Chapter 11 #2
My cheeks turn hot, and I narrow my eyes at the man, but Rui just smiles and raises his hands placatingly.
“The smoke, it clings to everything,” he explains, and I let my shoulders relax.
Rui leads us around the balcony until we reach an opening in the railing that leads out onto a bridge made of thick ropes and planks of wood.
I follow close behind, but freeze in place as the bridge sways under my step.
I cling to the rope railings, getting a feel for the way the bridge shifts under me.
Rui pauses and turns to find me rooted in place.
His eyes trail from my white knuckles to the concern I know is painted on my face.
I would take climbing this city over strolling across this gods forsaken bridge any day.
A soft smile pulls at Rui’s lips. He backtracks and wraps a warm hand over my cold, clammy one, and I’m surprised I don’t recoil. Perhaps it’s the fear of falling that keeps me from withdrawing.
“The bridges have stood for a thousand years. They will not fall.”
I snort. “A thousand years? You’re not really selling me. Sounds like they could fall any day now.” My voice is tight even as I try to joke my fears away.
Rui rubs a soothing circle over the back of my hand with his thumb. “They are warded. Do you feel the buzz beneath your palm?”
I nod.
“The same magic that lights our city and protects our crops, strengthens our bridges and homes. As long as The Below lives, Tǎnkaski will not fall.”
My throat grows thick, and then I feel a dark presence behind me. The hairs on the back of my neck rise, and I know Caius is near, even before he places his palms on my shoulders.
“She is fine.” Caius’ voice is low and dangerous. I already know the look he gives Rui without turning to find him hovering over my shoulder.
Rui smiles. “Of course she is. Come on, then.” Rui turns to lead the way once again, and when he does, I feel Caius’s breath tickle my ear.
“The blight has only just begun here. The bridge is safe.” Caius slides his hand down my arm to grasp mine, and I’m not sure which shocks me more, the kind gesture as he interlocks my fingers with his and gives a reassuring squeeze, or the fact that I let him.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I cling to Caius’ calloused hand like a lifeline as each swaying step of the bridge makes my stomach clench. I clamp my eyes shut and take one slow step after another.
“Breath, Oliviana,” Caius whispers, and damn him because I didn’t even realize I was holding my breath.
“Tell me something.” The words come out quick, subtly laced with panic, and I hate the way I know Caius can read my fear.
“What do you—”
“Anything, Caius, just distract me.”
“You see the corners of the cavern?” he asks.
My gaze darts out to the cavern walls in the distance, lined with smooth iridescent panels instead of glow moss. I’ve never seen technology like this.
“How do the edges look?”
I squint, taking in details I hadn’t noticed before.
There is something familiar about the glow of the panels, even as they cast different hues than the moss of Bǎodela.
“Dull.” I finally land on the only word I can think of to describe it.
It doesn’t really look all that different from the shimmering light cast across the panels overhead.
It is more that something feels wrong about it.
“Good girl,” Caius says, and I pause, taking a step back to ram my elbow into his gut.
“Gross,” I hiss.
He shocks me when he chuckles and holds my hand a little tighter. “There she is.”
I throw a look over my shoulder at him, and he winks. “You’re right, though. That’s the first sign of the blight. The magic turns dull. If it’s anything like our glow moss, it will light the cavern for years to come, maybe longer, but eventually it will fade to nothing.”
“How do you know this?”
“The southern tunnels leading to Suade have been fading for years. The road south is dark and dangerous.”
My stomach drops. “There has to be something we can do.”
“If we can find a way to save Bǎodela, we will find a cure for them all. But Oliviana, something isn’t right here.
I can feel it, and it’s not the blight. I don’t trust them.
” Caius gives my hand one last squeeze, then lets go.
Stepping off the bridge, the ground beneath my boots is finally firm once again.
We have arrived at a massive island in the center of the cavern.
The city stretches out in all directions, connected by threads and planks, like spider silk cluttered with bright bits of dyed cloth—teals, pinks, purples, oranges and blues.
Pops of color are woven into bridges and strung across structures in triangular cuts of cloth that flutter softly.
Shimmering talismans carved from bronze and silver adorn the stained wood posts that hold sun-bleached paper walls.
