โPerhaps it should be a masquerade instead.โ โFocus.โ
โOr maybe a costume ball. Something with a bit of flare.โ โCome on, Rhy. Pay attention.โ
The prince sat in a high-backed chair, gold-buckled boots kicked up on the table, rolling a glass ball between his hands. The orb was part of a larger, more intricate version of the game Kell had pawned off in the Stoneโs Throw. In place of pebbles or puddles or piles of sand nesting on the little board, there were five glass balls, each containing an element. Four still sat in the dark wood chest on the table, its inside lined with silk and its edges capped in gold. The one in Rhyโs hands held a handful of earth, and it tipped side to side with the motion of his fingers. โCostumes with layers, ones that can be taken off โฆโ he went on.
Kell sighed.
โWe can all start the night in full-dress and end inโโ โYouโre not even trying.โ
Rhy groaned. His boots hit the floor with a thud as he straightened and held the glass ball up between them. โFine,โ he said. โObserve my magical prowess.โ Rhy squinted at the dirt trapped inside the glass and, attempting to focus, spoke to the earth under his breath in low murmuring English. But the earth did not move. Kell watched a crease appear between Rhyโs eyes as he focused and whispered and waited and grew increasingly irritated. At last, the dirt shifted (albeit half-heartedly) within the glass.
โI did it!โ exclaimed Rhy. โYou shook it,โ said Kell. โI wouldnโt dare!โ
โTry again.โ
Rhy made a sound of dismay as he slumped in his chair. โSanct, Kell.
Whatโs wrong with me?โ
โNothing is wrong,โ insisted Kell.
โI speak eleven languages,โ said Rhy. โSome for countries I have never seen, nor am likely to set foot in, yet I cannot coax a clod of dirt to move, or a drop of water to rise from its pool.โ His temper flared. โItโs maddening!โ he growled. โWhy is the language of magic so hard for my tongue to master?โ
โBecause you cannot win the elements over with your charm or your smile or your status,โ said Kell.
โThey disrespect me,โ said Rhy with a dry smile.
โThe earth beneath your feet does not care you will be king. Nor the water in your cup. Nor the air you breathe. You must speak to them as equal, or even better, as supplicant.โ
Rhy sighed and rubbed his eyes. โI know. I know. I only wish โฆโ he trailed off.
Kell frowned. Rhy looked genuinely upset. โWish what?โ
Rhyโs gaze lifted to meet Kellโs, the pale gold glittering even as a wall went up behind them. โI wish I had a drink,โ he said, burying the matter. He shoved up from his chair and crossed the chamber to pour himself one from a sideboard against the wall. โI do try, Kell. I want to be good, or at least better. But we canโt all be โฆโ Rhy took a sip and waved his hand at Kell.
The word he assumed Rhy was looking for wasย Antari. The word he used wasย โYou.โ
โWhat can I say?โ said Kell, running his hand through his hair. โIโm one of a kind.โ
โTwo of a kind,โ corrected Rhy.
Kellโs brow creased. โIโve been meaning to ask; what was Holland doing here?โ
Rhy shrugged and wandered back toward the chest of elements. โThe same thing he always is. Delivering mail.โ Kell considered the prince. Something was off. Rhy was a notorious fidgeter whenever he was lying, and Kell watched him shift his weight from foot to foot and tap his fingers against the open lid of the chest. But rather than press the issue, Kell let it drop and, instead, reached down and plucked another of the glass balls from the chest, this one filled with water. He balanced it in his palm, fingers splayed.
โYouโre trying too hard.โ Kell bid the water in the glass to move, and it moved, swirling first loosely within the orb and then faster and tighter, creating a small, contained cyclone.
โThatโs because itย isย hard,โ said Rhy. โJust becauseย youย make it look easy doesnโt mean it is.โ
Kell wouldnโt tell Rhy that he didnโt even need to speak in order to move the water. That he could simply think the words, feel them, and the element listened, and answered. Whatever flowed through the waterโand the sand,
and the earth, and the restโflowed through him, too, and he could will it, as he would a limb, to move for him. The only exception was blood. Though it flowed as readily as the rest, blood itself did not obey the laws of elementsโ it could not be manipulated, told to move, or forced to still. Blood had a will of its own, and had to be addressed not as an object, but as an equal, an adversary. Which was whyย Antariย stood apart. For they alone held dominion not only over elements, but also over blood. Where elemental invocation was designed simply to help the mind focus, to find a personal synchronicity with the magicโit was meditative, a chant as much as a summoningโtheย Antariย blood commands were, as the term suggested,ย commands. The words Kell spoke to open doors or heal wounds with his blood wereย orders. And they had to be given in order to be obeyed.
