16. Chapter 16
Chapter sixteen
I probably stood in the weapons room looking dumbfounded for a solid minute before I charged after Sin.
“Hey, jackass!” I shouted to his retreating back as I popped out from under the covered walkway. “Are you freaking kidding me right now? What kind of bullshit was that?”
Sin whipped around and stomped over to where I stood at the edge of the pit. “It was every kind of bullshit, Fea Remia. It’s like you said earlier, a handful of weeks is not enough time to learn anything. It’s fucking pointless for me to waste my time on you when I have more important things to do than babysit a child.”
“Excuse you? I’m twenty-five years old. I’m not a damn child so stop treating me like one,” I shot back.
He folded his arms and gave me an amused look. “Your handful of years mean nothing here. I’m seventy-seven, and do you know what I’ve done for most of those seventy-seven years? I’ve trained. It took me decades to master the art of combat, and I can assure you, three weeks will do nothing but give you enough confidence to get yourself killed.”
He was seventy-seven? Damn, he looked good. I kept forgetting how people didn’t really age here. He wasn’t wrong about my lack of combat ability, though I refused to give in and let him call the shots. I grabbed his hand before he could walk away again.
He stilled and pivoted slowly back to me, his entire body stiff.
“I’m pretty sure my father gave an order, so how about you get off your high horse and show me something useful. Anything useful. Even if it's just enough to defend myself for five minutes until one of you big strong males can swoop in and save me.” That last part was dripping with a level of sarcasm that he didn’t seem to appreciate given the deep furrow lines carved across his forehead.
He snatched his hand away from mine, then growled at me again in Rivellan.
I ran a hand across my face in frustration. “English! Fucking English! Is that so damned hard? Hell, you speak it even better than the others around here. Which I meant to ask you about. Why are they all stiff and formal and you aren’t?”
Something dangerous flashed in Sin’s eyes. “You want to know why my English is better than theirs? Because I spent years looking for you in the human realm. Cam and Ram went a handful of times, and Dey went exactly once before he found you. Before that it was me. For over twenty years, I was the sole person looking for you. So yeah, I picked up a bit more of your colorful language than they did. They only know the proper shit Corym studied before passing it along.”
He searched for me for twenty years? Was he actually just jealous that Dey found me first?
I really examined him then, his tense body, the fists clenched at his side, his teeth grinding together, his breath that came out in short bursts. He was seconds away from snapping, and I didn’t think I wanted to see what would happen when he did.
“Is that why you hate me?” I asked. “Because you failed to find me where Dey succeeded?” It was the only thing that sounded reasonable even if I thought his reaction was a bit over the top. Trying to find one human must have been like looking for a needle in a haystack.
“Maybe,” he replied, his voice low. “Maybe I do hate you for my wasted time. Maybe I hate you for being useless to me and my realm in your current condition. Maybe I hate you because you simply don’t belong here. And maybe I hate you because the fate of our world shouldn’t rest in the hands of a petulant child who doesn’t even speak our language. Take your pick . ” Then he whipped around and stomped up the stairs.
“Will you at least tell me what Fea Remia means?” I shouted after him.
“Learn Rivellan if you want to know so bad. You’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy,” he called back without even pausing, his long legs taking the stairs two at a time to leave me in the dust.
When I finally reached the top of the arena, I spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to catch my breath before deciding to go in search of the twins. Maybe they would be more willing to help.
I found Cam and Ram back at their cottage, dressed in the burgundy sleeveless tunics of the royal guard. Theirs were a bit nicer though with gold stitching along the edges. I walked up to them just as Ram unsheathed a sword from his back and dropped it onto the porch. Cam followed suit with the belt of daggers around his waist.
“Hey guys,” I said pleasantly, having shaken off my earlier irritation. “Is this a bad time? Looks like you’re getting off shift or something.”
“Not at all, Princess,” Ram replied. I still felt bad about his burned off loc, but it did make my life easier. “We were actually in the process of getting ready to train some new soldiers when Sin came by and told us to find you instead.”
“Seriously?” I couldn’t imagine Sin doing anything remotely helpful for me. He’d made it clear he thought I shouldn't even be here let alone take part in studying or training.
“He came by a few moments ago,” Cam chimed in. “He said something along the lines of 'she is your problem now.' Then he left to go prepare for the upcoming King’s Council.”
Now that sounded more like Sin. “Fucking asshat,” I grumbled. “He handed me a sword that I could barely lift, then said I was basically useless to him and left.”
Cam and Ram exchanged a curious look.
“You honestly could not wield a sword?” Cam asked.
I groaned. “You don’t need to take his side. I get it, I’m weak. But come on, that thing weighed like twenty-five pounds and sorry, but I don’t have your muscles.”