The city is bright and warm, shining with life in a way that cold stone cannot.
Rui walks over to the largest structure of the hub, sliding a wide wooden door on iron rails open and gesturing for us to enter. Any trepidation I have about following this man evaporates with the aroma of cooked rice and spiced meats that mingle with the din of lively chatter and camaraderie.
Rui turns to two of his men and says something I can’t hear before gesturing for us to follow him to the back of the commissary, if it could even be called that.
Unlike our dining hall back home, this one is carpeted with thick woven mats, on top of which sit square pillows just large enough for one.
Groups of diners sit clustered around low wooden tables with large bowls of food, passing around the pots, tipping large portions into individual bowls before they sit back and enjoy with dual wooden sticks.
Smiles plastered to their faces, they laugh, and eat, and judging from the way some sway in their seats, drink with such contentment, my stomach aches.
I try to convince myself that I’m just hungry, but the truth is, I have never seen the people of Bǎodela in such revelry, not even during the festivals.
“This way!” Rui waves excitedly from a vacant table at the back.
I pick my way carefully around the tables and slide into a position with my back to the wall, where I still have a good vantage of the room.
Caius glowers at me before selecting the seat to my left.
Dom sits cross-legged at my right, and Cressida slides in next to him.
Rui smiles warmly as he gracefully takes the seat across from me. The men Rui had spoken to when we first entered arrive at the table with serving bowls filled to the brim with food. Caius frowns when Rui presses a platter filled with steaming meat and diced vegetables into his hands.
Rui chuckles. “If I wanted you dead, you would know it. If the day comes that I am to kill you, it will be by blade or bow, not poison.”
Caius appears to consider this before heaping a large portion into his bowl, and then, to my surprise, he places that bowl in front of me.
Once he has served himself, he passes the platter on to Dom.
He repeats this process, adding a dish of wide noodles smothered in a thick sauce and rice fried up with egg and diced vegetables. I glare at Caius.
“You better eat that before it gets cold.” Caius points at my meal with the dual sticks clutched in his hand.
I consider boring into him with my gaze a while longer, but the rumble in my stomach wins.
I grasp the unfamiliar utensils in my hand, two long sticks that I’m apparently supposed to use to grasp mouthfuls of food.
But after several clumsy attempts at shoveling food into my mouth, with little success, I resort to spearing chunks of meat onto the ends, with mildly better results.
However, the frown creasing Rui’s face at this technique makes me decide it’s best to move on.
I clench the bowl between my hands and barely restrain myself from bringing it to my lips and tipping the food straight into my mouth.
Most of our meals are made for convenience, packaged in waxed leaves that are perfect for both cooking and carrying the meal.
While Caius and I had taken to eating in the commissary during my assignment, it was more common to grab a meal on the way to and from a shift.
Rui’s eyes travel over my fingers, which have gone white from clutching the bowl.
He reaches across the table and runs his fingers over the back of my hand, trailing down my index finger, prompting me to relax my grip.
When I do, he places the long sticks in my hand and positions them, so they rest in the crook of my palm.
He adjusts the placement between my fingers then takes his own utensils in his hand and says, “Try gripping them like this.” He demonstrates opening and closing them, then dips into his bowl, twirls up long strands of noodles into a ball and places them in his mouth.
My gaze lingers on his lips just long enough for him to catch me staring, and heat races under my skin as I drop my gaze to focus on my food.
I’m not nearly as graceful as Rui, but I do eventually manage to feed myself.
Rui watches me for a moment, then fills a small glass with a milky substance, a soft glow emanating from the liquid. He slides the glass over to me. “You don’t use kuccikal in your city?”
I lift the glass to inspect the hazy substance. “No, our food is usually ready to be eaten as is. We don’t really do this whole thing.” I circle my kuccikal in my other hand to indicate the dining arrangement.
“You don’t eat together?” Rui scrunches his eyebrows.
Caius grasps my forearm, and though he says nothing, I read his meaning. Don’t say too much.
I yank my arm away. “Caius and I eat together all the time,” I say, then take a sip of the drink. It’s warm, tangy, fermented, and surprisingly soothing. It heats my stomach, and the tension in my shoulders eases a little.