Chapter 4 #2
Clarita was behind Lumi suddenly, a hand on their shoulder.
“Someone put out the fires before the bodies were burned completely,” she said, voice cool, but soft. “I can only assume the soldiers didn’t do that.”
“It was the least we could do,” Sofia said. She tasted blood as her teeth gnashed into her cheek.
“You could have never come,” Lumi said, baring her teeth.
Clarita’s hand squeezed Lumi’s shoulder, and they snapped their mouth shut.
“We don’t have much,” Clarita said. “We’ve been rebuilding and reassessing our supplies, but let’s go talk in front of the fire, at least. Your dragon will have to stay above.”
“She’s happy to sunbathe,” Sofia said, earning a small smile from Clarita.
“Despite our differences, I am honored to meet one of the gods. Is this the one that we saw the night of your arrival?”
“Yes,” Sofia said, stepping to the side so Clarita could see Chalia completely. “I scared her away before.”
“Does she know the dragon that attacked our people? The one that fights for the king?”
“No,” Sofia said, her own voice turning venomous. “We don’t know how they have a dragon working for them. Fox—” she took a deep breath, her own anxiety spiking at having to think about him, “he’s still back in the city trying to understand what happened.”
“We have a lot to talk about,” Clarita said. She turned to Chalia. “Blessings on your kind. I will place an extra offering for you.”
Chalia gave a bow of her head, looking more regal than Sofia had ever seen her. But a moment later, she heard the voice in her mind.
“Did I do it right? Do you think she liked that?”
Sofia bit back her laugh before following Clarita and the others.
The fire was burning brightly, and it helped melt away the ache in Sofia’s bones from the icy air of morning and their flight here.
While they talked, one shapeshifter Sofia vaguely recognized as Jorge made them tea and passed out clay mugs.
The hot tea splashed across her hand as he handed it to her, and he only smiled as she winced.
Sofia explained what had happened with her and Fox after they’d left—leaving out some of the details, particularly around Fox’s allegiance to the crown and his father’s involvement. But Clarita looked just as thrown to hear about what was happening in the city.
“We haven’t had time to go back there for supplies, but it seems our routes may be closed.”
“That’s actually why we’re here,” Javi said, speaking up for the first time since they’d all sat down. He was looking at Lumi.
They narrowed their eyes, glancing between Javi and Sofia.
Their asymmetrical hair was pulled back into a bun, though the short strands hung down to frame their face.
They had dressed before they’d sat down and they were wearing wide-legged pants, tied at the waist by a prayer belt, and a loose tunic.
Sofia could see the shine of feather spines woven into the belt, and she wondered if they were from the feather she’d found for them.
“No,” Lumi said, reading their intentions. “Absolutely not. I’m not putting myself in danger to help you. Or are you just trying to ensure we’re all wiped out from this?”
“If we don’t fight against what’s happening, people are going to die. The chief commander and king need to be stopped.”
“They hadn’t bothered us until you came around. Why should we fight your battles?”
“This isn’t just our war. You don’t think they’ll come after you the moment they have us under control? They hate what they don’t control, and that’s exactly what you are.”
“We’ll fight then, but not before. We aren’t dying for you. Do you have any idea what it was like coming back to the cenote and finding everyone dead? Everyone. They killed an infant whose only crime was existing.”
“This is why we need you to help us. We need to fight,” Sofia said, directing her pleas to Clarita.
The woman’s eyes pinched at the corners and her mouth turned down.
Her dark hair was braided back, but Sofia could have sworn there was more gray in it now than there had been a few weeks ago.
Even her face looked more lined. She knew what the woman was going to say before she said it.
“Lumi is the only one able to fly into the city. It’s their choice.”
The glare Lumi was giving them was answer enough.
Sofia open her mouth to argue, but it was Javi who stopped her, a hand on her arm.
“I actually do know what it’s like to come back to your home and find your people killed or gone.
Shortly after the general came to your cenote, he came to ours.
I was lucky, I guess, because I was gone.
