NORA

The Vonadieus have a big house. It reminds Nora of The Primrose Palace, but it’s too spacious and empty. Though she can’t remember Busurul well anymore, anything pink makes her think of Mama’s warm voice, Aunt Bhannu’s funny laugh, and Nini’s pretty songs.

Before, Nora had been the heir to Busurul, but she hadn’t been the favorite of Mama’s daughters. Little Nini was spoiled rotten, and everything she did wrong was somehow always Nora’s fault, but Nini herself never got in trouble.

Nora likes her home in Malais better, though she doesn’t like saying it. She told Teacher once, and he’d looked at her so strangely that she’d hadn’t mentioned it again. She loves her new family, even if she misses her old one. Her favorite thing ever is the sea cookie Uncle Arthur gave her. Uncle Arthur isn’t as affectionate as Teacher or Cel, so when he gives Nora something nice, she can’t help but treasure it.

Speaking of Cel, Nora hadn't liked the younger girl at first. Cel’s so mean if she doesn’t like you, but once she decides to be nice to you, no one else compares. She’s so smart that it’s kinda scary, but there’s nothing she won’t do for you if she decides to be your friend. That’s why Nora likes her so much. She lets Nora use all her things, reads Nora her favorite stories, and wrestles with Nora even though Cel doesn’t like it. If she had to choose between Nini and Cel, Nora would definitely choose Cel, though by now she knows better than to say that out loud where anyone but Cel can hear.

The Vonadieu girl feels like a whole different species. She walks with her nose in the air, wears makeup that Nora’s just a little jealous of, and is as graceful as Fukashi. She takes them through the back of the mansion and into a cave, into the mountain. There’s no way to see outside, but there are plenty of lights mounted to the uneven rocky ceiling overhead. A blue pool sits to one side of the cave, surrounded by lounge chairs and small tables. The other half of the room is covered in blue mats.

“This is where I train,” Lache announces, sitting gracefully on the end of a chair and removing her shoes. “Would one of you like to spar?”

“Nora can,” Cel says, eyeballing the pool with disdain. Nora nudges her gently in reassurance. Cel is terrified of deep water, but a lizard skitters across a lounge chair near the edge, and Nora smiles as Cel perks up and goes after it.

“You can fight?” Lache asks, crossing her arms as she sizes Nora up.

Nora lifts her chin, leaving Cel to her hunt. “Sure can. Uncle Arthur’s husband is my teacher.”

“How old are you?”

“Twelve. You?”

“Ten.”

Nora tries to be friendly. “Wow! You’re nearly as tall as me, and you’re only ten?”

Lache smirks. “My teacher says I’m advanced for my age.”

Movement behind Lache reminds Nora that there is another child among them. The pale-haired boy peeks around his sister’s shoulder, frowning at Cel as she darts across the pool chairs in pursuit of the lizard.

“Atro is eight,” Lache announces with more fondness than Nora is expecting.

“You can go say hi,” Nora tells him.

He nods and darts off to help Cel catch the lizard. Cel shoots him a confused look at first, pausing mid-pounce to stare at him. Nora bites her lip when a spark of competition alights on Cel’s face. The poor kid has no idea what he’s in for.

Lache gestures for Nora to follow her onto the mats, and Nora obliges, but she doesn’t bother to remove her shoes. They square off, Lache dancing on her toes with her fists raised, Nora crouching, her arm extended. Fukashi’s pointers rush through Nora’s head as her heart thunders excitedly in her ears. She’s never fought anyone close to her age other than Cel, and Cel only puts up a fight if there’s something she wants on the line, like a new book. Cel fights dirty, too, to make up for her lack of skill. Nora gets the feeling Lache won’t be such an easy opponent.

Lache starts off by charging her, and when Nora goes in for a swing, she dodges it easily, dropping to try and sweep Nora off her feet. Nora gets one leg out of the way in time, but not the other. She tumbles sideways and barely manages to catch herself with her hand. The impact rattles up her arm, but she hops up and shakes it off easily. Fukashi’s drilled her on the simple act of recovering from a fall for years.

You must always catch yourself, he’s taught her. The less time you are on the ground, the better off you’ll be.

“You’re fast,” Nora says when she’s upright again. “Didn’t expect a ten-year-old to outspeed me.”

Lache flashes a grin, back in her starting pose. “I’m the fastest,” she agrees.

There’s a black choker around Nora’s throat, strangely cold against her neck. It’s a stripe of enchanted shadow, a gift from Fukashi that he has warped to follow her every command. Most of the time she forgets about it, but seeing how fast Lache is, she thinks of it now. She knows she can’t use it for this fight. It’s for emergencies only, but she is so, so good at it. She longs to set it loose on this smug little brat, but she can practically hear what Fukashi will say if she does: if you can’t defeat a ten-year-old on your own, what am I even training you for?

