“Wait,” Thana gasped, choking.
No, they needed to stop talking and start trying to get out.
Thana sagged, coughing. “It’s…not…”
“Come on.” A tinkling sound filled her ears. A bell? No, aharsher, crunching sound, nearly covered by the fire, but it had to be comingfrom the hall. They were close.
“Wait!” Thana’s cry was rough, and she caught Sylph’s arm in agrip like stone.
Stone. Yes. If she could make a new hole in the wall…
A memory came floating back as if billowed by the flames. Thepyramid in the garden hadpulled her in, but it hadn’t felt right. She’d felt herself reach but not withher arms. Her mind had gone tumbling into the pyramid, embraced by its power.She’d wanted her pain to end, so she’d changed the pyramid, and the wall hadcome for her.
And there were more pyramids in this room. She reached again asshe crawled.
Tendrils of smoke parted, revealing a swath of stone before herand the glitter of glass. Covered in cracks, screeching and tinkling, it wasthe crunching bell she’d heard before.
She’d pulled herself and Thana deeper into the room, all the wayto the window.
Despair tried to choke her along with the smoke, but she groundher teeth and reached again. There. She had a pyramid in the grasp of her mind.
She demanded it change itself into a now familiar mold.
One that could move stone.
The wall shuddered, and the grind of stone overpowered the soundof the fire. The glass shattered, a glittering fountain cascading away from thewarped wall. The smoke whooshedoutside, and the fire roared in a gout over their heads, but the path to thedoor became clear.
Thana tugged her around and into a crouch. Sylph let herself beled, forcing herself to release the pyramid as they reached the exit. The openingdoor let smoke into the hall until Thana threw it closed behind them. Sylphsagged to her knees again, coughing, fighting the urge to retch.
“Come on,” Thana said hoarsely. “We need to get help and get youout of here.”
Fear fought through Sylph’s exhaustion and amazement. Shestumbled after as Thana yelled, “Fire!” They slipped past the flow of peopleheading for the disaster.
In an empty corridor, they slowed. “What…” Sylph bent double,coughing. Her head pounded, and her eyes wouldn’t stop watering. “How…” Shecouldn’t speak more than a single word without hacking again. Spirits curseher, she’d done this, created this nightmare.
No, it was contained. No one was hurt.
Yet.
“They’ll put out the fire, don’t worry,” Thana whispered.
Sylph tried to breathe without coughing. Her hands and clotheswere covered in soot. Tear tracks cut through the dark patches on Thana’s paleface. Sylph took her hand. “All right?”
Thana nodded. “You?”
“Sorry, so sorry.” She closed her eyes and fought her panic. Shewas not only a pyradisté; she was a menace. Being disowned was too good forher.
“It’s all right. You ended up saving us.”
Sylph opened her eyes to a look of such compassion, she almostsobbed. She wanted to be held but didn’t know how to ask.
“Let’s clean up,” Thana said. “And you plead complete ignoranceof the fire. Until I can figure something out, stay away from pyramids,especially the royal halls.”
Sylph nodded, though her current fear was for more than herself.She didn’t want to hurt anyone, least of all an Umbriel. She would claimillness and stay in her rooms for a few days. Her hoarse voice could serve asproof of a head cold.
“This way.” Thana peeked down halls as she went, gesturing forSylph to follow. She led them farther from the fire and paused at an open doornear the courtiers’ rooms, a dangerous place to linger if they wanted to avoidgossip.
After a glance into the room, Thana tugged Sylph inside and overto a washbasin. “Here.” She grabbed a cloth and dipped it into the water beforescrubbing at Sylph’s face.
Sylph nearly sputtered, both at the roughest bath she’d everexperienced and at the used water. There had never been so many firsts in oneday. She focused on Thana’s frown of concentration and blocked out everythingelse. She was almost sorry when Thana finally stepped back and nodded, her darkeyes sparkling with a job well done. “There.”
Sylph reached for the cloth, more than willing to reciprocate andcaress Thana’s face, but Thana shook her head and pointed to the basin.“Hands.”
“What about you?” Sylph asked as she washed, wincing at the painin her chest, her throat.
“Everyone expects me to look weird and half-exploded.” She onlywiped her hands clean and dragged her wet palms down her face, making Sylphwant to offer a handkerchief, but she hurried out before Sylph could speak.
Thana pointed the way toward the nobles’ apartments. “Remember,stay put.”
“Thank you,” Sylph managed to blurt before Thana could hurryaway. The brief, embarrassed smile she received made her want to move for anembrace again, but she hurried toward her apartments as stealthily as shecould.
Her maid was thankfully absent when she arrived, and sheundressed and washed more thoroughly before hiding her sooty clothes in a wadunder the bed, brushing out her hair, and donning a dressing gown.
She’d just settled in the sitting room with a pounding heart anda novel she was far too distracted to read when her father came in.
He stopped at the sight of her and frowned. “Are you ill?”
“A touch,” she said, glad her voice still sounded raspy.
His brows lifted. “Did you send for the physick?”
“Oh no. It’s nothing serious.”
When he nodded and sat, she wondered if he’d asked out of concernfor his heir or his own health. No matter which, he would never do a thing likebathe her face, no matter the reason. “Did you hear of the fire?”
Her heart thundered now, but she made herself shake her head andhoped her expression conveyed wonder and not terror.
It must have done both because he lifted a hand. “There’s nothingto fear. It was doused quickly.”
“Good gracious. Was anyone hurt?”
“No one of consequence.”
Her hands ached, and when she glanced down, she saw her knuckleswhite around the book. In her father’s mind, Thana was a person of noconsequence. “Was anyone hurt…at all?”
His look was pure amazement, but she couldn’t help asking.
