onto a balcony and then onto the wall surrounding the home, walking along it as easily as a cat until he reached the end and dropped to the ground. With him pushing on her heels, Lydia managed to scale the wall, which he easily climbed; then they crossed through the neglected gardens toward the main doors.
Inside, the heavy drapes were drawn, but even in the dim light, it was obvious that whoever had decorated the home had excellent taste. The wooden floors were laid in a complex pattern and polished to a high shine, the walls were adorned with large pieces of art, and the furniture was carved from what looked like fruitwood. The air smelled faintly of varnish but also stale, as though it had not been stirred in some time. There was a large portrait hanging between a twin set of staircases, and Lydia gave a slight smile as she recognized a much younger version of Killian flanked by his older brothers, mother and father standing behind. He looked a great deal like his father, tall, with dark hair and eyes, skin a dusky olive hue. His mother, by contrast, was fair and rosy cheeked, with reddish-blond hair and a kind smile.
“The artist took license,” Killian said, waving a hand at the painting. “She’s the only person in the world whose temper I won’t tempt.”
“She’s beautiful.”
“You don’t notice that when she’s chasing you down the hall shouting threats.”
He led Lydia through the corridors and into a large room, where he flung open one of the curtains to give them light. Her eyes immediately went to the chandelier hanging from the ceiling, taking in the layer after layer of crystal that must glitter like stars when it was lit. There was a table at the center, on which rested a large roll of paper. “Why are we here?” she asked.
“Because if we are to work together, I need the whole truth from you.”
Reaching for the paper, he unrolled it, resting a pair of knives on the edges to hold it flat. It was a large map, the landmasses detailing those she’d only seen once—when she’d been spying on Marcus and Lucius. Like that map, judging from the symbol in the corner, it was of Maarin make. “We are here,” he said, pointing to a dot labeled Mudaire on the western coast of the large Northern Continent. “Now where is Celendor?”
The Maarin had kept the East and West secret from each other for all of recorded history, and while it was obvious why they they’d kept the East ignorant, it was unclear to her why they’d kept the West equally so. Had it been to prevent these people from braving the Endless Seas, for if they successfully voyaged east, the Empire would surely learn of their origins? Or had there been a greater reason? Lydia didn’t know, but right now truthfulness seemed in her best interest. “Do you have a pencil?”
He held one up. “I came prepared.”
Eyeing the scale on the map of the West, Lydia flipped it over, and she began to draw. An artist she was not, but her father had provided her with an excellent education, which had included geography. The Empire grew beneath her hand, the vast central continent, then the islands. And as she drew, she spoke. “I was adopted at a young age by my foster father, who is head of the patrician family Valerius. His position gives him a seat in the Senate, which is the body that governs Celendor and its provinces. He is the equivalent of one of Mudamora’s High Lords, though there are a little over three hundred senators.”
“Good gods,” Killian murmured. “And here I thought eleven plus a king was bad enough. The arguing must be endless.”
“It is nearly all they do, though they prefer the term debate.” She finished her outlines of the landmasses and began shading in the topography. “Only men may inherit in Celendor, and as my father has no son, the Valerius fortune and seat in the Senate must go to his nephew, Vibius, who despises me.” The story poured from her lips and her pencil never stopped moving until she said, “So you see, it was either die in an underground chamber or risk the xenthier path.”
Killian was leaning back in his chair, elbows resting on the padded arms. “Why in the names of all the gods would you want to go back?” He sat forward abruptly. “Don’t get me wrong, I can understand