The Silver Crown

33.

"Hey," Brinian's voice was quiet. It probably had something to do with him not wanting to scare me. He was probably worried that I was going to fall.

I wasn't worried. Just because I was sitting on the edge of the roof of the castle didn't mean that my balance was impaired.

Brinian stopped behind me, about four feet from the edge. "What are you doing?" He asked. It had been a few weeks since Marek and I had gone drinking in the city. Brinian had never told the king and queen and we hadn't talked about it since.

I got to my feet, my eyes never leaving the midmorning view of the city. It used to be my city.

"Whoa," Brinian said as I hopped up on one of the battlements. I began to jump from one crenellation to another. Brinian followed at a safe distance, his feet firmly on the stones of the roof. "Kade, please talk to me," he begged.

"How did you find me?" I asked brusquely.

"When your maids couldn't find you, they alerted Chale and Locan. They came directly to me, as I had instructed when they took you on as their charge. A palace wide search began with the intention of finding Arabelle's friend, as most of the castle inhabitants are not aware of your real identity. A servant finally came to me with the information that he had seen a young boy going up these stairs. I had thought it might be you. And so here I am."

I stopped and crouched, balanced on the crenellation like a hawk. "Why did you come?"

"Because I thought we were friends."

I just stared out over the city. It had started getting colder at night lately and in some of the bigger houses smoke rose from multiple chimneys. From my perch on the highest part of the castle and the fact that the castle was on a hill, I could see the Saban leaving the city from the west and disappearing on the horizon. Somewhere miles away, it emptied into the Jade Sea.

"Please tell me what's going on?" Brinian begged.

I sat down on the crenellation and said, "Only if you get up here with me."

I heard Brinian take a deep breath and then the rustling of his clothes as he climbed up next to me. He folded his legs up underneath him rather than hanging them off the edge like me. I tapped my bare feet against the stone.

I noticed that he sat stiffly and didn't look down, only out. "Scared?" I asked, no hint of sarcasm in my tone.

"Terrified," he said with a nervous chuckle.

"I'll dive off after you if you fall," I said, still not looking at him. He laughed. This time it sounded more genuine.

"I doubt that would do any good."

"Oh, alright. I'll just have to keep you on the wall then." I slowly moved my hand to his white knuckled fist. It took a moment but Brinian finally gripped my hand, squeezing until my bones cracked but I didn't care. I knew he couldn't help it.

"You're afraid of heights but I'm not. Have you ever wondered why that is?" I said, not looking for an answer. "Some are born to queens, some to ladies, some to merchants, some to slaves." I sighed. "But who decides? Who decided?"

After a long pause, Brinian said, "I suppose the Moon Goddess and the Sun God.

"I guess," I said. "But I'm not really religious."

"But Maisa used the power of the Moon Goddess to determine your true identity," Brinian stated.

Yeah, maybe that's the problem, I thought. But I said, "I suppose."