"Ruin arrives, ruin does not leave."
―Anne Carson
Had Shabina known that Lin cared about Janus, she would have been a little more tactful. Perhaps the bluster and cold shoulders had gotten into her mind and made her believe Lin was truly an impenetrable fortress of a person. The hours drew to darkness, then light again. Shabina waited by the mirror, hovering between guards' shifts and gnawing on her lip. Still nothing. Ealy and Zeke brought chairs and sat with her after the second dusk.
Ealy swiped her hand in Shabina's periphery and began signing. "We don't know what she'll do. What she might have already done."
Shabina rubbed her face and sighed, closing her eyes briefly before responding. "Something dramatic, probably. Without Janus to stop the order, she may simply kill Mara's court. She may have already."
"And we never talked to her about it." Shabina glared at Zeke, the meaning evident despite his words. You didn't talk to her about it.
Her heel bounced on the marble floor, skirts swaying. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do now."
Ealy leaned over and pulled her bag into her lap, fishing through the papers she kept inside. She set a page down in Zeke's lap, which he dutifully held in place.
"We mobilize. Now, if we can. Once Mara falls, the others will pounce. We need to be there first. I have several weak points mapped out that we can attack."
Shabina hissed to herself and dug her heel of her palm against her temple. This was the worst part of being in charge. Ealy and Reyna were perfectly willing to strategize all their attacks. Zeke managed the Citadel itself with Shabina's input. But they liked to hand the largest decisions to her. The ones that mattered. The ones that would make or break their lives.
Ealy leaned over and rested her hand across Shabina's, her eyes wide and tender. She lifted her hands to sign. "To do nothing is to kill anyone we might otherwise have saved."
"I'll be sending our allies to die."
"Not all."
"Enough of them," she sighed again, "and we lose our anonymity. It's such a risk."
"We're always at risk. And our anonymity may already be compromised."
Shabina frowned, straightening in her seat. "What?"
Ealy took the sheet back from Zeke. "The hunter's apprentice. You asked us to look into him, and we found some older reports our spies managed to connect to him."
Shabina's heart sank at that. She motioned Ealy to go on.
"We thought he was only present for King Wilson's meetings, but that wasn't right. He goes off on his own as a spy for his father. Apparently he's excellent at sorting liars. Our plant with the guards says he's constantly beaten down by Wilson, but he's never done anything to hint at being disloyal." Ealy ran her free hand over the page. "It wouldn't be the first time he's faked defection to gain information. I'd suggest eliminating him before – "
"No." Shabina breathed out slowly. "Let him be for now. If his father is as abusive as it seems, I should be able to turn him to our side. He's been nothing but an asset so far, and a good man. I'll feel him out on it and help him if I can. Besides, I don't want to lose Lin if she isn't in on it."
Ealy nodded. "As you wish, then."
"Move forward with preparations for the offense as well." Shabina thought for a moment. "And be sure to wait until we're absolutely certain."
A knock shook her from Ealy's warm gaze.
Hadrian stood in the doorframe, frowning slightly. His brows furrowed. "Anything I should know about?"
Zeke cringed. "No."
"I thought you liked me," Hadrian melted into a half-smile, rocking to the side. Zeke's scowl didn't seem to bother him in the slightest.
"The huntress asked us to keep you safe, now you're safe." Zeke pointed at him. "You're not leaving this island."
Hadrian lifted his hands in surrender. "I don't mind. But seriously, what's going on?"
Shabina pursed her lips, contemplating the small teen in front of her. From what Reyna had mentioned, the apprentice hunter was excellent in battle -- if a bit reckless. He knew how to speak dead languages and either knew Shabina's spy codes or could break them in seconds. Of course he was a spy.
"What do you think Lin's done?" Shabina asked. Ealy and Zeke shot her questioning glances, which she ignored.
Hadrian blinked, staring at her for a moment. He folded his arms across his chest. He was conspicuously clear of gold dust. "What do you mean?"
"It's been a day. Where do you think she's gone?"
