“Oval is not a fool, Mooriah. Anyone can see that you are better, more prepared, and take your tasks more seriously than Glister does.”
She shook her head but was smiling softly. He would count that as a win. However, the moment, whatever it had been, was gone, and she still had a sad air about her that Ember wanted desperately to dispel. If nothing else, he could do that for her.
He stood and held a hand out. “I know what will cheer you. Let’s take a break.”
“We’re already taking a break,” she said wryly.
“Well a slightly longer break. I’d like to show you something.”
She looked at his outstretched hand and instead of taking it, stood on her own. He fisted his hand at his side, ignoring the mallet that continued hammering away at him.
They exited his hiding place and walked along the abandoned corridors of this section of the city. Some of the staircases here were already falling into disrepair; he made a mental note to have them attended to. Anything to keep his mind off what had almost happened.
“Were you raised in the orphans’ home?” he asked, realizing he knew little about her life.
“At first, though when I was around six, I went to live with Murmur and his family group. He’d had a vision and was convinced to take me in.”
“What does he have again, four wives? Five?”
She shook her head. “Only three—Sparkle passed on to become one with the Mother two years ago. And they added another husband, Yaw, when I was fifteen.”
“The old ways seem very complicated,” Ember said. “How can someone keep up with so many spouses?”
“They have their way of doing things. Though I admit, I have no desire for more than one partner in my life.”
Most of the Folk under one hundred years of age or so eschewed the polyamorous lifestyle that so many of the elders participated in. There just weren’t as many people around any longer.
“I agree. I’d rather focus my attention on one person. Jealousy is a poison that infects too many hearts.” His mother had never shown outward jealousy of his father’s other wives, but had she merely hidden it from him?
“Where are you taking me?” Mooriah asked, looking around.
“We’re almost there.”
She huffed irritably, and he held back a smile. It was obvious that she liked to be in control. He wisely kept to himself how adorable he found her lack of patience. They climbed up a staircase and down another, then snaked through a warren of empty halls until they finally reached the destination.
This place was high in the city, located beneath one of the Mother’s taller peaks. A narrow, dark tunnel, unlit by firerocks, led to a wide cavern. Mooriah gasped as they entered the much brighter space, and Ember tried to recall what it was like to see it for the first time.
The ceiling rose high above them, nearly as tall as Night Snow’s entire city. Here, the Mother’s ragged walls were not smooth like they were in so much else of the territory. This stone was unblemished by the spells which embedded memories or protections in the walls. It was just raw mountain, and on the far wall, an enormous waterfall fed a lake below. Rocks jutted up from the surface of the water, forming a rough path leading to the waterfall. The unexpectedness and majesty of the sight took Mooriah’s breath away.
“Do you want to get closer?” he asked.
Her head tilted up, staring at the grand falls, she nodded mutely. With sure steps from years of practice, he showed her how to leap from rock to rock, crossing the lake in no time.
They stood on a ledge a dozen paces from the water’s thunderous fall. The spray misted them as they drew closer.
“How did I not know this was here?” she said, voice raised to compete with the falling water.
“It was once a retreat for the elite who lived on the upper levels. Now no one really comes here anymore.”
“You do.”
He grinned as they approached the falls and stuck his hand in the spray.
“It’s warm?” She laughed, splashing a little.
“There’s a hot spring in a hidden mountain oasis up there somewhere. At least that’s what they think. No one has ever been there, it’s too high.” He craned his neck to try to see the origination of the water but could not. He didn’t even catch a glimpse of daylight up above. Firerocks were the