City of Gold and Silver

Worry

As a boy, Darius Archer had only ever been afraid of two things: the tigers that roamed the palace gardens and the look in his mother's eye when he disappointed her. Her anger was formidable, hot and sharp, but her disappointment, silent and cold, was always worse. His greatest disappointments to her came when he was careless with his responsibilities, especially when it came to looking after his younger brother, Alek.

One night, after he and Alek had spent a few too many coins at the taverna, stumbling home so late it was early, he had found his mother quietly sitting in the parlour, her eyes fixed on the front entrance. Alek was too drunk to notice and simply staggered past her to his room, but Darius had stopped dead at the sight of her. She was frozen, not interested in speaking to him, not even bothering to look at him.

"Someday you will know what it feels like to worry like this," she had told him.

She was right.

Darius stood at the top of the grand staircase with a white knuckle grip of the balcony's railing. There was panic and fear churning inside him, icy fingers around his lungs, bile at the back of his throat - Malia had run off again.

"Anything?" he called down to Vincent, his steward.

"No, sir-"

The front door opened and Alek breezed through, crossing to the grand staircase in a few, long strides. 

"Did you find her?" Darius asked, meeting him at the top of the stairs.

"You need to calm down," Alek said brusquely. "Durrard's got a whole squad out there looking."

"She's my daughter, Alek," Darius exclaimed. "I can't just keep waiting here."

"Why not? This is - what? The third time she's done this? The Gold District is perfectly safe-"

"What if she isn't in the Gold District?" Darius shot back.

"Why would she leave the Gold District?" Alek was incredulous. "She's fine. She's a smart kid. You need to stay put."

Darius eyed him pointedly.

"What? Don't give me that. You leave here in a rampage, how long before the papers have you on the front page, Lord Alchemist loses daughter."

"I really don't care what the papers say, Alek," Darius barked.

"Well, you should," his brother rejoined. He was dressed for the palace, wearing a long emerald coat with a stiff collar and a silk shirt. 

He's missing court to help find Malia, Darius told himself. Don't get angry with him.

"Satrap Javad's been vying for your seat at the prince's private council since he took office. He'll use something like this to make you look irresponsible. I know you're worried, but having one more person out there isn't going to do much good." Alek's pragmatism was infuriating at times.

Darius closed his eyes in an effort to keep his calm. Alek was right, he admitted. He didn't even know where to begin to look. That didn't mean he had to keep stewing in his worry though. Silently, he turned on his heel and marched towards his study.

"Where are you going?" Alek followed after him.

"I've been working on a new tracking potion, seems like a good time to test it out."

"Great," Alek balked. He swept his hands out in a grand gesture, "Archer family misuses magic to keep track of unruly child."

"Alek-"

"She's probably just out having a lark - you remember when we used to sneak out to get the honeybread warm from the bakers, right?"

"Alek-"