Bastet
I keep my head down as we weave throughout the crowd nearing the palace. Milo keeps a wing covered over me. Cassius leads, his head and tail high.
The streets are barely navigable with the crowd. They are all nice with their finest clothes. Families gather by vendors, purchasing food for their children. Will the coronation be long?
I can't think about it too much. My stomach feels like it's on fire. My throat is swollen shut. My hands shake. I have to press them into my pockets to keep others from seeing.
"How shall we proceed?" Cassius asks, lifting his head higher so he can turn to us. Milo glances at me.
'You'll go in first,' Milo tells Cassius. He stops walking, veering us away from the flow. We stand beside a tree's base. I try not to let my eyes slip to the looming palace. Its mossy walls seem intimidating now. The grand doors are opened wide, Maylean citizens streaming in to see their new Queen.
What am I doing here? If anyone here knew that I murdered Roux....
"Why don't we all just enter together?" Cassius asks, his leafy eyes turned up to me. I glance back down at him.
"You have to represent the Meadow. Aren't there like announcements?" I ask. Milo elbows my ribs. His eyes bear into mine.
Oh shit.
I smile behind my words, aware of my lie. Cassius twitches his whiskers at us, his eyes slits as he stands.
"And when will Lady Sorrel arrive?" Cassius presses. I open my mouth.
'She couldn't make it so sent you instead,' Milo jumps in. I elbow him back. He mutters as he pushes my shoulder, smiling along with me. Cassius's eyes flick between us. He hums.
"Okay, I agree. But I know you kids, too. Lies won't work." Milo drops his hand from my shoulder, his eyes focused down. Is this the first time he's gotten in trouble for something? Who knew he was such a good student?
"You have to let us in through a door. Just find one nearest to the main entrance and we'll be there," I say. Cassius nods, stepping out behind us. He nods swiftly before plunging back into the flowing crowd.
Milo nudges my shoulder. I look back up at him. His eyebrows are stern across his eyes. He twists his lips a little.
'We're lying right?' Milo asks, turning toward the crowd. 'We're going right in?' I sigh, grabbing the hem of his shirt. I tug on it a little, scrunching up my face.
"We just have to hide in the crowd and then find Avery later," I tell him, angling myself behind Milo's body. He raises his arms, pushing his wings out. He takes me from beneath my armpits, holding me up like a kitten. I swing my feet before he lets me back down. "I think."
'You think?' He raises his eyebrows at me, eyes wide. I twist my lips.
"You know, I really didn't like it when you held me like a cat," I tell him. Milo chuckles, his nose scrunching.
"And I'll do it again," He says quietly. I frown at him. So much for good student.
Milo takes my arm as we plunge into the crowd. I step beside him as he hitches up his wings. To everyone else, only Milo walks here. I'm invisible to the eye.
The shadow of the palace crushes my lungs. Milo keeps on poking my arm to keep me moving with his pace but it's hard. My lungs hurt and my head too.
Milo ducks his head down as he moves sideways, deeper into the crowd. The doors of the palace near. From here, I can see the rusty golden hinges. The line slows. Shit. What's going on?
I jut my head out. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.
Avery stands there. There, at the door, unrecognizable. Her hair is white at the ends instead of yellow. Her face is made smooth by makeup and her smile is stitched on haphazardly. Nobody will know the difference between fake and real. Maylean citizens crowd her, shaking hands and showering her with kind words.
And her dress. Her dress brushes the floor. It's that deep sky blue speckled with stars. I never thought I'd see Avery in a dress. Let alone a breathtaking one.
I push my face into Milo's side. He wraps his wing around me, ducking down.
"She's right there," I whisper. Milo glances above his wing. I grab his shirt and tug him back down. "Don't look!" I hiss.
I squeeze my eyes shut. I push my face out from behind Milo, peeling open my eyes.
Avery stares at me, face slack. She presses her lips together stifling a snarl. She waves her hand before lifting herself up. Each footstep makes my stomach lurch.
But then she stops, staring. Her eyes trail from Milo to me, and then they stay there. She stares at me, eyes wide and mouth open. People mill around us.
I have to look at her. I have to look her in the eyes. I have too. She's right there. I'll be a terrible person if I can't even look her in the eyes. How will I tell her about Quarry? Oh god, she's going to hate me forever.
Avery grabs my arm in one hand and Milo's in the other. She yanks on us both. We stumble before we run after her. Avery can move quickly in a layered dress. She weaves us between the crowd, through the towering ceilings and warm red laid carpet of the entry room.
She elbows a wall. It pops open with a hitch as she slams it aside, dragging us through. She ignores the loose nails tearing at her dress and the dusty servants stairs as she moves up stairs. Avery pulls us along, out the stairwell and back into the main corridors.
The hall up the stairs is dark, a darker blue carpet lining the floor. The ceilings still tower up in a curve, chandeliers dangling precariously above our heads. Avery growls as she yanks us both forward into a room.
The room is dark. Avery storms across it, ripping away a curtain to the side, allowing the piercing sunlight to beam through. She stands in front of the window, mouth twisted and eyes bearing. I squint to see her against the glaring sunlight.
