“I don’t know why we tolerate them,” someone said with a sniff.
Sylph suppressed a snort. As if courtiers had any say in policy.Maybe if one could get a noble to listen to them. But if a pyradisté hadcommitted murder, that would get the nobles’ attention. It certainly caughthers.
“Speaking of…there’s the queen’s pyradisté,” one of them said, anexcited note in her voice.
“Perhaps we should confront her about these murders.”
“If we guided her in solving them, we’d be heroes!”
“We should at least demand she do her deuced job.”
The first courtier laughed in an obnoxious way. “Why should we doanything but shun her?”
Sylph’s anger bloomed again, and she stepped out among them, herbest haughty expression in place. Thana was coming down the hall, so Sylph clearedher throat to get the courtiers’ attention before they could put any plan intoaction.
The group of five whirled as if she’d shouted, faces startled,one with his mouth open as if to tell her off for scaring him, but anothergrabbed his arm, eyes wide in recognition.
“Lady Sylph.” One of the women bowed low, and the rest followedsuit as if tied together.
She kept her chin tilted up, her eyes half-lidded as she gaveeach a brief look. When she glanced down the hall, Thana had stopped, staring.“Pyradisté Thana,” Sylph said politely. She lifted a hand as if signaling thatthe way was clear. “After you.”
With a squeak, the courtiers hastened to get out of Thana’s way,nearly pressing themselves into the walls.
Thana’s mouth twitched, but she bowed to Sylph, ignoring thecourtiers. “Thank you, my lady.” She hurried past.
Sylph resisted the urge to walk with her, but they couldn’t beseen as friends. She gave the courtiers another bland look, but as two openedtheir mouths, she strode past, hoping her frosty aura kept them from following.They stayed where they were, and as some of them cursed the one who’d nearlycensured her, she fought the urge to smile.
No, no. She couldn’t smile. It wasn’t a happy occasion. Quicksandwas what it was, as dangerous as any fen that bordered her father’s land. Whoknew what gossip would come of that encounter, how much would spread to herfather, and then there’d be questions, and…
Sylph clenched a fist behind her back. Her father could donothing to Thana. Even if Sylph marched into his study and declared themfriends or lovers or betrothed, he couldn’t touch Thana because she was theprince’s friend and the queen’s pyradisté, and those were two untouchables,even with his considerable reach.
She glided down another hall, found a vacant spot, and leanedagainst the wall, forcing herself to breathe. It was too dangerous to be outhere at all. Too many eyes, too many secrets, and what would she do if theterrible magic reared in her again? Her father would…he would…
Disown her. Incredible, heartbreaking freedom opened up beforeher like a pit. A chance to get out from her father’s reins but also thelikelihood of starving to death with no money, no friends, and nowhere to go.Maybe Thana the raven would let her sleep on the floor in her apartment.
Sylph snorted. As intriguing as that was, it also wasn’t likely.
No, she would continue her plan: learn to control her power,wait, inherit one day, be free.
She turned toward her apartment, strolling, aloof look in place,but she lingered whenever she heard gossip. Pyradistés had always been sneeredat, but there was fear in some voices now. The tale of the murderer had spread,and so had others about rogue pyradistés running amok. Some were worried, butSylph couldn’t afford that luxury. Whether the rumor was true or not didn’tmatter. If the courtiers inside the palace felt secure enough to mock thequeen’s pyradisté, what would the pyradistés outside suffer at the hands oftheir class?
* * *
Thana couldn’t stop censuring herself for mocking Sylph in herhead. She’d been a bully, as bad a snob as those who looked down on her. She’dlooked down on Sylph for wanting her power gone.
Well, she’d never be far enough above a noble to look down onone. Maybe sideways. Or up and to the side or—
She shook her head. It didn’t matter. What did was that the facesof those courtiers had been as easy to read as a child’s chapter book. They’dwanted trouble, and she’d been going to give it to them, but Sylph had steppedamong their ranks like a queen carved from solid ice and made them give way.
And she hadn’t had to bark an order. She’d just given Thana thecourtesy she was due as a human being, not to mention someone who lived nearthe royals and worked with them, too.
As Thana stalked down the hall, she came around from gratitude torecrimination again. She couldn’t fall for one kind gesture. Sylph wouldn’thave done anything if Thana hadn’t saved her earlier. By the spirits, she hadto put Sylph and all these tangled emotions from her mind. She had explodingpyramids to deal with.
And she’d guessed why the courtiers felt they could confront her.She’d heard the rumors about pyradistés going mad. She’d paid a visit to thePyradisté Academy, trying to find out more about the exploding pyramids, andwhile she’d been there, she’d heard a few stories. Headmaster Cyrus had toldher that the man accused of killing his employer—and not the family, as rumorhad it—had then been killed by household guards. Another pyradisté wassupposedly imprisoned for another crime, but the stories disputed the location.She’d sent some contacts to check, wanting to get hold of the pyradisté as soonas she could and find out what had actually happened before they met thequeen’s justice.
In the meantime, she’d added her voice to the headmaster’s andwarned students to stay close to the academy and its walls. Pyradistés who’dbeen terminated from their positions had returned there, too, and they couldquickly become overcrowded. A few had loudly declared that the people ofMarienne should be taught a lesson in who possessed the power, but Thana haddone her best to quell such feelings. The last thing
