Four #3
away with the two guides, he turned to me once more and gestured through the palace doors. “This way, then, Fateless. We will
get you settled in.”
I tried not to stare as we made our way through the grand hallways and beneath the soaring arches of the Deathless queen’s palace.
I had lived on the streets of Kovass my whole life.
I had never been to the king’s palace on the hill, or even inside the palace district.
When I was sent into the undercity to collect the soulstone for the ma’jhet, I had seen the ancient, crumbling palace of the Deathless King.
Even in ruins, it had been awe-inspiring, built to impress as well as intimidate.
It did its job well—both Halek and I had been uneasy in its looming shadow—but the palace of the Deathless queen, in all its unbroken, elegant glory, was on another level entirely.
The walls were of melded white stone, without cracks or mortar, as if shaped by a potter’s skillful fingers.
They looped and curled in ways solid rock was never meant to move.
Trees and vines grew seamlessly throughout the palace, snaking around pillars or draped over archways.
But they never looked wild or tangled; even the trees appeared to have been groomed to spiral and bend in the most pleasing way possible.
Fountains and small pools of water continuously trickled, splashed, and misted into the air, creating rainbows of light that danced along the ceilings.
The air was alive with the sounds of rippling water, rustling leaves, even the melody of birdsong.
“These will be your quarters, Fateless,” the chancellor said, stopping at a tall white door trimmed in gold. “The throne room
is right down the corridor from here. There will be someone to escort you to your audience tomorrow morning, so do not worry
about finding it on your own.”
I blinked at the looming doorway. “Is this for all of us?”
“No.” The chancellor gestured at a pair of identical doors on the other side of the hall. “The Fatechaser and insect rider
have their own quarters, in rooms mirroring your own. Do not worry, they will be close. Now, if you will excuse me . . .”
He stepped back with a short bow. “I know you have had a long journey. Please make yourselves comfortable, and welcome to
the Palace of the Sun.”
He strode away, robe and footsteps shushing over the smooth stone floors, leaving me and Halek standing alone in the grand
corridor.
“Well.” Halek made a show of gazing around. “Not the grandest place I’ve ever stayed in, but . . . No, no, scratch that.” He shook his head. “This is the grandest place I have ever stayed in, and I’ve been to the Golden Citadel on the River of Silk and Spice. Or is it the
River of Silken Spice? I can never remember. Regardless . . .” He scratched his temple and gave me a wry grin. “I know this
is the palace of a Deathless, and they’re supposed to be terrible and scary, but look around, Sparrow! Have you ever seen
anything so magnificent? I’ve had to keep myself from poking every flower and curling vine we passed beneath, just to make
sure they were real.”
“I know,” I said. “And it is magnificent.” There was no question about that. If this had been anywhere else, Sparrow the thief would be hard-pressed not
to take note of every shiny object or glittering bauble she saw. Things that would not be missed. Valuables that could be
easily pocketed. But now I was almost terrified to even have such thoughts cross my mind, lest the queen somehow know what
I was thinking.
“This is still the home of a Deathless, Halek,” I warned. “It’s just like the palace we saw beneath Kovass, only this queen
has been alive for who knows how long.” I wondered how old she truly was; if she was one of the original thirteen Deathless,
it would be thousands of years.
“Raithe didn’t ever tell us she was Deathless,” I went on, anger and pain burning through me. “None of the other kingdoms
know a Deathless has existed all this time. What secrets is she hiding? What would people think if they knew that a Deathless
was still alive?”
“Sparrow.” Halek paused, then sighed, as if he was about to say something he really didn’t want to. Or something I didn’t want to hear. “Do you ever wonder if that’s the reason he didn’t tell us?”
I blinked at him. “What do you mean?”
He rubbed the back of his neck, then shrugged. “What do you think would happen if people knew that a Deathless lived here?” Halek asked. “Or were aware of what exists at the center
of the Maze?” He turned, gesturing at the elegant hallway, the beautiful flowers, the vines and tapestries draping the walls.
“All this beauty,” he murmured. “All this wealth. I could see entire kingdoms going to war with the iylvahn, because they
want what they have. And the queen might be powerful enough to wipe them all out, but that could very well destroy the city
and everything she’s built here.”
“Oh.” I hadn’t thought of it like that, but it did make sense. Humans were greedy; I knew that all too well. If a king or
a sultan heard that a paradise of water and gold existed at the center of a vast, endless desert, how many would immediately
try to claim it for themselves?
“All the protections around Irrikah make sense now,” Halek went on, looking thoughtful. “The Maze. The secrecy of the iylvahn.
Forgetting everything about the city once we leave. The queen doesn’t want the world to know a Deathless still exists. And
she doesn’t want anyone to remember Irrikah. If no one knows what the hidden city is like, no one will try to claim it.”
“I guess so, but . . .” I thought back to our journey, remembering all the times Raithe had been secretive, deliberately evading questions that had anything to do with the queen.
“He still should have told me, Halek,” I said.
“He didn’t, because he was afraid I would run off.
But . . .” I clenched my fists. “I thought he knew me better now,” I whispered.
“I said I wouldn’t run anymore. I promised him I wouldn’t.
And he knows that this Fateless thing terrifies me.
I don’t know what anyone expects me to do. ”
Once more, just for a moment, I wished I was still that simple thief in Kovass. Who looked after herself first and didn’t
risk her life for anyone, because that was what was expected in the guild. The thief whose only worries were what she could
steal, avoiding the guards, and trying to earn the favor of the Guildmaster. My throat ached at the memories. I longed for
those simpler days, back when I wasn’t Fateless. When I was a nobody.