Both twins stared at me for a second, then fell against each other laughing, their loud guffaws echoing through the trees.
I glowered at them, feeling like I was once again the butt of some unknown joke. “I don’t think it’s that funny.”
“Apologies, Princess. We were not laughing at you,” Ram insisted once he calmed down. “We were laughing because Sin gave you his personal sword, correct?” At my nod, he grinned knowingly. “His sword is made from a very special, very heavy, metal. He only handed it to you because he knew it would be too much for you to use. Any other sword would have weighed no more than five pounds.”
He plucked out a longsword from his pile of weapons and handed it to me. I took it tentatively, and my jaw dropped when I felt how much lighter it was.
“That son of a bitch!” I bellowed, my vision turning red with anger. “He did that on purpose so he wouldn’t have to train me.”
I gripped the sword tightly while fighting the urge to go find Sin so I could give him a piece of my mind. Or the pointy end of this sword. How dare he stand there and call me useless when he set me up to fail?
It took a few deep breaths before I controlled my fury enough to formulate a plan. “Any chance you’d be willing to help me get even?” I asked the twins.
Wariness settled over Cam, but Ram looked intrigued. “What did you have in mind?” he asked.
“I want you to steal Sin’s sword and hide it in my room. If he asks you about it, you have no idea where it could be. Got it?”
Cam shot his brother a concerned look, then turned back to me. “You are not going to damage it are you? Sin has had it for a very long time.”
I shook my head. “I’m not going to hurt it. I doubt I even could. I just want him to feel as helpless as I did for a little bit. So are you in? I promise I’ll never mention your names.”
The twins shared another long look, then Ram grinned at me. “I think Sin could use some humbling. It would be our pleasure, Princess.”
“Excellent,” I said, excited to see the look on Sin’s face when his precious sword disappeared. “So what now? My father said you guys were going to tutor me?”
“Something like that,” Ram said coyly.
“We were told to educate you about Rivella and perhaps some of the monsters you might encounter in the dark forest,” Cam clarified. ”I can tell you right now that little is known about those creatures. Most who venture too far in never return. Those that do, well, their accounts are unreliable to say the least.”
“So that just leaves educating you about Rivella,” Ram chimed in with a wicked smile, and I had a feeling he wasn’t referring to textbook teaching.
“Okay,” I said, my lips curving up into a smile. “I’ll bite. How are you going to teach me about Rivella?”
“The only way we know how,” Cam said.
“By experiencing it,” Ram finished.
“Wait…” I said, cautious optimism blooming in my chest. “Does that mean we’re leaving the castle?”
“Of course. What did you think we were going to do?” Ram asked.
“Honestly, I kind of expected something like a lecture.” I pictured the twins dressed in tweed jackets with bifocals propped on their noses and had to stifle a chuckle.
“Would you like a lecture?” Cam asked. “That can be arranged.”
“No!” I shouted before they could change their minds. “Please no. I’ve been dying to go into the city.”
When they didn’t immediately move, I frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“You have no ramentum,” Ram said, gesturing at the intricate whorls of ink across his arms. “Given your age, your bare arms would suggest to anyone we passed that you were likely not Vitaean.”
“And if you are not Vitaean,” Cam added, “then that means you are an abicario . A non-magic user. A shunned one.”
“A human?” I guessed. “So only Vitaeans are allowed to get tattoos?”
“It is not like that,” Cam said. “The ramentum appear on our skin whenever a Vitaean manifests their magic, marking the level of our abilities . Amplissarios like King Verren who hold three types of magic have tattoos that cover their arms, shoulders, and chest or back.”
Well that explained why my father never wore a shirt. Apparently a crown wasn’t enough to confirm his power.
“Secunnarios, like Ram and myself, hold two types of magic,” Cam continued. “The further the ramentum spread, the more powerful the magic.” He puffed up his chest and beamed at me. “That is why Ram’s do not spread as high as mine.”
Ram chuckled. “Sure, brother, your extra three inches there is to make up for your missing three inches elsewhere…” He glanced down at Cam’s breeches, then winked at me.
A hint of red crawled over Cam’s cheeks as he glared at his brother. “That joke is never funny, Ramset.”
“Of course it is,” he replied, nudging my shoulder.
Trying not to laugh, I asked, “And what about people with one kind of magic?”
“Immies,” Ram answered, snorting with derision.
“Imminarios,” Cam clarified, “generally only have ramentum up to their elbow or possibly just above depending on the strength of their one ability.”
“I see,” I said, glancing at my bare arms. “So when people see I have none…”
“They will think you are a human,” Ram finished.
“And that’s a problem because…?”
“Humans are not allowed in Civi Adasa. You might find some hiding in Civi Obsura, the village at the bottom of the hill, but even those humans risk being imprisoned. Or worse.”
