me.”
Vatta glared at Tigir, though to any who did not know her, it would simply appear as a slightly raised severe eyebrow. Tigir heaved a sigh.
“All right, but be quiet,” Hal said and she led her sisters through the small arched door, into the atrium. A hearth glowed with embers to the north, and the wooden floor was painted with a forever sky. Three small benches faced the earth saint alcove, where a polished statue of Saint Terestria stood wrapped in dried heather. Her eyes were clear glass. Beside the statue was a bust of Queen Celeda wearing a crown of crystal stars.
“It smells musty,” Tigir said.
“Like earth,” Vatta corrected.
“Hello?” Hal called, eager to move on and strangely uncomfortable here with her sisters. Would they report this to Celeda? Which was their mother’s spy? Hal is obsessed with religion, Mother, perhaps she should be sent away to a monastery or become a priest in the university. Then I will be your heir.
Yes, it would be Vatta, Hal thought, both bitter and oddly proud.
From beyond the sunlit door that led to an inner courtyard and garden, a priest in dingy gray robes came. He bowed and smiled. “Welcome, young ones. Have you come for a birth chart?”
Hal stepped quickly toward the old man. “Grandfather, do you know a young priest called Era? She is of Innis Lear, from the Errigal bloodline, with red freckles, dark curls, and a very vivid faith.”
“Lear!” cried Tigir.
Hal ignored it.
The old priest frowned and nodded. “She was here, five nights ago, though I’ve not seen her again. She said she searched for the prince, and I told her to follow the red ribbons.”
A smile invaded Hal’s mouth. It was a good hint; either Era would find her way or not, depending on her wiles and ability to earn trust.
The priest smiled back.
“But she no longer stays here?” Hal asked.
“No, I’m sorry, Prince of Riot. She moved on yesterday.”
Frustration churned in Hal’s guts, but she kept it off her face. “Did she say anything of where she would go?”
“I believe she would return to Innis Lear, having achieved or failed in her purpose here.”
Get out of my city, Hal had said to her. How she regretted it now, despite the performance she’d had to give. “Thank you. Here.” She dug into the coin purse tucked inside her coat, fishing out a coin and a long red ribbon with a thread of gold woven in. Leaning in for only the priest’s ears, she murmured, “If you ever need anything from my court.”
The priest touched Hal’s forehead, marking a spiral like the shape of turning stars. “Go with blessings, Prince Hal.”
She did, dragging out her sisters.
“It’s time for a drink,” she said, aiming for the Quick Sunrise.
Vatta kept pace with Hal, and said, “He knew you.”
“Prince of Riot!” Tigir laughed. “That’s amazing. It’s all true, then, you have your own court?”
“It’s a game,” Hal said with a dismissive shrug. “Are you coming to drink with me? You’ll be in more trouble if you engage with Ianta.”
“Yes!” Tigir said, moving faster, getting ahead of them despite not knowing their destination. She strode with her hand on her small Third Kingdom saber, stomping through the gutter of piss and mossy old water without concern for the fine leather of her boots.
Hal watched Tigir fondly, missing the luxury of youth.
“Why do you look for a priest from Innis Lear?” Vatta asked softly.
“It doesn’t matter,” Hal answered.
Silence was their companion for a half block, until Hal turned them river-ward, cutting through a looping alley toward Patter Lane. Then her sister said, “Tell me, Hal.”
“There’s nothing to tell.”
Vatta grabbed Hal’s wrist and frowned. “Trust me with it. I know you are serious.”
Hal looked into her sister’s eyes, which glared softly back under the cold cut of her black brows. There were so many things she could say or ask. Had Vatta ever longed to be more than she was afraid she was destined to be? Did she fear the crown as Hal did? Fear blood and the cut of swords? Fear responsibility and fate? Vatta was a second daughter; she should never have to rule, but could choose to be advisor or soldier, priest or mother or all of them together. How could she understand Hal’s misery? Hal shook her head. “No.”
“You have to trust someone since Hotspur left!” Vatta cried it so suddenly, jerking away from Hal.
This spark of fury had come from nowhere! Hal swallowed and shook her head again.
“What is this?”