No, this couldn’t be how she died. She tried again to call forThana, to say she was sorry for leaving her like this, to tell her that thisfeeling had to be love because it filled her and resonated and terrified hermore than anything, and her one regret was that she hadn’t felt it for longer.But no one had ever told her about it, and she hadn’t known she could have it,and that was all so unfair, and—
A ringing sound vibrated through the stone, and she heard therise and fall of some other noise. Water? Was she hallucinating? Perhapsalready dead? No, she could not fathom being dead and still so uncomfortable.That would be most unfair.
Wait. It was voices, not water.
Sylph tried to cry out again, and her head buzzed with the sound,but she didn’t know if it reached very far. The voices and the ringing pausedbefore picking up again, louder and faster.
“Sylph?” Thana’s voice, muffled by the rock.
“Here.” Not more than a whisper, but maybe Thana would hear.
Another voice joined Thana’s. They were digging, her pyramidtelling her of strikes against the rock. She had to help, desperate to get outnow that the normally comforting rock felt more like a trap. She gripped herpyramid. Maybe she could manage something.
Sluggishly, the power flowed from her again, bolstered by herneed to see Thana’s face.
Someone cried out above as the stone loosened, becoming gravel.Hands replaced tools as the earth shifted, and fingers flitted along Sylph’shair, tilting her face toward light and air. She breathed deep, wanting to callThana’s name, but her voice wouldn’t work.
“I’ve got her head,” Thana said. Sylph tried to open her eyes,but they stung with grit.
“I can see that,” Calla said, sounding as irritated as ever. “Doyou mind helping with the rest of her?”
Thana mumbled something, and they pulled on Sylph’s jacket,grunting as they freed her from the ground. She tried to help but could barelymove, her muscles quivering and burning at the very thought.
Thana’s lips pressed to her forehead. “Sylph, can you hear me?”
“Less kissing, more pulling,” Calla said.
“Oh, shut up.”
“You shut up.”
Sylph wanted to tell them both to keep talking forever as long asit meant she was alive. She managed to chuckle, and they paused in theirbickering a moment before starting again, not stopping until they’d laid her onthe ground.
“I’m going to check on the others at the capstone,” Calla said asshe breathed hard. “I hope for your sake they’ve regained consciousness becauseI am not helping you carry her on my own.”
“Piss off, then,” Thana said. There was a smidge of affection inher voice, though Sylph couldn’t detect any in Calla’s as she grumbled andleft.
Sylph groaned as Thana lifted her and laid her head on Thana’slap. With a grateful shudder, she managed to flop her arm up so Thana couldhold her hand.
“You’ll be all right,” Thana said with tears in her voice.
Sylph tried to reassure her, but her voice still wouldn’t obey.
“You’ll have to speak up,” Thana said as she lifted Sylph’s handand kissed it. “My ears are still blown from…well, time enough for storieslater. Everyone is alive. That’s the main thing.”
Yes. And all everything else needed was time. “I love you,” shemouthed. Time or not, she’d learned that it couldn’t be said often enough.
“I love you, too,” Thana said. “I may not have worked out all thedetails, but I promise, our future will be better than this.”
Chapter Twenty-three
It was three weeks before Thana had everything figured out.The knowledge of noble pyradistés had spread quickly, but the details about thefailed coup were kept quiet. The lesser players had happily traded informationin order to spare their lives.
The ringleaders turned out to be Headmaster Cyrus, who had tiredof living under the thumb of those with higher stations; and Lady Lucia’ssister Anastasia, who no longer wished to live in pyradisté purgatory andwanted a taste of her sister’s life at court.
But she couldn’t insert herself into the palace without causing astir. Her family had been telling everyone she’d died young. And she couldn’ttrade places with her sister without the queen noticing, not to mention thenobles who paid attention to their brethren as closely as Sylph.
The two had joined forces, biding their time, not wanting theircoup to be put down as quickly as the last one, when the nobles and royals hadcut off access to the crystal north of Allusia. When Cyrus’s scouts—who hadalready been seeking a new source of crystal out of sight of the monarchy—foundthe remains of a crystal-filled glacier near the northern mountains, Anastasiaand Cyrus had decided to put their plans into action and take power.
They’d found willing parties in some of the nobility, those stillgrumbling that they ought to have won the Troubles. They’d also thought that anoble pyradisté like Anastasia would end up on their side rather than on theside of the pyradistés, who would naturally obey the nobles’ council. ButAnastasia had chosen the side of the pyradistés, and whether her sister hadhelped her willingly or had been hypnotized into doing so was a point ofcontention.
Anastasia claimed that Lucia had aided the rebels of her ownaccord, but Earnhilt didn’t want to believe it. She’d stormed around herapartment that night, claiming that Anastasia’s words were simply a desperatewoman wanting to avoid yet another charge of hypnotism.
“Why else would they have killed her?” Earnhilt said as shedrained an entire cup of wine in two swallows. They’d had Lady Lucia’s funeralthat afternoon, and Earnhilt had been drinking ever since. Luckily, she’d keptto her apartment all evening, but Thana had to check on her now and againbefore returning to her apartment where Sylph was waiting.
Thana swallowed her smile and shrugged to Earnhilt’s question,not wanting to argue with someone not only deep in her cups but grieving.“Anastasia claims to be innocent of that murder. She says it was a noble whodid it, but I suspect it was a pyradisté who didn’t want to risk having any non-pyradistés incharge or even in a position to sway Anastasia.”
Earnhilt stared into her glass. “Any idea which one?”
Thana shook her head. “As pyradistés, their minds areunreadable.”
“I