“Well that’s some antiquated separatist nonsense. My father seriously allows this?” If he cared about my mother, why would he let her people be treated so poorly?
Cam swung an arm around my shoulders. “Please do not think ill of your father, Princess,” he said. “He is simply upholding the traditions of our people that were established a millennia ago. Not to mention things between humans and Vitaeans became even more strained after the plague hit. It is for the human’s benefit that they are banned, trust me.”
I tried to let his words assuage some of my anger, but my ire dimmed only slightly. I would definitely be having a conversation with Daddy Dearest when I saw him next. I had some serious reservations about saving a world that shunned my kind.
“Okay,” I said, determined to actually make it out to the city. “So I just need a jacket or something then, yeah? Or a long-sleeve tunic?”
“No,” Ram answered. “Secunnarios would never hide their status.”
“I got it,” Cam said, turning to his brother. “We could use a—”
“Shen’Valla shroud,” Ram finished. “Of course. We should still have the one from when our mother departed.” He dashed off into the cottage, his brother hot on his heels.
They returned a minute later with a piece of silky purple fabric attached to a thin ring of silver with runic symbols carved into it. They placed the circlet over my head, and the soft material cascaded around me like a poncho, ending just above my waist. Only a thin slit allowed me to see, and the whole thing felt rather suffocating.
The twins stood back admiring their handiwork. “Perfect,” Ram declared. “Now you look ready to go.”
Cam nodded and pointed me toward the road. “You can take it off until we reach the city gates if you would like. I know it can be stifling.”
Yanking the mess of fabric off my head, I followed them off down the cobblestone road.
A loud squawk above me drew my attention to the sky where two imposing birds with lustrous black and blue feathers circled above us.
“Hey guys, should I be worried about them?” I asked, pointing up. “I’m still trying to figure out which animals are friendly, and which animals want to eat my face.”
“Not at all,” Cam said. “Those are our crescia, Flax and Flinx. They are only squawking because they want to come into the city with us.”
“Do they normally follow you everywhere?”
“When they can,” Ram answered. “They have their own lives, but the drive to be near their bonded is strong.” He whistled, and one of the raven-like birds flew down to his shoulder. Despite Ram’s muscular build, it still barely fit.
If I somehow got a crescia, it better be tiny.
We resumed our trek with Flax and Flinx accompanying us overhead. They were quite majestic creatures once I knew their sharp talons wouldn’t be sinking into my flesh.
“It should not take too long to walk to Civi Adasa. I would suggest a horse but that would be unwise unless you knew how to ride very well,” Ram said, as we approached the outer gate. “Well, not a horse technically. We ride unguisens here, but they are close enough.”
Since I'd never even seen a horse in person let alone its weird cousin, I didn't argue. My legs were more than used to getting me where I needed to go.
We passed through the gate, and the path curved as it made its way down toward a high stone wall. The salty sea air caressed my face, and a flash of annoyance passed through me since I now seemed to associate the scent of the ocean with Sin. He simply had no right to smell that good yet act so awful.
Pulling my thoughts from the ill-tempered male, I examined the bundle of metal and fabric in my hand. “What is this thing anyway?”
“When a Vitaean offers their body to Shen’Valla,” Cam answered, “the ones that they leave behind generally don the shroud for a few days as a way of grieving. It is perfect because no one would ever look too closely at one who mourns.”
“Very disrespectful,” Ram added. “So make sure not to draw any attention to yourself, and you will be fine.”
We continued on in silence, and I took the time to just enjoy the clean air. I knew Jersey had its share of pollution, but I had no idea just how bad it was until now. This was a world without cars, factories, or anything industrialized. The fresh smell alone was making it harder to think about going home.
“You seem sad, Princess,” Cam observed.
I ran my fingers over the purple fabric in my hands. “Not sad, just confused, I guess. About everything. My life is back in Jersey, but this place is so beautiful…”
The twins swooped around in front of me, and I pulled up short before I crashed into them. Ram cocked his head to the side. “Would it truly be so bad to stay here?”
“Maybe not, but the problem is that I can’t just abandon my sister and I can’t bring her here either. So you see? Conflicted.” I moved past them and continued down the road.
As we approached the next curve, Cam held an arm out. “You should put the shroud on now. We approach the entrance to Civi Adasa.”
I settled the stifling fabric back over my head as we rounded the final bend. Even with the shroud obscuring my vision, I could see the impressive walls of the city and the massive double wooden doors with guards on each side. They must have recognized the twins because they promptly pulled the doors open as we approached.
Passing through the gate, I held up a hand to block the suns. Now that I could finally get eyes on the city up close, I realized what I had been unable to see from the parapet. Civi Adasa was not your average city.
Civi Adasa was magnificent.