But I came back a few days later to find my blood-mother’s body left rotting on the ground.
They didn’t even bother burning her or the others they killed.
And everyone else was gone. I didn’t know if they were alive.
And this was after the king had already taken my little sister and put her up for execution. ”
Lumi paled as they listened. Their eyes were still hard, but Sofia could see the softening around their lips.
She held her breath. This had been the first that Javi had talked about his experiences after the raid.
He’d been tight-lipped about what had happened, simply stating he’d gone to the city the moment he’d realized what had happened.
But Sofia couldn’t imagine what it had been like coming back to the cenote in chaos and his mother’s body left there, bloody and broken.
“I know grief and I know helplessness. But you have a chance of not being helpless. You have a chance of shifting the tide for us—for all of us.”
“I have to go,” Lumi said, standing suddenly. Before Sofia could say anything to stop them, they were a hawk once more, their clothes fluttering to the ground as they disappeared into the sky.
And with them, every hope Sofia had disappeared. She’d come back here, the last thing she wanted to do. For nothing.
“Lumi could be gone for a few minutes or a few days. They often disappear for periods. You can finish your teas, but it would be best for you to leave. If Lumi changes their mind, we’ll get in contact. We know where you are.”
Sofia ground her teeth, but she couldn’t argue. There was nothing left to say. “Thank you.”
They finished their teas quickly, none of them wanting to stay longer than they needed to, now that they’d said their piece. Flor spent the entire time scowling into her mug.
The moment they were over the lip of the cenote, Flor let out a string of curses that rivaled the drunks they used to see at the Wall’s Inn.
“Lumi might change their mind,” Javi said. The tightness in his shoulders betrayed his false hope.
“I can’t believe the shapeshifters will complain about their people being murdered and then still not see how this is their problem,” Flor said, throwing up her hands. “This is their kingdom, too. Do they think if they stick their heads in the sand, the king won’t come for them?”
Sofia didn’t speak. Flor wasn’t looking for a response. She was simply ranting. And Sofia was more worried about the distant look in Chalia’s eyes as they approached. She prodded at the dragon’s mind, finding only silence there. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, trying to calm her beating heart.
“Chalia,” she said aloud. The dragon didn’t move.
“She’s asking me to help you.”
Sofia whirled, nearly stabbing Lumi as they appeared behind her. They stood there, unabashed in their nudity. Flor’s face went red, and she looked as if she were still planning on throwing a dagger through the shapeshifter if they made a wrong move.
“They killed your mom?” Lumi asked.
“The king’s men—” Sofia started.
“Not you,” they said sharply. They looked at Javi with piercing eyes.
He had gone a little pale, and his throat bobbed as he swallowed.
“They killed my blood-mother and four others who fought back too hard. The rest they arrested and tortured at the prison, but I didn’t even know who’d survived until later.
” His voice cracked on the last words, and Sofia’s chest tightened.
“Do you think they took any of our people?”
Sofia heard the thread of hope in their voice.
Javi looked between Flor and Sofia. He hadn’t been in the prison; they had.
Flor had lowered her dagger, her shoulders answering Lumi’s question before her words. “We didn’t see anyone else there, but it’s always possible.”
Lumi’s nod was stiff, their teeth biting into their lip.
“Did you know you’d bring them?” Their eyes turned to daggers as they looked at Sofia, nostrils flaring.
Sofia opened her mouth, but then stopped.
“I didn’t, but I should have. I should have known they’d be out looking for—” she stumbled over the words, “for me. I’d say I regret putting you in danger, but your people are the reason Fox walked away that night. Your healer saved him from his injuries after the flood.”
“It was my fault, more than Sofia’s,” Chalia said. “I’m the one who was seen.”
“You couldn’t have known,” Sofia said to Chalia, repeating the words out loud. “You shouldn’t blame her.”
“I don’t,” Lumi said simply.
They stared at each of them in turn, and Sofia’s body was tense, waiting. She didn’t know what they were looking for.
“I’ll do it.”