“I know I make an unconventional matron,” he continued, grin widening, “but fuck tradition, right, Sister? The Sky Made will accept us because it’s our side or that murderous crow god, and we know they’ll never bow to that. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First we must prove ourselves to the other bosses.”
“And how will we do that? Another trial?” She thought of her crawl and how Denaochi had done it before her. She rubbed at the warm place on her chest, the strange power there now an unexpected comfort.
He tapped the folded paper on the table and then held it up between them.
“We shall find out soon enough.”
CHAPTER 9
CITY OF TOVA
YEAR 1 OF THE CROW
Only a fool builds her home on a turtle’s back and complains when it swims away.
—Teek saying
Xiala passed through Titidi in silence, Aishe’s uncle a step ahead of her. She was bundled in her new cloak. It was warmer than her previous cloak had been, and ingenious ties at the wrist and neck kept the cold out better. She missed her old harbormaster’s cloak for the nostalgia of it but was grateful for Aishe’s parting gift. It was more generous than she felt she deserved.
“Keep close,” Uncle Kuy warned, pulling her attention to him. “We’re nearing the bridge.”
The bridge. The bridge where she had Sung and so many had died.
For a moment, she could not make her feet move. The woman in blue, the green-eyed man.
“I did my best, didn’t I?” she whispered to herself. “The mob was rioting. I had to try.”
A voice came sharp in her memory. All you ever do is try, Xiala. Try and fail, and then run from the consequences. You leave others to clean up your messes. Well, this time, there is no one else. This time, you pay for what you’ve done.
She shuddered under the weight of the recollection and the truth of it. The deaths on the bridge were now part of her burden, just like that first death on Teek so long ago, and she had to live with that blood on her hands.
“Fuck,” she muttered. She should have made Aishe find Zash and his balché. Nothing good came from allowing her mind to wallow in self-recrimination. She wanted, no, needed something to turn off the memories and help her forget. But there was nothing here but cold wind and an unfamiliar city.
They passed the wide stone pillars that anchored the bridge to the cliffside and stepped across the landing. The span swayed as they took their first steps, but Xiala had seen it withstand gale winds and did not doubt that it was sturdy. By the time they reached Sun Rock, a fog had bloomed around them, casting an eerie haze over the mesa. A few Tovans trudged along the only path open, heads down and about their business. And scattered along the path, half a dozen guards.
“Members of the Sky Made Shield.” Uncle Kuy kept his voice low. “Those there in green are Winged Serpent, not so bad. But watch for them in gold without the horns. That’s Golden Eagle. Natural enemies of Carrion Crow. They’ll trouble you if they know who you are.”
“Why are they here at all?”
“Keep out the curious, mostly. And people looking for souvenirs.”
“What kind of souvenirs?”
Uncle Kuy shrugged. “Weapons, knives, body parts. Whatever can be sold.”
She rubbed her thumb against her missing pinkie joint.
The back of her neck prickled as she felt eyes on her. She dared a glance to see who was staring and met the eyes of a Golden Eagle Shield. She turned away and looped her arm through Uncle Kuy’s.
“Quickly,” she urged.
Another few minutes, and they were across Sun Rock and on the bridge to Kun. She glanced back. The guard who had noted her was lost to the fog. Shaken, she kept going.
The fog dissipated as they reached land. The road before them went on a way before forking east farther into Kun or west to Odo. Kun was different from Titidi. The district of Winged Serpent was terraced hills and low-slung houses painted green and blue. She glimpsed the rounded roof of a brightly colored Great House up a winding switchback. Its whitewashed walls were decorated with serpents with feathered manes. In another life, she would have been intrigued, happy to spend a lazy day exploring this place. But now, not only did such an idyll seem out of reach, but the only person she wanted to go wandering with was Serapio. How had he become so much a part of her so quickly? She wasn’t sure how to explain it or what she was supposed to do with such unruly emotions. She wasn’t even sure she approved. But there it was, and it was useless to deny what she felt.
They had shared something special in their days together. Not the sex, although she yearned for his touch, the taste of his mouth on hers. Even now, she flushed as she remembered how he sucked the honey from her fingers. But it was more than the desire he roused in her. It was the way he cared for her, asked no more from her than she wanted to give, and never judged her. And he had never feared her for her difference, for her magic, when there were times when she even feared herself.