He lifted a single eyebrow, almost playful. "She hasn't killed Mara yet, if that's what you're asking."
"Are you sure?"
"Yep." He leaned against the wall, peering around the corner to the gardens.
"You seem very certain."
Hadrian looked up. His eyes were wide and entirely too expressive for his face. "I am."
Shabina pulled her lip into her mouth and looked to Zeke and Ealy. Ealy was completely lost to the verbal conversation, and Zeke seemed near bursting with words. Shabina signed "leave us."
Ealy hesitated, glancing between the two of them before following on Zeke's heels.
Shabina waited until their footsteps receded into the evening. "What did you mean when you said the Citadel wouldn't protect us?"
He rounded the chairs and lowered himself down into the one Zeke had vacated. He waited a moment. "Once Lin kills Mara, the power vacuum will be unimaginable. They're already excited about Janus' territory, and once it's down to two Kings, it's only a matter of time before whatever agreement they have goes to shit. Greymark won't mediate. They'll cut the world in half and burn whatever's between them."
Shabina raised her chin, staring down at him. He didn't lift his eyes from the floor that entire time.
"So which side are you on?"
"Neither," she said, "I don't choose between evils."
He shrugged, a smile tugging at the corner of his lip she could see. "Then you'll die, I guess. Smart money on Yelena if you change your mind."
"So little faith in your own father," Shabina said. Her heart sank a little at that. Wilson's fleet was massive and advanced. If it came down to open warfare, Yelena's infantry numbers would be useless. Janus didn't have much in terms of ships either, his resources resided in clean water and agriculture. Wilson had always been the warrior of them all.
The fact that Hadrian wanted her to think otherwise was a massive red flag.
Save for the fact that she had no clue what that red flag meant.
Hadrian smiled and ducked his head even more, dark hair falling across his eyes. "Trust me. Lin hasn't killed Mara yet."
Back to Lin.
"What makes you so sure?" Shabina's throat had gone dry.
The mirror shivered. Both of them turned to it.
"No-one's scheduled," she muttered.
"But it's open?" Hadrian looked up, setting his shoulders straighter than she'd ever seen them.
Shabina's face heated. "Not usually."
"For Lin?"
"Yes."
Hadrian hummed, not quite judging but definitely not pleased. He stood up, stepping closer to the mirror.
"It's probably her." Shabina followed him, arranging her skirts. She brushed some gold dust from her arm, wincing as it clung to her fingers instead. Her pulse sped up as she faced the front of the mirror.
The mirror warped again, this time stretching outwards with the scrape of fingers behind it. Then it fell solid again. Shabina frowned, leaning closer.
Water trickled down in tiny rivulets. It pooled a faint rust against the pale floor.
"Oh, that's bad," Hadrian whispered. His eyes had gone wide. He grabbed her arm and yanked her away, half-dragging her out of the room. She scrambled to keep her feet under herself without tripping over her skirt. A heavy thud sounded out behind them, and Shabina craned her neck to see over Hadrian's head.
A woman laid sprawled on the floor. Water poured off her and pooled across the gold-dusted tile, filling the air with the smell of rotting meat.
A witch.
"Guards!" Shabina screamed, her voice scraping higher than she ever remembered it going. Hadrian's grip bit harder into her flesh and he swung her out of the room.
"I'll take care of it," he said.
She grabbed him around the middle before he could race back into the mirror room. "Guards!"
"Stop!" he jerked away, but she latched both arms firmly against each other, letting the rest of her fall as dead weight. He yelped as he hit the ground. He twisted around to look at her, his pulse hammering against her arms. "Let me go."
"I told Lin I'd keep you safe," she hissed. He glared down at her and writhed, clearly loath to strike her.
The ground shook beneath them, the air filling with the smell of seawater. Shabina breathed out as a set of guards came storming around the corner, Zeke leading them. The man dropped to his knees before them, eyes frantic. "What happened?"
"Witch came through the mirror."
Zeke wheeled back around. "Witch in the mirror room!"
