CHAPTER TWO #2
Number two: Because of me, Duchess Hedri knew that Queen Ysabel might have a stake in this matter.
My sister’s friendship with Donya was less well-known—if anything, they had a reputation for being political enemies.
But because she’d been tipped off to possible foreign interference, Duchess Hedri had placed guards on every Bookmaker in the city.
Not the gambling kind—the gifted who could create enchanted books that transmitted words to linked books around the world.
As a result, Ysabel wouldn’t find out about the execution until it was too late.
Finally, number three: If Donya hadn’t been covering my retreat, she might have been able to escape out the window herself.
That last one alone made her arrest feel like it was entirely my fault. I’d decided to exorcise this guilt by saving Donya.
If only I could get out of the city, then I could find a Bookmaker and send a message to my sister. If anyone had the political power to rescue Donya, it would surely be Ysabel.
I didn’t have the skills to sneak past the heavy watch around the gate.
Instead, I bribed a guard to let me onto the wall.
I pretended to be one of the young women who slipped up here on a regular basis to visit their lovers.
As I walked along the wall, no one challenged me.
The guards must have an agreement to cover for each other’s love affairs.
The top of the wall was much less heavily guarded because the only way out was a rather fatal fall.
Except for me, with my gift to bounce.
I reached an empty bit of wall near the corner tower with no guards in sight.
I grabbed the wall with one hand to lift myself up, struggling to get my leg over.
My wool skirt itched against my stockings.
Down below, I could see snow, bushes, and tiny trees.
The height made me feel faint. Steeling myself, I put one foot over the edge.
“Wait! Miss!” An elderly guard with a long white beard and mustache ran out of the tower.
I tried to leap over, but I wasn’t fast enough. The guard grabbed me and wrestled me down the wall. “Please, stop! No matter what you’re going through, suicide isn’t the answer. Come inside with me. I’ll make you a nice cup of tea and call a priest to talk to you.”
Suicide must be what it would look like to anyone who didn’t know about my ability. I saw no advantage to myself in admitting that I’d actually been trying to escape the lockdown—that would only get me sent to jail instead of getting sent to the priests.
Instead, I kicked, elbowed, and bit the guard’s hand. His winter glove prevented me from doing any damage. He continued to smile. “I’m Sergeant Laurent. What’s your name?”
I grunted around the taste of leather.
A young, extremely muscular guard ran down the wall toward us and shouted, “Whoever dumped you, he’s not worth dying for! You’re a lovely and attractive woman. I don’t even have a girlfriend. Please date me instead!”
What in the name of the Sun God was he talking about? Oh, right, this was the guard I’d bribed earlier to get access to the wall. I’d told him that I was meeting a lover.
“That’s not tactful,” Sergeant Laurent said. “This poor young lady has just suffered heartbreak, and you’re already hitting on her?”
“Excuse me?” The young man scowled. “It was a compliment.”
“You’re making her hardship all about yourself. Can’t you help someone without wanting something in return?”
“Why are you always criticizing everything I do? You act like you’re my father!”
Sergeant Laurent frowned. “I’m imparting the wisdom of my experience to you.”
“I never asked for your wisdom, you self-righteous old coot!”
I took advantage of their argument to headbutt Sergeant Laurent and break free. I lunged for the wall.
The younger guard tackled my legs. “Stop! You should definitely consider dating me as an alternative to suicide.”
Sergeant Laurent grabbed my arms. “Lovers come and go, take it from someone who’s lived much longer than you. Ignore this young fool. Enjoy being single for a while and find yourself.”
I was thoroughly pinned. I didn’t have a chance unless I could make at least one of them let go. Inspiration struck. I batted my eyelashes at the sergeant. “Actually, I prefer older men like you.”
“Huh?” Surprise made him loosen his grip.
“You criticized me when you flirted with her, too?” the young guard shrilled, pointing accusingly, which also required him to let go.
Freed, I ran past them, straight for the wall. Desperation gave me new strength. Ignoring the shouts behind me, I grabbed the top of the wall and yanked myself up.
