Glasswrights' Progress (19 page)

Even with the wine swimming through her blood, Rani heard the threat beneath the words. She imagined Sin Hazar's outrage if she agreed with Bashi, if she said that she
did
want to return to her chambers. The king might punish Bashi, have him thrown into a prison cell. Or worse. “Your Majesty,” Rani began, but she had to take a deep breath to concentrate. The action made her nareeth saw into her ribs, and she resisted the urge to wince. “Both Bashi and I are honored by the feast you have set for us. We would not leave until Your Majesty chooses to.”

“Ha!” The king reached out with one long finger and traced the line of Rani's determined jaw. “Well spoken, my lady.” He seemed to ignore the shudder that coursed through Rani at his touch, turning instead to Bashi. “Any other questions, cousin?”

“No, Your Majesty.” Bashi sank back onto his chair, clutching his goblet and looking miserable.

And so, Rani stayed at the feast, sitting at the table until the wee hours of the morning. Once she realized how much the wine had affected her, she tried to keep away from her goblet. Nevertheless, she could not refuse the king's attentions entirely. She even rose from her chair to dance with Sin Hazar, although she begged to be excused after the first simple figures, admitting that she had never learned the intricate movements for the next music played.

At last, King Sin Hazar seemed to notice that many of his subjects slumped at the table. More than a few of the nobles had fallen asleep, victim to the warm room and the ever-flowing wine. Even Bashi was blinking furiously in his chair, rubbing his eyes with a fist when he thought that no one was looking. The king turned to Rani. “Our most gracious thanks, Lady Ranita, that you have joined us this evening.”

“The pleasure was mine, Your Majesty.” Rani was snared again by Sin Hazar's opaque gaze. It seemed as if the man would never blink, as if he would swallow her with the midnight pools of his eyes. Rani raised one hand to her neck, as if to fan her moist flesh, but Sin Hazar caught her fingers and bowed over them, brushing the lightest of kisses across her palm. Something quivered deep inside Rani's belly, and she suddenly wondered if she could remain standing in front of the court, in front of the king.

“Good night, Lady Ranita. Sleep well.”

Before Rani could reply, Sin Hazar turned on his heel and raised a hand. Two guards detached themselves from the shadows along the walls. The king nodded and stalked back to the head of the table. Rani was just able to catch the beginning of an exchange with Bashi as the soldiers ushered her from the feast hall.

What had she been thinking? Of course Sin Hazar was not going to set her free! Of course he was not going to change his mind about his captive. Of course he was not going to move her from her tower room to the royal apartments.…

The hallways were chilled in the late night, and a wintry wind blew through the few arrow loops that they passed. Rani felt hobbled by her nareeth, and she wondered how she'd been able to walk all the way to the feast, how she had managed to
dance
with Sin Hazar. By the time she reached the chamber she shared with Mair, tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.

The soldiers saluted their fellows on the landing below Rani's room. All four escorted Rani up to her door, and they stood at attention as she stepped into the chamber. Rani closed the door behind her and waited for the clanking sound of four men descending the staircase. Only then did she look toward the curtained bed on the far side of the chamber. Mair, though, was waiting for her by the fire.

“So! You finally decided to return!”

“I wanted to come back earlier, Mair, but I couldn't. It would have been dangerous for Bashi. For me.” Rani heard the frantic energy behind her words, heard her slurred speech.

“By all the Thousand Gods, you're drunk!”

“I am not! I only had a little wine, to prove my friendship with Sin Hazar.”

“You're a fool! Did I have to tell you not to drink with the king? Any idiot would know not to! Especially not tonight!”

“What's so special about tonight?” Rani said crossly. She was fumbling with the balkareen that restricted her chest, but she could not manipulate the tight knot across her back. Mair swore under her breath and crossed the room. She made short work of the knot, and then she started to turn Rani about, gathering up the yards of silken cloth. “Wait!” Rani cried as the floor spun up to meet her. “What are you saying, Mair?”

“Ach! How much
did
you drink? And did you eat
anything
?”

“I couldn't eat. You pulled the nareeth too tight.”

