
"Don't get yourself so worked up," Galya soothed. "He's not worth the anger."
Daelyn's fists clenched. "I want him out of my house!"
Galya and I exchanged looks. Daelyn's outrage wasn't humorous, but we still shared a quick grin. Much may have changed, but Daelyn certainly hadn't.
"I should think what Rosten wears would be the least of your worries," Lir put in. He handed me a lightweight sword I recognized as one from the weaponry.
"How...?" I began to ask, then stopped. It only mattered that I had a weapon, not how he came by it. "Are there others?"
From behind Lir stepped a familiar small figure. "I brung others, my lord."
"Ichabod," I greeted the boy, then couldn't stop myself from hugging him. "It's good to see you."
Ichabod suffered my embrace and gave Lir a look. "You was right, my lord. He is a lady now."
I bit my lip to hold back the smile, then knelt and looked him in the eyes. "I'm still the same Aeris, Ichabod."
He nodded shyly and reached to touch the ragged edges of my shorn hair. "I seen what the Book Monster did to you, sir. I brung the weapons here for you to use against him tomorrow. Me and some of the other boys, sir...we don't like the way he treats people. There's an old folly in the kitchen, sir, and she always makes sure us boys get somewhat to eat, even if we've missed our supper. Rosten had her beat, sir. She was bloody." His small voice broke, and he squared his shoulders with a visible effort. "She was my folly, sir. She was nice to me. He can't keep doing stuff like that to people, sir."
"You're right, Ichabod. And I'm very proud of you for seeing that. I'm sorry he hurt your friend." I gave his shoulders a squeeze but refrained from hugging him again. "You know you'll have to stay here from now until after this is over, don't you? You can't risk going back and having anyone find out you stole the weapons."
He made a stubborn face. "I can fight! We been practicing, even with Lord Akean gone, we been working hard!"
Lir and I exchanged glances over Ichabod's head. "I'm sure you have. But someone has to...someone has to supervise things here. We need a few good, strong, older boys to make sure the younger children and the women who will be watching them are safe."
He didn't look convinced. "You want us to watch over babies?"
I nodded. "They need someone to protect them, lad. We'll all be in the ballroom, waiting for our chance to strike. Who will stay here and make sure nobody harms the children and their mothers?"
He looked thoughtful. "All right, I guess."
"Good lad. Now show me what else you brought."
Ichabod and his comrades had smuggled enough blades to arm more than half of our number. The others would have to make do with the kitchen and sewing implements they'd modified. I was impressed, and told him so.
"Now we just have to be sure everyone is ready to use them," Lir said when Ichabod had run off. He looked around the crammed bathhouse, which had never been meant to hold so many people. "There's not enough room in here for everyone to get a proper workout, and this only half our number. What of the follies at home? Think you they can be prepared enough?"
"We'll have to hope so." I watched as men from Elitan sat next to women from Alyria. How many romances would bloom from this, I wondered idly. How many unions created? Children born? Elitan and Alyria would truly be meshed by the time this war ended, by one way or another.
"Aeris?"
I'd missed his question."Yes?"
He gestured toward the bath, empty of water, where most of the men and women sat. "The night after tomorrow many of these people might be dead."
I pulled him into one of the private rooms where not so long ago I had watched Alyrian lords make love to the women they would now fight to free. "Don't let them hear you say that."
"It's a fact. No more. No less."
I took his hands, which were cold, and chafed them. "Lir, love...I think they all know the risk."
He looked bleak, his dark eyes shadowed with circles that showed his recent sleeplessness. "There will be many children without mothers and fathers two nights from now. Not only our people, but also those who oppose us. It doesn't sit well in my gut. Daelyn can talk of fighting to the death, and of freedom from oppression all she wants, but what it comes down to is this. We want to win, and we'll kill anybody who gets in our way of doing that. The Art isn't meant to be used like that."
Sitting next to him, I rested my head on his shoulder. "I know. How would you have this happen?"
He took a breath as deep as a well. "There is no other way. But I don't look forward to the stink of blood and the screams of the dying. Alyria hasn't been in a war for nigh on a hundred years. We've been isolated a long time. I don't want to think what it's going to do to our city-state, even if it is necessary."
"Do you think we're going to lose?"
He tilted his head to look down at me. "I don't know."
I nodded, unsure of what else to say. Our fingers linked. We sat together in silence for a few moments.
"I love you," he said at last. "Probably from the day I first saw you at the melon stand. If nothing else, I'm forever grateful for the time we've had together. I just wanted you to know that."
"Lir, we'll be together after this." I smiled, even though I didn't feel like it. "Here or in the Land Above. One way or another. I believe that."
He held me tightly, his face pressed into my hair. "I believe it, too."
