5. Like a Child
LIKE A CHILD
TALIA
Both versions of the story agree on this premise: love freed Elanwei from the shackles of duty. For one day, she was no one’s daughter, no one’s prize, no one’s burden. The traditions diverge on what happens next.
Talia woke to sunlight and near silence. No bells, no monsters, not a hint of sound through the thin walls. She lay in bed, taking in the low creak of timbers settling and the steady hum of a single blue fly bumping against the windowpane.
It had taken a moment to remember where she was. Riven’s side of the bed was empty, although the pillow held a dent where his head had been. She wondered if he’d left, but then she smiled. Most likely not.
She should go straight to the Consortium. That’s what yesterday’s Talia would have done. But she felt different today, on her own, with a whole new city to explore. She took her time pulling on her tattered hoop skirt and lacing her boots.
She washed her face and slipped her glasses back on, appraising herself in the looking glass as she tugged her auburn hair into a thick braid. Her once-bronze skin had grown paler after so much time in her office. It made the freckles stand out on her nose.
You’re finally here, she told herself.
Downstairs, the tavern floor was sticky. Dust motes floated in the sunbeams. The bartender was slumped over the bar, snoring into her arm. Riven leaned against the wall by the door, half in shadow, half in sun. He was holding a mug of something warm, steam curling from the surface.
He glanced up when she approached, then kicked off the wall and pushed the mug toward her. The taste was bitter, but it woke her up.
“Sleep well?” he asked.
“Like a child.” She grinned back, daring him to get the joke.
He almost smiled. At least, something softened around his eyes. She’d take it.
“Good enough,” he murmured.
She pushed through the door into the street, and he followed. The sun glared, but the air was so clean it tasted like ice. The scene of last night’s violence looked washed and new.
Riven stood at her shoulder, scanning the rooftops. “Should we get you to work?”
“They don’t know exactly when I’m due to arrive,” she said. “They won’t miss me yet.”
He shot her a glance she couldn’t read. “Where to then, boss?”
“I need…” She glanced at her bloodstained dress. “A replacement for this. And”—she took a breath—“I’d like to see the city.”
Riven waited, looking down at her as if he knew she had more to say.
“Actually,” she added more quietly, “I was hoping to explore on my own.”
She’d thought he was going to argue, but he seemed to be considering it.
“I’m not helpless,” she added.
“Didn’t say you were.” He drew the revolver from a holster at his side, checked it, handed it to her. “Safety’s here. Don’t point it at anything you don’t want dead.”
Their fingers brushed as she took it. Still no emotional signal.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” He stepped back. “Meet back here at highsun.”
He was letting her go? Just like that? A small, bright pleasure unfurled in her chest at the idea of spending a day alone. She couldn’t think of a single time she’d skipped school or work.
“What will you do?” she asked.
“Scout for rooms. I’m guessing you might prefer your own bed. Maybe a desk, if you’re lucky.”
She had to admit, a desk would be nice.
She gave an awkward wave, then she turned and started walking.
The city was waking up now, alive with hammering, shouting, the scrape of saws on new timber.
Smoke curled up from chimneys and cook fires.
A woman with a baby on her hip haggled over bread.
Two boys raced by, kicking up blue flux dust that shimmered in the light.
She stopped in the middle of the street, letting people flow around her.
No one here knew her name, let alone what she was running from.
The laugh that escaped was half sob, unsteady and hers.
It felt like something cracking open inside her.
She was twenty-six years old, and for the first time in her life, no one was telling her who to be.
She hitched her satchel higher—journal, revolver, everything she needed—and turned toward the market, toward the shop where she’d seen those glowing crystals in the window.
She hadn’t lied, but she hadn’t told Riven the whole truth. She did need a new dress, but first, she had a mystery to solve. Flux was everywhere here, and it was acting strange. She was going to find out why.