โWhatโs it like?โ asked Rhy out of nowhere.
Kell dragged his attention away from the glass, but the water kept spinning inside it. โWhatโs what like?โ
โBeing able to travel. To see the other Londons. What areย theyย like?โ
Kell hesitated. A scrying table sat against one wall. Unlike the smooth black panels of slate that broadcast messages throughout the city, the table served a different purpose. Instead of stone, it held a shallow pool of still water, enchanted to project oneโs ideas, memories, images from their mind onto the surface of the water. It was used for reflection, yes, but also to share oneโs thoughts with others, to help when words failed to convey, or simply fell short.
With the table, Kell could show him. Let Rhy see the other Londons as he saw them. A selfish part of Kell wanted to share them with his brother, so that he wouldnโt feel so alone, so that someone else would see, would know. But the thing about people, Kell had discovered, is that they didnโtย reallyย want to know. They thought they did, but knowing only made them miserable. Why fill up a mind with things you canโt use? Why dwell on places you canโt go? What good would it do Rhy, who, for all the privileges his royal status might grant him, could never set foot in another London?
โUneventful,โ said Kell, returning his glass to the chest. As soon as his fingers left its surface, the cyclone fell apart, the water sloshing and settling to a stop. Before Rhy could ask any more questions, Kell pointed at the glass in the princeโs hand and told him to try again.
Rhy tried againโand failed againโto move the earth within the glass. He made a frustrated noise and knocked the sphere away across the table. โIโm rubbish at this, and we both know it.โ
Kell caught the glass ball as it reached the tableโs edge and tumbled over. โPracticeโโ he started.
โPractice wonโt do a damned thing.โ
โYour problem, Rhy,โ chided Kell, โis that you donโt want to learn magic to learn magic. You only want to learn it because you think it will help you lure people into your bed.โ
Rhyโs lips twitched. โI donโt see how thatโs aย problem,โ he said, โAnd it would. Iโve seen the way the girlsโand boysโfawn over your pretty black eye, Kell.โ He shoved to his feet. โForget the lesson. Iโm in no mood for learning. Letโs go out.โ
โWhy?โ asked Kell. โSo you can useย myย magic to lure people intoย your
bed?โ
โA fine idea,โ said Rhy. โBut no. We must go out, you see, because weโre on a mission.โ
โOh?โ asked Kell.
โYes. Because unless you plan to wed me yourselfโand donโt get me wrong, I think weโd make a dashing pairโI must try and find a mate.โ
โAnd you think youโll find one traipsing around the city?โ
โGoodness, no,โ said Rhy with a crooked grin. โBut who knows what fun Iโll find while failing.โ
Kell rolled his eyes and put the orbs away. โMoving on,โ he said. โLetโs be done with this,โ whined Rhy.
โWe shall be done,โ said Kell. โAs soon as you can contain a flame.โ
Of all the elements, fire was the only one Rhy had shown a โฆ well,ย talentย was too strong a word, but perhaps anย abilityย for. Kell cleared the wooden table and set a sloped metal dish before the prince, along with a piece of white chalk, a vial of oil, and an odd little device like a pair of crossed pieces of blackened wood joined by a hinge in the middle. Rhy sighed and drew a binding circle on the table around the dish using the chalk. He then emptied the vial onto the plate, the oil pooling in the center, no bigger than a ten-lin coin. Finally, he lifted the device, which fit easily in his palm. It was a fire starter. When Rhy closed his hand around it and squeezed, the two stems scraped together, and a spark fell from the hinge to the pool of oil, and caught.
A small blue flame danced across the surface of the coinsize pool, and Rhy cracked his knuckles, rolled his neck, and pushed up his sleeves.
โBefore the light goes out,โ urged Kell.
Rhy shot him a look, but brought his hands to either side of the chalk-binding circle, palms in, and began to speak to the fire not in English, but in Arnesian. It was a more fluid, coaxing tongue that leant itself to magic. The words poured out in a whisper, a smooth, unbroken line of sound that seemed to take shape in the room around them.
And to their mutual amazement, it worked. The flame in the dish turned white and grew, enveloping what was left of the oil and continuing to burn without it. It spread, coating the surface of the plate and flaring up into the air before Rhyโs face.