This time, Nora charges Lache. The first swing is a ruse. She throws her weight into it and keeps going even when Lache dodges. She spins down, catches herself on her hand, then flings her legs around, kicking Lache to the ground while balancing all her weight on her single arm. Lache slams into the mats. By the time Nora rights herself, she’s still laying on her back, looking a bit dazed.

“You good?” Nora asks, holding out her hand for Lache to grab. Lache accepts the help, letting Nora pull her to her feet.

“Thank you,” Lache says, straightening the wrinkles from her jumpsuit. “That was cool.”

Nora beams and takes advantage of the chance to throw some smugness back in the little rich girl’s face. “I know.”

Lache looks remarkably offended for a breath, but then she smiles a tight smile. “Touché, Nora. Again?”

“Sure!”

They go on like this for a while. By the time they’re both breathless from exertion and in need of a break, Nora is ahead by two matches, both of which she won by the skin of her teeth.

“You should visit more often. I need a good sparring partner,” Lache says around quick breaths. She leads Nora to a mini-fridge and passes her a water bottle from it. Nora downs its entire contents at once.

“My mother was a commander in the army,” Lache adds as they sit on a pair of chairs to rest. “I want to be just like her when I grow up.”

Nora wipes the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. Talk about the war doesn’t bother her as much as it probably should. Those memories are stained by pain and loss, but the political details are too blurry to truly resonate with her otherwise. She glances across the way to where Cel and Atro sit on adjacent chairs, chatting amicably. Cel holds her prize, the little green lizard she’d been chasing earlier. It sits calmly on her palms, basking in the immense warmth her body emits. Atro seems to be petting it under her watchful gaze.

“Cel wants to be a general, like Uncle Arthur,” Nora says, sliding down the chair to sprawl. She sits like an invalid, Fukashi had complained to Arthur once. There’s not a lick of decorum in her entire body!

Who cares about decorum so long as she can fight? Uncle Arthur had retorted. So long as you can slice a man in half with that borrowed shadow of yours, sit how you like, Nora.

Nora can’t help but smile as she recalls their bickering and Uncle Arthur’s offhanded compliment of her skill. The straw dummy he’d brought home for her to practice on sure hadn’t lasted long.

“Yeah, but what do you want to do?” Lache asks. Her jumpsuit is stained with sweat.

Nora’s breath slows as her heartbeat starts to slow back to normal levels. “I want to make sure she gets there.”

Lache scoffs. “Boring.” She takes a sip of her water. “Can she even fight?”

“Well, she can, but she’s not very good.” Nora feels bad for saying so. “She’s really, super smart though.”

Lache eyes Cel across the room. “If she can’t fight, she won’t get far.”

“Why not?”

“Daddy says the fastest way up the ranks is to score high in the combat tests.” Lache sets her water bottle aside and gets up. She brushes off the seat of her pants and walks over to Cel and her brother. “Atro, stop touching that thing. It’s gross. It needs to go outside.”

Atro stops petting the lizard and ducks his head. “Sorry, Lache.”

Cel frowns at Lache. “It’s not gross.”

“Yes, it is.” Lache flips her hair. Nora doesn’t understand how she can stand to fight with it hanging loose like that. It’s pretty though. “Get rid of it,” Lache snaps at Cel, “or I’ll go tell on you.”

Cel stands up, still holding the lizard carefully in her hands. She glowers at Lache, and Nora’s stomach twists with anxiety. Cel’s not allowed to lose her temper in public.

“Cel,” she starts, but Cel speaks over her.

“I will not.” She holds it closer to Lache, who leans away with a look of disgust. “Touch it and see,” Cel demands. “It’s not gross.”

“Get it away from me!” Lache shrieks as Cel’s hands move closer to her. The lizard’s head pops up; it bobs at her, blowing out its pink throat the way lizards do sometimes to attract mates. Lache’s breathing harder than she had when they fought.

“Just touch it!” Cel snaps.

“Ew!” Lache’s hand flies, and the lizard is soundly slapped to the floor.

Cel looks horrified. She spots the lizard and drops to check on it. Lache puts a hand over her heart, her cheeks bright red.

When Cel’s shoulders tense, Nora’s sense of dread explodes. Cel gets up, the lizard cradled to her chest.

“It’s not moving,” she says in a small voice. Gently, she sets the poor creature’s body on a nearby chair.

The air suddenly feels too hot.

Cel turns a burning look on Lache. “You killed it,” she says in a wretched voice, on the verge of angry tears. “You killed it,” she repeats, wiping her nose with her hand.

Lache opens her mouth to say something back, and Cel launches.

The two girls crash to the floor, and Lache lets out a bloodcurdling shriek as Cel buries her teeth in the other girl’s hand.

Nora’s heart is pounding wildly again. She tries to wrench Cel off of Lache, but Cel’s got her teeth buried deeply in Lache’s flesh. Nora doesn’t see any blood, but she smells something burning.

Lache’s screaming grows in volume, and Nora realizes that she must do something. Without thinking, she drags both girls to the pool’s edge.

And throws them in.