Chapter 7

Idon leads us along dark alleys and cuts through the crumbling frames of old buildings, heading straight for the palace. He’ll know the fastest route there, and he doesn’t check his map once as he casually leaps over scattered stone and mounds of columns with flawless agility.

“Councilman Dayton suggested we use an entrance on the southwest side, mainly used by servants,” he always uses his father's name that way, titling him, I don't understand it.

I follow him as closely as I can, keeping an eye on the roofs and any of the other spots I think would make good perches for our enemies. The sooner we find this book and key, the sooner we can get out of here. This place stinks of the dead and what I imagine is old, foul magic. It’s bitter on my tongue and pulls the beginnings of a headache to my temples. I grip my Legion sword tighter in one hand and the map in the other.

I glance down a long alley that melts into a pitch-black darkness I don’t plan to explore. Rats scurry into the shadows and away from the echo of our boots on cobblestone and gravel. Other than the crunch under our heels the only sound is the consistent dripping of water somewhere in a nearby fallen shop. I can’t even hear the familiar chirp of spring birds in this ruin.

We come to a bridge that will lead us into the upper village and together we carefully survey the streets before we leave the cover of the wrecked city and cross. If Idon is at all worried about running into Mondi he doesn’t show it on his face. He wears his staple calm expression, not a thing out of place. I wonder again if the news of Mondi is actually news for him.

We cross the bridge and move through the outskirts of the upper village, and finally we make it to the wall that used to surround the palace. Now it’s crumbled, and vines swarm the rubble. We enter the grounds where a gate should have been and walk across large empty spaces where gardens used to be. The ground here is black from fires and cracked in ways that cannot be natural.

“This place must have been huge,” I mutter, “twice the size of the palace in Ivory Hill.” I look at the enormous pillars that used to support the roof and cathedral style domes. Ivory Hill is the new capital. Silver City had been the largest city in the kingdom, home to a population of nearly four thousand citizens. Less than half of that number now live in Ivory, the other half either dead or found some other village in Holwood to settle.

Most of the stone that should have been the front wall of the palace is scattered around us but I notice at least one tower is still mostly intact. We climb over columns and turn a corner making our way toward the back. Idon leads with exactness, I imagine stayed up all night planning the best route, trying to make our time the most efficient.

“If we go in through here,” Idon points at a door, or rather a spot where a door should be, “we will take the stairs down to the library, which is where the chamber is hidden.”

“Sounds good to me,” I follow him, ducking under the frame of the door.

“So,” Idon calls back to me in a more than casual voice, “have you asked her yet?”

“What?” Idon's question cathes me off guard. He’s normally so focused I hadn’t expected any less than necessary conversations.

“Carter. Have you asked her to go to Proga with you?”

“What? No, I… Wait how did you…”

“You really thought Kirn would keep your secret,” he gives me a knowing look, “He told the rest of us the first chance he got.”

I am going to kill Kirn the second I see him. He only knows because he’d been the one to deliver a message to me last week: a general wanted to speak with me about an open postition.

“No, I haven't asked her,” I trail off. A captain. That's what I've been offered. To step into an open position as a captain in Proga. And if it wasn't for Carter, and the future we've planned together, I would have already said yes.

“What's holding you back?” Idon stops and turns to face me.

“I don't know,” I retrieve two torches from my pack and light them before handing one to Idon. “I guess I don't know if she will say yes. If I ask her to come with, that is. Ivory Hill is her home. Proga is on the other side of the kingdom. And besides we just organized this team. Should I even go?”

“This is an incredible opportunity for you, and if Carter knows that she will support you,” he turns on a heel to face me and my boots scuff on the wet stone. Casualness gone. “Don’t worry about the team. We knew we would all have to follow career paths eventually. This unit could have been some annoying training exercise for you and me. The Council likes to play with their soldiers now and then. We both know it.” =

I do know it. It wouldn’t be the first time the Council has put Idon and me through some sort of test. The first time it had happened we were nine. Our fathers were leading treaty negotiations with some ambassadors from Turelisis, who had brought their own sons to Ivory Hill. We’d thought we were meant to observe and shadow the adults talking. But on the first night of their visit, we’d caught the two boys sneaking into the councilman’s private study and we beat them until a maid came running down the hall, screaming for the grown-ups.

Apparently, the Council was wary of the ambassadors anyways and figured they would try something while in the city. The test was to see if Idon and I were aware enough to notice and brave enough to do something about it. Their next generation of leaders, the Council decided long ago, is never too young to be trained. 

“Supporting me is one thing, but to come with me?” I shrug my shoulders even though he’s turned around and can’t see me.

“You two are a match. She will go.”

“What if it’s not the right choice?" I glance at the onyx pin on my jacket. The question more for me than it is for Carter.

“Don't be ridiculous. It's the right start for becoming a general one day.”

“You think generals are idiots,” I scoff.

“I think most generals are idiots,” he looks back over his shoulder. “I think you'd make a great general, and I'd be happy to serve under you.”

I can't help the shocked expression that passes over my face, and if Idon can hear the surprise in my silence, he doesn't comment. We've trained our whole lives together, like brothers. Raised to be opposite sides of the same sword. But for him to suggest he'd serve under me is a different concept entirely. When we were sixteen he'd been sent on some tour by his father. For two years Idon was gone. I'd recieved letters around holidays, mostly with training tips. When he returned we enlisted in the Legion. 

I’d met Carter while Idon was on his tour. Her father works closely with mine, and Carter had needed a trainer with more time than the Chief had, so I’d volunteered. I still remember that first time we ran together. She’d come out of their small cottage, with her messy bun and braids—and trousers. The pants had surprised me, not that I’d been expecting her to run or train in a skirt, but one doesn’t often see girls in trousers. I don't think I can leave her behind in Ivory Hill.

“What will you do if this all some training exercise?” I ask Idon.

“Follow the course,” he replies calmly.

“And what course is that? Council? General? Or do you plan on staying at soldier rank until they force you to retire?”

I hear him chuckle, “Wouldn’t that be fun?” He raises his torch higher, and I can see the final flight of stairs. He turns toward me, “If this happens to be some test, and we are free to choose our next assignment, I think Proga would have room for the both of us. Don’t you?”

“You’d request to transfer?”

“Like I said,” he starts down the last steps, “I’d be honored to serve under you.”

“You wouldn’t try to secure a captain position for yourself?” We reach the bottom of the stairs, the door that should have been perched on the hinges is bashed in.

“Captains need obedient soldiers, and who better for you to boss around than me and your pretty girlfriend?”

I shove him forward and shake my head.

“After we get this book and key, and get out of here, you're asking her. But for now,” Idon pauses as we enter a huge room. It’s damp, and dark. The bindings of books are cracked and pages are sprawled across the floor. Scrolls and parchments are torn and scattered, a thick layer of dust coats everything. “We have a secret chamber to find.”