Chapter Fifty-Nine
The women's communication system didn't fail us. We received word from all over the city that mothers with children would bring them to the bathhouses to be sheltered in our hideout. Women who planned on fighting made arrangements to serve at the coronation, or to be certain the men of their house wouldn't notice their absence if they left.
"What's this mean?" I asked Galya when she showed me a handful of intricately braided strips of multi-colors that had been passed to her from Verrilay, just back from the market.
"Sleeping draught," she replied nonchalantly. "Men who aren't invited to the coronation party and who might cause trouble will be going to bed early tomorrow night."
"You've done this before?"
"Any folly knows how much ale to serve her man for supper, and what to put in it, if she wants to be left alone. Lucky follies don't have to use it, but for those with men who beat them, or use them to soreness....well." She shrugged and gave me a mischievous grin. "'Tis the same as dealing with a fractious child, isn't it? Try to put them to sleep and hope they wake with a smile on the morrow."
"By this time tomorrow night, it will all be over."
Galya nodded and toyed with the hem of her kedalya. She'd pushed the hood back so I could see her pretty face, and it looked troubled. "Things will change."
"I hope so." I sat next to her, my own stomach jumping with anxiety.
Her shoulders shivered. She was crying. I lifted her chin. "What's wrong, Galya?"
She bit her lip. "I'm afraid I'm going to lose her."
"Ah." I put my arm around her shoulders. "Daelyn loves you."
She shook her head. "Dae...is a prince. She'll be a king. Or a queen, whichever she chooses. And I'm not. I'm a folly. That's all I know how to be."
"All you have to know how to do is love her. That's what Daelyn wants and what she needs, too. Someone to love her."
"That's what we all need, isn't?" She sniffled but gave me a watery smile. "I'm afraid I won't be good enough for her, after."
I squeezed her shoulder. "You're good enough for anybody, Galya, and you should know that."
She nodded a bit more brightly. "Carinda has taken Gerard as her consort, and he's a commoner. He told me his family came from Divad. They were merchants there. But he's a man," she said worriedly. "And in Alyria they might accept Dae on the throne even though she's a woman...but will they accept another woman by her side? A folly, no less?"
"I don't know." I sighed along with her.
Galya looked out again from the kitchen to the living room. Lir had convinced Baltian to stand and try wielding the sword. "It looks like Baltian is going to fight with us tomorrow."
"He's one of many." I looked down to the tangled knots of colored fabric the women of Baltian's house had been bringing all day long. "If I'm not wrong, all of these are from women who say their men will be standing outside the White Palace tomorrow night when Rosten takes the crown."
She nodded and picked through the knots. "And these are from women who fear their men will fight in reprisal."
"The numbers are close, but I think we have an edge."
She smiled. "I just wish I could be with her tonight. You know. In case I don't have another chance."
I knew. I looked over to Lir, still trying to help Baltian. "You should go, then. You know where she is. Go there before it gets dark and they won't let you pass."
"She's going to be busy with Carinda and Gerard, talking about tomorrow. And with the people who are there. She won't –"
"Galya." I took her hands gently. "She'll have time for you. You should go to her. Not because I don't think you'll ever have another chance. Because I want the room to myself, tonight."
That made her laugh again, and she hugged me. "I will see you tomorrow, then. Sleep well, Aeris."
She got up and slipped the hood over her face, then went to the living room and spoke briefly to Baltian. He looked uncertain, then shrugged and nodded. Galya left. Lir looked through the doorway at me, his dark eyes burning and a faint smile on the mouth I loved so well.
I'm sure we weren't the only lovers who spent the night in each other's arms, nor the only ones who did so knowing it could be the last time. Even so, it felt as though we were the only two lovers left. The darkness gave us that, and the narrow confines of that uncomfortable bed, and I suppose, our love did too. For those few hours between dusk and dawn, Lir and I were the only two people in our world.
I greeted the sun with bittersweet anticipation. I didn't want to leave the tangled sheets and entangled limbs for the chill of spring morning air. I didn't want to put on my clothes, strap on my weapon and cover my body with the hated kedalya. At the same time, my heart pounded as I flexed my muscles and thought of the fight ahead. I loved to fight. I was good at it. My body looked forward to the upcoming conflict, even if my mind did
n't.
"Are you all right?" Lir was taking longer to dress.
I nodded as I went through an abbreviated warm-up. "Yes. You?"
He stood, naked, but no longer my lover. "Answer that question again, and this time use the Art to do so."
I gave my teacher the respect he deserved in my answer, deferent but not cowed. I moved again and let the Art fill me. This time, I had a different reply. "No. I'm not all right. I can never be all right to take life. I can be prepared, and I can be able, but I can't be all right."
He nodded at my answer. "Today will be a long one. Make sure you break your fast with something hearty."