Daughters of Ruin - K. D. Castner Page 0,23

saw Iren and barked. Iren drew her double rapiers and set position. Cadis waved her cutlass in a figure eight to loosen her wrist.

Without warning, she sprang forward and in one charging motion swung the heavy blade down toward Iren’s head.

CHAPTER THREE

Suki

One came carried from Tasan’s Imperium

A sister dead, in a black dress clad

Spoiled and twisted by a rank delirium

Slowly and surely she . . . went . . . mad.

—Children’s nursery rhyme

Suki stood in the saddle of her horse (Helio (which was hers, even though Declan had named it)) to see Cadis and Iren sparring on the other side of a giant hedge (on the closer side to the king’s box) while she warmed up for her ride (which was next) when she caught sight of Rhea (goodiegoodie queen witch) and Endrit (gods, he was beautiful) watching from the conductor’s trench, standing extra close to each other (though that might have just been the angle of her view (because Endrit would have to be a wild pig idiot to want that mangy nag (and he wasn’t (because he had a dozen options (like Cadis for one (and he could maybe even choose Suki (hopefully))))))).

“Stay straight,” she (Suki) said to herself, as Marta had taught her. Stay straight. A kind of double meaning (old soldiers loved that sort of thing (training advice that doubled as life advice)). Suki kept the reins of Helio straight as he trotted along the wall of the arena. Some spectators said something (Suki ignored them). And she tried to keep her thoughts straight (not twisted in a thousand directions at once (but seeing Rhea (after what she said the night before) made it impossible)).

The night before.

The night before, when Endrit had whispered to her in the corner, “What would I do without you, Susu?” (after she’d patched up the sloppy cut from Rhea). He’d leaned forward to whisper it. Suki had craned her neck up. Almost a kiss. And she’d said, “I dunno, bleed I guess,” (which was very clever for its double meaning (his cut, and his broken heart)).

They were almost alone in the corner together. Endrit had even said, “Yeah, you’re probably right.” He was comfortable around her (Suki could tell (more comfortable than around the others)), which meant they had something special.

Even when he danced with Rhea, Suki could tell he was uncomfortable with her clumsiness (they danced to Tasanese music (the best kind) and it was too subtle and elegant for Rhea).

In all the twisted scheming and court intrigue that swirled around Suki’s head, Endrit was calm and honest and simple (which might have sounded like an insult, but it was love, love so deep (like a well) that it stayed still in all the turmoil of their lives).

Cadis would have described it in words, that it was like a water well in a brush fire. But Suki felt it as an unspoken musical sensation (like the ethereal connection she had with Helio when they rode). The word for it in Tasanese translated in the common tongue as “co-spirits” (meaning they shared a soul and could look at each other and know what the other was thinking (and be comfortable around each other even if one of you is a servant and the other a hostage queen)).

Tola had told her about being a “co-spirit” (she had it with a prince from an outer province (who got killed at the Battle of Crimson Fog (or maybe committed suicide when he heard about Tola (or maybe when your co-spirit dies, you just fall over dead too)))). Tola (dead).

Suki remembered a glorious sunny morning (years ago) in the Summer Palace, when Tola taught her trampoline somersaults (servants threw her into the air with a silk sheet). Nearby, another dozen servants threw Tola (who was trained by the Tasanese Royal Acrobats and had long legs that made her seem like a bird in flight). Tola would shout instructions (up and down (her memory was of bouncing up and down (seeing her sister’s smile on every up (and feeling an invisible string connecting her to it (the smile), like her whole heart was tethered to Tola (and thinking that must have been how co-spirits felt all the time))))).

But Tola was dead and the string in Suki had been dragging on the ground (until she found Endrit).

And even if the emperor (her father) of Tasan would never allow his heir to marry a servant, Suki didn’t care, because she would wear the key to the walled palace