Mair swore again and stomped to the door. She tugged it open, making a great deal of noise, and stormed onto the landing. “Bring Lady Ranita some water,” she commanded, when one of the lion-tattooed men leaped up the landing. “A pitcher of fresh water.”

The Touched girl turned back to Rani, leaving the door cracked so that the girls could hear when the soldier returned. “Turn about, then. Let me untie the lacings.”

Rani moved like an exhausted child. For just an instant, Mair yanked the lacings
tighter
, but then the unbearable pressure eased across Rani's ribs, her waist, her hips. For just an instant, she felt as light as a bird, and then her freed flesh started to ache. She hugged her arms about her, rocking slightly as she heard an iron tread on the stairs.

“Quick. Behind the curtains.” Mair gestured toward the bed, and Rani complied, sliding the heavy velvet into place so that the guard would not see her undressed.

Even as Rani gulped fresh air, her drunken dizziness began to fade. She fumbled at the mattress beneath her, clutching her hands to steady her spinning head. There were large lumps strewn across the bed, as if a field of potatoes were planted beneath the linen sheets. Trying to ignore the tears that bloomed at the corners of her eyes, Rani quickly realized that the lumps were covered with cloth; in fact, they were huge knots of cloth. She barely managed to wait until she heard the door close before she leaped out of the bed.

“Mair! What –”

“Hush. Drink.” Mair snagged a pewter goblet from a low table and forced a refreshing draught on Rani. “We don't have much time. Listen to me.” The old crack of command was back in Mair's voice. Rani thought of the troop that the Touched girl had controlled in the City streets, the children who had eaten well and survived the worst that the King's Guard had to offer. Rani swallowed her protests along with her water, and she was rewarded with a steadying of her pulse, a slight retreat of the wine's vapors. “We're leaving the palace tonight. We're climbing down from the tower.”

“We can't do that! It must be the height of a dozen men.”

“I made us a ladder. Tonight, I ripped our dresses. I ripped our sheets.”

“But I can't go tonight. I'm too tired.” Rani thought of Sin Hazar, remembered his lips brushing across her palm. “It's too late.”

“Don't be a fool!” Mair hissed. “Of course we have to leave when it's late. That's our only hope. And going tonight, when they think you've drunk enough to knock out an entire garrison, that might even work to our advantage.”

“But what about your arm? You can't climb with a broken arm.”

“It's better than I've made it out to be. I cinched your dress, didn't I?” Rani could not argue with that. She let her fingers gingerly test her waist. She'd be bruised in the morning, from the nareeth. “Come on, then,” Mair grumbled. “Let me show you what I've done.”

As Rani watched, Mair stepped back from the bed, pulling the knotted cloth with her. Hand over hand, she extracted the twisted fabric. Rani was amazed that there had been so much cloth to tear, so many sheets and skirts to turn into a rope. “But what about the lock? They chained the door this afternoon.”

“I've picked it.”

“You've what?”

Mair scrambled about the pillows, now shed of their satin coverings. She produced some ragged bits of fabric, stitched to gold braid. Rani recognized the headdress that she had worn only that afternoon. Mair twisted the cloth scraps and revealed the long metal strip that had anchored the ornate decoration. “I picked it. That was the hardest part, shifting the chains without their hearing. Easier to pick a lock, though, than to dispatch a guard. That's why I pushed Bashi so hard this afternoon. I had to get that guard off the roof.” Mair dropped the remnants of the headdress. “Men place too much credit in iron and locks.”

Rani could do little more than gape. “Mair, this is madness! We can't just throw ourselves over the palace wall!”

“That's
exactly
what we can do. Those carts that you were watching are packed and ready to go. They must be planning to leave at dawn. All we have to do is hide beneath the load.”

“All? Mair, you can't be serious!”

“I've never been more serious in my life, Rai.” As if to underscore her words, Mair crossed to the fireplace, picking up a thin stick that was charred black on its end. “And if we're to succeed, we'll have to look the part. Close your eyes.”

Uncertain what else she could do, Rani followed the command, shutting her eyes and catching her breath. The room tilted unevenly, but not as badly as it had done in the great hall. Water and fresh air and time were working their magic; the wine in her veins was being pushed aside by anticipation. By fear.