โLook!โ said Rhy, pointing at the light. โLook, I did it!โ
And he had. But even though heโd stopped speaking to the flame, it kept growing.
โDonโt lose focus,โ said Kell as the white fire spread, licking the edges of the chalk circle.
โWhat?โ challenged Rhy as the fire twisted and pressed against the binding ring. โNo word of praise?โ He looked away from the fire and toward Kell, his fingers brushing along the table as he turned. โNot even aโโ
โRhy,โย warned Kell, but it was too late. Rhyโs hand had skimmed the circle, smudging the line of chalk. The fire tore free.
It flared up across the table, sudden and hot, and Rhy nearly toppled backward in his chair trying to get out of its way.
In a single motion, Kell had freed his knife, drawn it across his palm, and pressed his bloodied hand to the tabletop.ย โAs Anasae,โย he orderedโdispel. The enchanted fire died instantly, vanishing into air. Kellโs head spun.
Rhy stood there, breathless. โIโm sorry,โ he said guiltily. โIโm sorry, I shouldnโt have โฆโ
Rhy hated it when Kell was forced to use blood magic, because he felt personally responsibleโhe often wasโfor the sacrifice that came with it. He had caused Kell a great deal of pain once, and had never quite forgiven himself for it. Now Kell took up a cloth and wiped his wounded hand. โItโs fine,โ he said, tossing aside the rag. โIโm fine. But I think weโre done for today.โ
Rhy nodded shakily. โI could use another drink,โ he said. โSomething strong.โ
โAgreed,โ said Kell with a tired smile.
โHey, we havenโt been to the Aven Stras in ages,โ said Rhy.
โWe canโt go there,โ said Kell. What he meant was,ย I canโt letย youย go there. Despite its name, the Aven StrasโโBlessed Watersโโhad become a haunt for the cityโs unsavory sorts.
โCome on,โ said Rhy, already returned to his sporting self. โWeโll get Parrish and Gen to dig up some uniforms and weโll all go asโโ
Just then a man cleared his throat, and Rhy and Kell both turned to find King Maxim standing in the doorway.
โSir,โ they said in unison.
โBoys,โ he said. โHow are your studies going?โ
Rhy gave Kell a weighted look, and Kell raised a brow, but said only, โTheyโve come and gone. We just finished.โ
โGood,โ said the king, producing a letter.
Kell didnโt realize how much he badly he wanted that drink with Rhy until he saw the envelope, and he knew he wouldnโt get it. His heart sank, but he didnโt let it show.
โI need you to carry a message,โ said the king. โTo our strong neighbor.โ
Kellโs chest tightened with the familiar mixture of fear and excitement that was inextricable when it came to White London.
โOf course, sir,โ he said.
โHolland delivered a letter yesterday,โ explained the king. โBut couldnโt stay to collect the response. I told him I would send it back with you.โ
Kell frowned. โAll is well, I hope,โ he said carefully. He rarely knew the contents of the royal messages he carried, but he could usually glean the tone
โthe correspondences with Grey London had devolved to mere formality, the cities having little in common, while the dialogue with White was constant and involved and left a furrow in the kingโs brow. Their โstrong neighborโ (as the king called the other city) was a place torn by violence and power, the name at the end of the royal letters changing with disturbing frequency. It would have been too easy to discontinue correspondence and leave White London to its decay, but the Red crown couldnโt. Wouldnโt.
They felt responsible for the dying city. And they were.
After all, it had beenย Redย Londonโs decision to seal itself off, leaving White Londonโwhich sat between Red and Blackโtrapped and forced to fight back the dark plague on its own, to seal itself in, and the corrupted magic out. It was a decision that haunted centuries of kings and queens, but at the time, White London was strongโstronger even than Redโand the Red crown believed (orย claimedย to believe) it was the only way they would all survive. They were right and wrong. Grey London receded into quiet obliviousness. Red not only survived but flourished. But White was forever changed. The city, once glorious, fell to chaos and conquering. Blood and ash.
โAll is as well as it can be,โ said the king as he handed Kell the note and turned back toward the door. Kell moved to follow when Rhy caught his arm.
โPromise,โ the prince whispered under his breath. โPromise youโll come back empty-handed this time.โ
Kell hesitated. โI promise,โ he said, wondering how many times he had said those words, how empty theyโd become.
But as he pulled a pale piece of silver from beneath his collar, he hoped that this time they might prove true.