No matter how many times I flung myself from a great height, I could never quite make myself believe I’d land safely.
Survival instinct did its best to take over my body and freeze my legs.
The very first time it had happened, I’d leapt to grab my little brother Benoni after some bullies shoved him out a window.
I’d been trying to yank him back, not fall myself.
When I’d wrapped my body around him, it had been a desperate attempt to cushion him.
Instead of splattering on the ground, we’d bounced all the way to the town hall.
I hadn’t entirely believed what had happened, and it had taken me months to work up the nerve to try again, even with a pile of pillows below.
Twenty times, I’d stared at the drop, then turned and left, before I finally psyched myself up.
On this occasion, I didn’t have the time to chicken out. I flipped myself clean over the wall. Wind and small flakes of snow pelted my cheeks as I plummeted face first. The ground came rushing up very fast. That didn’t stop my mind from going into overdrive.
What if my gift only let me fall safely from smallish heights, and I was about to be squashed against the ground below? Why did I only think of that after jumping? Wouldn’t it be ironic if I died falling from the walls my own sister had built and bragged so much about in her letters?
My head smooshed into a freezing cold snowbank, and I bounced. High. A passing bird squawked and fled.
Huh. My gift seemed to lend me more buoyancy the farther the height I fell from. My weight decreased and my entire body became rubbery. It was a strangely ironic power for someone who was fat and not ashamed of it. (Mostly not ashamed, and I’d worked very hard to reach that place.)
I soared through the sky, bounced off the snow again, and landed in the forest. Hitting a tree trunk sent me flying into another tree.
I screamed from shock, bouncing back and forth between the two trunks.
My body felt no pain even as the bark dug into my face.
But it was still a strange, unpleasant sensation to have my skin stretch like rubber.
Each blow left more dirt and leaves on me.
My ability would wear off shortly, then this would start hurting. Head spinning, I grabbed a branch to stop my flight. Hitting the ground, I rolled. My body was so light I tumbled over the top of the snow without leaving a mark.
Eventually, I came to rest with my feet against an elderberry bush. Weight returned to my body, and I started to sink into a snow drift. The cold stung even though the impact didn’t. I sat up. My heart pounded. I’d done it! I was out of the city.
I felt sorry about traumatizing two guards by making them watch me supposedly die. At least if they thought I was dead, they wouldn’t chase after me. I was out and free. I could walk to the nearest town, find a Bookmaker, and summon Ysabel to save Donya.
With a lighter heart, I stood up and looked around.
Fortunately I could see the path not far away.
As I started walking into the forest, my stomach growled at me.
All gifts came with a price, and mine made me ravenously hungry.
It was a weak price to suit a weak ability.
If I could make it to the next town, then I could eat.
I’d barely reached the road when a light flashed across my vision, and a tingling covered my body. I tried to grab a tree to support myself, but I no longer could control my own hands. My world went white.
Someone was sobbing. A child. My ears rang with her cries.
I blinked. I stood in a little girl’s bedroom.
A tapestry of unicorns hung on the stone wall.
Velvet curtains covered a poster bed. The other end of the room held a rocking horse and a shelf with three creepy-looking dolls with too-big eyes.
A girl no older than six lay bent over a cabinet with red lashes on her back.
My hand held a whip.
I dropped it.
“A-are you all right?” I ran forward, reaching out a hand toward the girl, who had her back to me.
She flinched away from me, burrowing her head farther into her elbow and sobbing.
Of course she didn’t want me to touch her. I’d been the one whipping her. But I would never do such a thing. What—how—? I’d been standing in a snowy forest! How did I get here?
Out the window, I glimpsed the royal stables and Saint Kald’s School for the Gifted flying a flag just beyond. I was back in the city. All that hard work escaping, and I’d ended up back in the city! How could I save Donya now?
A tear formed in the corner of my eye. I raised a finger to wipe it away. My hand looked white.
I’d never had skin so pale. Nor did I recognize the long fingers decorated with many rings. I ran to the window, desperate for even a weak reflection in the glass.
Duchess Hedri’s face stared back at me.