Even with her eyes closed, Rani sensed Mair moving closer, and then she felt the end of the pointed stick, sketching across her cheek. She only opened her eyes when Mair ordered her to do so, and she found herself staring into a mirror. Her face was reflected in the wavy surface, but now she sported a rayed sun, spreading under her left eye. “A sun!”

“Aye. We'd be suspicious as swans, and neither of us is fit to be a lion. I certainly don't know enough to be one of their owls. Besides, we've only seen a handful of those. There are bound to be a number of suns in the countryside, going about the business that keeps this palace running.” As Mair spoke, she tilted the mirror toward her own face. She drew her own tattoo with quick, steady motions. “Try not to touch it. It'll rub off soon enough, but it might help us if we're stopped near the city. We'll have to re-draw it often.”

“Near the city? Where are we going, Mair?”

“I don't know yet. First, we've got to get out of here. Sin Hazar isn't about to hand us over to Halaravilli any time soon. We're more valuable to him as captives, Rai. We're hostages.”

“But his feast was lovely tonight!”

“Aye, and a nightingale's cage is made of finest gold.”

Rani drew a deep breath to protest, and she felt the sore flesh beneath her ribs. Staring at the length of cloth rope, Rani realized that she and Mair truly had no choice. There would be no way to explain their shredded clothing in the morning, no way to justify the ruined sheets. The suns in Sin Hazar's employ would certainly report the escape attempt, even if the girls took no further action. Mair had decided for both of them.

“Give me your balkareen, Rai. I'll add it to the end here.”

Rani handed over the fabric mutely, watching as Mair tore the cloth into thick strips, knotting them securely to the end of her rope. “What if it's not long enough?”

“It has to be. One way or another.” Mair tugged the new length tight, barely favoring her bad arm. “All right, then. Anything that we should take?”

Rani glanced about the chamber and shrugged, seeing it with a clarity born of Mair's matter-of-fact determination. Certainly the bed had been comfortable. The chair was nicely carved. The threads of Rani's stitchery glimmered in the firelight. But there was nothing of true value in the prison room – no weapon, no coins, nothing to help two girls flee from the king of all Amanthia. Rani shook her head.

“Very well, then.” Mair reached for her cloak, where it hung on a peg behind the door, and she offered Rani her own garment. “It'll be cold, tonight. We'll find better clothes on the outside.”

Rani pulled the cloak over her thin linen kirtle, clasping it at her neck with a mechanical precision. She did not speak until they stood at the door. “Wait! Mair, we can't do this! We'll be up on the
tower
! You can't face the height!”

“I'll do what I have to do.”

“But Mair – ”

“Ye're wastin' time, Rai.”

Rani swallowed her protest and took one last look around the room. Nothing. Nothing to keep her here. She nodded at Mair, who eased the door open.

The girls made their way up the stairs in silence, feeling for each stone step cautiously. The staircase twisted about itself, and after only one turn, Rani could no longer make out the light from the guards' flickering torches, now two levels below. She found herself leaning into the wall, fearful that she would miss the narrow inner lip of each step above her. Some were carved at irregular heights, and once she fell hard, banging her knee. She managed not to cry out, though.

Mair was true to her word – the lock had been cleanly picked. Mair guided Rani's hands over the iron chains, showing her where they lay, where she must step to avoid toppling the links. Then, before Rani could lose her nerve, the Touched girl eased the door open.

Mair only left them a crack to slip through, as narrow as possible, to keep from disturbing the torches several levels below. Rani caught her breath at the freezing air, but she stepped swiftly to the side so that Mair could close the door behind them. She shivered as the Touched girl darted to the edge of the parapet. In the starlight, Rani could make out her friend tossing the rope about the first merlon from the wall, cinching it secure. Better that they descend the tower in its own shadow. Better that they hide in the darkness.

Rani heard Mair grunt as she pulled the last knot tight, and then the Touched girl stood by the embrasure. She waved her arm once, looking like a ghost in the eldritch light. When Rani drew near, she saw that her companion was as pale as the linen strips she had tied together. Mair's breath came quick, and her palms were slicked with sweat as she pulled Rani's hand over to test the knot that secured the rope.