She must truly be a force to be reckoned with now, Vir thought. Maybe we’ll fight side by side one day.
“What is that?” Maiya said, gawking at an apothecary’s assortment of healing implements. It was the same stall Vir had stopped at on the day he’d arrived at Balindam. “That’s a bone, isn’t it? That looks awfully like a bone. Yep, that’s definitely a bone.”
“Metatarsal, dearie,” the kindly woman said. “From the toe. Cures all kinds of poisons. You need only dip it into your drink before consuming it.”
Vir wished he could’ve captured Maiya’s look of absolute revulsion.
“Does that really work?” Maiya whispered in Vir’s ear.
“If it did, wouldn’t everyone be using it?” he whispered back.
“Good point.”
“But some of their stuff is quite effective,” Vir said after they’d thanked the woman and left the stall behind. “They have to live without magic here, so they’ve come up with some really innovative ways of doing things.”
The non-magical lighting that illuminated the Undercity still awed him.
Can’t wait to see Maiya’s reaction to that, he thought.
At some point, they’d begun holding hands, just like they did in the old days. It was more a habit than anything intentional, though Vir still felt giddy, feeling her palm in his. There was something different about it this time around.
Her hand’s so soft.
“Vir! What about that one? Look at those pastries! Don’t they just look so juicy?” Maiya said, pulling him along. This, too, hadn’t changed one bit. She’d always led him around, back at Brij. At the time, he’d found her annoying and pushy, but now…
Kinda cute.
Vir shook his head. Why do I keep thinking of stuff like that? It was terribly distracting.
And yet, while the mannerism might’ve remained, Maiya had changed. Grown. She was working for a Kin’jali princess now. Working for those who would happily gobble up Tia’s country without a second thought. The very country Riyan considered a mortal enemy.
“Say, Maiya?” Vir said as Maiya chomped down on a grilled veggie skewer.
“Mmhmm?” she said with her cheeks full of a fried sugar pastry she still hadn’t swallowed.
“Do you ever feel bad about working for Kin’jal? I mean, I don’t have any love for Hiranya, but Kin’jal seems… I dunno. I wouldn’t call them good guys, you know?”
“Owo shuzzies. Wirash gunnashput nend todat.”
“Ira’s going to put an end to that?” Vir clarified with a bemused expression. Her lack of etiquette ought to have felt unsightly to him, but instead, her puffy cheeks reminded him of an endearing chipmunk. He wondered how her handmaiden colleagues would react if they saw her like this.
If only I had that moving painting device at Valaka Amara. If he could capture this moment, there’d be no end to how much he could torment the girl.
Maybe it’s for the best that things like that don’t exist, Vir thought. If they did, everyone would walk around with people’s worst moments. That sounded downright terrifying.
“That’s right,” Maiya replied, having swallowed her snack. “Princess Ira wants to end Kin’jal’s expansionist policies to establish better diplomatic ties with its neighbors. She wants to oust Imperator Andros—her father—to make that happen. And she wants me to help with all this. Can you believe that? Me, of all people.”
Maiya’s eyes went as wide as saucers and she put her hand over her mouth. “Grak!”
Vir froze, looking furtively around. Luckily, the crowd had thickened to where any conversations would be lost in the noise.
“Maiya, that is not the kind of thing you ought to be telling me in public! What if someone overheard?”
“I know! Trust me, I don’t normally slip up like that! I dunno what came over me,” Maiya said, her cheeks turning red. “I just… lost track of where I was. It’s not like me, I swear.”
Vir understood. After all, he’d been feeling all sorts of weird sensations. Maybe it was the same for her? “We should be alright. But be more careful, please? For your own sake.”
Maiya nodded.
Vir mulled over her words. If Princess Ira wanted to change Kin’jal’s policies, it would represent a windfall for Riyan. Had the man placed Maiya there knowingly? Or had this been mere luck?
There was something else that bothered Vir, though.
“You like working there, don’t you?”
A pang of pain shot through Vir’s chest, though he couldn’t explain why.
“I do. I truly do. It’s… You know how I used to fantasize when I was little? This is literally my dream come true.”
“Guess you got your big city life,” Vir replied, chuckling.
“Sonam’s the biggest city in the Known World. It’s staggering, honestly. And I’ve got magic now, even if it’s not Fire magic. I live in the royal castle, Vir! And I work directly for a princess, though she’s kind of a workaholic. And the money? The prestige? If you told me I’d have all of these things a year ago, I’d have thrown myself into Riyan’s arms and begged him to send me there.”
Wish I could say the same, Vir thought. He’d grown stronger, sure, but he was now a fugitive. Vir doubted he could ever return to the country of his youth. He’d even been forced to kill people. Yes, he’d grown from those experiences, but he felt as though he’d lost something along the way. Something precious.
“Vir, trust me. You’ll love Sonam. And you could live in the castle with me! If, erm, y’know… if you wanted to.”
Vir smiled. “How about we deal with that later? Let’s head back to the castle. You won’t be able to attend the Tribunal’s meeting with me, but I’d love to show you the grounds after. Maybe even some other stuff, if we’re lucky.”
“I’d love that,” Maiya said, brushing her hair out of her eyes.
It was such a simple, benign action, and yet, once again, Vir’s capacity for thought sailed away to the horizon.
“G-good, then.”
50SHACKLES OF THE PAST
When Vir entered Balindam’s audience chambers, he expected he’d meet with the Tribunal alone. Instead, all seventeen surviving raiders from last night’s raid stood in a row, hands clasped behind their backs. His first reaction was to panic seeing so many exposed demons.
They’ll be discovered!
No longer in disguise, they wore a variety of casual clothing that showed off their red skin. Then Vir suddenly remembered where he was, and the panic washed away, replaced by relief. Relief… and pride.
These are the demons who saved fifty souls last night.
The Tribunal stood at the foot of the stairs of the audience chamber—not at the top. As if to signal that they were all equals here.
Lord Reth, with a prim but understated teal robe. Disanna with her flowing black hair done up behind her head, and Zora, the gangly Ghael.
“Welcome, brothers and sisters,” Disanna said with a genuine smile. “You’ll be pleased to know that the fifty you saved are settling in well to their new lives. As usual, several refused to believe the Order’s true nature and tried to break out. After some soothing and a hot meal, they’ve come around as well. I fear our front works too well at times.”
Several demons chuckled, while others shook their heads in exasperation.
“You’ve done them all a great service. Many were bound for slavery. Others, death. But now, they have a new lease on life. A chance to lead normal lives. Or as normal as citizens of the Undercity can lead, anyway.”