A good twenty guards let out the foulest sailor-curses they knew. Shabina would have laughed if she didn't have an armful of pissed hunter. They streamed in, each brandishing their swords without a second look at Shabina.
"Take him."
Zeke grabbed Hadrian, pinning one of his skinny arms behind his back. Shabina winced and flexed her shoulder. He was stronger than she thought.
"I can -- " Hadrian bit himself off. He sagged into the ground, free hand flat in submission. "Okay. Fine. Let me up."
Shabina nodded to Zeke, allowing the young hunter to sit up. He didn't make a run for the mirror room.
A gunshot rang out, bouncing off the hard walls and floors. Shabina's head spun with the force of it, her teeth aching. She closed her eyes tightly and leaned forward, trying to block it out. Zeke's hand wrapped around her wrist.
"I'm fine." Her voice cracked. "It's fine."
When she opened her eyes, Hadrian was gone. She jerked upright. "Where's -- "
Zeke blinked, surprised. He turned around. "Aw, shit."
She scrambled to her feet, tripping over her own boots as she rounded the corner to see. The mirror room was completely intact, nearly no damage. The witch laid where she'd landed by the mirror, her pale hair turned black by --
She had to look away.
Hadrian knelt by the body, looking up at one of the guards. It was Cortez, the new one that he'd been training with. As soon as Shabina stepped into the doorway, Hadrian stood up. It was a jerky motion, completely unlike the tight grace he usually sported. He frowned at her. "She was running from one of the hunter's massacres. Looks like they just about got her before she escaped."
"Witches can't use mirrors," Shabina whispered. Her hand fluttered about her collarbones. "How did -- "
"A fluke." He looked back at the mirror. "She had no idea what she was doing."
She nodded, trying to hide the fact that her knees wobbled beneath her. She looked over to Zeke. "Block off all but the major islands and the Library. Set guards here until Lin gets back as well."
Hadrian closed his fists and folded them across his stomach. His fingers hid a streak of red in his palm. "Can I go now?"
She didn't have time to answer before he turned and vanished. She groaned. "Damn."
"What did you two talk about?" Zeke crept in. She beckoned him over and made her way to the garden. Once they had trees between herself and the guards, she reached for a bench and collapsed into it.
Zeke followed suit, though more tense and quiet than usual.
"I panicked. Lin asked me to look after him." She bit her lip again. "And I don't think he took well to being grabbed like that."
Zeke shifted uncomfortably. He moved his hands about slowly, attempting to arrange his thoughts in the least bizarre way possible. "Well – you know he was gonna take on that witch himself."
Shabina sighed, staring down at her hands. She could feel a bruise forming on her upper arm. "And he would have handled it. You think I broke his trust? I can't bring him to our side if he associates me with that forever."
He shrugged. "He seems reasonable. Ish. I don't know – I didn't think he was a spy in the first place so the hell do I know?"
She sighed, sagging down against the bench. "Thank you, Zeke."
"No problem, your majesty."
"I was being sarcastic."
"I wasn't."
She folded her hands together and looked over her shoulder towards the mirror room. The guards were busy taking the witch's body out -- to throw her in the sea, presumably. Or burn her. Shabina swallowed. "Has that ever happened?"
"What? A witch coming through a mirror?" Zeke's voice lilted as though he was about to start a joke. "No. Not that I can think of. Greymark made them, so he's pretty much the only one who knows everything about those things."
Shabina sighed, rubbing her hand over her face. The grit of gold dust scraped her skin. "If witches can come through, we'll need to relocate. Or at least figure out how to get ships through the Citadel's current. We'll be trapped here if we have to fight off witches through our only exit."
Zeke groaned, stretching his arms over his head. "Well, there's a use for the hunters right there. You get Lin, you get Hadrian -- hopefully -- and we're golden."
He knocked the back of his fist against her shoulder before standing up and leaving the gardens. Shabina closed her eyes and let out a slow exhale.
--
"Le miroir de sang" (from French. "the mirror of blood")