“Quill, you don’t have to repeat everything you hear,” I hissed at her.
“I know,” the kid said with a shrug as she stepped past me and walked out the door with Aeris.
“We can’t take her to Thorne’s house,” Archer whispered. “We have to protect those kids.”
I sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of my nose. “We can’t uninvite her now without pissing off Quill. And after everything that’s happened, I don’t want to risk setting her off again. Her power is too volatile, too dangerous, when she’s upset.”
Archer’s jaw clenched as he watched Aeris and Quill chatting animatedly on the porch. “I get it, but bringing a god into Thorne’s home, into the orphanage… It feels wrong. Like we’re betraying their trust somehow.”
“I know,” I said softly. “But we’ll be vigilant. We won’t let Aeris out of our sight for a second.”
The creak of floorboards drew our attention as Thea descended the stairs with Elowen close behind. Our small group made its way through the transformed landscape of Requiem.The city I once knew had been utterly changed, remade into something both beautiful and unsettling. Dark marble edifices loomed on either side of us. Ornate carvings adorned the front of every building with twining vines, mythical beasts, and scenes from a history I didn’t recognize. The streets were paved with gold, real gold that clinked softly with each step. It should have been breathtaking, but there was an artificial quality to it all, as if someone had tried to recreate a city from a fairytale without quite understanding what made a place feel alive. It was cold. Missing the fire built to keep a homeless man safe, missing the warmth of an old woman wrapped in layers of threadbare scarves as she watched the hustle and bustle of the people passing by. And it was still missing the people. All of them.
Quill skipped ahead, her curls bouncing as she pointed out various landmarks to Archer. “And over there used to be an old, rusted bench, but now it’s this amazing statue of a mermaid! The water comes out of her tail and everything. Isn’t it wonderful?”
Archer nodded, looking around in wonder, seeing Requiem for the first time in daylight, though I was seeing it for the first time too. “Sure is, Pencil. Just missing the people.”
“And it’s all thanks to Aeris,” Quill beamed. “Paesha, isn’t it amazing?”
I forced a smile, not wanting to dampen Quill’s enthusiasm. “It’s certainly… different.”
Was it entirely coincidental that we had to walk through the Gambler’s Quarter, past Misery’s End to get to the meeting point of Stirling and Silbath? Maybe, but passing that building, seeing how it’d been left untouched when everything around it had transformed, twisted something inside of me. But it wasn’t truly the same. The last time I’d seen it, the theater where I used to dance half naked was no more than a pile of rubble on the street. The aftermath of a desperate man. But she’d brought it back. Exactly as it had been, encased in wrought-iron railingsand the richest building in the city back then. Now it was nothing compared to its neighbors. An eyesore, if anything. But then it always had been to those that knew the truth behind the stage, knew where the blood stains were never cleaned and the tears never quite dried.
“I asked her not to change it,” Thea said quietly, looking back over her shoulder. “Whatever that place was, we need to make peace with it first.”
I quickened my pace, refusing to stare at the familiar building. “I made my peace with that stage the day Deyanira set it on fire. Makes no difference to me now.”
“All the same,” Aeris said, “Maybe someday it’ll mean something again. When we change our space, we change our mindset. Isn’t that right, Quill?”
The two of them carried on a conversation as Archer took my side and slowed down, letting a noticeable gap grow between us before he whispered, “Seems strange Thorne said?—”
“Reverius,” I corrected him.
“Right. Him. Seems strange the gods’ magic is failing, yet Aeris was able to rebuild a whole city in gold, doesn’t it?”
“As soon as you figure out that Lord High and Mighty is a fucking liar, let me know so we can stop circling these conversations.”
“Why would he lie about that?”
I jerked to a stop, slowly turning to stare at him. He threw his hands up. “No. You’re right. Dumb question.”
“Are you guys coming?” Thea asked.
I didn’t miss the hint of excitement in her voice, and I couldn’t really blame her. Our tiny world had grown with hundreds of thousands of more possibilities to shape her life. This was an adventure for Thea. Something new and exciting. She could go north. Maybe become the woman from Misby I’d once claimed to be. She could explore. We all could,really. Maybe somewhere in this world there were people worth knowing and loving and protecting beyond our little group. Beyond the gods that caged us in like animals.
“You better take the lead from here,” Thea said to Archer as we crossed into Stirling, where the golden streets were abruptly brick and the buildings lackluster, and honestly perfect.
I remember the first time I stepped into this world and thought it lacked color and character and longed to return home. It was drab then, but at least the homes had likely been built by mortals and most of the city’s character hadn’t been erased by the whims of a goddess shoving her sense of restoration down everyone’s throats. Stirling remained a patchwork of weathered brick and timeworn stone. The streets here were narrow and winding, lined with buildings that leaned slightly, as if whispering secrets to their neighbors across the way.
We passed through the Salt District, where the air was thick with the tang of brine and the clamor of Salt hawking their wares. The market had come back to life after the death of the prince, it seemed. It spoke more of restoration than gilded streets and shiny black buildings. Take some fucking notes, Aeris.
The transition to the Silk District was gradual but unmistakable. The buildings grew taller, their facades adorned with intricate carvings and colorful awnings. Delicate fabrics billowed in shop windows, shimmering in hues that put even Aeris’s golden streets to shame, in my opinion. The air here was perfumed with exotic spices and the subtle scent of wealth. Again, something Requiem was missing. Not to mention the springtime flowers adorning the faces of all the buildings, giving the city the color it lacked in the winter.
“Fix your face, Fingers. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were ogling my city.”
I lifted a brow. “Yourcity? Does that mean you’re?—”
“I mean the city where I was born. Nothing more. Don’t get any ideas.”