Milo and I sit on the floor, thrown there. Milo winces as he lifts a wing from a painful angle. He shakes his head as he looks up at Avery. She still stands there, glowering.
"I—" She opens her arms, stopping them as suddenly as water to stone. "Get ready," She growls. Avery's gray eyes bear into my skin as she stomps past me. Her eyes don't leave me once before she slams the door shut.
I sit there.
Milo stands, shaking his wings out. He moves across the room, opening the door by the window. He plunges his hands in, removing an armful of clothing. He dumps it on the large bed on the opposite wall.
I watch him as he does this. And I continue to as he picks out clean, expensive clothing. Milo looks up at me. I'm still glued to the floor.
'Why is she mad? You didn't say that,' Milo asks, holding up a suit for me to see. I barely frown at him. If I were to tell Milo the truth I am confident in saying he would hate me. Being in the same room with a murderer? Helping a killer?
I turn my head down. Avery definitely hates me now. She dragged us through the palace mercilessly and threw us into a room. She certainly hates me with a passion only reserved for the worst kind of people. I'll accept the passion. I deserve the hate.
I hate myself for it. I hate myself for killing Roux.
My palms press flat into the floor as I rise. I take a step over to Milo. I can feel his eyes on me as he sets down the suit. It's an obsidian hue. The fabric is taunt beneath my fingers but soft to the touch. I pick it up. My eyes flick to the pile. There in the center sits a white button up. I take that as well.
Milo focuses on me as I step behind him. He turns back around, tugging at his shirt.
I pull at my jacket. I toss it aside as I undress. The shirt and pants fit me well. The jacket too. It's just barely loose enough around my arms. I bend down, tying back on my boots. My hands find my shirt without much thought, smoothing down the wrinkles.
I turn back around. Milo is tying his own shoes. His shirt is ripped in the back, making room for his wings. He rolled up his crisp-bone sleeves to his elbow. His dress pants are navy.
'What do we do now?' I ask him. Milo shrugs, sitting down on the bed. I step to the edge of the bed. It's large and cleanly made. The blankets are tucked underneath the mattress and the canopy above it reminds me of leaves over trees. I sink down at the edge, my back pressed against the side.
This room is empty. Empty except for the bed and some books. They're stacked on the nightstand, table and floor. The spines are bent and cracked. I wonder who read them so many times? Who allowed their covers to be flaking and their pages yellowed? Is it Avery? Is it Roux?
What if there's a library here? If there's a library...I could find books about myth. I could read those books and maybe I could figure out what's wrong with me? With my myth? Why my stars are dim and fickle and few? Maybe I could fix myself? I could be important again?
"Milo?" I ask, raising my head above the bed. He looks back down at me, eyebrows furrowed.
'What?' He asks, his lips crinkled together.
'Do you think there's a library?' I watch as he scrunches up his nose as he twists his lips in thought.
'Maybe? It would make sense.'
"Yeah...it would." Milo chuckles as he rests his head back down on the bed. I turn, my back once again pressing against the bed. I need to get to that library somehow. I have to figure this out. I...I can fix this. I have to fix this.
My head whips to the door as a knocking rings through the room. The door cracks before it swings open. There stands a man with smoothed back jet black hair. He blinks at us. Milo and I stare back.
"Ah!" He spreads his fingers apart in panic, wiping his hands on his pants. "Ah um, please follow me." He turns back to us. Milo and I exchange a look before we stand. The well-dressed man leads us out of the room and down the dimly lit hall. The warm air of the hall creeps around me.
We move from corridor to corridor. The servant stops before the end of a hall. He turns back to us, his eyebrows knitted together.
"Princess Avalynn instructed me not to tell you two much, however I feel inclined to tell you she's difficult, as I am sure you are aware already. There was a bodyguard of hers, the only one she allowed, who just left suddenly once we got word of your arrival..."
Avery knew about me coming?
The servant looks to the side, his eyes flooding over in uncomfortability. He rubs his hands together as he exhales.
"Please understand she is going through a difficult time. She and the bodyguard seemed quite close despite their constant fueding. The leaving hurt more than she is letting on. Please don't relay my words to the Princess." Milo smiles at the servant, his hand on his shoulder. The servant pinches his lips together, nodding. "She will not admit it, but she is overjoyed you are here at the moment. Please tread carefully."
"Thank you," I murmur, my eyes following the flowing crowd at the end of the hall. Maylean citizens stream in. The river is a concoction of every color I know.
I want to believe the servant and his words. I know some of what he says is true...but for Avery to be overjoyed I'm here? It's too much for me to hope for. Avery hates me.
Though, I am happy she found someone she was close to. Even if it wasn't me. The bodyguard....They...must have been pretty tight for Avery to be upset over it.
"Through this hall sit right at the peak. There are three reserved seats for representatives of Lady Sorrel. One is filled by your companion." I nod as my hand reaches for Milo. He follows as he waves goodbye. I pull him along as we plunge into the river.